From the Brain

I've been holding onto this a while, but I found this a few weeks ago in a NY Times article called "Held by the Taliban" by David Rohde. It was all about his experiences as a hostage in Afghanistan, and this excerpt particularly stood out to me:

One evening, Abu Tayyeb declared that the Taliban treated women better than Americans did. He said women in the U.S. were forced to wear revealing clothes and define themselves solely as sex objects. The Taliban protected women's honor by not allowing them to appear in public with their faces unveiled.

My captors saw me - and seemingly all Westerners - as morally corrupt and fixated on pursuing the pleasures of this world. Americans invaded Afghanistan to enrich themselves, they argued, not to help Afghans.

In some ways, it just totally works, this point of view. Objectified women in the West, and the self-interested country that is America. Anyway, I just had to share it.

I feel like I've been too mentally and physically tired out to really put down here everything I would really like to, because taiko is eating me alive. I keep telling myself, "Just a few more weeks!" but then it feels like I had been telling myself that since a few MONTHS ago. Hopefully it'll all come to an end soon, you know?

On the upside though, I can play Symmetrical Soundscapes now!! For those that don't know, it's a pretty challenging piece that Sensei wrote, and I'm just glad I can play the 4 person version. Performance of it is this Friday. [end brag session]

Most of all I'm looking forward to home time for Thanksgiving. Being home will be such great recuperating time.

Andy was gone for the past week, and I have never been so stressed out having to drive around the island to work with these kids. It wasn't even the work itself that stressed me out, I think it was the driving! But by the end of the week I think I had done it so much that I kinda just got used to it. Driving a Tacoma is not = driving Corolla like back home. Driving such a big car can be scary to maneuver, partic bc the bed of the truck is hard to judge...but luckily it all worked out! Thank God. (or you know, whoever)

Spent my Halloween weekend CHILLIN, no costume or festivities this year because I'm really that worn out. Did see Paranormal Activity though, and I must say, that movie is the SHIT!!!! Would definitely recommend it to anyone who's game. Absolutely in my top 5 fave Horror movies...and maybe even in my top 3!

Finally got to have a nice, long chat with my sis over the phone, I'd missed her and my family.

So another week of ridiculous taiko, 7 days this week as is now the usual (for the past 3-4 weeks), and I am trying my best to just hang in there!! I tell people to do it all the time, and I guess it would be good to try and take my own advice.