blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

"Christiania is dead!" he pronounced, once he told me about the first temple he had built. "They destroyed it!  There is no such thing as freedom here in Christiania!"  "All that is left are tourists. There isn't any one awake here anymore..." He is the man who hangs by the boat. He is the man who built the tower with 13 steps that represent masculine energy, atop the round frame of the dwelling...which represents female energy.  He says, "it is a mob mentality running this place. I can not write what I want in the local paper. If I do, they will destroy my temple."  "Who will destroy your temple?"  "Whomever does not like what I say. Remember, there is no freedom in  Christiania ."  (Source: Huckleberry Strange) 

bandit queen press hits the street (bornholm, june 2012) I'm feeling very thankful and inspired right now. I had my first day of drama with the 5th graders, and this class kicks butt! The creativity and discipline that they have already met me with can only mean one fun year collaborating & inspiring each other. I really look forward to that. There are a few projects I want to get done with the kids: I want to put together an anthology of their work, I want to get a dramatic production underway (that's kind of half-way there with the seed) and inspire them to create their own cinematic content.  I work in a very special place, and I do believe in the power of every one's voice, including children!!!! be heard in the pubic dialogue. On another note, the I received the following link from fellow blogger, Issa Eugenia from BlankBareClean : The Coloreds Only Bookshelf: Madness in the Publishing Industry  by Eye Candy over at Afro Punk . Well, I must say that the art...

room with a view, amager 2012 I think I might be on to something.  It's called not having any appointments.  It's called not having your phone ring.  It's called not calling anyone.  It's called not talking all day cause you are alone and you can create.  But for every inhalation, there is an exhale... an ebb and flow of energy... And right now I am ebbing, for sure. Creating, putting things together, getting in touch with purpose, source... so that in the end,  there is  flow... farvel,  the lab

originality, june 2012 I really like the kids at my job. I really do.  Each child is such a fascinating facet of humanity--holding so much potential!  If there is a feeling I am certain of, it's that feeling of belonging I felt the first day I walked into that school.  I see it especially among the kids of color...they seem relieved to see someone who looks like them, in front of a classroom.  This is one of the reasons I have done what I have done so far.  I didn't tell you that I'm now teaching my son 7th grade English, right? Yes, he did move to my school. Before moving, he asked, "I don't understand how you and dad could have sent me to that Danish school. I could understand if you two were like, normal Danes, but--". He seems to be loving it & he landed in one of my all-time favourite classes, you know, the one who did the Seed last year? Funky bunch of kids, I tell you.  But teaching is not something I can continue to do ba...

(Yeah Yeah Yeah created March 2012) May You  Be  Happy Yay Run Hug Love  &  A Huge You CAN DAY! (yeah yeah yeah)

I do believe this is a Kalimba... Today I met up with an old friend of mine for coffee. He's  half-American and half-Danish and have lived in New York for much of his life. I haven't seen him in a while, and he strolled in shining. He just got back from the South of France. We caught up on each other's lives. He's going through a divorce--but seems light about it. "Are all marriages shitty, he asks. "I honestly don't know." I answer, because I honestly don't. "But they say that people who are married are happier." He argues... "They say if you live in Denmark, you are happy..." And we laugh. "Who in the world wrote that?" He asks, incredulously, "I swear," he continued, "It's only someone who is visiting Denmark, who would say such a thing. The happiest country in the world? Yeah right!" "I'm ok being here as long as I can get out every once in a while. I was just in Madrid...

Bornholm, June 2012 For the past few years, I have been earning an extra income as a translator. All of the jobs I receive are from word-of-mouth, and I have translated everything from cookbooks, art books, anthropological books to websites for the Danish Film Institute, the Jutland Art Institute etc etc. There are many people who translate here in Denmark. Some get into it because words are their passion (like me, I truly enjoy working with words!) and others get into it by accident, need etc.  Some get into it knowing what they are doing, others? Well, let's just say that you want to give your work to a proper translator. And you want to pay them. You do not want to feel like you got a bargain for the translation of your baby. You want the translator to feel VALUED -- that is the key to getting a job done well. You can not pinch the kroner (Danish pennies! lol) on that.  For the last few years, I've been toying with the idea of being self-employed... Perhap...

This is a picture I took on the island of Bornholm last June. I haven't been photographing lately--if only because I am toying and enjoying the idea that no moment can ever, truly be captured. Today I awoke at 6am despite the fact that I had very little sleep. After showering and getting dressed, I hopped on my bike and immediately realized that my tired body wanted to take the metro, so I biked towards the station. When I got there I realized left my wallet home. Hmmm...what to do? Go home and get my wallet? Bike to work? Ride the metro without a ticket (yeah right!). I listen to the Universe and bike to work.  Instead of biking to Vesterbro through Amager, I decide to make my way through Christianshavn. There I bike over Knippelsbro (Knippels bridge). I love biking over this bridge towards  Christianshavn, because once you bike over the initial hump it feels so good to go sailing down the slight slope of the other side, and if the light is green, it could almost fe...

There are 6 million Americans engaged in the Criminal Justice system.  There are more black men in the prison today than were enslaved in 1850.  Pray tell, what is happening? 

Today Pim passed away. Pim was my son's hamster. I had a funny relationship with him because I was, well, afraid of him. This fear usually crops up when we become distant from something, like nature. I started to work on getting to know Pim . I ended up rising in love with him.  I appreciated re-connecting with how interwoven it all is, how clearly Pim communicated with me. It was truly humbling to experience how intelligent and loving he is. I began taking Pim out of his cage so that he could explore more interesting horizons (my apartment). I don't think any living creature should spend its life in a cage. That's a hard belief to hold onto when you live in a city, cause in the end, I feel like I'm living in a cage...but I do know that, without doubt, freedom is sweeter than confinement... But what is freedom? What are the things that confine? Is it you calling me yours & me calling you mine? Or is it the wages, the taxes all the demands on your ...

I often think about the fact that modern humanity's consciousness is ill-equipped for the onslaught of modern media-- especially at the rate in which we seem to be hit. I used to pride myself in the fact that I was able to block them out, but umh, am I really doing that?  Aren't the images hitting my subconscious, quicker than I can blink? So how are these images effecting me? What are the messages telling me, informing me? 

Tagetes Flow- Etheric Mix by CoaGoa She reflected deeply, until this feeling completely overwhelmed her and she reached a point where she recognised causes; for to recognise causes, it seemed to her, is to think, and through thought alone feelings become knowledge and are not lost, but become real and mature. adapted from Hesse's, Siddhartha