Sing your heart out

This is one of the most inspiring movies you'll see....

As it is in heaven

Wicked wicked this way comes

I love plants and gardens, so spending the day at the Tucson Botanical Garden is the logical place for me. They have a cool exhibit of wicked plants, inspired by a book of the same title. So cool to see these plants live and in person, with informative descriptions about their wickedness.

3 books

If you had to pick 3 books that would open a visitor to your culture, your country..what would they be?

The BBC created just such a site where writers can provide their own picks to us all. Israel, Norway, Australia...jump in.

America la bella, la nuestra

Si el sol que nace y el día que muere
Con los mejores atardeceres
Soy el desarrollo en carne viva
Un discurso político sin saliva
Las caras más bonitas que he conocido
Soy la fotografía de un desaparecido
La sangre dentro de tus venas
Soy un pedazo de tierra que vale la pena
Una canasta con frijoles, soy Maradona contra Inglaterra
Anotándote dos goles
Soy lo que sostiene mi bandera
La espina dorsal del planeta, es mi cordillera

Soy lo que me enseñó mi padre
El que no quiere a su patría, no quiere a su madre
Soy américa Latina, un pueblo sin piernas, pero que camina
Oye!

Chai sugar scrub

I made a test batch of a yummy sugar scrub just in time for the holidays. Chai brown sugar scrub. It makes your hands silky soft, and they smell delicious...like chai tea or cinnamon cookies. I gifted it to my fabulous zumba teacher and might make another bigger batch soon. Requests anyone?

Dragontree spa was selling it for $18, but if you buy all the ingredients it probably costs you $1 to make it. Fennel, star anise, cinnamon, almond oil, etc. etc. Spice grinder, some brown sugar, and voila.

Luna

We are watching the perfection of a full moon lunar eclipse in the desert sky. Wow. It will happen again in 342 years....Fun to share this with my parents. In 342 years what will the earth be like?

We humans have nothing on Mother Nature.

Ode to Latinoamerica

Calle 13 is my new favorite band. They are witty, political, sometimes raunchy, often funny, and the music rocks the house down (up and side ways too).

I've traveled from Juarez to Chile and almost every country in between (me falta Colombia y las Guyanas solamente)...so I love a band that tips their hat to the richness, unity and diversity in one song. Reggaeton, cumbia, cancion de protesta...they cover a lot of ground. This song's expansive beauty...the sounds and the words...gives me chills, just like the beloved tierra donde vivimos. I had the honor of visiting Susana Baca at her home in Lima...she's one of the voices that gives me chills in the chorus.

I've got to see their documentary about their travels through the Americas....