Gigi

Over a year ago I was in a bank helping a friend set up an account. While my friend was setting with the bank employee I sat in the lobby and waited. Suddenly I heard a dog howling like a wolf and looked toward the entrance of the bank. It was a Husky sitting just inside the second automatic doorway of the bank. Feeling compelled to him I raised from my plush chair and walked over to him calmly as to not frighten him.

Long story short I took him in, named him Bailey and gave him a loving home for just over six months, until.l I found him a home with a couple who had two other female Huskies.

I've visited him a couple of times since I gave him to his new family. I cried each time because I love him so and I am happy for him.

Last year I began several new friendships. On one occasion I went to one of my friends homes for the first time and saw a female Husky in their yard. Although she looked nothing like the Husky, Bailey I had found and later given away to a loving forever home, seeing her I thought of him.

About a month ago I met a lady, she was friends with the people who had the female Husky who made me think of Bailey. This lady told me how she had taken in the female Husky after my friend and his wife broke up and the wife who had brought the dog into the home didn't take here with her when she left her husband.

I was told the wife had found the Husky near the home where Bailey now lives. I wondered if there was a connection...

Last Friday, I went to the local Animal Care and Adoption in my town and on the missing animals board was a photo of a female Husky. I recognized the name of the people missing the dog as the couple who gave my sweet Bailey a forever home.

I took down the information and called the lady who had taken in the female Husky, after my friend and his wife had separated. I gave the lady the info on the missing female Husky.

Last night the lady who had taken in the female Husky called me and told me the following.

She called and told me how she had contacted the couple and that they had driven over to her home to see the Husky to see if she was the one they were missing.

Once the couple arrived and walked into the back yard where the Husky was the dog lit up and showed how happy she was to see her long lost owners, especially her human Mom.

Turns out she was one of the Huskies they had given away last year to a woman who seemed very interested in giving the dog a forever home.

The lady told me they loaded up their happy Husky and took her happily back home.

The End,
Gigi Perrusquia
PS photo of my sweet Bailey

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THE YEAR 1909

Friday, June 26, 2009 8:41:19 PM

This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1909.
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1909 :
************ ********* ********* ******
The average life expectancy was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles Of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .
Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from Entering into their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea Hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health' ( Shocking? DUH! )

Eighteen percent of households had at least One full-time servant or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !

I am now going to forward this to someone else without typing it myself.
From there, it will be sent to others all over the WORLD - all in a matter of seconds!
Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.
IT STAGGERS THE MIND

3 comments

How These Days Grow Long Lyrics

Friday, June 26, 2009 8:39:25 PM

How These Days Grow Long Lyrics
Artist(Band):Brandi Carlile

Verse 1:
I left home a long long time ago
In a tin can for the road
With a suitcase and some songs
Chasing miles through the night time
Making tracks with no time for looking back
To the place where I belong

Chorus 1:
How these days grow long
But I'm on my way back home
It's been hard to be away
How I miss you and I just want to kiss you
And I'm gonna love you till my dying day
How these days grow long

Verse 2:
When your sad you know I wish I could be there
To make your sorrows disappear
And set your troubles free
It's not fair for me to be this far from you
But I promise to stay true, wherever I might be

Chorus 2:
Time keeps burning
The wheels keep on turning
Sometimes I feel I'm wasting my days
How I miss you and I just want to kiss you
And I'm gonna love you till my dying day
How these days grow long
Time keeps burning on
How these days grow long

Verse 3:
Now I'm lost in a sea of sunken dreams
While the sound of drunken screams echos in the night
But I know all of this will come to pass
And I'll be with you at last forever by your side

Chorus 1:
How these days grow long
But I'm on my way back home
It's been hard to be away
How I miss you and I just want to kiss you
And I'm gonna love you till my dying day

Chorus 2:
Time keeps burning
The wheels keep on turning
Sometimes I feel I'm wasting my days
How I miss you and I just want to kiss you
And I'm gonna love you till my dying day
How these days grow long
Time keeps burning on
How these days grow long

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Wishing you all a Happy New Year.

Thursday, January 8, 2009 4:57:49 PM

Just a short note to all my friends. I wish you all and your family and loved ones a very Happy New Year.

also a little funny email I received and I want to share with you~
A note for you.

After serious & cautious consideration . . .

Your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2009!

It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!

My Wish for You in 2009 May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.

May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words . . . May 2009 be the best year of your life!!!

1 comment

HAPPY HOLIDAY

Thursday, December 25, 2008 7:14:14 AM

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

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Mexico (My heart)

Monday, December 15, 2008 10:14:30 PM

As most of my friends know, I love, am in love and would love to be living in Mexico. That said, I am going to post some lovely photos of the country that has given me the best things in my life, showed me what true love is and has taught me many of the lessons that I cherish.

guanajuato mexico Pictures, Images and Photos

Mexico brought me my children, the love of my life (thus far), a greater understanding of life and family. I love the rich culture and history.

I spent many weekends in this Plaza when I lived in Mexico.

The beautiful Arcos!!

I heard a beautiful love story which inspired a man to build these aquaducts for the woman he loved.

When I went to Michoacan I bought lots of banana trees and saw miles and miles of Avocado trees. This photo is of the island "Janitzio" which is on lake Patzcuaro.

I have had the pleasure to personally know a family from this state.Which brings me to this next photo and this bit of information.

Purépecha Indians (Tarascans). The Purépecha Indians - also referred to as the Tarascans, Tarscos, and Porhé - inhabited most of present-day Michoacán and boasted a powerful empire that rivaled the Aztec Empire during the Fifteenth and early Sixteenth Centuries. As recently as 1990, the Purápecha numbered 120,000 speakers. This language, classified as an isolated language, was spoken along the southern fringes of southern Jalisco, adjacent to the border with Colima.

Moving right along, my next area of interest is Valle de Bravo.

Valle de Bravo is a town and municipality located in Mexico State, Mexico. It is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 145 km (95 miles) southwest of Mexico City and west of Toluca.

This is a very beautiful area. I am fortunate to also have some very wonderful friends who live just 30 minutes give or take outside this area.

On one of my more recent trips to Mexico I went to Reynosa. There is so much to say about this town and this trip. It was beautiful and I cried when we crossed the boarder entering and exiting. The family I went with were so wonderful and their family in Reynosa were the greatest!

There are more photos and places. But duty calls and I must post this blog.

Love, light and lots of salsa!

2 comments

Blogs and Blogging~

Monday, December 15, 2008 9:33:22 PM

I love blogs and blogging. Sharing my thoughts, feelings and interests feels wonderful.~....

From the time when I can remember being alive, I have always loved and been drawn to Butterflies. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do.

Today I was led to a number of blogs and profiles which I found very beautiful and out of the ordinary. I discovered and have enclosed this video which is extraordinarily enlightening to me.

If you find yourself on this page reading, please know you are meant to be here. There are no accidents in this or any other world.

I offer up my Unconditional Healing, Love & Peace to you, my Special Friend.....Open yourself to the reality of healing, love and true awakening in your life.

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Beautiful music and slide show~

Monday, December 15, 2008 9:22:53 PM

I haven't been here in a while but I'm going to post a few things. If you ever miss me... Find me here....http://www.myspace.com/gigi_perruzie

Othila - The Rune Masters (The Nine Worlds album by Achillea)-Vocals: Helene Horlyck
*~*~*~*
~Cosmologia Nórdica~

Esquema del Universo:
El mundo de los escandinavos está dividivo en varios lugares conectados por un gran árbol llamado Yggdrasil.

Los nueve lugares:
Los 9 lugares en los que se dividía el universo se distinguen por la terminación -heimr (hogar, reino, o mundo) y en algunas ocasiones -garðr (jardín o tierra).

En los últimos tiempos, la tendencia se inclinaba al nombrar los sitios de acuerdo con las criaturas que los habitaban. Las investigaciones enfocadas hacia las más antiguas fuentes sugieren que los nueve mundos eran designados con la terminación -heimr (por ejemplo Miðgarðr sería Mannheim, Ásgarðr sería Godheim) y eso haría que los nombres antiguos fueran tomados por los autores de la mitología al confundir ciertos lugares situados en los mundos, con los mundos en particular.

Además de Midgard los otros 8 mundos se pueden tomar como opuestos de la siguente forma:
Mundo: Muspelheim. Mundo opuesto: Niflheim Contraste: Fuego y Calor - Hielo y Frío
Mundo: Asgard. Mundo opuesto: Hel. Contraste: Cielo y Salvación - Infierno y Condena
Mundo: Vanaheim. Mundo opuesto: Jötunheim. Contraste: Creación - Destrucción
Mundo: Álfheim. Mundo opuesto: Niðavellir. Contraste: Luz - Oscuridad

Yggdrasil es el nombre del fresno gigante que conecta los distintos mundos. Se acepta la traducción corcel de Ygg, ya que Ygg es uno de los tantos nombres de Odín. Este árbol tiene tres niveles; sin embargo, hay algunas inconsistencias de acuerdo con las fuentes sobre cómo este árbol sitúa a diferentes mundos en el mismo nivel. Por ejemplo, en el nivel del medio, además de Midgard se sitúa a Nilfheim al norte, a Muspelheim hacia el sur y a Jotunheim en el este.

En la cima del fresno sagrado habitan el águila y el halcón, que representan sabiduría. Una ardilla llamada Ratatosk, que simboliza al intrigante, lleva y trae noticias por las ramas. Los cuervos de Odín, que informan al dios supremo lo que acontece en la tierra, también habitan la copa. Tres ciervos pastan junto al árbol despojándolo de su corteza, y el dragón Nidhogg come sus raíces.

En el cielo del fresno está el reino de los elfos luminosos, de figura "más bella que el Sol", en tanto los elfos oscuros, "más negros que el alquitrán", viven debajo del árbol.

El arcoiris, Bifrost ("camino oscilante") es el puente entre el cielo y la tierra.

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Proust’s questionaire...some not so easy questions.

Monday, September 8, 2008 7:18:49 PM

NAME: Gigi
OCCUPATION: HUMM, don't have on at the moment
MARITAL STATUS: single, thinking it would be nice if I could find the right person

1. WHAT'S YOUR IDEA OF PERFECT HAPPINESS?
Freedom to live in peace, have perfect health, a personal chief and more than enough money to take care of my many homes and bills~
2 - WHAT'S YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
Cockroaches
3 - WHAT'S THE TRAIT THAT YOU MOST DETEST ABOUT YOURSELF?
not being driven
4 - WHAT'S BEEN YOUR MOST DARING DEED IN LIFE?
Becoming a mother~
5 - ACCORDING TO YOU, WHICH IS THE MOST OVERVALUED VIRTUE?
(I had to google to get a list of virtues on this one)
My answer is:
Openness: Ready and willing to talk candidly.UnSecretive.
6 - WHICH VIRTUE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO POSSESS?
Determination
7 - WHICH ARE THE WORDS OR PHRASES THAT YOU USE THE MOST?
What the mess?, like, Cheers, (love, light and lots of salsa)
8 - WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST REGRET?
(This is a hard one) Not saving money
9 - HOW IS YOUR CURRENT MOOD?
CREATIVE
10 - WHAT'S YOUR MOST PRICED POSSESSION
PHOTOS OF MY FAMILY AND LOVED ONES
11 - WHICH DO YOU CONSIDER THE WORST MISERY?
Watching someone you love suffer~
12 - DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH ANY HISTORICAL CHARACTER?
IDK but I like a lot of them~
13 - WHICH QUALITY DO YOU LIKE MOST IN A WOMAN?
Real compassionate truthful friendship~
14 - AND IN A MAN?
handyman skills
15 - DO YOU HAVE A FICTITIOUS HERO?
Duncan McCloud of the Clan McCloud

16 - HOW WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO DIE?
Peacefully and after I have lived life to the fullest~
17 - DO YOU HAVE ANY NICKNAMES?
(Oh boy~ I've had plenty over the years) Gigi, Ginita, Zhee Zhee
18 - WHEN AND WHERE ARE YOU MOST HAPPY?
When my kids are telling me funny stories
19 - WHICH TRAIT IN A MAN'S PERSONALITY DO YOU LIKE THE LEAST?
Close-mindedness
20 - WHO HAS BEEN THE GREATEST LOVE IN YOUR LIFE?
Romantically "Francisco"
21 - WHEN DO YOU LIE?
Only when it I must~
22 -WHAT DO YOU THINK DEATH IS?
the beginning of a different kind of life~
23 -WHAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU'D NEVER FORGIVE?
I don't even what to know~
24 - WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
my kids, my dogs, my friends
25 - WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
PMS
26 - WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT?
Being an outstanding mother and surviving myself when I'm depressed
27 - WHICH OR WHAT IS FOR YOU A GOOD INSULT?
Humm, one that someone says without using vulgar language
28 - WHAT'S YOUR IDEA OF FIDELITY?
Loving someone so much that temptation doesn't exist.

1 comment

What a letter! This made me cry.

Monday, August 25, 2008 8:23:21 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday, July 22, 2007
An Open Letter to an Immigration Judge
The following letter was sent to us in February. It's from Margot Pepper, one of Xispas' good friends and an long-time activist for social justice and immigrant rights. We apologize for taking so long to put this on our blog. Still, we feel it's very pertinent and important even now. So here it is. Thank you, Margot.

February 14, 2007
To: The Honorable Immigration Judge,

I’m a 2nd grade Two-Way Spanish Immersion (TWI) teacher at Rosa Parks school in Berkeley. Today is Valentine’s Day. It was my last day with one of my top students, Gerardo Espinoza. His father received an order of deportation and is moving the family to Mexico to comply with the law. Gerardo is a stunning seven-year old, with unusually wide, round brown eyes, a cute little nose, full lips and round pale baby cheeks—the kind of child that Japanese anime depict. He’s wedded to a knit cap. The behavior of Gerardo and his brother Felipe, whom I taught nearly a decade ago, has been an example to everyone, including myself. They are both reasons why I love my job. Whenever I had difficult students, I’d seat them in a group with Gerardo or Felipe for a month and their behavior would improve tremendously. I attribute the brothers’ outstanding comportment in large part to their close-knit family, especially the loving care of their mother, Norma, who spends every lunch time with Gerardo.

Honorable Sir, I do not understand why Gerardo and José are being denied their rights as U.S. citizens to an education and parents, both; why, under the law, they are forced to choose. My colleagues and I envisioned their winning scholarships at U.C. Berkeley, eventually lifting them up to the middle class. Like their children, their parents are also model—I’d like to say citizens—but they’ve been denied this. Your honor is probably aware that their former attorney, Walter Pineda, was exposed on the news for defrauding immigrants and aiding in their deportation. He was disbarred on November 1, 2006, State Bar No. 97293.

Felipe Espinoza Senior has lived in the United States for 20 years. His wife Norma, has lived here for 14. Felipe Sr. has worked five to six days a week in jobs from Skates by the Bay to a steel mill in Oakland. Today, when he dropped by for Gerardo’s farewell Valentine party, in which the other students read him their going away valentines, I commented that I hadn’t seen him since Felipe Jr.’s conference a decade ago. Felipe Senior still looked about the same: like a well-groomed, dignified banker or professional. “I’ve been working,” he said, which I knew was an understatement. He is the sole provider for a family of five, six if we include his former exorbitant lawyer, Pineda.

Felipe Senior has always done everything by the book. He has always paid his taxes, car registration and insurance. He followed the letter of the law to apply for citizenship. And this, your honor is what I don’t understand. According to the SF Weekly (The Asylum Trap by Eliza Strickland, May 10, 2006,) immigrants are more likely to slip through the eye of a needle than they are to receive asylum or residency. Only 34 asylum applications were granted to Mexican immigrants nationwide. San Francisco Attorney Enrique Ramirez observes that immigrants can also apply for residency through work visas or petitions by family members who are residents. Mr. Espinoza was misled by Pineda, apparently like countless others, into falling for the “the ten-year pardon,” or cancellation of removal, though as you know less than 4,000 of these cases have been granted each year.
Now I ask you, what is the goal of a system which punishes the vast majority of those who follow the letter of the law and which rewards those who manage to keep their identities off the books?

The Espinozas met two of the three requirements needed for Mr. Espinoza’s cancellation of removal to Mexico: 1.) 10 years of continuous presence in the U.S. and 2.) proof of "good moral character” including a clean police record. But Pineda didn’t bother to convince the judge that Felipe Espinoza ‘s deportation would cause 3.) "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship" to a spouse, parent, or child who is either a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident—namely Gerardo and his other son José.

Immigrations lawyers have since informed me that Mr Espinoza likely lost his appeal because Immigration judges believe Gerardo’s rights as a citizen are not being violated since he is free to stay in the country himself--in foster care. (His mother has never worked and his father would be unable to support them from Mexico.) The lawyers tell me that no immigration judge would recognize tearing a child away from his parents and placing him or her in foster care as an “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship.
” Dear Honorable Sir, have you and your colleagues really become so hardened? Is the reason that you believe such a trauma is not “unusual” because you have caused such horrendous circumstances to become the norm among this population, rather than the exception?

If so, dear Honorable Immigration Judge, my question to you is, how can I go on teaching about equal rights and freedom of speech and all the things our constitution is supposed to defend, and that the very name of our school is supposed to represent, when the father of my students is deported simply because his skin is darker? Both my Latino and white students are U.S. citizens. So how do I explain to the class that one has the right to a family in the United States and the other citizens do not? Do you think they’ll understand why Felipe and Gerardo’s parents cannot gain citizenship in a country in which they’ve lived for 20 years and in which their children were born, yet it is all right for U.S.
citizens to buy up all the beach front property in the Espinoza’s motherland? Do you think such an incident is going to convince my students and their families that the United States is the compassionate model of democracy for the rest of the world?

Dear Honorable Judge, I ask you, what are you and your colleagues doing to shatter or foment these dreams and ideals?

The last time I saw Gerardo, I asked him to let me make a video so I could remember him.
He stands below the letters that read Rosa Parks School and recites by heart our Rosa Parks school pledge, which he and I still believe:

“To this day, I believe, we are here on this planet earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for ALL people to enjoy freedom.
”

I’d like to conclude with a poem Gerardo wrote for his parents for their Christmas present. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Margot Pepper

WITHOUT YOU
Oh Mamá and Papá,
Without you,
I’d never be able to
cook or eat your enchiladas again;
we wouldn’t play “trains” together anymore,
or go to the park
without you.

Without you,
I wouldn’t be able to have any fun;
I wouldn’t be able to feel even the breeze anymore,
or love;
I wouldn’t have anyone to play with
Without you.

Without you, I’d be as lonely as a baby abandoned
and left to cry alone in a house,
As sad as a little bird
that can no longer sing.

by Gerardo Espinoza,Age 7,
©December 2006
Written in a Christmas/holiday card to his parents

###

Margot Pepper is a journalist and author whose work has been published internationally by the Utne Reader, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, City Lights, Monthly Review, Hampton Brown and others. Her memoir, Through the Wall: A Year in Havana, was a top nomination for the 2006 American Book Award.

Found on this page:
http://www. xispas. com/blog/2007/07/open-letter-to-immigration-judge. html [/COLOR]