“Is this where,” she asked, “the world is going to end?”

If you haven't yet heard, the world is going to end today - the hotest news from Oakland.

In an Article by JESSE McKINLEY in this week's New York Times state, "OAKLAND, Calif. — If Harold Camping and his followers are correct, Gertrude Stein’s famous comment about Oakland — that there is no there there — may finally be true. If not, some local churchgoers say they will set up encampments outside the headquarters of Mr. Camping, the self-proclaimed biblical soothsayer who has prophesied the end of the world on Saturday, with an eye toward consoling the disappointed."


To celebrate the occasion I am attending an end-of-the-world party tonight, ironically located on a boat - very Noah-like, at which we will eat all of our favorite foods just in case the world is ending. 

Meeting Geek - Scheduling Balance

Monday and Tuesday of this week my school had two days of meetings for faculty. My colleagues were commenting about how much they dread stand meetings. Not me, I love meetings because I'm a meeting geek. My colleagues got a good laugh from that title. To me, meetings are a time to build rapport, connect on a vision and mission and to share best practices. Plus, the one-to-one conversations that occur as we move from one meeting to the next are the ones that help me feel like part of a team.

Between meetings a colleague and I were talking about how we build a theme for each year - clearly, we are business management instructors. Ironically, she too made this the Year of Balance and now we are balance buddies. Listening to her and how she is actually not making room for pursuing her own art, I realized that I have to make time for being creative and social this year.

Talking to my career coach, Bob, in Houston, he suggested that I build an Amy Portfolio composed of three buckets: Personal, Professional, Educational. From there I need to figure out the definition of each bucket and the percentage that I want to invest in each one - with the understanding that they are flexible. As Bob says, "you don't want to cheat on yourself." My inclination is to make these buckets Love, Learn and Create as opposed to the other designations, but there is so much overlap with these categories that I can put anything I do in any of the buckets.

The first step I've taken is to eliminate anything from my life that was only draining and not uplifting. As of December 31, I took big strides in that direction. Next, I've scheduled out my weekly calendar with the classes I'm teaching and designated class prep/grading time. From there I've blocked out Tuesday evenings for taking a ceramics course at Studio One in Oakland - plus I registered! Thursdays are designated group fun activity nights for salsa dancing, hanging out with my cousins at Blush in the Castro, and any other activity that may be of interest.

My schedule is quite fantastic because I have two full days during the week when I am not teaching - allowing me to take on consultancies and coaching clients. Now to make sure I incorporate my EdD Doctoral homework. Mantra: Value my worth. Have to keep reminding myself that if I take something on, something has to go - even if I love meetings.

Killing My Lobster Captures Oakland

The sketch comedy troupe Killing My Lobster has absolutely captured the hipster view of Oakland in this promotional video. Scary enough, I live between the Temescal district and Bay Bridge Inn. Now to try some Ghostriding.

Bravo KLM for using YouTube to showcase your work.

Seeing Home Through Different Eyes

I arrived home to Oakland just now from DC/CT and my apartment feels...organized, small, clean, well-designed, my personal love nest of all-things-Amy.

Fionna had a bit of a dent accident while I was gone. I can't tell if someone tried to break into her or if they smashed the car door with their car door. Poor girl. She's just so bootiliscious.

Expose Yourself

Searching for an Oakland City Official's email address I cam across this scary website called USSearch.com. Amazing how much personal information is available about yourself online.

Oakland Arts Thrive

Over the past two days I had the pleasure of participating on a City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program grant panel. Sitting on a grant panel is the best possible way to create a community of practice and really get to know some amazing folks. This is the third or fourth time I've sat on this panel over the years. In past years funding was limited but we knew it was there. This year the City of Oakland has cut funding and reduced the already meager program staff, so we were really doing this process to prove that Oakland arts needs to be supported.

After months and perhaps even years of hearing only bad news about Oakland I spent the past two days celebrating Oakland's diverse arts and cultures. Over thirty organizations submitted proposals and nearly every one of them is promoting excellence and pride in the community. Ranging from professional music ensembles to inner-city youth arts programs, these organizations are keeping Oakland healthy despite the odds. The city funding being cut is like shooting Oakland in the foot.

I also had the opportunity to get to know my fellow panelists and the passionate and highly-qualified staff of the funding program. It is like being on a jury for two days. You start to know each other's strengths, weaknesses, preferences and can even predict their thoughts. To reflect Oakland's diversity the panel itself was highly diverse in so many ways. In discussing these arts organizations that promote harmony and understanding we built resonance amongst panelists. There were times when we cried, laughed and sighed together and with the applicants who were invited to respond to our questions.

Oakland rocks. City council members - please fund the arts and keep Oakland rocking.