NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For the past two years now I've been speaking to i hagga-hu Sumåhi , almost entirely in Chamorro. For a long time I wasn't sure if this was paying off, and if she was retaining anything, as more and more of the words she started using or started understanding were either English or Cantonese. Fihu estaba annai hu kuentusi gui' gi fino' Chamoru, ha atan yu' kulang langga' yan taikinemprende. In order to make sure she understood me sometimes, I would even resort to using certain Cantonese words. In the past few weeks however all of this has changed, and at last she is starting to both use and understand some basic Chamorro words. At this age, learning words for Sumåhi is actually an exciting activity, because while all around her live to see her face light up and smile, she is actually always on the search as well for ways that she can make our faces light up. Using certain words is one of the ways that Sumåhi can get everyone around her laughing or happy. Which

A few weeks ago I was forwarded this article from Dublin, Ireland by Fil Alcon, the owner of the Guam Gallery of Art at the Chamorro Village: FREE ART FRIDAY....... Out of cash? Pick up free art on streets of Dublin Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:33am EST DUBLIN (Reuters Life!) - The financial crisis has hit Ireland especially hard, so Dubliners will appreciate getting a little surprise for nothing. The "Free Art Friday" movement has reached the Irish capital. The group, with "no known creators or hierarchy," asks established artists and amateurs to leave pieces of art at random places -- on benches, cash machines or telephone booths -- for the next passer-by to pick up and take home if they wish. It is absolutely free but there is a note with an e-mail address at the back if they want to thank their donor. "Free Art Friday is a terrific idea," said artist Sean Hillen, whose photo montage prints were among the hundreds of items scattered around the city througho

On November 29th, the Chamorro creative arts group " Ginen I Hila’ I Maga’taotao Siha " wil be hosting a Stories and Songs Festival, which is free and open to the public and will feature Chamorro/Guam storytelling as well as arts and crafts. The group has been organizing a series of very enjoyable presentations recently, even having on before Halloween, where they told ghost stories on the beach at Ipan. I'll be participating in this festival in a number of ways. First off me and i che'lu-hu Kuri will have a table set up in order to display the tools of our grandfather Tun Jack Lujan. My grandpa has been a Chamorro blacksmith for more than 80 years now, and whereas the island once had several dozen tool makers, he is now the only traditional one, or one who comes from a generational legacy. Put i mafana'guen-na i che'lu-hu, esta gaige gi entre i familia-ku kuatro na henerasion herrero. Yesterday I posted some videos of grandpa, Kuri and me working in the sho

Last month I started yet another regular post thread which brought together my love for anime and the Chamorro language. I named it " Sakigake Chamorro " which translates to "Charge ahead Chamorro!" and is taken from the manga/anime Sakigake! Cromartie High School! What this thread amounts to is the theme songs for anime translated into Chamorro in more fun, less precise fashion. I named it "Sakigake Chamorro" because the first song I chose to translate was from Cromartie High School. This evening, as I was trying to unwind from a long, stressful week of teaching I decided to translate another anime song. I decided to pick one that would be a lot of fun to translate, this meaning one which is really catchy, but also completely nonsensical and insane. The one that immediately popped into my mind from those on my computer was "Ride on Shooting Star" from the anime FLCL. I've never really liked this one, but i che'lu-hu Jack really does,

I'm sure its a constant refrain in almost any place, but in Guam, being an island, far away from its colonial center, this refrain seems almost oppressive at times. What I'm referring to is the idea that "nothing is going on" or that there's "nothing to do." When I was an undergraduate on Guam I would hear this all the time, usually as a preface to a rant expressing a desire to move to the states or to leave the island and its smallness behind. I know today a lot of why this urge to leave the island exists, apart from the insularity or isolation of any island, there is a colonial dimension to this desire. At times I may have even felt this, especially when I was first establishing myself as an artist on Guam, and had trouble selling my abstract work or finding places to exhibit my work. I pined for a larger market with a more mature or "modern" buying audience, instead of the Japanese tourists and local population who just wanted beach scenes

Este i mensahi ginnen i Maga'lahin i CNMI para i Tetset na Konfrensian Chamorro. Hu po'po'lo i mensahin i ma'gas i CNMI, sa' i mensahin ginnen i Maga'lahin Guahan Si Felix Camacho, gi fino' Ingles! Lana, taisetbe ayu na taotao. Esta hu tungo' na ti sina fumino' Chamorro Si Camacho, lao meggai na taotao manmacho'cho'cho' para Guiya ni' sina! Ti mappot, umbree. Put este yan i guinaiya para i militat muna'ti ya-hu i tiempon-na Maga'lahi. Maninisista hit pa'go "leadership" gi i lenguahin, kutturan yan atte Chamorro na banda siha, lao taigue Si Camacho gi este siha, yan fihu i taotao na ha ayek para u ma'gasi este, ti mangkapas. Annok ta'lo este, gi i mensahi-na para i konfrensia. Ma usa tres ha' na sinangan Chamorro, " Hafa Adai" "Un dangkolo na Si Yu'us Ma'ase" yan "Sinseru yan Magahet." Eiiii, adai. Despensa kontiempo put i dinilitreha, sumahnge taimanu ma dili

The almost week long break from this blog has been an unfortunate side effect of the shifting of priorities since I came back to Guam. I put alot into this blog over the past two months mainly because of the Democratic National Convention and also my own close following of issues of race and gender in the campaign and the pick of Sarah Palin for VP by John McCain. I'm scaling things back now in order to spend more time trying to be a good father to my 17 month old nene Sumåhi, and also working on finishing up my dissertation as soon as possible. Both activities require lots of attention and plenty of focus, and so sadly I might be posting less than usual for the next few months. This doesn't mean that I don't have plenty floating around in my head to post about, in fact sigi ha' machuchuda' i hinasso-ku desde matto yu' para Guahan! I have way too many things to write about now that I'm back, Guam is far from boring there is plenty happening that I'm

Things do you should know about: The " suicide " of PFC Lavena Johnson To act go to Color of Change.org On July 13, Minutemen in San Diego protest the 40th National Council of La Raza meeting. Israeli military shoot at protesters and kill a 9 year old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank. Senator John Mccain takes another step towards war with Iran. Randy Pausch , famous for his "Last Lecture" died on July 25th. Alaska Senator and longtime political ally of other non-quite American "political communities" is indicted on seven counts of failing to report a combined $250,000 worth of "favors" from Veco Corporation. This is not a big surprise to anyone who knows anything about Ted Stevens, and isn't not a surprise either that he's still gonna run for re-election this year. A B-52 scheduled for a fly-over of Guam's Liberation Day parade on July 21st, crashes into the sea. It is the seventh incident involving milit

Sumåhi at 2 months Sumåhi at 4 months Sumåhi at 7 months Sumåhi at 9 months Sumåhi at 11 months Sumåhi at 12 months Sumåhi at 14 months Sumåhi at 15 months

No time to post anything today, got plenty of things to do, but let me sate you with some other peoples' thoughts on the whole Wesley Clark and John McCain dance of death over Presidential qualifications. ****************************** Published on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 by The Huffington Post Gen. Clark and That POW Thing McCain Hates Talking About by Paul Waldman The knives sure are out for retired Gen. Wesley Clark. In case you missed it: Interviewed by CBS’ Bob Schieffer on Sunday’s Face the Nation, Clark said that for all the national security experience John McCain claims, he never held a position of command during wartime. “I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war,” Clark said. “He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility.” Clark then continued, “Bu