Estella Ramirez

Hello,

I appreciate the careful analysis and all the hard work that goes into instating traffic signals for the safety of our communities. For that I thank you. However, in the case of the traffic signal mentioned in the link below, placed directly in front of the Neutra VDL House, the placement represents a mistake. It has overlooked something that you can’t be fully blamed for and left many people, who admire the architectural, historical, and aesthetic significance of this house pretty upset. Architectural students and enthusiasts visit the house daily to learn from Neutra’s innovations, which have influenced modern architecture and aesthetics to this day. Part of the genius of the design transcends what materials Neutra used, and how he made it functional inside into the way in which the design of the house brings the outside view in. The view from inside I’m sure is now obstructed, and the view of the house for passerby outside is now grossly marred. My husband and I have visited twice and are saddened to hear that changes in the natural topography have already negatively affected the original design. We’re told the lake used to be closer to the house and had a stunning relationship with the design. Sad but not easy to fix. To put the traffic signal right in front of the house goes a step too far, and I believe there is a solution.

Please reconsider the traffic signal placement, in favor of one that will be safe for the community, but also be considerate of its history.

“Oh Nooo! Neutra Photograph of the Day”

Many thanks,
Estella Ramirez

The vet told us that Vash is obese!

When we first found him, nearly three years ago, he was emaciated and got fevers all the time. He smelled funny, like he’d been eating out of the trash. His teeth were not pretty…

Now he’s made up for lost time: he has a big beautiful Buddha belly, a sweet baby smell, and squeaky clean teeth.

Our vet also said REM was, not obese, but over-weight. See REM below, pictured in a shoe box a size too small.

After watching their food intake for a few weeks, we’ve noticed they don’t even finish their allotted calories. Maybe they just need to be more active. Do they make kitty treadmills?

“Reinvent America and the world.”
–Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I like reading this imperative. It doesn’t mean we should all reach international stardom like the Beats did or like Barack Obama has. We do, each of us, have the potential to reinvent ourselves, our communities, even our country and our world, but I don’t, not at this moment anyway, feel the pressure to reach every ear in the universe. Right now I can let go of old perceptions and create new ones. I can, in the world of my poetry, change anything I want.

My mom is really nice. She posted an announcement of my engagement to Carlos in the Laredo Morning Times. Here’s the link:

Engagement Announcement

A special note: let it be known that, as of yet, I have never published a poem on the internet…

It was recently brought to my attention that a person named Estella Ramirez has submitted a poem to poetry.com. The site is questionable, at best (the site is a scam), so I would never submit to it. And let’s be honest, I’ve written some bad poems in my life, and will probably continue to write bad poems into the future, but I’d like the burden of only those bad poems I write myself, and not those of others who submit poems online under my name, even though it is, of course, their name too.

This is the problem with my namesake. If this other Estella Ramirez had been a mechanic, or a painter, well then, I’d be just fine; what an interesting story to tell about the “other” Estella Ramirez…but what happens when both of us are aspiring poets? How to distinguish?

I would like to believe that my work would be my signature in the universe; surely no one could read my work and then read hers and believe they are from the same author? But what if I am wrong, and both mine and hers get lost in the fray of poetry’s mediocrity, neither of us distinguished from even each other–what a sad fate for our poems.

And what if someone I know runs into this person’s poetry, and believes (humiliatingly enough for me) that I had written these? Friends, acquaintances, you have been alerted.

But I can’t help but imagine what would happen if one or the other of us did gain some recognition for our poems, or even reach large audience even hundreds of years from now. What would Estella Ramirez-ians make of the “other” Estella Ramirez? Her or me?

This is my second Radiohead show to date. My first Radiohead concert was a tour date in Columbia, Maryland for the Hail to the Thief tour. I don’t remember the name of the venue, but I remember I had lawn tickets, and it was beautiful to hear them play live for the first time, even if I couldn’t really see them. I had a small step up this time for the In Rainbows tour, seats right in front of the lawn, on the 17th of May 2008, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion in Houston.

According to this comment on an article in the Austinist, when Radiohead opened for R.E.M on tour, the Houston audience was so enthralled that it moved Thom Yorke to promise always to come back. The comment’s author says he heard Thom say it. Well, true or not, Radiohead did come back for two encores!

The Set List
15 Step
Bodysnatchers
Lucky
Morning Bell
Nude
Pyramid Song
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
The National Anthem
Faust Arp
Videotape
Optimistic
Where I End and You Begin
Reckoner
Everything In Its Right Place
All I Need
There There

1st Encore
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
House of Cards
Climbing Up the Walls
Planet Telex
Street Spirit (Fade Out)

2nd Encore
You and Whose Army?
Idioteque

Overhanging pipes were arranged across the stage like an alcove for the band set up. These made for a brilliantly colorful light show. My fiancé observed that at times song titles scrolled across the pipes, as can be seen in this video by “blakeeb”:

Let’s be honest, I am completely biased. If Radiohead did not do the most magnificent show in the world, I wouldn’t know it. For me, of course it was. Nonetheless, judging from the other show of theirs I witnessed, and by the quality of their light show, this one was a particularly spectacular one. Radiohead fans won’t go wrong catching a show of theirs this tour.

This show started strong, with two high-energy tracks from In Rainbows. Performance highlights from the set list include “Morning Bell,” “Nude,” “Pyramid Song,” “Optimistic,” and “Everything in its Right Place.”

And then, for the 1st encore, things got even better, as though the band was expecting to encore (justifiably confident fellows that they are) and had saved their biggest, more shattering performances for that. “Climbing Up the Walls” was gritty and good, and “Planet Telex” was a big production, with great big sound and psychedelic rainbow colors (appropriate to the tour) pulsing through the afore mentioned pipes. That should have been the show ender, actually, but they ended with a fantastic “Street Spirit.” Not terribly anti-climactic. And then of course there was the 2nd encore. Can’t go wrong with that.

Found:

Beautiful female calico.

If she is yours, or if you are interested in providing a loving home to her, please e-mail found-kitten [at] estellaramirez.com

This precious thing wandered into our lives, but we already have 3 cats–absolutely no room for more. We’re feeding her because she’s so skinny! And she’s a sweetie who will make someone a great friend. Please give her a home! Look how cute she is!!!!!

This is an interview with John Wood, conducted for Front Porch Journal.

http://frontporchjournal.com/issue60_interview_wood.asp

This is a review of John Wood’s Endurance and Suffering: Narratives of Disease in the 19th Century

http://www.frontporchjournal.com/issue60_review_estella.asp

Someone from our apartment building responded to our flier, saying her sister had lost the kitten when she was in the area. Thomas (which is what we called him lovingly) has been returned to his rightful home