common courtesy

Has it been so long?

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:08:49 -0500

I'm going to bring everything up to date with a list, and maybe some pictures.
WARNING: Some graphic pictures, not for the faint of heart...

Came back from Central America in March (yeah!).

Brought home cellular parasites (boo!), Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. See Ethan's post for his take on the whole thing.

Spent 5 days in the hospital to treat our tasty parasites, had a severe allergic reaction, tongue swelled up real big.

If they aren't treated there is a 5% chance it will reoccur in my mucus membranes in 2-20 years (don't even google mucosal leishmaniasis unless you're trying to make yourself ill).

Plan B: 20 day IV drug (Pentostam) with a Picc Line, Heart monitor and lots of tests.

In the past month I've had over 10 EKG's, an echo cardiogram, 3 chest x-rays, enough blood work to feed an entire family of vampire monkeys, a small camera stuck down my nose to look at my throat, 3 Ultrasounds, a 24 hour heart monitor for all 20 days of treatment, a few hearty panic attacks complete with difficult breathing and skipped heart beats, and more time in the hospital than I ever cared to spend.

The parasites live in my skin, deep in the tissue, which are going to be some killer scars once they've healed.

This whole thing was started by tiny-no-see-ums, or sand flies that feasted on my little legs for months in Bocas Del Toro, Panama.

I finished treatment last week with a big fat giant sigh of relief. I'm on my way to being a normal person again.

Ethan and I had tickets to Madagascar to do some more volunteer work for two months this summer.

I had to cancel my ticket, since I'm being munched on by cell-sized monsters. I really wanted Ethan to go over still and do some good work, so he's now 34 hours of travel time away from where I'm sitting right now. When I go to sleep at night, he's waking up to his day. What a crazy world this is.

And now for some disgusting pictures!

First Heart Monitor

Left leg, 2nd day in hospital.

Before 2nd treatment of Pentostam.

Close up of the fabulous open sores...

As I type this my legs are starting to heal wonderfully. They basically scar overnight, which is such a relief after having what you see above for months. I can finally take a shower without pain, walk around without swollen legs, and one day I'll be able to swim and wear skirts and act like a normal person again!

Thanks to everyone at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for being wicked friggen' awesome, even though you were pumping heavy metals into my liver, heart and pancreas...

And thanks to my whole family and fabulous friends for calling me, cooking for me and driving me around to my hundreds of appointments and panics.

And love to Ethan and the whole team all the way across the world!

Days of Sweating Sugar

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:33:25 -0500

Every morning we wake up to a big bowl of fruit, or a banana leaf steamed with corn meal and chicken. Often there are glasses full of colored juices so sweet they stick like syrup to my tongue. The amount of sugar in ever spoonful of food and drink has formed a neat little pillow around my belly, despite sweating at every moment of the day. Some how we find ourselves at the only embarrassingly touristy cafe in the whole town with free wifi for hours and hours. It's also the only vaguely comfortable place to sit for a time without being covered in our own sweat. The streets are quiet this week during the day and then they erupt in processions and drunkenness in the evening to celebrate Semana Santa. Somehow, even in the heat of the sun, men lay passed out on the sidewalk completely oblivious to people walking over them or taxis screaming by.
The week of Spanish school was well overdue and it's absloutely absurd they we waited until our final week to do it. But that's just how things turned out and it actually excites me to do it all over again. Maybe next year.
I keep thinking of being back in Boston; the delicious sandwiches i will eat, and my shiny red bike that is locked away in our storage unit.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:18:25 -0600

Click to Play

Hello Nicaragua!

We're officially out of Panama, now stretching our legs and eating some fruit after a long bus ride to Granada, Nicaragua. I put together a little video of some more panama footage. The middle part is our trip to Boquete which is in the mountains of Panama. Lots of vine covered trees and coffee farms. Also a cool breeze which was such a relief after months on the Caribbean coast. Then we went to Panama city which was not my favorite city in the world. Their public transportation is mostly school buses from the states that have been airbrushed and decked out, complete with strobe lights inside and plush dashboards. So you can imagine the noise and exhaust that just permeates every nook of the city. It was tiring after a while, and we were trying not to spend any money which is nearly impossible in any city.

Looking for a sailboat from either side of the canal proved more difficult than we anticipated. Had we an entirely open schedule (ie not needing to get home by April) and were willing to stay in the city for more than a week, we would have no doubt found a boat. But as it was, we only found a chap going to Tahiti. There was also some passport shenanigans that would have been entirely avoided had we not stayed in an awful hostel our first couple nights. Don't stay at the Voyager International Hostel in Panama city. If it comes to staying there or sleeping on the street, choose the street. We haven't stayed in a hostel mostly this whole entire experience and we thought it would be a good cheap way to stay in the city. But after two nights of bed bugs and real asshole management I have zero guilt about publicly trashing this hostel on the internet.

That said, with incredible relief we find ourselves in Granada which is hot and beautiful. And old Spanish colonial city, the giant doors along the high walled facades open into huge courtyards. Some are shady and green, others are stocked with Jesus and Mary and some old lady in a rocking chair. Yesterday afternoon we arrived and after the essential internet and food (always internet first) I fell into a deep sleep. Having not slept on the bus ride up from panama city, i think it was more than 24 hours, it was that confused hazy sort of sleep. So a few hours later I woke up and Ethan was leaping out of bed running down to the street and i just said "I'll meet you down there!" not really aware of what was happening. I rushed down the ladder form the weird loft we're staying in and as i got onto the street there was a band playing this mesmerizing, slow music. Almost circus like, but more serious. And there was jesus on top of a big platform carrying the cross. And underneath him were men walking and swaying making it looking like jesus was bearing the cross on top of a small wave of men. So that was my introduction to Nicaragua.

Headed home March 26th, or to New York rather. Hopefully we can borrow some warm cloth when we get there...

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: panama, panama canal, hostal, nicaragua, granada, common courtesy

Where everyone is free to roam

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:25:21 -0600

Click to Play

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.

Where everyone gets to enjoy the beach, even giant pigs.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: pig, costa rica, puerto viejo, common courtesy

Desayuno

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:59:48 -0600

Click to Play

This is a quick vid from when we first arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica back in December. A typical breakfast sometimes includes deep fried weenies.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: costa rica, san jose, common courtesy

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:27:51 -0600

Up In the Hill, Bastimentos
This is our little casita overlooking the ocean. To the right is where we're helping to build a kitchen and bathroom addition. We're both doing a lot of child watching, hammering, dishes and playing with dogs at the moment. I've decided to not have children for another 20 years or so...
I would like to be putting more video up, but it's difficult getting enough power to edit a video. So for the moment a picture will have to do! Bastimentos is a roadless island only 15 minutes from Bocas town. Everything from groceries to building materials has to make it up a muddy path to where the casa/casita are, which can make for a sweaty, sweaty day. At night leaf cutting ants come out and you can find them by the millions carry leaves in a neat little line. sometimes there are so many ants, they sort of cut a path through the jungle 4 inches wide just from walking back and forth from different trees.
I can't believe it's February.

the work that doesn't end

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:52:38 -0600

Click to Play

Well, after much work and trials we decided to move on from the Shepard's Island project. This video is a little taste of the people and constant work going on daily which we decided wasn't fitting our idea of fun. Besides, we feel like we can put our energy and skills towards something that is more in line with our hearts.

For the next few weeks we will be in the Bocas area still, helping some other friends with an addition to their house (more to come on that). Then our plans are wide open. We might stay in the area depending on our continuing opportunities or we might head north in pursuit of some spanish schools in Guatemala, and maybe eventually travel our way to northern Mexcio and do some Ranch work.

Enjoy!

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:03:09 -0600

ash and doc, originally uploaded by commoncourtesy.

Working hard down here in Panama. Maya Point is the name of the property we're working at, on Shepard's Island. Many people speak English on this coast with a very thick Caribbean accent, so my Spanish is creeping along slower than I hoped! Chicita Banana company is huge down here and anywhere you travel outside of the islands there are fields and fields full of banana trees and pesticide laden bags hanging from the fruit (yum!) There are many types of banana at Maya Point and we're learning how to eat them up fast before they get too mushy! Also learning how to make coconut rice, fry the hell out of a chicken and upon waking in the morning we shake our cloths out extra hard to get rid of scorpians! yeeehaw!

Check out some more of my pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashleyhodson
and Ethan posted a great video here:
http://www.vagrantart.com/2007/12/28/maya-point/

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:49:19 -0500

Two weeks in Maine so far. We've been working our butts off, but also doing a little dance everyday to celebrate being out of the city. The cabin is looking swell, and we've started to seriously ask around the boat yards for anyone who needs crew. If anyone out there knows of a boat going south or beyond who needs two fabulous people to crew, send them my way. We've looked into some schooners but they're either full up or leaving too soon. We're looking for something more long term anyways, not just a delivery...

This is the kitchen with Jesus and Mary paint-by-number watchin' our backs.

This is the loft with a Cadillac seat as a very classy head board.

We just built the ladder, it needs a paint job.

I refinished two stoves and tiled this fabulous stove pad. The tiles were all salvaged. I'm a pro now so if you need something tiled, I'm up for hire.

A view of our striped floor pattern. We had left over flooring from jobs past so the floor is pieced together with beautiful old fur, newer maple and never before installed bamboo.
I could go on and on but this is all I have in me tonight. I hope the world is well in whatever corner you're reading this from.
ciao

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:24:32 -0500

On a not so sad note, E and I went to Coney Island to see MIA.
Kyra and Maddy came along.
We ate questionable meats, put our toes in the water and didn't get on any rides.

This was my first radish of the season!
The garden's are beautiful and the tomatoes are almost ready.
I can't wait to slurp into them...

Absurd amount of sailing books: Check.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:04:39 -0500

The Boat, she's gone.
For $100.00 a man came and took her away on a shoddy, undersized trailer. For now our boat dream is thwarted, but hopefully not for long.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:57:39 -0500

CANCELED-------->Glean House
Due to circumstances out of our control, our installation has been canceled. It's a long, frustrating story and hopefully in the future we will be able to finish what was started.
Until then let's learn a very important lesson here: get it in writing.

Thanks for everyone's love and support.
(Opening June 24th, noon-4pm)

The grounds of The Arsenal on the Charles complex and adjoining Town of Watertown property.
321 Arsenal Street
Watertown, MA 02472

This is an installation E and I have been working on, website to come soon.
Some other info on the day's events: Arsenal Arts Center

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:57:43 -0500

I got a pasta maker for my birthday (yeah, e!) and have been a slave to fresh pasta ever since.
Have you missed me, all of you invisible common courtesy watchers?

It's alright if you haven't.

Enjoy!

Zee Boat

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 08:16:22 -0500

Our new boat!, originally uploaded by commoncourtesy.

E and I bought a Vagabond 17, a little pocket cruiser sailboat teacup. We moved it from the Cape with much help from a few good men and lots of luck. It rests at my mom's house and when things warm up we're going to seriously fix the crap out of that thing. It's current name is Yellow Jacket, but that's a terrible name and obviously we'll figure out something clever.
Check out more pictures on my Flickr page:
http://flickr.com/photos/ashleyhodson/

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 01:05:06 -0600

Ethan returned from Guatemala with his story of the trash raft.
Here is a piece of it.
His blog is beautiful and should be checked out here: vagrantart.com
This is his original post about the Absolute Absolution.

Toronto

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 15:31:30 -0500

We stayed with Frizelle in her wonderful apartment. Thanks Sarah, we had a fabulous time!

We're in Minnesota now, staying with James Payne at the Franconia Sculpture park.

We head out tomorrow for South Dakota and then on to Seattle.

Yeehaw!

Getting Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:10:37 -0500

We're moving fast.

Have Money Will Vlog

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:25:19 -0500

My roatrip is now up for fundraising!

Check it out here:

Have Money Will Vlog

And the main website for my whole project is here:

sustainableroute.com

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 10:23:39 -0500

Road Trip Machine

The preparations for the upcoming road trip are beginning. Here's our boat.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:43:52 -0500

ONE YEAR OF VLOGGING!

Today is day 366 of my video blog! This is a replay of my first post ever.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 08:53:45 -0500

SF Oil Awareness

This is a re-vlog from The Sister, ryan, over on the other coast.

Very well put together, check it out!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 08:25:15 -0500

Graduation, Baby.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Sun, 28 May 2006 18:37:59 -0500

When it Pours

Help.

It's almost done, but I'm not ready.

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Thu, 11 May 2006 14:07:31 -0500

Where have I been?

In response to "hey, where did you go?"

I graduate in 23 days.

I have a show going up in 2 days with the rest of the senior visual arts majors.

My job started in Boston so I'm commutting back and forth from VT when I can.

Classes and final projects are at full tilt.

And oh yah, I was about to sell my car after graduation, but the tming belt went.

How's that for a sassy answer?

Hey, check out the wiki about my Senior Project:

Subsistence

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley Hodson) — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 17:11:18 -0600

Walk Home

This is a longer one.

Don't be afraid to comment, I know you're out there watching (australia). Even if you want to tell me what you had for breakfast. I want dialogue, even if you think my stuff sucks, or you don't care for anything I do. I don't really do all of this with a specific audience in mind, but if you're watching, I'm curious about you.

Music by The Books, actually there are a few spoken parts in the music, not recorded by me.