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Welcome students and colleagues, friends and family, if you have made it this far, I encourage you to stay a bit longer and read about some of my work. The writings reflect many of the thoughts that I carry with me throughout the course of a day, evening, and often times, the dreams that take hold of me while I sleep. The verses represent the inner voice in me that speaks of the past, the present, and the future. Writing is my ultimate form of expression that allows me to reflect, inspire, get well, and grow. The energy that feeds my work, I pull from themes that correspond to Mesoamerica, my ancestral place of birth, and the area I study. References to symbols of the past, deities, and natural phenomenon, dominate certain pieces, and blend with current verses of life, love, and death. I have never taken a writing class... the only "style" that exhibits my work is the one that I create from my imagination, heart, and dreams.

I’m an avid builder and horticulturalist, and so I spend a lot of my time building things and growing different types of herbs and plant food. I do not identify as an artist nor do I make art for aesthetic purposes; my work solely materializes a ritual-ceremonial or utilitarian function. The craft of working with wood I learned from my father, by watching him design and build homes throughout much of my adolescent youth. I also learned how to work with stone by watching my uncles construct brick and rock landscapes, in the wealthy neighborhoods were they labored during much of the 1980s, when construction was booming. My paternal grandpa Juan was also a craftsman, hence why all his sons became builders of some sort, and so building has always been an integral part of my family’s trade history. I learned about plant cultivation from my abuelita Mercedes on my paternal side and my abuelito Severo on my maternal side. Much of the landscaping strategies that I learned from my grandparents came with them from Mexico when they migrated to Alta California, in the early 1960s, along with my parents. A lot of the building and planting strategies that my family has implored have been in use for over 3,000 years. It is my purpose to revitalize and sustain these ancestral practices through ceremony, household building, and plant cultivation.

My fascination with building and growing food is not only familial, but also physical-skeletal (see my Physical Anthropology 101 blog), and because so, I have an admiration for the morphology of the human hand. The hand is unlike any part of the body, and because we use our hands every day, we literally take them for granted, sometimes failing to notice their full potential use. Our hands are our first weapons of choice in an attack, yet they are the first part of the body that we extend when helping or consoling someone. With our hands, we build shelter, writer letters, prepare food, and unknowingly, make love. Our hand-digit coordination is unique because it is precise, well adapted for creating, and for using and making tools. Hand-digit use coordination has been a part of our human evolutionary past since we inhabited arboreal environments, way before we developed bipedalism. When combined with tool use, the creative use of the hands has the capability of decolonizing our minds and bodies.

My inquiry into the relationship between hand-bone morphology usage and social behavior remains in the early stages. Nonetheless, some preliminary findings I modeled in a recent paper where I discuss the role of the hands, and early human tool making, in the creation of spatial wellness. The paper is published in Vol. 3 No. 4 of the International Journal of Development and Sustainability.


More on Aloe Vera

My friend Polly Wolf sent me these articles and links after noticing my previous blog on Sabila

Aloe-emodin Is a New Type of Anticancer Agent with Selective Activity against Neuroectodermal Tumors1
Teresa Pecere, M. Vittoria Gazzola, Carla Mucignat, Cristina Parolin, Francesca Dalla Vecchia, Andrea Cavaggioni, Giuseppe Basso, Alberto Diaspro, Benedetto Salvato, Modesto Carli, and Giorgio Palu`2
Department of Histology, Microbiology, and Medical Biotechnologies, Medical School [T. P., C. P., G. P.], Division of Oncology and Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School [M. V. G., G. B., M. C.], Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Medical School [C. M., A. C.], and Department of Biology [F. D. V., B. S.], University of Padova, 35100 Padova and Istituto Nazionale Fisica della Materia and Department of Physics, University of Genova, 16146 Genova [A. D.], Italy

Abstract
Here we report that aloe-emodin (AE), a hydroxyanthraquinone pres- ent in Aloe vera leaves, has a specific in vitro and in vivo antineuroecto- dermal tumor activity. The growth of human neuroectodermal tumors is inhibited in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency without any appreciable toxic effects on the animals. The compound does not inhibit the proliferation of normal fibroblasts nor that of hemopoietic progenitor cells. The cytotoxicity mechanism consists of the induction of apoptosis, whereas the selectivity against neuroectodermal tumor cells is founded on a specific energy-dependent pathway of drug incorporation. Taking into account its unique cytotoxicity profile and mode of action, AE might represent a conceptually new lead antitumor drug.




 The effect of aloe vera gel/mild soap versus mild soap alone in preventing skin reactions in patients undergoing radiation therapy.
Olsen DL, Raub W Jr, Bradley C, Johnson M, Macias JL, Love V, Markoe A.

Source

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, USA.
Abstract

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES:

To determine whether the use of mild soap and aloe vera gel versus mild soap alone would decrease the incidence of skin reactions in patients undergoing radiation therapy.

DATA SOURCES:

Prospective, randomized, blinded clinical trial.

SETTING:

Radiation therapy outpatient clinic in a cancer center affiliated with a major teaching medical facility.

SAMPLE:

The mean age of the participants was 56 years. The group consisted of Caucasians (74%) and African Americans (26%). The ethnic mix was non-Hispanic (65%) and Hispanic (35%).

METHODS:

Prophylactic skin care began on the first day of radiation therapy. Patients cleansed the area with mild, unscented soap. Patients randomized into the experimental arm of the trial were instructed to liberally apply aloe vera gel to the area at various intervals throughout the day.

FINDINGS:

At low cumulative dose levels < or = 2,700 cGy, no difference existed in the effect of adding aloe. When the cumulative dose was high (> 2,700 cGy), the median time was five weeks prior to any skin changes in the aloe/soap arm versus three weeks in the soap only arm. When the cumulative dose increases over time, there seems to be a protective effect of adding aloe to the soap regimen.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE:

Skin products used to treat radiation dermatitis vary among institutions. Nurses should be aware that some patients may be predisposed to skin problems. Nurses must be aware of newly developed products and research regarding these products so that effective treatment can be instituted.

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