I haven't posted in ages, mainly because I have been really busy, however there is much to catch up with, concerning politics, religion, etc.
First off, I have a restrained optimism over the Democrats bulldozing of the Fourth Reich (to see a different take on using the whole Nazi allusion, check out Terry Carroll's Unrepentant Idealist, where he calls the Democrats Nazis for the pro-choice 'baby killing' stance. I love Terry, but we went head to toe on this issue. Either way, he brings up many valid points).
I'm glad the overwhelming votes for Democrats, across the U.S., was like a tazer gun sending a high voltage jolt straight into the crotches of Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld, and I am pleased to see Nancy Pelosi make it to the position she's been waiting for, over the years. Given the elitist gaffes that the splintered party has made over the past eight years, I certainly hope that they take the power that they have and use it for good and not evil. Pelosi choosing Murtha was not a good start, but let's hope that it was just a shaky beginning to a glorious reign.
Let's not screw it up for 2008. I say work and work fast, balls-to-the-wall style, to counteract everything that this dimwitted, lying mama's boy, along with his father's advisors, have done to this country, the Constitution and Habeas Corpus.
In Georgia, nothing changed. Sonny "Mah Flag" Perdue easily won, because the status quo of Georgia is stable and, more importantly, because of the porcine antics of Mark Taylor.
First of all, even I didn't want to vote for Mark Taylor. The guy looks like he's one KFC meal away from needing the paddles applied to his large chest. What is it about the South, especially, that we love our male politicians big, fat, and redneck, but if a hefty WOMAN dared to run for office, that would be the first thing she'd be attacked for, or pummeled into the ground with nasty political ads alluding to her weight.
Mark Taylor is HUGE, and Bubba Perdue looks like he belongs in Sanford Stadium, every week, telling off the UGA team, and eating Varsity chilidogs.
Back to Mark Taylor. Every word he said about Sonny Perdue was right. Sonny's shady land deals cost Georgia taxpayers millions, and ruined nature conservation to the core. But Mark's attacks were really nasty, and he took the first swing. Here in Georgia, little old Southern ladies-who-lunch don't like it when a proper Southern gentleman like Taylor attacks an incumbent "Guv-nah" of the great state of Georgia.
Purdue did that "aw shucks" act, every time Taylor hit him in the gut with the truth, and he already had a cadre of television ads to combat Taylor, even before Taylor lobbed the first verbal volley across the net.
What's interesting is the Marietta Daily Journal—Marietta is a very conservative city, in which I happen to abide—wrote a scathing editorial about the seriousness of Perdue's land dealings. It's not that these things did not go un-noticed. It's that the cult of personality won out, yet again. Taylor came across as angry and shrill, and Perdue spent most of his debate time combating Taylor's assertions.
Actually, the Libertarian candidate was the usual breath of fresh air, pointing out how both Perdue and Taylor were not even touching the real issues that affect Georgians.
As usual, status quo won out.
Losing my religion
25 years ago, Norman Lear—television producer and creator of such shows as All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, etc.—got sick and tired of flipping his television dial and watching evangelical pastors who were basically telling their congregation and viewing audience how to think, politically. Better yet, he realized that these TV wranglers were telling folks that they were "Good Christians" if they voted or thought one way, and "Bad Christians" if they voted and thought in another way.
From that, Lear created People for the American Way, a watchdog organization for we progressives and dare I say, "Liberals."
Norman Lear single-handedly changed the way we view television, and All in the Family taught me more about politics, religion and the separation of Church and State, tolerance for all, than any civics class I took in school. I grew up with men like Archie Bunker in my own family, and what was discussed between Meathead, Gloria, Archie and Edith, many times while sitting around the family dinner table, were real issues that many families argued about in this country. It's amazing that All in the Family even made it on the airwaves when it did. I am not so sure it would work in 2006, except for a possible run on HBO.
The work Lear continues to do with PFAW is very much needed and appreciated in these days of robbing of the Constitution, advocating torture, and the movement of this country toward a theocracy.
Check them out.
People for the American Way
After growing up in such a right wing, conservative and narrow-minded institute such as the Southern Baptist Church, I grew to really dislike organized religion in general. The version of God that I had, while growing up, was one of tyrannical judge, who was more interested in catching me making a mistake, than in showing me that this world was created so we could enjoy it, not live in fear of eternal damnation 24/7.
Wasn't that the point of Christ's dying on the cross? So we may live eternal lives, free from the fear of burning in hell?
As of late, I have truly felt like I lost my religion. I don't mind attending any church, but I truly do not need any man-made institution and its dogma trying to tell me how I think is wrong, how I vote may be wrong, or telling me who is 'bad' or who is 'good.' Once men and women get involved in trying to figure out what the world's creator thinks, or what the world's creator really meant by the words in the Bible, you are in for big trouble.
This point was hammered home when I watched the film, "Pleasantville" yesterday. I had seen snippets of it over the years, but I had never watched the whole thing from start to finish. Though it completely hands you the obvious, concerning freedom of thought, speech, etc., it's a great beginner film for understanding the pitfalls of being a reactionary, or being under the rule of a fascist or totalitarian regime.
But given all that is written above, I still have no problem with attending church per se, just not a reactionary, narrow-minded church. Hard to find one that isn't in Georgia, but my partner grew up Episcopal and so did my mother. It trips me out that my mother grew up Episcopal and gave it all up for my dad, who was a Southern Baptist. Recently, she told me how the pastor of the first Baptist church that my parents attended in a tiny south Georgia town, told her that she was not truly a 'Christian' since she was baptized in the Episcopal church.
See, I would have walked right then and there, if I were her.
I still ask her, repeatedly, how she allowed her children to go to a church and practice a religion that spouted forth such prodigious prognostications such as "KISS means Knights in Satan's Service," or told everyone that Christ was going to return by 1983, so give as much money as you can to the church. It boggles my partner's mind that I turned out so liberal, after growing up the way that I did.
That leads me to my new obsession with reading a certain blog. How is that a woman, who left the Episcopal church because of the evil "liberals" who she feels are invading the rest of the moral, upstanding and, oh yes, CONSERVATIVE Episcopalians, converted to Catholicism to escape the moral depravity of the Episcopal Church, but yet she seems to live her life to report on everything Episcopal?
I've posted about her before, and I've dickered with even giving her any more of the pathetic attention she craves, but I almost feel like producing a Zelig-type mockumentary about her.
This is a woman, who is obviously very intelligent, but there is this constant need she has to blast mainline Episcopalians, who happen to agree with the General Convention, or TEC's new Bishop.
She's very, very conservative and she would probably refer to the late Sen. Barry Goldwater as a bed-wetting liberal, but she pumps it up a notch. She goes after those who she feels are ruining "the church" and will spare no time in trying to viscerate them on her blog.
Believing that she is pithy enough to take on the emotionalism, bleeding-heart sentiments of those "rats" she despises, her blog ends up reading like the fanatical rants of someone who believes the Virgin Mary speaks through her salad fork.
I've never seen someone who is so fed up with modern Episcopalianism, who left the church because of what she despises, give an almost Joan Rivers commentary on Episcopal Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori's Investiture. She spent paragraphs dissecting every movement Schori made, especially a very gay commentary on Schori's choice of vestments.
Despite the inadvertent humor, after doing a little background check on her, it was easy to find out all about her own hypocritical life.
Just simply scanning her own blog archives gave me, a part-time researcher, enough information to find out that this very devout and pious Catholic, who abhors the "evil" she sees within the Episcopal church, also is quite fond of two very well known atheists!
She is quite the fan of magicians Penn and Teller. Hey, I love them too. I think Penn Gillette is brilliant and I love their show, "Bull*&!t" on Showtime. Each week, they take on some fad, religious institution and prove that it's, well, bulls**t. My confusion with this woman is not that she worships Penn and Teller, but that she's so fanatical about her right-wing Catholicism, and so fanatically against the current Episcopal majority, because they are allegedly immoral leftists, who—according to her—promote homosexuality and do not support procreation.
Yet, how can she have such a devotion to two atheists, who are magicians? In the past, her new-found religion would have put them on trial and executed them, for their "magic." In one episode alone, they mocked Mother Theresa to the 10th degree.
So, maybe I don't get it. Maybe I don't get how she can worship Penn and Teller—admitted and proud atheists—even going backstage to meet them and posting all over the Internet about it, but yet she is determined to ridicule and condemn Episcopalians for being Godless.
Her posts are often nasty, comparing liberal Episcopalians to mice or rats—something that Hitler's propaganda machine did for the Jews—and then she'll post about the horrors of Hitler, and how her own, mentally challenged children would have been murdered by Hitler.
I often laugh a lot, when reading her posts. At the same time, her hypocrisy is typical of those who are fanatical about religion in general. But it certainly should be pointed out, for the five people that read and respond to her blog.
She's certainly entertained me. Again, she's a very intelligent, well read individual, who likes many of the same books, films, etc. that I like, however she'd never, ever try to get to know me, because I'm an evil liberal, who is also gay.
I'm single-handedly destroying her family and their way of life, along with the Episcopalians who don't ascribe to her brand of religion.
I can't decide if she reminds me of Sybil's mother, or Carrie White's mother, or a combo of both. I somehow see her sending her daughter into the closet to pray for forgiveness, after her daughter begins to menstruate.
But, following in the steps of the film version of Carrie, I wonder if she'll light a candle to the Virgin Mary or to Penn and Teller?
It's amazing how we humans compartmentalize everything, and then the anger and pain we hold, over some past event, begins to creep out into other areas of our lives. I think this woman deals with a lot of repression and anger.
Take a look at her blog and give her some more traffic!!! It's very funny, only when she doesn't intend to be funny. When she tries for the Ann Coulter effect, it's just boorish.
I've got to go to bed.
Its blog:
Cuckoo for Ko-Ko Puffs
Penn Gillette bio
Also, read a great letter sent to one of the maybe 10 dioceses that believe they represent the majority of Episcopalians, by Bishop Schori. I thought it was excellent and a great rebuke to Cuckoo for Ko-Ko Puffs' rabid ramblings.
A letter from the 'evil one'
One last thought: Maybe I should post on Cuckoo's blog, giving her the link to Babs' STFU song. She needs to hear it.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
STFU
I took on a contract/temp job at a nationally popular business publication in my area, partly for the extra money and partly because I thought it would be a good way to make some editorial contacts, if possible.
Everything is fine with the job, except for the fact that I have to sit in a cubicle--for most freelancers, who are used to working from home, a cubicle is something akin to a cell at Abu Grahib or Gitmo--next to one of the most obnoxious copy editors I have ever encountered.
My experience with copy editors is that they are a necessary evil for writers. Find a good one, and they can take an article that is garbage and transform it into readable copy. Find a bad one, and they become your worst nightmare. I've had copy editors who have actually changed correct grammar into incorrect grammar, or misspelled a name that I spelled correctly.
Given that, I am not working directly with the copy editors at all, but that's the only space they had for me.
From day one, I noticed that one of the copy editors never closes her mouth, period. From the time I arrive into my drab cubicle, until the time I leave, she is constantly running her mouth, getting into people's business, and generally trying to let anyone and everyone know how wonderful she is.
The first day I was there, I ate lunch at my desk. The HR person came by to answer a question for me concerning the login for my computer, and 'Little Miss Wonderful' copy editor had to interrupt my conversation with a 'HEY GIRL, ARE YOU TAKIN ME TO LUNCH TODAY?' scream over the top of my cubicle wall.
HR person sort of grimaces and says back to her, "Um, no, I'm not." She finishes talking to me, and LMW follows her down the hall.
30 seconds later, HR person is back in my cube saying, "Oh, did anyone tell you that you cannot eat lunch at your desk?" My lunch was far gone by the time she came back to tell me that, nor were there remnants of lunch on my desk, but somehow she knew I ate lunch at my desk.
Wonder who told her? Hmm...let me guess.
So, I told her that nobody had said anything about eating at my desk, etc.
Since that time, LMW has done everything possible to get and keep my attention, and feels the need to constantly blather on about her personal life, take cell phone calls from her friends all with this high pitched, fingernails on chalkboard type of voice.
And this is the level of competence as a copy editor that she possesses:
I heard her ask another copy editor, "Is homeowner one or two words?"
When I heard her say that, I felt the same way that I did when I saw the following bumper sticker:
"My Child made the Principle's List at Marbut Elementary School."
I have tried my best to just ignore her and do my job, but it makes it hard when I have to be on the phone a lot tracking down information from people and she's constantly talking very loudly.
Her latest game was to start invading my personal space, by sitting on the edge of my cubicle desk, her boney butt facing me, and carrying on conversations with various other employees almost in my cubicle.
Normally, if I were a full-time employee there, I would not hesitate to have a little discussion with her, but as a temporary employee I am not sure how or if I should handle this problem.
When I continued to ignore her and her boney butt, she finally turned around and said, "I'm in your cube, because I have a bunch of office supplies that I just got in mine, and I don't want these people taking my stuff."
I just looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
Right now, all I want to do is walk into her cube and start screaming "Shut UP..JUST SHUT UP...SHUT UP...SHUT UP...SHUT UP," but I am sure that would have the opposite effect on her.
Anyway, I came across this HILARIOUS mp3 file that sort of sums up my feelings. Leave it to Babs Streisand to confidently say what we all would like to say to someone at some time or another.
This guy turned Babs' response to a heckler during her New York City shows, into a dance remix.
This is fantastic. I so want to just blast this into the next cubicle.
http://www.myspace.com/revolucian
Click on the STFU link in the music player, and enjoy.
Everything is fine with the job, except for the fact that I have to sit in a cubicle--for most freelancers, who are used to working from home, a cubicle is something akin to a cell at Abu Grahib or Gitmo--next to one of the most obnoxious copy editors I have ever encountered.
My experience with copy editors is that they are a necessary evil for writers. Find a good one, and they can take an article that is garbage and transform it into readable copy. Find a bad one, and they become your worst nightmare. I've had copy editors who have actually changed correct grammar into incorrect grammar, or misspelled a name that I spelled correctly.
Given that, I am not working directly with the copy editors at all, but that's the only space they had for me.
From day one, I noticed that one of the copy editors never closes her mouth, period. From the time I arrive into my drab cubicle, until the time I leave, she is constantly running her mouth, getting into people's business, and generally trying to let anyone and everyone know how wonderful she is.
The first day I was there, I ate lunch at my desk. The HR person came by to answer a question for me concerning the login for my computer, and 'Little Miss Wonderful' copy editor had to interrupt my conversation with a 'HEY GIRL, ARE YOU TAKIN ME TO LUNCH TODAY?' scream over the top of my cubicle wall.
HR person sort of grimaces and says back to her, "Um, no, I'm not." She finishes talking to me, and LMW follows her down the hall.
30 seconds later, HR person is back in my cube saying, "Oh, did anyone tell you that you cannot eat lunch at your desk?" My lunch was far gone by the time she came back to tell me that, nor were there remnants of lunch on my desk, but somehow she knew I ate lunch at my desk.
Wonder who told her? Hmm...let me guess.
So, I told her that nobody had said anything about eating at my desk, etc.
Since that time, LMW has done everything possible to get and keep my attention, and feels the need to constantly blather on about her personal life, take cell phone calls from her friends all with this high pitched, fingernails on chalkboard type of voice.
And this is the level of competence as a copy editor that she possesses:
I heard her ask another copy editor, "Is homeowner one or two words?"
When I heard her say that, I felt the same way that I did when I saw the following bumper sticker:
"My Child made the Principle's List at Marbut Elementary School."
I have tried my best to just ignore her and do my job, but it makes it hard when I have to be on the phone a lot tracking down information from people and she's constantly talking very loudly.
Her latest game was to start invading my personal space, by sitting on the edge of my cubicle desk, her boney butt facing me, and carrying on conversations with various other employees almost in my cubicle.
Normally, if I were a full-time employee there, I would not hesitate to have a little discussion with her, but as a temporary employee I am not sure how or if I should handle this problem.
When I continued to ignore her and her boney butt, she finally turned around and said, "I'm in your cube, because I have a bunch of office supplies that I just got in mine, and I don't want these people taking my stuff."
I just looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
Right now, all I want to do is walk into her cube and start screaming "Shut UP..JUST SHUT UP...SHUT UP...SHUT UP...SHUT UP," but I am sure that would have the opposite effect on her.
Anyway, I came across this HILARIOUS mp3 file that sort of sums up my feelings. Leave it to Babs Streisand to confidently say what we all would like to say to someone at some time or another.
This guy turned Babs' response to a heckler during her New York City shows, into a dance remix.
This is fantastic. I so want to just blast this into the next cubicle.
http://www.myspace.com/revolucian
Click on the STFU link in the music player, and enjoy.
Monday, October 23, 2006
We are all one and Waldoms
Last week, I made my usual trip to Walgreens and little did I know just how much comedy would ensue from picking my thyroid medicine.
First of all, what is up with the marketing genius who decided to name the generic brands of whatever at Walgreens, with the Wal prefix?
Yes, instead of Claritin, it's Walitin. Robitussin is Walitussin, etc. So, just for kicks I asked the pharmacist if they had generic tampons called Walltex, or better yet, what about condoms? Do they have Waldoms? Waljans?
She found it quite amusing.
Well, as I was walking out, I saw a display for Olivia Newton John products, with proceeds going to breast cancer research. Along with her various products, was a new CD from Olivia, which features songs that are meant to affirm one's self.
Since I've been feeling quite shaky, emotionally, and un-affirmed as of late, I thought this cd might be a positive. As well, I have a lot of respect for Olivia, as she beat breast cancer and she's not too bad on the eyes.
For $9.99, I decided to purchase it.
Once in my car, I popped it into the cd player and one of the first songs talked about how all of us are really linked together, and that we are one. I think it's called Strand of Pearls, or Pearls Before Swine, or it was something like that.
Whatever the song, it was making a real impact on me. As I was driving home, I was coming to the realization that we are all connected in one way or another. Either through our joy, pain, etc., the human condition is universal.
Tears were beginning to well inside of me, as I thought about how much I love every single person on this planet, even Charles Manson and George Bush, and how my problems are really a collective primal scream that each of us has at one time or another.
I was finally at peace, knowing that I was in one accord with all of my brothers and sisters. Life was beginning to look really sweet.
Then, I had to slam on my brakes, as the car in the lane next to me suddenly cut in front of me with no signal, going at a high rate of speed. My brakes screeched, and as "Lovely Livvy" was belting out "We are all just one in a string of pearls," I let out my own string of expletives, at the top of my lungs, with my window rolled down.
"You $%*@$ piece of *^%$, learn how to %^@#$% drive!," as I promptly gave him that most Christian of salutes with my middle finger.
Maybe I need to take a Wal-i-pin pill to help with my anxiety issues, because ONJ isn't cutting it.
First of all, what is up with the marketing genius who decided to name the generic brands of whatever at Walgreens, with the Wal prefix?
Yes, instead of Claritin, it's Walitin. Robitussin is Walitussin, etc. So, just for kicks I asked the pharmacist if they had generic tampons called Walltex, or better yet, what about condoms? Do they have Waldoms? Waljans?
She found it quite amusing.
Well, as I was walking out, I saw a display for Olivia Newton John products, with proceeds going to breast cancer research. Along with her various products, was a new CD from Olivia, which features songs that are meant to affirm one's self.
Since I've been feeling quite shaky, emotionally, and un-affirmed as of late, I thought this cd might be a positive. As well, I have a lot of respect for Olivia, as she beat breast cancer and she's not too bad on the eyes.
For $9.99, I decided to purchase it.
Once in my car, I popped it into the cd player and one of the first songs talked about how all of us are really linked together, and that we are one. I think it's called Strand of Pearls, or Pearls Before Swine, or it was something like that.
Whatever the song, it was making a real impact on me. As I was driving home, I was coming to the realization that we are all connected in one way or another. Either through our joy, pain, etc., the human condition is universal.
Tears were beginning to well inside of me, as I thought about how much I love every single person on this planet, even Charles Manson and George Bush, and how my problems are really a collective primal scream that each of us has at one time or another.
I was finally at peace, knowing that I was in one accord with all of my brothers and sisters. Life was beginning to look really sweet.
Then, I had to slam on my brakes, as the car in the lane next to me suddenly cut in front of me with no signal, going at a high rate of speed. My brakes screeched, and as "Lovely Livvy" was belting out "We are all just one in a string of pearls," I let out my own string of expletives, at the top of my lungs, with my window rolled down.
"You $%*@$ piece of *^%$, learn how to %^@#$% drive!," as I promptly gave him that most Christian of salutes with my middle finger.
Maybe I need to take a Wal-i-pin pill to help with my anxiety issues, because ONJ isn't cutting it.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Galveston, Oh Galveston!
Jimmy Webb is one of my favorite songwriters (I need to link him in my favorites), and he's been responsible for some of the biggest hits during the 1960s and 70s. He's still kicking, and making more music. I hope to buy his Jimmy Webb Archive + Live soon.
Take a look at his Web site, if you want to know more about him.
http://www.jimmywebb.com/index.html
Here's some of the songs:
"By The Time I Get To Phoenix,”
“Wichita Lineman,”
“Galveston,”
“Where’s The Playground, Susie”
“MacArthur Park,”
“Didn’t We”
“Up, Up and Away,”
“This Is Your Life”
“Worst That Could Happen”
“All I Know”
“Easy For You To Say"
“The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress"
The list goes on. But it took me years, after listening to my dad's Glenn Campbell albums on the HiFi, to realize what the song, "Galveston" really meant.
Now, when I hear it on the radio, or play a Glenn Campbell cd, I stop and really listen to the words.
According to my research, Webb was visiting a beach in Galveston when he wrote the song. He made up the story about a soldier in the Spanish-American war and the girl he left behind.
However, the song was released during the height of The Vietnam War and many considered it an antiwar song.
It's timeless to me, and it could easily be about one of our soldiers in Iraq. The words are powerful, but if you've never heard Campbell sing it, download a copy. The song captures the fear and homesick blues that all of our men and women in Iraq, or in any war zone, probably feel right now.
It really makes me think, given the fact that Habeas Corpus is no more, with Iran and North Korea in our crosshairs, and the scary, scary time this nation is facing.
Enough said.
Galveston
Words and Music by Jimmy Webb
GALVESTON
Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea winds blowing
I still see her dark eyes glowing
She was twenty-one
When I left Galveston
Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannon flashing
And I clean my gun
And I dream of Galveston
I still see her standing by the water
Standing there, looking out to sea
And is she waiting there for me?
On the beach where we used to run
Galveston, oh Galveston
I am so afraid of dying
Before I dry the tears she's crying
Before I see your sea birds flying
In the sun, at Galveston
Take a look at his Web site, if you want to know more about him.
http://www.jimmywebb.com/index.html
Here's some of the songs:
"By The Time I Get To Phoenix,”
“Wichita Lineman,”
“Galveston,”
“Where’s The Playground, Susie”
“MacArthur Park,”
“Didn’t We”
“Up, Up and Away,”
“This Is Your Life”
“Worst That Could Happen”
“All I Know”
“Easy For You To Say"
“The Moon’s A Harsh Mistress"
The list goes on. But it took me years, after listening to my dad's Glenn Campbell albums on the HiFi, to realize what the song, "Galveston" really meant.
Now, when I hear it on the radio, or play a Glenn Campbell cd, I stop and really listen to the words.
According to my research, Webb was visiting a beach in Galveston when he wrote the song. He made up the story about a soldier in the Spanish-American war and the girl he left behind.
However, the song was released during the height of The Vietnam War and many considered it an antiwar song.
It's timeless to me, and it could easily be about one of our soldiers in Iraq. The words are powerful, but if you've never heard Campbell sing it, download a copy. The song captures the fear and homesick blues that all of our men and women in Iraq, or in any war zone, probably feel right now.
It really makes me think, given the fact that Habeas Corpus is no more, with Iran and North Korea in our crosshairs, and the scary, scary time this nation is facing.
Enough said.
Galveston
Words and Music by Jimmy Webb
GALVESTON
Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea winds blowing
I still see her dark eyes glowing
She was twenty-one
When I left Galveston
Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannon flashing
And I clean my gun
And I dream of Galveston
I still see her standing by the water
Standing there, looking out to sea
And is she waiting there for me?
On the beach where we used to run
Galveston, oh Galveston
I am so afraid of dying
Before I dry the tears she's crying
Before I see your sea birds flying
In the sun, at Galveston
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Speaking of Karma...
If I had not been made surgically barren, I swear I would offer to bear the progeny of one Mark Morford. Of course, I'd have to stand in line, behind my married friend, Michelle, who turned me onto Mark.
Oh, to be able to write like this! Brilliant stuff.
Enjoy:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2006/10/11/notes101106.DTL
Oh, to be able to write like this! Brilliant stuff.
Enjoy:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2006/10/11/notes101106.DTL
What's So Funny Bout' Peace Love and Understanding? Part 2
Like all of us, I was shocked and a bit worried over North Korea's nuclear test over the weekend.
I'm concerned whenever nuclear weapons are discussed, tested, deployed.
What really gets me, though, is that the US has spent billions of dollars on a war against a country that DID NOT have uranium, or any other WMD, period. Thousands of young men and women killed--on both sides--over a war for OIL. Don't be deluded. It truly is about oil and greed, and less about catching Bin Laden and "tarr-er-ists."
We all know that now. It's not just partisan rhetoric; it's a fact, Jack. In President Bush's press conference today, some of the press corps seemed to finally have a spine a few weeks before the November elections.
He was asked why he dealt with Iraq in one way, and why he's dealing with Iran and North Korea in another way.
His answer was that the US must handle North Korea "diplomatically," with China, Japan and Russia all at the table and contributing to this "diplomacy." China has already made noises that they aren't ready to endorse sanctions, etc.
President Bush kept on his Rove inspired "Diplomacy" line, even when asked if that line finally was crossed, would the US consider military action. Better, he kept referring to this magical decrease in the deficit, right before election time.
He said that every situation is different, so that's why he treated Iraq differently, and why the rhetoric is different with Iran.
Our beloved President swaggered and bloviated over Iraq, wishing not to let the U.N. handle the situation with Iraq, or continue sanctions with Iraq--they were working--which was cutting off vital supplies to his country. That bad part of that tactic, is that Hussein didn't care about whether his people had medical supplies, etc.
But the fact of the matter is that, despite reports to the contrary, we were all told that Iraq was ready and waiting to launch nuclear weapons upon us, or our allies. Also, the information was relayed to the American people that there was a direct link between Hussein, Bin Laden and 9/11. We all know, now, that the information was not true, most of it was made up, and yet nothing is done to this President, concerning the blatant lies.
Where is the moral outrage over this "liar?" Weren't the Republicans rabid over a certain Bill Clinton being a LIAR? And he only lied about kanoodling with some overweight groupie in the Oval Office.
I guess lying in order to protect your financial interests in a foreign country, sending innocent men and women to die makes his lying much different?
Yet, here is a country--North Korea-- with a leader who seems more unbalanced than Hussein, with real capability to possibly launch a missile that could hit California, and a country who just proved that they not only have nukes, that they are ready and willing to use them in an offensive tactic, not defensive.
And the warnings and pleadings about North Korea have been swirling over the past ten years, but really ramped up in the last two.
Is it only me who realizes how funny it is that we invade a country that was really no threat to us at all, spread our troops so thin that National Guard Reservists, who have been inactive for the past ten years, are buckling their belts over their pot bellies, in order to go to Iraq?
And what is "Cowboy Bush's" response to North Korea? Oh, no swagger or tough talk about going after terrorists wherever they may be throughout the globe. Nope. Just a few words about how it's wrong, and that he's going to the leave it to the U.N. to handle North Korea with sanctions, and "Diplomacy."
North Korea is Communist, with actual WMDs, and its leader is flaunting his maniacal power, with a missile aimed right at Japan and the US.
An even more ironic point is that we (The US) introduced the A-bomb to the world, yet we get very offended when any other country dares to develop and use the same weapons we stockpile and test.
At this juncture 8 countries have nuclear capabilities and most are our allies. North Korea is the wild card, in my opinion.
Isn't it odd that suddenly, Bush is all about "Peace, Love and Understanding" when it comes to North Korea?
Well, the press corps sure thought it was odd, finally. I agree.
But, it's time for a song. I do think Elvis Costello's great "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding," is in order, specifically when I think about Iraq and the ironic change in "Cowboy Bush."
Here's a piece of trivia, however. It wasn't an original Elvis Costello song. It was written by Nick Lowe. Lowe used to produce Elvis and The Attractions.
What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding
By: Nick Lowe
As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.
'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.
'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
I'm concerned whenever nuclear weapons are discussed, tested, deployed.
What really gets me, though, is that the US has spent billions of dollars on a war against a country that DID NOT have uranium, or any other WMD, period. Thousands of young men and women killed--on both sides--over a war for OIL. Don't be deluded. It truly is about oil and greed, and less about catching Bin Laden and "tarr-er-ists."
We all know that now. It's not just partisan rhetoric; it's a fact, Jack. In President Bush's press conference today, some of the press corps seemed to finally have a spine a few weeks before the November elections.
He was asked why he dealt with Iraq in one way, and why he's dealing with Iran and North Korea in another way.
His answer was that the US must handle North Korea "diplomatically," with China, Japan and Russia all at the table and contributing to this "diplomacy." China has already made noises that they aren't ready to endorse sanctions, etc.
President Bush kept on his Rove inspired "Diplomacy" line, even when asked if that line finally was crossed, would the US consider military action. Better, he kept referring to this magical decrease in the deficit, right before election time.
He said that every situation is different, so that's why he treated Iraq differently, and why the rhetoric is different with Iran.
Our beloved President swaggered and bloviated over Iraq, wishing not to let the U.N. handle the situation with Iraq, or continue sanctions with Iraq--they were working--which was cutting off vital supplies to his country. That bad part of that tactic, is that Hussein didn't care about whether his people had medical supplies, etc.
But the fact of the matter is that, despite reports to the contrary, we were all told that Iraq was ready and waiting to launch nuclear weapons upon us, or our allies. Also, the information was relayed to the American people that there was a direct link between Hussein, Bin Laden and 9/11. We all know, now, that the information was not true, most of it was made up, and yet nothing is done to this President, concerning the blatant lies.
Where is the moral outrage over this "liar?" Weren't the Republicans rabid over a certain Bill Clinton being a LIAR? And he only lied about kanoodling with some overweight groupie in the Oval Office.
I guess lying in order to protect your financial interests in a foreign country, sending innocent men and women to die makes his lying much different?
Yet, here is a country--North Korea-- with a leader who seems more unbalanced than Hussein, with real capability to possibly launch a missile that could hit California, and a country who just proved that they not only have nukes, that they are ready and willing to use them in an offensive tactic, not defensive.
And the warnings and pleadings about North Korea have been swirling over the past ten years, but really ramped up in the last two.
Is it only me who realizes how funny it is that we invade a country that was really no threat to us at all, spread our troops so thin that National Guard Reservists, who have been inactive for the past ten years, are buckling their belts over their pot bellies, in order to go to Iraq?
And what is "Cowboy Bush's" response to North Korea? Oh, no swagger or tough talk about going after terrorists wherever they may be throughout the globe. Nope. Just a few words about how it's wrong, and that he's going to the leave it to the U.N. to handle North Korea with sanctions, and "Diplomacy."
North Korea is Communist, with actual WMDs, and its leader is flaunting his maniacal power, with a missile aimed right at Japan and the US.
An even more ironic point is that we (The US) introduced the A-bomb to the world, yet we get very offended when any other country dares to develop and use the same weapons we stockpile and test.
At this juncture 8 countries have nuclear capabilities and most are our allies. North Korea is the wild card, in my opinion.
Isn't it odd that suddenly, Bush is all about "Peace, Love and Understanding" when it comes to North Korea?
Well, the press corps sure thought it was odd, finally. I agree.
But, it's time for a song. I do think Elvis Costello's great "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding," is in order, specifically when I think about Iraq and the ironic change in "Cowboy Bush."
Here's a piece of trivia, however. It wasn't an original Elvis Costello song. It was written by Nick Lowe. Lowe used to produce Elvis and The Attractions.
What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding
By: Nick Lowe
As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.
'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.
'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding? Part One
This post may ramble a bit (what else is new?), but my mind has been jammed with a few tidbits over the past few days.
I posted, previously, about my partner's blogstalker. Enough said on her, as she continues to stealth on the blogs of primarily female, liberal, lesbian Episcopalians.
She's so conservative, she probably thinks Sen. Barry Goldwater was a 'bed-wettin' liberal. Hey, I can respect someone that doesn't feel the same way as I do on issues, but when they resort to hate tactics, it's hard for me to turn the other cheek, unless it's my buttocks' cheek.
Well, call it fascination with the macabre or weird, but I'll go to her blog once in a while, just to see what she's frothing at the mouth over (sorry for the dangling preposition).
Her latest opine-of-the-day is all about Abortion.
You know, that neutral subject that everyone comes together on, holding hands, singing Kum-Bah-Ya?
Guess how she feels about it?
She reminds me of one of those feverish individuals who would actually put a Depends on and crawl up the street, in front of an abortion clinic, crying out, "DON'T KILL ME, MOMMY."
She's the type that I'd like to be driving along and suddenly have a diabetic reaction to my meds, swerve and accidently hit her leg or something. Not completely maim her, of course, but just graze her and have to stop, as the TV newsmen/women hover over me, and she's sprawled out in a huge diaper.
Yep, she's the kind that probably fervently believes in the death penalty, would clap if she heard about an abortion clinic blowing up, or the murder of a physician who carries out the legal procedure.
In theory, I believe in the concept of Pro Choice on the issue of Abortion. This is something that is hard for a lot of people to understand. Personally, I would advocate abortion only in the rarest of instances, but I think it's a necessary evil in this country. How to put controls on it? I really don't have the answer.
Since the same individuals as the Canadian Conservative think that educating teens on ways to prevent pregnancies--condoms, birth control--is of the Devil, and that if we all just told teens, unmarried singles, etc., "Just don't do it, unless you are married" we wouldn't need abortions, it's really hard to have a dialogue with any of them.
Imagine my surprise, when I clicked on a link in one of her abortion diatribes, which led to an equally obnoxious blog (depending on your political-religious leanings), and I actually AGREED with their outrage!
It seems Ms. Magazine is publishing a huge article about women who are coming forth to tell their story, when it comes to having an abortion.
First of all, I understand the need for this article, because state by state, the legal right to have an abortion is falling by the wayside. If this happens, don't believe that magically people will stop having unprotected sex. What will happen is that your sisters, daughters, mothers, etc., will risk dying at the hands of card table "doctors" and we will return to a very dark age in Western society.
Will these individuals, such as the Canadian Conservative Catholic weep over those deaths, also? Probably not.
However, I was really shocked at the comments in this article, just as my conservative counterparts were shocked as well.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/03/D8KHAKIO0.html
It's these honest passages that really bothered me. Me; this EVIL LIBERAL.
Maybe where I differ with most liberals is that I think a woman should know exactly what is happening when she has that abortion. Candy-coat it all that you want, but you are terminating a human life. The jury is still out, for me, as to when that group of cells split and becomes a human embryo, but in essence the doctor is going to vacuum your womb of any traces of that life. If you know that going in, and you've really searched your soul about it, then I still believe that decision is between you and God.
But to have sex, knowingly, without protection and then say "oh whoopsie," after you become pregnant and act as if the abortion is on par with your weekly beauty salon appointment really bothers me.
As well, someone who was actually PLANNING a pregnancy, purposefully gets pregnant, but the child isn't what she wanted--Down Syndrome--and gets an abortion really bothers me too.
It should bother us all, no matter where we stand on this issue.
What's next? "Well, the doctor told us that she'd have a club foot, so we decided to abort."
Again, I'm not sure that Ms. Magazine's point was to point out the self-centerdness and careless behavior of some of these women, since it seems that they are hailed as heroines, but as someone who has marched to have the "choice" to terminate a pregnancy, it really makes me rethink the issue.
Feminism, to me, isn't what it used to be in its pure form. I'll post on that at some point.
I don't know what the answer really is to this issue. I think it should be legal and safe, but I also think it should be a choice that is made after all other options are considered. It should never be used as birth control. Sadly, it seems that's becoming the norm.
I want all women to have access to a safe abortion, but it should not be something that is done so blithely. Of course, that is just my opinion. It should be there, primarily, for those who have been raped, who are poor, a stupid teenaged girl who doesn't know better, when the life of the mother is in danger, or for victims of incest. I don't think it should be there to be accessed like putting on your make-up every morning.
The woman who decided to terminate her pregnancy, because the child had Down Syndrome? I understand the implications, but we start on a slippery slope if it's okay to terminate a pregnancy because a child is not going to be perfect.
So, I guess the Apocalypse is near, since I share the outrage of my ultra-Conservative brothers and sisters on this particular issue.
I'm troubled by this issue, as well as the RU486 pill too. I'm just not sure how to put controls on it, or what those controls should be, so it doesn't become the 'hip' thing to do, in order to not have to use condoms or other contraceptives.
I'll save the rest of my stream of consciousness for the next post.
It just bugs me that if you don't think that the Vagina Monologues is THE feminist play of the last century, or if you dare to point out that certain brands of 'feminism' smack of a very dangerous self-centerdness, that you risk the ire of women's groups across the US.
My views on feminism are like those of modern social philosopher, Camille Paglia. I don't agree with everything she spouts forth, but for the most part, she is right on. She's one of those individuals that I'd like to have at the ultimate dinner party.
Here is an exerpt from a Playboy interview she did in 1995. I don't agree with her stance on NAMBLA, but on most other issues I agree.
Brilliant and honest take on modern feminism.
I posted, previously, about my partner's blogstalker. Enough said on her, as she continues to stealth on the blogs of primarily female, liberal, lesbian Episcopalians.
She's so conservative, she probably thinks Sen. Barry Goldwater was a 'bed-wettin' liberal. Hey, I can respect someone that doesn't feel the same way as I do on issues, but when they resort to hate tactics, it's hard for me to turn the other cheek, unless it's my buttocks' cheek.
Well, call it fascination with the macabre or weird, but I'll go to her blog once in a while, just to see what she's frothing at the mouth over (sorry for the dangling preposition).
Her latest opine-of-the-day is all about Abortion.
You know, that neutral subject that everyone comes together on, holding hands, singing Kum-Bah-Ya?
Guess how she feels about it?
She reminds me of one of those feverish individuals who would actually put a Depends on and crawl up the street, in front of an abortion clinic, crying out, "DON'T KILL ME, MOMMY."
She's the type that I'd like to be driving along and suddenly have a diabetic reaction to my meds, swerve and accidently hit her leg or something. Not completely maim her, of course, but just graze her and have to stop, as the TV newsmen/women hover over me, and she's sprawled out in a huge diaper.
Yep, she's the kind that probably fervently believes in the death penalty, would clap if she heard about an abortion clinic blowing up, or the murder of a physician who carries out the legal procedure.
In theory, I believe in the concept of Pro Choice on the issue of Abortion. This is something that is hard for a lot of people to understand. Personally, I would advocate abortion only in the rarest of instances, but I think it's a necessary evil in this country. How to put controls on it? I really don't have the answer.
Since the same individuals as the Canadian Conservative think that educating teens on ways to prevent pregnancies--condoms, birth control--is of the Devil, and that if we all just told teens, unmarried singles, etc., "Just don't do it, unless you are married" we wouldn't need abortions, it's really hard to have a dialogue with any of them.
Imagine my surprise, when I clicked on a link in one of her abortion diatribes, which led to an equally obnoxious blog (depending on your political-religious leanings), and I actually AGREED with their outrage!
It seems Ms. Magazine is publishing a huge article about women who are coming forth to tell their story, when it comes to having an abortion.
First of all, I understand the need for this article, because state by state, the legal right to have an abortion is falling by the wayside. If this happens, don't believe that magically people will stop having unprotected sex. What will happen is that your sisters, daughters, mothers, etc., will risk dying at the hands of card table "doctors" and we will return to a very dark age in Western society.
Will these individuals, such as the Canadian Conservative Catholic weep over those deaths, also? Probably not.
However, I was really shocked at the comments in this article, just as my conservative counterparts were shocked as well.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/03/D8KHAKIO0.html
It's these honest passages that really bothered me. Me; this EVIL LIBERAL.
Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about signing _ although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.
Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago _ enduring harassment from protesters when she entered the clinic _ in order to finish high school. She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.
"I wanted to do something bigger with myself _ I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview.
Another signatory, Debbie Findling of San Francisco, described her difficult decision last year to have an abortion after tests showed that she would bear a son with Down syndrome.
"I felt it was my right to make the decision, but having that right doesn't make the decision any easier," she said. "It was the hardest decision I've ever made."
Findling, 42, is married, with a 5-year-old daughter, and has been trying to get pregnant again while pursuing her career as a philanthropic foundation executive.
She says too many of her allies in the abortion-rights movement tend to minimize, at least publicly, the psychological impact of abortion.
"It's emotionally devastating," she said in a phone interview. "I don't regret my decision _ but I regret having been put in the position to have to make that choice. It's something I'll live with for the rest of my life."
I'm not sure that the intent of Ms. Magazine is really going to resonate with the Vox Populi. I really do not think that this is going to help people change their minds about abortion.
But here I am an "Evil Liberal," and even I am shocked and appalled at the above passage.
Maybe it's the callous way it's stated.
The first woman talks about not wanting anything to stand in her way of going to college and law school, however I didn't read about how the pregnancy happened. If she was old enough to be having sex, she was old enough to use contraception.Maybe where I differ with most liberals is that I think a woman should know exactly what is happening when she has that abortion. Candy-coat it all that you want, but you are terminating a human life. The jury is still out, for me, as to when that group of cells split and becomes a human embryo, but in essence the doctor is going to vacuum your womb of any traces of that life. If you know that going in, and you've really searched your soul about it, then I still believe that decision is between you and God.
But to have sex, knowingly, without protection and then say "oh whoopsie," after you become pregnant and act as if the abortion is on par with your weekly beauty salon appointment really bothers me.
As well, someone who was actually PLANNING a pregnancy, purposefully gets pregnant, but the child isn't what she wanted--Down Syndrome--and gets an abortion really bothers me too.
It should bother us all, no matter where we stand on this issue.
What's next? "Well, the doctor told us that she'd have a club foot, so we decided to abort."
Again, I'm not sure that Ms. Magazine's point was to point out the self-centerdness and careless behavior of some of these women, since it seems that they are hailed as heroines, but as someone who has marched to have the "choice" to terminate a pregnancy, it really makes me rethink the issue.
Feminism, to me, isn't what it used to be in its pure form. I'll post on that at some point.
I don't know what the answer really is to this issue. I think it should be legal and safe, but I also think it should be a choice that is made after all other options are considered. It should never be used as birth control. Sadly, it seems that's becoming the norm.
I want all women to have access to a safe abortion, but it should not be something that is done so blithely. Of course, that is just my opinion. It should be there, primarily, for those who have been raped, who are poor, a stupid teenaged girl who doesn't know better, when the life of the mother is in danger, or for victims of incest. I don't think it should be there to be accessed like putting on your make-up every morning.
The woman who decided to terminate her pregnancy, because the child had Down Syndrome? I understand the implications, but we start on a slippery slope if it's okay to terminate a pregnancy because a child is not going to be perfect.
So, I guess the Apocalypse is near, since I share the outrage of my ultra-Conservative brothers and sisters on this particular issue.
I'm troubled by this issue, as well as the RU486 pill too. I'm just not sure how to put controls on it, or what those controls should be, so it doesn't become the 'hip' thing to do, in order to not have to use condoms or other contraceptives.
I'll save the rest of my stream of consciousness for the next post.
It just bugs me that if you don't think that the Vagina Monologues is THE feminist play of the last century, or if you dare to point out that certain brands of 'feminism' smack of a very dangerous self-centerdness, that you risk the ire of women's groups across the US.
My views on feminism are like those of modern social philosopher, Camille Paglia. I don't agree with everything she spouts forth, but for the most part, she is right on. She's one of those individuals that I'd like to have at the ultimate dinner party.
Here is an exerpt from a Playboy interview she did in 1995. I don't agree with her stance on NAMBLA, but on most other issues I agree.
Brilliant and honest take on modern feminism.
PLAYBOY: Are you a feminist?
PAGLIA: I'm absolutely a feminist. The reason other feminists don't like me is that I criticize the movement, explaining that it needs a correction. Feminism has betrayed women, alienated men and women, replaced dialogue with political correctness. PC feminism has boxed women in. The idea that feminism--that liberation from domestic prison--is going to bring happiness is just wrong. Women have advanced a great deal, but they are no happier. The happiest women I know are not those who are balancing their careers and families, like a lot of my friends are. The happiest people I know are the women--like my cousins--who have a high school education, got married immediately graduating and never went to college. They are very religious and they never question their Catholicism. They do not regard the house as a prison.
PLAYBOY: But what about the women who stay home and are still suffering?
PAGLIA: The problem is the alternative handed to them by feminism. I look at my friends who are on the fast track. They are desperate, frenzied and frazzled, the most unhappy women who have ever existed. They work nights and weekends and have no lives. Some of them have children who are raised by nannies.
PLAYBOY: What's your point? Do you want women to go back to the home?
PAGLIA: The entire feminist culture says that the most important woman is the woman with an attached case. I want to empower the woman who wants to say, "I'm tired of this and I want to go home." The far right is correct when it says the price of women's liberation is being paid by the children.
PLAYBOY: Are you siding with the far right?
PAGLIA: No. What I'm doing is pointing out the bind the women's movement has created not only for women but for the culture as well. Children are abandoned. There is no doubt that it's better for kids to have contact with mothers for those early years. When I go to work in the morning, I see black women and Hispanic women pushing strollers filled with rich, white babies. These women provide the best human contact that those kids have. So we have gone back to the mammy. It's Gone With the Wind again.
PLAYBOY: What's a better solution?
PAGLIA: Women should be free to choose. For the ones who decide to work, child care should be provided. The problem is that only large corporations can afford to have on-site day care. Mothers can visit their children during coffee breaks and lunch, which is wonderful. Other women are in difficult positions, and the feminist movement offers nothing except scorn if they choose their children's well-being. Of course, the other thing the women's movement has done is caused a destructive division between the sexes. Men are in a terrible position.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
My friend, Martha Ann
Sometimes people come into your life when you least expect it.
Susan and I were at a Mary Gauthier concert in Chattanooga, last year, and one reason that we went was because it was a free concert!!! Many, maybe even you, have not heard of Mary Gauthier.
Do yourself a favor and click on her link, within this blog.
Anyway, it was one of those free concerts, so that opened the door to families coming out to enjoy the music.
What is so ironic is that Mary Gauthier's music is very dark. It's not "Shiny Happy People," by any means. It's about alcoholism, death, prison, lost love, etc. Yeah, it's not Mary Gauthier and "Up with People" by any means.
She's been called the female Johnny Cash and that's a good comparison.
So, we were surrounded by these oh-so-cute-darlings running around, screaming, twirling like it was a Grateful Dead concert, and we had a whole family of them behind us.
It's really irritating when you go to see a singer/songwriter, and you actually want to listen to the words but you can't, because people are talking through the whole performance.
Let me just say it was bizarre to see these little 8-year-old girls dancing to Mary singing, "I Drink."
The rest of the story is interesting, but it would take up too much space here. So, check out my post on the Yahoo Mary Gauthier group, for the original story.
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Mary_Gauthier/message/907
If you don't want to join the group, I'll just tell you that I thought my partner and I were going to duke it out with this "mommy" and her "sprogs" behind us.
Anyway, after the show, we stood in line to make fools out of ourselves in front of Mary, and I overheard a boy behind us, who was young, but he was so well behaved and really seemed very funny. I could tell immediately he was one of those kids who is born an "old soul" and can interact with adults very well, but still be a kid.
I turned around and laughed at something that he said, and his mother smiled and we all began to talk. We complimented her son, and briefly told her what had happened during the concert and she was amazed as well.
She told us that she was a singer/songwriter and she used to live in Atlanta. We so enjoyed chatting with her. She was great.
That's the end of it, I thought. But when I joined the Mary Gauthier Yahoo group, and I told the story about what happened, she responded and said she was the lady standing behind us at the concert!!
I told her to email and the rest is history.
We have communicated via email, phone, and she's become a really cool friend. She and her husband are fantastic people, and she is a really good songwriter. When I first put her demo cd into my player, I looked at Susan and said, "God, I hope this doesn't suck, because I don't want to have to lie to her and say it's good, if it isn't. I like her too much."
Let me tell you, it did not suck at all. Not every song was strong, but overall, I thought she had real talent, period.
Since that time, she's honed her craft even more, and I am really enjoying her music as much as her friendship.
As a woman, I admire her even more for continuing to plug away when most women her age would have given up on that dream to sing and tell stories. She inspires me more than she knows, since I struggle a lot with being 40 and still not hitting my stride in life.
I am so proud of her, though, because her song, "When Your Soldier Comes Back Home," has been voted number one, consecutively, on Neil Young's Web site. She's outshone such established giants like Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, in popularity on his site.
Last week, Neil's producer contacted her and asked her to write the story behind her song. That is amazing to me.
Read it here:
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.html
She is one of the coolest women I've met in a long time, and it turns out that when I was a senior in high school, she was singing in nightclubs right down the street from me!! My friends and I used to sneak in--using fake IDs and charming the doormen--to both of the places where she used to sing.
How's that for serendipity, or Six Degrees of Separation? I bet I saw her and didn't even realize that years later we would meet and become friends.
She's about to enter the salon.com song contest! As soon as she does, I will give the link so you can vote for her song!!!
Here's to you, Martha Ann, or MAB as I call her!!!
Susan and I were at a Mary Gauthier concert in Chattanooga, last year, and one reason that we went was because it was a free concert!!! Many, maybe even you, have not heard of Mary Gauthier.
Do yourself a favor and click on her link, within this blog.
Anyway, it was one of those free concerts, so that opened the door to families coming out to enjoy the music.
What is so ironic is that Mary Gauthier's music is very dark. It's not "Shiny Happy People," by any means. It's about alcoholism, death, prison, lost love, etc. Yeah, it's not Mary Gauthier and "Up with People" by any means.
She's been called the female Johnny Cash and that's a good comparison.
So, we were surrounded by these oh-so-cute-darlings running around, screaming, twirling like it was a Grateful Dead concert, and we had a whole family of them behind us.
It's really irritating when you go to see a singer/songwriter, and you actually want to listen to the words but you can't, because people are talking through the whole performance.
Let me just say it was bizarre to see these little 8-year-old girls dancing to Mary singing, "I Drink."
The rest of the story is interesting, but it would take up too much space here. So, check out my post on the Yahoo Mary Gauthier group, for the original story.
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Mary_Gauthier/message/907
If you don't want to join the group, I'll just tell you that I thought my partner and I were going to duke it out with this "mommy" and her "sprogs" behind us.
Anyway, after the show, we stood in line to make fools out of ourselves in front of Mary, and I overheard a boy behind us, who was young, but he was so well behaved and really seemed very funny. I could tell immediately he was one of those kids who is born an "old soul" and can interact with adults very well, but still be a kid.
I turned around and laughed at something that he said, and his mother smiled and we all began to talk. We complimented her son, and briefly told her what had happened during the concert and she was amazed as well.
She told us that she was a singer/songwriter and she used to live in Atlanta. We so enjoyed chatting with her. She was great.
That's the end of it, I thought. But when I joined the Mary Gauthier Yahoo group, and I told the story about what happened, she responded and said she was the lady standing behind us at the concert!!
I told her to email and the rest is history.
We have communicated via email, phone, and she's become a really cool friend. She and her husband are fantastic people, and she is a really good songwriter. When I first put her demo cd into my player, I looked at Susan and said, "God, I hope this doesn't suck, because I don't want to have to lie to her and say it's good, if it isn't. I like her too much."
Let me tell you, it did not suck at all. Not every song was strong, but overall, I thought she had real talent, period.
Since that time, she's honed her craft even more, and I am really enjoying her music as much as her friendship.
As a woman, I admire her even more for continuing to plug away when most women her age would have given up on that dream to sing and tell stories. She inspires me more than she knows, since I struggle a lot with being 40 and still not hitting my stride in life.
I am so proud of her, though, because her song, "When Your Soldier Comes Back Home," has been voted number one, consecutively, on Neil Young's Web site. She's outshone such established giants like Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, in popularity on his site.
Last week, Neil's producer contacted her and asked her to write the story behind her song. That is amazing to me.
Read it here:
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.html
She is one of the coolest women I've met in a long time, and it turns out that when I was a senior in high school, she was singing in nightclubs right down the street from me!! My friends and I used to sneak in--using fake IDs and charming the doormen--to both of the places where she used to sing.
How's that for serendipity, or Six Degrees of Separation? I bet I saw her and didn't even realize that years later we would meet and become friends.
She's about to enter the salon.com song contest! As soon as she does, I will give the link so you can vote for her song!!!
Here's to you, Martha Ann, or MAB as I call her!!!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Harry Potter and the Ignorant Shrew
I might be the very first person to break this news story.
There's one more installment to the Potter series:
Harry Potter and the Ignorant Shrew.
In this installment, Harry encounters one of the most frightening, yet comical creatures yet.
The bored Conservative Christian housefrau!!!
Read this:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2006/10/03/1004Potter.html
Now, I truly don't see what the big deal is. My niece has thoroughly enjoyed the Potter series. She's now 13, and let me just tell you, it didn't really have any long lasting effects.
Sure, she went through a phase where she turned a few neighborhood kids into frogs, but these were kids that nobody liked anyway, including their parents. What's the big deal? Kids will be kids.
And the levitation? Well, she stopped levitating about two years ago. Harder for her, though, was to stop playing Quidditch. After a few visits from Dobbins Air Station, she realized that it wasn't cool to interfere with Government airspace.
Miranda, my niece, is a very bright girl. She makes excellent marks in school, is in the gifted program, and after being allowed taking the SAT, last year, she scored a 1200. Her reading comprehension is very high, also.
She's pretty adept at knowing what is fiction and what is non-fiction, as most intelligent kids are, also. It's busy-body women like the one bringing this stupid case to fruition that actually threaten the fabric of free speech.
Just as the attorney for Gwinnett County said, this morning, if the school system started removing books from the library shelves, based on parents' personal beliefs, then there would be no books on the shelves at all.
I listened to Ms. Mallory's reasoning as to why she believes these books should be taken off of the shelves. She claims that it's making kids want to become witches, and that the books switch what is really evil, into something that is good.
Yeah, maybe it makes kids want to be witches like Samantha Stevens in Bewitched. Honestly, I cannot believe that with all of the serious issues that face the children in our country, this woman is so worried that some kid is going to be hiding a cauldron in their closet, along with an AK 47, after reading a Harry Potter novel.
I can tell you that reading the books made my niece interested in reading in general, and that she's not worshipping Satan, unless you consider Napoleon Dynamite to be Satan.
If your kid believes he/she can put on a black cape and make him/herself invisible, or if he/she believes they can fly on a broom, maybe therapy is in order, or there's more going on with your kid than reading Harry Potter books.
Just the other day, Miranda said she was seriously considering colleges for which she may want to attend. She's not into drugs (knock wood), has very good friends, and is a normal, typical teen.
She asked for my help because she wasn't sure where Hogwarts College was located, but she's sure she can get a scholarship there.
I believe she can, and she and her friends are calling on the name of Harry Potter, a fictional character, and asking the Ouji board for an answer as we speak.
There's one more installment to the Potter series:
Harry Potter and the Ignorant Shrew.
In this installment, Harry encounters one of the most frightening, yet comical creatures yet.
The bored Conservative Christian housefrau!!!
Read this:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2006/10/03/1004Potter.html
Now, I truly don't see what the big deal is. My niece has thoroughly enjoyed the Potter series. She's now 13, and let me just tell you, it didn't really have any long lasting effects.
Sure, she went through a phase where she turned a few neighborhood kids into frogs, but these were kids that nobody liked anyway, including their parents. What's the big deal? Kids will be kids.
And the levitation? Well, she stopped levitating about two years ago. Harder for her, though, was to stop playing Quidditch. After a few visits from Dobbins Air Station, she realized that it wasn't cool to interfere with Government airspace.
Miranda, my niece, is a very bright girl. She makes excellent marks in school, is in the gifted program, and after being allowed taking the SAT, last year, she scored a 1200. Her reading comprehension is very high, also.
She's pretty adept at knowing what is fiction and what is non-fiction, as most intelligent kids are, also. It's busy-body women like the one bringing this stupid case to fruition that actually threaten the fabric of free speech.
Just as the attorney for Gwinnett County said, this morning, if the school system started removing books from the library shelves, based on parents' personal beliefs, then there would be no books on the shelves at all.
I listened to Ms. Mallory's reasoning as to why she believes these books should be taken off of the shelves. She claims that it's making kids want to become witches, and that the books switch what is really evil, into something that is good.
Yeah, maybe it makes kids want to be witches like Samantha Stevens in Bewitched. Honestly, I cannot believe that with all of the serious issues that face the children in our country, this woman is so worried that some kid is going to be hiding a cauldron in their closet, along with an AK 47, after reading a Harry Potter novel.
I can tell you that reading the books made my niece interested in reading in general, and that she's not worshipping Satan, unless you consider Napoleon Dynamite to be Satan.
If your kid believes he/she can put on a black cape and make him/herself invisible, or if he/she believes they can fly on a broom, maybe therapy is in order, or there's more going on with your kid than reading Harry Potter books.
Just the other day, Miranda said she was seriously considering colleges for which she may want to attend. She's not into drugs (knock wood), has very good friends, and is a normal, typical teen.
She asked for my help because she wasn't sure where Hogwarts College was located, but she's sure she can get a scholarship there.
I believe she can, and she and her friends are calling on the name of Harry Potter, a fictional character, and asking the Ouji board for an answer as we speak.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Smells like 'chicken'
This is one of those hang-my-mouth-wide-open-only-in-the-South stories that defies explanation.
Sharon Kendall--"God love her," as my mother would say--has some, let's say, issues.
The Ellijay, Ga. resident worked as a janitor for a local elementary school. Maybe she was overcome by the constant ammonia fumes from her mop bucket, maybe she was tired of being called on to clean up some little cherubs' vomit from the floor of the cafeteria, or maybe she's just Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
Whatever the reason, she told local Gilmer County authorities that she was sexually assaulted at the school on the morning of August 17th, by a Hispanic male. Okay, she actually trashed the school to make it look like a struggle took place, and gave herself injuries.
What's even more intriguing is that she reportedly told said authorities that the man, "smelled like chicken."
I did a double-take when I heard that tasty tidbit on one of my local news channels. It seems that there is a Gold Kist chicken processing plant across from the school, which is heavily employed by Hispanic men and women.
Smelled like chicken? Well, at least she didn't say, "teen spirit."
However, she appeared in court, yesterday, to answer to charges that she made up the whole story.
Yep, maybe it was the weather that morning that made her say, "You know? I really hate those Mexicans across the street. And that SMELL of chicken!"
What's up with these wacky white women, who have suddenly decided that it's the 'Hispanic Male' who is the Chupacabra of the southern United States?
First it was the "Runaway Bride," Jennifer Willbanks, who made up her whole abduction story, with Hispanic males as the perps, and now this sad sack.
With the ongoing hate concerning illegal immigrants--most crossing the border from Mexico--the above Mensa geniuses really make me embarrassed to live in the South.
I remember my first encounter with an 'illegal alien,' about ten years ago. I was working a temp job, with two women who were here on Work Visas from Ireland. They were a riot to be around, and they were always amused when I attempted an Irish brogue.
Well, I went to lunch with one of the women, Gemma, and she told me about her boyfriend. He was Hispanic and had illegally immigrated from Mexico. Well, at first, that just didn't set well with me. My knee-jerk reaction was, "why couldn't he come over legally?"
We got into a heated conversation about the whole issue, until I finally met him. Let me tell you, this guy was one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. He held three jobs, with one as a sous chef for a local restaurant, and he was one of the most polite men I had ever met.
I changed my whole view about illegal immigrants after meeting him. As well, I watched a whole construction team, made up mostly of Hispanic males, rebuild my former neighbor's home, after half of the house burned to the ground. These guys would get there at 7:30am and they didn't stop working until dusk. I kid you not.
That house was rebuilt in a matter of weeks and it was good work. I know that there are no easy answers for the problem of illegal immigration. With 3000 or more immigrants crossing the borders illegally every day, we cannot support the number of folks crossing over.
But why should hard working individuals like my friend Gemma's partner be punished for some of the scumbags who really do come here to siphon off our Welfare system? I truly believe there are more hard-working men and women, wanting a better life for themselves and their children, who cross over every day, than there are deadbeats.
Conversely, why don't we start ejecting those US citizens who make a career out of Welfare, along with the undesirables?
I don't know what the answer is, as far as setting up a guest program that weeds out the undesirables and keeps those who are willing to work the crap jobs that many of the privileged in this country don't/won't work. It's not an easy problem to solve.
What I do know is that building some 600 mile 'Berlin Wall' is not the answer, nor is exacerbating the situation by giving press to lying bigots such as Willbanks and Kendall, who instill a real fear among many who already believe and promote these bad stereotypes.
No doubt that some folks in Ellijay--in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains--took on a lynch mob mentality, as one of its citizens was interviewed on television. He said, "That woman should be put away for a long time, because we took it seriously. We mobilized and were going to protect the rest of the members who live in our town."
During the time that elapsed between her 'confession' of assault, until her court appearance yesterday, I can bet that life for the Hispanics (particularly male) living in Ellijay was not a happy existence.
Ms. Kendall tearfully addressed the court, as she was sentenced to 500 hours of community service, ordered to pay $8,500 in restitution. What did she say in her defense? "I'm sorry." I agree with her.
Oddly, her attorney was former DeKalb County District Attorney, J. Tom Morgan. He claimed she was 'mentally ill' and that realizes that what she did was wrong.
That really touches my heart.
The judge said she didn't like having to give her community service, instead of a jail sentence, but she had to abide by the plea bargain.
I have a suggestion for the Ellijay school: Why don't you hire a hard-working Hispanic to replace her in the janitor position?
I haven't even addressed the audacity of 'crying wolf' concerning sexual assault, but I'm still laughing over the TV anchor saying, "...and she said her assailant smelled like chicken."
(singing to myself) "That's what I love about the South!"
Sharon Kendall--"God love her," as my mother would say--has some, let's say, issues.
The Ellijay, Ga. resident worked as a janitor for a local elementary school. Maybe she was overcome by the constant ammonia fumes from her mop bucket, maybe she was tired of being called on to clean up some little cherubs' vomit from the floor of the cafeteria, or maybe she's just Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
Whatever the reason, she told local Gilmer County authorities that she was sexually assaulted at the school on the morning of August 17th, by a Hispanic male. Okay, she actually trashed the school to make it look like a struggle took place, and gave herself injuries.
What's even more intriguing is that she reportedly told said authorities that the man, "smelled like chicken."
I did a double-take when I heard that tasty tidbit on one of my local news channels. It seems that there is a Gold Kist chicken processing plant across from the school, which is heavily employed by Hispanic men and women.
Smelled like chicken? Well, at least she didn't say, "teen spirit."
However, she appeared in court, yesterday, to answer to charges that she made up the whole story.
Yep, maybe it was the weather that morning that made her say, "You know? I really hate those Mexicans across the street. And that SMELL of chicken!"
What's up with these wacky white women, who have suddenly decided that it's the 'Hispanic Male' who is the Chupacabra of the southern United States?
First it was the "Runaway Bride," Jennifer Willbanks, who made up her whole abduction story, with Hispanic males as the perps, and now this sad sack.
With the ongoing hate concerning illegal immigrants--most crossing the border from Mexico--the above Mensa geniuses really make me embarrassed to live in the South.
I remember my first encounter with an 'illegal alien,' about ten years ago. I was working a temp job, with two women who were here on Work Visas from Ireland. They were a riot to be around, and they were always amused when I attempted an Irish brogue.
Well, I went to lunch with one of the women, Gemma, and she told me about her boyfriend. He was Hispanic and had illegally immigrated from Mexico. Well, at first, that just didn't set well with me. My knee-jerk reaction was, "why couldn't he come over legally?"
We got into a heated conversation about the whole issue, until I finally met him. Let me tell you, this guy was one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. He held three jobs, with one as a sous chef for a local restaurant, and he was one of the most polite men I had ever met.
I changed my whole view about illegal immigrants after meeting him. As well, I watched a whole construction team, made up mostly of Hispanic males, rebuild my former neighbor's home, after half of the house burned to the ground. These guys would get there at 7:30am and they didn't stop working until dusk. I kid you not.
That house was rebuilt in a matter of weeks and it was good work. I know that there are no easy answers for the problem of illegal immigration. With 3000 or more immigrants crossing the borders illegally every day, we cannot support the number of folks crossing over.
But why should hard working individuals like my friend Gemma's partner be punished for some of the scumbags who really do come here to siphon off our Welfare system? I truly believe there are more hard-working men and women, wanting a better life for themselves and their children, who cross over every day, than there are deadbeats.
Conversely, why don't we start ejecting those US citizens who make a career out of Welfare, along with the undesirables?
I don't know what the answer is, as far as setting up a guest program that weeds out the undesirables and keeps those who are willing to work the crap jobs that many of the privileged in this country don't/won't work. It's not an easy problem to solve.
What I do know is that building some 600 mile 'Berlin Wall' is not the answer, nor is exacerbating the situation by giving press to lying bigots such as Willbanks and Kendall, who instill a real fear among many who already believe and promote these bad stereotypes.
No doubt that some folks in Ellijay--in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains--took on a lynch mob mentality, as one of its citizens was interviewed on television. He said, "That woman should be put away for a long time, because we took it seriously. We mobilized and were going to protect the rest of the members who live in our town."
During the time that elapsed between her 'confession' of assault, until her court appearance yesterday, I can bet that life for the Hispanics (particularly male) living in Ellijay was not a happy existence.
Ms. Kendall tearfully addressed the court, as she was sentenced to 500 hours of community service, ordered to pay $8,500 in restitution. What did she say in her defense? "I'm sorry." I agree with her.
Oddly, her attorney was former DeKalb County District Attorney, J. Tom Morgan. He claimed she was 'mentally ill' and that realizes that what she did was wrong.
That really touches my heart.
The judge said she didn't like having to give her community service, instead of a jail sentence, but she had to abide by the plea bargain.
I have a suggestion for the Ellijay school: Why don't you hire a hard-working Hispanic to replace her in the janitor position?
I haven't even addressed the audacity of 'crying wolf' concerning sexual assault, but I'm still laughing over the TV anchor saying, "...and she said her assailant smelled like chicken."
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
That whole 'rescuer' thing
It's really interesting to see human dynamics currently play out on a national stage. Hillary is defending Bill, Condi is defending Bush, etc.
We all have something in common. I admit it freely. If I don't watch it, I can really fall into the trap of playing 'rescuer,' not only with my own dysfunctional family, but with friends that I love dearly.
For those few people who view my blog on regular basis, no doubt you saw the epic that I wrote in defense of my friend.
She didn't ask me to do it, but after hearing and seeing first hand how her ex basically raped her of her personal belongings and the equity in the house that they owned together, as well as when I found out her side of the story, concerning the physical abuse that happened, that 'rescuer' impulse kicked into overdrive.
However, in acting on that impulse, I'm not truly letting my friend do the work she needs to do, in order to continue to move through her anger and pain. In trying to avenge the trespasses against her, I may be guilty of trying to do her work for her. As well, I'm only serving as a reminder of her ex, when I try to avenge.
It's evident that she is more than capable of standing up for herself and taking care of herself, period.
As well, I realize, now, that I'm only perpetuating another triangle, in addition to the one that her ex and her ex's new partner keep trying to create with her, through their own blogs. Those dreaded triangles! Each of us has our own truth; our own version of events in our present and past, filtered through our imperfectness.
In college, a very dear professor that I knew kept urging me to go to law school. She told me that my dissertations and orations in her class, concerning those considered underdogs in American History, could sway a jury to do whatever I asked.
I believe the context to which she was referring was the Rosenberg trials and executions. I had a visceral reaction to that dark time in American history, because I do not believe justice was served.
That's the way it's always been for me. I speak up and out for the underdog, and I will stand up for my friends, period, if I believe that they have been harmed. Harder for me, is speaking up for myself.
In those times when my self esteem is in the toilet, that's hard to do. I've had to force myself to do it for me, but I have no problem doing it for other people.
As I have learned the hard way, playing 'rescuer' only gets you into trouble. The person that you are 'rescuing' may--at some point--resent what you are doing and/or blame you for any repercussions from your 'rescuing'.
Before that happens to me, again, I need to recognize that element to my personality, and instead of 'rescuing' my friend, I need to urge her to continue to do the work needed to truly let go of the hurt, bitterness and anger (and she so has a right to feel all of it, given what happened), and trust that better times are ahead for her. Those good times are already beginning for her.
She's been dating again, which is a good sign. Even more encouraging is that she's seeing the warning signs, earlier, as she's dating different women. But, after posting my epic, I feel it's time to move on from even caring about what her ex is up to, her motives, and her own version of the truth that she needs to continue in order to create her personna with the new gf.
My friend feels the same way about the situation.
What's done is done, period. In moving on, one doesn't forget the pain but takes a long look at it and leaves it in the past where it belongs. Because as long as you hold hatred or anger against the person that wronged you, that transgressor still has complete control over you. Letting go seems like the easiest thing to do, but it's very hard to put into action.
It's very hard, I feel, for all of us to not want to do spur the Universe along, especially in the area of Karma. When we feel someone has wronged us, lied to us or hurt us on purpose, we wonder why--sometimes--it seems that the person that wronged us is reaping nothing but positive benefits from their destructive actions toward us.
In this case, the transgressor moved right on with a new girlfriend, which proved to my friend that the transgressor was already forming an emotional bond with the new girlfriend well before she left my friend.
It's very difficult to let that sort of pain go, when the person that has purposely set out to hurt you, destroy you, seems to get everything that they want, while you are forced to sit among the ruins of the relationship. Meanwhile, they are perpetuating lies about your relationship to people you may never even know.
Unfortunately, we cannot control the Universe. Karma is real and it's not discriminatory. It's just the way things work. I've certainly reaped what I have sown plenty of times. When I have purposely done or said something negative about another person, in anger, it may take a year, three months, three weeks, three days but at some point that negative energy I put out is going to come back to me in some form.
The person that I wronged may not be there to see it happen to me, but it's a humbling experience when you finally receive that collective comeuppance. As hard as it is, once you relinquish control of all of the resentment, anger and bitterness and truly let the Universe handle it, there is a real peace that envelopes you.
It's no longer about fear and anger. It's about moving forward and learning from the painful experience.
It's one of the hardest life lessons to learn, and I'm still trying to master it myself. As well, I'm learning to see my own warning signals, when I feel the need to start rescuing someone.
With that said, I'm going to leave "the epic" up for the next day, and then I will delete those posts. I've gotten wrapped up in wanting to 'get' my friend's ex, or make the ex see that what she did was so wrong. But that's not going to happen right now, nor is it my place to try and make it happen.
I just love my friend, and I think what happened was very unfair. Life goes on.
We all have something in common. I admit it freely. If I don't watch it, I can really fall into the trap of playing 'rescuer,' not only with my own dysfunctional family, but with friends that I love dearly.
For those few people who view my blog on regular basis, no doubt you saw the epic that I wrote in defense of my friend.
She didn't ask me to do it, but after hearing and seeing first hand how her ex basically raped her of her personal belongings and the equity in the house that they owned together, as well as when I found out her side of the story, concerning the physical abuse that happened, that 'rescuer' impulse kicked into overdrive.
However, in acting on that impulse, I'm not truly letting my friend do the work she needs to do, in order to continue to move through her anger and pain. In trying to avenge the trespasses against her, I may be guilty of trying to do her work for her. As well, I'm only serving as a reminder of her ex, when I try to avenge.
It's evident that she is more than capable of standing up for herself and taking care of herself, period.
As well, I realize, now, that I'm only perpetuating another triangle, in addition to the one that her ex and her ex's new partner keep trying to create with her, through their own blogs. Those dreaded triangles! Each of us has our own truth; our own version of events in our present and past, filtered through our imperfectness.
In college, a very dear professor that I knew kept urging me to go to law school. She told me that my dissertations and orations in her class, concerning those considered underdogs in American History, could sway a jury to do whatever I asked.
I believe the context to which she was referring was the Rosenberg trials and executions. I had a visceral reaction to that dark time in American history, because I do not believe justice was served.
That's the way it's always been for me. I speak up and out for the underdog, and I will stand up for my friends, period, if I believe that they have been harmed. Harder for me, is speaking up for myself.
In those times when my self esteem is in the toilet, that's hard to do. I've had to force myself to do it for me, but I have no problem doing it for other people.
As I have learned the hard way, playing 'rescuer' only gets you into trouble. The person that you are 'rescuing' may--at some point--resent what you are doing and/or blame you for any repercussions from your 'rescuing'.
Before that happens to me, again, I need to recognize that element to my personality, and instead of 'rescuing' my friend, I need to urge her to continue to do the work needed to truly let go of the hurt, bitterness and anger (and she so has a right to feel all of it, given what happened), and trust that better times are ahead for her. Those good times are already beginning for her.
She's been dating again, which is a good sign. Even more encouraging is that she's seeing the warning signs, earlier, as she's dating different women. But, after posting my epic, I feel it's time to move on from even caring about what her ex is up to, her motives, and her own version of the truth that she needs to continue in order to create her personna with the new gf.
My friend feels the same way about the situation.
What's done is done, period. In moving on, one doesn't forget the pain but takes a long look at it and leaves it in the past where it belongs. Because as long as you hold hatred or anger against the person that wronged you, that transgressor still has complete control over you. Letting go seems like the easiest thing to do, but it's very hard to put into action.
It's very hard, I feel, for all of us to not want to do spur the Universe along, especially in the area of Karma. When we feel someone has wronged us, lied to us or hurt us on purpose, we wonder why--sometimes--it seems that the person that wronged us is reaping nothing but positive benefits from their destructive actions toward us.
In this case, the transgressor moved right on with a new girlfriend, which proved to my friend that the transgressor was already forming an emotional bond with the new girlfriend well before she left my friend.
It's very difficult to let that sort of pain go, when the person that has purposely set out to hurt you, destroy you, seems to get everything that they want, while you are forced to sit among the ruins of the relationship. Meanwhile, they are perpetuating lies about your relationship to people you may never even know.
Unfortunately, we cannot control the Universe. Karma is real and it's not discriminatory. It's just the way things work. I've certainly reaped what I have sown plenty of times. When I have purposely done or said something negative about another person, in anger, it may take a year, three months, three weeks, three days but at some point that negative energy I put out is going to come back to me in some form.
The person that I wronged may not be there to see it happen to me, but it's a humbling experience when you finally receive that collective comeuppance. As hard as it is, once you relinquish control of all of the resentment, anger and bitterness and truly let the Universe handle it, there is a real peace that envelopes you.
It's no longer about fear and anger. It's about moving forward and learning from the painful experience.
It's one of the hardest life lessons to learn, and I'm still trying to master it myself. As well, I'm learning to see my own warning signals, when I feel the need to start rescuing someone.
With that said, I'm going to leave "the epic" up for the next day, and then I will delete those posts. I've gotten wrapped up in wanting to 'get' my friend's ex, or make the ex see that what she did was so wrong. But that's not going to happen right now, nor is it my place to try and make it happen.
I just love my friend, and I think what happened was very unfair. Life goes on.
Monday, September 25, 2006
The Condo Leeza Rice Show
Actually, my new creative dream is to write a skit, based on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, about Condoleeza Rice and her relationship with the Bush staff.
In the Lou Grant role would be Dick Cheney. Murray Slaughter role: Donald Rumsfeld. Ted Baxter? President GW Bush, and our favorite Condi Rice as a spot on Mary Richards.
Can't you just hear her with that crackling Mary Richards voice, saying, "Oh, Misterrrr Chaneeeee?"
Take a look at Condi during an interview, and she has all of the Mary Richards manerisms. The cute head bob, etc.
See, you could do a take-off on the whole show, and do the opening montage scenes, while the theme plays, with Condi walking around the Mall in DC, past the Jefferson, Lincoln memorials, etc. Then, show her at a State Dinner, or during a press conference.
At the end, when Mary usually throws up her hat, you could show Condi throwing the 9/11 report in the air and five Secret Service men pounce on it and her.
Who can turn the world on with her smile.
Who can take a baseless war
And suddenly make it all seem worthwhile
Well it's you girl and you should know it,
With each State Dinner and every troop movement you show it
War is all around
Why don't you stop it?
Your boss is a real idiot
Why don't you just say it?
You might just make it after all!
Quantum Physics: The Musical
I used to joke that I was going to write "Rasputin: The Musical," and have his conspirators try and off him--like they did in real life--but he keeps returning in each act, having not been killed.
Anyway, I came across this, and I found it really cute. The producers are from Canada, I believe, but take a look. This is great.
http://quantumphysicsthemusical.blogspirit.com/
Anyway, I came across this, and I found it really cute. The producers are from Canada, I believe, but take a look. This is great.
http://quantumphysicsthemusical.blogspirit.com/
Friday, September 22, 2006
And now for something totally different...
This is hilarious.
I think this guy is for real.
http://www.elvispriestley.com/
Now, here's a church I could really get involved with, no questions asked!!!
I promise more levity in the near future.
I think this guy is for real.
http://www.elvispriestley.com/
Now, here's a church I could really get involved with, no questions asked!!!
I promise more levity in the near future.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Check this out: Norman Bates lives
My goal is to write shorter blog posts, as I can't even read through these myself, without needing a break.
If you want backstory on what I am about to post, read the post entitled, "Are the planets aligned in some weird way?" Well, scroll down a bit, until you can read about the woman-hater, who has a real problem with my posts on a writer's Web site that I frequent.
There's an actual thread in one of the many folders there about what men should do when a woman is on her period. Well, as you can read in my profile, I don't really have to deal with that anymore.
Anyway, my little my misogynist left this nugget on the thread:
If I didn't know better, I'd think that was a piece of dialogue from Norman Bates in the film, Psycho.
Well, maybe his GF is inflatable. I sure hope so. That's sort of creepy. "Nasty, horrible piece of goods." Piece of goods? It doesn't take a degreed linguist to figure out the meaning of his words.
Interesting.
If you want backstory on what I am about to post, read the post entitled, "Are the planets aligned in some weird way?" Well, scroll down a bit, until you can read about the woman-hater, who has a real problem with my posts on a writer's Web site that I frequent.
There's an actual thread in one of the many folders there about what men should do when a woman is on her period. Well, as you can read in my profile, I don't really have to deal with that anymore.
Anyway, my little my misogynist left this nugget on the thread:
I told my mother that my GF seems to become a nasty, horrible piece of goods around that time, and i considered it best for me to try and avoid her as much as I can then. As a woman, she readily endorsed this view.
If I didn't know better, I'd think that was a piece of dialogue from Norman Bates in the film, Psycho.
Well, maybe his GF is inflatable. I sure hope so. That's sort of creepy. "Nasty, horrible piece of goods." Piece of goods? It doesn't take a degreed linguist to figure out the meaning of his words.
Interesting.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Amazing Grace
The best comedy on TV?
No, it's not MAD TV.
No, it's not Saturday Night Live.
No, it's not the Colbert Report, or the Daily Show.
It's the Nancy Grace Show on CNN!!!
I used to really like Nancy Grace. When she was living in Atlanta, and working for the District Attorney's office in Fulton County, she was an advocate for victim's rights and seemed to be a shining star here.
She was just what we all needed during the joke that was the OJ Simpson trial. Brash, intelligent and able to connect with the audience. Everything would have been fine had she just gone back to her work in Atlanta.
But, as usual, some quick thinking producer sought to capitalize on her 15 minutes of fame and stuck her together with "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit," Johnny Cochran on a Court TV version of the Sonny and Cher show.
I guess it was supposed to be fun to watch them bicker and disagree. Just like Cher, Nancy went on to have her own show first on Court TV and now on CNN.
And she just gets more odd and more Norma Desmond with each episode.
I was telling a friend of mine how Nancy oddly links every sensational crime she covers to OJ Simpson, no matter what it is.
It's true. I mean, she can be commenting on global warming and talking to an expert on the subject, when suddenly she'll blurt out in her straight-out-of-a Tennessee Williams-play southern accent,
"And where WAS OJ Simpson when global warming started?" (as she looks intently into the camera) "Can you answer me that, sir?"
The expert looks confused, and begins to answer:
"What? I'm not sure I understand..." Nancy cuts him off, and rudely says:
"Yes, it's obvious you don't understand, sir. OJ Simpson is still free to cause global warming, while the Goldman family suffers." She rolls her eyes.
Since OJ, she's slowly morphed into Norma Desmond, but I must say, I find the comedy great. Nancy seems like she is a warm person outside of her work on camera, but she just gets weirder and weirder on television.
She's like a drunk you just can't reason with, because she's passed her limit of Tequila shots after the first 'happy hour.' She'll argue for hours, proving that you are in collusion with OJ, until you just say, "Okay Nancy, time to go to bed," and sort of drop her onto her bed.
I'm serious. I think I'm not far off on my assessment. Have you seen her hair, lately?
It looks as if some scared PA goes into her dressing room 30 seconds before showtime, sees that she is passed out, with Smirnoff bottles strewn across the floor, and the walls papered with OJ clippings, jerks her up, slaps her face and says, "Come on Nancy...time for the show."
And she stumbles onto the set, just in time to say, "Good evening, I'm Nancy Grace."
Her latest comedy skit is the best. Okay, some poor waif in Florida loses her son right from under her nose, literally.
She claims the kid was kidnapped through a 10 inch slit in the window screen of the boy's room, but she seems a bit odd, and Nancy spares no time in conjuring up the image of OJ and releasing her drunken fury on this woman.
Hey, I agree with her on this one. I think the mother of this child had something to do with his disappearance, but Amazing Grace likes to be judge, jury and--in some cases--executioner, before the crime is even solved!
So, after Grace pummels this woman, on camera, the woman commits suicide. Geeze. Look, it's not Nancy Grace's fault that some unstable woman offs herself, but it looks like this woman was on the edge anyway.
Maybe Norma Desmond's drunken tirade helped to push her a little closer to that edge. Who knows?
I do know that this show is trippy, period. Three times, last week, I turned to her show, only to hear her mention OJ Simpson's name. No joke. And she's incredulous over John Mark Karr, which leads to some great interactions between Grace and JMK's attorney.
Whatever credibility Nancy Grace may have had as a lawyer, it's sure gone now. But seriously, if you want to have some fun and cop a buzz at the same time, play the "Nancy Grace Drinking Game," with you and a few of your friends.
Every time she mentions, OJ, the Goldman family or Scott Petersen, in the course of one show, take a shot of your favorite libation.
By the end of the show, you'll be as drunk as Norma Desmond seems to be. Maybe it's the lights from the camera that turn her into Norma. I don't know.
No, it's not MAD TV.
No, it's not Saturday Night Live.
No, it's not the Colbert Report, or the Daily Show.
It's the Nancy Grace Show on CNN!!!
I used to really like Nancy Grace. When she was living in Atlanta, and working for the District Attorney's office in Fulton County, she was an advocate for victim's rights and seemed to be a shining star here.
She was just what we all needed during the joke that was the OJ Simpson trial. Brash, intelligent and able to connect with the audience. Everything would have been fine had she just gone back to her work in Atlanta.
But, as usual, some quick thinking producer sought to capitalize on her 15 minutes of fame and stuck her together with "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit," Johnny Cochran on a Court TV version of the Sonny and Cher show.
I guess it was supposed to be fun to watch them bicker and disagree. Just like Cher, Nancy went on to have her own show first on Court TV and now on CNN.
And she just gets more odd and more Norma Desmond with each episode.
I was telling a friend of mine how Nancy oddly links every sensational crime she covers to OJ Simpson, no matter what it is.
It's true. I mean, she can be commenting on global warming and talking to an expert on the subject, when suddenly she'll blurt out in her straight-out-of-a Tennessee Williams-play southern accent,
"And where WAS OJ Simpson when global warming started?" (as she looks intently into the camera) "Can you answer me that, sir?"
The expert looks confused, and begins to answer:
"What? I'm not sure I understand..." Nancy cuts him off, and rudely says:
"Yes, it's obvious you don't understand, sir. OJ Simpson is still free to cause global warming, while the Goldman family suffers." She rolls her eyes.
Since OJ, she's slowly morphed into Norma Desmond, but I must say, I find the comedy great. Nancy seems like she is a warm person outside of her work on camera, but she just gets weirder and weirder on television.
She's like a drunk you just can't reason with, because she's passed her limit of Tequila shots after the first 'happy hour.' She'll argue for hours, proving that you are in collusion with OJ, until you just say, "Okay Nancy, time to go to bed," and sort of drop her onto her bed.
I'm serious. I think I'm not far off on my assessment. Have you seen her hair, lately?
It looks as if some scared PA goes into her dressing room 30 seconds before showtime, sees that she is passed out, with Smirnoff bottles strewn across the floor, and the walls papered with OJ clippings, jerks her up, slaps her face and says, "Come on Nancy...time for the show."
And she stumbles onto the set, just in time to say, "Good evening, I'm Nancy Grace."
Her latest comedy skit is the best. Okay, some poor waif in Florida loses her son right from under her nose, literally.
She claims the kid was kidnapped through a 10 inch slit in the window screen of the boy's room, but she seems a bit odd, and Nancy spares no time in conjuring up the image of OJ and releasing her drunken fury on this woman.
Hey, I agree with her on this one. I think the mother of this child had something to do with his disappearance, but Amazing Grace likes to be judge, jury and--in some cases--executioner, before the crime is even solved!
So, after Grace pummels this woman, on camera, the woman commits suicide. Geeze. Look, it's not Nancy Grace's fault that some unstable woman offs herself, but it looks like this woman was on the edge anyway.
Maybe Norma Desmond's drunken tirade helped to push her a little closer to that edge. Who knows?
I do know that this show is trippy, period. Three times, last week, I turned to her show, only to hear her mention OJ Simpson's name. No joke. And she's incredulous over John Mark Karr, which leads to some great interactions between Grace and JMK's attorney.
Whatever credibility Nancy Grace may have had as a lawyer, it's sure gone now. But seriously, if you want to have some fun and cop a buzz at the same time, play the "Nancy Grace Drinking Game," with you and a few of your friends.
Every time she mentions, OJ, the Goldman family or Scott Petersen, in the course of one show, take a shot of your favorite libation.
By the end of the show, you'll be as drunk as Norma Desmond seems to be. Maybe it's the lights from the camera that turn her into Norma. I don't know.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Are the planets aligned in some weird way?
Cosmically, it's been an odd few weeks, culminating with the anniversary of 9/11 .
What are the odds that Steve Irwin would die by a Stingray's barb through his heart? In Australia, there have only been three reported deaths by Stingray in the last 20 years. This guy wrangled with Cobras, Green Mambas, and Crocs!
He went up on the irresponsible meter with me, when he took his baby son in one arm, held a piece of red meat with the other and teased a Croc with the meat.
Even with that, he was a good kind of crazy. He and his wife were all about conservation, period. He was an affable, lovable chap and he died in a very strange way. I'll never forget how excited Steve would get when he found animal droppings.
He'd excitedly hold up some piece of excrement from a Komoto Dragon, get that intense look in his eyes, stare at the camera and with his thick Australian brogue he'd blurt out, "Look! POO!"
Next, comes a strange tale from the house of Anna Nicole Smith. Tell me what the odds are for a mother giving birth to a child and three days later her 20-year-old son dies in his sleep, while sitting next to her hospital bed?
The writers of Six Feet Under could not have thought up a more odd death than this one. You know, Anna Nicole is a force unto herself, and I have made plenty of jokes about her. I do my "Trim Spa Baby" commercial, where I flail my arms around, take a big sip of red wine and yell out her signature line, "It's Trim Spa Baby," while the wine spills down my chin. Well, it is amusing when you are in the mood to laugh at anything.
But I don't wish that fate on anyone, period. That's really awful and heartbreaking. How does one recover from giving birth, begin the nurturing process to the newborn, while grieving over another child's death?
These are odd deaths within the universe. There just seems to be a lot oddness going around.
With that said, I feel compelled to post about my experience with a poster from a writing board that I visit frequently. Actually, what this exchange proved to me is that I need to practice what I preach about mercy, no matter how I feel about the individual. But as you will see, I am as human as the next person.
I make no bones about my neuroses, or my anxiety--at times--when it comes to the wonderful world of writing. In being that honest about my emotions, it leaves you open to criticism and it forces others to look at their own issues surrounding the anxiety of trying to write for a living.
(The post that was on here, yesterday, will return, but I wanted to edit it a little)
It ain't for sissies.
A few weeks ago, I posted about this jerk client I encountered. Basically, I didn't stand up for myself in the first place, I feel, and establish my rates, but he also took advantage of me in a big way. It was the first time I ever took on an assignment that entailed writing a detailed White Paper.
However, that's not how my client presented the project. It was to be a 1500 word 'article' about a certain Accounts Payable topic. Anyway, it turned into a 5000 plus word project, which certainly didn't bother my client, but it bothered me.
Succinctly, I got hosed with a bad contract. Though I am mad, I'm no victim. At the same time, this guy really did know how badly he was taking advantage of me and certainly didn't care.
Well, I was so angry about this guy having me write a first draft and then he turns around and says the first draft, 'isn't what he wanted.'
It was in the middle of this awful deadline that I posted about what was going on with me. I was really pissed and the lack of sleep added to it.
I posted about it with the feelings I was having at the time. After a day or so, nobody posted back so I thought I had really freaked out too much. (don't you love neuroses?) Two people posted, one being this guy who has followed my every post since I joined this board.
Backstory: When I was working a tech writing job a few months ago, I posted about the political games taking place onsite. This guy proceeded to post and tell me how naive I am, that I must be a 'newbie' writer, and that I better call my agency, because he knew for a fact that my client was going to end up firing me.
Through his dramatic interpretation of my problems, he did offer some good information. I felt he was being sincere, so I responded rather kindly to his post, but set him straight on a few things.
Others, however, posted in my defense and sort of shut down this guy and his posts.
Anyway, he, again, read my post on the jerky client, and offered his advice. Again, he also made sure to point out that I had a previous problem with the tech writing client, and now I have a problem with this client. He offered good advice, peppered and tempered by his jabs about my lack of experience, and how I should go and do research before I post again.
When I thanked him and the other poster for responding, I added, "Well, maybe I'm whining too much, because it seems nobody else is interested in posting."
It was an anxiety-laden moment. A real knowledgeable lady, who always takes the time to answer questions from newbies, got really pissed at my reply. Rightly so, though she took it personally.
This led another guy--he left the boards in a huff over a conflict with the owner--to post a "yeah, me too" post.
It was evident that I probably exposed too much of myself on there. Anyway, the know-it-all guy, I'll call him PJW (Pompous Jerk Wad), remained very intent watching the responses and throwing in his two cents.
All others who posted to me were supportive and understood what I was going through, as they had gone through the same things as well. Some of them felt bad for me, as they knew what an exposed nerve I was at the time.
Then, PJW felt the need to respond again, after I left an update about what happened and basically let me know that everyone on the board knows I am an amateur, but he's a professional.
I skipped over it, but apparently I wasn't the only one that was bothered by his demeanor. The board moderator took him to task for denigrating any writer for being a beginner, etc.
He didn't like that reprimand, and he posted some sullen response to her. Since that time, he hasn't posted on that thread, period. Not that I have noticed, at least.
Well, I kept updating the thread, as my travails with this jerky client reached the point where I had to tell him I would not continue working with him for the pittance he gave me on the first assignment.
This time, instead of posting his pearls of pompous wisdom on the board, he decided that I desperately needed to hear what he had to say to me, so he sent a private message through the board.
Wonder why he wouldn't just post on that thread?
Here's PJW's PM in full glory:
The moral of the story is as old as time itself - we all must pay our dues. The simple fact of the matter is that you were naive (and hungry), and as a business person, he could see this and operated accordingly.
It is otherwise known as 'business'. And this is the way it is.
You have indicated that you have done your homework (as had been suggested), and now you are in a stronger position in negotiations. Editors such as this know that they will get you once at least, and moreso the hungrier/needy the writer.
It is a bitter pill to swallow, what the writer perceives as being screwed by the 'managerial class'. It is the wider and classic labour vs. capital battle - your politics and class will determine much of how you perceive it (and for some, how they align themselves). Of course, there are other editors out there that pay higher fees and treat their service providers well. It is a case of weeding out the 'good' from the 'bad' of such editors.
There are quite a number of bumps and hits that we must endure along the way to get to a suitable, stable position. You must become proficient at negotiations, and managing the 'business' if you are to survive and thrive.This is the very distinct difference between the many hobbyist-dabbler-dilletante members here, and the fewer but successful long-term full-timers.
Yes, it's all good information, but he's repeated the 'naive' ''hobbyist' 'amateur' stuff in almost every response he has to my posts. Moreso, he has a real fascination with proving to me that he's got it all together and I don't. Well, that's how I have perceived it.
His PM reads like some attempt at a Valentine's Day card from Fyodor Dostoevsky to his daughter. I feel like printing it out and pasting it into a heart.
It's not so much what he says to me, it's his delivery. He's very pompous, period. He's quite fond of pointing out that he's so successful in writing, so wise, never makes these 'amateur' mistakes, that it's ingratiating. He's also fond of making sure to point out that he's a 'real' writer, and others--including me--only wish to be.
If he hadn't previously posted to me, making sure to always point out that I'm naive, I must not have any writing experience, and why don't I do my research before I post again, I would not have been angered by his private message. But I've just had it with his attitude, and he keeps feeling the need to seek me out to tell me about what he perceives as my shortcomings. He's just really odd, as I know he thinks I am, also.
Usually, I dismiss his blather, because he spends quite a long time--every day--on those boards. I think he's posted over 700 times, in the past year. I get the feeling that he's sitting in some 'Cold War' prison cell, with a dim lightbulb as his only source of light, and that the board may be his only connection to other people. Who knows?
I only go there, when I have a question, or when I want to answer someone else's question. I've posted about 40 times, I believe, since February of this year.
It's a lively place, with a very lively bunch of writers, but I don't always have time to look at everything. I've perused some threads, but I haven't had the time to post a lot.
In time, I hope I can check all of the folders out. One thing that does impress me is board owner's honesty about her road to success in the freelance world, while she battled and overcame some debilitating social phobias. Even in this day and age, many creative people are still afraid to talk about anxiety disorders, panic disorders, for fear of ridicule. Through reading about her background and life, I found out about how open she is about her battle with anxiety. I really admire her for that.
Anyway, I was already sweating out this month's bills, yesterday, while I await payment for two articles. I wasn't in the mood for his BS, period.
I won't bore you with my exchange, other than to say that I basically told him I thought he was a pompous ass, and though his advice is very good, I usually can't get past his condescending manner when he writes. I also informed him that I have been working as a professional writer for over a decade, and that--due to health problems, and the economy crashing in the early 2000's--I was out of work for a long period of time.
When I returned to the work world, it was a different ballgame indeed. Not that I needed to even explain things to him, but he seems to want my attention for whatever reason.
As well, since he acts as if he has no problems as a 'professional writer' and he doesn't whine and complain like 'amateurs,' I decided to take a look at some of his own posts.
Oh, you should see them. He complains about not getting paid on time, he complains about anxiety over not getting paid, he whines about editors not getting back to him, he concludes in one post that it's an evil woman that's behind his problems with one client. He had to make sure to point out that it was a woman that did him wrong. Interesting.
I wondered why he felt it was okay to keep telling me what I need to do with my writing career, or that it was okay to insult me about his perceived level of my writing experience, when he deals with the same issues as well.
All writers do at some point or another. I decided to give him a taste of his own words, using his posts. He sure didn't like that at all.
If you want to see my PM, feel free to email me and I will show it to you, so you do have a reference to his meltdown. My replies are too long (same issue I have here on the blog).
He wasn't really happy with me turning the tables on him at all. Probably not, since I was going out of my way to treat him the way he treats me.
His response? Now, remember he initiated a private message with me and felt that I really needed to hear his sage wisdom. I don't engage him. I've never been rude to him on the boards, and I never read his posts, period. Once I see his name, I know the post is going to have the cadence of a Nazi SS soldier.
Here it is:
Up until your initial post, I was prepared to accept that there might be some merit in what you had to say.
With your most recent tirade, I can only let you know that it is the mark of a severely psychically scarred individual.
I have always had the sense that your words contained within them the psyche of a tight, stocky pugilist, constantly seeking and itching for a fight. Your recent posts in the freelance forum and the most recent PM to me have confirmed this and more.
You have a psychological problem, on top of your physical problems, honey. Your recent post is clearly one of projection.
No, let me thank you - for taking soooo much time to undertake a review of the archives in the hopes of distortion to 'catch me out', and score points. Indeed, one of the oldest tricks in the book - and terribly boring. I hope you gained satisfaction from it - no sense spending precious time doing something you don't enjoy now, is there?
XX
After I stopped laughing, I really took a look at what he said. His description of me is very vivid in its detail, especially given that I am female. Honestly, it's about the most creative thing I've seen him write, but it's sort of scary/creepy, especially the whole 'honey' thing.
It seems he's been following my every post, but if that's the case, and he clearly doesn't care for my posts, or me why is he reading them and why is he contacting me??
But I have to say that his description of me is the most passionate thing I've seen him write. Oddly, that passage proves to me that he is a good writer, but its what spurs his passion that concerns me.
What's even more interesting, to me, is the whole 'in hopes of distortion to catch me out and score points.'
What does that mean? He contacted me, not the other way around. I also love it that the title of his message was "Final Word."...wow, a big, anal control freak!!! Imagine that?
I should have just let it go, but when a seemingly misogynist male makes a comment like "Final Word," it's just too much fun to let it go at that, right?
My last response to him, before he went on Ignore: (I think he's probably got me on ignore, but I have a feeling he's already viewed this blog)
Gosh,
For someone who thinks I'm pretty screwed up, mentally, you sure do follow me around a lot, read my posts, analyze them, and send me private messages.
I didn't initiate a conversation with you, and I gave you a taste of your sadistic medicine, which you didn't like.
I didn't have to dig hard to find posts where you whine and complain about the same issues as I do.
You really seem to hate women, which comes through not only in this PM, but also in your posts.
If I had to guess, I'd say you are a repressed homosexual, who has 'mommy' issues, but who cares?
Oh, and a Narcissist to boot. Not a good combo, but I'm not qualified to delve into your personal life.
But I must say your description of me was very entertaining. Such anger was feted all over that paragraph, and you even used the word pugilist!!! I love it!
Again, remember that it's you who have followed my posts, and you who initiated this PM. I think that says loads about your own mental condition, 'honey.'
But I'm not sure **board owner name deleted** would appreciate a member here trying to use mental illness as a defamatory comment against another member, whether in a PM or on the boards.
Don't communicate with me, again in PM or on the boards. I don't read your posts, and I'm not interested in your pearls of wisdom.
I'm too busy getting all tight and angry, and ready for my next boxing match, 'honey' (two circles and a snap)
In retrospect, I should have just ignored him from the get go, as I have done previously. But it was one of those days, and I was really over his "I'm a professional. You are not" schtick.
The above conversation further confirms that we are indeed in the middle of some sort of planetary shift.
I just find it sad, in this day and age, that people who want to hurt others, do it with the mental illness moniker, as if it's demeaning to have a problem like that. It's such a pot shot. Yet, I returned the favor.
My father is bi-polar and I've watched him struggle. I struggle with anxiety and depression, and so does my partner. Most of the friends we have are either in therapy, been in therapy, or are on medication.
People like PJW use anything they can to crush someone that reminds them of their own weaknesses and shortcomings. They find it a sign of weakness to admit that they, too, deal with the same anxiety laden issues, so they find someone they can try to pummel, in some sick attempt to make them feel better about themselves.
I hope PJW comes back to my blog and reads this. Unfortunately, he won't have the last word here!
Well, I'd write more but I'm in training for my next fight with Evander Holyfield.
For training, I thought I'd pick a fight with the mailman today, or maybe I'll kick the crutches out from under my neighbor, who broke his leg...you know, just to release the pent up anger.
You know me. I'm always lookin' for a fight!!!
Put em' up!
What are the odds that Steve Irwin would die by a Stingray's barb through his heart? In Australia, there have only been three reported deaths by Stingray in the last 20 years. This guy wrangled with Cobras, Green Mambas, and Crocs!
He went up on the irresponsible meter with me, when he took his baby son in one arm, held a piece of red meat with the other and teased a Croc with the meat.
Even with that, he was a good kind of crazy. He and his wife were all about conservation, period. He was an affable, lovable chap and he died in a very strange way. I'll never forget how excited Steve would get when he found animal droppings.
He'd excitedly hold up some piece of excrement from a Komoto Dragon, get that intense look in his eyes, stare at the camera and with his thick Australian brogue he'd blurt out, "Look! POO!"
Next, comes a strange tale from the house of Anna Nicole Smith. Tell me what the odds are for a mother giving birth to a child and three days later her 20-year-old son dies in his sleep, while sitting next to her hospital bed?
The writers of Six Feet Under could not have thought up a more odd death than this one. You know, Anna Nicole is a force unto herself, and I have made plenty of jokes about her. I do my "Trim Spa Baby" commercial, where I flail my arms around, take a big sip of red wine and yell out her signature line, "It's Trim Spa Baby," while the wine spills down my chin. Well, it is amusing when you are in the mood to laugh at anything.
But I don't wish that fate on anyone, period. That's really awful and heartbreaking. How does one recover from giving birth, begin the nurturing process to the newborn, while grieving over another child's death?
These are odd deaths within the universe. There just seems to be a lot oddness going around.
With that said, I feel compelled to post about my experience with a poster from a writing board that I visit frequently. Actually, what this exchange proved to me is that I need to practice what I preach about mercy, no matter how I feel about the individual. But as you will see, I am as human as the next person.
I make no bones about my neuroses, or my anxiety--at times--when it comes to the wonderful world of writing. In being that honest about my emotions, it leaves you open to criticism and it forces others to look at their own issues surrounding the anxiety of trying to write for a living.
(The post that was on here, yesterday, will return, but I wanted to edit it a little)
It ain't for sissies.
A few weeks ago, I posted about this jerk client I encountered. Basically, I didn't stand up for myself in the first place, I feel, and establish my rates, but he also took advantage of me in a big way. It was the first time I ever took on an assignment that entailed writing a detailed White Paper.
However, that's not how my client presented the project. It was to be a 1500 word 'article' about a certain Accounts Payable topic. Anyway, it turned into a 5000 plus word project, which certainly didn't bother my client, but it bothered me.
Succinctly, I got hosed with a bad contract. Though I am mad, I'm no victim. At the same time, this guy really did know how badly he was taking advantage of me and certainly didn't care.
Well, I was so angry about this guy having me write a first draft and then he turns around and says the first draft, 'isn't what he wanted.'
It was in the middle of this awful deadline that I posted about what was going on with me. I was really pissed and the lack of sleep added to it.
I posted about it with the feelings I was having at the time. After a day or so, nobody posted back so I thought I had really freaked out too much. (don't you love neuroses?) Two people posted, one being this guy who has followed my every post since I joined this board.
Backstory: When I was working a tech writing job a few months ago, I posted about the political games taking place onsite. This guy proceeded to post and tell me how naive I am, that I must be a 'newbie' writer, and that I better call my agency, because he knew for a fact that my client was going to end up firing me.
Through his dramatic interpretation of my problems, he did offer some good information. I felt he was being sincere, so I responded rather kindly to his post, but set him straight on a few things.
Others, however, posted in my defense and sort of shut down this guy and his posts.
Anyway, he, again, read my post on the jerky client, and offered his advice. Again, he also made sure to point out that I had a previous problem with the tech writing client, and now I have a problem with this client. He offered good advice, peppered and tempered by his jabs about my lack of experience, and how I should go and do research before I post again.
When I thanked him and the other poster for responding, I added, "Well, maybe I'm whining too much, because it seems nobody else is interested in posting."
It was an anxiety-laden moment. A real knowledgeable lady, who always takes the time to answer questions from newbies, got really pissed at my reply. Rightly so, though she took it personally.
This led another guy--he left the boards in a huff over a conflict with the owner--to post a "yeah, me too" post.
It was evident that I probably exposed too much of myself on there. Anyway, the know-it-all guy, I'll call him PJW (Pompous Jerk Wad), remained very intent watching the responses and throwing in his two cents.
All others who posted to me were supportive and understood what I was going through, as they had gone through the same things as well. Some of them felt bad for me, as they knew what an exposed nerve I was at the time.
Then, PJW felt the need to respond again, after I left an update about what happened and basically let me know that everyone on the board knows I am an amateur, but he's a professional.
I skipped over it, but apparently I wasn't the only one that was bothered by his demeanor. The board moderator took him to task for denigrating any writer for being a beginner, etc.
He didn't like that reprimand, and he posted some sullen response to her. Since that time, he hasn't posted on that thread, period. Not that I have noticed, at least.
Well, I kept updating the thread, as my travails with this jerky client reached the point where I had to tell him I would not continue working with him for the pittance he gave me on the first assignment.
This time, instead of posting his pearls of pompous wisdom on the board, he decided that I desperately needed to hear what he had to say to me, so he sent a private message through the board.
Wonder why he wouldn't just post on that thread?
Here's PJW's PM in full glory:
The moral of the story is as old as time itself - we all must pay our dues. The simple fact of the matter is that you were naive (and hungry), and as a business person, he could see this and operated accordingly.
It is otherwise known as 'business'. And this is the way it is.
You have indicated that you have done your homework (as had been suggested), and now you are in a stronger position in negotiations. Editors such as this know that they will get you once at least, and moreso the hungrier/needy the writer.
It is a bitter pill to swallow, what the writer perceives as being screwed by the 'managerial class'. It is the wider and classic labour vs. capital battle - your politics and class will determine much of how you perceive it (and for some, how they align themselves). Of course, there are other editors out there that pay higher fees and treat their service providers well. It is a case of weeding out the 'good' from the 'bad' of such editors.
There are quite a number of bumps and hits that we must endure along the way to get to a suitable, stable position. You must become proficient at negotiations, and managing the 'business' if you are to survive and thrive.This is the very distinct difference between the many hobbyist-dabbler-dilletante members here, and the fewer but successful long-term full-timers.
Yes, it's all good information, but he's repeated the 'naive' ''hobbyist' 'amateur' stuff in almost every response he has to my posts. Moreso, he has a real fascination with proving to me that he's got it all together and I don't. Well, that's how I have perceived it.
His PM reads like some attempt at a Valentine's Day card from Fyodor Dostoevsky to his daughter. I feel like printing it out and pasting it into a heart.
It's not so much what he says to me, it's his delivery. He's very pompous, period. He's quite fond of pointing out that he's so successful in writing, so wise, never makes these 'amateur' mistakes, that it's ingratiating. He's also fond of making sure to point out that he's a 'real' writer, and others--including me--only wish to be.
If he hadn't previously posted to me, making sure to always point out that I'm naive, I must not have any writing experience, and why don't I do my research before I post again, I would not have been angered by his private message. But I've just had it with his attitude, and he keeps feeling the need to seek me out to tell me about what he perceives as my shortcomings. He's just really odd, as I know he thinks I am, also.
Usually, I dismiss his blather, because he spends quite a long time--every day--on those boards. I think he's posted over 700 times, in the past year. I get the feeling that he's sitting in some 'Cold War' prison cell, with a dim lightbulb as his only source of light, and that the board may be his only connection to other people. Who knows?
I only go there, when I have a question, or when I want to answer someone else's question. I've posted about 40 times, I believe, since February of this year.
It's a lively place, with a very lively bunch of writers, but I don't always have time to look at everything. I've perused some threads, but I haven't had the time to post a lot.
In time, I hope I can check all of the folders out. One thing that does impress me is board owner's honesty about her road to success in the freelance world, while she battled and overcame some debilitating social phobias. Even in this day and age, many creative people are still afraid to talk about anxiety disorders, panic disorders, for fear of ridicule. Through reading about her background and life, I found out about how open she is about her battle with anxiety. I really admire her for that.
Anyway, I was already sweating out this month's bills, yesterday, while I await payment for two articles. I wasn't in the mood for his BS, period.
I won't bore you with my exchange, other than to say that I basically told him I thought he was a pompous ass, and though his advice is very good, I usually can't get past his condescending manner when he writes. I also informed him that I have been working as a professional writer for over a decade, and that--due to health problems, and the economy crashing in the early 2000's--I was out of work for a long period of time.
When I returned to the work world, it was a different ballgame indeed. Not that I needed to even explain things to him, but he seems to want my attention for whatever reason.
As well, since he acts as if he has no problems as a 'professional writer' and he doesn't whine and complain like 'amateurs,' I decided to take a look at some of his own posts.
Oh, you should see them. He complains about not getting paid on time, he complains about anxiety over not getting paid, he whines about editors not getting back to him, he concludes in one post that it's an evil woman that's behind his problems with one client. He had to make sure to point out that it was a woman that did him wrong. Interesting.
I wondered why he felt it was okay to keep telling me what I need to do with my writing career, or that it was okay to insult me about his perceived level of my writing experience, when he deals with the same issues as well.
All writers do at some point or another. I decided to give him a taste of his own words, using his posts. He sure didn't like that at all.
If you want to see my PM, feel free to email me and I will show it to you, so you do have a reference to his meltdown. My replies are too long (same issue I have here on the blog).
He wasn't really happy with me turning the tables on him at all. Probably not, since I was going out of my way to treat him the way he treats me.
His response? Now, remember he initiated a private message with me and felt that I really needed to hear his sage wisdom. I don't engage him. I've never been rude to him on the boards, and I never read his posts, period. Once I see his name, I know the post is going to have the cadence of a Nazi SS soldier.
Here it is:
Up until your initial post, I was prepared to accept that there might be some merit in what you had to say.
With your most recent tirade, I can only let you know that it is the mark of a severely psychically scarred individual.
I have always had the sense that your words contained within them the psyche of a tight, stocky pugilist, constantly seeking and itching for a fight. Your recent posts in the freelance forum and the most recent PM to me have confirmed this and more.
You have a psychological problem, on top of your physical problems, honey. Your recent post is clearly one of projection.
No, let me thank you - for taking soooo much time to undertake a review of the archives in the hopes of distortion to 'catch me out', and score points. Indeed, one of the oldest tricks in the book - and terribly boring. I hope you gained satisfaction from it - no sense spending precious time doing something you don't enjoy now, is there?
XX
After I stopped laughing, I really took a look at what he said. His description of me is very vivid in its detail, especially given that I am female. Honestly, it's about the most creative thing I've seen him write, but it's sort of scary/creepy, especially the whole 'honey' thing.
It seems he's been following my every post, but if that's the case, and he clearly doesn't care for my posts, or me why is he reading them and why is he contacting me??
But I have to say that his description of me is the most passionate thing I've seen him write. Oddly, that passage proves to me that he is a good writer, but its what spurs his passion that concerns me.
What's even more interesting, to me, is the whole 'in hopes of distortion to catch me out and score points.'
What does that mean? He contacted me, not the other way around. I also love it that the title of his message was "Final Word."...wow, a big, anal control freak!!! Imagine that?
I should have just let it go, but when a seemingly misogynist male makes a comment like "Final Word," it's just too much fun to let it go at that, right?
My last response to him, before he went on Ignore: (I think he's probably got me on ignore, but I have a feeling he's already viewed this blog)
Gosh,
For someone who thinks I'm pretty screwed up, mentally, you sure do follow me around a lot, read my posts, analyze them, and send me private messages.
I didn't initiate a conversation with you, and I gave you a taste of your sadistic medicine, which you didn't like.
I didn't have to dig hard to find posts where you whine and complain about the same issues as I do.
You really seem to hate women, which comes through not only in this PM, but also in your posts.
If I had to guess, I'd say you are a repressed homosexual, who has 'mommy' issues, but who cares?
Oh, and a Narcissist to boot. Not a good combo, but I'm not qualified to delve into your personal life.
But I must say your description of me was very entertaining. Such anger was feted all over that paragraph, and you even used the word pugilist!!! I love it!
Again, remember that it's you who have followed my posts, and you who initiated this PM. I think that says loads about your own mental condition, 'honey.'
But I'm not sure **board owner name deleted** would appreciate a member here trying to use mental illness as a defamatory comment against another member, whether in a PM or on the boards.
Don't communicate with me, again in PM or on the boards. I don't read your posts, and I'm not interested in your pearls of wisdom.
I'm too busy getting all tight and angry, and ready for my next boxing match, 'honey' (two circles and a snap)
In retrospect, I should have just ignored him from the get go, as I have done previously. But it was one of those days, and I was really over his "I'm a professional. You are not" schtick.
The above conversation further confirms that we are indeed in the middle of some sort of planetary shift.
I just find it sad, in this day and age, that people who want to hurt others, do it with the mental illness moniker, as if it's demeaning to have a problem like that. It's such a pot shot. Yet, I returned the favor.
My father is bi-polar and I've watched him struggle. I struggle with anxiety and depression, and so does my partner. Most of the friends we have are either in therapy, been in therapy, or are on medication.
People like PJW use anything they can to crush someone that reminds them of their own weaknesses and shortcomings. They find it a sign of weakness to admit that they, too, deal with the same anxiety laden issues, so they find someone they can try to pummel, in some sick attempt to make them feel better about themselves.
I hope PJW comes back to my blog and reads this. Unfortunately, he won't have the last word here!
Well, I'd write more but I'm in training for my next fight with Evander Holyfield.
For training, I thought I'd pick a fight with the mailman today, or maybe I'll kick the crutches out from under my neighbor, who broke his leg...you know, just to release the pent up anger.
You know me. I'm always lookin' for a fight!!!
Put em' up!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Tender Mercies
Lately--and don't ask me why, those three people who view my blog--I've been thinking about Charles Manson and the Manson family.
No, not because I want to write a musical about them, although that would be something twisted that would cross my mind, but because I was curious as to what happened to the actual murderers.
Particularly, Leslie Van Houten.
If the point of sending someone to the slammer is to teach them a lesson, and to make them pay for the crime that they committed, then nobody has paid that price more than Leslie Van Houten.
However, I--like many--am torn about my feelings concerning whether she should get parole, or not. It won't matter for another year, as yesterday she was denied for the 15th time in the past 35 years of her incarceration.
The murders of the La Bianca family were no less gruesome than the Sharon Tate murders, but Van Houten has been a model prisoner, she's worked for good in the outside community, and she's continually flagellated herself, spiritually, mentally and emotionally for what she did so many years ago.
Of course I do not condone what she did. Who in their right mind would? But I think there are times when there truly is a conversion and maturity for an individual sent to prison for the most grizzly of offenses. I think of Karla Faye Tucker.
From what I've seen and read about Ms. Van Houten, I do not believe she's faking it. Whether she ever leaves prison or not, I believe she has taken the steps to admit to what she did, she's gone through the feelings of guilt and shame, and she's been able to separate healthy responsibility/guilt for the taking of life from debilitating shame.
I don't mean to seem blithe to the gravity of her crimes. She was a very sick person, at the time of her trial and conviction, but if the goal of imprisonment is the rehabilitation of those who are willing to take responsibility for what they did, then I think she's human attainment of that goal.
If I was held responsible for all of my deeds and words, when I was 19 or younger, I might not be here--free on the outside world--myself. No, I never committed heinous crimes, but I don't think I had a lick of sense at that time.
Well, let me get to the point of this post. I swear I do have a point. I know I ramble.
Anyway, I was cruising Blogger, searching for anyone who might have posted about Leslie's latest parole denial, and I came upon an interesting blog.
http://www.mrterryc.com/idealist.htm
I wasn't looking for it, but God often shows himself in the oddest of places.
For a long time, I have been bereft about the state of organized religion in this country, and how much hate and fear rhetoric seems to fill the airways and blogspaces, both on the left and on the right. Nothing brought that home in a clear way than my partner's uber right-wing, conservative, blogstalker.
She's the kind of Catholic that I avoid; The typical rabid idealogue that seems to enjoy attacking those that don't act, think or believe in the same skewed way.
I was becoming prejudiced to the whole sect, in a big way, not just because of her, but because of the whole Priest/molestation scandal. The whole thing made me sick.
But I found the above blog. In it, I found a person who is a devoted Roman Catholic and makes no bones about it. However, my own biases were shattered, because this Roman Catholic is a compassionate and very intelligent Christian.
I found myself reading almost everything he'd written on his blog and enjoying every one of the posts. I don't agree with every point he makes, but our commonalities are much more prevalent than our differences on issues (sometimes, only in small ways).
Reading his posts gave me hope, period. Hope that there ARE sane, rational folks out there, who may have differing viewpoints than me, but who realize that we are one in Christ.
And in my cynicism, this is exactly what I needed to restore my own faith. Sometimes, it's the small things, folks.
It moved me so much that I emailed him. He truly seems like a really interesting person, and I hope we will keep in touch. I plan to continue to read his blog.
I urge all of you to do the same. After reading his blog and reading his subsequent email response to me, it made me think of Mary Gauthier's song, "Mercy Now."
We all need, whether we deserve it or not, a little "mercy," even Leslie Van Houten, and, well, maybe even my partner's former blogstalker. (I just gagged, after I typed that)
No, not because I want to write a musical about them, although that would be something twisted that would cross my mind, but because I was curious as to what happened to the actual murderers.
Particularly, Leslie Van Houten.
If the point of sending someone to the slammer is to teach them a lesson, and to make them pay for the crime that they committed, then nobody has paid that price more than Leslie Van Houten.
However, I--like many--am torn about my feelings concerning whether she should get parole, or not. It won't matter for another year, as yesterday she was denied for the 15th time in the past 35 years of her incarceration.
The murders of the La Bianca family were no less gruesome than the Sharon Tate murders, but Van Houten has been a model prisoner, she's worked for good in the outside community, and she's continually flagellated herself, spiritually, mentally and emotionally for what she did so many years ago.
Of course I do not condone what she did. Who in their right mind would? But I think there are times when there truly is a conversion and maturity for an individual sent to prison for the most grizzly of offenses. I think of Karla Faye Tucker.
From what I've seen and read about Ms. Van Houten, I do not believe she's faking it. Whether she ever leaves prison or not, I believe she has taken the steps to admit to what she did, she's gone through the feelings of guilt and shame, and she's been able to separate healthy responsibility/guilt for the taking of life from debilitating shame.
I don't mean to seem blithe to the gravity of her crimes. She was a very sick person, at the time of her trial and conviction, but if the goal of imprisonment is the rehabilitation of those who are willing to take responsibility for what they did, then I think she's human attainment of that goal.
If I was held responsible for all of my deeds and words, when I was 19 or younger, I might not be here--free on the outside world--myself. No, I never committed heinous crimes, but I don't think I had a lick of sense at that time.
Well, let me get to the point of this post. I swear I do have a point. I know I ramble.
Anyway, I was cruising Blogger, searching for anyone who might have posted about Leslie's latest parole denial, and I came upon an interesting blog.
http://www.mrterryc.com/idealist.htm
I wasn't looking for it, but God often shows himself in the oddest of places.
For a long time, I have been bereft about the state of organized religion in this country, and how much hate and fear rhetoric seems to fill the airways and blogspaces, both on the left and on the right. Nothing brought that home in a clear way than my partner's uber right-wing, conservative, blogstalker.
She's the kind of Catholic that I avoid; The typical rabid idealogue that seems to enjoy attacking those that don't act, think or believe in the same skewed way.
I was becoming prejudiced to the whole sect, in a big way, not just because of her, but because of the whole Priest/molestation scandal. The whole thing made me sick.
But I found the above blog. In it, I found a person who is a devoted Roman Catholic and makes no bones about it. However, my own biases were shattered, because this Roman Catholic is a compassionate and very intelligent Christian.
I found myself reading almost everything he'd written on his blog and enjoying every one of the posts. I don't agree with every point he makes, but our commonalities are much more prevalent than our differences on issues (sometimes, only in small ways).
Reading his posts gave me hope, period. Hope that there ARE sane, rational folks out there, who may have differing viewpoints than me, but who realize that we are one in Christ.
And in my cynicism, this is exactly what I needed to restore my own faith. Sometimes, it's the small things, folks.
It moved me so much that I emailed him. He truly seems like a really interesting person, and I hope we will keep in touch. I plan to continue to read his blog.
I urge all of you to do the same. After reading his blog and reading his subsequent email response to me, it made me think of Mary Gauthier's song, "Mercy Now."
We all need, whether we deserve it or not, a little "mercy," even Leslie Van Houten, and, well, maybe even my partner's former blogstalker. (I just gagged, after I typed that)
Mercy Now
By: Mary Gauthier
By: Mary Gauthier
My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor
Fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over
It won't be long and he won't be around
I love my father, and he could use some mercy now
My brother could use a little mercy now
He's a stranger to freedom
He's shackled to his fears and doubts
The pain that he lives in is
Almost more than living will allow
I love my bother, and he could use some mercy now
My church and my country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit
That's going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful
Who follow them down
I love my church and country, and they could use some mercy now
Every living thing could use a little mercy now
Only the hand of grace can end the race
Towards another mushroom cloud
People in power, well
They'll do anything to keep their crown
I love life, and life itself could use some mercy now
Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don't deserve it
But we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance
Dangled between hell and hallowed ground
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
The fruits of his labor
Fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over
It won't be long and he won't be around
I love my father, and he could use some mercy now
My brother could use a little mercy now
He's a stranger to freedom
He's shackled to his fears and doubts
The pain that he lives in is
Almost more than living will allow
I love my bother, and he could use some mercy now
My church and my country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit
That's going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful
Who follow them down
I love my church and country, and they could use some mercy now
Every living thing could use a little mercy now
Only the hand of grace can end the race
Towards another mushroom cloud
People in power, well
They'll do anything to keep their crown
I love life, and life itself could use some mercy now
Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don't deserve it
But we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance
Dangled between hell and hallowed ground
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
The sad selling of 9/11
Am I the only one that thinks that it's too soon for all of the 9/11 films?
Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon, but it's still hard for me to even watch the documentaries--very good ones, by the way--on PBS, Discovery, National Geographic Channel, History Channel, concerning every aspect of that awful day in history.
I watched a fictional move on A&E, I believe, about Flight 93, and it was so agonizing to watch what 'might' have happened in the final minutes of those brave folks' lives.
I refused to see the two films that recently came out in the theatres--one, by Oliver Stone, I believe--because the actual event, and the footage from that day still replay in my brain over and over. I had no relative or friend that died in 9/11, but it still hurts me too much to even be reminded of the horror those brave folks went through, on their way to eternity. I can only imagine what the survivors go through.
I'm sure that's a collective replay.
Didn't folks wait about 10-20 years, before they started making documentaries and films about the JFK Assassination (I know, I mention that a lot in my posts)? As well, Vietnam? I do recall Frank Sinatra personally pulling "The Manchurian Candidate" from theatres, right after JFK died.
On the other hand, films about Pearl Harbor started right after the incident. "From Here to Eternity" comes to mind.
And now comes ABC's film, "Path to 9/11."
This is supposed to cover everything that was going on at the White House, with the CIA, etc., before 9/11. From what I understand, it's very "Pro-Bush," and makes a real concerted effort to portray President Bill Clinton as being a sex crazed freak, who was too busy boinking Monica, to find and stop Bin Laden.
Imagine that?
It's September. The launching of the final lap in the political jungle of elections, before the November vote. What better time to have Rumsfeld spouting the "fascist" word, against those who oppose what they continue to do in Iraq, etc.?
What better time to trot out GW at various conventions, etc., spouting off about how long the war against the "tarr-er-ists" will take, etc.?
And it's the best time to produce a film with half-truths, and--according to some like former Secretary of State Madeline Albright--outright lies about one of the most popular Democratic Presidents in history!
Well, maybe Clinton was too busy answering to the inquisitors, who spent millions of taxpayer dollars on an investigation into the private sex life of Bill Clinton? Could that be why he couldn't devote as much time as he needed to track down Bin Laden?
From what I am reading, the writer of this film is a staunch conservative.
Read for yourself:
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=21330&afccode=n71txt
The film was made available to over 900 conservative bloggers and media personnel, like that oracle of un-biased truth, Rush Limbaugh. However, when President Clinton, Albright, and others wanted to preview the film, they were denied.
Wow. And these are the same folks who claim that there is a sinister, "Liberal bias" in the media.
Pot? Meet Kettle.
Yes, leave it to this administration to use a national network to get the propaganda out, before November. "See, it's the EVIL, IMMORAL degenerates of the Democratic Party, who allowed 9/11 to take place!"
How sweet to exploit the 3,000 lives lost in that tragedy, for use as a political tool. If this is true, it really makes me wonder about those behind the scenes pushing for this to be aired. The families of the victims, who are left with a gaping hole in their hearts and forever in their lives, are flesh and blood humans, not pawns in a political strategy game.
Let's say that President Clinton was to blame for not capturing Bin Laden, when he had the chance.
Okay, well we've had about five years since 9/11, and the Bush Administration has failed to find, capture and put on trial, Bin Laden. Instead, we are engaged in a futile war, within a country that had absolutely NOTHING to do with 9/11 and/or Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Can we blame THAT on Clinton, too? Can we blame the purposeful apathy to truly go after the mastermind of 9/11 on Bill Clinton?
Hell, let's just blame it all on Clinton! JFK Assassination, Vietnam, Watergate, Katrina. Let's make a board game out of it.
"Blame it on Bill."
I have this funny feeling that as November approaches, gas prices will continue to fall--because of the Republicans, of course--and whaddya think about an elevated terror alert, coupled with a Bin Laden sighting, or bombing of a "suspected" Bin Laden hideout?
The question will be, concerning all of the above, are we--the American people--going to continue to be so dumb and gullible that we take this latest propaganda bait, hook, line and sinker?
The counting of the ballots will tell. Someone make a call to that super cool dude, "Hanging Chad."
Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon, but it's still hard for me to even watch the documentaries--very good ones, by the way--on PBS, Discovery, National Geographic Channel, History Channel, concerning every aspect of that awful day in history.
I watched a fictional move on A&E, I believe, about Flight 93, and it was so agonizing to watch what 'might' have happened in the final minutes of those brave folks' lives.
I refused to see the two films that recently came out in the theatres--one, by Oliver Stone, I believe--because the actual event, and the footage from that day still replay in my brain over and over. I had no relative or friend that died in 9/11, but it still hurts me too much to even be reminded of the horror those brave folks went through, on their way to eternity. I can only imagine what the survivors go through.
I'm sure that's a collective replay.
Didn't folks wait about 10-20 years, before they started making documentaries and films about the JFK Assassination (I know, I mention that a lot in my posts)? As well, Vietnam? I do recall Frank Sinatra personally pulling "The Manchurian Candidate" from theatres, right after JFK died.
On the other hand, films about Pearl Harbor started right after the incident. "From Here to Eternity" comes to mind.
And now comes ABC's film, "Path to 9/11."
This is supposed to cover everything that was going on at the White House, with the CIA, etc., before 9/11. From what I understand, it's very "Pro-Bush," and makes a real concerted effort to portray President Bill Clinton as being a sex crazed freak, who was too busy boinking Monica, to find and stop Bin Laden.
Imagine that?
It's September. The launching of the final lap in the political jungle of elections, before the November vote. What better time to have Rumsfeld spouting the "fascist" word, against those who oppose what they continue to do in Iraq, etc.?
What better time to trot out GW at various conventions, etc., spouting off about how long the war against the "tarr-er-ists" will take, etc.?
And it's the best time to produce a film with half-truths, and--according to some like former Secretary of State Madeline Albright--outright lies about one of the most popular Democratic Presidents in history!
Well, maybe Clinton was too busy answering to the inquisitors, who spent millions of taxpayer dollars on an investigation into the private sex life of Bill Clinton? Could that be why he couldn't devote as much time as he needed to track down Bin Laden?
From what I am reading, the writer of this film is a staunch conservative.
Read for yourself:
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=21330&afccode=n71txt
The film was made available to over 900 conservative bloggers and media personnel, like that oracle of un-biased truth, Rush Limbaugh. However, when President Clinton, Albright, and others wanted to preview the film, they were denied.
Wow. And these are the same folks who claim that there is a sinister, "Liberal bias" in the media.
Pot? Meet Kettle.
Yes, leave it to this administration to use a national network to get the propaganda out, before November. "See, it's the EVIL, IMMORAL degenerates of the Democratic Party, who allowed 9/11 to take place!"
How sweet to exploit the 3,000 lives lost in that tragedy, for use as a political tool. If this is true, it really makes me wonder about those behind the scenes pushing for this to be aired. The families of the victims, who are left with a gaping hole in their hearts and forever in their lives, are flesh and blood humans, not pawns in a political strategy game.
Let's say that President Clinton was to blame for not capturing Bin Laden, when he had the chance.
Okay, well we've had about five years since 9/11, and the Bush Administration has failed to find, capture and put on trial, Bin Laden. Instead, we are engaged in a futile war, within a country that had absolutely NOTHING to do with 9/11 and/or Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Can we blame THAT on Clinton, too? Can we blame the purposeful apathy to truly go after the mastermind of 9/11 on Bill Clinton?
Hell, let's just blame it all on Clinton! JFK Assassination, Vietnam, Watergate, Katrina. Let's make a board game out of it.
"Blame it on Bill."
I have this funny feeling that as November approaches, gas prices will continue to fall--because of the Republicans, of course--and whaddya think about an elevated terror alert, coupled with a Bin Laden sighting, or bombing of a "suspected" Bin Laden hideout?
The question will be, concerning all of the above, are we--the American people--going to continue to be so dumb and gullible that we take this latest propaganda bait, hook, line and sinker?
The counting of the ballots will tell. Someone make a call to that super cool dude, "Hanging Chad."
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