Gran Torino

See it.

empathy

Women Alone
I have an understanding of these women, but not having the good fortune to be a lesbian myself I'll always be an outsider.
I think it would be heaven to have a month's retreat each year at a place like Alapine and for the rest of the year just to know that it was there.

You'd suppose that a solitary person wouldn't have the urge for engagement with the world--it certainly seems odd to me.
But for myself, on the odd occasion, I just have to jump in and participate in the wild and woolly world.
It's kind of glorious--in an I-can't-wait-to-get-out-of-here-way.
Full engagement carries a lot of snap and crackle--a lot of life.

But to be with Women Alone for a while-- and to be accepted-- would be life too.

I hope that as the lesbians of today come to wisdom and age they continue these communities; letting straight women participate if only for the temporary comfort.

Proving it to the World...

Promoting democracy
I have some issues with the linked article.
How do we promote Democracy?
Like we have for the past 8 years?
It hasn't seemed to make us any friends.

First we'll need to set an excellent example of Democracy and illustrate how it can work.
That means encouraging everyone to vote--it worked this time and it can work again. The occasional wackiness will happen, a la California and the gay marriage ban, but you've got to expect wackiness where humans are concerned.
If everyone is not at the polls the majority can't rule.
Democracy means that the supreme authority of a nation is invested in the people--so everyone who's a person needs to vote. Ok, People?
Aside from the major miracle we've recently experienced, the USA has been largely run, since the late 70's, by those who believe the world should operate like a John Wayne movie--which were fiction.
The value system a democracy runs on needs to be defined per the Constitution of the USA and printed LARGE on every banknote, worthless though they are, and on the side of every government building.
The word Values is thrown around like the new baby at the family reunion but values must be defined, which means to specify distinctly and to state the precise meaning of each individual value of a Democracy. There's real work behind it.
Who am I to dispute the values of a serial killer? They're true for him or her.
Every pederast has a value system but it might not work for you.
So, get to work.
Participate in the democracy you want to see.

The Redoubtable Mr. G

...And all the Multiverse's children say...
Happy Birthday!

These are Big Times in the Gouker/O'Reilly connection, first the holidays and now the birthdays. Someone to celebrate in January, February and March.
Last night we went to The Outback SteakHouse and ate the biggest steaks we could find in honor of Mr. January's 33rd
birthday.
This is what my daughter brought home to me about 10 years ago and in her sweet childish voice said 'This is my man, Mom.'
Like any good mother from New York, deep in my heart I muttered 'Oy Vey.' But time has told its story and another in a long line of strong, gentle men was added to the family.
May your beard grow ever longer, Mr.G.

Yay, Bluenorthwest: Smart Person

Bluenorthwest (1000+ posts)
Wed Jan-28-09 08:50 AMResponse to Original message
15. If Johanna was an American
She would have no marriage, and would not be allowed by religionists to rise to any level of power, much less PM. She'd have lived a life based on one fact: politics is closed to you as an avenue of making change. She'd be a social worker or an artist.And that's fine, because the USA is doing so great, and we can fully afford to reject large populations of talented people. We have far too many good ideas, far too much money being made, and a future too fantastic to bother seeking the best and brightest. Everything is perfect here, and why mess with that?

Yay, Iceland. Poor but Sensible

Gay PM in Iceland


God bless all the dottirs and sons in Iceland.
Geothermal heat.
Private sex lives.
120 proof alcohol.
Ahhh, island living....

If Iceland were bigger and I were younger I'd move there and become a citizen.

The USA is too big
Too stupid and
...can you believe that John Updike lived here at all?

Portugal!

Portugal has offered safe haven to prisoners of Guantanamo who can't be repatriated because of fears of mistreatment/death in their own countries. While the prisoners were indeed found at training sites for terrorism a lot of them were planning to terrorize other countries. Not the USA. So, the USA should not be prosecuting them.
I say, hats off to Portugal. They are a small country but they jump up and do something really great and/or startling from time to time. They colonized large portions of Africa and South America beginning in the 1400's and consequently many of the Portuguese carry native blood from both continents in their veins--whether they know it or not. They brought Christianity as well, decimating the native peoples through religion and slavery.
In addition to that, the Portuguese were the first to use lobotomies--a first class means of controlling certain subsets of the population.
And their cuisine is First Rate.
I am not putting the Portuguese down--the blood runs strongly in my own veins--just pointing out that if you really are a great people you've worked both sides of the divide--don't deny it. And don't judge.

Rev. Joseph Lowry

Wow, let's hear it for the Rev.
It doesn't matter if there's a god or not--this man can spin a fine sermon.
He comes in second only to Obama's address today.
I'll post the text if I can find it--so far no luck.

FOUND IT:

Transcript courtesy Federal News Service

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand -- true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day. We pray now, O Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and, indeed, the global fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you're able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little, angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -- (laughter) -- when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) -- when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) -- and when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: Say amen --

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen! (Cheers, applause.)

END.

Rick Warren--what on earth was all that hype...?

DULL

Once more for fun....and thanks to Katherine Nixon for the photo

HAIL TO THE CHIEF

If I Ever had a Prayer...

A long time ago I prayed that my husband wouldn't die.
Since then I've left off praying simply because people are finite and really have to depend on themselves.
Today however, I find myself in a curious state of hope and terror.
Barack Obama is being compared to Dr. King, Mr. Lincoln and even to JFK--you can't help but see the comparisons.
Intelligence, compassion, charisma.
So, hope and joy and fear, once again walking hand in hand.
Let's all protect this man and help him to help America.

Hope: Read Maureen Dowd in the NYT today

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chilliest land And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.
--Emily Dickinson


See Maureen Dowd in the NYT today--the computer is not letting me add links for some reason

I hate being cliched and trite but, you know, there's usually a good point to a cliche. There are just not a vast number of words to convey a truth, so we end up with a tiresome line about stitching in time or spilling milk or all the stuff that glitters.

But Hope--wow, these past weeks since election day have been fraught with hope.
Hope that the sad little weenie leaving the office of the Presidency will will melt like the WWof the North or fall into the ZaZu Pitts like Gollum's doppelganger in the Harvard Lampoon's Bored of the Rings.(circa 1970--find it)
Hope that the ENORMOUS majority if brass-balled jackasses in Washington D.C. won't turn Obama's head as time goes by.
Hope that Obama won't lose heart surrounded by all those brass-balled jackasses.
Hope that we can join the global community as a proud and participating member of the world at large.
Hope that we can embrace our own population here in the USA and provide all of them with good health and good education and jobs that pay a living wage.
Hope that we can stop nattering at each other over pork and trifles.
Hope that America, of all nations, can stop using the bestial, grotesque and barbarous weapon of torture.
Well, you know, we could all go on forever with our hopes for the future Think of what your hope is.
Is it big enough? It's time for giant steps here in this USA.
We've been small and petty and self-indulgent for too long.
Let's be cock-eyed optimists for a while and make something happen that has never happened before.
Let's move up a notch on the evolutionary scale and actually be our brothers' and sisters' protector--and let us have the good grace to let them respond in kind.
Let us have the guts to say no to people and companies, public and private who ravage and despoil this beautiful green Earth we live on.
Let's just go a little beyond hope--and make it happen.

LORontheroad

Misunderestimation by Nora Ephron

It's true what he said: we misunderestimated him.
George Bush came into his presidency with a huge wave of goodwill. Not from me, but from the others. An amazing number of people who should have known better thought of him as a charming guy whose intellectual limitations would somehow be as benign as Ronald Reagan's, whose promise of a fairly passive presidency would be as survivable as Dwight Eisenhower's. So he couldn't seem to get a sentence out straight, so what? And as for his religious rigidity, that was simply his way of dealing with an alcohol problem without the sloppy conventions of AA.
He was misunderestimated in every way. It was hard to imagine that this feckless leader could do so much damage. But even as the worst emerged, he was given the benefit of the doubt because of the ongoing mysteries of his administration -- mysteries that have remained unsolved in spite of the skills of hundreds of gifted journalists who have attempted to uncover them:
Who exactly was running the country these last eight years?
What did the President know, if anything, and when did he know it, if ever?
Was he capable in any way of even one sleepless night, much less the ongoing insomnia that any sentient person would suffer after so many wrong decisions and pointless deaths?
Did he mispronounce the word "nuclear" 1) on purpose, in order to make himself seem folksy 2) because he actually thought he was pronouncing it correctly or 3) just to piss us off?
The exit appearances that Bush has made in recent weeks will be something future presidents will refer to as often as Lincoln's Second Inaugural, although for different reasons. Here's what he said:
We did the best we could under the circumstances.
It's not easy being President.
It wasn't completely my fault.
Everyone makes mistakes.
I kept America safe, except for this one time.
After that one time I worked really really hard almost every day and had to read a lot of stuff about foreign countries.
This is Bush's legacy -- a stunning series of alibis. This is what he will crawl off to Texas with, hoping that it will fool a publisher into giving him a substantial book advance and contributors into giving him money for a library full of pilfered papers.
On Monday, we will have to get used to a different thing entirely, a president who's in the loop, who reads history, who speaks decent English. He will rob of us of something -- of the burning anger that has sustained us the last eight years, and that will take some adjusting to. But we're up for it; after all these years in the dark, we're ready for a little overestimation. Which is, unlike misunderestimation, an actual word. But come to think of it, misunderestimation ought to be a word. I certainly know what it means.
Nora Ephron

Safe Haven--For Heaven's Sake

ALL TAKE AND NO GIVE--
per Huffington Post

All the billions are neatly tucked away in off shore tax havens.
They're not called banks for nothing.

He's Leaving

Read this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/opinion/15collins.html?hp



by Gail Collins


It's Great.


Love, Linda

Duplicity

In the Huffington Post this morning the word 'duplicitous' occurs at least a couple of times--both times referring to lies and the 'lying liars that tell them'
You need two people to tell a really good lie. For a really fantastic lie one person will do as long as that person really believes all versions of the truth/lie complex. This is not as rare as you might think.

However, my point is that we are all duplicitous out of necessity. Consider Barack Obama: Seemingly, a paragon of the term well-rounded, in personality, intelligence, education--a poster boy for family values and inter-racial harmony. Yet Mr. Obama successfully ran for President of the USA, where lies must be told and secrets must be kept. He is willingly exposing his beloved family to the vicissitudes of political life (ask Chelsea--I can't wait until that girl writes a book).
So, on the one hand...and yet...
In God we trust...wait, where is the retirement money I saved for 35 years?
But she's your mother...wait, didn't she beat the shit out of me for twelve solid years?
Member of the financial super-intelligentsia: Alan Greenspan...I never saw it coming.
Fr. Mike...come here, little boy.

Duplicity is the nature of the universe that we live in. Without it there would be no LIFE.
So, as sad and as painful as it is, the art of living requires that we exist in duplicity and contradiction---just read the Bible or Shakespeare or...look around you.
The Art of Living is trying to reach a balance; not slipping too far into fear or greed--especially fear.
The Art of Living is to participate honorably and thoughtfully with the world around you. Don't deny the ugly parts--steer away from them if you can, deal with them when you must.
Remember that when you reach to save someone or something that you love--you are passing over an equally beloved thing of yours or someone else's.

Snow, anyone?

This is Jake in his snow plow. It is a photo from the Seattle PI website where they did a story on the pass being closed due to avalanche.

Mom, going out with two different colored shoes isn't as bad as the bleach thing. My old manager at the Bead Factory came to work with two different colored knee-high boots on once. It is bright in that store! I thought about not telling her just because I knew she would be behind the counter all day, but I ended up telling her anyway. She went home to change. unlike some people. I also sat behind a girl at UWT that was wearing two different shoes completely. One had a round heel and the other was square. I stared at it all class. I was in a class at TCC where a woman forgot to take one single curler out of her hair. I stared at that all class too. As you can tell from these stories, I always pay attention to the teacher.

Bill Moyers Journal

I chanced upon Bill Moyers Journal this morning and watched the episode he did recently with John Lithgow. Really, the two of them together--what a show.
Anyway, Lithgow was expounding on poetry and read that poem of Dylan Thomas' about raging against the dying of the light and I thought about yesterday's post.
That piece of Thomas' always irked me, I thought how ungraceful it was to kick and scream your way out of this life the way some do.
Time to rethink the issue:
Raging doesn't necessarily mean the frenzy that I was seeing. Maybe what I should take it to mean is paring down to the clear, thin, blue flame of heat--putting everything you've got left into what you love, not wildly but intensely.
Everybody knows this but me.
So, there you are, another quantum of light for Linda.
I was very careful about my shoes this morning.

Shoes and the Properties of Light

I went out today feeling great. The sun was shining for a couple of hours and I went to Barnes and Noble and then to Safeway for some cat food.

I was stepping back into the car after leaving Barnes and Noble and I noticed an unbelievable thing--I was wearing one brown shoe and one black shoe. Damn, I'd been in a public place with people who could see!! I thought everybody was just extra friendly today.
So, was I going to drive all the way back home to change my shoe? No. I went to Safeway and everyone there was friendly too. And smiling. Do that many people usually look at your feet?
Anyhow, when you become old always put your shoes on in a good light.
This wouldn't have rocked my world as bad as it did if Catherine 927 hadn't been here yesterday and found my small bottle of Clorox in the refrigerator. I could SEE the Clorox I was just thinking of something else--it belongs in the bathroom.
The kids already want me to wear one of 'those buttons' around my neck.

Waiting for Obama and meandering in a heartfelt way...

It's time consuming. Nothing is getting done. Obama is the only sensible guy in the house--he went on vacation because there was nothing he could do.
The cabinet is full.
The columnists are getting tired of writing pointed advice for him hoping that he'll notice.
Here's what I think: There's too much to do. So, he'd better focus and after he's picked his big targets he's got to really go after them and not take any crap.
First target: The USA, we've got to be big and strong and smart.
Define Big and Strong and Smart, Linda.
OK, I will.
Big as an IDEA-What we represent to the global community. We should be big enough to say OK, we've been dumbed down for a while but those days are over. Watch us now. Making our people strong in body and mind. Making our infrastructure strong and ready for the future.
Saying: NO, to oil, auto makers, banks and ANY kind of irresponsible behavior in the people we are supposed to trust----senators, congressmen,representatives....et al
Clean up the Gulf Coast--oooo, but its too expensive, you say? Well, can we at least get the cars out of the trees? Americans live there.
The rules need to change--they need to be short and clear and loud.
Strong-in body and in mind (as previous). ALL of us make up America. Not just the ones you think should be here. Everyone who is here. Now. Grow up.
Smart--Bring out the big guns for heaven's sake. We have great minds in America--people who are too smart to run for government office. Listen to them. Do you suppose that because you haven't had a bright idea nobody has?
Read some new books, read what the other side has to say---it's not ALL crap... although admittedly...there's a lot ...
BUT you should always know what the other side is thinking anyway---pick out the good stuff.
None of us on the earth are ever going to be anything but human and that means trouble-- but its time to start leaning away from our baser instincts.
So, pick one.
Of your baser instincts, that is.
And let'em have it.

2009 - What, what, what will happen this year??

Who knows, but could anything be worse than Sarah Palin? There are people to want to be her neighbor!(there was a poll) Well, be my guest!! ... more room for us in the contiguous 48.
Here are some celebratory pix. Please note the extremely handsome Snuggs O'Reilly who refuses to go outside since the BIG SNOW of '08. The other photos are just nice, that's all.
In the news today are terrible things. Things that our paltry recession can't hold a candle to. Nick Kristof's column in the NYT, Israel, Iraq, Africa. We are killing, defiling and humiliating each other in every possible way and this is NOT bizzare, this is business as usual. People stink!


My resolution:
To keep climbing over contradiction and paradox, enigma and oxymoron; they are underfoot like used condoms and hypodermic needles(and don't you find that disgusting?).
To fight for the right to blog my brains out(nobody cares anyway) and invite scrutiny by nefarious persons in Langley and Alexandria.
Hermana, I noticed today that a solitary hit came from Hawaii this week--the Secret Service is worried that Obama is a secret fan of ours. They are watching.
As I climb over the imponderables I'll be looking for the little joys in life.
e.g. New Years Day-nobody expects anything of you. What could be better??
Not working this weekend.
Layin' about.
Watching movies while layin' about.
Daniel Craig--Wait, while I add a picture. Isn't that nice? I watched Layer Cake, a movie about bakers, but no! It was strange and wonderful and kind of depressing but true (philosophically) and spoiler alert:
He gets killed in the end. Because of the suit. He was dressed like an angel until the very end and then he needed to be shot.
AND, you will be pleased to know, that I'm starting work on my long-awaited novel. Mystery, suspense, drama, ROMANCE.
Advice and suggestions are appreciated--just throw them at me, if I work anything in you'll be a footnote.
I'm going to try to have it together by January 1st, 2010--not published or anything but a complete story and maybe some punctuation.
See you tomorrow.