Sunday, December 28, 2008
this one seems different
Gaza Braces for War
Maybe I'm simply more aware of things going on in the world, but the latest happenings in Gaza have that stench of intense, drawn-out war.
It feels different, more serious, but familiar at the same time. I remember this feeling of dread within my heart while watching US troops roll their way into Baghdad - dread mixed with a little bit of fear, and a lot of helplessness. Worried for my friends in the military, and the potential humanitarian problems.
There's so much swirling about right now, I'm not sure that I can fully articulate everything.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
"Valentine for Ernest Mann"
by Naomi Shihab Nye
You can't order a poem like you order a taco.
Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two"
and expect it to be handed back to you
on a shiny plate.
Still, I like your spirit.
Anyone who says, "Here's my address,
write me a poem," deserves something in reply.
So I'll tell you a secret instead:
poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,
they are sleeping. They are the shadows
drifting across our ceilings the moment
before we wake up. What we have to do
is live in a way that lets us find them.
Once I knew a man who gave his wife
two skunks for a valentine.
He couldn't understand why she was crying.
"I thought they had such beautiful eyes."
And he was serious. He was a serious man
who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly
just because the world said so. He really
liked those skunks. So, he reinvented them
as valentines and they became beautiful.
At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding
in the eyes of the skunks for centuries
crawled out and curled up at his feet.
Maybe if we reinvent whatever our lives give us
we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock
in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.
And let me know.
You can't order a poem like you order a taco.
Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two"
and expect it to be handed back to you
on a shiny plate.
Still, I like your spirit.
Anyone who says, "Here's my address,
write me a poem," deserves something in reply.
So I'll tell you a secret instead:
poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,
they are sleeping. They are the shadows
drifting across our ceilings the moment
before we wake up. What we have to do
is live in a way that lets us find them.
Once I knew a man who gave his wife
two skunks for a valentine.
He couldn't understand why she was crying.
"I thought they had such beautiful eyes."
And he was serious. He was a serious man
who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly
just because the world said so. He really
liked those skunks. So, he reinvented them
as valentines and they became beautiful.
At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding
in the eyes of the skunks for centuries
crawled out and curled up at his feet.
Maybe if we reinvent whatever our lives give us
we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock
in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.
And let me know.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
best-selling books of the last 15 years
Go here to see the list.
Not surprisingly I've read a lot of what's on this list. Well, except for the John Grisham and What to Expect series.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
on proposition 8
Seriously, California, WTF. I'm really quite surprised that Prop. 8 even got passed - especially in California. I think a lot of people were surprised.
Seriously, though, I really don't understand why some groups of people really care who else is getting married. A big argument coming from that side is that they are protecting the "sanctity" of marriage. There are so many things wrong with that argument that I don't even know where to begin.
There's the whole thing where, historically (and we're talking from ancient times up through 16th-18th centuries, and to some extent into the 19th), marriages were simply a matter of business. Daughters were married off to create alliances, bring money or prestige into a household, or ease the burden of feeding so many children. The religious community does not own a monopoly on the title of "marriage." In fact, I think I could argue that marriage did not even originate as a religious practice.
Then there's the matter of America's divorce rate. I believe it's still hovering somewhere around 50%. Apparently, the LBGT community will "destroy" marriages. I'm not sure about you, but a 50% divorce rate says to me that there are flaws in the reasons people are getting married and/or the ways people think about marriage.
That whole slippery slope thing? The one where if LBGT start getting married, then people will want to marry pets and children and appliances and whatever else they want to get their hands on? Just wow. How is that even a logical step?
So yeah, we'll see how this whole proposition 8 thing in California pans out. It's been reported that San Francisco's Mayor Newsom has said that he will continue granting licenses until he is sued to stop. That is so freaking awesome.
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