Back in London, in December, I saw Rachel in a panto at her school. I made a movie and I know everyone loves to see their friends on film so, for those of you who know her or know of her, enjoy:

This made me happy (courtesy of Jeremy Wetherald):

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but...

there are some gaps:

• Cheney didn't have the right license for the game he was hunting
• he has yet to speak publicly of the the incident
• the press was not informed right away
• was the VP drunk while hunting? is that why he didn't issue a statement or head a press conference right away?
• why are White House doctors still attending to the patient?
• why did the local sherrif call the case closed even while saying he hadn't talked to the victim yet?
• why all the jokes from the White House itself?
• why all the "blame the victim" rhetoric?
• we've seen "the west wing"; when something like this happens, you immediately go to the white house press corps. why did the vp think it best to have a private citizen leak the story to the press? is it perhaps because there were lies being told and having the press sec. tell them would be much more serious than a private citizen?

What could have been a minor blurb is now major news because of the White House's poor communication and extreme ineptitude. Or, perhaps it's a major story because there's something fishy going on... my money's on the drunkeness.

the loss of engagement...

As most people are aware, right before the State of the Union address, Cindy Sheehan was arrested for wearing a t-shirt in the House's gallery that read, "2,245 Dead. How many more?" It is apparently illegal to protest, demonstrate or otherwise disrupt the proceedings within the Capitol Building. Most people know this story but it bears repeating. Also, read this article. Sheehan is quoted as saying,

"That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I stated crying in pain.''

I'm sure I'm not the only one who recognizes those feelings and indeed knows them intimately. Sure, I've never lost a loved one to this war but we've all lost something. What's become of our country? What's become of our prized rights? What's become of our so-called, "moral responsibility"? Where is the American Dream now? What is the American Dream now?

I've been bemoaning for a while the complacency that has slipped into our society. Short of implementing a draft, how do we recapture the passion that accompanied Vietnam? Nothing is capable of shocking us anymore and even the most disgusting corruption fails to bat eyes.

Earlier this week there was a speaker on the stage of the Union Theatre; Francis Bok is from Southern Sudan. He was captured at the age of 7 and forced to work as a slave for a full decade of his life before escaping "to the U.S." His speech would normally have grabbed my attention and held on. The struggle for freedom and the human propensity to never give up would normally have pulled me in. This night however, I found I wasn't able to listen. Not because I wasn't interested or felt no compassion but rather because I felt (feel) full. I felt that I couldn't bear to hear any more of the world's woes or any more tales of suffering and injustice. My inability to listen has worried me a lot.

So, how do we get back? What do we have to do? How do we engage? The "American Dream" has gone from a dream for personal betterment and a dream for our children to a dream to regain those freedoms that we once took for granted. Our nation was founded on the principles of equality and freedom but those ideals have been sacrificed in the search for safety. How many of us find ourselves wondering now who's listening to our conversations? Who's reading this post and jotting down notes? Who doesn't like what I had to say about Iran? Who's reading my emails and is it making us safer? Is it making us more engaged or turning us off. I can't listen to stories of struggle because the struggle we're all in is too all-consuming. So I ask again, how do we engage this struggle and how do we pull in the troops? We can't continue down this trail. We can't go into the future longing to first regain the past. I've felt like many, that we're waiting for the hurricane to end so we can assess the damage and think about rebuilding. It feels as if the storm is raging and all we can do is sit it out; we can do nothing to lessen the damage. We, like this post, talk in circles with no conclusion while the foundation is uprooted. What do we do?

Cindy said, "I think the state of the union is very perilous. President Bush is fighting an immoral war, and all I did was wear a T-shirt, and I'm the one who got arrested.'' It's bigger than that tho. We've all become suspects; guilty until proven innocent. We need to raise up before the damage is irreparable.

Odana Rd...

has long been an enigma for me. I've heard it mentioned, I've even been on it once or twice but the over-all idea of Odana Rd had escaped me. That was, until I took an extended walk on Thursday afternoon. Ostensibly, the walk was to familiarize myself with my extended neighborhood and it did. Odana Road turned out to be nothing more than urban sprawl at its most disgusting. It's ALL strip malls and car dealerships as far as the eye can see. I did find a few things of note however and it's all within walking distance. I spent some time looking at a couple different furniture stores just for fun. There's a cheap-o movie theatre to check out. I found a Nicaraguan restaurant that I'm eager to try and 2 very tasty-looking Indian restaurants. In addition, there is an Indian supermarket that looks very promising and a Christian Family Store! There are a couple different paper/scrapbook stores and another that specializes in crap, floor-to-ceiling. All-in-all Odana Road is revolting but hiding a few gems. ANYway...nice life.

In other news, you're all urged in the most emphatic/homo terms to check out "The Entertainment Beat with Frances Gumm". It's a podcast featuring some dude doing a spot-on impression of Judy Garland. Judy Garland hosting a radio show is hilarious. I've spent a few hours convulsing with giggles. You need to check it out if only to appreciate the impression.

it's sad but inspiring...

I'm at work, listening to a bunch of brave kids speak about their experiences with HIV/AIDS. Every year I see these inspiring children and counselors speak about their lives either living with the disease themselves or how they were affected by the infection of someone else. What they're doing is trying to raise awareness and money for Camp Heartland. It's a place in the Minnesota woods where kids come together to share their experiences and feel community that is perhaps lacking in their home lives. There is still so much prejudice and fear surrounding people with this disease. Camp Heartland works to dispel that fear and foster understanding. Check out their site: www.campheartland.com

*also, blogger did not recognize the word 'HIV' and suggested a few replacements-that's ruff

kinda...

-knock, knock!
-Hello?
-Hey, just wanted to stop by and say 'hey'! We took over the place next door and figured you should know.
-Aren't you those guys that we don't get along with?
-Yeah, but we like everyone to think we're friendly.
-We didn't get along with the last group over there either.
-Well hey, we kept a bunch of people that don't really like you, they're just under new management. Hope you don't mind-we're gonna go ahead and keep a bunch of weapons right there, just for storage. Oh and don't worry about all those weapons on the other side either.
-umm...
-Hey, what're you wear...you guys aren't heathens in there are ya?
-...
-Shit man, my boss doesn't really approve of that lifestyle.
-...
-Anyway guy, it would be great if you didn't arm yourself.
-We just want to turn the lights on.
-Dude, I bet you got lotsa oil tho.
-Yeah but we like to sell it to you and your friends.
-Yeah man, it'd be ruff if you stopped selling - can you just use candles?
-So, you're saying, you have a history of not liking us, you kicked next door's ass, you're gonna keep your weapons all around us, your boss appears to dislike our beliefs, you want our stuff and you want us to just chill without any protection?
-Totally, so we're cool then?

us. iran. extremely simplified.