I can't believe it! I don't even really have the words to describe how powerful it felt to know that my own country, a country I had been so disgusted/disappointed/not proud of for so many years, had a majority of its citizens stand up and vote Barack Obama into the 44th President of the United States! It was proud night and I cried seeing all the images of people in this country and all over the world exploding with cheers and joy because the day had finally come when Americans did the right thing! Bravo and love to everyone who campaigned for both candidates, (yes, even for John McCain), reported and blogged about this two year race to the White House, and for all those who went to the polls yesterday and voted! I've never been prouder! So for today, let everyone bask in the glory of this monumental election and the promise of Obama's presidency. But when we wake up tomorrow, I hope everyone understands that it's time to roll up our sleeves again and get cracking with executing of plans and ideas because we've got a lot of work to do to correct the wrongs of the last eight years (even if it takes the next few decades to do that)!
Go Obama! You deserve it!
P.S. Even though I'm happy about the results of the presidential race last night, I am deeply disappointed that half of the registered voters in California chose to pass Prop. 8, chose to discriminate against LGBT individuals and their right to marry whomever they please, whenever they choose. But I'm not discouraged because it means that those of us who support civil rights for all will have to fight that much harder to make civil rights, including the right to marry, secure for everyone! Don't give up!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
I think I have OCD when it comes to cleaning...
This might sound kinda sick... but there may be nothing better in this world than the joy that comes from having a clean home! I spent the entire day washing dishes in the kitchen, scrubbing counters, mopping floors, scrubbing the bathtub, vacuuming the floors and tiding up my bedroom.... it was EXHILARATING. It calmed me down and I was able to focus on just relaxing tonight. Watched some chick flicks and everything feels right with the world! Ahhhhhhhh!!!
Highlight of cleaning: Balancing on the edge of the bathtub while installing a new shower curtain with Creedence Clearwater Revival playing in background.
I will sleep peacefully tonight. Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the Folsom Street Fair so I'll have a full report of all the leather and ass-less chaps I see tomorrow!
Highlight of cleaning: Balancing on the edge of the bathtub while installing a new shower curtain with Creedence Clearwater Revival playing in background.
I will sleep peacefully tonight. Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the Folsom Street Fair so I'll have a full report of all the leather and ass-less chaps I see tomorrow!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Current Obsessions
Entertainment Weekly posts a weekly 'Must' list of tv shows, music and cultural events that they think people should check out. Here are some of my favorites from the past couple of months:
True Blood (HBO) - I have to admit, I've always been a sucker for all things VAMPIRE (well, except for the actual biting and draining of blood)! Buffy and Angel have been off the air for years and Moonlight was recently canceled (By those bastards at CBS!), so the past few months have been devoid of the living dead on my screen. I loved Alan Ball's last series, Six Feet Under. (Think I'm a bit morbid much?). And I was not disappointed by this show's premiere on Sunday. In a nutshell? FUNNY! Sookie Stackhouse and co. (particularly Tara, Lafayette and Arlene!) kept me thoroughly entertained. Mixed in with enough scares and romance to leave me twitching for the next episode. Sundays at 9pm Folks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd5E-pHzXGI
P.S. I know everyone's gaga over the Twilight series but I'll watch the movie first!
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman - Seriously, what the hell happened to CoreFire!? Imagine a graphic novel/comic book but without any pictures. Well developed superheroes with their flaws (and technological organs) laid out in detail; Mr. Grossman's world is so fleshed out, pictures aren't needed. Proof that imagination is a terrible thing to waste!
Becoming Jane - I never new much about Jane Austen's life other than the usual biography. Although this film is a interprative portrait of the going-ons that lead her to write several of the world's most beloved novels, it struck a chord with me. A version of life imitating art. Although I think James MacAvoy is more handsome in person than in a book!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD6sN3rP0Q8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9AqpwsclfI
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty- I remember watching the miniseries as a child and being captivated by a time in history that has long since passed. But reading the main book in Larry McMurty's Lonesome Dove Saga reminded me why some novels have the ability to capture the spirit of the Old West and make it resonate today. A book worthy of its Pulitzer!
Chocolate Chip Cookies - Sometimes you just need a dozen cookies to put you right again ;)
Alternet.org - I get several newsletter from this site a day (Health and Wellness, War in Iraq, Media Headlines, Water and Environment) and I am never at a loss for new things to learn. Intellectually stimulating journalism that's extremely honest to boot! Why can't the national daily (hello, NYT and San Francisco Chronicle!) newspapers learn from their example?
NIN LIVE - I just saw Mr. Reznor and co.'s "Lights in the Sky" show last week in Oakland and it will permanently remain in my top five shows ever (well, at least until their next tour!)! I'd been waiting my whole life to see them live and I wasn't disappointed! The lights, the video screens were absolutely PHENOMENAL!!! Fuck CGI! Lucasfilm could learn a thing or to about showmanship from Nine Inch Nails! Nothing I love more than to hear thousands of people singing on key, "Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve"! Here is a compilation of the visual effects during the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwV5cWLFM9U
Hugh Jackman singing 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning' from the musical 'Oklahoma' - Oh what a beautiful morning indeed when I get the chance to hear Wolverine belt it out Broadway style! Lately, if I'm in a bad mood, all I have to do is hum this tune and I want to climb on top of a windmill and sing to the heavens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyaAZKwYXxg
March by Geraldine Brooks - I seem to be on a kick with historical novels but this one warrants attention. (It won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize). I finally got around to reading this study of a fictional character that is the father of another fictional character in a book that is high school required reading: Josephine March of Louisa May Alcott's 'Little Women'. This novel follows Mr. March through his perilous journeys as a Yankee chaplain in the American Civil War. Mainly its about the things left unsaid between loved ones, even those so dear to our hearts.
I hope you all enjoy this list! Take some time to check some of this stuff out, hopefully all of it! Special thanks to youtube.com for all the clips!
True Blood (HBO) - I have to admit, I've always been a sucker for all things VAMPIRE (well, except for the actual biting and draining of blood)! Buffy and Angel have been off the air for years and Moonlight was recently canceled (By those bastards at CBS!), so the past few months have been devoid of the living dead on my screen. I loved Alan Ball's last series, Six Feet Under. (Think I'm a bit morbid much?). And I was not disappointed by this show's premiere on Sunday. In a nutshell? FUNNY! Sookie Stackhouse and co. (particularly Tara, Lafayette and Arlene!) kept me thoroughly entertained. Mixed in with enough scares and romance to leave me twitching for the next episode. Sundays at 9pm Folks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd5E-pHzXGI
P.S. I know everyone's gaga over the Twilight series but I'll watch the movie first!
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman - Seriously, what the hell happened to CoreFire!? Imagine a graphic novel/comic book but without any pictures. Well developed superheroes with their flaws (and technological organs) laid out in detail; Mr. Grossman's world is so fleshed out, pictures aren't needed. Proof that imagination is a terrible thing to waste!
Becoming Jane - I never new much about Jane Austen's life other than the usual biography. Although this film is a interprative portrait of the going-ons that lead her to write several of the world's most beloved novels, it struck a chord with me. A version of life imitating art. Although I think James MacAvoy is more handsome in person than in a book!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD6sN3rP0Q8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9AqpwsclfI
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty- I remember watching the miniseries as a child and being captivated by a time in history that has long since passed. But reading the main book in Larry McMurty's Lonesome Dove Saga reminded me why some novels have the ability to capture the spirit of the Old West and make it resonate today. A book worthy of its Pulitzer!
Chocolate Chip Cookies - Sometimes you just need a dozen cookies to put you right again ;)
Alternet.org - I get several newsletter from this site a day (Health and Wellness, War in Iraq, Media Headlines, Water and Environment) and I am never at a loss for new things to learn. Intellectually stimulating journalism that's extremely honest to boot! Why can't the national daily (hello, NYT and San Francisco Chronicle!) newspapers learn from their example?
NIN LIVE - I just saw Mr. Reznor and co.'s "Lights in the Sky" show last week in Oakland and it will permanently remain in my top five shows ever (well, at least until their next tour!)! I'd been waiting my whole life to see them live and I wasn't disappointed! The lights, the video screens were absolutely PHENOMENAL!!! Fuck CGI! Lucasfilm could learn a thing or to about showmanship from Nine Inch Nails! Nothing I love more than to hear thousands of people singing on key, "Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve"! Here is a compilation of the visual effects during the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwV5cWLFM9U
Hugh Jackman singing 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning' from the musical 'Oklahoma' - Oh what a beautiful morning indeed when I get the chance to hear Wolverine belt it out Broadway style! Lately, if I'm in a bad mood, all I have to do is hum this tune and I want to climb on top of a windmill and sing to the heavens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyaAZKwYXxg
March by Geraldine Brooks - I seem to be on a kick with historical novels but this one warrants attention. (It won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize). I finally got around to reading this study of a fictional character that is the father of another fictional character in a book that is high school required reading: Josephine March of Louisa May Alcott's 'Little Women'. This novel follows Mr. March through his perilous journeys as a Yankee chaplain in the American Civil War. Mainly its about the things left unsaid between loved ones, even those so dear to our hearts.
I hope you all enjoy this list! Take some time to check some of this stuff out, hopefully all of it! Special thanks to youtube.com for all the clips!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Jesus, I haven't posted in a long time!
Haha! I was posting on my friend Kathryn's page, when I decided to check my own. 6 months is a long time to not detail my musings on life or random encounters. (Especially since everyday I encounter a scenario that leaves me in either a state of giggles or a state of befuddlement). The pressure of it all, my desire to be minutely detailed and project novel gravitas... oh fuck it.
No amount of big words is going to change the fact that I lack discipline when it comes to posting. Don't get me wrong. I write everyday. But I spend so much time brooding on a certain state of affairs that I convince myself that my blogging is a trifle best left un-indulged?
I have a reoccurring debate in my head. Its fierceness mirrors my moods:
In the back of my mind, I always ask aren't brilliant people supposed to be tortured? Hasn't their inability to rise from the depths of despair given the world great art forms over the recent millennium? Isn't the realization that one will never be satisfied, enough to make one stop bullshitting and convey to the masses the truth of human emotion, no matter how dark a place the artist had to go to in order to create their masterpiece?
The front of my brain counterattacks. It questions whether great sadness is simply too easy from which to drawn inspiration? It ponders if optimism is a road better traveled but if it too is a road rife with potholes?Why Sunshine and Inspiration do not give their gifts freely? Are the pursuits of these rare gifts a tacit agreement that when an artist is finally rewarded with them, the greater affect of the final art product will be the universality that will allow the artist to connect with audiences living or yet to be born?
Again, I digress! Anyways, my problem is my lack of discipline. And my persistent thinking that only life-changing events are worthy of chronicling. Yes, they are worthy. But it is the in-between written observations that fill in the sides of the turkey platter we call 'life' and make for a better meal/story.
Oh wait! What was I gonna write about? I've forgotten in my 'musings'. But I will begin again tomorrow with any trifle that warrants my attention to blog about! Happy trails!
No amount of big words is going to change the fact that I lack discipline when it comes to posting. Don't get me wrong. I write everyday. But I spend so much time brooding on a certain state of affairs that I convince myself that my blogging is a trifle best left un-indulged?
I have a reoccurring debate in my head. Its fierceness mirrors my moods:
In the back of my mind, I always ask aren't brilliant people supposed to be tortured? Hasn't their inability to rise from the depths of despair given the world great art forms over the recent millennium? Isn't the realization that one will never be satisfied, enough to make one stop bullshitting and convey to the masses the truth of human emotion, no matter how dark a place the artist had to go to in order to create their masterpiece?
The front of my brain counterattacks. It questions whether great sadness is simply too easy from which to drawn inspiration? It ponders if optimism is a road better traveled but if it too is a road rife with potholes?Why Sunshine and Inspiration do not give their gifts freely? Are the pursuits of these rare gifts a tacit agreement that when an artist is finally rewarded with them, the greater affect of the final art product will be the universality that will allow the artist to connect with audiences living or yet to be born?
Again, I digress! Anyways, my problem is my lack of discipline. And my persistent thinking that only life-changing events are worthy of chronicling. Yes, they are worthy. But it is the in-between written observations that fill in the sides of the turkey platter we call 'life' and make for a better meal/story.
Oh wait! What was I gonna write about? I've forgotten in my 'musings'. But I will begin again tomorrow with any trifle that warrants my attention to blog about! Happy trails!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Attack of the Pea Coats
Over the years I have put valuable input into avoiding Fashion Trends. There is an expression that goes "Everything old is new again". Never a truer word spoken if anyone takes the time to walk into stores such as H&M or even Neiman Marcus. I laughed; giggled; cajooled and pointed at all the fashions that have been 'in' in the past year. EVERYTHING, down to the chunky jewelry, looks exactly like all the clothes from the late 60s, 70s and the whole 80s that my parents finally packed off to our local Goodwill store just before the Millennium.
To see all of my childhood memories adorned on the bodies of women with self-induced eating disorders....I was rather hoping that since so many of these women were making the effort to dress as their mothers and grandmothers did in previous decades, they would now also be as politically aware as their relatives were during the periods of strife that those styles were created in.
That's probably asking way too much of my generation.
I've been digressing. The whole point of this post was to write about a disturbing fashion trend that I realized this week has permeated every corner of this city.
I'm speaking of Pea Coats. Every women or girl has one! I'm not kidding! I even made the mistake of buying one at this thrift store in burbank last month. (In my defense, I got it for 20 dollars when it was originally priced at 80 dollars!) Now I'm wondering to myself, "What the hell was I thinking?!!!"
I moment of observation came almost two weeks ago on my way to work. I was seated on the darling MUNI bus and I noticed that I was sitting across from three different women wearing pea coats in various shades. (To top it off they also had the same type of silk scarf knotted around their necks in the same style). I probably cocked my head while staring at them in the manner of 'WTF?'.
I remember turning my gaze to my right and seeing a number of other women on the bus wearing pea coats as well. (The latest trend in pea coats is to wear them in bright colors such as nuclear green and scarlet fever red). The ride ended in thirty minutes, so I was occupied the whole ride with one thought: Who else is wearing one of them?
The answer came quickly during my trapeze through the streets on the way to work. Every other woman was wearing a pea coat!!! Well fuck it! I'm sure as hell not going to wear mine now!
The more I thought about the prevalence among women in this city for wearing this particular type of coat, the more I tried to create a spiderweb of information that would lead a college-educated female towards the center of the web (which is where the pea coat resides).
After a few minutes I realized that there was no need to create a spiderweb of information to deduce why pea coats are so popular. The answer I sought was simple: It is a 'professional'-looking coat.
The pea coat has become, in my opinion, another accessory to round out the corporate drone outfit from hell. And although I have become a corporate whore to stay fed and housed, I refuse, REFUSE, to give in any further and dress like the drones that want me to join their blackberry toting, gold card member carrying, sharper image ordering, Tumi luggage buying circle of hell!
So until the day that the have to kiss corporate ass entirely, I will sit bundled up in my old ass black dye fading bubble coat. I may be tacky but with my soul is intact!
To see all of my childhood memories adorned on the bodies of women with self-induced eating disorders....I was rather hoping that since so many of these women were making the effort to dress as their mothers and grandmothers did in previous decades, they would now also be as politically aware as their relatives were during the periods of strife that those styles were created in.
That's probably asking way too much of my generation.
I've been digressing. The whole point of this post was to write about a disturbing fashion trend that I realized this week has permeated every corner of this city.
I'm speaking of Pea Coats. Every women or girl has one! I'm not kidding! I even made the mistake of buying one at this thrift store in burbank last month. (In my defense, I got it for 20 dollars when it was originally priced at 80 dollars!) Now I'm wondering to myself, "What the hell was I thinking?!!!"
I moment of observation came almost two weeks ago on my way to work. I was seated on the darling MUNI bus and I noticed that I was sitting across from three different women wearing pea coats in various shades. (To top it off they also had the same type of silk scarf knotted around their necks in the same style). I probably cocked my head while staring at them in the manner of 'WTF?'.
I remember turning my gaze to my right and seeing a number of other women on the bus wearing pea coats as well. (The latest trend in pea coats is to wear them in bright colors such as nuclear green and scarlet fever red). The ride ended in thirty minutes, so I was occupied the whole ride with one thought: Who else is wearing one of them?
The answer came quickly during my trapeze through the streets on the way to work. Every other woman was wearing a pea coat!!! Well fuck it! I'm sure as hell not going to wear mine now!
The more I thought about the prevalence among women in this city for wearing this particular type of coat, the more I tried to create a spiderweb of information that would lead a college-educated female towards the center of the web (which is where the pea coat resides).
After a few minutes I realized that there was no need to create a spiderweb of information to deduce why pea coats are so popular. The answer I sought was simple: It is a 'professional'-looking coat.
The pea coat has become, in my opinion, another accessory to round out the corporate drone outfit from hell. And although I have become a corporate whore to stay fed and housed, I refuse, REFUSE, to give in any further and dress like the drones that want me to join their blackberry toting, gold card member carrying, sharper image ordering, Tumi luggage buying circle of hell!
So until the day that the have to kiss corporate ass entirely, I will sit bundled up in my old ass black dye fading bubble coat. I may be tacky but with my soul is intact!
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