Tuesday, February 28, 2006

updated, new version, of new column:

"Hatchets, Buckshot, Rifles, Earthquakes, and Death
and/or
How the Orchid Blooms Still Beautiful"


For a short month, February sure turned out to be quite a sad and, rather, violent one.

The month started with news that we had lost Coretta Scott King, lost the fight to stop Alito, and a guy in Massachusetts had entered a Gay bar wielding a hatchet. As the month went on, the War in Iraq continued to get worse and worse with more dead bodies daily. Our government’s use of torture upon detainees further came to light (although continually repressed by our media, the Administration, and our own communal consciousness). We witnessed the term ‘buckshot’ become part of the current lexicon as Republicans shooting at quail took on a whole new meaning. And we ended the month with Republican Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia blithely retorting, "I used to travel on the subway from Queens to Manhattan with a rifle."

Thinking of all these things makes me wonder how we keep on keepin’ on. Sometimes it all seems so hard. Not only are there losses in life—friends, family members, community members, pets, loved ones, dreams—every single day, but there is also so much to fear and dread in our culture. Our society and our government, at least on a national level, just seem to be falling further and further downward in a spiral of destruction. And bad guys with hatchets, buckshot, and rifles seem to show up all the time just to remind us of all the negativity and violence in the world.

Further, it’s not just our society, but also just the randomness of life that weighs on us. Our nation is still reeling from the devastation to our Gulf Coast after the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Regardless of the disastrous and shameful lack of response by our federal government, the fact is that nature can also be supremely violent and cruel. We know this very well here in California where we are always under the possible threat of an earthquake or other disaster. In fact, we are about to recognize the 100th anniversary of the 1906 earthquake that forever changed our city.

However, as much as my words here may be about negativity and violence and loss, they are also about their opposite. During this month I experienced two local events of note. In attending the Pacific Orchid Festival at Fort Mason, I saw hundreds of thousands of orchids from throughout the world. They reminded me that even the most fragile still can flourish, and perhaps it’s not such a heartless world after all. And while their beauty may be brief, it is still beautiful nonetheless.

I also went to see the SFMOMA exhibit, “1906 Earthquake: A Disaster in Pictures.” As I stared into the photos of the earthquake’s aftermath, I saw life amongst the ruins. I saw people continuing on. I saw people looking forward and finding their futures. There was even a photo of people making fun of their predicament.

This is not to say that we should make light of any of these difficult situations in life. The violence and negativity are real and dangerous. But we do not need to live our lives in fear or anger or sadness. For we will always have the ability to find hope in the margins, bloom within the cracks, prepare ourselves for the worst, and dream of the better.

In many ways, we are dreaming now, of a life where discrimination and homelessness and crime and poverty and loneliness and depression and all these things are no longer real. And so we continue on despite all of these things in our lives. It is in the continuing on, the keepin’ on keepin’ on, the blooming and flourishing despite the cold hard world, where we find our reality, see beauty, and make our futures. The future is forever. And so are our hopes, our survival, and our love.

Monday, February 27, 2006

new column:

"It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and… I Think I’ll Die Another Day"

For a short month, February sure turned out to be quite a sad and, rather, violent one. The month started with news that we had lost Coretta Scott King, lost the fight to stop Alito, and a guy in Massachusetts had entered a Gay bar wielding a hatchet. The War in Iraq continued to get worse and worse with more dead bodies daily. Our government’s use of torture upon detainees further came to light, although continually repressed by our media, the Administration, and our own communal consciousness. We witnessed the term ‘buckshot’ become part of the current lexicon as Republicans shooting at quail took on a whole new meaning. And we’ve ended the month with Republican Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia retorting, "I used to travel on the subway from Queens to Manhattan with a rifle."

Thinking of all these things makes me wonder how we keep on keepin’ on. Sometimes it all seems so hard. Not only are there losses in life—friends, family members, community members, pets, loved ones, dreams—every single day, but there is also so much to fear and dread in our culture. Our society and our government, at least on a national level, just seem to be falling further and further downward in a spiral of destruction. And bad guys with hatchets, buckshot, and rifles seem to show up all the time just to remind us of all the negativity and violence in the world.

Further, it’s not just our society, but also just the randomness of life that weighs on us. Our nation is still reeling from the devastation to our Gulf Coast after the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Regardless of the disastrous and shameful lack of response by our federal government, the fact is that nature can also be supremely violent and cruel. We know this very well here in California where we are always under the possible threat of an earthquake or other disaster. In fact, we are about to recognize the 100th anniversary of the 1906 earthquake that forever changed our city.

However, as much as my words here may be about negativity and violence and loss, they are also about their opposite. This month I went to the see the SFMOMA exhibit, “1906 Earthquake: A Disaster in Pictures.” As I stared into the photos of the earthquake’s aftermath, I saw life amongst the ruins. I saw people continuing on. I saw people looking forward and finding their futures. There was even a photo of people making fun of their predicament.

This is not to say that we should make light of any of these difficult situations in life. The violence and negativity are real and dangerous. But we do not need to live our lives in fear or anger or sadness. For we will always have the ability to find hope in the margins, prepare ourselves for the worst, and dream of the better.

In many ways, we are dreaming now, of a life where discrimination and homelessness and crime and poverty and loneliness and depression and all these things are no longer real. And so we continue on despite all of these things in our lives. It is in the continuing on, the keep on keepin’ on, that we find our reality, and make our futures. The future is forever. And so are our hope, our survival, and our love.

Santa Cruz students kissing members of the same sex in front of military recruiters is no threat to our security or freedoms. But a government that spies secretly on such displays of political protest certainly is.

"I used to travel on the subway from Queens to Manhattan with a rifle."

-- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, quoted by the Tennessean, arguing that "the best thing avid outdoorsmen can do for the sport of hunting is to attack the stereotype that guns are only used for evil purposes."


i feel a lot safer now

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

it's that time of year again. the time of year that is my undoing. the time of year when i am no longer in control of my faculties and stop by the corner store constantly in search of a fix. it's the time of year for the cadbury eggs and i can no longer control myself. help me get through easter...

the wild, long, wonderful family trips/ visits/ activities are now over and i'm starting to figure out how to get back to my regular, normal life. all is good though. how are things with you?

Sunday, February 19, 2006

sorry i haven't been writing much lately. i've had various family visitors over the last week and a half. my mother, brother, and niece were here last weekend. my mother's still here and then heads back home to kcmo on tuesday. i'm still around and will write more, don't you worry.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

brilliance from jon stewart and the daily show (via a compilation of jokes):

Jon Stewart: "I'm joined now by our own vice-presidential firearms mishap analyst, Rob Corddry. Rob, obviously a very unfortunate situation. How is the vice president handling it?

Rob Corddry: "Jon, tonight the vice president is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Wittington. According to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time there were quail in the brush.

"And while the quail turned out to be a 78-year-old man, even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists he still would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face. He believes the world is a better place for his spreading buckshot throughout the entire region of Mr. Whittington's face."

Jon Stewart: "But why, Rob? If he had known Mr. Whittington was not a bird, why would he still have shot him?"

Rob Corddry: "Jon, in a post-9-11 world, the American people expect their leaders to be decisive. To not have shot his friend in the face would have sent a message to the quail that America is weak."

Jon Stewart: "That's horrible."

Rob Corddry: "Look, the mere fact that we're even talking about how the vice president drives up with his rich friends in cars to shoot farm-raised wingless quail-tards is letting the quail know 'how' we're hunting them. I'm sure right now those birds are laughing at us in that little 'covey' of theirs.

Jon Stewart: "I'm not sure birds can laugh, Rob."

Rob Corddry: "Well, whatever it is they do … coo .. they're cooing at us right now, Jon, because here we are talking openly about our plans to hunt them. Jig is up. Quails one, America zero.

Jon Stewart: "Okay, well, on a purely human level, is the vice president at least sorry?"

Rob Corddry: "Jon, what difference does it make? The bullets are already in this man's face. Let's move forward across party lines as a people … to get him some sort of mask."

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

our first post from Ariana, our great Woman of the World, from her new post in the Peace Corps in Ecuador is here!

"Hola! Just wanted to send a quick email to let you know that I am safe and sound here in Ecuador. I got here on Wednesday night and just about immediately loved the country. The people are super friendly and nice, and don´t laugh at my attempts to speak Spanish. When we got off the plane, there was a crowd waiting for our flight and everyone just waved at us. THen the current Peace Corps volunteers greeted us with cheers and flowers. It was a little overwhelming as all these people were yelling at me and taking my luggage and I was a little confused. Also, I immediately embarassed myself when greeting one of the staff. She kissed one of my cheeks and I thought I was in France for some reason and tried to kiss her other cheek, and she said, no un beso!

"Anyway, I really like our group. THere are 35 of us, and everyone is about my age. THere is one married couple, 3 returned peace corps volunteers, and i think the oldest person is about 35. THere are a bunch of san diegans, some midwesterns, and most importantly, 2 other Wilco fans. I really like them and they are going to be my friends =) One of them is even going to be at my site for the next 10 weeks (we are split into groups of 4-5 for community based training). Also, there is another girl who is half-Asian (Japanese), a herpetologist (she likes snakes and lizards), from San Diego, and she also has a boyfriend back home. THere are 4 other girls who also have boyfriends back home, so that´s nice.

"I am pretty excited about being here. I am almost too excited to type, so sorry if this message isn´t very eloquent. Oh, and they said that during training, mail call is a big deal, like in the military, so please send me many letters!

"I have gotten over my shyness and nervousness, and I have been trying out my Spanish around Cayambe (a town north of QUito where we are doing group training). Usually I try to say something and then another volunteer has to rescue me, but I have been figuring stuff out, and I have been helpful to other, shyer volunteers. And I am getting most of what is being said to me in Spanish. Oh, and we took our language placemetn tests yesterday and I am the novice level, but I am advanced novice, which i think is pretty accurate. THe facilitator told me that I have good vocabulary and good pronunciation, but i need to work on my verb tenses. That is not surprising. I have to reach intermediate intermediate level but the end of training, so that is only two levels, so it shouldn´t be too bad. My language instructor doesn´t speak much English, so I won´t be able to cheat during class.

"Anyway, I am doing well. I do have my moments of apprehension when I wonder what am I doing here, but then I meet more people, or talk to another volunteer, or see more of the beautiful countryside, and i remember how lucky I am to be here, and I am so eager to share this country with the rest of you!

"Lastly, I think I might get a cell phone, depending on my site. Some of the other volunteers have them, and it sounds like a good deal. Just $30 for the phone, and then I buy cards to make international calls. No monthly fees, and I can take incoming calls for free. So buy some phone cards!

"Okay, I have to go back for dinner. THe internet cafes are really cheap, only $.50 for an hour! SOme of the other volunteers just came in, and one got water dumped on him. IT is a carnaval tradition here. Hopefully that won´t happen to me!

"Adios,
Ariana"

Monday, February 13, 2006

my computer's better. we had to take it into the shop and get it fixed. and it worked out pretty well since i have a rental car this weekend and i was able to drive it across town.

that said, i have a rental car because my family's here and we've been enjoying the gorgeous weather this weekend. i've been very busy keeping up with them.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

so my computer died today.

i don't know what happened, but when i went to turn it on this morning...

nothing
no noise
no lights
no sputtering
no commentary

nothing

after spending 3 hours on the phone in hell with dell techsupport/sales/warrantyassistance/customersupport/andotherlocations i still got nothing accomplished and my computer still doesn't do anything

nothing

i'll call them again tomorrow and spend another day in hell with dell, and then maybe i'll have to buy a new computer, or maybe something will get mailed to me and fix the problem, or maybe i'll decide to live a computer-free-life, which after today sounds beautiful...

even if not possible

similar to the simpsons' regular comedy staple, the 'bi-mon-sci-fi-con,' a national sci-fi/comicbook convention, "WonderCon2006," is headed to san francisco this weekend. i wouldn't be interested myself, but my brother is going to be in town this weekend and i'm sure he'd be all over it.
i particularly enjoyed this note on courtesy to guest speakers on their protocols page:
When asking questions of the people on stage, please be courteous. For example, please don't ask for a kiss, a hug, an autograph, a baby, a prom date, or to give them a copy of your script, resume or movie. This just stops a program in its tracks. These people are taking time out of their busy schedules to see you. Please treat them with respect. Unfortunately due to time constraints, sometimes not everyone who gets in line will be able to ask their question.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

our country is falling apart. we've got to get these crazy destructive republicans out of office. nuff said.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

so the other group that i edit newsletters for is the sf young democrats. we've been having some tech troubles the last couple of months in trying to get a newsletter together online. finally, this month of february we were able to put something together. it's not perfect, but it's coming together and here's my newest edition. sfyd february newsletter

Friday, February 03, 2006

BUSH'S public-relations offensive on behalf of his warrantless surveillance program is an insult to the intelligence of the American people.

ONCE UPON a time, we had a great wartime president who told Americans they had nothing to fear but fear itself. Now we have... Bush, who uses fear as a tool of executive power and as a political weapon against his opponents. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried his best to allay his nation's fears in the midst of an epic struggle against fascism. Bush, as he leads the country in a war whose nature he keeps redefining, keeps fear alive because it has been so useful.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

new newsletter's up

i personally would be much more hard-hitting than this editorial from the chronicle today ('disconnect'? more appropriate language would be 'outright lying'), but at least it does a good job of showing his lies and audacity in detail here:

...BUSH'S bemoaning of America's addiction to oil last night was just one measure of his disconnect with the effects of his administration's policies.

Yes, this nation does need to push more aggressively conservation and alternative-energy technologies to break its dependence on oil that is "often imported from unstable parts of the world," as Bush observed in his State of the Union address. Yet this is the same [guy] who began his administration by inviting energy industry executives to meet behind closed doors with... Dick Cheney. It's fair to say the industry recommendations -- many of which were incorporated into the Bush plan -- were not aimed at easing this nation's addiction to oil.

The Bush administration's energy-policy emphasis to date has been on feeding the nation's oil addiction by pushing for greatly expanded drilling on public lands, from the Rocky Mountains to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Once again, Bush blended the invasion of Iraq with the war against the terrorists who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Yes, the war-ravaged Iraq is now a cauldron of violent chaos and magnet for terrorists. He raised the specter of an Osama bin Laden taking control of Iraq if U.S. forces were to suddenly withdraw. Yet he tried to wave off continuing criticism of the pretext for a war that is proving so costly to this nation, in lives and dollars, by admonishing, "Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing is not a strategy."

His defense of warrantless eavesdropping was flat-out disingenuous. His suggestion that the Sept. 11 attacks might have been averted if authorities had been able to wiretap two al Qaeda plotters who were making overseas calls was a perfect example of activity for which a warrant would be approved -- assuming U.S. authorities were bothering to keep track of terrorists they knew had entered this country. A Presidential Daily Briefing that declared that bin Laden was "determined to strike" in the United States, perhaps with hijackers -- such as the one sent to Bush on Aug. 6, 2001 -- was plenty of evidence for warrants on known al Qaeda operatives.

Bush talked about being "good stewards of tax dollars" and cutting deficits in half by 2009, even though deficits have soared on his watch -- and even as he asked Congress to make tax cuts permanent.

He paid tribute to retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the late Coretta Scott King, even as he introduced two new Supreme Court justices who may steer the court away from O'Connor's centrism and King's quest for social justice.

He talked about the rebuilding of New Orleans without a hint of regret about his administration's disgracefully torpid response to the disaster.

Audacity seemed to be the theme of the night.