Archive for February, 2005
book meme
Feb 17th
From PSoTD:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest†book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.
Mine:
Private Function DoWindowTitles (CallBackAddr as Long, –
Yeah…I’m a geek. It comes from VB & VBA In a Nutshell by Paul Lomax.
wordpress
Feb 17th
I upgraded and installed the 1.5 version of WordPress (called StrayHorn) last night. I must say that the functionality is amazing. It is clean and fast. It allows the user to do a lot more from within the WordPress shell so you don’t have to manipulate your CSS or php files outside of it anymore.
Kudos!
pride in the pulpit
Feb 17th
From Empire State Pride Agenda
Clergy across New York Voice Support for Right to Marry by Same-Sex Couples
Press Contacts: Joe Tarver (212) 627-0305 / (917) 604-7509 (cell)
New York City, February 14, 2005 – Today, fifty-six clergy from across the state representing a broad range of denominations issued a letter to the people of New York letting them know they support same-sex couples having access to the government institution of marriage and the legal rights and protections that come with it.
Signers of the letter said that marriage for same-sex couples as a religious rite was a decision for denominations to make on their own, but were clear in stating their belief that government should not be withholding the legal rights and protections of marriage from same-sex couples that it provides to other families. In the letter clergy said, “To deny those rights is to engage in discrimination” and then stated, “Discrimination is immoral.”
The fifty-six clergy were from faith communities that include American Baptist, Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Jewish (Reform), United Methodist Church, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Buddhist, Metropolitan Community Church, and Unitarian Universalist. Geographic representation across New York State was equally broad, ranging from Oneonta to Rochester and from Watertown to Syosset.
The letter was released by Empire State Pride Agenda on Valentine’s Day, ten days after Judge Doris Ling-Cohan’s decision in support of marriage in New York for same-sex couples renewed debate over the issue and a number of clergy and faith traditions began making their views about the ruling public. The letter can be read here (PDF).
Pride in the Pulpit is a program of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation and is a faith-based network of clergy and laypeople representing hundreds of congregations and dozens of faith traditions across New York that advocates for equality and justice for LGBT people and their families.
class of ’85
Feb 17th
I found this while surfing around and it made me think…
What year was it?
1985
What were your three favorite bands?
Tears for Fears, U2, X
What was your favorite outfit?
leggings under long skirts with pink Converse hightops…usually topped by a black trenchcoat
What was up with your hair?
Long, natural, wavy curls
Who were your best friends?
Gary, Matt, and Anne
What did you do after school?
Wrote bad poetry on napkins at Denny’s, wandered the forests listening to morose music, had our Tarot cards read…you know, typical outsider brooding teenager stuff.
Did you take the bus?
Heck, no. I drove a Karmann Ghia
Who did you have a crush on?
Larry Mullins, Jr., the drummer for U2. Other than that…no one. I had my guys and who needed a boyfriend when I had them?
Did you fight with your parents?
Ummmm…I can’t remember when I haven’t fought with my parents.
Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on?
See above
Did you smoke cigarettes?
I was the “good girl” in the group then…give me six months, though, and I’d be the bad girl. Heh.
Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack all day because you were too nervous to find your locker?
Pshaw! We all shared lockers around the school so our books were strategically placed.
Did you have a ‘clique’?
I hung out with the drama and theatre people but I was also in student government and was friends with a lot of the smart groups and the cowboys and the jocks and…
Uhhh…No.
Admit it, were you popular?
I was well-known but I wouldn’t consider that popular.
Who did you want to be just like?
Me.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an attorney that worked with women who had suffered from Domestic Violence or Rape.
Where did you think you’d be at the age you are now?
I never thought that far ahead.
word of the day
Feb 17th
vilipend
verb ~ 1. to hold or treat as of little worth or account: condemn; *2. to express a low opinion of: disparage
*Old Mr. Gibson, who had run the place for years, would habitually vilipend the ideas put forth by his young, enthusiastic employees.
Merriam-Webster’s 365 New Words Calendar, www.pageaday.com, Workman Publishing
saving our earth
Feb 16th
On Saturday, February 12th, Sister Dorothy Stang was assinated in the rainforest in Brazil.
Sister Dorothy had worked in the Amazon for 37 years. She was a vocal opponent to illegal logging and large corporations who stole land from the small landowners in the Amazon.
It is thought that Sister Dorothy, who was shot three times, was killed by those who did not like her oppositions to the changes in the rainforests.
To read more about Sister Dorothy Stang, please visit Politiscape.com.
—
The Kyoto Treaty/Protocol/Agreement went into effect today around the world. The United States and Australia are the only two “progressive” nations that did not sign the Treaty citing economic hardships if the Treaty went into effect. The United States government has claimed that because China and India are not signing the Treaty, it puts undue hardship on the U.S. economy for them to do so.
As an American, I find this so irresponsible. When we are dealing with issues that concern the earth, we are not only affecting the citizens of this nation. We are affecting the rest of the world. As one of the world’s leaders in economic and political arenas, we are also responsible to be a leader in environmental arenas.
Unfortunately, we currently have an administration that does not treat the environment kindly. Our air, water, and forests are under a direct line of attack. The current administration would have Alaska drilled, the forests in the West logged, mountains mined, waters polluted, and the air thick with pollution.
I’m sickened by our mistreatment of the earth. I’m dismayed that an administration that has a blatant disregard for the environment around us has been re-elected.
I hope that this can be turned around and that the United States can be a world leader in environmental issues and not the country that refuses to clean up its act.
daily photo challenges
Feb 16th
I’ve decided to use the daily photo challenges to my benefit. I’m making them force me to use my camera every day. I carry it with me, I may as well use it. So, as often as possible, I will avoid using archived photographs for the daily challenges. I will take new ones as often as I can.
Today’s photo was shot a mere 10 minutes before it was posted. It just struck me as being the right one for the challenge of “Shadow” (although, I really wanted to get a picture of my brother, Shadow, but that would have been difficult since we’re both working so much).
can you hear me?
Feb 16th
I fell asleep. I’d been up since 4 a.m. and by 10:30 p.m., I was exhausted. Rain was pattering against the roof and that tends to make me more sleepy. My bedroom reading lamp was still on. The latest edition of Smithsonian was resting on my chest. I was off in dreamland.
The phone rings.
Hello
Can you hear me?
Am I gettin’ through to you?
Hello
Is it late there?
A voice. A deep, soft soft voice. I’m shaken. I was sleeping hard..harder than I should have been for being out only 20 minutes.
My voice is higher pitched than normal because of being woken. I think I sound like a little girl.
Why don’t you
Why don’t you
Go outside
Go outside
Kiss the rain
Whenever you need me
Kiss the rain
Whenever I’m gone, too long.
If your lips
Feel lonely and thirsty
Kiss the rain
And wait for the dawn.
Keep in mind
We’re under the same sky
And the nights
as empty for me, as for you
If you feel
You can’t wait till morning
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
That voice. I heard it for mere seconds but it’s still ringing in my head. It was late, I was asleep. He didn’t want to disturb me. He told me to go back to sleep.
Hello
Do you miss me?
What’s new?
How’s the weather?
Is it stormy where you are?
You sound so close but it feels
like you’re so far
Oh would it mean anything
If you knew
What I’m left imagining
In my mind
In my mind
Would you go
Would you go
Kiss the rain
And you’d fall over me
Think of me
Think of me
Think of me
Only me
Kiss the rain
Whenever you need me
Kiss the rain
Whenever I’m gone too long
If your lips
Feel lonely and tempted
Kiss the rain
and wait for the dawn
Keep in mind
We’re under the same sky
And the nights
As empty for me, as for you
If you feel
You can’t wait till morning
Kiss the rain
Kiss the rain
Hello
Can you hear me?
I didn’t want to hang up, as tired as I was. I wonder if he knew. I would have rather have heard his voice more.
I couldn’t fall back asleep. His voice reverberated through my head. Finally, when I drifted off, he was there, in my dreams, talking to me.
He once told me he’d come to me in my dreams.
I wonder if he knew how touched I’d be when he did.
Thanks to Billie Meyers for the edited “Kiss the Rain” lyrics.
word of the day
Feb 16th
galumph
verb ~ to move with a clumsy heavy tread
“Julia was just then galumphing down the stairs with her overstuffed suitcase.” ~ Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn
Merriam-Webster’s 365 New Words Calendar, www.pageaday.com, Workman Publishing
i try
Feb 15th
I walk at least two miles a day. In the morning, after I’ve been at work for an hour or so, I take a break and go out and walk around the campus. Four times around is a mile. I do this again, in the afternoon. I put on my headphones, crank up the mp3s and walk (and sometimes dance, too).
This is my time to contemplate things that have happened during the day, things I’ve read along the way. Lately, posts from online forums and conversations I have with people from here have been filling my thoughts.
I’ve been thinking about the breakup of a D/s relationship. I read one woman’s account that broke my heart. She seemed literally lost in the world. It reminds me of when long-standing partners lose one another to death. The end of her relationship was no less devastating. She had lost everything. As a submissive, her world was totally entwined with her dominant’s. She didn’t know how to live life without him anymore. I don’t mean she couldn’t live life. It will just be so drastically different now and she has to relearn how to live life without her dominant.
I’ve lived alone for so long, I have trouble giving up my independence. It is a struggle for me to allow myself to give myself so freely. I ache to do so but it is a struggle. I think, too, that I don’t want to know the pain of losing someone like that. I’ve felt it before and I don’t want to go through it again. I am ready to be with someone for the duration.
The music on my walks often speaks to these themes. Yesterday, while I walked, this song kept speaking to me on this subject:
I Try
Macy Gray
Games, changes and fears
When will they go from here
When will they stop
I believe that fate has brought us here
And we should be together, babe
But we’re not
I play it off, but I’m dreaming of you
And I’ll keep my cool, but I’m feelin’
I try to say goodbye and I choke
Try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
I may appear to be free
But I’m just a prisoner of your love
And I may seem all right and smile when you leave
But my smiles are just a front
Just a front, hey
I play it off, but I’m dreaming of you
And I’ll keep my cool, but I’m feelin’
I try to say goodbye and I choke
Try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
Here is my confession
May I be your possession
Boy, I need your touch
Your love, kisses and such
With all my might I try
But this I can’t deny
Deny
I play it off, but I’m dreaming of you
(but I’m dreaming of you babe)
And I’ll keep my cool, but I’m feelin’
I try to say goodbye and I choke (yeah)
Try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not there
(when you are not near aahh)
Goodbye and I choke (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I try to walk away and I stumble (hey, hey, hey)
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear (say it Lord)
My world crumbles when you are not near
Goodbye and I choke (I’m choking)
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
(when you are not there, yeah, yeah yeah)
Yeah, yeah..
