When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.
–Sinclair Lewis
Thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams. Thanks for the American dream to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through. –William S. Burroughs
The battle’s been lost, the war is not won
An addled republic, a bitter refund
The business first flat earthers licking their wounds
The verdict is dire, the country’s in ruins
Providence blinked, facing the son
Where are we left to carry on
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
As we’ve written our stories to entertain
These notions of glory and bull market gain
The teleprompt flutters, the power surge brings
An easyspeak message falls into routine
Providence blinked, facing the son
Where are we left to carry on
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
A voice whispers “Son,
The blessed vision comes.”
What have I done
What have I done
So hold tight your babies and your guns
Forgive us our trespasses, father and son
Providence blinked, facing the son
Where are we left to carry on
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
When viewing this video, try (if you have any amount of human emotion) to think back to a time where you felt as if you were not good enough, teased, bullied, or just didn’t belong. The author of the video is responding to an email he received from a teenager who is/was on the verge of suicide because of his sexuality. When I first viewed it I have to admit that I was reduced to tears (which happens often cause I’m a bucket of water anyway). I thought about my baby brother and the many gay friends that I have and to know that they have/had gone through similar experiences.
In many ways I see it as something more than an issue with sexuality. High school is rough enough as it is and the kids now can be really cruel and vicious. Whether it be an issue dealing with race, homosexuality, being overweight, or just not fitting in. The emotion remains the same.
I know that not everyone has the same views as I do and I fully accept that, but try and imagine the young person crying out for help to the author of this video is your child, brother, or sister.
My passion for music is elemental. It’s like air, I can’t help but to breath it in. It’s one of the many sources of my survival. October 9, 2007 would have been the 67th birthday of John Lennon. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that this man was an important staple in music. I won’t delve too much into his political beliefs (although, I agree with most of them) it would take a post and then some. I will however, present you with some quotes from John Lennon himself:
“You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!”
“You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.”
“When you’re drowning, you don’t say ‘I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,’ you just scream. “
“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it. “
Some would say that John’s beliefs of peace and love were unrealistic…..but were they? Think about the world in which we currently live; war, hunger, hate, the killing of thousands. We are living in desperate times and I’d rather have the fanciful beliefs
of peace and love rather than waite for the inevitable.
Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Bob Marley, and Mahatma Gandhi all had their beliefs of how the world should exist. They “Imagined” the world a better place. I’m afraid we’ve let them down……something got lost in the fray.
This past weekend the Glam Squad and I went home to my niece’s thirteenth birthday party. Everything was going well, I met her little girlfriends who were really cool kids with the exception of one. I was having a good time taking pictures as usual when I overheard two girls talking. The ring leader was my niece’s “best friend”. She was complaining to the other girl that she was bored and how my niece didn’t have any boys at the party. I let her slide with that because these are children we’re talking about here, but then she made the statement of how my niece looked “stupid” in the outfit that she was wearing, well, needless to say I had to REGULATE! You can pretty much say what you want to me I’m grown, I can take it. But when you say something disrespectful toward my family I’ll have to set your ass straight with the quickness. I really don’t give a damn what age you are! Anyway, I simply asked her who her mom was and for her home number, come to find out I knew her mom from high school so I could understand why she had such a nasty ass disposition. I took my phone out and gave her mom a call. I told her that her daughter was bored and that she was ready to go, AND that she was not going to ruin my niece’s thirteenth birthday party. So I informed the little girl that her mother was on her way to pick her up because she was bored and ready to go! I told my sister what had happened and she was all for it because she spent entirely too much money to make her daughter’s birthday party a success to let some little fast ass girl ruin it. Point is………..when my sister is happy, then I’m happy.
Moving on…………………..
It was really weird seeing how much my niece has evolved into such a beautiful young lady. I watched in awe at how she interacted with her friends and how she is developing her own identity. I was in the delivery room when she was first introduced to the world (I fainted, but I was there never the less) I named her, taught her how to walk. I feel as if she’s my child. Being some three hours away from her and my sister is hard. I see so much of myself in her (only she can speak fluent Latin, go figure). As I watched her all I could think was damn, I’m getting old!
All in all the party was a success and she was happy with the way things worked out. I got her that damn Rhianna cd she wanted, do you realize how hard it was for me to actually go into a music store and buy that piece of crap? I must REALLY love her to go into a store in broad daylight and buy that hot ass mess.
So, enough of that, here are some pictures of my niece’s party….enjoy!
I asked the oldest member of the Junior Glam Squad which would she rather be, beautiful or smart. She looked at me with those big brown eyes and gave me the answer I DID NOT want to hear. She said she would rather be beautiful. Now mind you I asked and she gave me her honest answer. This scared me. Of course all parents think that our daughters are the most beautiful creatures to ever walk the face of the earth……but exactly how far would beauty take you if you didn’t have the intelligence to cope on a day to day basis? I explained to my daughter that it’s ok to be beautiful but it’s better to be smart, and if you were both then you would be a force to be reckoned with.
It’s important that we teach our daughters that the one thing no one can take away from them is thier intelligence. Beauty comes and goes but dumb is forever. I’m not going to fully blame the media for having our daughters think that unless they are the right size, shape, color, ethnicity, hair, or facial features that they are beautiful. It has to come from home. It’s our duty to to tell our daughters that they are beautiful in their own way and teach them that beauty has many aspects, education being a major factor.
I tell my daughters that you can grow to be the most beautiful woman in the world, but if you can’t fully articulate and hold a decent conversation when around others then you’re just invisable, a beautiful center piece…..lifeless.
I’m not saying that being beautiful is something to be ashamed of. Yes it’ll get you into the right circles, bring forth the right connections, the right jobs. But what happens after you get there? Without the intelligence to comprehend or articulate your surroundings, what is there left?
