19 posts from January 2008

Today's wordpress:

    I think we ignore because we fear.  We fear that our blues and blahs are too much for us to handle, so we shove them back until they are in fact enormous.  We fear that our anxiety is ruling us, which makes us anxious, so we tune it out.  We fear our hyperactivity and distraction would need medication that would deaden us, so we sit on our hands.  In the meantime, think of how much good we could do simply by naming our problems, by confronting them, by giving them shape and color and tone.

I picked a really crazy week to decide that I was going to really do this thing, didn't I?
The good news is that seeing my page loads arch up to thirty and then slam down to zero is a great motivator to post every morning.

Today on wordpress:

“Obama would make a great black President.”

As long as we keep making judgments based off of race, we don’t have to ask ourselves if racism still exists.  The fact that racism exists is made obvious in the way we frame our discussions.  As long as there are perfectly coiffed blond women on network news asking breathlessly if Obama’s race will be a factor in people’s consideration of him, it’s being made a factor.

Looking at my blog stats, I find it humbling how many people are apparently reading my blog.  Yikes.  Intellectual content will continue to be on wordpress and plugged here, because, honestly, if I could make a couple of dollars a week blogging I'd be a happy little housewife.  :)

What have you changed your mind about? 
Submitted by chitoes.

My mind regularly changes itself about any manner of things.

I still believe God is Love.  That's the only absolute, non-negotiable truth.*

*That and chocolate ganache.  Raspberry truffle!  I'll never change my mind about that.

So.  I took some time to eat a tub of Ben&Jerry's and decompress, and a blog post was birthed out of it.

An excerpt:

Focus on the Family explains to us that there is a war on masculinity. (this is a link to an editorial based off of a chapter from Bringing up Boys)

My frustration with these articles knows no bounds. First, there is the fact that this all works off of the assumption that there is a widespread effort to undermine masculinity as an ideal, and we as consumers are all unwitting pawns. The concept of wars in which we are all pawns is old, and often true. In this case I think that masculinity as an ideal is it’s own enemy- because there is a war. There is a war against the assumption of power, strength and dominance. If masculinity as an ideal assumes all of those things, there are a lot of women (and men!) who resent that.

NOTE:  you do NOT need a wordpress account to leave a comment there- just a name and email address.  :)

Jonah is so often oversimplified to the point of being practically meaningless.  I heard the story so many times growing up, but I never heard the real story.  I just saw it in felt cutouts where a smiling Jonah is eaten by a great fish that looked eerily like Fudgie the Whale.  The story always seemed to end, "Jonah was faithful and everyone was saved.  YAY!"
    Imagine my surprise when I first took the time to sit down and read the book of Jonah.  I found it less as an inspirational tale about obedience, and more as a editorial comment on disobedience.  Jonah was not so much a great man of God as he was a reluctant hero, dragged every inch of the way kicking and screaming, only to be bitter and dissatisfied with his own victory because it wasn't what he expected.  For all of you who don't know the story, I will now quickly paraphrase it.

SCENE:  Jonah, a moderately well off Israelite, is sitting around reflecting on how awesome he is.  Enter the Voice of God.

GOD:  Hey, Jonah, I need to talk to you.
JONAH:  me?
GOD: That's what I said, isn't it?
JONAH:  I can dig that.
GOD:  I want you to go to Nineveh.
JONAH:  The people there are gay.  No.  I don't want to get to close to the gay.
GOD:  I'm God, and I told you to go to Nineveh.  Tell them to repent or be burned.
JONAH:  They're awfully gay.  Can't you burn them anyway?
GOD:  I am telling you to go to Nineveh and call for their repentance.  I am the LORD your GOD.
JONAH:  Aren't there people better suited to this sort of call?
GOD:  Don't you dare make me count to three.
JONAH:  Okay, okay, I'm going.
GOD:  Good.

Jonah scampers off, buys a ticket on a boat heading in the other direction so he can put as much distance between him and the Nineveh Men's Choir as possible.  God sends a storm and Jonah confesses that God is probably pissed at him, so he's sacrificed to the ocean.  While in the water, a huge Fudgie the Whale cake miraculously becomes a REAL whale and swallows him.

JONAH:  um, so, God, I realize you're probably still angry with me, but I promise to never ever again ever disobey you ever if you'd just be merciful.  (repeat for the next 72 hours)
GOD:  Stop nagging me.  Okay.

Jonah is spat up on the shore of Nineveh.  He wanders into the city and starts raving about God's wrath and how they all need to turn from their wickedness.  The people of Nineveh, seeing a half-digested man gesturing wildly, decide that maybe they would rather be less gay than taste the wrath for themselves.  They repent.  Jonah goes up on a hillside to what for the brimstone to start falling.  He sits there all day long, but no brimstone.  So Jonah starts complaining.

JONAH:  Okay, I called for repentance.  I fulfilled my end of the bargain.  Why no brimstone?
GOD:...
JONAH:  I signed up for brimstone.
GOD:...
JONAH:  The lighting is perfect right now.  Obliterate them!

Jonah had gotten rather attached to a weed that had sheltered him from the midday sun.  Now God sent a huge freaking caterpillar to eat it.  Jonah got angry.

JONAH:  Now, on top of everything else you've done to me, you steal my plant?
GOD:  How much did you love that plant?  Imagine how much more I love my people whom I made with my hands and breathed life in to.
JONAH:  Oh, that whole loving God thing.  I'd forgotten about that.
GOD:  Moron.

    Yes, I realize that I'm probably either towing the line of sacrilege or just outright sacrilegious.  I should point out that the people of Nineveh were murderous adulterers and child slave traders, a little worse than just boys who like chorus music.  Jonah was right to be afraid.  But even so- he constantly ran from God and flouted God's judgment, and he still blamed God for making bad things happen to him.  Jonah eschewed personal responsibility while at the same time being a self-righteous blowhard.

    And yet...?  God allowed him to witness a tremendous demonstration of God's own love.  God, always the parent, punished him only in order to let him live a better life.  Jonah, the embodiment of hard-headed youth, refused to recognize his own blessings and whined and whined.
   
    You can read the Bible two ways.

WAY ONE:  Read it in order to pad your pre-chosen notions of what it should say, thus seeing God as judgmental, cruel, and irrational.

WAY TWO: Read it in order to see what it says.

I like way two. 

Fred Phelps is the Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church and the founder of God Hates Fags.  His association announced that they will picket Heath Ledger's funeral, because Heath promoted the homosexual agenda by appearing in Brokeback Mountain, and apparently is burning in hell.

Read the following, and you'll discover that I tend to disagree.
(other interesting reading material:  Toe-Knee says Cheers to the Queers and Natalie posts the Phelp's flyer and eviscerates him tidily.)

Dear Stupid Idiot Mr. Phelps  To Whom it Chiefly Concerns:

    The Bible is clear on some things and less clear on others.  For instance, while it may seem easy to assume that the Bible is clear on the fact that homosexuality is a sin, several noted Evangelicals, (Tony Campolo, for example) aren't convinced of that fact.  Sometimes things that appear to be clear simply aren't clear enough to inspire conviction. 
    There are other things that seem to be clear and in fact are.  One of these things is that God is Love.  Not only did Jesus Christ, the human embodiment of God, live a life that taught love down to his manner of eating and prayer- but the Bible throughout from START to FINISH, from ALPHA to OMEGA, is crystal clear about the fact that God is Love.  It starts in Genesis, in God's caring for Adam and Eve despite their sinfulness, and continues throughout to the Book of Revelations, where despite Armageddon God still demonstrates his love to those who were faithful.
    Look at the life of King David.  David was a sinner.  David was petty, jealous, selfish and a womanizer.  He impregnated another man's wife and then killed that man in order to keep the woman to himself and hide his crimes.  Yet, David is called a man who truly knew God's heart.  Why would God reveal himself to be a loving God to a man who so poorly demonstrated Godly ideals?  Because the greatest ideal of all is that of Love, and David demonstrated incredible fealty to his friends and faithful, and especially to God's own people, the Israelites.  God again and again shows that love is rewarded and hate is punished.  Again, and again, and again.
    In 1st John, chapter four, John- the disciple whom Christ Loved- says that those who know love, know God.  Those who do not know love, do not know God.  My question to you today is:  Do you know love?
    Do you?
    You would picket the funeral of a beloved son, devoted father, faithful friend, generous spirit... and for what?  For publicity?  To remind America of it's failures?  You spew forth literature of intolerance, judgment and hate.  Why?  When has anyone ever been won over by words of fire and vengeance?  What kind of lasting change do you truly wish to inspire out of fear and fear alone?  God is not a God of fear.  Certainly he is to be feared, but we fear God not because we are worried for ourselves, but because we understand his awesomeness.  Selfishness and the true love of God are inherently contradictory.  You inspire selfishness and hate, and little else.
    You say that Heath Ledger is burning in Hell.  How do you know?  Are you God himself, that you are the judger of souls?  Were you with Heath in his last moments, did you hear his last thoughts and words?  Do you know what he was thinking, feeling, praying?  Are you absolutely convinced of your convictions?  I hope not.  Because if you are, Mr. Phelps, I fear for your soul.  I truly do.  Because you are not acting out of love, Mr. Phelps.  You demonstrate no real concern, Mr. Phelps.  I'm afraid that you don't truly know God, and yet you put yourself in his place.
    Think about Heath's two year old daughter, as she is forced to pass your picket lines in order to attend her father's funeral.  Think about the people who will have to explain your actions to her.  Think of the hurt you will cause.  Unless you yourself are so assured of your convictions that you yourself would tell her that her father is in Hell, you have NO RIGHT TO ACT.
    Would you do it, Mr. Phelps?  Are you that far removed from love?

    You are a blight to our faith and a stumbling block on the road to salvation for far too many people.
   
    I RENOUNCE YOU.

A little girl has lost a devoted and loving father, and that I think is the story that matters.

It turns my stomach a little that in the first two articles I've read about Heath Ledger's death, they mention the impending release of Dark Knight and that ticket sales will likely be inflated by grieving fans.  Words do not suffice.  He is a human being, not just a face on a marquee.

Heath was quoted as having said that he was anxious and unable to sleep, and had taken two Ambien just to be able to sleep for a handful of hours.  The initial inquest says that there is no reason to suspect foul play or suicide, and his death is likely accidental and due to abuse of prescriptions.

It's a shame.

I'd like to take this moment to remind people that managing your stress, your health, your mental wellness and your ability to rest and recuperate is of absolute importance and NOT to be taken lightly.  I say this from personal experience, as someone whose body has burned me more than once when I've taken it for granted.  Deaths like this, deaths so young, deaths that leave so many deserted, deaths that could have been avoided- they should serve to remind us that the belief that we can control all things comes at a terrible cost.  We may control, temporarily, but nature is a beast and nature will fight back.  Our bodies are works of nature, not machines.

Think about that, not ticket sales.

My turn to whine about Vox.

I can understand- on some level- their changing the drop down menu.  Vox is coined as being user-friendly for those unfamiliar with blogging.  I have older relatives that can't make sense of drop downs.

Okay.

I hate it, but, whatever.  I do think that they could offer two versions of Vox:  streamline (for heavy bloggers) and simple (for grandmas).  If they can offer beta/non, they should be able to figure it out.

Now, I also am bothered by the sudden disappearance of TiG, especially since so much of their self-branding has been based around it.  Seriously, Vox, WTH?  It's not hard to drum up ways in which you can do your "editorial" style while still holding with the good-old-fashioned Vox we've all come to love.  It's as simple as [this is culture]- classy, isn't it?  [this is culture], [this is Vox].  You can have that one for free.

Now, what bothers me the MOST?  Vox's reaction:

    You'll get used to it.

Um...  I'm sorry, Vox, but that reminds me of an abusive relationship.  That constant reminder that the problem is not with you- but with us.  That you are doing what is best for us, but we are just too tied into our comfort zone to be aware.  I do realize that things change.  They should!  Stagnancy is the enemy of growth.  Cool.  I get that.

    My issue here is that there are very simple things Vox could do to both change and improve our experience.  An easier way to handle favorites and links, better formatting for photo-rich posts (which right now are VERY hard to format) and a daily TiG.

    Just please, listen to the end user.  If you make the best possible product, high page rates will be a by-product.  If you make a bad product, we leave.

With Minor Variations.

Everything is basically the same, except this time I write about gun-toting contract-killing apple pie-baking mommies.  (Thanks for the small tweak, Kelly!)

Excerpt:

    “Get in the car, Julia,” Lacey called out. “I'm in a rush.”

    “The pie can wait,” Julia responded, waving a dismissive hand in her mother's direction. She giggled loudly as one of her friends whispered in her ear. “Really? with Jensen?”

    The girl nodded and blushed.

    “Seriously,” Lacey called out, louder. “I don't care if she was fondling Jensen pantless, Julia, we need to leave now.”

    Julia blanched and said her goodbyes quickly. She climbed into the passenger seat of her mom's blue Prius and slammed the door, glaring poisonously. “Seriously, Mom, it's not life or death if food is on the table by five. You just embarrassed me in front of my friends.”

    “Seatbelt,” Lacey said in a dark monotone.

    “What is your damage?”

    Lacey turned, her eyes on fire. “Seatbelt,” she repeated.

    Julia buckled herself in and folded her hands on her lap very quietly. She'd only seen her mother angry a handful of times. Once, when her little brother broke her mother's heirloom vase. One other time, when her mother found out that her father was having an affair. A third time, when a neighbor poisoned their dog. All of those times had seemed like understandable anger. Anger over a seatbelt seemed totally irrational. Julia was scared.

    Lacey slammed the car into drive and sped away from the school, tires smoking. The Prius wasn't made for speed and balked at the hard usage. Lacey cursed loudly and fought back tears.

    “Mom?” Julia said, very quietly.

    “There's just...” Lacey was bouncing in her seat now. Her tiny frame hardly seemed capable of containing her rage. “It's just...”

    “It's just...?”

    “There's been a problem at work,” Lacey said, “and we may all die.”