Golden Sisters NOT as good as Golden Girls

So, I started watching the Golden Sisters' show... They are sort of cute goofy old ladies but I think the comparison some are making to "reality TV's Golden Girls" is lofty to say the least. Now maybe that is because I am a dyed-in-the-wool serious Golden Girls Junkie but other than their relative age, and wild scenarios I see no comparisons. I realize for the time my girls were quite scandalous but these new broads just seem like fowl-mouthed crazy old ladies. Don't get me wrong, I hope to have my fair share of fun when I get old, and god knows I love to drop F bombs right and left but all their bickering and bleeping just gets on my nerves. I grew up watching Golden Girls religiously. When asked in a "Sweet Six" competition (small town annual pageant for 6 y/o girls) what my favorite television show was I answered honestly that Golden Girls was my favorite. I am pretty sure they thought I was lying and that single-handedly lost me the competition.  But that isn't important... What is, is how awesome Blanche, Dorothy, Sophia, and Rose really are. They tackled serious issues with humor, whit, and grace and waaay before their time. Namely homosexuality, artificial insemination, teen pregnancy, and sexuality as a senior citizen. I was trying to decide who is my favorite Golden Girl and I realized that is what made the show so great, I love all of them equally. I feel like it's being told to pick your favorite child, just impossible to choose because they all have such great, lovable, hilarious personalities.  Between "Picture it Sicily...." St. Olaf stories, Dorothy's quick whit, and Blanche's stories of the loss of innocence under magnolia trees it is my favorite show of all time. With Designing women in a close 2nd of course. ;-) Bless those Golden Girls and congratulations to Betty White for continuing to be one bad ass lady.

Faceless Woman

I saw this photographer on Yahoo! today and I am in love with her photographs! Not making much of a "real" post today but I am pretty sure I have no readers so this is really just for myself. The photographer is Patty Maher and these haunting, beautiful, narrative photos really speak to something in me. All of her photos feature women who's faces are obscured, often by hair or taken from a posterior view. These photos communicate clearly but with so many possible meanings. I was surprised to see so much emotion in a photo with out being able to look at a face. I want to hang them around my home just so I can gawk at them whenever I please. I love finding things that really speak to me and these photos certainly do that.

View her photos and a video here.

This is her flickr.

Thunderstorm

A cool wind begins to blow through the trees, the leaves sound like ocean waves. The crickets and cicadas creak and hum as the scorching sun dips bellow the horizon. And I think of you. As the first drops fall on hot asphalt and disappear, there is a stirring in the skies and I imagine your smile. A quick burst of light illuminates the sky and a low rumble follows. I hear you laughing. The sweat and rain and tears mix as they run down my face. I ache for your touch. As loneliness overtakes me I weep, the skies open up. A cool healing shower from the heavens pours down upon me. In me all the anger is extinguished the rage is doused to steaming smouldering ash. I can almost feel of your lips on mine, the smell of the air from your lungs, the heat of your body. The thunder cracks and rolls and my wet skin raises with tiny bumps. Bathed in the rain the my hope is restored that one day 

you may return to me.

Reaching Equality

I want to start off by saying how glad I am that the SCOTUS repealed DOMA. I was worried there for a minute. I like to see our country making progress in the right direction. While I certainly chalk this up as a won battle, it isn't the end of the war. We have taken a great step forward don't get me wrong but we can't just sit back and call it a day just yet. Gay marriage is still only legal in 12 states an D.C. We are not all equal under the law just yet but I think we can get there. What really makes me angry is that in the state I live in it is legal to rape animals but not marry the person of your dreams if they share the same genitalia as you. It makes me want to rip my hair out. How can we possibly tolerate the existence of these laws or lack of. Why are we not exercising more of our power as citizens in our government. We want to complain that nothing getting done but anything worth having is worth fighting for. We get all excited during a presidential election and then drop the ball for three years. If we really want to fix the problems this country faces it will require that everyone becomes involved. Many people are so apathetic because they don't think real change is possible. They are right, if no one takes the time to vote and spread information about their cause. Getting involved takes effort, that most people aren't willing to put forth, and instead they chose to remain uninformed and assume things will sort themselves out. I can tell you this; change is a dirty job and a hands off approach to the government will leave everyone unsatisfied. SO get out and vote, share your opinions, debate with friends, read, read, read, fact check, and write your congress men and women. That is how you have to get things done. Over and Out.

Idiot Rant

In the news recently I saw a video of Bill Cunningham telling Tamara Holder to "know [her] role and shut [her] mouth." All I could think was. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Every time I begin to see the glimmer of hope in society some asshat goes and spoils it for me. I didn't even find this part of the program to be the most offensive. Why do we give so much screen time to shouting morons? I may be biased, but I rarely (not to say never) find liberals shouting unfounded claims over the person they are meant to debate, calling names like stooge, fascist, or telling another human being to shut up and stick to their "role" in society. I am so sick and tired of people (Bill O'reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Ted Nugent I'm lookin' at you) acting like bullies thinking that some how if they yell louder what they are saying is any more true or accurate. You just look like an insecure dickbag. Then people say Piers Morgan is a "pussy" no, he's relatively polite and does his best not to start a shouting match which no one wants to listen to. You may have some good points (though I doubt it) but the second you start shouting and violently thrusting your finger in another person's face I write you off, then and there. You have shown me that you have no control and I can no longer trust your opinion as being valid enough to waste my time on. On another note, I would love to know what Mr. Cunningham thinks a woman's "role" entails. I am sure it would be great for a good chuckle. The sad part is he isn't the only person (notice I didn't say man) out there with these antiquated ideas on a woman's place in the world. If you are a man and you are stupid enough to believe garbage about women having limited intellegence, or being too emotional, or going bat shit crazy on a full moon if it is their third menses of a leap year or any other ridiculous claim that aims at making women less than capable of informed decisions then I say to you as politely as I possibly can muster, "You Sir, can go fuck yourself." I refuse to believe in all your experience leading up to being a middle aged politician every woman you met was a psyco, ditsy, baby maker with no ability to understand logic like the men folk do. This is an excuse you put out to pad your ego and keep our country stuck in the past. And if you are a woman who has been spoon-fed this load from childhood I pity you deeply, and beg of  you to pull your head out of the sand and inform yourself. You are incredibly powerful if you would just realize your potential. No one has any rights to your body or mind except you. Women do not let your daughters grow up with these same self-limiting beliefs. Fuck the glass ceiling, if you teach her it is there she will always be looking out for it, instead teach her she is already above it and just as good as any good'ol boy who is already a member of the club. I like the slogan that women are the most valuable untapped resource in the world. It is true we are only using a mostly male fraction of our adult population and in this great time of need for social and government change we need all the help we can get. I also want to say that I LOVE men, I have been blessed with having exceptionally great men as grandfathers, fathers, brother, cousins, friends and lovers and so I find this other breed to be all the more disturbing. They really try hard to spoil the bunch. So, to the good men out there if you come in contact with (and you will) any of these blowhards please do yourself and every woman a favor and lead by example. Show them what real men stand for. They stand for equality for every person, charity, justice, compassion, peace, and when peace is no longer an option kicking serious ass. What this country needs is more men and women in politics who truly look out for the people, not their bank accounts. What is worse, is I couldn't even begin to tell you how to fix the world we live in. I can tell you being informed, finding and electing truly GOOD people is where it has to start.

Firsts

This is the first blog post I have ever written.  I do not promise correct grammar or punctuation in this or any other post I will make but I will do my best. Beginning this blog makes me think of new beginnings in general. A feeling I have been missing. Firsts are so exhilarating, frightening, and rewarding. Being in a long term monogamous relationship has made me envious of the experience of a first kiss with a new person. I worry about never having that feeling again for the rest of my life. It is one of the best one will ever encounter. Getting to stare into someone's eyes with your heart pounding wondering if you could possibly want something more than their lips on yours. The goosebumps and butterflies as you wait for what seems like an eternity for the slightest of movement that brings them closer. Then it all envelops you in a glorious release of tension. It feels like your heart is actually increasing in size. The only sad part is that as much as you grow to love someone every other kiss will pale in comparison. Maybe it's just me.

The fist time you walk into a new classroom, the day you start a new job, meeting a new friend, the first bite of a new food, the first warm day after a long winter when you role down the car window and hang your arm out in the sun, the first time you read you favorite poem, the first time you heard a song that made you believe someone else out there was feeling exactly what you are. The beautiful fleeting moments in life that are bitter sweet and precious because they are so rare. For me it was cool nights in the summer listening to Brand New's "Okay I Believe You but my Tommy Gun don't" or "Soco Amaretto Lime" and feeling completely invincible if only I knew of life then, what I know now. I would have held on to those moments a little tighter and not fought so hard to "grow up." I hope some of you have been able to feel that way at some point in your life, and you continue to find those moments.