Acting like a Patriot

As you may know, The Patriot Act is dead. Moveon.org has given those of us who signed petitions pleading with leaders of government to kill this act a chance to send virtual holiday cards and I have chosen to do so.
Here is what I wrote:

I don't know if anyone will truly read this, but my hope is that what I have to say will be read.
I love my country. My heart breaks over it. This is because it hurts to see what we have become. The men who built this country have seemingly won us our independence in vain. Things are falling apart in the United States. Our own natural-born citizens are leaving their mother country for refuge some place else; some place where the corruption is not so pervasive within the walls of government. We have tried to make democracy work through a capitalist system. That system is now eating us alive like the creature Moloch who devours its own children, as mentioned in a poem by Allen Ginsburg called "America." The system has failed us. The system has robbed us of true freedom when we become slaves to a capitalist ideal, pushing ourselves farther and farther into debt, trying to gain more. Materialism has stunted our country's growth. And we need help from our American leaders to help reverse this terrible damage. You are the force that can do this. You are the men and women that can turn this ship around, away from the 'heart of darkness.' And you must. For the ship is sinking and only those with the power can raise it back up to its former glory. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for being the true patriots. Thank you for not forgetting about your country.
May God richly bless you all during this holiday season and all year long.

~Yours, ------- --- ------


I hope someone reads it. Because I hate sending my voice out unheard, like some message in a bottle that never gets read.

Finished Number Two

I have made a goal for myself. I am to finish 20 books by the first of February.
I have finished number two.

The first book was Jamaica Kincaid's "My Brother."
The second was Melissa Banks' new novel, "The Wonder Spot."
Both were excellent.
I especially loved "The Wonder Spot" and I hope some of you will read it over the winter. It's just really the perfect winter novel.

My own novel is still asleep.
Ella lies dormant within the confines of my computer and I don't want her to emerge until I can find a working typewriter. Yes. I want to write this novel on a real, working typewriter. There is something romantic about that. Or crazy. Or both.
I don't know.

Lately the act of writing on my computer has felt sterile.
And I have lost the ability to hand-write my work.
I need the typewriter.
I need the heavy keys.
I need the clickety-clack.

So I am now in the market for a used typewriter. Not antique, but used. I was thinking of finding a sturdy Royal. I've heard they are the best.
My mother thought she had one but realized later that she had sold it in a yard sale.
Now I am typewriter-less.

This week has been slow and I love that.
I am supposed to be looking for a second job but I am finding it difficult during Christmas-week to do that. I just want to stay home and read.

I am going to start book number three later tonight after watching some Six Feet Under (1st Season DVD).

Number three is David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day."

Oh, and my mother has skin cancer...
I just found out today.

Oh Well

At least there is this:

Family Guy - Take On Me


View more video clips at Yashi

Amazing Amazing

The show last night was absolutely incredible!!! The bands played flawlessly and the folks at the House of Blues really took care of us.

Emanuel opened the evening and they were truly exceptional for an opener. They really stand out in my mind from your usual opening band becasue they actually had a sound all their own.

The Early November played next. For me, they really stole the show. Their performance truly out-shined the other bands and the crowd loved them.

However, Saves The Day was by far the crowd favorite by sheer numbers alone. Granted, when Senses Fail closed the show as the headlining band, the kids in the pit went crazy, but it seemed clear once Saves The Day started that most of the die-hards were there to see them, not the headliner.

Senses Fail really knew how to get the crowd fired up, and they sounded great. Kids were stage diving everywhere and we had the bouncers on pointe in the Foundation Seating area, but the party continued. I almost dove into the crowd myself, but when I glanced back at the bouncer, he shook his head at me and I stayed on my stool. I can get carried away sometimes...
Senses Fail gave an encore set and played "Let It Enfold You." I could tell that they had a blast up there and Buddy made sure to tell us how much they enjoyed their set, and then he thanked the other bands as well.
But really. An amazing evening, amazing bands, and Val and I had an amazing time!! She's definitely gonna be my wingman next time I go to a show.

Tonight's the Night

Val and I are going to the House of Blues to go see The Early November, Saves The Day, and Senses Fail!!!

We have Foundation Room passes so it's gonna be sooooo sweet!!!

yum.

Open for some good Sniggering

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2136881999232012965

True Love and the Best Cake Ever

Kris (his name spelled properly) and Hilary had an amazing wedding!

It was so amazing, I was wiping tears away constantly.
Both of their families are awesome and everything went smoothly (as far as I could see).

And yes the cake was fabulous. I wanted to steal some of it and take it home. Yum.

I drove home today after having breakfast at a French cafe in Hillcrest with Chris, Marci, and Carol (Marci's dad's ex-wife #2). It was lovely, I had a waffle which made me want to crash my car into the freeway median all the way home. I was sleepy.

I have class tomorrow and I have not done the reading. Good thing it's not until 2pm. I need to find time to be super-lazy tomorrow. I need to rest from the weekend. Maybe Netflix will arrive and save me.

Netflix rocks.

HATEMAIL

So I finally got my Alkaline Trio Live at The Metro dvd. I was so excited I began fumbling with the wrapper as soon as I got in the door. I turned on my tv and dvd player and quickly popped the disk inside, exploding with child-like excitement and fond anticipation.

The show starts, the lights are down, and then I see it: A larger-than-life cross, illuminated, and upside-down at the back of the stage. My heart just broke right in two. Shattered inside my chest like splinters of glass.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I've known for a long time that the members of the band were into Satan and the darkside and whatever. But I never knew for sure. I dismissed the info like I would any rumor that I had not checked out for myself. But this was different. This was real. The aching inside my heart told the truth and I tried to ignore the ominous symbol but I could not.

I had to turn it off. I could not watch. I was devastated. My conscience was telling me that I should not expose my eyes to such things, as they were not only disrespectful to my God, but hostile, even violent.

I wrote them a note on myspace, telling them that they had broken my heart and I could not in good conscience continue to be a fan of something that ardently and aggressively embraces the Enemy of God. I would not feel that I was practicing integrity in my life or my faith as a Christian.
And I am getting hatemail from other fans. They call me an idiot. They call me closed-minded. They give me the persecution I have always expected. Standing up for God invites such attacks. I am ready. But it still hurts. The little arrows hit close enough to give a small twinge of pain.
I respond to each attack. I engage them willingly. I want them to understand. They may not, but they will hear me. My words will be tiny arrows piercing them to the heart, for they have not the full armor of God as described in Ephesians 6:10-18.


So leaving them as a fan was terrible for me. It was like breaking up with someone that you are madly in love with, but you know that you cannot continue with them because being around them is akin to ingesting poison. It is difficult. And those of you who know me and know how important music is to me, know how much I love the bands I listen to. They flow through my veins, they turn my heart into a drumbeat, they fuel my being. Music is powerful. It can inspire, it can change, it can comfort, it can kill.

That night, I went to work.

And all night, this guy at the bar kept walking past me as I carried drinks. He had a sleeveless shirt on, and he had a tattoo on his shoulder. It was a black inverted pentagram hovering over a fallen angel. It taunted me the rest of night. It was so bad I had to keep praying throughout the evening to cover myself.

Showered with baby

One of my girlhood friends had a baby shower today. It was different from most of the ones I have been to, which I appreciated because I normally don't like going. Usually it's a bunch of twittering women, making a lot of noise and having really boring conversations. But this one was nice. It was small and intimate and everyone got to really get to know one another and there wasn't all that noise. yeehaw.

And I got her the cutest stuff!!!

I picked out some cuteness from two clothing companies: Janie and Jack and naartjie.

I knew no one else was going to give the same outfit. This stuff is super original and definitely not your typical baby clothes. She was so excited when she saw the two outfits! Everyone asked me where I shopped. You should check this stuff out the next time you get an invite to shower someone with baby stuff!

Santa Monica dinner party

My friend Julian and his girlfriend had me over for dinner last night. I had an amazing time; very relaxing. Theresa has a real talent for cooking. She had the table set up beautifully, fresh pink tulips in a simple vase filled with water, and matching plates and bowls spread around the table. Stemmed wine goblets filled with white wine was a delicate touch.

We started with a caprese salad with olive and balsalmic vinegar (my favorite), and I told them about the movie I saw last week, and some of the new life changes I've made. I think they found it interesting.

The entree was delicious. Check this out: Mostacioli pasta tossed with salmon, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, capers, sun-dried tomato, asparagus, and artichoke hearts(sounds like a special I would have described to one of my tables at the Italian restaurant I used to work at). It was very tasty, especially with the salmon. Which is odd for me because I usually don't like fish tossed with pasta. But she prepared it in a way that it wasn't fishy(hard to do). She rocks.

For dessert, we had this tasty little berry tart with coffee. We moved into the living room with our plates, and hung out, talked, and we spoke about what the Bible says about premarital sex...More on that later.

So, after it hit about 10:20pm, they walked me out to my car in the ocean air, and I drove home, pleasantly stuffed and cozy.

Church is good for me

I just saw "The exorcism of Emily Rose."

I need to start going to church again. Cuz that scared the hell out of me...literally.

lip gloss addiction

I just reorganized all my beauty/skin products and found that I have over 22 different types of lip gloss and lip sticks. That's so awesome. And what's funny is that I need them all. They all have their place somewhere in my life, at some time. I love them all, but I guess if I had to pick my favorites I would pick the stuff from Du Wop, Lancome, Benefit, and L'Oreal.

Anyway, it's 1:42am and I can't sleep. Again. Time to make some of my famous Chamomile Tea from Trader Joes with milk and honey. Yum.

Blogger game anyone?

This is from Nicky's blog:

"So here is a game to play. Enjoy.
1. Open up the music player on your computer.
2. Set it to play your entire music collection.
3. Hit the shuffle command.
4. Tell us the title of the next ten songs that show up (with their musicians), no matter how embarrassing. That's right, no skipping that Carpenters tune that will totally destroy your hip credibility. It's time for total musical honesty. Write it up in your blog or journal and link back to at least a couple of the other sites where you saw this.
5. If you get the same artist twice, you may skip the second (or third, or etc.) occurrences. You don't have to, but since randomness could mean you end up with a list of ten song with five artists, you can if you'd like."

You can see Nicky's list on her blog.

And here's my list:

1. Rastaman Chant: Bob Marley
2. Duality: Slipknot
3. Buried Myself Alive: The Used
4. Gypsy: Suzanne Vega
5. Galapagos: Smashing Pumpkins
6. Mommy, can I go out
And kill tonight? The Misfits
7. King Medicine: Jets To Brazil
8. Mudshovel: Staind
9. Summertime Rolls: Jane’s Addiction
10. Modern Marvel: Mos Def


I'd be interested to see your lists in my comment box...
Very curious indeed.

Frustration Series

What bugs me is when you really get into a TV series and then one of the episodes ends and you have to wait a whole two days before Netflix sends you the rest of the episodes by mail.....Bummer.

I don't have cable. I don't spend a lot of time watching television. But that's why I have Netflix. I choose when I want to watch tv. It's not there just hovering, waiting for me to sit on my behind for 4+ hours. I get to make the choice. AndI like that.

my kind of brown

That's the name of the nailpolish I had the girl with two thumbs put on my toes for me today. After school my friend Mike and I had subs and then rode off into the sunset to get pedicures at his favorite salon. And he's not gay. He just likes to take care of his feet.

Nice.

I am now getting ready to take a nap because the Game is on tonight!!!!!!!
God bless opening day for the NFL.
And God bless the Saints because they may be coming to my town to play now that their stadium is getting torn down.

But, even though I have disdain for the Raiders, and I'm not into the Patriots because they consistently beat my team, I want to see the Raiders lose so I can smile inside, deeply.

Oh, and go Rams...