Another fantastic Halloween with my happy-go-lucky, candy gettin', racing to the door to to ring the doorbell first, "can we go to that cool house?", "feel how heavy my candy bag is" children. I had to stand back and watch, I was so proud of them, they said "thank you", they didn't fight, they were ready to quit without me telling them to and they just did a good job trick or treating. I enjoyed their excitement. Now here's the sad part, I forgot to take pictures. What the hell is that? I always take pictures. The last couple of years we carved pumpkins the weekend after Halloween, I guess that's now picture time too. "Come on kids, put your costumes back on, I'm a dumbass and forgot to take your picture before you left to trick or treat". That's not going to work. And the whole idea of carving a pumpkin after Halloween is pretty damn stupid too. They don't care though, that's the beauty of it. They just want to cut the face out and light a candle. It could be friggin' Easter, as long as they get to cut a face out and put a candle in it. Remember that shit. Remember when all that mattered was how much candy you got or how much your mom was willing to invest on making your costume. I used to start thinking about what I was going to be for Halloween as soon as Fourth of July ended, because after The 4th of July it's Halloween. We often go through the holidays in the car on the way home from whatever holiday we are celebrating at the time. "Which one's next?" my daughter always asks. I try to throw in Arbor Day, Labor Day, Veteran's Day or one of my personal faves: Patriot Day (I seriously hate that fucking name...Patriot Day... it's so Republican, we might as well call it "Bush Decides to Attack Iraq and Pretend He Knows What the Fuck is Going on Day". What kind of picture for the classroom windows would the kids draw for that holiday?...) They never buy the Arbor Day/Labor Day holiday list, they care about the holidays that include candy or presents or parties. And who can blame them? I sure as shit don't. I love the holidays that include candy, presents and parties. I feel the same way they do except I sometimes have to slow down and check the account balance before I make any holiday commitments like "sure, you can be a cowboy with a real horse for Halloween...". Actually it's not even the horse that costs the most money these days... go to the Halloween store and you'll know what I mean. No longer is the hobo or the sheet wearing ghost an option. Now its fairy wings and realistic looking Star Wars costumes that cost an arm and a leg. I think next year I'll dress my kids in my old clothes and they can be a "late thirties, bitter, tired, recovering pot smoker". Na, they won't go for that. I better be ready to start saving my money because come July 5th, I've got to dress 2 kids for Halloween 2009.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
conversations with crazy
I had a great talk with my brother today. We always end up having the same talk, starting with politics and ending with religion. That's never really my intention but he has this way of starting it out with: "Let me ask you this..." and that begins the confrontational conversation. He will ask me questions about George Bush then start leading into the Bible and the scriptures etc. etc. He is very genuine in all of these questions and sometimes I get the answer "right" and sometimes he thinks I'm wrong. The whole time he tells me: "I appreciate your answer to that" or "that makes sense to me". He makes a lot of valid points for his "cause" and I make a lot of valid points for mine. He doesn't know the same things I do because I am really obsessed with my radio talk shows (both right and left), I read the newspaper and I watch a couple of different shows on T.V. like the news and such. In return, I don't know about the Bible shit that he talks about. To be fair, his Bible stuff isn't shit, it's just a little judgy, crazy and sometimes hard to argue because it's so...crazy.
Anyway, whenever we talk, it's basically the same ending result, agreeing to disagree. He did, however, get me thinking tonight. He was saying that people always place blame on someone else for the problems in this country and everywhere else. He asked me, in that 'let me ask you something...' tone of voice, if I thought the financial crisis that we are in right now is Bush's fault. I had to tell him no, that I did not think it was all his fault. I know that what happened in the Wall st./mortgage crisis/ bail out bullshit involves both Democratic and Republican parties and the greedy lenders and then that's as much as I can explain. I feel like the people who pass laws about regulation made some mistakes. I think that folks who want a free market were a careless with how that was handled. I may even be wrong, I really can't argue a point that I don't fully understand. I do know that our country is in a huge deficit and that prior to Bush, we had a lot more money to be able to take care of our country. I do know that, while the bailout is not Bush's fault, the war in Iraq is. The mishandling of hurricane Katrina was also his responsibility, the fact that 7 years after 911 we still don't have Osama Bin Laden, the money that was approved by Congress to rebuild Iraq was seriously mishandled, the money that was donated for Katrina relief was also mishandled and those people are STILL living in horrible conditions. Don't even get me started on mother lovin' Haliburton...I don't blame Bush for everything (and by the way, the right wing republicans are still blaming Clinton for shit that he didn't do, but don't you dare talk about Ronald Reagan's crazy shit...) In closing, yes, we shouldn't blame others for every little thing, but someone has to take responsibility for the things that go wrong when they do go wrong. And my brother, I love you, no matter how crazy you are...
Anyway, whenever we talk, it's basically the same ending result, agreeing to disagree. He did, however, get me thinking tonight. He was saying that people always place blame on someone else for the problems in this country and everywhere else. He asked me, in that 'let me ask you something...' tone of voice, if I thought the financial crisis that we are in right now is Bush's fault. I had to tell him no, that I did not think it was all his fault. I know that what happened in the Wall st./mortgage crisis/ bail out bullshit involves both Democratic and Republican parties and the greedy lenders and then that's as much as I can explain. I feel like the people who pass laws about regulation made some mistakes. I think that folks who want a free market were a careless with how that was handled. I may even be wrong, I really can't argue a point that I don't fully understand. I do know that our country is in a huge deficit and that prior to Bush, we had a lot more money to be able to take care of our country. I do know that, while the bailout is not Bush's fault, the war in Iraq is. The mishandling of hurricane Katrina was also his responsibility, the fact that 7 years after 911 we still don't have Osama Bin Laden, the money that was approved by Congress to rebuild Iraq was seriously mishandled, the money that was donated for Katrina relief was also mishandled and those people are STILL living in horrible conditions. Don't even get me started on mother lovin' Haliburton...I don't blame Bush for everything (and by the way, the right wing republicans are still blaming Clinton for shit that he didn't do, but don't you dare talk about Ronald Reagan's crazy shit...) In closing, yes, we shouldn't blame others for every little thing, but someone has to take responsibility for the things that go wrong when they do go wrong. And my brother, I love you, no matter how crazy you are...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
happy to see like minds
Whoo Hoo!!! I saw some "No on Prop 8" folks on the corner of a busy intersection tonight. Yeah! I was so happy to see that. I honked and screamed and praised the Lord for their hard work (let's get one thing straight, I am not a Bible beating holy roller but when praise is needed, I do give it out...). I also signed up to stand with them in the coming week. I have children so I'm not all about running around town throwing myself in front of cars to advertise "No on 8" or screaming out "I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it", but the least I can do is help in the one proposition that actually affects me.
My girl and I have not gotten married yet, we plan on it, but not right away. Our marriage is not something that is going to change our lifestyle all that much. We already have a wonderful family and what I would consider excellent family values but it's still something that we will soon be allowed to do. I didn't care too much about the actual wedding certificate until George Bush became our President and decided to run our country with The Bible instead of The Constitution. When I suddenly felt threatened by his belief system I had to say "bring it on". He became the fuel for my fire. And now, here we are, it is legal now to get married to the love of my life and Bush is almost out but... another set of "haters" trying to tell me how to live, love and raise my children. When will these people learn that my life is not wrong, my views are not sinful and my personal choices are exactly that, personal.
The folks I saw tonight understand. The people on the corner, they know. Gay people are not bad, gay people are fabulous (and sometimes annoyingly flamboyant...not judging just an opinion). My point...I am happy to have seen those people rooting for the underdogs!!! We might have a chance. Yeah!
My girl and I have not gotten married yet, we plan on it, but not right away. Our marriage is not something that is going to change our lifestyle all that much. We already have a wonderful family and what I would consider excellent family values but it's still something that we will soon be allowed to do. I didn't care too much about the actual wedding certificate until George Bush became our President and decided to run our country with The Bible instead of The Constitution. When I suddenly felt threatened by his belief system I had to say "bring it on". He became the fuel for my fire. And now, here we are, it is legal now to get married to the love of my life and Bush is almost out but... another set of "haters" trying to tell me how to live, love and raise my children. When will these people learn that my life is not wrong, my views are not sinful and my personal choices are exactly that, personal.
The folks I saw tonight understand. The people on the corner, they know. Gay people are not bad, gay people are fabulous (and sometimes annoyingly flamboyant...not judging just an opinion). My point...I am happy to have seen those people rooting for the underdogs!!! We might have a chance. Yeah!
No on 8
NO ON 8. 8 = HATE.
CALIFORNIANS NEED TO REALIZE GAY MARRIAGE IS OK.
GOD IS HAPPY FOR THE GAYS TOO!!!
HATE AND INTOLERANCE IS NOT OK!!!
CALIFORNIANS NEED TO REALIZE GAY MARRIAGE IS OK.
GOD IS HAPPY FOR THE GAYS TOO!!!
HATE AND INTOLERANCE IS NOT OK!!!
what do i call this?
I don't dislike Christians. I don't dislike Mormons or Catholics. I don't expect them to dislike me. I was baptized, made my First Holy Communion and I was Confirmed in the Catholic church. I believe in God and Jesus and all of the things that us Catholics are taught on Sundays. I do, however, question things. I do think freely and rely on my brain for some of my decisions and I try not to judge. I call myself a "recovering Catholic" because I no longer feel guilty for every little thing I do and I no longer try to use Jesus or God as my reason for some of my choices.
Logic is something that God gave to us and expects us to use. To say that the Earth was created 2,000 years ago instead of millions of years ago is not logical. To say that dinosaurs don't exist because the Bible doesn't mention them is absurd. I could be incorrect about the Biblical explanation of dinosaurs but I do believe their bones have been recovered from the ground, yes? Some of the religious groups that are trying to change the textbooks in our children's school so that only creationism is taught is very offensive to me. God would like us to have knowledge of ALL possibilities. He wants us to believe in many things, not just one. God is many things and ignorant is probably not one of them. The religion that I follow is Truth, Joy and Love. Whether I am Catholic, Jewish, Mormon or Christian; Truth, Joy and Love are the things that matter. Like a circle, these things need each other. Like mankind needing water, shelter and food.
Too many people follow the Bible literally. The Bible is a book of stories. The meanings behind those stories are sometimes wonderful and worth telling, but some people take these stories as total and complete truth and that is not fair to God. Our creator, whether it is named God or the Higher Power or Buddah or Imagination or Karma, is a fair and loving being. Like a candle off of a flame, we all light our own rooms and using the brain and logic that God gave us is our duty as Humans on this Earth. The leaders of our church's here in the United States need to be careful what they preach, their followers are scared of Hell when Hell is actually right here on Earth and in some peoples hearts. The preachers should stop reading the Bible word for word and start listening to their own logic.
I am worried when I send my children off to school. I want them to be spiritiual and live a life filled with love. I don't want them to be judged by their belief system and I don't want them to be questioned about the deciscions that their parents make. I know that my God loves me and created me the way I am. I know that the God that created me is proud of me and doesn't want me to be "saved" from the things that the Christians call "wrong and deviant and the work of the Devil". My God is funny and clever and loving. My God is the same God that created the Christians who hate and judge me and he is not as happy about their "wrong, deviant and devilish work" as he is about my passion and love for my lifestyle and choices. He forgives them and I pray that they are "saved" from their judgement and passion to dislike me.
Logic is something that God gave to us and expects us to use. To say that the Earth was created 2,000 years ago instead of millions of years ago is not logical. To say that dinosaurs don't exist because the Bible doesn't mention them is absurd. I could be incorrect about the Biblical explanation of dinosaurs but I do believe their bones have been recovered from the ground, yes? Some of the religious groups that are trying to change the textbooks in our children's school so that only creationism is taught is very offensive to me. God would like us to have knowledge of ALL possibilities. He wants us to believe in many things, not just one. God is many things and ignorant is probably not one of them. The religion that I follow is Truth, Joy and Love. Whether I am Catholic, Jewish, Mormon or Christian; Truth, Joy and Love are the things that matter. Like a circle, these things need each other. Like mankind needing water, shelter and food.
Too many people follow the Bible literally. The Bible is a book of stories. The meanings behind those stories are sometimes wonderful and worth telling, but some people take these stories as total and complete truth and that is not fair to God. Our creator, whether it is named God or the Higher Power or Buddah or Imagination or Karma, is a fair and loving being. Like a candle off of a flame, we all light our own rooms and using the brain and logic that God gave us is our duty as Humans on this Earth. The leaders of our church's here in the United States need to be careful what they preach, their followers are scared of Hell when Hell is actually right here on Earth and in some peoples hearts. The preachers should stop reading the Bible word for word and start listening to their own logic.
I am worried when I send my children off to school. I want them to be spiritiual and live a life filled with love. I don't want them to be judged by their belief system and I don't want them to be questioned about the deciscions that their parents make. I know that my God loves me and created me the way I am. I know that the God that created me is proud of me and doesn't want me to be "saved" from the things that the Christians call "wrong and deviant and the work of the Devil". My God is funny and clever and loving. My God is the same God that created the Christians who hate and judge me and he is not as happy about their "wrong, deviant and devilish work" as he is about my passion and love for my lifestyle and choices. He forgives them and I pray that they are "saved" from their judgement and passion to dislike me.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
welcome to the wespeak blog
I am happy to be an american and I can't wait to express myself and my opinions. Right now, I am too tired. More to come another day.
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