all the news that print will fit.
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| notes from underground - societal whispers all the news that print will fit. |
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Wednesday, December 26, 2001 np: steve earle - guitar town sorry it's been so long. so thought i'd share somethin' beautiful with you folks: "My, how foolish I am!" my friend cries, suddenly alert, like a woman remembering too late she has biscuits in the oven. "You know what I've always thought?" she asks in a tone of discovery, and not smiling at me but a point beyond. "I've always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And I imagined that when He came it would be like looking at the Baptist window: pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through, such a shine you don't know it's getting dark. And it's been a comfort: to think of that shine taking away all the spooky feeling. But I'll wager it never happens. I'll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are" -- her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing earth over her bone -- "just what they've always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes." - "A Christmas Memory" : Truman Capote if you've never read that story (or, if you've never read any capote) do yourself a favour and go pick it up. i know it's available in the vintage international printing of breakfast at tiffany's as one of the additional short stories put in to top off the novel. i've been working forty hours a week for the past two weeks (and for the next three) at books-a-million again. makin' all that money since i went plumb broke in britain. but man was it ever worth it. although i'm doing fine cos: a) i got a raise and b) i'm making enough selling club cards to pay for my books for next semester and then some. on top of my salary. life is grande. on a more serious note: mumia's death sentence was overturned last week. no freedom, but life was given. a step in the right direction, but way short of where things need to go. in the meanwhile thanks to herr giuliani, the whole united states is basking in the glow of the murderous nypd. amadou diallo was forgotten far too quickly. not to belittle what either the nypd or fdny did in the wake of the tragedy. brave souls died trying to rescue other unfortunate people. however, as we don our fdny gear (the new dkny, fcuk anyone?), shall we not remember that..woah..firefighters die..everyday. a) it's part of their job. b) it happens far too often. c) we're acting like they're the only people ever to risk their lives to save people in immediate danger. yes, for god's sake. praise the dead men. they are heroes in that they put their lives on the line for others. it cost them their lives. let them rest. you there, way removed from nyc and anything even remotely connected to september eleventh ('uh, i think a guy my cousin used to work with like, dated this stewardess who said..') take off the damn things. and while we're at it, this flag wavin', patriotic nonsense that has errupted across the land, when before we were a bitterly divided nation sweltering under the task of bi-partisan politics, institutionalized racisim and a possible recession, is just camouflage. it's a diversion. we're all about pointing fingers. but outside of the men involved in the attacks, we're not looking at the other causes of the events. we're not examining ourselves. as my cousin aubrey put it the other day: 'it goes back to that two-thousand year old question. socrates...is the unexamined life worth living?' as a nation, are we brave enough to look in the mirror, turn on those garish bathroom lights that show off every blemish on your face, chest, neck, thighs, ass, legs, look ourselves in the eye and say we have a problem? at a christmas party at my house a week and a half ago, i honestly heard an elderly relative (in his seventies) exclaim: 'you know, i thought hitler was bad, but this bin ladin guy has just no regard for life at all. it's scary.' i was about to scream. but this is what the mentality is. hitler's not alive to defend his level of wickedness. and even those who were alive to witness the first go 'round (not to mention stalin) don't even recall it well enough to compare it decently. we're unraveling. and this bullshit credo of 'united we stand,' well, frankly, i'm not having it. united we stand my ass. the day we stand united is the day that racism is fully acknowledged and examined, women are finally given equal treatment and not just the petty icons of equal money and so called equal protection under the law (which just makes women who achieve success act more like men than anything), we become a true melting pot by celebrating our unique american entity along side the limitless cultural backgrounds that make us up, we stop sending our troops in on 'peace keeping' missions and start sending them to impovershed areas to distribute food, housing, schools, information, access to equality, peace, understanding, love. when we disarm all our nuclear weapons, give up ridiculous ideas like ballistic missile shields, forgive international debts, work more closely with the united nations to start a grant system to help poorer countries get up off their feet and provide the services, medicines and supplies needed to live a normal, happy life. and that doesn't mean a dvd player in every house. it means the freedom to live your life the way you see fit. how your culture has taught you. how has worked for your people for thousands upon thousands of years, long before the united states grew out of its revolutionary, agrarian roots, and took hold of the world as its great experiment in subjugation. jesus i'm riled up. but let's leave with this: i love you all. go out of your way, this holiday season, this year, this lifetime, to make someone else's day a little brighter, a little less stressful, a little happier, a little fuller, a little bit better. give freely. hoarde rarely. love unquestionably. laugh often. smile even more often. give hugs. give kisses. shake hands. say hi, even if you don't know them. dance. lift up your arms. breathe in the stars. and be beautiful. we all are, you know. posted by J. Neas | 12/26/2001 03:22:00 AM
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