And we'll walk between the raindrops back to your blog.
Posted by mparker at May 19, 2007 10:22 PMthanks mparker; and yes, "The Nightfly" was one of the best LPs of the last 25 years.
Posted by Steve Soto at May 19, 2007 10:28 PMHere's one for ya:
Saw a group called the The Wailin' Jennys tonight with my wife. It was 2 hours of the most intense, beautiful music that I've seen in quite sometime. If you have a chance to catch them, by all means do so, you won't be disappointed.
One of the songs they sang was about 'being in the moment' and for those two hours, nothing that the neo-cons have done to destroy this country was on my mind, only the beauty that exists in little nooks and crannies around this world.
It was a pretty magical night for the wife and I.
Posted by joby at May 19, 2007 11:29 PMYou're talking my lingo.
Posted by Ellie at May 19, 2007 11:47 PMEverytime I step into my flower garden, I enter a world devoid of politics. Joy is watching a Peruvian daffodil bloom, or seeing the lone white butterfly that comes each spring to live in my garden.
Posted by Judith at May 20, 2007 12:03 AM
group hug!
Posted by ran at May 20, 2007 12:07 AMThere is absolutely amount of BS and frustration created by this administration that my twin 3 y.o.'s can't squash in a heartbeat.
Their joy of life is boundless.
Posted by Simp at May 20, 2007 12:08 AMIt is time for people who love our country to stop Karl fucking Rove.
How much damage will we allow this nazi fuck to continue inflicting on our lives?
Any politician who claims to care about America, this is job one.
Posted by Sharkbabe at May 20, 2007 12:11 AM> There are simple pleasures in life
Indeed. There are times when I'm pretty well fed up with the dramas and traumas of higher ed. out here in the provinces* but my family keeps me sane and my students keep me coming back for more. It's privilege to work at an urban university (quite unlike any school I attended), where the typical student is classified as "non-traditional." Our average student age this year is 25 (a number that is trending downward). Learning here tends to be about the goals students set (and achieve) for themselves amidst a confounding array of life's complications. We got our start as an extension center to meet the needs of returning WWII veterans. Next week I'm attending a seminar on PTSD in the classroom. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess. But it gives me some comfort to think that I have role in helping such remarkable students as ours achieve their goals.
* State support for higher ed. has been declining across the country for some time but Oregon is at the bottom of the stack on this, only three states have undercut their colleges and universities more than OR over the last 25 years and we rank 46th in per student funding.
Posted by Christina at May 20, 2007 12:13 AMMidnight floating in moonlit shimmering pool watching for shooting stars in the clear dry Arizona sky. Light bouncing off 9 carved TIKI lifeguards and palmtrees...striking. Only sound is water falling from fountains. Move to Cal-Spa, relax in 101 degree water, back to pool, rinse and repeat.
No bugs, bombs, bullets or Bush.
Posted by TIKI AL at May 20, 2007 12:57 AM
Yes Steve, we are a pretty "great blog community here at TLC." We have a teacher, four or five retired veterans, two law students (where are you Moonbat and Liveleist Crib?), an eighty year old southern gentleman from Virginia, a women who works in New York, a woman in Seattle, a woman who works for a non-profit organization in Chicago, a woman in Detroit, a man in Oregon, one from Canada, one in Sacramento, one from Denver, and one in St. Louis. I would say we are are certainly represented from coast to coast. We all converge here almost daily to rant, vent exchange ideas and viewpoints, and to better understand the world around us. Thanks to those who run this Blog. You have given us all a place to come and feel at home.
I still say we need to have a TLC gathering. Would be great to meet you all in person.
Posted by Judith at May 20, 2007 03:00 AMOops, and one from Arizona. If I missed anyone, sorry.
Posted by Judith at May 20, 2007 03:02 AMThanks, Steve, you're right; strawberries, a good (fiction, for once) book, a pink and purple sunrise with a cacophony of chattering birds, the fragrance of a new pot of coffee brewing slowly wafting through the house... and a chat with my pals at TLC. What could be better?
Posted by iamcoyote at May 20, 2007 05:49 AMIamcoyote, I'm there. Thanks for the wonderful image this morning.
Posted by Judith at May 20, 2007 07:36 AMI don't find enough time or opportunity for the strawberries approach these days. The need to confront the corporate machinery of death headed by George and Dick seems so great. So many people suffering and dying unnecessarily right now on our tax dollars. So many more people destined to suffer and die unnecessarily over the next century because of our corporate greed public policy on issues like global warming, energy policy, health care.
My sense is that we are in a slow motion disaster with death and destruction on a monumental scale building and a time coming when that death and destruction comes home to America.
I could relax and enjoy the strawberries more if I did not have grandchildren. I want to have them grow up in a world where fewer human beings, including them, die of starvation or violence.
I recognize that suffering and death is always with us, just as strawberries and the possibility of experiencing/channelling the divine is always with us. I think we have the power to reduce the one and increase the other through our efforts and our efforts are needed today.
Posted by angel at May 20, 2007 07:39 AMAny time, Judith. My computer's right next to a big window on the East, so I get to see it every morning - might as well share.
angel, I understand the urgency, but if we forget the joy of strawberries and our children's and grandchildren's laughter, don't we forget what we're fighting for? Doesn't life end up just being a fight for fighting's sake?
Posted by iamcoyote at May 20, 2007 07:46 AMI agree, Steve, life is far too short to not enjoy these moments.
However, my husband and I rented 'Pan's Labyrinth' Friday night. I had to have him turn off the sound as I covered my eyes in parts. The torture inflicted on resistance fighters by the fascist captain was too horrifying for me to watch.
It made me shudder to realize that without a strong constitution and vigilant citizenry any country in the world, even ours, could revert to that kind of rule and behavior. It is critical now, perhaps more than any time in our nation's history, that we have a knowledgeable, informed electorate and scrupulously fair and honest elections. The Bush administration has stacked the courts and infiltrated every federal agency with extremist, fundamentalist ideologues. If we should allow Bush to continue his shredding of the Constitution unchecked and gods-forbid, elect Gingerich or another extremist, ideological Republican administration we could be in for real trouble. Throw in a real or administration-created terrorist attack in America......all bets are off.
I would not want a Dobson or Falwell or Frist wielding a pair of pliers a few inches in front of my nose asking me about whistleblowers or informers in my house or department.
Posted by Via at May 20, 2007 08:40 AMyou (we) also have an old lady in SE Utah who has a brand new strawberry patch that is flourishing and the bees showed up as usual to pollinate the apple tree / a bright and beautiful day to all
katherine
Posted by Katherine Hunter at May 20, 2007 08:46 AM"Oops, and one from Arizona. If I missed anyone, sorry."
....do you mean 7?
"Iamcoyote, I'm there. Thanks for the wonderful image this morning."
....gee, I invited you for a midnight swim, and you chose to listen to flying rats in an over-caffeinated state while Prairewolfette reads a book sitting by her Mecca facing window?
Posted by TIKI AL at May 20, 2007 09:07 AMTIKI, I was assuming a swim first, then a big breakfast while watching the sunrise. Deal?
Posted by iamcoyote at May 20, 2007 09:29 AMDo we have to wear suits?
Posted by TIKI AL at May 20, 2007 11:01 AMNo, TIKI, it'll be business casual, of course. No ties!
Posted by iamcoyote at May 20, 2007 11:04 AM"If we should allow Bush to continue his shredding of the Constitution unchecked and gods-forbid, elect Gingerich or another extremist, ideological Republican administration we could be in for real trouble."
Via, that will be the moment in our history that the revolution begins.
Posted by Judith at May 20, 2007 12:34 PMNice comments everyone.
How about a big BBQ at my backyard pool on the 26th. I know you can make it TIKI!
December 26th?
Posted by TIKI AL at May 21, 2007 09:24 AM