It's only July and I am tired of the political crap already. I cannot believe the Republicans could not find anyone but Don The Con, as I like to think of him, to run for president. I keep thinking that he is going to open his fat mouth and say something so horrific that his own party will jettison him. Yesterday he got close. Frankly, I hope he keeps going. He is not a leader in any way, shape or form. I got into a "discussion" with a friend of a friend who defaulted to threats of fear, telling me I should brush up on my Syrian. I feel like finding that thread and saying "How's your Russian, Comrade?" but I won't. We have bigger things to think about. I also have friends who are so pissed off that Bernie didn't get the nod that they are actively working to make sure Hillary does not get elected. Given what is predicted to be a tight race, I cannot imagine people who don't realize this is still a two-party system, no matter what they would like it to be, and that a vote elsewhere is a vote for Der Trump. My hope is that his own party will back off of supporting him. Yesterday, his own VP made a QUICK rebuttal to what he had to say about the emails and the Russians. AND WHERE are his tax returns??? If he is such a great businessman, shouldn't he be PROUD of them. Those documents will never see the light of day, if HE has anything to say about it. I would be willing to bet if we DO see them, they will be phonies anyway.
I will be doing my best to get the vote out, to talk to people about why Hillary Rodham Clinton is the ONLY choice for President. I can't help but think if she were a man,we would not be having this discussion at all. The thing about this country that gets me is that we frame ourselves as leaders on the world stage, but we can be some of the most backward thinking people on the planet, women and "minorities" ( the quote marks are because people of color are fast becoming the majority in this country and white America needs to get over itself about it) We have bigger issues to face. The Republican candidate wants us all to lose hope and to be afraid; to hide in our bedrooms- if we are heterosexual we can hide there with our spouse- and pull the blankets over our heads and scream GO AWAY. We cannot do this and I hope we will not. I talk to people in other countries who tell me that they are watching with disgust and trepidation. Me too!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Friday, July 15, 2016
Poem
I was clearing out a huge pile of papers on my desk- you know the one, the "this has to be filed or looked at later or shredded or something" pile I found this poem I wrote in response to the Magritte Painting that is sometimes called " Empire of Light" and sometimes "Dominion of Light" I suppose based on the translator. I really like the poem and the way it makes me feel. I wrote it thinking about the walks I used to take around the Silverlake Reservoir, back before osteoarthritis made walking something I have to consider seriously before attempting it. It's a real bitch to have this kind of pain. I used to LOVE walking, now it's just hard and painful.
On those walks I would pass houses in the early evening as people were settling in to their dinnertime routine. Sometimes, I would imagine what life must be like in those large old houses, mostly inhabited I imagined by hipster families whose children have names like Drake and Portia.
Ok , that's mean. But during my walk I would think and it would clear my head. Sometimes I would come home and write.
This poem kicked around in my head after I saw an exhibit of Magritte's work and work that was influenced by him. It STILL tickled me to think of the artist who gave the curator an empty frame, professing "everyone is doing one thing and I decided to do NOTHING as I felt that would be different" That not different, that's an F in art. Someone read "The Emperor's New Clothes" once too often . That the curator added it and the "Look what I bought at Aaron Brothers and am passing off as Art" artist, just flabbergasts me. I wonder If I should by frames and ask people to imagine what I could be doing if everyone else weren't already doing it?
Here's the poem. I still like it.
Dominion
Night begins in the street
Daylight moves skyward
Then follows the sun
To its' western conclusion
Night begins in the house
The sound of children's laughter
Bare feet slapping on wooden floors
Gives way to the warm scent of dinner
Plates ringing
The evening is a soft comfort
The sound of a woman
Murmuring in her kitchen
The sound of a man
answering her with a low laugh
Night surrounds the house
Outside
The streetlamp
Pushes away
A small piece of the darkness
In a soft circle
Lighting the house
And the street below
On those walks I would pass houses in the early evening as people were settling in to their dinnertime routine. Sometimes, I would imagine what life must be like in those large old houses, mostly inhabited I imagined by hipster families whose children have names like Drake and Portia.
Ok , that's mean. But during my walk I would think and it would clear my head. Sometimes I would come home and write.
This poem kicked around in my head after I saw an exhibit of Magritte's work and work that was influenced by him. It STILL tickled me to think of the artist who gave the curator an empty frame, professing "everyone is doing one thing and I decided to do NOTHING as I felt that would be different" That not different, that's an F in art. Someone read "The Emperor's New Clothes" once too often . That the curator added it and the "Look what I bought at Aaron Brothers and am passing off as Art" artist, just flabbergasts me. I wonder If I should by frames and ask people to imagine what I could be doing if everyone else weren't already doing it?
Here's the poem. I still like it.
Dominion
Night begins in the street
Daylight moves skyward
Then follows the sun
To its' western conclusion
Night begins in the house
The sound of children's laughter
Bare feet slapping on wooden floors
Gives way to the warm scent of dinner
Plates ringing
The evening is a soft comfort
The sound of a woman
Murmuring in her kitchen
The sound of a man
answering her with a low laugh
Night surrounds the house
Outside
The streetlamp
Pushes away
A small piece of the darkness
In a soft circle
Lighting the house
And the street below
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the Black Lives Matter movement. In many ways, I get it. I am hearing stories from people I know about treatment received from police offices and I am grieved. I am not entirely shocked, however. My son-in -law was once arrested in Burbank for driving a "stolen" car. Mine. It was NOT stolen, it had not been reported stolen and they ran the plates because "he looked the kind" and saw it belonged to a white woman. Did they let him call me? No. They FINALLY let him call me after the arresting detective went home for the weekend. He was stuck there for the weekend and I had to PAY to get my car out. They released him on Monday morning. He said after I talked to the officer in charge of the jail they treated him very well. I wish I had known how to get him out, they said there was nothing I could do until Monday. I think his crime was "driving while Hispanic." Although I know that MOST cops aren't like this, the ones that I have encountered who will lie to you or treat you like a suspect for no good reason leave a bad taste in my mouth. I had a detective look me in the face and lie to me. I will never forgive him or forget the fact that I trusted him to be an honest man. He broke that trust.
I think the Black Lives Matter movement began as a way to really shed light on what goes on in Law enforcement. As with any movement, the extreme element will attach itself and become prevalent before it stabilizes. They are using a lot of the passive resistance techniques from the 1960's Civil Rights and Anti War movements. There are a lot of changes that need to happen, and they will not happen overnight, but a dialog must begin. I saw the statistic about the Dallas Police force, how after firing a number of officers and changing training methods, the incidents of "police brutality" dropped sharply. There is a good place to start. I heard a discussion on NPR that concluded that it is the training methods that need to be addressed. I saw a meme that said we have to train the public, but seriously, if you are in charge, it is YOUR actions that determine the outcome.
I read a very long article from a white woman who said, in effect, if you are white you are a racist no matter what you do. WHAT? Her assertion is that we can never know what it means to be Black in this country, therefore we will always be racist. This woman took a lot of classes and joined interracial discussion groups, like taking therapy to change herself. Well, whatever helps you sleep at night. Of COURSE I don't know what it's like to be Black in America, just like I don't know what it's like to be a pirate in the 1600's DUH. But I can listen to those who are and work with them to cause change. We must work together to solve the problems of this country,.
I do not expect to see a total change in my lifetime. As a friend pointed out, you can't erase 400 years of behavior overnight. But as every journey begins with a single step, every movement toward change begins with a single action. I found myself thinking of the Christmas Hymn I learned as a child "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" . Let us all look at ourselves and our actions and begin change.
I think the Black Lives Matter movement began as a way to really shed light on what goes on in Law enforcement. As with any movement, the extreme element will attach itself and become prevalent before it stabilizes. They are using a lot of the passive resistance techniques from the 1960's Civil Rights and Anti War movements. There are a lot of changes that need to happen, and they will not happen overnight, but a dialog must begin. I saw the statistic about the Dallas Police force, how after firing a number of officers and changing training methods, the incidents of "police brutality" dropped sharply. There is a good place to start. I heard a discussion on NPR that concluded that it is the training methods that need to be addressed. I saw a meme that said we have to train the public, but seriously, if you are in charge, it is YOUR actions that determine the outcome.
I read a very long article from a white woman who said, in effect, if you are white you are a racist no matter what you do. WHAT? Her assertion is that we can never know what it means to be Black in this country, therefore we will always be racist. This woman took a lot of classes and joined interracial discussion groups, like taking therapy to change herself. Well, whatever helps you sleep at night. Of COURSE I don't know what it's like to be Black in America, just like I don't know what it's like to be a pirate in the 1600's DUH. But I can listen to those who are and work with them to cause change. We must work together to solve the problems of this country,.
I do not expect to see a total change in my lifetime. As a friend pointed out, you can't erase 400 years of behavior overnight. But as every journey begins with a single step, every movement toward change begins with a single action. I found myself thinking of the Christmas Hymn I learned as a child "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" . Let us all look at ourselves and our actions and begin change.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Art music and work thoughts
I woke up this morning with a song from Warren Zevon in my head:
Every day I get up in the morning and go to work
And do my job-whatever
I need some
Sentimental Hygiene
Some days, I really feel like that. Do my job. Whatever. I am at the point of thinking more and more about retirement and I have days when I wonder just what the heck I am doing there. It's only normal. I have been there almost 30 years ( I will hit THAT mark in October) I had a job interview a while ago and NEVER heard back from them. I think that's rude. I could have at least gotten a "thanks for applying" letter, you know. I certainly hope they are not doing a background check on me before offering me the job. THAT would be a waste of time and energy as I decided I do not want the job. There are a number of reasons, but they are mine alone. I felt I would not be a good fit for the position.
I love the music of Warren Zevon,. I never met him and am somewhat thankful for that. Apparently he could be a real jerk. I prefer to think of the music he created and how it made and still makes me think and feel. He was a genius,and apparently had little regard for those of us with average intelligence. While it might have been interesting to have a conversation with him, I think it would have changed my regard for his art. As Joan Baez said, "Idols are best when they're made of stone" and while I did not idolize him, I think meeting and knowing him might have changed MY regard for his art. It happened once, when I met an author whose work I admired. He turned out to be an "anatomically specific posterior reference" to his fans. I stopped reading him after that encounter.
I drove past a local fire station the other day and really noticed the public art on the property. It's a large metal tree that looks like a tree that a child might imagine. It appears to be a rusted color and I can't remember for the life of me if it has always been that color. I found myself wondering why anyone would try to sit in the 'shade" of the tree, it's a metal tree and I think it would be hotter than cooler in the "shade" of a metal structure. It reminded me of a vaguely dystopian world, where all the green growing things have been replaced with metal objects and we are might be taught to forget living plants
I know why they have art projects at public buildings. A percentage of all municipal building projects must contain a component for public art; kind of a cool idea actually, but some of the art is just god-awful (I'm talking about YOU , weird installation at the Sherman Way off-ramp on the Hollywood Freeway) Some of it just leaves me cold and wondering just HOW much the artist was paid for THAT monstrosity and what the rest of the projects that came in looked like if THAT is the best they could do. Ah well, art IS subjective and not all art appeals to all people. I really HATE when people insist you must love a piece because it is done by a great artist or some other reason. Art moves you in your soul or it does not. For me, I find I love the more traditional representational art and 'modern art" leaves me cold. I had a friend who was a well respected modern artist but I never quiet knew what to say when she showed me her new pieces. I took to asking her about the creation aspect, what sort of paint or canvas she used or how long it took to create it, rather than oohing and aahing about how much I loved it. I was and am interested in the process. I can't make a stick figure look accurate. My grandmother's family were artists, but THAT gene seems to have been swallowed up somewhere.
As I go about my day, I will try today to appreciate the art of the natural world, the delicate beauty in flower and plants, the patterns clouds make when the wind scatters them in the sky, the color of the sunset. I will also remember to look at art created by those talented souls who produce it to share because they must create and try to, at the very least, appreciate the effort.
Every day I get up in the morning and go to work
And do my job-whatever
I need some
Sentimental Hygiene
Some days, I really feel like that. Do my job. Whatever. I am at the point of thinking more and more about retirement and I have days when I wonder just what the heck I am doing there. It's only normal. I have been there almost 30 years ( I will hit THAT mark in October) I had a job interview a while ago and NEVER heard back from them. I think that's rude. I could have at least gotten a "thanks for applying" letter, you know. I certainly hope they are not doing a background check on me before offering me the job. THAT would be a waste of time and energy as I decided I do not want the job. There are a number of reasons, but they are mine alone. I felt I would not be a good fit for the position.
I love the music of Warren Zevon,. I never met him and am somewhat thankful for that. Apparently he could be a real jerk. I prefer to think of the music he created and how it made and still makes me think and feel. He was a genius,and apparently had little regard for those of us with average intelligence. While it might have been interesting to have a conversation with him, I think it would have changed my regard for his art. As Joan Baez said, "Idols are best when they're made of stone" and while I did not idolize him, I think meeting and knowing him might have changed MY regard for his art. It happened once, when I met an author whose work I admired. He turned out to be an "anatomically specific posterior reference" to his fans. I stopped reading him after that encounter.
I drove past a local fire station the other day and really noticed the public art on the property. It's a large metal tree that looks like a tree that a child might imagine. It appears to be a rusted color and I can't remember for the life of me if it has always been that color. I found myself wondering why anyone would try to sit in the 'shade" of the tree, it's a metal tree and I think it would be hotter than cooler in the "shade" of a metal structure. It reminded me of a vaguely dystopian world, where all the green growing things have been replaced with metal objects and we are might be taught to forget living plants
I know why they have art projects at public buildings. A percentage of all municipal building projects must contain a component for public art; kind of a cool idea actually, but some of the art is just god-awful (I'm talking about YOU , weird installation at the Sherman Way off-ramp on the Hollywood Freeway) Some of it just leaves me cold and wondering just HOW much the artist was paid for THAT monstrosity and what the rest of the projects that came in looked like if THAT is the best they could do. Ah well, art IS subjective and not all art appeals to all people. I really HATE when people insist you must love a piece because it is done by a great artist or some other reason. Art moves you in your soul or it does not. For me, I find I love the more traditional representational art and 'modern art" leaves me cold. I had a friend who was a well respected modern artist but I never quiet knew what to say when she showed me her new pieces. I took to asking her about the creation aspect, what sort of paint or canvas she used or how long it took to create it, rather than oohing and aahing about how much I loved it. I was and am interested in the process. I can't make a stick figure look accurate. My grandmother's family were artists, but THAT gene seems to have been swallowed up somewhere.
As I go about my day, I will try today to appreciate the art of the natural world, the delicate beauty in flower and plants, the patterns clouds make when the wind scatters them in the sky, the color of the sunset. I will also remember to look at art created by those talented souls who produce it to share because they must create and try to, at the very least, appreciate the effort.
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