Thursday, October 15, 2009

Musless Opinionator Reeks

So here are some things to say:

1. I'm studying MLK with my kids at school. And I love him. A lot. There are lots of "universalism's" I would love to share except that I fear that when/if I do, those ideas will be ever so politely shat upon, and yes, one can "shat" politely. Southerners are excellent at it, bless our hearts. So, instead of writing a rant I'll simply say:

*There is no excuse for violence, in word or deed. (And I would argue that words are more violent than bombs, especially reactionary, ignorant (as in without knowledge) ones.)
*There is a universal moral code and it has nothing to do with politic, race, or religion.
*People (including me) need to be more involved in standing up for people who can't or who have no voice.
*I found that I could substitute the word "impoverished" for the word "Negro" in many of King's writings and his message would be even more apt these days, though the minority message is still important.

2. I've been reading a lot: The Book Thief, Ethan Frome, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and now Perfume. The Unbearable Lightness of Being stunned me. My brain can't move forward after reading that book for some reason which may be why I've been at a blog loss. The Book Thief is excellent.. until the very last line. It ruined the book for me. Ethan Frome was interesting in the "longing aspect". Stephanie Meyer is also excellent at teasing the reader with unconsummated relationships. But killing oneself by sledding into a tree? COME. ON. There are better ways, Edith Wharton. There are better ways. Perfume is interesting. I was not at all concerned about the movie, so we'll see if the book stands up. I suppose reading MLK makes everything else seem petty..

3. Rush Limbaugh used to be the devil. Now the devil is Glenn Beck. It's weird how quickly the devil can change forms.

4. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Some are upset by that and/or say he doesn't deserve it. I think we (me included) don't realize how much America (and I mean Americans, not just politicians) has hurt other nations. We're just now realizing how absolutely shitty we've been. Actually, I hope we are beginning to realize how absolutely shitty we've been and I hope we can recover from it..

5. I love U2. Jerry Jones made a stadium (at the expense of too many families who were displaced) that made the greatest band in the world sound bad. That mixed with the fact that those around me asked me to sit down for the show, made it the worst U2 show I've seen. I didn't realize that the etiquette for attending a ROCK show was akin to being pew-bound in the Baptist Church, tapping your toes, listening to the feature vocalist sing, enjoying the music and then wondering whether or not it is appropriate to clap for fear that God , or worse, the congregation, would judge you for being too enthusiastic. Being true to form, I stood the whole time.. in stiletto heels.. just to make a point. Still, the worst U2 concert is better than the best any-other-show I've ever attended.

And on and on and on.

6 comments:

Amy said...

Not sure what to say but Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Unknown said...

re #1: have you read Rules for Radicals?

re #5: that's so absurd! You must go take a vacation to somewhere else and see the concert again. It was lovely, and that crappy sit-happy person should have had duct tape pasted over their unappreciative mouth.

Muser Grace said...

I read _Unbearable Lightness of Being_ years ago...stunning is a good word. Amazing...thanks for reminding me. Have you read _THe Discovery of Heaven_ by Mulisch? I also found that book stunning. And teaching MLK was always my favorite (I used to teach Freshman Comp and would always begin our rhetoric unit with MLK)!

Pam said...

I read The Book Thief a while ago and loved it. For the life of me I can not remember the last line. Of course I work in a library (where I am right now. Shh! don't tell) and I just went to get that book off the shelf to check out the last line and it's checked out! Now I'm dying with curiousity. Any chance you want to share it with us?

mommakin said...

Right on.

Craig said...

They really asked you to sit down? At a U2 concert? Jerkheads.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Musless Opinionator Reeks

So here are some things to say:

1. I'm studying MLK with my kids at school. And I love him. A lot. There are lots of "universalism's" I would love to share except that I fear that when/if I do, those ideas will be ever so politely shat upon, and yes, one can "shat" politely. Southerners are excellent at it, bless our hearts. So, instead of writing a rant I'll simply say:

*There is no excuse for violence, in word or deed. (And I would argue that words are more violent than bombs, especially reactionary, ignorant (as in without knowledge) ones.)
*There is a universal moral code and it has nothing to do with politic, race, or religion.
*People (including me) need to be more involved in standing up for people who can't or who have no voice.
*I found that I could substitute the word "impoverished" for the word "Negro" in many of King's writings and his message would be even more apt these days, though the minority message is still important.

2. I've been reading a lot: The Book Thief, Ethan Frome, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and now Perfume. The Unbearable Lightness of Being stunned me. My brain can't move forward after reading that book for some reason which may be why I've been at a blog loss. The Book Thief is excellent.. until the very last line. It ruined the book for me. Ethan Frome was interesting in the "longing aspect". Stephanie Meyer is also excellent at teasing the reader with unconsummated relationships. But killing oneself by sledding into a tree? COME. ON. There are better ways, Edith Wharton. There are better ways. Perfume is interesting. I was not at all concerned about the movie, so we'll see if the book stands up. I suppose reading MLK makes everything else seem petty..

3. Rush Limbaugh used to be the devil. Now the devil is Glenn Beck. It's weird how quickly the devil can change forms.

4. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Some are upset by that and/or say he doesn't deserve it. I think we (me included) don't realize how much America (and I mean Americans, not just politicians) has hurt other nations. We're just now realizing how absolutely shitty we've been. Actually, I hope we are beginning to realize how absolutely shitty we've been and I hope we can recover from it..

5. I love U2. Jerry Jones made a stadium (at the expense of too many families who were displaced) that made the greatest band in the world sound bad. That mixed with the fact that those around me asked me to sit down for the show, made it the worst U2 show I've seen. I didn't realize that the etiquette for attending a ROCK show was akin to being pew-bound in the Baptist Church, tapping your toes, listening to the feature vocalist sing, enjoying the music and then wondering whether or not it is appropriate to clap for fear that God , or worse, the congregation, would judge you for being too enthusiastic. Being true to form, I stood the whole time.. in stiletto heels.. just to make a point. Still, the worst U2 concert is better than the best any-other-show I've ever attended.

And on and on and on.

6 comments:

Amy said...

Not sure what to say but Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Unknown said...

re #1: have you read Rules for Radicals?

re #5: that's so absurd! You must go take a vacation to somewhere else and see the concert again. It was lovely, and that crappy sit-happy person should have had duct tape pasted over their unappreciative mouth.

Muser Grace said...

I read _Unbearable Lightness of Being_ years ago...stunning is a good word. Amazing...thanks for reminding me. Have you read _THe Discovery of Heaven_ by Mulisch? I also found that book stunning. And teaching MLK was always my favorite (I used to teach Freshman Comp and would always begin our rhetoric unit with MLK)!

Pam said...

I read The Book Thief a while ago and loved it. For the life of me I can not remember the last line. Of course I work in a library (where I am right now. Shh! don't tell) and I just went to get that book off the shelf to check out the last line and it's checked out! Now I'm dying with curiousity. Any chance you want to share it with us?

mommakin said...

Right on.

Craig said...

They really asked you to sit down? At a U2 concert? Jerkheads.