Sophie's World

Four in the morning.

Still awake.

Sometimes that is just how it goes.

Allergies are terrible today. I sneezed the entire walk to work. That is a lot of sneezes.

Writing is not behaving.

Cranky.

And very glad that I only work until 2pm.

Holy crap.

I'm going to see Amy Winehouse at her comeback concert, with Toots and the Maytals as well.

AMAZING.

LOts to write about. No energy to do it now. Maybe later tonight.

But last night was as close to my dream life as I have ever been.

Good dinner, good show, a good man.

Yeah. These are the things I need to remember and focus on when the black dog is staring me in the face.

I'm going to audition for Hamlet for this years Shakespeare in the Park.

Tonight I perfected my monologue. I think I will do the sonnet 130, My Mistress' Eyes. I played with doing it as drunk at a bar, but letting the love for the mistress shine through in the tone and warmth of my voice.


My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

One of the people that I stayed with in Cambodia is being targeted as an "outside agitator" for his work in trying to stop the forced evictions happening in Dey Krahom.

( Text of a BBC article about the evictions )

What they don't mention, or may not have known, is that the "civilian police" they mention were recruited from communities who had recently been evicted themselves, and they were armed with pipes and bats.

This is a link to a petition supporting David.


Here is a photo album of the Dey Krahom evictions.

I am hopelessly addicted to "Wait, Wait... don't tell me", NPR's weekly news quiz.

I can't help it. I just want to go and hang out with Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell and Roy Blount Jr and all of them.

Funny and informative. Y'all should check it out. They have a podcast on iTunes, and almost all of their old shows are on the NPR site.

I almost fell on the floor this week when they compared Hillary Clinton to Hermione Granger.

I cried like a baby and wanted to yell "Amen" and "Right on" when Mr. President got that preacher cadence in his voice.

These things mean a lot to me, though I never talk politics. It's knowing that someone in my family worked hard to create this country and it's government. And now feeling that maybe his high ideals and hopes might come to fruition again.

I hope that you are proud today, Great-great-great-great etc Uncle Roger. Most of us down here are.

Why isn't Inauguration Day a national holiday? It seems to me that it should be. We should all be able to celebrate our nation and feel like we are part of it's government.

Isn't Coronation Day a holiday in the UK?

I highly recommend Stephen Fry's latest podcast (podgram, as he calls them) on language. It's lovely and fascinating.

Linkety Link Not sure how accessible it is. If it gives you crap, let me know.

Ok, the theory at work is "keep moving". If I keep cleaning and moving and doing things: a) I will not fall asleep. b) I will exhaust myself so that I sleep tonight.

Ready team? Aaaaaaannnnnd..... GO!

Good gravy.

I am tired.

Seems that my body doesn't want sleep. I've been sleeping in 20 minute bursts, then wake up. Which frustrates me so that i can't go back to sleep.

Its been about 4 days of this now. It's very annoying. Very very annoying when coupled with the fact that by the time my body wants to sleep it's 7am and i have to get up. LAME.

Edward R Murrow will forever make me cry with his honesty and truth.

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.
This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully. Cassius was right. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."
Good night, and good luck." -See It Now, 1954

Wow, there is well over a foot of snow in my backyard. Actually, it looks close to two feet. Dang, winter, well played.

Dear Wednesday,

WTF?

The half hour walk in the freezing rain through slush and giant puddles was not enough? The fire alarm had to go off as well so that i could stand in it for another 20 minutes?

Wednesday, you suck.

No love,

Kate

If a song could be president
We’d hum on Election Day
The gospel choir would start to sway
And we’d all have a part to play

The first lady would free her hips
Pull a microphone to her lips
Break our hearts with Rhythm and Blues
Steve Earle would anchor the news

We’d vote for a melody
Pass it around on an MP3
All our best foreign policy
Would be built on harmony

If a song could be president
We’d fly a jukebox to the moon
All our founding fathers’ 45’s
Lightnin’ Hopkins and Patsy Cline
If a song could be president

If a song could be president
We could all add another verse
Life would teach us to rehearse
Till we found a key change

Break out of this minor key
Half-truths and hypocrisy
We wouldn’t need an underachiever-in-chief
If a song could be president

We’d make Neil Young a Senator
Even though he came from Canada
Emmylou would be Ambassador
World leaders would listen to her

They would show us where our country went wrong
Strum their guitars on the White House lawn
John Prine would run the FBI
All the criminals would laugh and cry
If a song could be president

-Linford Detweiler

You know, for a bunch of hippies, the staff at the co-op are among the most selfish people I have ever met.

I may not get a chance to buy my MOTHER a Christmas gift, but at least they all get to do their shopping and go out of town and have nice family christmases. Selfish, selfish bastards.

Oh yeah, and because of all of them, Christmas eve has been thrown off for MY WHOLE FAMILY.

Thanks for nothing....

Holy poop.

When I left for work at 7am: No snow, clear sidewalks.

When I came home at 3pm: about 4-6 inches of snow on the ground and more coming down.

The slog home through calf deep snow and unplowed sidewalks was freaking exhausting. Then I swept a path to the street, since some dick stole our snow shovel last year. (Again.)

Now I have a cider, and am in my bed and am not moving unless the house burns down.

Happy Birthday to the wonderful herb woman, President of the Tomboy Club of America, mother of the most amazing pups, wife of the impossibly tall badass Bob, one of the strongest best women I know.

None other than Miss Rox'E!!

SMOOCH!

I just thought, "Hey, I should do 24 hours in pictures. cool!"

I can't find my digital camera.

DANG!