QUOTE OF THE NOW

"Our life evokes our character. You find out more about yourself as you go on. That's why it's good to be able to put yourself in situations that will evoke your higher nature rather than your lower. 'Lead us not into temptation.'" Joseph Campbell

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Songs by Jerks #2 - The Beach Boys

Beach Boys: Fun Fun Fun

FunX3? Or patronizingX3? At first he seems to admire that this girl drives fast, but when her dad finally catches her cruising around instead of going to the library...

1. The background singers give her the shames. "You shouldn't have lied now, you shouldn't have lied now." Seriously? Does she need a second father? Are these background singers surfers, or members of the Christian Youth League?

2. It's the glee, the sheer glee that she's lost her car, and now he gets to drive her around. "Ha ha! Take that! Thought you could drive fast like the boys eh? Well your daddy showed you, and NOW we'll have fun cause you'll need me to get around!"

Meanwhile she's probably sitting there in the passenger seat, looking out the window, the righteous burn of feminist fury growing in her belly. These are the moments where the next wave of feminism took root.

And if he finds his tires slashes, he shouldn't be surprised now, he shouldn't be surprised now.



Friday, June 5, 2015

Songs by Jerks #1 - Adele

Sometimes I hear a song and I think: That narrator is really just an asshole.

Adele: Someone Like You

This is the most passive aggressive break-up song I've ever heard. "I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited... I hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over."

So you show up at your ex's house just to say: Hey pal, how's it going? Well I just came over to remind you that YOU BROKE MY MOTHERFUCKING HEART AND I'M STILL DYING OUT HERE WHILE YOU'RE IN THERE CAVORTING WITH YOUR NEW FLOOZY! Really Adele. Get some class.



Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Residential Schools - Put it in your heart

I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone… Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department, (Duncan Campbell-Scott, Department of Indian Affairs)

Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is just wrapping up this week. The commission traveled across the country, giving aboriginal people a chance to tell their experiences of being taken away to live in schools "set up to eliminate parental involvement in the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual development of Aboriginal children." 

Hopefully a few more Canadians will now understand that if you take generations of children, rip them from their families, tell them their worthless, and subject many of them to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse--yeah, you're going to get alcoholism and other social problems. On a big scale. As well as anger, and renewed fights for land, independence, and better living conditions.

Oh it's a big horrible mess. I'm glad the commission is using "cultural genocide" in its conclusion, cause these schools, along with other policies that outlawed cultural practices, were a conscious attempt by governments to erase indigenous people.

I was reading a lovely story on the CBC about an Anglican couple who witnessed one of the Commission's gatherings, and when they sought help to learn more, forged a friendship with a man who'd been raped at school. I recommend reading it, cause it's a great example of how healing between people begins. When you put aside ignorance and choose compassion.

Images of life appear 
Regret and anger, love and fear 
Dark things drift across the screen 
Of mind behind whose veil are seen 
Loves ferocious eyes, and clear 
The words come flying to my ear 
Go on -- put it in your heart

Reading

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love
Les années douces : Volume 1
Back on the Rez
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
Stupeur et tremblements
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