Cherry Blossom Special.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-1)

2009-11-02T16:12:37-08:00

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-1):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Lobbyists Quit in Record Numbers

2009-11-02T15:31:12-08:00

Lobbyists Quit in Record Numbers:

For a slow news day, this could not have been better news.
soupsoup:

Best news all day.

“…make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously…”

2009-11-02T12:58:19-08:00

““…make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.””

- Jon Krakauer (via downtowngirl)

kwassakwassa: mooonooo: Remote Control, the Nintendo game (via…

2009-11-02T12:21:47-08:00

kwassakwassa:

mooonooo:

Remote Control, the Nintendo game (via activitystory)

Official: TNT picks up ‘Southland’–The Live Feed | THR

2009-11-02T06:57:55-08:00

Official: TNT picks up 'Southland'--The Live Feed | THR:

This is the best news of my Monday morning so far. Congratulations to the cast of Southland and to TNT.

A few food diary notes for myself

2009-11-01T19:52:17-08:00

Papaya juice: good
Brown rice: good
Banana: good
Lettuce: good
Basil: good
Mint leaves: good
Bean sprouts: so far so good
Tomato: um…. not sure
Hummus: not sure
Almost any kind of meat: I don’t think so
Potatoes: no

Dammit I need a nutritionist. Nothing to see here, folks.

(via jermajesty)

2009-11-01T18:24:26-08:00

(via jermajesty)

HOPE WON. Yes We Did. Now the real work begins.

2008-11-05T14:33:34-08:00

I wanted to sit down and write some epic thing about yesterday’s historic election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, how much it has changed me as a person in a short time. I wanted to try and express how I was touched by the moving images of Jesse Jackson with tears streaming down his face, of all those hopeful faces in Grant Park of all races and nationalities. I wanted to describe how going out in Memphis today, I could see the spring in some people’s step and the unconscionable bitterness on the faces of others.

What is most beautiful about who each of us is became a little brighter today, and what is ugliest about who each of us is became, simultaneously, magnified. I realized that while I should be proud and take pride in what has happened, I should refrain from reveling in this victory in a way that those who disagree with me have done in the past.

Reveling in our own successes as to rub it in the faces of others is what got us to the place where we are today. The amount of grace with which one accepts victory must be equal to that with which each of us deals with the challenge of defeat. It defines our character as individuals, how we behave in the shadow of changes yet to come.

This is the challenge of hope’s victory in this election. There are those who want to own this victory for their own selfish reasons. If it inspires us to see what is greatest within ourselves, I see nothing wrong with that. It is when it encourages us to embrace what is ugliest about our nature, the need to say and do things which would make us separate or apart from each other, that owning this victory in such a way becomes detrimental to us all.

I am enthusiastic in my exhaustion now. I am cried out. I am determined and focused. I see things with a clarity that I have not in quite some time. I want to capture this feeling and hang on to it forever, for all the days of my life. I want to encourage others to find that feeling within themselves.

Whatever seemed so impossible before now seems so possible. Whatever fear I may have seems so far away. My personal bon mot for many years has been (and those who know me well can testify to this) a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within us out into the world, miracles happen.”

Let us heal and begin the work we have started.

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Memphis: Remember to vote YES on Amendment 5 when you vote | Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is the way to vote.

2008-10-16T13:19:55-07:00

Click here for more information on Amendment Five and see the list of people who endorse and support Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).

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Language & Culture: Celebs star in ads geared to dissuade teens usage of the phrase “That’s so gay”.

2008-10-16T11:17:39-07:00

I admit it: I have been one of those people who has so frequently used the phrase “That’s so gay” to describe a variety of things over the last several years, it’s hard to know how many times I’ve said it or how many people I’ve managed to offend by doing so.

I remember, even, the first time I heard someone use the phrase. It was back in 2001 and my friend Malik described a mess someone had left in the kitchen in our house this way. “That shit is so gay,” he said, and I kind of got this creeping, gross feeling in my stomach after I heard him say it. My mind got glued to this concept — was that shit “gay”? Is this really an okay and acceptable phrase? Something inside of me, my instinct told me this probably wasn’t okay.

But as people who want to fit in are likely to do, I caught myself starting to use this phrase in my own daily conversations. If I’ve used the phrase 500 times, I’ve used it once, never thinking about how my gay brothers and sisters would experience that same creeping, gross feeling or, worse, be drawn back into feelings of anxiety brought on by a lifetime of harassment and homophobia.

Now, the Ad Council has worked with some well-known actors like Hillary Duff and Wanda Sykes to create a series of print and television ads (along with this website, thinkb4youspeak.com)that they hope will convince people to discontinue using the phrase because of its homophobic overtones and its hurtful implications. The ads, which began running last week, encourage people to recognize the damages and the danger of homophobia, particularly in our schools.

Almost 90% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students report being verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation. LGBT teens experience homophobic remarks and harassment throughout the school day, creating an atmosphere where they feel disrespected, unwanted and unsafe. Homophobic remarks such as thats so gay are the most commonly heard; these slurs are often unintentional and a common part of teens vernacular. Most do not recognize the consequences, but the casual use of this language often carries over into more overt harassment.

The uses of language are something that fascinate me: the way that we educate others through our daily speech, how we culturally develop our incendiary remarks through some evolutionary process, that we hand down our catch phrases in secret codes between generations — brothers and sisters to their siblings, from popular culture to music and entertainment. As a cultural sponge, I’m as guilty as anyone. I never took the time to really think about how totally irresponsible the usage of the phrase is & now that I think about it, it’s probably as good of a time as any to kick that phrase to the curb where it belongs.

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