"Bring It 2 Peter," by Melany Joy Beck and Janelle Sorenson

go to Kickstarter! help fund what's sure to be an awesometastic flick.

February 12th is the deadline—if they don't meet their goal by then, they lose all the money they've raised so far!

i mean, who doesn't love Peter Fonda?

thanks thanks : )

"Two women risk everything to deliver a piece of lost fan mail to American icon Peter Fonda in time for his 71st birthday."

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

I'm going to make it a tradition to read this (at least) once a year—on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Still so timely, so beautiful, so powerful. Here's an excerpt (the ending).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nobel Peace Prize Lecture

"The Quest for Peace and Justice"

Dec. 11, 1964

"All that I have said boils down to the point of affirming that mankind's survival is dependent upon man's ability to solve the problems of racial injustice, poverty, and war; the solution of these problems is in turn dependent upon man squaring his moral progress with his scientific progress, and learning the practical art of living in harmony. Some years ago a famous novelist died. Among his papers was found a list of suggested story plots for future stories, the most prominently underscored being this one: "A widely separated family inherits a house in which they have to live together." This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited a big house, a great "world house" in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterners and Westerners, Gentiles and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, Moslem and Hindu, a family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interests who, because we can never again live without each other, must learn, somehow, in this one big world, to live with each other.

This means that more and more our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. We must now give an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in our individual societies.

This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response which is little more than emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John:

Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone

that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His

love is perfected in us.

Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. As Arnold Toynbee20 says: "Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word." We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.

Let me close by saying that I have the personal faith that mankind will somehow rise up to the occasion and give new directions to an age drifting rapidly to its doom. In spite of the tensions and uncertainties of this period something profoundly meaningful is taking place. Old systems of exploitation and oppression are passing away, and out of the womb of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. Doors of opportunity are gradually being opened to those at the bottom of society. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are developing a new sense of "some-bodiness" and carving a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of despair. "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light."21 Here and there an individual or group dares to love, and rises to the majestic heights of moral maturity. So in a real sense this is a great time to be alive. Therefore, I am not yet discouraged about the future. Granted that the easygoing optimism of yesterday is impossible. Granted that those who pioneer in the struggle for peace and freedom will still face uncomfortable jail terms, painful threats of death; they will still be battered by the storms of persecution, leading them to the nagging feeling that they can no longer bear such a heavy burden, and the temptation of wanting to retreat to a more quiet and serene life. Granted that we face a world crisis which leaves us standing so often amid the surging murmur of life's restless sea. But every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. It can spell either salvation or doom. In a dark confused world the kingdom of God may yet reign in the hearts of men."

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-lecture.html

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. displays his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal in Oslo, Norway, December 10, 1964. The 35-year-old Dr. King was honored for promoting the principle of non-violence in the civil rights movement. (AP Photo)

goodbye

thanks for the music.

happy birthday, J.D. Salinger

you silent giant.
~~~& happy new year, world. ♥

what am i doing, what i am doing.

hi,


here's a secret. i mostly write this blog using proper capitalization, but if you knew me, you'd know that's not how i talk when i'm talking to friends.

you can be my friend tonight.


what am i doing. what i am. here's a few things:

*

i'm reading ander monson's other electricities. i'm only like 30 pages in. it's growing inside me. it's everything i need to be reading right now. it's signed. it says something about the white space. i am in it? wherever here is.

"section breaks."

i care about them lately. i'm learning a lot. i'm figuring things. i feel full at the moment. full in the large/wanting way, which is one of my favorites. it makes me wander around with my headphones in, makes me turn music up loud. the snow underfoot.


i am writing.

*

fell out of my purse: one purple glove. a borrowed hat. cigarette butts i didn't want to throw on the ground. another glove, one of the warm pair i found in my desk. who left it? but i traced my steps back across the street and i found it.

fell out of my pocket: a cigarette case, backseat of car, it says hida. a lighter. found it in snowdrift days later. it's working again. sometimes things need to rest.

my purse broke.

who put these up?

*

what does postmodern mean? someone said someone said i was that. i think it means i'm trying too hard. i'm going to try not to try so hard. ha ha, ha ha, haaa.

coffeeshop has great graffiti.

*

smiling at you. smiling at all of you.

*

here's a picture.

-gen & billy

*

i care about barns, too.

*

i'm in boston. i flew here. i'm happy to be here. i miss minneapolis.

how crazy is that?

*

this is my desk.

i just finished my first semester as a teacher.

thanks, students.

*

i love my friends.

*

mmm, i'm tired. sorry, i know i haven't said much.

bye again.