The el was waiting to turn the corner from Van Buren onto Wabash; my seat faced the coppery green edifice of the Harold Washington library. Rosie Thomas sang in my ears, lilting that "I have much farther to go / Everything is new and so unpredictable / I should just click my heels together and go home / But I'm not sure where that is anymore." I took a deep breath, feeling air press against the insides of my lungs - cool air with a hint of sunny winter mornings and the slightest edge of snow. I put away my book, preparing for my upcoming stop, and pulled my homemade crocheted hat over my hair. I sighed and glanced down State street. A few blocks away, the buildings lining the street faded into blue shadows cloaked in translucent fog. I could see the sun trying in vain to melt the fog away, gilding cars in the process as they passed slowly from mist into light.
It was so simple, so achingly beautiful, like a painting. It takes my breath away just remembering.
I think, sometimes, it's human nature to want to be understood. I don't really get why most of the time - I mean, what purpose does "being understood" serve, except maybe to affirm internally that I'm not crazy? But - like, I suspect, most people - I want to be understood. I want someone to "get" what I mean when I'm talking about something.
For me, that presents a bit of a challenge - not that I'm some super-genius freak of nature, but I do have an unusual perspective, and it can be frustrating to me to be pouring out my heart about something I find integral to my experience as a human being, and be met with a blank stare. I know that not everybody sees mundane things as beautiful and mythical, and I know that I find symbolism and layers of meaning and poetry and beauty in really inane objects. I know that I'm probably unusual in my lust for life (and possibly my lust in general), but I just feel like sometimes when I'm sharing, more people should be nodding frantically, saying "I know!"
Maybe someday.
"I will crawl
There's things that aren't worth giving up, I know
But I won't let this get me, I will fight
You live the life you're given with the storms outside
Some days all I do is watch the sky."
- "Watch the Sky," Something Corporate
Okay, how disturbing is the world right now?
Britain, Denmark, and Lithuania are pulling troops from Iraq. Not all of them, granted, but significant portions. America is sending more troops. Boy, it's good to know that we're not alone in this and the rest of the world doesn't think we're totally f-ing crazy!
Then there's this bullshit from a (go figure) Republican-majority federal appeals court. Guantanamo detainees aren't entitled to Constitutional rights - enemy combatants can pretty much be held indefinitely and without any of the basic rights of the American court system. This blows my mind. I have to wonder how people who think this is okay live with themselves - how do they sleep at night? I'm no legal scholar, but as I understand the spirit and intent of the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Constitution, the stuff outlined therein isn't supposed to be limited to only Americans. I could swear there's a bit about humans being endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Now, debate the Creator bit as much as you like, to me it was self-explanatory in the way the founding fathers created the framework for the federal government that *all* *people* are inherently possessed of certain basic, universal rights.
Of course, at the time, "people" meant rich, educated, white men who owned land....but the times have changed, and we've redefined the word "people" since then. And I'm pretty sure it includes lots of non-Americans, maybe even ones we suspect of committing crimes. I find it disgusting (and maybe ironic) that a country founded on escaping tyranny could go to such an extreme as to find it remotely okay to rob people of liberty without due process, to possibly physically torture them, and to - without a chance to address the allegations being levelled at them - irrevocably change, maybe even ruin, their lives. I am all for fighting terror, but at what price? How can the ideals of truth, justice, freedom, and the "American way" live through such a blatant abuse in their names?
The founding fathers must be spinning like axles in their graves. Our leaders are making a mockery of the ideals they bought with blood and suffering. It sickens me.
Today's playlist:
"Boulevard of Broken Songs" - Party Ben
"Belief" - John Mayer
"Walking on Sunshine" - Katrina and the Waves
"Take it Off" - The Donnas
"Black Water" - Little Feat
"The Middle" - Jimmy Eat World
"A Little Less Conversation" - Elvis Presley
"Sinnerman" - Nina Simone
"Mad World" - Tears for Fears
"Listen to the Music" - The Doobie Brothers
"Watch the Sky" - Something Corporate
"Everything is All Right" - Motion City Soundtrack
"Between the Moon and Love" - The Sheds
"Jolene" - Dolly Parton / Divide & Kreate Remix
"Never Let Me Down Again" - Depeche Mode
"You Were the Last High" - Dandy Warhols
"Party Hard" - Andrew W.K.
Recent entries...
27 December 2007: 2007: Finis.
17 December 2007: A ruse, a rant, and a poem. It's short.
11 December 2007: Music & falling....story of my life.
08 December 2007: Briefly...ish.
29 November 2007: A poem, a rant, a lesson.