ICP, Jack White and Mozart Walk Into a Bar...

Okay, so Insane Clown Posse and Jack White are teaming up to rework a Mozart song about...well, you can read about it. Mostly, I'm just too busy trying to figure out why Meg White wasn't invited along, because seriously, that is the only thing that would be more surreal.
You know what, nevermind: nothing can make this any weirder.

Signed Bible

Honestly, Jesus, you dot your i's with hearts? I never did that, not even as a little girl.

Only in New York

So, reading up on history today, and apparently there was a mayor of New York who tried to have George Washington killed. Yes, that George Washington.
I tend to tell my friends stories from history a fair amount of the time. I think some of them think I'm making them up, which is why I can't tell them this story because it is way too crazy. There are too many details that sound made up, like the fact that this idea was planned out in a tavern. The moment that came out of my mouth everyone would think this was a tall tale. Me? I think it's the sort of thing that could only happen in New York.

Good Grief

I guess this is what I get for not paying attention to literature, because apparently everyone is writing grief memoirs.
I don't know if I particularly care or mind that it's all about grief right now. I've tried writing about grief; it's hard. It usually requires a certain amount of backstory to make the readers understand it. And it's so easy to slip into ridiculous language and metaphors. Really, I would wish people would write about difficult subjects more often.
Otherwise, I really liked this article because I learned some things. I had no idea who had founded the five stages of grief, for example. (This woman also insisted that grief must be told to be healed, an idea I also really like.) I also loved the term "writing meat" that Muriel Spark used. Seems like a really wonderful term. And apparently T.S. Eliot used the image of "shoring these fragments against our ruin," which I also really like.

Bachman and Terrorism

Nate and I have been talking (and making jokes about) Michele Bachman all summer. Today I read that one of Bachman's staffer was charged with terrorism.
As weird as this might be to say, I'm a little relieved. When I saw it had to do with Uganda, the first thing I thought was "Oh no, this is going to be about one her staffers being involved with that anti-homosexual movement there that has so quickly become violent" especially since other religious right leaders got involved and (if there is anything even vaguely Christian in them) hopefully regret it.
However, this charge of terrorism is really fascinating. It is the sort of thing that Republicans would accuse Democrats of doing. I wonder if the mainstream media will report this and what they will say. (And, obviously, what Bachman will have to say about it.)

Museum Sign

I couldn't help but smile when I saw this. I really hope an intern did this.

"Rocket Scientist" by Teddybears

I have this weird love of science songs. (See what I mean in that last sentence about weird?)
I actually first got into this song because of Eve, who I always liked for being a strong woman in the songs I heard her rap on. And then I really fell in love with this song for the heavy beats that sort of reminded me of a techno-influenced Spoon.
There's also something just really silly about this song. I think if someone read me these lyrics, I would think they were awful, but hear I am, dancing to this song.

Uncontacted Tribe

So, I hate to admit it, but I initially started watching this video because Gillian Anderson was narrating it.
But it's really cool. I'm so use to hearing narratives about how "civilized" people come into these "uncivilized" people's lives and destroy their culture. I am so glad that they are trying not to do that here and are even trying to prevent invaders.

Harry Potter Ruined My Life

Today I happened to read this article called "Regrets of a Semiprofessional Potterphile." The author discusses how it was a relief that Harry Potter is officially over. No more new movies or books.
I remember when the last book came out, Sam said something to me about what a relief it would be to finally be done with the story. That word "relief" stuck in my head. I didn't remember feeling relief but maybe a little bit of closure. And, moreover, the best kind of closure, the kind that makes you look back fondly but still with a sense of wondering what happened afterward.
Reading this article and reflecting back on some of the negative things people have said about their Harry Potter experiences have made me grateful my experience was mostly positive. Most of the negative things about my own experience happened early on with the cultural dominance of the series and not later on. I'm wondering if my ability to pull back from the books and get obsessed with other things (school in general, history, Robert Sean Leonard, Lost) was good for me. (And maybe what didn't happen to everyone, though I can't obviously speak for themselves.)
Hilariously enough, my obsession probably ended around the time when the fifth book came out, which, considering how long ago that way and how long this thing lasted, seems early. I saw some of the movies (often soured on what I thought was poor depictions of the books) and I read the books the moment they came out, but that was sort of it. I didn't read much fanfiction or talk anymore on Internet chat forums. And when I did chat about the series, it was usually because someone would bring it up. For me, the series was done before it really was done, and maybe that's made a big difference in my reaction to it. Honestly, seeing the last movie actually made me a little nostalgic (in the good way I mentioned before, the look-back-and-think-fondly) and want to go back to Hogwarts for a weekend or two.

Sickish

I was planning on going to a picnic, but I just sort of fell apart as I was trying to get ready, so I laid down in my bed and decided to just forget about it. I feel bad about this, because I said I was coming and because I don't really think I deserved an invitation in the first place, but I had this massive headache. I don't get headaches much, but in the last week I've had them every day.
My Mom came in to check on me because she remembered my plans. (I wish she didn't, honestly.) And I told her I didn't feel well. My Dad stopped in to tell me he was going out to get some sandwiches for my Mom and her friend (who was visiting) and would I like something. And I asked for one too, in the hopes that some food would make me feel better.
When my Dad came back I went to the kitchen to eat, wearing my sunglasses. I still had a headache and light was really bothering me, and my Mom likes it to be super sunny around the house all the time, which would be fine, except in situations like this. My Mom's friend thought the sunglasses were hilarious. I was too tired to get offended by this or by my Mom's insistence to talk politics, even though I've spent about three years telling her I don't want to hear her uneducated opinions or watch her political shows.
The medication in the house appears to be migratory, because every time I need it (which is once every six months, so, not often), it is somewhere else. So I had to ask. Finally, having found it, my Mom felt my head and thought maybe I had a fever. I hadn't even bothered with thought beyond the basic thoughts of how soon I could go back to bed, which I promptly did.
I'm feeling much better now.

Helping

So when Ashley told me she wanted to see The Help, I groaned. (I can't remember if it was inward or not.) Like, honestly, I would rather not see another movie about benevolent white people who have no sense of larger structural oppression. I don't need to see a movie about that; I'm around white people who already think that and I see it on tv when I am trying to avoid blatant misogyny.
So I was reading this article which is written for young clergywomen about the same book, and I am so glad someone finally laid a particular set of thoughts out for me that I think I've been circling for awhile but have struggled to articulate. The author writes that "the challenge of living amidst privilege can be that Jesus' teachings are incredibly indicting to our own lives, which is part of what makes stories focused on morals so much more inviting, and so much more tempting, than stories focused on ethics." Although I had never thought about it in terms of this book, I have always found all the prattle of most of my fellow Christians to be disappointingly about living to some vague moral stance more based on things like not having sex before marriage or abortions. I can't even think of a fellow Christian peer who has ever once mentioned structural problems or Jesus's work on said subject. (I had a priest who would give sermons on religious tolerance and women's unpaid and unacknowledged labor, and seriously, that guy was mostly awesome. On the other side of the religious spectrum, I can think of a few atheists who had it together when it came to these kinds of problems.)
I've been meditating frequently on how disappointed I am with other Christians, because I suspect the why is important, and I think this might be a very big answer on the why. Because, ultimately, if we aren't against the forces that cause things like poverty and discrimination, that, honestly, what are we in this religion for? Are we here on earth as Christians because we want to improve our communities or because we need something to make us feel superior? If we focus on ending injustices, we are here for the community. If we focus on morals not only are we going to fall short on what God calls us to do, but we're going to end up tending to our egos and not the flock.
As some other notes, I really like the rest of this article for pointing out some of the difficulties with race. I loved this quote that the author brings up "For the dishonesty upon which a society is founded makes every emotion suspect, makes it impossible to know whether what flowed between two people was honest feeling or pity or pragmatism." In this instance, it is used in the context of race, but could easily be applied to other power structures.

Pajamas in the Afternoon

So, I apologize for being gone for nearly a month. I got sweep up with the rest of my life and forgot to write to you.
My sister has been hanging around with Nikki a lot lately, which is fine. Mostly they seem to go swimming or go for walks or have marathons watching Sex and the City. (After years of being a fan of the show myself, my sister seems to have developed an interest in it.)
Anyway, the other day I was coming out of my room still dressed in my pajamas in the late afternoon. I've increasingly become of the opinion that if no one is going to see me anyway, then it doesn't matter what I wear. Which would be a fine sentiment and all, but I looked up and saw Nikki standing there, taking off her shoes.
She said hi and we sort of chatted briefly. I admitted that I had no idea she would be coming over. (Leave it to my sister to never mention something like that.) I had on a t-shirt and long purple pajama pants, but I still really wanted to be more covered up, so I slowly backed away and went back to my room for a hoodie. I don't think Nikki noticed, but I'm a little embarrassed by the whole thing.