i got goodies for y’all today:
had an interesting weekend. board meeting! the organization is in such a better place right now, and that feels good, i feel like a survivor and part of something quite special.
personal life…a few of my closest dearest friends are in spaces of emotional self-examination right now: hurting, distracted, trying to figure out which way to step towards the life they see in their minds. i am trying to be a good friend and listener, but maybe its age – i am feeling my own kind of tired right now. i want a little mindless escape, lots of curb your enthusiasm and listening to music. i saw the wedding crashers. i LOVED it. i sat in a hammock all day sunday and mostly didn’t talk. there’s not much more to say, for me, right now – about tragedy, race, desire or sanity. i don’t know. i feel that i am making good choices, but how can that help anyone else? life is your journey from your instinct to your integrity.
i realized halfway through the day that it was september 11, and that brought my energy down again…i feel like this period of our lives has bookends and grand turns, in addition to the daily building up of weight against time.
i am sad that john roberts hearings started today and i feel like we aren’t rising up like we need to to stop him from becoming chief justice. but i am happy that i am going to be helping start some movement choirs later this year! and…
tomorrow night i am performing at riverside church – also on deck are my two favorite poets from milwaukee, piper anderson, the rev. jesse jackson and others. here are the details, followed by a fabulous bill maher moment:
From the Persian
Gulf to the
Gulf Coast Demand
Peace,
Not Poverty!
Reverend
Jesse Jackson,
Nobel
Laureate Wangari Maathai,
Former President of Ireland and
U.N. High
Commissioner of Human Rights Mary Robinson
along
with Phyllis
Bennis,
Institute for Policy Studies
Celeste
Zapala,
Gold Star Families for Peace
Hany
Khalil,
United for Peace and Justice
Singer/Poet Adrienne Marie
Brown,
Spoken
Word Artists Muhib
and Kwabana
And Activist
Artist
Piper Anderson, Blackout Arts Collective
Moderated
by: Leslie Cagan,
United for Peace and Justice Coordinator;
Emira
Woods,
Foreign Policy in Focus, IPS and
Kumi
Naidoo,
Global Call to Action Against Poverty
Tuesday,
September 13th
Riverside
Church 490 Riverside
Drive
(at
120th
Street)
Part of a full
day Civil Society dialogue
9:30
a.m. to 12 noon: CITIZENS’ REPORT ON GLOBAL
DEMOCRACY
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.: CIVIL-SOCIETY
FORUM
4:15 to 7:15 p.m.: DIALOG WITH
OFFICIALS FROM THE UN SUMMIT
8:00 to 11:00 p.m.: POLITICAL
AND CULTURAL EVENT
For detailed schedule or to
register visit www.openun.org
Bill Maher's closing--an open message to George Bush:
>>
>>"Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you any more. There's no
>>more money to spend--you used up all of that. You can't start another
>>war because you also used up the army. And now, darn the luck, the
>>rest of your term has become the Bush family nightmare: helping poor
>>people. Listen to your Mom. The cupboard's bare, the credit cards
>>maxed out, and no one's speaking to you. Mission accomplished.
>>
>>"Now it's time to do what you've always done best: lose interest and
>>walk away. Like you did with your military service and the oil
>>company, and the baseball team. It's time. Time to move on and try
>>the next fantasy job. How about cowboy, or space man? Now I know
>>what you're saying: you're saying that there's so many other things
>>that you as President could involve yourself in. Please don't. I
know, I know.
>>There's a lot left to do. There's a war with Venezuela. And
>>eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over
>>to the church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the
>>vote.
>>
>>"But, Sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you
>>govern like Billy Joel drives. You've performed so poorly I'm
>>surprised that you haven't given *yourself* a medal. You're a
>>catastrophe that walks like a man. Herbert Hoover was a shitty
>>president, but even he never conceded an entire metropolis to rising
>>water and snakes.
>>
>>"On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four
>>airliners, two trade centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of
>>New Orleans. Maybe you're just not lucky. I'm not saying you don't
>>love this country. I'm just wondering how much worse it could be if
>>you were on the other side.
>>
>>"So, yes, God does speak to you. And what he's saying is: 'Take a
hint.' "