The War & That Not so Fresh Feeling + Friday Literary Links + Heartbeats

Yesterday I has breakfast with my sweetheart at Jam, a restaurant that is consistently great for breakfast. While waiting for scrambled eggs, hash browns and a ricotta lemon pancake, I noticed on a wall a sign about a soldier from Portland currently in Iraq. His name is JD and in the picture next to a sign detailing his experiences at war I noticed he was quite handsome in his uniform and thought he seemed like he would probably make a good military officer. The poster sized sign described how cold it is in Iraq, how they rarely get letters for various reasons and that in order for these folks over there to even be able to talk on the phone to loved ones, they must have an AT&T calling card and wait in line for 2 hours. I felt heartbroken all over again for those in Iraq fighting and surviving and living & feeling and being in Iraq. It's been 5 years y'all! And quite frankly I'm getting that not-so-fresh-feeling!

It's been long e-fuckin'-nough. 5 years. 5 friggin' years! It's gone on too long. And what breaks my heart even more is that our troops when they do come home, are left without enough medical coverage, enough money or enough concern. If you have time next Saturday and are in Portland, please join me at a rally and action camp next weekend on March 15th. It's being called: March 15 World Without War: A Day of Resistance and Hope. I hope to see you there!

Okay I better switch topics before I go into a depression. So March, besides being Women's History Month is also Small Press Month. And none other than Walter Mosely is the poster dude for the celebration. For suggestions on titles to read for this go here. I'm happy to say I've read a number of the books listed but would also like to read Lonely Ware wolf Girl and also The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte.

Critical Mass the blog of the national book critics circle has the scoop the NBCC winners. I'm personally very excited to see that Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington won for general nonfiction. It's no surprise that The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz won for fiction because it's well...wonderful. Anyway congrats to the winners!

My pal Kevin Sampsell gave me an interesting book the other day titled: Sex for America: Politically Inspired Erotica. And it's a hoot. The very first story is a man's encounter with Dick Cheney in the back of a gun shop. Since were in election mode I think there is no better book to get us in the mood... for sex and politics. So check it out. Speaking of sex and writing there is a new award for sex positive journalism aptly called the Sexies. Submissions are being taken until the 23rd of this month so if you have done some sex positive journalism find out more here.

Well I need to go home and feed the animals now. I think I'll be getting a laptop soon cuz this blogging at work off the clock thing is starting to get really old. In the meantime here are two awesome videos of the same song. It's worth listening to them both because one is the studio version and the other is live & sometimes music can be great in the studio & suck live, the this group called The Knife, has done a great job in both genres! The song is called Heartbeats. Enjoy y'all. Much love!
~F

2 Great Podcasts

Recently I've found 2 awesome podcasts I'd like to link y'all to. The first one is called The Positive Hip Hop Podcast. There have been about 8 episodes so far and each one has been pretty good. Topics include social & political change via hip hop, spirituality & racism. In less than an hour each episode offers some of the best hip hop from true artists, fresh perspectives and music you may not have ever heard before. If you're a big fan of truly good hip hop & all encompasses, for the love of god, check out this great podcast.

Also another terrific podcast is local Just Out journalist Julie Sabatier with her podcast on revolutionary Do-It-yerself projects called Destination DIY. I learned in the last episode about at home funerals. Who knew you could bring a loved one home after death to cleanse them & even bury them in your homemade casket! Episode 21 was about kids creating their own structure for their education. Who knew one could even do that? Anyway the show is well done & provocative in modern quirky way. Hey you, yes you, go check it out.

Peace ya'll!
~F

Long but Good Day

Today is a bit of a long day for moi. I write this post on my lunch break. Started off the morning getting up extra early for a faith/labor breakfast in NE. Portland. It was really great to hear a few fundamentalists say that gays were not as big of a deal as justice for people. I did wonder if they were talking about the people they thought deserved justice, but sometimes I'm cynical. One priest spoke so well & with such conviction for equality I nearly considered going back to Mother Church. But ya know the whole gay thing and not being able to swallow all those goofy scriptures kinda prevents that. Anyway it was great to network and learn. What I got most out of the breakfast is the idea that faith needs support and action. This is very much key principals in recovery, the labor movement & faith based political action groups. Very nice I say. Very nice!

Tonight I'm doing the author intro, which I'm excited for as it's a woman of color. Her book got good reviews so I'm even more excited. Hope I don't get nervous. It's funny but since I've been doing author intros I notice I'm more nervous with smaller crowds than big ones. Go figure!

After work (if I last that long) a co-worker & good friend of my girlfriends (ooh I love saying that!) is playing at a local club & so we'll stop in a listen to his very pretty singing. La tee da!

Speaking of good music I discovered Oddisee recently. Give him a listen here. Propa is my favorite song. That's it from me. Peace!