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"...Yes, the sweet shark,
It has big teeth
Buried deep."
Let's see, while our newspapers of record are rightfully busy excoriating the People's Republic of China for its Kafkaesque policies on freedom of information, our own government is having a little bit of difficulty in this area, and with no assistance from the People's Republic.
29 July 2001
Now that the blogathon is officially over, I'll have to send my pledge check in. Way to go bj!
29 July 2001
A late starting Sunday morning at work, and after dropping the grand-daughter so she might volunteer at the Y, I am at my desk, hunched over the keyboard (bad ergonomics!), listening to Marianne Faithfull (the siren voice of my early adolescence) singing "20th Century Blues".
Yesterday the g-d and I made it, and at the very last minute, for a showing of "Planet of the Apes". I enjoyed it and would go see it again, though it didn't steal my heart (sigh!) like Hedwig.
The Lucinda Williams concert was fabulous, keeping me out later that my usual. I had never been to the Warfield before and would gladly return. We even got table seats, the payoff for an hour in line. Ran into friends in line who work for another agency. Ran into two of them again after the show as I was walking away from the BART station in the East Bay, and they took me the rest of the way home. I always tend to forget the power of live music, until the next live concert I attend. Many thanks to dk for making it all possible!
29 July 2001
Last night (Saturday) in the in-between-time from dropping the g-d off at her party til the time to head off into the night to pick her up, I purchased the new paperback of Richard Powers' "Plowing the Dark", and started to read it on the way into work this morn.
Of course, it's not my only read. I'm equally trying to get through Ms. Bronte's "Jane Eyre" and Peter Sedgwick's "Psycho Politics". (I am such a book slut...mmmmmmmmm). And along those lines:
"...
You know what 'came of her.
Two Emperors died to serve her lust,
She whored herself to death, yes she did,
And withered into lovely dust."
29 July 2001
From PlanetOut this morning came this bit of news about faith (hope?) and charity, or the lack thereof:
"A federal judge has dismissed charges of religious discrimination in a case many believe is a bellwether for George W. Bush's "faith-based" social service agenda."
As for hope, I'm hoping to get to the end of the workday with most of the work done for a report that's due tomorrow. But first I have my morning and afternoon meetings to attend to. And if I make unexpected progress on the report, I may even get around to labouring on a workplan for another project. Oh joy.
Tomorrow night, however, belongs to Lucinda . Thank you DK.
This morning's update of Alamut had this striking quote:
"We know that things and people are always forced to conceal themselves, have to conceal themselves when they begin. What else could they do? They come into being within a set which no longer includes them and, in order not to be rejected, have to project the characteristics which they retain in common with the set. The essence of a thing never appears at the outset, but in the middle, in the course of its development, when its strength is assured."
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement-Image
Of course, having come across this quote, I'll need to ponder it in relation to my present situation and will have to share it with T next Wednesday. In any case, I have Alamut as my browser's default homepage.
Too bad I didn't take that German class. I came across this link to me on Der Schockwellenreiter.
26 July 2001
I got to see "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" this past weekend with DK...and now I wished I had seen it live!, on stage! Oh well. I'm definitely going back for a repeat viewing. My summer movie, although I do plan to give Tim Burton's new release, "Planet of the Apes" a chance to win my heart although I do not anticipate it stealing my heart like "Hedwig" did. Sigh.
Monday night I had a session with T, in lieu of my usual Wednesday time. This due to my required attendance at a management retreat in Napa today. Now that was an energising meeting! Alas, I am not a car person and do not travel well. I'm sapped and I should be working instead of being indiscreet at the computer. Tsk.
Where was I? Oh yes, with T, on Monday night. I thought it a productive session. We discussed things that had come up for me in our previous meeting, and next time will likely discuss even stuff that came up for me last Monday night. If only I had a name for some of what comes up for me. Perhaps I need, perhaps I desperately need, a sort of Rosetta Stone for my feelings, emotions. Something to bridge the chasm between what arises as a feeling and a precise word for it. At least I have a week to think about this stuff. Ponder it. (I do that too well!) One week from today, nine days between sessions, thanks to my early one this week.
I should write a little about what this "stuff" is. Well one was my reaction to a comment by T about "our relationship", that is our relationship as therapist and therapee (or is it therapod?), as "her work". Of course, it most emphatically is her work, but I felt pained by her statement because I easily slip into a comfort zone in her presence that is less formal that our "true" relationship. I describe it as my willing suspension of belief that we are anything other than friends or colleagues having deeply personal discussions about my life. It was helpful for me to talk about it, and will likely be a topic of future conversations, because it illustrates my tendency to positively align my emotions, feelings with others to the detriment of keeping good, strong, healthy boundaries. Not that I'm completely boundless with regards to my emotions, however, but it was helpful to have an illustration of my tendency to translate another's "empathy" and "listening skills" into "friendship" or "collegiality".
Writing this out, even in this sketchy form, makes me realise how much I benefit from T's chosen work. I'll...ponder some more...but now I have to go back to work.
25 July 2001
I'm busy pushing paper around the office, trying to diminish the pile of things to do. I've also been too distracted by work to think much about writing, though several ideas are floating around in my head, nothin' has yet landed on paper - real or virtual. Saw "Reckless" last night with Jean Harlow and William Powell. A week ago this past Friday, the grand-daughter and I did a three movie marathon, starting off with "Legally Blonde" which was yummy, and ending up at the fab-u-lous Castro, watching a couple of the pre-code films, "Baby Face" with Barbara Stanwyck, and "Red Headed Woman" with Harlow.
I enjoyed my grand-daughter's reactions to these films almost as much as the films themselves.
19 July 2001
It's true that I mostly think of others as having exotic lives, while I am stranded in the mundane and everyday. Oh well. After that fleetingly brief insightful moment I now return to my regular duties, cranking out contract documents for the new fiscal year, finishing up reports for the old, departed year, while listening to the soundtrack for one of my favourite films, "Local Hero".
I spent most of the weekend working and most of that time the granddaughter was with me, amusing herself playing on-line games and listening to "her" music. Of course, I am pleased that she can occasionally be heard singing along to "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds", but her most sustained musical enthusiasm is reserved for groups like Destiny's Child.
Okay. Time to go back to the paper mill.
9 July 2001
"Teachers at the annual National Education Association convention withdrew a resolution aimed at making schools more hospitable for gay and lesbian students...
Hundreds of Christian activists protested the union's agenda earlier in the week. They felt the resolution would promote homosexuality to students."
You can read more here.
And what is all the fuss about?
According to the loving Christian person quoted here it's ""about the erosion of parental rights and the protection of America's children. This war is about protecting ourselves from domestic enemies," said Alexandria Coronado, a trustee for the Anaheim Union High School District."
Bless the internet. You can find out more information than you probably wanted to know about Ms. Coronado and her allies in this war. Here's an example.
7 July 2001
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