somethings from the weekend

all of which are being thrown together here... placing cheektojowl things which seem disconnected so often reveals just how much they're all about the same thing underneath.
(and that's a sign for me that the mojo is returning - juggling multiple thoughts and joining the dots... it's been too long since my synapses felt this agile and sparky)

lovely time spent with Pádg included him showing me this...




from Moyra, a prayer for the new season

....Dear God...
we celebrate spring's returning and the rejuvenation of the natural world.
Let us be moved by this vast and gentle insistence that goodness shall return,
that warmth and life shall succeed. Help us to understand our place within this miracle.
Let us see that as a bird now builds its nest, bravely, with bits and pieces, so we must
build human faith. It is our simple duty; it is the highest art; it is our natural and
vital role within the miracle of spring; the creation of faith.

amen.

- from cartoonist, Michael Leunig

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this image provoked me to meditate on the prejudices that come with our concept of "normal" almost as much as this audio piece. Pádg played me the moving Act 2, Tom Girls, from this February edition of this american life.

so much exclusion and oppression is based on the poverty-through-limitation of how we define and understand gender. what we expect people to be like, or not like - our discomfort when they don't fit our expectations or boxes. every human being is different from every other. it is not difference that makes thomasina and lily set apart. it is that society does not (yet) include them as whole human beings. in other words, it's not these girls that need fixing.

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a google search for this american life threw up this gem. ignore the youtube description "chris ware talks about his work". it's a story from TAM with a chris ware animation to accompany it. i've loved ware's work for several years. i even considered one of his recurring images as a tattoo design for a while.
i'm filing this story under the ongoing theme, "how broadcasting the events of our lives changes the experience of living".

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dark humour...

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours.

- eric idle. whose birthday was celebrated by the writer's almanac.

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an ongoing conversation that i am really enjoying, reflected beautifully here and here by feminine feminist

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some interesting, and frankly disturbing stuff (Quiverfull? crikes!) at the emerging women blog, which i'm only just starting to peruse. nice to see some familiar names there.

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gran torino

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back to nest building... goodness returning. grateful.

LB