never forget who you are, little star

My sister gave me permission to take my only niece (and goddaughter) to her first concert! She turns 11 tomorrow and I'm calling to break the news. I'll be in Colorado on Tax Day to take her to the Believers Never Die: Part Deux tour with Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship, Metro Station, Hey Monday and All Time Low.



She wrote this poem and gave to me for Christmas:

Luv U 4ever,
My Big Star!

Loud music caresses our minds.
We jam out to the Gods and Goddesses of music,
Letting the rhythm
Take over our fragile bodies.

As you show me the joys of our
Sacred lives,
I am all smiles.

The tight strings that hold me back
Finally burst,
I let go and feel freedom like
Never before.

Though our physical homes are
Great leaps and bounds apart,
You will always have a special place
In my heart,
And home in my mind.

I keep these timeless memories,
Stranded in my big web of what we call
Life.

It is you who has shown me to laugh,
and the gardener who sprouted
My great love for music.

I love you,
You will always have
A very special place in my heart.

Your Little Star!

The poem was on purple paper with snow art, and of course, a 0(+>. She did it all in school as part of a poetry unit. Like this:

calling me by my name

or... a big gay vegas wedding cake (brilliant new video from the killers)

Spaceman

i think it's time for a walkabout

yeah, so much going on, so much of it not good and not a reflection of who i am or how i want to live. and i feel completely lost within it all, as though there is nothing i can do to change it. new job? back to school? i just don't know, except that there is more. i know there is more than whatever all this bullshit is. maybe my man Baz Luhrmann has got it right, and i just need this...



...and ZOMG as I was previewing the post i realized that the hand in the water with the sparkly shinies totally echoes wendy and lisa's white flags of winter chimneys.

The Promise of a New Day (2.0)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!

But let us begin

Oh happy, historic day.

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

- John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961

NYT: Inaugural words: 1789 to present

your choreography has imagination...

While I didn't get anywhere as far as I hoped this weekend on getting my cds into itunes, i did do a fair amount and have had loads of fun reliving my musical past. most of them i just burn and run, but a few catch my ear and I have to listen. Tonight it was the Bright Lights, Big City soundtrack. It opens with "Good Love", a solo Prince track that really kicks ass and leads into New Order's "True Faith." Also features Bryan Ferry, Depeche Mode, Donald Fagen, Narada Michael Walden, and M/A/R/R/S (Pump Up The Volume)... Totally takes me back to seeing the movie in the summer of 1988 at downtown Denver's AMC Tivoli 12 Theaters - same place I saw Under the Cherry Moon and Steel Magnolias. Years later I was a manager there.

The other cd that I listened to beginning to end was Vanity's Wild Animal, her first solo album after leaving Vanity 6. It's a kooky crazy pop/rock/r&b blend with lots of nonsensical lyrics, a couple of great songs, and lots and lots of sex -- including vampire sex and gorilla love -- oh and just to be clear, there was no Prince involvement in this pretty mess. I just love love love the whole album as a piece of true 80's crazy sexy cool. Morris Day guested on Mechanical Emotion.

begin again

okay, some resolutions/goals/musings for this year:

Get organized! Specifically: get all cds into itunes library (see below post), organize bookshelves by topic, do laundry once a week, handle mail as it arrives, make and stick to a budget!

Walk dog every day!

Lose 10 pounds by March 31. No sodapop -- though a little ponyboy is always fine! Need to figure out some more specific dietary guidelines and exercise routine.

7 new tattoos by years end, mostly on music arm, starting spirit arm.

Finish one original screenplay w/Lake, one on my own.

Write here at least 4 times a week.

Church/religion -- ??? -- need to figure something out here. Longing for something, increasing feeling pulled back to the Church, but still full of questionssssssss...