Free the Jena 6!

I sat for the Jena 6 on my campus today, while thousands upon thousands of people descended on the small town of Jena, LA to protest the unjust arrests and sentencings of 6 black youths. On the morning news, I heard media pundits describing the events of today as the possible dawning of a new "civil rights" era in the U.S. We can only hope this is the case . . . it's important that the outrage and public protests is carried on well after September 20, resulting in real systemic change. And, I think we need to galvanize the anger this case has generated into a larger movement that is capable of connecting this case of domestic racism to the larger world where the US is running roughshod over the global south, destroying communities, nations, families, etc with its neo-liberal agenda and illegal occupation of iraq (soon to be iran). our policies of hatred, violence, and destruction are coming back to haunt a country that has never healed from its foundational moments of slavery and genocide . . .for more on the jena 6, check out this website.

Life and Death

My Dad turns 70 today. I feel like I officially entered the stage where I have an "elderly" parent. As long as both my folks remained comfortably in their 60s, I was content to think of them as "getting old" but not really old. And, maybe 70 isn't that big of a deal, but I can still recall when my mom hired a banner plane to fly over my dad's office (ok, yes, this may seem excessive, but it is my family and one hell of a memory) that read: Life Begins At 40 Rene! Love, Gayle, Anne and Malcolm. I was still in elementary school, pigtails and all, learning the harsh lessons of reading, writing, and arithmetic, when I was called out of class to see my Dad's birthday message. For those familiar with my Dad and I, you already know we have had a rocky, inconsistent, relationship. Still, for all the months filled with silence, brought on by one of his tantrums about one thing or another, he is my Dad and he has done well by me. I just got off the phone with him and it was strange to hear him tell me how much he "hated" turning 70 before launching into this sad list of all his friends that have died within the past month. A lot of his colleagues seem to be dropping off like flies . . . so he assured me his PSA levels are good, his blood pressure is stable, and his diabetes is under control. As he talked about his health, we were interrupted by his errant fax machine which kept beeping (Dad never was good at hooking up electrical equipment), and he kept trying, unsuccessfully, to fix it. I imagined him padding around in his slippers, trying to "silence" the "goddamned" machine. More than likely, he broke it, because all of a sudden, it was silent. Just me and Dad and all these years between us.

Week in Review

Monday: Prep like hell for Tuesday's classes.
Tuesday: Finish work, drive to Ithaca for Nanci Griffith concert.
Wednesday: Same as Monday.
Thursday: Work, meeting, wine.
Friday: Work (kinda), meet with friends, pub, noodles, bed.
Saturday: See 3:30 showing of The Brave One, cook chili.
Sunday: Football in the afternoon. Watch Oscar hunt down mouse and slowly torture until J. spares the poor rodent further humiliation. Bags mouse, throws outside for nature to do its thing.

Bleaching your Bum

I know. I was just surprised as you might be to find out that a process known as "anal bleaching" exists. A student made a casual reference to this in class, and I could not resist the google temptation to find out more about this latest phase in body "beautification". Here is a good article exploring the low depths people have sunk to for the sake of a good looking ass. Pink cheeks anyone?