Well, Oprah said it was good.

I read. I know it's not the most popular pasttime nowadays, but I enjoy it. Aldous Huxley said, "Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify the ways in which he exists, to make his life feel free, significant and interesting." I agree. (I also share Huxley's disdain for pop culture.)

There is a cable channel specifically for children 6 months to 2 years. Does this sicken anyone else? What happened to reading to our children? To playing with them? The television is more than a babysitter. It has become the parent. It's no wonder our children have no imaginations. It's obvious why the test scores of our children have fallen so low. We have no one to blame for other countries surpassing us academically other than ourselves.

I worked in a bookstore and people would come in and say, "I'm not a reader, but..." How could you admit that? And in a bookstore no less. All of us who worked there had a love/hate relationship with Oprah Winfrey. At least she was getting people to read, if only because she said so. In the summer of 2005, Oprah recommended 3 books by William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury, A Light in August and As I Lay Dying. They are all amazing stories, yet no one asked us for any of them. That same summer she had on that Million Little Pieces or whatever it was called. Not 30 seconds (that is no exaggeration) after the show was over, there was a deluge of phone calls asking for that book. No one wants Faulkner, a Pulitzer Prize winning author (1955 A Fable and 1963 The Reivers), but they'll go out of their way to find a book that turned out to be one big fraud. Serves them right!

Read, People, read. If you have children, read to them. There are worlds waiting for you inside books that you will never get from television. The movies will never be as good as the books! They can't be. Things have to be taken out to make the book fit into a 2 hour format. Those things are often quite important. Also, the movie forces me to see the vision of the movie makers. What's in my mind is always better.

A friend sent me this: http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/jacobs/jacobs14.html. I'm not the only one who sees the importance of reading. This site may just be the eye opener some of you might need.

Our First Ammendment Rights

I started to write a blog based on one of my favorite rants in the real world and suddenly had to stop because I realized that the powers that be may not like what I had to say. I thought about how we all know we're being monitored just in case we're terrorists and realized The Man might think I was seditious and come a-courtin'.

So here's what I am going to write instead:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion (1), or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech (2), or of the press (3); or the right of the people to peacefully assemble (4), and to petition the government for a redress of grievances (5).

1. We are not all Christians. Why do Christians feel they have to convert everyone? Especially those wacko Born Agains. People are so afraid of Fundamentalist Muslims when the ones they really need to fear are those Fundamentalist Christians!
2. Remember the beginning of this blog? Beware of what you say, Folks.
3. Most of the press is in the pocket of the government. If they don't print what they're told to print, they just won't get to print anything at all. How liberating.
4. We have that right, to assemble peacefully. So why aren't we?

Most of us (except that top 5%) have plenty of real grievances we'd like to redress. And you may redress them by calling (202)456-1111. That's the number for the White House switchboard.

Once again, that number is (202)456-1111. A very nice lady will send you, basically to voicemail which is listened to daily. Use your voice! Call them once a week. Hell, call them once a day. They'll love hearing from you!

Suggested Reading

"The Flying Virgin had fingernails painted bright pink with white tips. A French manicure, some witnesses call it. The Flying Virgin used a can of Bug-Off brand insect fogger, and across the blue New Mexican sky, she wrote:STOP HAVING BABYS."
[http://oprprinceton.edu/popclock/]

This quote is from my favorite Chuck Palahniuk book, Lullaby. I know most hardcore fans will tell you that Invisible Monsters is his best (it is, actually, a very close second for me) and a cult has risen from Fight Club. But Lullaby, Man, now that one talked to me. It cemented Mr. Palahniuk as one of my 3 all time favorite authors.

Not everyone will enjoy the books of Chuck Palahniuk. But for a certain "demographic"---and you know who you are---his words have become almost like a religion. I don't feel that I am exaggerating when I say that the man is a genius and that one day his collected works will be taught to literature majors in every college.

Try him on for size. http://www.chuckpalahniuk.com/

Our apologies, Miss Whitney

Moments ago I was behind a car with a Bush/Cheney '04 sticker, an anti-abortion sticker and a Christian sticker I found extremely offensive. The stickers taken one at a time angrified me, but taken all together made my blood boil. The car was driven by a woman.

What is wrong with this women? The Bush administration has set the women's movement back half a century. We are losing control of our own bodies. And fundamental Christians want women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. How could any woman support views that would make her a second-class citizen?

I am calling for all women who know that they are strong. Those of you that can be real role models for our girls. Speak out. Let the boys know you are there. If we don't exert ourselves soon, we are going to find ourselves covered in cloth from head to toe, forced to keep out of sight.

The suffragettes at the turn of the last century and those ladies in the seventies who tried to get an equal rights amendment passed didn't think they were doing so in vain. Yet, here we are, giving up our rights.

Eli Whitney didn't invent the cotton gin. His sister did. But women weren't allowed to hold patents and so we don't even know her name. Please join me in ensuring we don't have to live like that again.

If it all seems to difficult, remember that women used to be revered. They can carry life. Early man looked on woman as miracles. And we are. Without us, there would be no future. I'm pretty sure, though, that if need be we could do without men altogether.

So, with apologies to my husband (who treats me with the respect and reverence usually reserved for a goddess), women rule and don't forget it!