A River's water of thoughts

This is a call out to all Americans (and other nationalities if you use to do this as well). Wear green to show our solidarity with the Iranian People on our Independence Day.

This is their civil rights movement and they need us to keep the demand for them strong. By showing our support for the Iranian People we are putting pressure on their government to listen to it's people. Movements are taking place from within so all our green pride is not for nothing.

Things are changing! Albeit slowly, but they are still changing.

The Iranian people need to know that we still care about them (since it seems the MSM has moved on other stories) and are willing to help them.

There is a T.E.A. Party happening in my town on July 4th. I do not want to let those nutso neocons still my holiday and its symbolism away! Let's show them that Independence Day is beyond political movements and meanings it is about FREEDOM and those who are willing to attain it, protect it and maintain it!

This day is for everyone who desires Peace and Freedom!












http://www.flickr.com/photos/30950471@N03/sets/72157620466531333/show/


...anyone know how to embed a flicker sideshow? I got a sideshow graphic novel that was made as a sequel to Persepolis.

For us in the U.S. and especially Texas, Arizonia, California, New Mexico and Mexico it is Cinco de Mayo!!! Cinco (five) de (of) Mayo (May) is about the Battle of Puebla. It's a David versus Goliath battle in which the underdogs, Mexico, triumphed against the French. The Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín was born in la Bahía del Espíritu Santo, it was in what was once the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas, which is now considered the small town of Goliad, Texas. Yes, that Goliad of the chant, "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad!" It was the site of the Mexican army massacring the Texians after they surrendered at the Battle of Coleto and then the survivors were summarily executed on Palm Sunday.

Anyways, today is a day of celebration, typically - when we are not in the midst of a pandemic ;d.

Today is also Liberation day for Denmark (1945), Ethiopia (1941) and the Netherlands (1945).

It is also Children's day (Kodomo no Hi) in Korea and Japan. In Japan, there is a bunch of holidays only a few days apart so they grouped it together to create Golden Week. A whole week of holidays. Nice.

Now for us College students this week is known as Finals Hell Week. I will be bitchy for the rest of the week and possibly into next week as well since some assignments are due on the 13th and 15th.

Joy.

No pranks played on me. My arm still hurts from that shot that bled. I think the whole of my upper arm is swollen. Mom keeps telling me off telling me that she told me take the baby aspirin. bah.

Since it is the Day of Pranks I thought I would link to stories about the best 2009 pranks.

Did anyone see Wiki's front page? It looks the whole front of it is a prank.


I love the top one in Wired's list. April Fools Day Internet Jokes 2009 Pirate Bay gets bought out by WB?! WB ♥ Pirate Bay

I laughed at that picture. I think they should make t-shirts out of it. ;d

In other news CADIE took over Google and panda mayhem began. Pnd'd replaces Pwn'd. I must say it was quite clever of google to devise a cute little panda like CADIE to be our new overlord. The music is quite addicting. Seriously it is.
I wonder how long it took them to set everything up?

Huff Post's List of past favorites and big new pranks of the day.

NASCAR went a bit too far with this one.

I wanted to post this yesterday but I was busy reading up on news reports on what everyone else was saying.

I've made a few comments in your own posts about the momentous day. Each time I said something different because I came to understand the day more and more.

I'm probably one of the youngest people on your flist, I just turned 25 and I belong to the Millennial or Gen Y group than my elder brother's Gen X group. I grew up in an age where I believed this day was coming. I knew it was coming. Once it was accepted by tv viewers on Fox's 24, I knew I would live to see to this day. I just didn't know it would come so soon.

I never heard of Barrack Obama until late 2006 and more in 2007. Once I did I fell in admiration for the man. I grew up in a fallen government. I have lived under the thumb and policies of the Bushes for most of my life...all my life? George H. W. Bush was Vice President when I was born, then he became President, his son was my Governor for the eight formative years of my life - I lived under the horrible 'No child Left Behind/TASP Test policy' before any of the rest of the nation did, and then he became my President. Texas for some reason has a blind eye to the Bushes it might because of their history with this state, but the majority of us love the guys...

I was too young to vote to prevent Bush from becoming the 43rd President but I was old enough to try to make Kerry 44. My problem was that I was emersed in college, busy with my life, my brother was in Iraq and a military family supports the candidate that we believe will be the best at a time of war. I knew nothing about Kerry except that somehow he was richer than Bush and there was all these rumors going around. So I voted for what was safe, for what I felt was the 'lesser of two evils,' better the devil you know than a devil you don't.

I was young, I was foolish and I have learned from that.

This was the first time that someone who I knew would be a damn good President became one. I was rooting for Obama since he won Iowa. It was at that moment that I knew, absolutely knew, this man could win it. I was nothing more than ecstatic that I could vote for this man in the Texas Two-Step Primary. Even though, Clinton came down here - I missed it - and Obama didn't, I still pushed for my man.

I remember when my mom dropped by her CPA - his wife is the President of the local Democratic party and they supported Clinton - and it was just after Obama won the nomination. We talked short politics because I noticed that he had a ticket from the Clinton Inauguration and we started to talk about the Presidential race. I mentioned how my generation was happy how things came along. He told me in a somber voice that he knew that Obama would make a good President but that he was too young and that Clinton had a better chance of winning than he did.

I was thinking about that moment when I was watching my newly sworn-in President make his Inauguration speech. I was thinking about how many people saw Presidential qualities in Obama, even W., but that all didn't think it was the right time for it. That it was too soon.

It is incredible to think, to know and understand that it is because of people like me who saw something in Obama that we never saw before that my generation rose up and forced the world to accept that it is not too early it is now. Now it is when we will elect our President with whom we have given our hopes and dreams to. Now is the time to bring forth change to the world.

It is said that in the age of Aquarius great upheaval will take place. That change will come whether we like it or not and that the ways of the old that hold no ground will no longer stand. Welcome to the new age.

Barack Hussein Obama is my President. I elected and I helped in this campaign to make this come true.

I dreamed once, when I young about being becoming President, I still had hopes until I saw Obama run. Because I knew he would be better than me...not to mention I'm yaoi slashy HP fanfic writer/reader I don't think I will pass the vetting process. ;d Also...I'm a horrible orator.

President Obama is going to bring a world of change and hope to our country and the world, because he is the epitome of what we, as a nation, hope to become.

P.s. Why isn't the Presidential Inauguration a National Holiday? I want this damn day off.

Here is where you go to put in requests.

It's not screened, so that I can find it later since gmail keeps ordering all my posts into one big chat page.

Did ya'll like your cards?

In honor of the day of the great man named Dr. King I will like ladybahiya did, post a speech by Dr. King.

I studied this speech and used it in my semester Thesis on what living a good life means for my philosophy in literature class. This is one of the best speeches of Dr. King's, in it he speaks about not only equality of rights but that of economic equality and bringing peace to this war-torn world.

Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and here is his speech from December 10, 1964.

Acceptance Speech

Martin Luther King's Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1964

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award on behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice. I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize.

After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time - the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

The tortuous road which has led from Montgomery, Alabama to Oslo bears witness to this truth. This is a road over which millions of Negroes are travelling to find a new sense of dignity. This same road has opened for all Americans a new era of progress and hope. It has led to a new Civil Rights Bill, and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a super highway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers create alliances to overcome their common problems.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. "And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid." I still believe that We Shall overcome!

This faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born.

Today I come to Oslo as a trustee, inspired and with renewed dedication to humanity. I accept this prize on behalf of all men who love peace and brotherhood. I say I come as a trustee, for in the depths of my heart I am aware that this prize is much more than an honor to me personally.

Every time I take a flight, I am always mindful of the many people who make a successful journey possible - the known pilots and the unknown ground crew.

So you honor the dedicated pilots of our struggle who have sat at the controls as the freedom movement soared into orbit. You honor, once again, Chief Lutuli of South Africa, whose struggles with and for his people, are still met with the most brutal expression of man's inhumanity to man. You honor the ground crew without whose labor and sacrifices the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth. Most of these people will never make the headline and their names will not appear in Who's Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvellous age in which we live - men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization - because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness' sake.

I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners - all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty - and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.

From Les Prix Nobel en 1964, Editor Göran Liljestrand, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1965

I was gone for so long I thought I was gone for three weeks instead of two.

Not much to say here. I'm catching on my Christmas mail and I'm dead tired from the four hour drive.

A few things to keep in mind 3 DAMN good reasons to be a night owl/sleep-in late, the creator of the Pell Grant, Senator Pell, - which helped me pay for college (thank god for that grant) - has died, calling the cops to divert them from pulling you over is not a good idea if others respond and follow youespecially if you are a felon with a loaded gun, I didn't know reading porn could burn 88 calories an hour and one more reason to not trust the Uni money system.



HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!!!



my scroll with all my pretty dragons on it

It is 8am local time on the 31st of December and somewhere in the world it is already 2009.

This year is one of the worst of this decade. So much stuff has happened. It seems the only good thing we got out of it this year was President-Elect Barrack Obama. *thinks about it* He's worth it.

This year brought a lot of changes to my life. My brother came back from Iraq, I went back to school (grad school), I hemmed and hawed over careers and my dead-end life, I worked for about two months in a job I hated, my car has had major problems, members of family have undergone major surgery, the world economy tanked, wars have broken out (and being a military family this is important), I helped elect a damn fine President who I have great hopes but realistic ambitions about, I wrote few duds that I need to re-write and me becoming vastly more open about my life in my journal.

Overall, I'm really looking forward to 2009.

I even made a resolution list.

Today/tonight I think me and my mom will go out for a movie. Maybe we can find a borders/barnes & nobles and I can browse me some anime/manga or other books I had my eyes on.

I think tomorrow we are going home but I'm not sure.

It's been a week since I first came down with the sore throat that then went into fever blisters (on my lips (just two of them)), a fever, shakes and shivers, and overall congestion and phelm.

I think this is compounded by the fact that I am staying in the Brazos Valley, one of, if not the, worst place for allergy suffers to live.

I'm on the mend though and just suffering from a parchy throat and sniffles now.

Tomorrow...er...later today we all getting into our vehicles and driving about four hours to Plano to visit with the rest of the family/clan.

We should then stay for one day and drive back. I think me and mom though might drive on back home...which will be an eight to nine hour drive.

So far I have two gifts...some White Diamonds perfume stuff mom gave me (I don't know why though, I don't like really perfumey perfume, I like the light natural soft touch like this one brand Lucky, that I've had for over six years) and a $25 gift card to B&N from my brother's family. BJ and my grandparents will give me a gift when we get to Plano and then there is the family gift swap game.

Then when I get home I should have a gift from Adam and gift cards and gifts from my flist and Nick.

Looky at my dragons.


my scroll with all my pretty dragons on it


WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH MY DRAGONS?!!

TJ jacked up the avatars for my Water Dragon, My Sky-Wing Dragon, My Guardian Dragon, My Gray (Fog) Dragon, My Dark Green (Vine) Dragon, My Red Dragon,

Did we get hacked? Is that my Dragons look like POKEMON creatures?!!!

No...it turns out to be a prank...

At least my beautiful dragons will be back and replace these fugly pokemon avatars.

littleblackbow had a post about her favorite Christmas songs with links to youtube. And this one song keep eating at me.

It's been ages since I saw the film Toys and it was only once but the images of that world still resonate with me. I may have forgotten it but just looking at that video took me back to that time.

In these trying times I think this song represents our feelings and needs now more than anything.

I tracked down the lyrics. There are two sites that provide the full lyrics and each has slight alterations on the kid's chorus and Seal's (yes That Seal) verse. My god look at that hat!

Here it is.

THE CLOSING OF THE YEAR
(Written by Trevor Horn and Hans Zimmer)
Performed by Wendy & Lisa with Seal

If I cannot bring you comfort
then at least I bring you hope
For nothing is more precious
than the time we have and so

We all must learn from small misfortunes
count the blessings that are real
Let the bells ring out for Christmas
at the closing of the year
Let the bells ring out for Christmas
at the closing of the year

(Children chorus)
Up on the knees of a sergeant major,
ride through the woods with the wind in your hair,
Sleigh bells ring on a stolen reindeer
as we race to the castle over there

If I cannot bring you comfort
then at least I bring you hope

Now all the winter bells are ringing
hear them echo through the snow
And the children's voices singing
on the streets so far below

This is a time to be together
and the truth is somewhere here
Within our love for people
at the closing of the year

(Seal's solo)
We'll walk, innocent
with all of the pain,
and all of the patience
all of the way
with all of us right
and all of us safe
love one another
we'll fly in the arms of time
walk in the waves never fall
don't fall
(at the closing of the year)
at the closing of the year

If I cannot bring you comfort
then at least I bring you hope

Then at least I bring you hope


p.s. I really really really want to see this movie now and before Christmas which is in three days.

p.s. 2, Happy 2nd day of Hanukkah

I hate making subject titles...I'm just horrible at it.

Okay, so since Pushing Daisies is being canceled but coming back in comic book form. I'm thinking that if we, the fans, make the comic book series a success they might bring them back for a movie. Kinda like how Firefly came back as Serenity. ;d In the meantime, the People's Choice Awards are up for voting, and if we, the fans, join the site and vote, we might be able to vote PD as a winner. And how badly will that look to ABC to cancel a PCA winning show?

Btw, Dirty Sexy Money is the only ABC show that did not get renewed that has not released its cast. So they might be able to bring back that show.

My paper is going really slow. It's stuck at 7 pages and that last is just a bunch of sentence starters and concluding paragraph starters for me to fill out. I'm thinking of doing a couple of block quotes...but I already have two and I'm worried about weakening my paper by doing that so often... But then again I need to make the 15 page quota.

Typically, I'm good at writing papers...but this semester...it's just been hell. I think three classes a semester is a bit much. Grad school is just so much harder than undergrad.

( family update )

Here's me dragons. I got four new eggs.


P.S. This is where you go to sign up for X-Mas/Holiday Cards. I got a bunch of cards. So just go ahead and sign up already. ;d Just check the post and it seems it got unscreened, I re-screened it, so everything should show up commentless.

P.S. 2, anyone know where you can get some christmas/wintery themes at?

Yesterday, after getting back from the hospital we went to H-E-B and got some food and x-mas cards.

This is my first year sending off X-Mas cards, so anyone who wants one just leave a comment, I'll screen the comments.

p.s. I'm up to six seven pages on my paper. So yay.

I have a Dream, August 28, 1963

Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, December 10, 1964

Nobel Lecture, The Quest for Peace and Justice, December 11, 1964

One thing to keep in mind on this day, Dr. King sought equality for all men (and women) in all walks of life. He was anti-war as well as anti-poverty. For Dr. King, injustice was not just in being equal rights that were given to all men at the conception of this nation, but also that of the disparity between the wealthy and the poor. He sought to end poverty world-wide, and he believed whole-heartedly that it could be done, as read in his acceptance speech.

At the time of his death, Dr. King was considered a pariah.

Popular view of King ignores complexity
By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jan 20, 6:56 PM ET
NEW YORK - They are some of the most famous words in American history: "I have a dream ..." And the man who said them has become an icon.


For the first time in the history of this nation, there is a real chance of a black President or a female President, in Dr. King's time, this was but a dream that the people had.