Libby Says...
Thanks for all the support re. last week's... discussions! I've been under the weather since last Wednesday but am starting (hopefully) to recover (slowly), so things have been a bit quiet around here. Had a nice Thanksgiving - made some Wild-Rice/Sausage dressing and some Apple-Cherry Pie to share with my boyfriend and his family, where I spent the holiday. And at the end of this week.... I get to go visit my Mommy! Crossing my fingers that I'm not sick when I get ready to fly! Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link
Than to write anything when I'm feeling hurt and angry. Not quite enough breathing before the typing. Ok, so let's try this on for size. Yes, I've got opinions. About baseball. About books. About movies and plays. About school. About life. About, heaven forbid, Lotus software. And yes, about politics. And most of them, politically speaking, lean toward the left. And when something important is happening, such as the Prop 2 vote in Houston's latest election, I've got to say something -- hope that each little drop in the bucket makes a difference in who knows and thinks about the issue and about who gets out to vote. I'm happy if I also influence them to come to what I think the correct decision is, but I'd much rather they just participate -- whatever they vote. And yes, the minute I open myself up by saying something or linking to something that others will take issue with, I should have a thicker skin and expect to have people get vitriolic at me in defense of their beliefs. Here's the way I look at it. When I go to a baseball game, I cheer as hard and as loud for my team as I can, while not saying anything bad, jeering, about the other team. I try to do the same thing about politics -- I try to cheer as loud and clearly as can to champion the causes I believe in, without necessarily resorting to saying specifically angry things about the other side. Of course, like anyone else, I sometimes don't stick as closely as I should to that. So. DavidV: Sorry if I was hasty in my replies and categorized you in an unfair way - I was trying to say that the backup and documentation for the comments you made were available only in, as far as I could see, articles/sites that were not at all shy about their political beliefs - which to me means it is opinion and not news. I was feeling hurt that instead of, in my view, calmly saying -- Hey, LIbby, I disagree with your views and think you should look into some of the organizations you support more deeply and here's a link or two -- you chose, I felt, to be a little less kind in your commentary. Perhaps that was just my thin skin. As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome at my site and welcome to comment -- most of your commentary I find interesting. I'd prefer, of course, if you made comments that were a bit easier to digest, but this is a public site and public comments are to be expected. To the other folks who commented more privately on me, my beliefs, and my work: Apologies if I responded before calming down. You have the right to your opinions. I just could wish that you provided your opinion in a way that was less about attacking and more about constructively working toward something. Even when you don't intend to attack, communicating effectively has all to do with how the other person hears/reads what you say. Thanks, of course, to those who supported me or my beliefs/comments. I'm sure there's more to say on this topic, but for now -- off to edit. Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link
I've gotten, in the past few weeks, quite a few angry e-mails, comments, etc., either on my political beliefs, religious beliefs, or the work I've done with LotusUserGroup.org. Let me say first that I'm sorry to anyone I've angered or offended -- that isn't my goal. On the other hand, if my beliefs here at this site offend you -- please feel free not to read. I'm not asking you to leave, of course, merely suggesting that you might want to have the right expectations about what kinds of things I'm likely to post. I am intending to speak my mind, engage the world around me, and be a thinking, living person. This is a personal site and my comments are completely my own. Hopefully, you're doing the same thing. But let's talk for a moment about compassion and the fable of the wind and the sun. Yelling at me is unlikely to get me to pay positive attention to what you have to say. On the other hand, trying to see things from other people's perspective while not necessarily changing your mind promotes a more effective way of communicating. I got so angry, and quite frankly HURT, after reading some of these that I've had to do some deep yogic breathing and relaxation exercises. I'm feeling a bit better now. I've been doing some meditation, specifically Love Meditation (think love as in compassion more than love "eros") -- and it helps. Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link
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Since someone recently got here on a Google search for Wicked, I thought I'd say a few words about the musical. A group of us saw it this weekend -- our book club had read it and decided to follow that up with seeing it! I thought the musical was incredibly well done. I don't want to give away any plot points, but suffice to say that they did "disney-fy" it -- that is, many of the deaths that occur in the book do not, in fact, occur in the musical. Of course, there were also some characters removed to make the quite long book fit into the time allotted. Both book and musical make a perfect complement to the original Oz -- The actors and actresses in touring company are wonderful. I thought Glinda was bubbly and Elphaba was earnest... Fiyero was conflicted and Madame Morrible was... horrible! :-) (by the way, Madame Morrible is played by Carol Kane, who some of you might remember... "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife... And after what you just said, I'm not even sure I want to be that anymore..." Yep -- she was in Princess Bride!) The songs were appropriate (that is, didn't seem gratuitous -- at least not too much) and toe-tappingly intriguing. I would definitely suggest both reading the book and seeing the musical! Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link
A friend who just had a baby (congratulations to Chris C and his family) linked to the Baby Name Wizard, including the Voyager in his baby blog. How fun to find out how popular (or unique) your name has been over time. Here's mine -- nice to know that not only was Libby popular some time ago, but it has had a resurgence in the late 90s and early 2000s! :-) Not my doing, I'm sure, but still... :-) Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link
This is an excerpt from a recently receive letter from MoveOn.org. If there's an event in your area, you may want to attend:
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There's a good Network World article today about Mike Rhodin's first 100 days as Lotus' GM and his challenges and focus going forward into 2006. The most compelling content
Not that I had any doubt, but still: good to hear. Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link
Handstands in yoga for the past two days. Yesterday afternoon, one handstand, kicking up with the right leg. Stayed up for 2 minutes or so, I'd guess. Nice graceful dismount. This morning... 2 handstands, kicking up from each leg. I'm very pleased and excited about this. Handstands are partially about strength and balance, for me, but they're mostly about confidence and guts. And providing a new perspective on things. A new perspective is always good -- be inspired to think about something in a new way. In other news... Prop 2 passed. Sadness. The Mom is going to college to become an ESL instructor -- reinventing herself -- YAAAAAAAY for Mommy! I'm very proud. And I'm going to visit the Mom for an early Christmas/late Thanksgiving. Pride and Prejudice opens today. It has an uphill battle with me in some ways because I like the 1995 Colin Firth version so much, but... I also just like Jane Austen, so I'm hoping to like this interpretation, too. Planning to see it tonight with Philip and Aaron and Ange... In general, I tend to like literary movies... as long as I can remember that they are a different, additional interpretation of a thing I love -- not replacing the thing (book) I love. It's like NSF and DB2 -- you're not required to use it (DB2), you can always go back to NSF... or use both together... But now you have a choice! (That's just a metaphor as a sop to the Notes geeks here who're wondering if I'm ever going to talk about Lotus-related stuff again...) In Houston? Like Belly Dancing? Support Eclectic Belly Dance at Helios on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. I won't be there this month, as I've got a paper to finish, but Philip will be there helping out, as usual. Happy Birthday to my friend Julie (11th) and happy anniversary to my friends Julieana and Mike (8th)... Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link
I'm a firm believer in voting -- we live in a country that allows us a voice in our government -- we'd better take advantage of said voice to ensure that we always have it! I'm particularly hoping that folks who live in Texas will get out to vote tomorrow (I voted early!) because there are a passel (9) of constitutional amendments, one of which has me really concerned... From MoveOn.org: Tomorrow is Election Day and I'm writing to tell you about something on the ballot I particularly care about. I plan to vote No on Prop. 2, which would ban marriage between people of the same sex but would also ban the state from recognizing "any legal status identical or similar to marriage," such as civil unions or domestic partner benefits. Prop. 2 would provide that marriage in Texas is solely the union of a man and woman, and that the state and its political subdivisions could not create or recognize any legal status identical to or similar to marriage. "By including the language that refers to 'legal status identical or similar to marriage,' the reach of Proposition 2 can be expanded and applied to civil unions, domestic partnerships, and common-law marriages. According to 'No Nonsense in November' organizers, nearly 90 Texas-based Fortune 500 companies now offer some type of benefits to domestic partners. In addition, the City of Dallas provides health insurance to same-sex partners. If the amendment passes, these benefits could be lost or limited, regardless of whether an unmarried couple in a domestic partnership is same-sex or not." 7 "This proposition is solely a hate measure: same sex marriage is already illegal in Texas. Plus, the proposal would amend the Bill of Rights in a way that DENIES rights. The implications of this amendment also go far beyond same sex marriage (the language of the bill makes it apply to common law marriage, contracts, etc.). Please vote NO on Prop. 2."—MoveOn member Lynnie Henderson, Dallas, TX Support the No Nonsense in November campaign:
http://www.nononsenseinnovember.com/
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[small update with some photo links...] Sorry for the slowness in posting or sending things that I've promised -- I owe Jess some pictures of me as Kaylee for Halloween, so we can be Kaylee-twins; I've promised various pictures of my half-marathon -- my friend Chris took some that you can see at his Flickr site; I've taken pictures of Philip's nephew Rhys that I've promised to send to Rhys's Mommy... I'm just a bit behind. I'm blaming it on the lovely fall weather (although it poured just for the trick-or-treat time last night), the busy grad school reading/writing schedule -- it's been 15 years since I last had to read Plato's Republic, after all, the recovery period from a short trip (and the half-marathon for that matter), and still trying to keep up with normal work and life things. Whew! No wonder I'm behind... :-) Anyway, had a lovely dinner party over the weekend -- made some butternut squash soup, which turned out a bit spicier and less liquid than it has in the past, but was still quite good, and made some smashed potatoes and pumpkin (that one needs some tweaking), and made a cherry/pear/apple pie that was warm and gooey and good. Drank some very good sparkling wine (Scharffenberger Brut Sparkling) from Scharffenberger Cellars and some Zinfandel from the Seghesio Vinyards -- both of which I think deserve a taste, and ate some levely chicken coq a vin! Good food, good wine, good conversation. Off to download pictures and work and etc... Permanent Link to this entry: Permanent Link |
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