The REAL Queen of England...

turns 6♥ today!! ♥ Yay! I, for one, am eternally grateful that Reginald Dwight Howard has graced this planet with his existence. ♥

Only one birthday request from the man... end bigotry. Not a tough request: grant marriage licenses to all (consenting adults) who ask for one. The go'ment is supposed to be blind anyway, who cares about gender when L♥ve is the real issue?

When I turn 6♥, I don't need that kinda party (6♥th concert at Madison Square Garden), I don't even need a cool Bill Clinton introduction or DVD sales... what I d♥ need (aside from lots of Elt♥n music), what we all need, is the kind of L♥ve Elton has finally found in his partner, David. All those songs finally mean something; you got your ♥ne! Get down fatboy! We're s♥ glad you've c♥me...

Strange coupla days...

*uniquely* strange :) I'm celebrating and mourning for a family I've not met, I'm celebrating and mourning for families I don't even know exist... and I've looming fear. Big, pull me away from everything dear in the name of emotional protection, kinda fear. Oh, I'm not one to be terribly obvious, except maybe to myself, so I just crab-ass and hold my breath and slowly back away from love. It's what I do. I'd say it doesn't work, it sure isn't working in my now though I imagine it's served great purpose for me before. Know the best thing about being gregarious?? (read: worst thing) It always seems that I'm engaged. I can have you engaged and not even be there. That's a terrible thing to admit. Maybe it's a Gemini trait; could just be something I picked up along the way to becoming diana. I slip away easily. I'm like Claire: impossible to forget and hard to remember. I'm distant when I'm too close. I'm crabby when kindness counts. I embrace martyrdom with sighs and stomps. Life is good and I'm shitty. blech.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Gemini: You Twins are more susceptible to the changes of your own emotions with the Moon visiting your Sun sign. The positive side of this is that you can deal with sudden mood swings better than most other signs. However, don't fall into the trap of over-intellectualizing; instead just let your emotions ramble freely.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In light of this admonition, I'll end my pissiness and get my trash taken out and my cat box cleaned and I'll kiss and hug my boyfriend and I'll love on my kid. Life is good and I have a choice.

Strange day indeed...

I was all over the emotional map, er, globe today. I had a pity party for strangers, I had one for myself, I had a joyful, enlightening talk with an old friend, my boyfriend fed me an orange, I chatted with a plumber, had great discussions with my son, attended my kitty's needs for love and affection and had a family gathering of friends, including a gift of Hannah's clothing.
Pretty freaking cool.
Scotty being here for most of it, sitting quietly, focused on homework and catching up... a calming presence. He would have easily jumped into the madness; I'm so glad he was stuck at his computer, it was such a blessing to have a touchstone of stability while I did my whirling dervish routine.
I'm gonna curl up with a book, ignoring any & all universal messages included therein... there has to be a harlequin romance around here somewhere... I'm actually open to all messages sent under the guise of bodice ripping and rippled abs owned by the smoldering Han Solo types, as a general rule ♥
See what I mean?

Truth on Thursday

The Ground Truth: the Human Cost of War
a film by Patricia Foulkrod

"Anyone who claims to support the troops, owes it to them to see the film and hear their stories."

The Ground Truth we meet veterans---patriotic young men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq. Take one hour out of your day and listen to what "Support the Troops" means to them.

DATE: Thursday, March 22nd
COST: FREE
TIME: 8 pm
PLACE: Sankofa Coffehouse & Bistro - 41st & Lake

To reserve a seat, or for more information, contact SD Peace & Justice, 743-5647.

Summary of The Ground Truth:
Filmmaker Patricia Foulkrod produced and directed this documentary, designed to shed light on a little examined side of war -- the soldiers who do the fighting. The Ground Truth: The Human Cost of War focuses on the men and women who fought in the War in Iraq, but found themselves largely ignored in the media coverage of the conflict and in their treatment by the military bureaucracy when they came back from the front lines. In extensive interviews with veterans of the Iraq war, these men and women talk about the hardships of war, the danger of serving in a country where the people you defend often consider you the enemy, the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder, the gap between media coverage of the war and the grim realities soldiers see on the battlefield, and the often callous treatment extended to soldiers by military authorities and the Veterans Administration. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
Director(s): Patricia Foulkrod
Awards: 2006 - Women Film Critics Circle - Best Documentary

Support the Troops! Support the Truth!

Meet Hayden...

Have I mentioned how much I love Sinfest?

I am X!!

Your Personality Is Like Ecstasy

You're usually feeling the love for the world around you - you want to hug everyone. And while you're usually content to sit back and view the world with wonder... Sometimes you're world becomes very overwhelming and a little scary.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

Flowers are Safe!

I don't need to ask a daisy, I can just enjoy them.
He loves me and I already know!
We have such an amazing time every time we're together, I'm just filled with awe.

Even on Saturday morning, when I my first words were, "I'm crabby!" I was forgiven. Given wide berth, yeah, and genuinely forgiven.
Wumpus was part of a three band line-up for St. Patrick's Day. Lisa & Brian chaperoned me again ♥ Was very fun! The first band, Alive from Heaven, had a cutie patootie drummer with perfect dreads (I saw Niki at the park on Tuesday, she offered to do mine!!); he later let me pet him! In the quick quiet times between, I got to meet the Scooty Crew :) There was the Wumpus table, where I got to give a quick, inspiring unschooling spiel to a "just found out we're pregnant" dad, Carey (& his lovely wife Adrienne), who also happened to train Lisa at Gateway 10 years ago! Then I saw my friend, Veronica, who happens to be dating the W bass player & I had a bizarre memory of hanging out at Natalie's last summer, drinking wine on her porch, playing with the kids, including Veronica's boyfriend's daughter while he was at band practice & I met him when he picked her up -- makes your head spin, doesn't it?? Kim, the cool librarian, works with my cousin Liz. Sven was a sweetheart, great brownies! Liam knows V and via too much conversation, I discover he works with my house-mate Susan at Citibank! I got to show myself to the very important Jenn, on her next-to-last day in town before moving to El Paso. There was a big KDLT crew in attendance, as well... I was so glad I'd heard stories of everyone before we met, it was like a mental matching game story + person. I heard He's the nicest guy I know at least 15 times during the night. Libby's face when she witnessed our kiss was priceless - I met her on our first date, during the infamous (and all too freaky) "preserve my kitty's fur" talk. I love being surrounded by such brave folk! The last band was The Madhats by the way, from Spearfish, SD. They were really good!

Silver-tipped red hair
you are completely infused
now you're part of me
~S

We spent a good amount of yesterday all wrapped up in photographs of Life and Everything. It was perfect. I got to be melancholy and sad and giggly and misty and lost and found again.

Browsing through photos
-The ghost in you, she won't fade-
series of moments
~S
Fully lost in you
leaving an old life behind
preconceptions scrapped
~S

Hoping you're sleep
burning candles at both ends
a contract fulfilled
~S

4 years...

and finally the CHRISTians have something to say...

"This war, from a Christian point of view, is morally wrong — and was from the beginning," the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, one of the event's sponsors, said toward the end of the service to cheers and applause. "This war is ... an offense against God."

In his speech, the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, lashed out at Congress for being "too morally inept to intervene" to stop the war, but even more harshly against President Bush.

"Mr. Bush, my Christian brother, we do need a surge in troops. We need a surge in the nonviolent army of the Lord," he said. "We need a surge in conscience and a surge in activism and a surge in truth-telling."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peace, it's not just for pagan hippies anymore.

Musings...

Gemini: You may be thinking about postponing or even canceling an upcoming trip due to responsibilities you cannot avoid. The hardest part about this is not just changing your plans; the disappointment can bring up memories of a similar event from the past. Letting go of your feelings attached to a previous experience can help you focus your attention and efficiently manage the current situation.
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I want a big vacation. I deserve a big vacation. I am the girl who takes really big vacations. I make it work. Always. Bizarre but True. I'm going to Life is Good, it's gonna be amazing and fulfilling and all that wonderful diana's-crazy-life stuff that manifests around me. This is an already gonna happen and not in doubt...
I wanna go to California and yeah, I feel like I gotta go to California. Mitch's Gramma hasn't had the greatest year, she just turned 89 and I want to see her as often as I can, while I still can. There's a lot that comes with that visit. There's great strides in the Mimi sitch and I know this is a great journey- our relationship- as our family morphs and shifts. She'll be freshly retired and ready to live a new life with 50 more hours a week for her family!
The sunshine beckons me,
I have to move soon,
I don't wanna be gone so long,
My cat will miss me, the kids will miss me, my boyfriend will miss me ♥
I will miss Christine and ZoAnne and Chance and Gary and Lenetta and and and and...
~~I must say right now, that this is exactly why it sucks to be a Gemini sometimes!!~~
I dunno what's gonna happen, I can see it either way :) As I don't yet have Howard, I guess there's really no decision to be made at this point...
Light a candle for Howard and channel some healing energy for Uncle Troy:

What if...

Hayden crawled into the empty, but still warm spot left by Scotty and we all chatted as S got ready for work. A few days before, he called Scotty's phone and sang the Campfiresong Song for his voicemail, as Scotty really loved it, Hayden was happy to sing for him again for future listening. When we were alone, I asked him how he feels about Scotty... he says he hope we get married. Then provide him with a new sibling next year. What if?? What does that look like? What does that feel like? Joy abound surrounding and awaiting us on this adventure, I can taste it.
This is all very ethereal and tingly and oh so very strange. The Secret was a great reminder of the vocabulary and practice of what I'd already laid foundation for in our lives. Because I know that Hayden has great power in his understanding of how the Universe works, I can see his order being fulfilled before our eyes. I know we'll have the perfect home, because we will. I know I have Great Love in my Life, because I do. I know we will always have Joy, because we know how to find it. Gratitude isn't nearly a big enough word. Amazing, our Life is Pure Amazing Grace right now... mmmmmm!