UK trip mosaic

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UK trip mosaic, originally uploaded by evso.

I still have more photos to upload from my last full day in Brighton (which I spent on the beach with Michele’s hubby Phil snapping photos of wood that had washed on shore from a Norwegian freighter), but most of the pics from my England trip are now on flickr.

I’ll have to do another post to list all that I did while there, but you get some idea from my pictures.

odds and ends

Sunday afternoon at church, I walked into the Sr. High classroom to start preparing for youth. One of the kids was in there with the youth choir director, listening to a slow, ponderous song on the stereo. I saw the kid had a sheet music with “Ave Maria” as the title, and I asked, “Is this Rufus Wainwright?”

The youth choir director (who is a few years younger than me) put on a somewhat surprised expression as he answered, “Yes!”

Do I not look like I know my random indie singers? I knew of Rufus Wainwright back when from Ken Burns’ “Civil War” soundtrack; he sang with his mom and aunt on a not-so-great version of “Better Times are Coming.” It was a pre-teen Rufus, scratchy mid-voice-change voice and all. I think I still have that on cassette tape, somewhere. My favorite songs on that album were: “Follow the Drinking Gourd” sung by Richie Havens, “No More Auction Block” sung by Sweet Honey on the Rock, and Kathy Mattea’s version of “Vacant Chair”. Hey, the CD is for sale on Amazon! I swear the soundtrack is worth owning just for the main theme of the series, “Ashokan Farewell.” What a haunting and lyrical instrumental piece.

In other news, I am probably not sleeping much tonight before I fly out tomorrow. My nerves are rattling; I’ll be glad when I’m in England already. I am so not looking forward to dealing with the airports.

Dear Ms. Steinem

I was just marking your essay in the NYTimes OpEd in my Ma.gnolia when I realized I was writing too much for a simple bookmark. I have long appreciated you and your historic contribution to feminism, but I have to disagree with this essay titled “Women Are Never Front-Runners”. I’m sorry, but it’s a crock. The media has been plugging Hillary since whispers of the 2008 election began. I think they would love the idea Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton run of presidents. Also, Clinton was polling high among registered voters before the Iowa caucus. So your essay title rings false. Obviously, Clinton (a woman) was viewed as a frontrunner.

The first paragraph that asserts that America wouldn’t vote for a female version of Obama may ring more true. I’d like to think that if a woman like Obama was running that I would be more excited about this race. I might even take time off of work to go help out in New Hampshire. As it stands, I’m disappointed at the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency. And not because she’s a woman.

I am a feminist who wrote a fan letter (yes, I admit it) to Ms. Clinton after reading her It Takes a Village. I was so moved by that book; I have only written three fan letters in my life, and one of them was to Hillary. I remember being inspired by her role as a strong woman in the White House.

And yet, and yet. . . I was so excited when Clinton ran and won for the New York Senate seat. But then she went on to vote for war. And has yet to apologize for that.

So let’s not make a big deal about how she can’t win because she’s a woman; I think that is an easy excuse that makes no mention of her voting to go to war, her acceptance of big-money contributions, and her current phony veneer. Where has the real Hillary gone? Like Andrew Sullivan says in this piece, “She’s hiding her true feelings. We know it, she knows we know it, and there is no way out of it.”

So Ms. Steinem, I’m afraid I cannot agree with your assertion that the reason Hillary can’t win is because she is a woman. There is so much more than that going on here.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth

Excited and fearful

Okay, so it’s like a week and a half until I venture on the furthest trip I’ve taken on my own. I fly out early Wednesday morning, spend most of the day at the Minneapolis airport (memories!) and fly out that evening to Gatwick. Michele has a basic plan for my stay in Brighton, happily a mostly low-key schedule. The only really hectic day should be the day we visit London.

So I’m obviously excited; I’ve always been enchanted by Britain, ever since my parents raised me on “Masterpiece Theatre” and “Mystery”. I watched I Claudius when I was in fifth grade! That was some crazy stuff. Anyway, you get the idea – I never thought I’ve have a chance to go there, and I can’t wait.

But then I’m also worried. What if the flight isn’t able to fly out of Minneapolis? What if my flight is delayed coming back and I have to spend the night (ack!) in Detroit?!? I have missed a flight before (because of mechanical problems) and had to spend a night in Dallas. LUCKILY I am going nowhere near DFW on this trip.

I am sadly the type of person who worries about stuff I have no control over. I’m not worried that my plane will be part of any world event or anything – I worry about scheduling! and what I will do on the plane if I can’t sleep! It’s all rather silly, but it is how I’m wired.

Hopefully as the time nears my excitement will overcome my worried nature.

Hello, 2008.

When I opened the curtain this morning after taking a warm shower, I could tell (even without my contacts on) that the bathroom floor was covered in water.

Please tell me that this is not a sign of the year to come.

Christmastime is here

Discussion on the music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on Soundcheck’s Friday show:

Pip pip, cheerio.

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This blessed plot, originally uploaded by Jeff Tabaco.

I’m headed to England in January to visit my best pal from high school, Michele. I just bought my tickets (before the rates went up any more).

I. am. so. excited.

And yes, if you’re wondering, But E, this is so sudden! Well, I just decided to go on this trip yesterday. She had invited me up for Thanksgiving, but I expected to buy a new computer. I haven’t done that yet, and they are planning to move back to the States in the Spring, so I had to take her up on her offer. I have the vacation time and the money in savings, so might as well use it go somewhere I’ve always wanted to go! I’ll put off buying a new Mac until later next year. I’ve got lodgings taken care of, since Michele has kindly offered to house me.

I have never traveled so far on my own, so this is a big deal for me. Michele has warned me about the weather, but I lived in Minnesota for a year, so I can handle it. As long as it doesn’t keep me from doing touristy things!

For the Confederate Dead

A while back during National Poetry Month, one of the daily poems Knopf sent out was by Kevin Young. I don’t recall which one it was, but it moved me enough to put his most recent collection of poetry on my list of books to read. I finally finished his For the Confederate Dead last night. Some of the poems were really hit or miss with me, but a few of them are so incredibly moving in their simplicity. Young can really pack a punch into the last stanzas of his poems.

Elegy for Miss Brooks (for Gwendolyn Brooks) ends with:
. . .What the devil
are we without you?
I tuck your voice, laced
tight, in these brown shoes.

I’m not too crazy about the “Americana” section as a whole, but there are some standouts. The poem titled Americana urged me to read it aloud. It speaks volumes in sparse phrases. My favorites:
America I have counted
all the china and none
is missing.
………………………..
America I have . . .
seen the churches keep
like crosses burning

seen the lady who lines
your huddled shore, her hand
rifle-raised,
her back turned away.

Okay, if I could post the entire poem here, I would, because it is that amazingly good. Another poem in this section, Springtime comes to the Capitol, portrays Marion Anderson’s historical performance at the Lincoln Memorial. I love how Young uses natural imagery as description: the bouquet of microphones, her throat as clear as the sky, the “bloom that begins/all along the spine.” And his For the Confederate Dead in this “Americana” section uses my favorite lines in the collection: “In my fridge only / the milk makes sense– / expires.”

That would be Season for Caring

I referred to the Statesman’s holiday campaign as Season of Giving, but it’s actually Season for Caring. The family from my church is the one whose last name begins with M*. If you click on the above link, you can see the video they filmed during church. I’m glad to say that I’m not in it. My mom makes an appearance, however.

I hadn’t mentioned on here, but the day before Thanksgiving, C. (the mom) asked me to take her to the grocery store. It was a madhouse, but amazingly, HEB had enough cashiers so that we made it through the line very quickly. I think that’s the first time I’ve gone to the grocery store the night before Thanksgiving; when we were little, my great-uncle used to take Leah and I to the grocery store to buy a treat (and any extra supplies) on Thanksgiving. There was never a crowd then.

Anyway, the family is worthy of any help that comes their way. The church is still working to get her husband brought over from Africa. It was looking promising for a bit; Doggett’s office was working on it. But I haven’t heard anything about it in a couple weeks, so I’m just not sure what that means.

*For privacy reasons, I’m not spelling out their names. Another note – they were nominated by Catholic Charities, but attend my church (which is Presbyterian).

Sneak Preview of “Golden Compass”

Okay, is it really a sneak preview if about 6 theatres in town are showing it? Saturday night Mom, Dad, Leah and I went to the sneak preview of The Golden Compass at the Alamo Village. Luckily we arrived an hour before the show started. . . there was already a sizeable line. I didn’t realize that it had sold out.

The special effects in the film are pretty amazing, and the acting is great (especially by Nicole Kidman). It seemed to me that the action was out-of-order from what I remember in the book. And Leah complained because the end of the movie is about 3/4 of the way into the book.

What boggled my mind was that one of the trailers for the film I saw showed two main characters kissing in the North. This action takes place at the end of the book, but didn’t appear in the movie at all. Also, the trailer showed Lyra falling out of the airship. This didn’t appear in the end film either. Wha’ happened? Did the test audiences not approve?

Even with the faux hopeful ending, I liked the overall film, and wouldn’t mind seeing it again.