The Nature Conservancy

If you are interested in being green but find it a turn off when Hollywood types suggest we only use one square of toilet paper when we do our binness, The Nature Conservancy might be for you. I sent my first tiny donation to them last month. They buy land legally and return it to it's natural state. They approach a farmer, for example, who is growing corn that rots in silos and makes an offer on the land. It's all up front. They work with politicians and make politicians look good which I'm convinced is one of the few things a politician cares about. They will let politicians take credit for good environmental policy as if it were their idea. I am most grateful to this org for saving the Pascagoula River that runs through my hometown. How did they do it? They purchased it and the Pascagoula River is forever safe and in my opinion one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Read more about this huge swath of marshland in South Mississippi, free flowing and natural at the link below. I had no idea when I was a teenager of the jewel of a river that was practically in my backyard.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/mississippi/preserves/art17304.html

From Green to Brown: The Gas Mower Wins

On Friday I pick up my gas powered lawn mower from the repair shop. I feel a bit defeated and a bit guilty, to boot. This summer has defeated me not with heat but with rain and long quickly growing grass and weed. The young man at the repair shop laughed when I told him I had been using a push reel mower. In Texas?, he asked. He said push reel mowers only work on certain kinds of grass. He named them. I responded, "Hey, I've never heard of those grasses." 'Exactly," he concludes with a bit of sarcasm and pity. I actually look forward to the rumble beneath my fingers as I push my mighty 10 year old Honda Lawnmower through my thicket of North Texas weeds. Save the Whales! I'll be sure to make a donation to the National Conservancy.

Why John from Cincinnatti Makes Me Angry and Why I Can't Stop Watching it

In case you haven't watched John from Cincinnati, HBO's new series, it is basically about a family in turmoil at a rundown area of forgotten beach in California. John comes along. He seems autistic but not really. Just innocent? Yea, but it's more that that. He is odd and people have begun to notice he has angelic powers. He has healed people not from his own touch but by giving people (or animals in one case) the power to do so. Since John has shown up at Imperial Beach, one former star surfer floats in the air for no reason. It helps no one but it gives this depressed father ex-surfer a sense of something outside his own problems. Shawn, the child prodigy surfer broke his neck surfing only to walk out of the hospital the same day because a parrot that Jon had resurrected earlier 'kissed' the dying Shawn in the hospital room. Nuts, huh? And hope John never looks you in the eye and tells you to ,"See God." It can be an alarming experience. In one case, Cai (sp?) was trying to coax John into a sexual encounter. She was being pretty graphic with John when he says, "Cai, See God." Cai's eyes roll back in her head and she sees certain people in her life grabbing their wounds. The Vietnam vet grabs his knee, the druggie surfer grabs his head where he has received hair transplants, and Cai grabs her breasts because of her piercings. God is seen in their wounds is the message I suppose.


This is no 7th Heaven. The characters drop more f-bombs than Tony Soprano. There is something I like about that. Real people with real problems being chased and found out by God. There is nothing sentimental about this family. They would all benefit from a 12 Step Program but, hey, they have John. Their church is a creepy run down motel. Great things happen there to the oddest and most outcast of people. Sometimes their goodness seeps out.


What ticks me off at the same time is that life doesn't work like this. There are no healing Johns though I wish there were. It's just a show and one that is currently holding my interests. I don't blame the producers. However, we are all looking for a great healer to lead us out of our troubled lives. Instead, natural disasters occur, people starve to death because of where they are born while their political leaders live it up, and marriages split because people see in their spouse what they hate in themselves. I could get real religious here and start talking about Jesus being our healer, but it wouldn't change the fact that we (I) long for this world not to be so harsh. As a very conservative and faithful Southern Baptist co-worker of mine once said through her tears, "God is not enough." I was shocked that she could voice this. She followed this comment by saying she needed someone 'in flesh' to come to her rescue. It has been a few years since I worked with her, but I hope she found her 'John'.





So, I find myself totally mesmerised by this show and it's attempt to in a very strange way speak to spirituality. On the other hand, I know Johns don't come around. People die. Families fall apart. No miracles or miracle givers come to our rescue.

Cancer Sucks!

Wrote this after visiting a family at the hospital. A mother was protecting her sick daughter like a hawk. Her insurance wouldn't pay for vital medicines that would help her Bone Marrow Transplant 'stick.' The insurance payed for her transplant but not the meds that might keep the transplant from failing. Ughh. Dirty crooks! When the Case Manager approached the mother, the mother firmly stated the line that begins this poem. It hurt the Case Manager deeply. She shared two things with the mom. They were both African-American and both were women. The Case Manager later said, "It gets up next to me." She was speaking of the pain that gets so close it is almost yours. Willy helped make each line 10 syllables long. Thanks Willy.

Up Next to Me

“You come back when you can help my daughter.”
That criterion stifles me for good.
Sweaty hands to shake could persuade fairness,
Yet half truths and inequities creep up.
You can see ‘em coming a mile away,
Never too few and too often too late.

It rubs me raw like a horsehair sweater.
Her open anger--truly justified.
And it gets up next to me, I tell ya.
I breathe it in; it nests within my pores.
Not mine and too near to be separate,
But it gets up so damn close to me still.

Rib over rib under rib, breast to breast,
Up next to me yet within and ‘round her
Like steely flesh made for a wild creature--
One more accustom to a harsher life.
This soul desires justice innate yet knows
The lack of it separates her from me.

A few mysterious thoughts light on me
Like a sparse but unexpected flurry:
Fairest Jesus, get up in between us
And that which stealthily hangs upon us
Oh, but with bane eternal hooks for her.
We can see you coming a mile away.

And never too late.

Flight of the Conchords

I mentioned in my last post that I'd be watching the HBO series, John from Cincinnati. True, I have watched it and the jury is still out on this one. But I have also run across HBO's new comedy series, Flight of the Conchords. I'm basing my review on the series opener that I found quite humorous. The basis of the show from what I can tell is these two deadpan rock band wannabes from New Zealand try their luck at making it big in New York. One of the main characters (who I've seen somewhere before) is a Mick Jagger look-a-like. Actually he is more of a caricature of ole Mick. The funniest aspect about the show is that these two who are stars in their own heads break into music videos throughout the show. Funny. The lyrics of these songs are common uncreative lyrics explaining the current emotions that are taking place with these two. After being dumped by the girl (or should I say gull) of his dreams, they sing something like, "I'm not crying, I'm not crying, it's just rainin' real hawd." And then later in the same song, "I'm not crying, I've just been choppin' onions." The characters never laugh at themselves. FUNNY, I'm tellin' ya. Watch it for a guffaw or two.

Duck Tony!

I have a confession to make. I love the Sopranos. The HBO series is the most well-written show I've ever seen on TV. I've watched from the start. Remember those days, Tony? Who coulda guessed so many people whacked? I've enjoyed the weaving in of the psychology and even spirituality from time to time amidst all the violence and stuff that a Baptist minister should probably be blogging against. But man-o-man I love the show. I have loved and hated Tony and other characters on the show. They all struggled for something higher, and all have failed. We'll see if Tony fails tonight and you gotta think he will. I also find the show quite funny. All the misspeaks that Tony and others gave without cracking a smile. Here is one as an example: (Tony speaking to his therapist about his son A.J., paraphrased) "My son oughta be out there getting laid, instead he's at home watching cartoons in a fetus position!" HA! a fetus position! That's great. He can whack people but he is dumb as a tire tool.

Tony, alive or dead, I'm gonna miss you in a weird sort of way. You should have never killed Christopher though he was on his way out anyway. It was the ultimate sin. Some things are more important than being the boss. I guess now I'll have to watch John from Cincinnati.

Society's Need for 12 Step

What the hell is wrong with us? I called my mom a few days ago and she was ticked off because Paris Hilton and her return to jail was dominating the airways. FOX NEWS: Paris. CNN NEWS: Paris. ABC local news: Paris. Do I blame this on Rupert Murdoch who I truly believe sees it his duty to control as much of the news as possible? Does he want us to forget that a mess of a war is taking place in Afghanistan and Iraq? Does he want us to forget congress' botched attempt at immigration reform? As much as I'd like to blame that jerk with the media's fascination with Paris and Bradgelina, I'm afraid the problem is with us. We are like addicts that need a good AA program. We are in denial. If we slow down, if we admit our powerlessness, we think the wheels will come off the train we all ride. However, that is exactly what we need. Our world is in a whole lot of trouble- Iraq, Sudan, the environment, New Orleans, etc. I don't have any answers. I'm mad. I get frustrated that our government is so inept that it can't help Katrina survivors and when the next disaster takes place I expect the same mismanagement of money and resources. Will they ever mess up so bad that we demand them all to go home or reform? I believe the day is coming. In the mean time maybe we can demand more of our media sources and more of ourselves. We could stop caring about the Hiltons and start singing the praises of our Troops and those that preach peace and solid solutions.

I'm glad Paris is in jail again. I hope she returns to her mansion a little more like Mother Theresa than her old posing self. I heard this morning on Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood, that she actually said she hoped the media would turn its focus to more important events like the War in Iraq. I hope she meant it. Then maybe I'd care.