Getting Sensitized

There are a number of things about which I no longer have to be sensitized. I'm already "green." I'm all about helping powerless people - and so on. But once in a while I hear something so powerful that I say to myself, "Yes, I finally get it."



Yesterday the minister at Dave's church had some good examples of how he became sensitized to the importance of caring for all of God's creatures.



He once knew a man who was concerned about the ethical treatment of animals. The man got caught up in presenting a court case against those guys at the carnival who give away those little baggies of gold fish.



It turns out that up to 90% of the bagged gold fish don't make it home alive.



Now the minister didn't say this but he intimated that he thought that giving a significant portion of your time and passion to this project is, well, nuts.



But then years later he visited a very contemporary art show in England. One exhibit presented a blender full of water and gold fish. The essence of the art was to see whether or not the persons walking by would turn on the blender.



This is wrong o n so many levels.



Last week this same minister unavoidably hit a deer with his car. This was years after the gold fish incidents so he's a very sensitive person in this area. Severely injuring the deer was traumatizing for him.



All this got to the gulf coast oil issue.



Besides being scared out of our wits for our own future, are we being sensitive to the pain and suffering to many of God's creatures (including humans) that's going on right now?





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Me and Plays

Last night we went to the great Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis to see M Butterfly. Prior to the play we had dinner with friends.



What an evening. I loved it all. Oh, except for the play!



What's with me and plays these days? Unless it's funny or inspirational or full of music or all of the above - and I'm sitting really close to the stage, I have a tough time sitting through plays.



As you know, M Butterfly is a (sort of) true story of a French diplomat in China who falls for a Chinese opera diva who's actually a man but the French diplomat doesn't find that out until 20 years into their affair.



Well, alrighty then!



Actuality, the play isn't on trial. Since opening on Broadway in 1988 staring John Lithgow and B. D .Wong (Law & Order, SVU) it's had tremendous critical acclaim.



So it's not the play. It's me. I found it depressing. I thought both characters were selfish and of course, the diplomat was clueless.



But then one of the points of the play is that tall, white, Western males ARE clueless.



I told the others on the way home how, when I'm in Florida without Dave, I've taken to going to dinner with friends, then when they get up to go to the play I get up and go home.



Am I getting old or what?



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Confronting the President

Two of our former president's wives have new books out. Laura Bush in "Spoken from the Heart" spills the beans about herself - and she looks very beautiful in her interviews.

But I've been a little more interested in Roslynn Carter's book "Within Our Reach - Ending the Mental Health Crisis." Mrs. Carter has had a passion for this cause for almost 50 years.

Did you know that one in four Americans suffers from mental illness?

Probably not because we still try to keep it a secret or ignore it and hope it will go away.

Most interviewers have played softball with Mrs. Carter - most likely because she's 83 years old - but I think she can still handle herself.

In the book she tells a funny story about when Jimmie was running for governor of Georgia. One night when he was campaigning Roslynn got in line to speak with him. He was surprised to see her but she simple said,

"What are you going to do about people with mental illness?"

This reminded me that when Jimmie Carter was first running for president - and nobody knew who he was - he had a room in a hotel in Miami and anybody who wanted could have a private audience with him.

So my husband, Ken, drove to Miami and had 15 minutes alone in a hotel room with future President Carter.

Ken asked Mr. Carter what he was going to do about a whole lot of things.


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Waking Up Is Hard to Do

Neil Sedaka was on NPR this morning. We all know that his song "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" was a huge hit a long time ago but Neil Sedaka has been a successful songwriter for over 50 years.



The interviewer was teasing him about the song title because Neil's been married to the same woman for over 50 years as well.



All of this reminded me of an article I read last week in the Star/Tribune (by the way, still a fine paper even though it's shrunk like the rest of them.)



In 1991 this local group of five male nurse anesthesiologists formed a singing group. You've probably never heard of them but they've sold 20,000 plus CDs and have had 5 million views on YouTube.



The reason they remind me of Neil Sedaka is because they sing parades.



"WAKING UP IS HARD TO DO."
Don't take my tube away from me.
I'm trying to breathe, oh, can't you see?
Take it out, and I'll turn blue,
'Cuz waking up is hard to do.



"THE LITTLE OLD LADY WITH HER FRACTURED FEMUR"

"SCOPIN' USA"

"WE'VE ONLY JUST ONE LUNG...to breathe."

(For after hemorrhoid surgery)
"RING OF FIRE"
I woke up with a burning ring of fire,


This group has the improbable name "the Laryngospasms." Named for a rare vocal-cord closure during the late stages of anesthesia.

If you have any interest in checking them out look up: Videos of the Laryngospasms.

Watch the "Waking Up"...video first.


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Does God Have a Sense of Humor?

I think God absolutely has a sense of humor.

"The Nature of God" is a heavy theological controversy but almost everybody has an opinion, though they might not phrase it that way.

A while back, on The Daily Show, Jason Jones did a piece on a minister who teaches Mixed Martial Arts in the name of Jesus.

It's called "Extreme Ministries." Jesus is depicted as the ultimate fighter.

In this ministry there's a lot of head splitting and teeth flying out.

I guess we all have some ideas for God about how he could do a better job of getting his word out. The cartoon above is from a recent New Yorker Magazine.

I tend to get my ideas about what God is like from the Bible, especially the N.T. A careful reading of the Gospels shows Jesus, mostly, as a totally loving, peace loving, cheek turning, humble, forgiving (did I mention loving) God/Human.

Yes, he got angry. But, by far, he was most irritated by his followers.

And, yes, God has a sense of humor.

Hey, get that telephone pole out of your own eye before poking at that speck in mine. (Matt. 7:1-5 Paraphrased)

By the way, the above scripture is all about judging other people. Apparently we're not supposed to do it.

Other evidence of God's sense of humor: God puts up with me.

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Different Planets

This little poster was in the latest AARP magazine. It's so true. In fact, I used to tell people that it seemed that my kids were from different planets. It's challenging to raise very different children and try to help them be all that they can be.

And now I think some of them feel the same way about their own children.

It's hard for grown kids to have to work together, when, for instance, their parents need them - when they're from different planets.

Years ago I went to California to visit my older sister whom I'd not seen in a very long time.

We had a good visit but I was astounded to realize how different we are. I'm kind of a minimalist. She had stuff everywhere. She and her husband loved Disney Land. Consequently, Minny. Mickey and the gang were sitting in every seat in the living room.

I have one watch. She emptied a drawer and over 50 watches of all sizes spilled out on the bed.

We had different ideas about politics, religion and raising kids.

It's like we were from different planets.

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We Don't Cotton to Foreigners

While sitting in Dave's downtown Minneapolis church this morning I couldn't help but be impressed by the international flavor of the congregation. The parents of one of the beautiful babies being baptized were from Haiti so they had an interpreter. Very cool.


On the other hand, we had a funny but sad experience on the road this past week. We were staying in a Holiday Inn Express just south of Chattanooga. In the lobby we chatted over snacks with a man from south Georgia. He was a hard working guy - travels 5 nights every week selling heavy equipment.

And he did not like foreigners. "They should all leave this country!" I told him I was from Orlando and central Florida depends on the tourist industry to survive. "We love foreigners."

We continued to have a cordial conversation. He called me a Yankee but then apologized. I allowed as how I AM a Yankee and an American since I was born in Indiana but that "I'm not sure about that guy (pointing to Dave.) He was born in Malaysia."

"Oh, so you're not an American?" Dave (with his Minnesota white skin) gently explained that, yes, he was American because his parents (and about 5 generations prior to them) are from Kansas .

The guy wasn't convinced.

So we told him that if his son, who's in the Army, and his son's wife were sent to Germany and they had a baby.."your grandson wouldn't be German. He'd be American."

The guy still didn't get it. We said our goodbyes and his parting comment was "You wouldn't like 'em if they took your job."

I said, "I'm a Methodist. We like everybody."


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We Made It!

As you know, Dave and I are living together as newlyweds but still maintaining our separate lives which includes each of us owning a home at opposite ends of the country.

Usually when we make our trip from Florida to Minnesota or visa versa it takes us 6 nights. We like to poke along visiting friends and family.

But this time, since we've just been on the long European trip and since Dave really needed to get back, we hightailed it to Minnesota in three nights.

A personal best for us.

Night before last our goal was Madison, Wisconsin. I've never been there so Dave suggested we stop and see the U. of W. campus where his daughter went to school.

So... after traveling all day ...we turned off the highway and headed into town. I was driving. I was exhausted. Dave was having trouble finding the school. Then I realized he hadn't been there in 30 years.

Oh, oh, will this cause trouble in paradise?

No. Of course not. He found it. Then he found the Edgewater Inn - a great old hotel bordering the campus and looking out on Lake Mendota. We ate in the bar staring out at the sunset over the lake and when we got tired of that we looked at dozens of photos of celebs who've stayed at the Edgewater.

Our room was huge - and overlooked the lake.

Yesterday morning we took our two mile walk around the University of Wisconsin campus and then to the capital square and beyond. My favorite kind of walk. Urbane and exciting.

We took a photo with my cell phone of Dave's daughter's sorority house. Thought we'd send it to her, but of course, neither of us had a clue as to how to do that.

All in all, we had a fantastic 15 hours in Madison, WI. The rest of the fast ride from the bottom to the top of the country wasn't bad either.


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Barcelona

After all the fun of getting lost in Lisbon we decided we can't be trusted on our own in big foreign cities so we opted for a tour in Barcelona - a city of 4 million people.

The 1992 Olympics were a big deal in Barcelona. We saw the diving pools, stadium and the Olympic Village that's been converted into apartments.

But by far, the biggest tourist attraction is Architect Antino Goudi's Cathedral. Started in 1882, it's still under construction. Some call it idiosyncratic. I call it over the top.

With 21 towers and 22 facades, it's massive. The three main facades depict the Nativity (Christmas,) the Passion (Easter,) and Glory (as in "going on to Glory.")

There's some Cubism influence and some Art Nouveau (maybe the massive bowls of grapes on top of some of the towers?) but most experts say it resists categorization.

As Dave would say, "No kidding!"

To me it looks like it was put into a giant microwave till it just started to melt.

Also looks like Goudi could have been heavily influenced by Walt Disney and/or Lady Gaga.

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Little Old Ladies Are Cool

Last week our Sunday school class was led by my friend JoAnn. She's almost as old as my Oldies.

She's the one who led the class the Sunday after 9/11.

Why is this little old lady leading us at such a tragic and important time? - I could almost hear some people saying.

They soon learned that she spent her productive years in the Foreign Service with her husband, and is quite an expert on the middle east. She lived in Baghdad. She amerced herself in the culture. She speaks Arabic. She was the perfect person to lead us on that sad morning in 2001.

And now this past Sunday she led a discussion on the book "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright. He's a big thinker. He raises uncomfortable questions.

Much of the discussion was on "Moral Imagination."

...hatred blocks comprehension by cramping our "moral imaginations," or our capacity to put ourselves in the shoes of another person. It's good for friends and family, but bad for rivals and enemies.

DISCUSS!

I want to be like JoAnn when I grow up.


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My Life in 3-D

For a long time I lived my life in 3-D - meaning that at regular intervals something big and scary jumped out at me.

I didn't much like it.

And now we know that the next big thing at the movies is all 3-D all the time. Nearly every big budget holiday movie next year will be in 3-D. This might be good for future Disney films or "Spring Break Zombie Cruise" but I think 3-D is a distraction in most movies.

And when a screenwriter like Patrick Melton who's written all three of the slasher "Saw" franchise expresses misgivings, it's serious.

The paper quotes him as saying: Watching someone get punched repeatedly in the eye is going to be nauseating in 3-D.

Well, yeah!

It seems to me that it will be a sad day when movies are made primarily to surprise and scare us rather than drawing us in with good storytelling.

I like thrillers but the best one I've seen in months is "Ghost Writer." A good story and visually beautiful. 3-D would have ruined it.


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I Like My Wrinkles

When I saw the dermatologist a few weeks ago he saw a little growth on my face he wanted to remove but allowed as how he didn't want me to have a black eye on my cruise so it could wait.

Don't really know how he picked out just one thing because I have a face full of crooks and crannies.

I have no intention of having them fixed unless, of course, they're dangerous. Although I feel sure that many of my family members and friends have. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just that I'm comfortable with mine.

My understanding is that when you have a series of surgeries you have to finally state what permanent expression you want (happy, surprised, etc.) then after all the cutting, pulling, stitching, bruising, swelling, and scabbing finally heal - that's the one you'll be stuck with.

Unlike one of my favorite writers, Nora Ephron, I will never write a book titled "I Feel Bad About My Neck." My neck has gone from straightforward up and down to a complication of hills and valleys - but I like it.

Yes, I do use creams. You can buy Carita's Diamant De Beaute for $600 per 1.69 ounce or pay around $20 for Olay. That's what I used to use but now I pretty much use the Walgreen's version. It seems to work about the same.

Besides, death is the only permanent cure for wrinkles.

But we all know that, in a pinch, Preparation H is a temporary fix.


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