Thursday, September 30, 2010

A Year Older, Some The Wiser




She lives in this house over there, 
has her world outside it.
Grapples with the earth with her fingers and her mouth,

 she's five years old.
Thread worms on a string, 

keeps spiders in her pocket, 
collects fly-wings in...

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

It Gets Better Project



The recently launched 'It Gets Better' project is just one of the many reasons why i love Dan Savage. For those of you who are not familiar with his work, Savage is an American author, journalist and editor who is known for writing 'Savage Love', an internationally syndicated advice column. Not one to sugar coat his words, Savage deals out straight forward and often humorous advice regarding reader queries in matters of relationships and sex.

The 'It Gets Better' project consists of a newly created YouTube channel which allows gay, lesbian, bi or trans people the opportunity to tell their story in the hope of reaching out to kids or teenagers who may be experiencing hard times as a result of their orientation

In his own words:

"I've launched a channel on YouTube to host these videos. My normally camera-shy husband and I already posted one. We both went to Christian schools and we were both bullied—he had it a lot worse than I did—and we are living proof that it gets better. We don't dwell too much on the past. Instead, we talk mostly about all the meaningful things in our lives now—our families, our friends (gay and straight), the places we've gone and things we've experienced—that we would've missed out on if we'd killed ourselves then.

If you're gay or lesbian or bi or trans, and you've ever read about a kid like Billy Lucas and thought, "Fuck, I wish I could've told him that it gets better," this is your chance. We can't help Billy, but there are lots of other Billy's out there—other despairing LGBT kids who are being bullied and harassed, kids who don't think they have a future—and we can help them....

Today we have the power to give these kids hope. We have the tools to reach out to them and tell our stories and let them know that it does get better. Online support groups are great, GLSEN does amazing work, the Trevor Project is invaluable. But many LGBT youth can't picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can't imagine a future for themselves. So let's show them what our lives are like, let's show them what the future may hold in store for them."


To find out more about the project:

http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove

Friday, September 17, 2010

Frickin' Laser Beams

Hands down, the coolest use for a laser that I've seen to date!

Daito Manabe is a Japanese-based composer, media artist and DJ who has previously explored making music with his facial expressions. Motoi Ishibashi is a programmer, artist, designer and engineer. The two have collaborated to develop a simple but unusual visual display system. They have developed a system where they direct laser beams at a screen that has been mounted to the wall and coated with photo luminescent or glow in the dark paint.

A computer processes a digital image and then triggers laser beams which are directed at the screen. Each 'shot' or blast of ultraviolet light results in a an area or 'pixel' of glowing green light. In order to get a realistic and accurate image, graduation and shading is created by adjusting the timing of the laser and the newer a shot then the brighter the slight. The completed image will gradually disappear over a period of a few minutes.


Daito Manabe

Motoi Ishibashi



Source: World Business Satellite

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Milk



Feeling fragile after 2 weeks of intense physical and mental battering (hence the lack of posting). Playing this loud tonight as Ms Guðmundsdóttir's voice is a balm that soothes me in even the most trying of times.
Hoping that the universe will pay heed and decide to ease up.

"You'll be given love
you'll be taken care of
you'll be given love
you have to trust it

maybe not from the sources
you have poured yours
maybe not from the directions
you are staring at

trust your head around
it's all around you
all is full of love
all around you"

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Indisputable


"I walked in with you alone. I'm walkin' out with you alone"

I must be getting soft in my old age. I was sprawled on my couch early this morning, typical Saturday morning: pot of tea and laptop in hand; streams of sunlight sluicing through the blinds when I stumbled upon the true story of Danny and Annie Perasa which featured on StoryCorps.

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives. In the space of 7 years StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 30,000 interviews from more than 60,000 participants.

I will admit that their 27 year love story made me bawl like an idiot with its intimate glimpse into 2 things that are not always mutually exclusive: true love and marriage.

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