a mass of morning glories
darkest purple, with red hearts
covering the tomato bushes
Friday, September 29, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Those Who Died for Us
1)
The animals who died to feed us.
It's dead. You're alive.
Is that fair? No.
So you do what you can,
towards a debt that can never be repaid.
2)
The people who died -
"for us," some say.
"for revenge," some say.
That's not as clear. It's not like food.
I've never looked into the face of a human being
(unlike an animal)
and understood that this person was dying for me.
But that's what I've been told.
3)
To the people who died -
for something,
for nothing.
You went to that place
where people die
and you died.
It's a debt that can never be repaid.
At least, speak their names.
At least say, it is not fair.
Death is not justice.
4)
To say, "Never again,"
is like trying to repay a debt that can never be repaid.
It's not possible.
But I say: "Never again."
Not for me.
Note: see also "Why I Became a Vegetarian."
The animals who died to feed us.
It's dead. You're alive.
Is that fair? No.
So you do what you can,
towards a debt that can never be repaid.
2)
The people who died -
"for us," some say.
"for revenge," some say.
That's not as clear. It's not like food.
I've never looked into the face of a human being
(unlike an animal)
and understood that this person was dying for me.
But that's what I've been told.
3)
To the people who died -
for something,
for nothing.
You went to that place
where people die
and you died.
It's a debt that can never be repaid.
At least, speak their names.
At least say, it is not fair.
Death is not justice.
4)
To say, "Never again,"
is like trying to repay a debt that can never be repaid.
It's not possible.
But I say: "Never again."
Not for me.
Note: see also "Why I Became a Vegetarian."
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
About Some of These Links
What they are and why I put them up here.
First: stop everything you're doing and CLICK ON THE LINK TO GIRL GENIUS ONLINE COMICS RIGHT NOW! NOW!!! Then click on "The Comic." Or something.
So, after doing that, you're not on this page anymore. Okay.
Some time later . . .
Making Light
Nominally, a community of people who write, read, edit and love science fiction. It also happens to be one of the most erudite, humorous and civil places on the Web. Civility is not easy to find out here - too many people appear to believe that anonymity gives them an unrestricted license to be rude. But anyway. I can't say that I agree with every opinion expressed on Making Light, but it is always educational and entertaining. A lot of these links were discovered there.
Endzone
Thomas M. Disch is a poet and science fiction writer. When I first visited his LiveJournal, he had recently posted some poems that really impressed me, so I linked to him. Since then, he's expressed some political opinions that I strongly disagree with. Anytime somebody supports their argument with the statement "Those people are not human beings," they are guaranteed to be wrong. Plus I found out that he once wrote "One does not read [Ursula] LeGuin for fun," which is more uncomplimentary to him than it is to her. However, I'm keeping my link to his site. Maybe there's some lesson to be learned from it.
No-Sword
The title tag says "One of the inspirations for my blog." I had been reading blogs for a while, without having any idea of starting my own. Then one day I decided to try it. These are the things that my blog has in common with No-Sword:
1. It focuses on a very specific topic. The topic of No-Sword appears to be "oddities of Japanese language and culture." Which is a topic that I enjoy, by the way, even though I don't know Japanese. But I am fascinated by languages.
2. Two topics that it absolutely avoids are politics and (for the most part) personal matters. Obviously, this is a very personal blog. But I don't use it as my diary. As for politics: like many people, I have very strong political opinions. But I have no desire to add my voice to the cacophony of the political blogosphere. As the moderator of a Sesame Street discussion board said about the question of Bert and Ernie being gay, "You may rest assured that your point of view has been stated before." That's how I feel about it.
The rest of these links are, you know,stuff.
First: stop everything you're doing and CLICK ON THE LINK TO GIRL GENIUS ONLINE COMICS RIGHT NOW! NOW!!! Then click on "The Comic." Or something.
So, after doing that, you're not on this page anymore. Okay.
Some time later . . .
Making Light
Nominally, a community of people who write, read, edit and love science fiction. It also happens to be one of the most erudite, humorous and civil places on the Web. Civility is not easy to find out here - too many people appear to believe that anonymity gives them an unrestricted license to be rude. But anyway. I can't say that I agree with every opinion expressed on Making Light, but it is always educational and entertaining. A lot of these links were discovered there.
Endzone
Thomas M. Disch is a poet and science fiction writer. When I first visited his LiveJournal, he had recently posted some poems that really impressed me, so I linked to him. Since then, he's expressed some political opinions that I strongly disagree with. Anytime somebody supports their argument with the statement "Those people are not human beings," they are guaranteed to be wrong. Plus I found out that he once wrote "One does not read [Ursula] LeGuin for fun," which is more uncomplimentary to him than it is to her. However, I'm keeping my link to his site. Maybe there's some lesson to be learned from it.
No-Sword
The title tag says "One of the inspirations for my blog." I had been reading blogs for a while, without having any idea of starting my own. Then one day I decided to try it. These are the things that my blog has in common with No-Sword:
1. It focuses on a very specific topic. The topic of No-Sword appears to be "oddities of Japanese language and culture." Which is a topic that I enjoy, by the way, even though I don't know Japanese. But I am fascinated by languages.
2. Two topics that it absolutely avoids are politics and (for the most part) personal matters. Obviously, this is a very personal blog. But I don't use it as my diary. As for politics: like many people, I have very strong political opinions. But I have no desire to add my voice to the cacophony of the political blogosphere. As the moderator of a Sesame Street discussion board said about the question of Bert and Ernie being gay, "You may rest assured that your point of view has been stated before." That's how I feel about it.
The rest of these links are, you know,stuff.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
The Geese Came Back
I may have mentioned before that I live near a river, and that there are frequently different kinds of wildfowl on the river.
One bird that we have a lot of is Canada geese. I seem to remember hearing that these geese are non-migratory, that they stick around all year. But that might not be entirely true.
After the last heat wave broke (not the one I wrote about, but the one after that), I heard the geese flying overhead one evening. And I realized then that I had not seen or heard anything of them during the heat of the summer. I don't remember when they left. But probably they had a cooler place to go to (how I envied them!) Since then I have seen them around, and heard them. It is a beautiful sound.
The swans were also out on the river recently. There are three of them. Seems like there should be a fourth.
One bird that we have a lot of is Canada geese. I seem to remember hearing that these geese are non-migratory, that they stick around all year. But that might not be entirely true.
After the last heat wave broke (not the one I wrote about, but the one after that), I heard the geese flying overhead one evening. And I realized then that I had not seen or heard anything of them during the heat of the summer. I don't remember when they left. But probably they had a cooler place to go to (how I envied them!) Since then I have seen them around, and heard them. It is a beautiful sound.
The swans were also out on the river recently. There are three of them. Seems like there should be a fourth.
Snail
It was a rainy weekend. In the afternoon, when it stopped raining, I went out to stretch my legs. Walking around the neighborhood, I came across a snail on a rosebush.
I haven't seen all that many snails, for some reason, and this one was different from the small snails that I have seen. It was about medium-sized, and its shell was yellow with a brown line describing the spiral of its shell. It was very pretty.
It was hanging upside down on a leaf, and there was liquid dripping off its head. I'm not sure if it was rain or some kind of snail slime. I watched it moving its head around. Snails don't appear to have much in the way of facial features - just two little horns.
I've heard that snails are considered to be pests. But this was one cute snail.
I haven't seen all that many snails, for some reason, and this one was different from the small snails that I have seen. It was about medium-sized, and its shell was yellow with a brown line describing the spiral of its shell. It was very pretty.
It was hanging upside down on a leaf, and there was liquid dripping off its head. I'm not sure if it was rain or some kind of snail slime. I watched it moving its head around. Snails don't appear to have much in the way of facial features - just two little horns.
I've heard that snails are considered to be pests. But this was one cute snail.
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