Oxford Summer Day (a.k.a. the poem in which I attempt to use a little bit of rhyme)

Prickly seedlings plummet amongst spires
But sunshine equalizes just as greatly, in June
Our brainstorms are quenched by shady leaves and branches
and blankets form bonds with the yielding dunes.

The camera's eye abandons its compass
Breezes sing birdsongs for kidneys and lungs
Skin cells yawn, stretch, and lavish
and clouds become, and become, and become.

one of my favorites

Earth

"A planet doesn't explode of itself," said drily
The Martian astronomer, gazing off into the air--
"That they were able to do it is proof that highly
Intelligent beings must have been living there."

-- John Hall Wheelock, 1961

Social Justice Is

"Social justice is what faces you in the morning. It is awakening in a house with adequate water supply, cooking facilities and sanitation. It is the ability to nourish your children and send them to school where their education not only equips them for employment but reinforces their knowledge and understanding of their cultural inheritance. It is the prospect of genuine employment and good health: a life of choices and opportunity, free from discrimination."

-- anonymous Indigenous Australian

running from cubicle emotions by dreaming of snow tunnels

satisfying stick as innocent powder morphs upon stalwart density
under miniature knit glove tips freezing and refreezing as body
heat meets fresh sky tossed glacier ash now yielding under
mole-like hell-bound instincts found in all socializing bipeds
realized and not yet suppressed in this mitten-wielding creature
two by two by two wise years only and not yet immature
patting soft grandmother goodnights on her ceiling of sanctuary
that shelter becoming tough and glistening like five fancy chandeliers
imported from anywhere but ivory tower conveyor belt factories
dangerous in its sheath of basic elements making false promises
keeping cocktail party monsters at bay, denying the chronic onset
of cubicle emotions, water cooler laughter, conference table existence

back, i'm looking into one scintillating burrow to nowhere
now satisfying in plump negative space and a smack of ingenuity
eight years old and snowsuit memory of me hunches and crawls
surrounds herself in blue white translucence, warm in its ice,
humming mogollon rim prayers to keep the sun rays asleep

stepping out: emerging

I. (attempted) postcard from a fruit bowl

it was so tasty!
i was too overwhelmed
to stop to write to think
of the colors, a rain
bow of tastes, a sen
sation of textures, too
good to contemplate, too
poetic to poet

(and all this,
before my coffee?
must drink mud,
wash away the rainbow)


II. brief body writing

uncomfort
-able thigh sticking
to chair and other
thigh, cloth of skirt that
i know isn't long enough just
really isn't long enough! oh
great, and now my hand
cramps red!

must type
next time i
attempt this.

sighs.


III. postcard from a palo alto cafe

other than the smiling t-shirt man
who looks like that Wong fellow on the 10 o'clock news
and the long long hair girl
who recalls my college roommate, holly like a fairy

i'm overwhelmed by whiteness.

not in a saramago, blindness of whiteness
but a creepy polo-and-khaki saturation of
polite babble perfect haircut
dogs-in-knit-clothing
whiteness

eh! whatev.
good coffee.
pen down.

What Next?

I've obviously been neglecting this blog. I'd like to bring it back to life, but I'm not sure what direction to take it in. I've been thinking of trying to write poetry again, or, at least, to write creatively again. A new friend has given me a few writing prompts, and I may toy around with them in the coming days and weeks. I assume I've lost all my regular readers, but maybe some of you are still out there....?

Blood Diamonds are NOT Forever

From African Action:


On February 14, most of us pause a little to appreciate our loved ones in remembrance of Valentine’s Day. At Africa Action we deeply appreciate your continued love for and commitment to social justice. In extending our warmest Happy Valentine’s Day wishes, we invite you to read our new resource on ‘blood diamonds’ titled “Blood Diamonds are NOT Forever!”

Jewelry sales spike around Valentine’s Day as many people get trinkets to adorn their love. Sparkling as they do, these polished stones can easily conceal their sweaty, rugged, and indeed bloody path from the hills of Sierra Leone and the plains of Botswana to America’s glitzy malls. As “Blood Diamond” the movie showed, it’s a violent journey littered with broken dreams, senseless killings and communities torn apart by greed. Amnesty International estimates that 3.7 million people have died in diamond financed conflicts in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone alone. This Africa Action resource identifies some clear opportunities for action to change U.S. policy and curtail the devastating impact of illicit trade in blood diamonds. Go>

Also, do not miss these new Africa Action resources on our website:

1. Africa Action annual Policy Outlook - Highlights the key themes and trends in U.S. Africa policy. In 2008, the Bush Administration’s fixation on security and the “war on terror” will escalate the militarization of U.S. policy in Africa. In his last year in office, President Bush will continue to promote economic policies that exacerbate global inequalities...Go>

2. AFRICOM Statement - This statement addresses the threats to human development, democracy and justice in Africa posed by AFRICOM, the Bush administration's new unified command to coordinate U.S. military operations on the continent...Go>

3. Darfur Statement - This statement responds to the recent assault on villages in West Darfur by the Sudanese military and allied militias. The statement calls for increased U.S. diplomatic pressure to protect the people of Darfur and pursue political solutions to Sudan's multiple conflicts...Go>

4. Zimbabwe Statement - As Zimbabwe's presidential, legislative and local elections in March approach, Africa Action urges the Bush administration to move away from unilateral intervention in Zimbabwe's political process and instead support people-driven democracy through multilateral engagement...Go>

For more information on Africa Action’s work, please visit www.africaaction.org

Thank you for your continued support and once again happy Valentine’s Day!

Sincerely,
Staff @ Africa Action

1 Million Deaths in Iraq

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/1/headlines

Study: 1 Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by U.S. Invasion

A leading polling group says more than one million Iraqis have died as a result of the U.S. invasion. The Britain-based Opinion Research Business found one-fifth of thousands of households interviewed had at least one death linked to the occupation and ensuing sectarian violence. The survey has a margin of error of 1.7%. The million-figure could be higher because researchers were barred from the volatile regions of Kerbala and Anbar.

New Research on Bisexuality

"The more fluid you are sexually, the more stable you become behaviorally."
(--from the podcast 60 Second Psych)


APA Press Release
January 15, 2008
Contact: Pam Willenz
Public Affairs Office
(202) 336-5707

BISEXUALITY NOT A TRANSITIONAL PHASE AMONG WOMEN
10-Year Study of Women Helps Establish Bisexuality as Distinct Sexual Orientation; Debunks Stereotype that Bisexual Women Can't Commit To Long-Term Relationships

Washington — Bisexuality in women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and not an experimental or transitional stage that some women adopt “on their way” to lesbianism, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

The study of 79 non-heterosexual women over 10 years found that bisexual women maintained a stable pattern of attraction to both sexes. In addition, the research appears to have debunked the stereotype that bisexual women are uninterested in or unable to commit to long-term monogamous relationships.

“This research provides the first empirical examination of competing assumptions about the nature of bisexuality, both as a sexual identity label and as a pattern of nonexclusive sexual attraction and behavior,” wrote University of Utah psychologist Lisa M. Diamond, PhD, who conducted the study. “The findings demonstrate considerable fluidity in bisexual, unlabeled and lesbian women's attractions, behaviors and identities and contribute to researchers' understanding of the complexity of sexual-minority development over the life span.”

Results of the research were published in the January issue of Developmental Psychology, published by the APA. This special issue of the journal focuses on research into psychological topics concerning sexual orientation and gender identity.

Diamond used interview data collected five times over a decade from 79 women who identified as lesbian, bisexual or unlabeled. The subjects initially ranged in age from 18 to 25 years old.

Among Diamond's findings:

• Bisexual and unlabeled women were more likely than lesbians to change their identity over the course of the study, but they tended to switch between bisexual and unlabeled rather than to settle on lesbian or heterosexual as their identities.
• Seventeen percent of respondents switched from a bisexual or unlabeled identity to heterosexual during the study – but more than half of these women switched back to bisexual or unlabeled by the end.
• By year 10, most of the women were involved in long-term (i.e., more than a year in length) monogamous relationships – 70 percent of the self-identified lesbians, 89 percent of the bisexuals, 85 percent of the unlabeled women and 67 percent of those who were then calling themselves heterosexual.
• Women's definitions of lesbianism appeared to permit more flexibility in behavior than their definitions of heterosexuality. For example, of the women who identified as lesbian in the last round of interviews, 15 percent reported having sexual contact with a man during the prior two years. In contrast, none of the women who settled on a heterosexual label at that point reported having sexual contact with a woman within the previous two years.

“This provides further support for the notion that female sexuality is relatively fluid and that the distinction between lesbian and bisexual women is not a rigid one,” Diamond wrote.

Article: “Female Bisexuality From Adolescence to Adulthood: Results From a 10-Year Longitudinal Study,” Lisa M. Diamond, PhD, University of Utah, Developmental Psychology, Vol. 44, No. 1.

Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office or at: http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/dev4415.pdf

Lisa M. Diamond, PhD, can be reached by e-mail

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 148,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.

Capitalism be damned; China is still China

(Thanks again to Starr for this...) Take a look at this clip of a Beijing television news presenter, speaking at an event introducing Olympics coverage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOK9NBjub0Y


This clip is now banned on Chinese domestic YouTube-like sites, and at the end of the month, China is banning all video content online that is not produced by state-owned media. The presenter is now in jail on charges of defaming China.