Read a banned book

I like to read… who am I kidding? I LOVE to read. If I have any addiction, it would be to books. I can’t seem to stop myself from buying books. At least now, I can manage to buy paperbacks instead of only hardcovers. This summer alone I’ve probably purchased 15-20 new books with no hopes of finishing them any time soon, and still I want more.

While I typically prefer Fantasy/Science Fiction, I’ll read just about any genre. In my library you’ll find Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, Ken Follett and Joseph Keller, Eudora Welty and William Faulkner, Christopher Moore and Neil Gaiman, China Mieville and Stephen King, Brian Jacques and J.K. Rowling, Gregory Maguire and Michael Chabon, Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbø, and Tana French and Dean Koontz. That’s just scratching the surface.

There are very few books I would refuse to read, and there is rarely a time I would favor censorship or out-right banning. The way I look at it, if you don’t like the subject matter, the language or plot, just don’t read it.

Sept. 24 through Oct. 1 is Banned Books Week. Reading through the list of books challenged or banned this year in schools and libraries, I was amazed and incredulous at the reasoning behind some the challenges.

I was not surprised to find that I’ve read many of these verboten novels. In honor of Banned Books Week, I’ve already started reading yet another challenged book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

I’ll let you know if I feel corrupted afterward.

BB2G Auction

Band Back Together is holding a fund-raising auction to help defray costs of filing for non-profit status, running the site, and BB2G outreach efforts. Check out the amazing items up for bid, or simply make a donation. While you’re there, be sure to read some of the awe-inspiring stories from BB2G contributors, and peruse the resource library. Whatever your own story is, you’re sure to find a community that is supportive and accepting.

With a little help from my friends…

Band Back Together, a community created by Aunt Becky of Mommy Wants Vodka fame, if you haven’t already heard, is a safe haven for anyone needing support and comfort when faced with seemingly overwhelming struggles. Whether it’s a personal conflict, or something you’re facing as a caregiver, BB2G is a place where you can share your stories, where you can feel not so alone, and get some amazing, non-judgemental feedback and help.

You’ll meet others there going through the same things you are, who have come through the fire stronger and wiser.

The website also offers a plethora of resources on a staggering array of subjects, and most recently has added a whole library of go-to links for teens ranging from cyberbullying to eating disorders, to mental health issues, to losing a loved one.

The Band is now going through the process of establishing non-profit status. To that end, an auction is being organized to help off-set the registration costs.

Guess what's awesome? THIS (details for how to get into the fundraising for The Band): bandbacktogether.com/nonprofit-fund…—
Band Back Together (@bandback2gether) September 05, 2011

You can help by checking out the Band’s bulletin board on Sept. 19 to see all the wonderfulous items up for auction, then bid with abandon. If you’d rather, you can also make direct donations to the Band’s PayPal account (keep checking the BB2G bulletin board for that link). OR… you can do like I did, and donate something for the auction.

Remember this post, where I rattled on about my jewelry making? I’m donating this necklace to the Band…

And as Aunt Becky says, “All proceeds from this auction will go toward costs of filing for non-profit status, running this site, and outreach efforts.”

If the Band has helped you or someone you love, or if you just want to help a sistah out, pay it forward and show a little love to Aunt Becky. It’ll do great things for your karma.

(Remember, all bids must be made at the Band’s website, NOT here. I can’t accept them, nor can I forward them…)

I’m ugly

I’m not ugly because I’m nearing the second half of my life, and gravity and time have done their best to conquer me.

I’m not ugly because my skin is dry and grey, wrinkles forming around my eyes and mouth, creasing my forehead and neck.

I’m not ugly because the black stubble on my chin and upper lip is enough to make a pubescent male envious.

I’m not ugly because I have more dimples on my ass and thighs than on my face, or because my hair is thin and brittle, greying in the most inappropriate places.

I’m not ugly because I tip the scales well beyond my full-pregnancy weight, and it seems that no amount of exercise and/or diet is breaking that barrier anytime soon.

No…

I’m ugly when I yell at my son for something he has no control over. That I let my impotence and ignorance make me intolerant and unfeeling, when instead I should be compassionate and consoling when he’s struggling with his anxiety and fears.

I’m ugly when I think or say something racist and bigoted about someone because of how they dress, or speak, or appear.

I’m ugly when I consider someone stupid for not believing the same way I do about religion, or politics, when I imagine the only truth is mine.

I’m ugly when I swear, spewing vulgar words when I’m intelligent enough to find better, more effective ways to express my pain, anger or frustration.

I’m ugly when I judge someone for their weight, heavy or thin, I don’t know their obstacles.

I’m ugly when I criticize parents of children who appear out-of-control. I don’t know what troubles are lying beneath the seemingly unruly behavior, what physical or mental issues are at play.

I’m ugly when I get angry at my husband over some inconsequential chore, without considering how hard he works to provide the sole income for our family.

I’m ugly when I hold a grudge, letting my hatred fester and become a cancer in my soul.

I’m ugly when I lose patience with my daughter, expecting her to remain a child and not a grown woman with opinions and thoughts of her own.

I’m ugly when I fail to say I’m sorry when I cause someone pain, when I neglect friends or family, when I’m selfish and rude.

I’m ugly whenever I am somehow less than my potential, fearful and complacent, reluctant to take a stand, speak out against an injustice, or to right a wrong.

Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.
~ Dorothy Parker

Science lesson

On a rain soaked street, far from lampposts and shoulders, a car sat parked, the driver’s tires straddling the side of the road. Rounding a blind curve, Stella never saw the other car blocking her lane.

In that moment the universe split, radiating out like a spiderweb. Each new world held a version of the encounter. In one, a collision was averted. In another, a wreck damaged both cars but the occupants survived. In yet a third the driver in the parked car died, in the fourth Stella did.

Maintaining simultaneous awareness in each world, Stella finally understood quantum theory.

The 100 Word Challenge, a writing prompt created by Velvet Verbosity, takes a single theme to tell a story in only 100 words ~ no more, no less. This week’s theme is ‘Split.’

Making sense of it all

“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out”
~ Vaclav Havel

Toolshed

I’m not always the sharpest tool in the shed. I can talk a good game. I know a lot of big, fancy sounding words and can use them, most of the time, in the right context. But, I’m not comfortable having deep, intellectual, philosophical discussions.

It’s not that I’m stupid, I’m just more common sense smart, than I am book smart. I do read books, two or three at time – and I can manage to keep the characters and plots from meshing together. It’s only that these books are merely for entertainment. I rarely pick up a book of non-fiction. My days of reading for enrichment or education are long gone.

There is an effort to keep up with news and what’s going on in the world, but I couldn’t regurgitate it back to anyone in any sort of comprehensible way. (There’s one of those big words I was talking about.) In my head, I catalog all this information, construct opinions, formulate beliefs, and decide what my course of action will be. If forced to explain all this to anyone, the best I could come up with would be ‘just because.’

That’s really too simplistic. Given an adequate amount of prep time, I could make a convincing argument, but I don’t want to. I don’t feel a need to justify anything I believe – be it political, religious, ethical… whatever – to anyone.

I know that I hold opinions on certain topics that are different from my husband. We could argue about it. I could give him definitive reasons why he’s wrong and I’m right. I know I won’t change his mind, so it’s pointless to attempt it. Besides, he has as much right to his opinions as I do mine, and probably feels he’s as right as I do.

The same holds true for my kids. In 2012, both my children will be voting age. Neither my husband nor I will TELL them how they should vote on any issue. We can explain why we feel a certain way, ask them what they think, and then encourage them vote how they want.

It’s the same reason why I won’t tell either of my children what they have to believe regarding religion. We can discuss my beliefs, why I believe what I do, and the rest is up to them. I’ll never try to force them to choose a specific path.

There are people in my life who are very dear to me who have different beliefs, diametrically opposed to what I think is correct, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a small part of who they are. If I rejected everyone who didn’t think exactly as I do, I would be very lonely, and bored – husbandless, childless, friendless, an only child, and an orphan.

I don’t want to live in that world.

In the end, can we ever truly know, without a scintilla of doubt, that we are absolutely right about anything?