Life Fragment - Memorial Day, 1986

An Open Letter to Barack Obama

By Alice Walker

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

[click here for full text]

Kenneth Patchen - I Feel Drunk All the Time

Jesus it's beautiful!

Great mother of big apples it is a pretty

World!

You're a bastard Mr. Death

And I wish you didn't have no look-in here.

I don't know how the rest of you feel,

But I feel drunk all the time

And I wish to hell we didn't have to die.

O you're a merry bastard Mr. Death

And I wish you didn't have no hand in this game

Because it's too damn beautiful for anybody to die.

Olbermann weighs in on Prop 8

If this does not make you think, i give up.

MLK

"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."

Life Fragment - 2001

i drew this...

More on Prop 8

i snapped this photo in Provo. Click to enlarge. Click here for legal article regarding Proposition 8.

Another Photo: