I was fortunate to be able to watch the swearing in of Barack Obama as our 44th President today. Moving inaugural address – it brought tears to my eyes and provided a little glimpse of what it might have been like when Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King spoke. It would not be in my character to go without mentioning Rick Warren, an opponent of gay rights, gave the invocation, yet President Obama spoke “that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness". I guess he forgot to include except homosexuals. It needs to be articulated around religion and homosexuality that you can have your theology and also sign off on gay and lesbian civil rights and full enfranchisement, including marriage. You know, a lot of Christians think Jews and Mormons are going to hell. Right? And yet Jews and Mormons can get married in our culture. No one's attempting to strip Jews or Mormons of their civil rights in our dominant Christian culture. Addicts, rapists, Muslims… think about it...
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - The late, great Martin Luther King, Jr.
Eeeek. I am way off track and tearing up… I just do not get it. Regardless I am hopeful and excited for our country; I have enormous confidence in President Obama and I am electrified by his oratorical skills. Tomorrow he is expected to redeem his promise to begin the withdrawl of U.S. forces from Iraq, and I am ready!
Switching topics… back in the day I wrote a semi mission statement for my life after college. I hope to find it on my old laptop so I can post it here. One line stated that I must travel to see my favorite musicians in concert whenever possible. Live music by talented artists is AMAZING and I am not a music buff by any means. So, outside of all the astounding movies I am peeing in my pants to see, there are concerts GALORE in March. I already have tickets to see Elton John and Billy Joel in Charlotte on 3/7; however now Dave Matthews Band and Ani Difranco are playing in that timeframe as well. I thought I would go with Ani since the ticket prices are about ½ the price of DMB, but Ani is playing the exact same week as Elton and Billy in all my driving distances.
The Circus will be here in a couple weeks as well – I really want to go to the Circus.
So much to do, and so little time and money…
I started to plan a Mediterranean cruise for B and me late this year or next, but instead we have decided that before we go exploring other cultures we would like to see and better understand what our country is comprised of first (one of my co-workers from Colombia always refers to Colombia as “My Country” and I just adore it). So we are going to go all Jack Kerouac-Neal Cassady-Bonnie&Clyde-Thelma&Louise on yall – to be dazzled by the romance of a cross-country road trip. There is no better way to get a feel for the expansive size of America, no better way to see the diversity in culture and climate of the different regions of the US and Canada than a cross country road trip, and we cannot wait!
It is going to go a little something like this (if your name is in brackets I may be contacting you for a little visit ;) – a * means we may bypass):
Charlotte, NC
Nashville, TN [My fave cuz Leigh]
Memphis, TN*
New Orleans, LA
Austin, TX [Fuckface Kannen J]
Sedona, AZ
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA [Shmeggles]
Yosemite National Forest
Lake Tahoe
Provo, UT [Oldhams]
Denver, CO*
Mount Rushmore (SD)
Omaha, NE [Steph… this stop will alter depending on where Steph is living these days]
Chicago, IL [Bob Waninski]
Niagra Falls
New York, NY
Washington, DC [Kristen]
Lynchburg, VA
Additionally, if you happen to live in one of these areas and I was unaware, shoot me an email [Arrington.hannah@gmail.com] so we can drop by or you can provide some advice on places to see.
A little piece of my heart is reserved for StoryPeople, and this was on their blog on MLK day – thought I would share…
I don't know much, but I know this. Want to live for justice? You're going to have to make a few people uncomfortable.
Want to make a change? You're probably going to have to reach out beyond the already converted and the circle of friends. That's a clique, not a change. That's a tight-knit circle, not a movement.
Right now, as a nation, as a world for that matter (whether or not you voted in this administration), we have the chance to move out of rhetoric into action, from hope spread on whispers to thinking out loud.
This is our chance to start, as a nation, as a world, a great romance with life.
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