" I'm just sitting here watchin the wheels go round and round....."

I Believe

I believe - that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I believe - that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe - that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe - that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe - that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe - that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe - that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe - that you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I believe - that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe - that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe - that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe - that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe - that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe - that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe - that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I believe - that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe - that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe - that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe - that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe - that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I believe - that 2 people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe - that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you..

I believe - that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I believe - that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe - that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I believe - that you should send this to all of the people that you believe in.

I just did.

www.roots2life.com

A profound litany of truths sent to me by a fellow member of Stumble Upon.

"Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge...I'm tryin not to lose my head..."

What price is loyalty? At what point is it not worth your own integrity? Where do you draw the line? I can't seem to find the exit. It's as if life is an interstate system of absurdity punctuated by roadside attractions of folly. The "great flag flap" has grown into the proverbial fucking elephant in the middle of the room. I signed a ticket with "go fuck yourself" that was my choice...I took responsibility, I accepted the consequence of my actions. My choice cost me $500 dollars....not much else. I didn't get made into a community pariah nor did I think my opinion was the only one worth acknowledging. I never told the officer that "you're just giving me this because I'm black" but some suspended their belief and accepted this as fact. I must believe their gospel or I am disloyal, supporting the wrong people, accepting others false perceptions which they use as proof of their persecution. Life is rarely that simple, rarely that dogmatic...at least it should not be. I don't think you should clothespin flags to a bridge, I feel that it is tacky. That being said there are bigger things for me to lose sleep over.....cancer, poverty,the weight of parenthood, the suffering of people in Darfur, the inequities of life. Cheap flags on a bridge do not rate in the bigger picture. What does rate? Not browbeating others into a comprised sense of loyalty by taking on a sense of martyrdom due to an inability to accept personal responsibility. Was the removal of those flags a plot to undermine the patriotism of others or a anti-war rebuke? No....that would have had a purpose. That would have had meaning, a sentiment backed by conviction, passion, and ethics.Would that have been my vehicle to affect change? No. What would I have done? Kept driving. Why? Because a woman who rednecks accuse of looking like a terrorist knows better. I don't get the benefit of the doubt. I am always guilty even when surrounded by the truth. My extra melanin casts shadow over others ability to look at me fairly in a lot of instances. I do not accept this in so much that I have learned to cope with it. It has given me a gift in someways.....the gift of seeing what is worth fighting for, and what is worth ignoring. I use to think that the key to life was tolerance. I know after enduring many struggles that this is not enough. We must accept and respect the beliefs of others, if we do not how can we expect the same in return? Even if we do not always receive it we can not abandon these integrity's even when our anger beckons us to. If we do we become no better than what we abhor.

"Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."

So what do you think would happen to a flag mounted to a bridge with clothespins? Yes, clothes pins, the kind that hold billowing linens in the summer sun. Now picture that it's raining, the wind is a low grade gale you're driving along the flag lands on your windshield. What do you do? Keep driving ignoring the obstruction whilst noticing a path of other flags strewn upon the side of the bridge in the muck. Or do you get out and pick them up so you can take them to the police? Nope, wrong answer. You should leave them alone unless you want to be vilified on the local news characterized as a flag stealing terrorist.
My friend Heather learned this the hard way Monday afternoon, she had the unenviable luck to land herself in the middle of a political flap. You see she was just trying to feed a turtle... a transgendered turtle, seriously. But to get to the turtle she had to cross a bridge, lined with flags....held on with clothespins.

On the Westport Island bridge the family of a serviceman clothes pinned small American flags to the bridge. Yes...they used clothespins....clothespins. Classy huh? Well some jackass has been "vandalizing" them, which went largely unnoticed until said family called the police....then the media.Since when did the evening news become a vehicle to advance ones own personal agenda? They made themselves the cause celeb of their insular burg triumphing their patriotic self righteousness. All the while maintaining that there was no politics involved. They were just "supporting" the troops....hmm I thought you displayed yellow ribbons for that? But what do I know I'm only the child of two veterans. I grew up on military bases, my mother was a career serviceman that enlisted in the 1970s. Did I mention that she was a Afro-Chicana? Yes, a women of color in the military...in the 70s picture it, it was fucking tough. So I am not talking out of my ass here. If you want to fly the flag do so respectfully, follow the U.S. Uniform Flag Code. DO NOT ADHERE IT TO A BRIDGE IN THE MIDDLE OF EAST BUM FUCK IN THE RAIN, UNILLUMINATED HELD UP WITH A GODDAMN CLOTHES PIN! And yes there is such a thing as flag etiquette.
I could go on, but I have indigestion......I have no idea where that came from...but nevertheless I'm done.

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack....

Home improvement rears it's ugly head! I've been actually doing things and not writing.manana...manana....manana my minions.

Was knowing your weakness what made you strong?

I have chosen sleep over posting to this blog as of late. And home improvement projects...that has been the priority. But alas the natives are getting restless so I need to get on it.....tomorrow.