This Machine Surrounds Hate & Forces It to Surrender.

Pete Seeger died on Monday of this week.

He was 94 years old.

He was one of the best.

One of my favorites.

He started out singing

about what it was like to be a worker.

He wanted the unions to be singing unions.

Then he served in WWII

and married his wife.

They were still married in 2013

when she died.

HUAC called him in

and he got blacklisted for being a commie.

But he still sang

for civil rights

and Vietnam

and clean water.

Every time he sang,

he invited the crowd to sing with him.

It wasn't nothing to him

if he was singing alone.

His banjo said

This machine surrounds hate

and forces it to surrender.

Ten days before he died,

he was still chopping his own wood.

Lately,

I've thought more than once

I'm so glad that Pete Seeger is still alive

and that I'm alive.

He's the link to everything I love.

And I'm glad to share this earth with him.

If you're interested,

watch Pete Seeger: The Power of Song.

You can fight City Hall.

I already posted this picture of Ralph Nader

on facebook this week,

but I have to write words about him too.

I watched a documentary about him

called An Unreasonable Man.

(It's free on Amazon Instant Video with Prime!)

Did you know that he is the main reason

that we have seat belts

and airbags

and safe cars?

And he has worked tirelessly for years

as a consumer advocate,

so that our medicines have warning labels on them

and we have the right to know

when we're working around unsafe chemicals.

He has worked tirelessly for years

for the common man.

He ran for president a few times.

His aggressive 2000 election

may or may not

have cost Al Gore the election.

Lots of people think he is crazy.

His friends worry that his crazy political involvement

is detrimental to his other goals

and may tarnish his legacy.

In his own words:

"I don't care about my personal legacy.

I care about how much justice is advocated in America

and in our world

day after day,

and I'm willing to sacrifice whatever 'reputation'

in the cause of that effort."

Someone in the documentary said

that Ralph's life is proof

that you can fight City Hall.

Your vote counts.

Love him or hate him,

he believes in the virtue of the law

and in the American dream.

The American myth.

He believes in something,

and has every day of his life.

I admire him.

Patience.

Patience is like

when you go to a show

and the band you're there for 

is playing third or last,

and every sound check lasts

a quarter of your life,

and there are groups of young girls

talking so loud right next to you

and you still have to find something

beautiful in the experience

while you wait.

Like the red lighting tinging the outline

of a singer's beard,

like the way the floor shakes under you

so you don't even have to dance,

like a strobe light

flashing in your eyes,

like watching someone create something

right in front of you,

and thinking about your own status

as a created thing.

And then,

as if a reward for your patient waiting,

the group you're there to see comes on,

and your heart swells wide as the open sky,

and the room fills up

from floor to ceiling

with love.

Chrisanne told me to take a picture,

and I realized I'm the worst photographer.

#hipsterproblems

Today at work,

I realized that I felt uncomfortable

because my shirt didn't have a collar.

Partyin, Partyin, Yeah.

Tell me why

the fruit snacks I left for my roommates

on their second day of school,

the problems I've solved at work this week,

the will power I've had to make dinner

instead of going out to eat,

the good nights' sleeps I've had,

the effort I've made to see all my friends

even though I've moved,

everything I've learned

in the hours of documentaries I've watched,

the courage I had to walk out of a movie tonight

that made me a little uncomfortable

and I just plain didn't want to watch

don't seem to mean anything anymore

because now I'm

at home

alone

on a Friday night.

Whether you have plans on Friday night

has nothing to do with how good of a person you are

or even how many friends you have.

I mean,

I think not.

Right?

Jury's still out.

I spent the evening with this,

and I think it was a pretty good use of time.

And now I'm crying

and asking myself,

Who would ever kill Abraham Lincoln?

I'm Drawing a Blank.

Do you see that girl

up there 

on beautiful Tenli's shoulders?

That's Tilly.

Today is her birthday!

Which led me to pondering--

Is there anyone more loving?

Is there anyone more beautiful?

Is there anyone better at giving hugs?

Is there anyone who's better at walking

in super tall high heels?

Is there anyone who loves zebra print

as much as she does?

Is there anyone who tries harder to be like Jesus?

...

Nope,

I'm drawing a blank.

If not for Christmas, by New Years night.

What being home for Christmas was like:

Still parking like a boss,

even though I hadn't driven a car in months.

Getting a yellow toothbrush at the dentist
without even having to ask.

Longhorn Steakhouse > Texas Roadhouse

Episodes of History Detectives with Mom.

Dancing the hula to '60s cowboy music with Dad.

The Avengers with Jeff.
I know I'm a hater,
but it wasn't so bad.

Reading dystopian teen fiction out loud with Katie.
In the world of Divergent, I'm totally Candor.

That smallest one was smaller than
my little fingernail.

I took this picture with Santa
when I thought Santa cared.

The taste of Delaware.
Delaware is delicious.

I always look through all my old notebooks
when I'm at home.
Gold from APUS.

Making a quilt
with high school t-shirts.
And check out our new floor!

Katie's bows from her Christmas presents
always end up on her head.
This year she was "trailing clouds of glory."

Great Aunt Myrna sent some family photos
in her Christmas card.
Grandpa, Grandma, Blacky, Uncle Robert, & Mom.

Katie made the literal best pie
in this world.

SELFIE.

Keep Givin All the Love You Can.

Remember that time

I did a karaoke version

of Stand By Your Man?

Well, that was just for a few friends.

In December,

I did the same thing

in an Applebee's in Delaware.

In front of strangers.

There was this older man there

named Ralph.

Word on the street is

he's a karaoke regular there--

always sings Elvis.

As I walked past his table

on the way back from my performance,

he said,

"Good job, young lady."

It was such a success

I can barely think about it.

My next goal

is to karaoke

Heartless by Kanye.

Wish me luck.

2013.

I was glad to say see ya to 2013.

It kind of tapered off and died,

as evidenced by the dearth of blog posts

toward the end.

Naturally, I still spent some time

reviewing all my posts from last year.

And wouldn't you know?

I discovered so many beautiful parts.

For instance,

C.S. Lewis taught me the word inexorable in 2013

and it became my favorite word.

I've used it at least five times

in blog posts since.

I taught a group of high school kids in 2013.

Just me! Their teacher!

I learned to love swimming in 2013.

My body image really improved.

I realized that, no,

I didn't need to straighten my hair every day.

I started doing fun/crazy things with clothes.

I celebrated the change of seasons in 2013.

Winter Solstice.

I read so many books in 2013!

I read (part of) the Bible in Greek!

I went to so many good concerts

and saw my favorite bands

over and over.

I celebrated so many 

good historical anniversaries in 2013.

I made new friends and kept the old in 2013.

And I loved them all so much.

I made it through a summer with no air conditioning

by going to all sorts of festivals and carnivals.

I wrote in my journal in 2013

more than any year in the recent past.

And then of course,

all that boring adult stuff happened,

like graduating

and getting a job. 

Through it all

I learned a lot of hard lessons

about how to love people

and what happens to you when you don't.

(Spoiler: you die.)

Take any period of time,

no matter how hard,

and look at it closely,

and I think you'll find

that it was made up of atoms of goodness.

There is no life that isn't beautiful.