Mirren.Tough.Berlin.Nazi.Lies.Mossad.Unrequited.Suspense.Gritty.Yes.

Today I read that Prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional.  This is a lovely thing.  Wonderful.  And hopefully it is just the beginning of what will be a wave of equal rights and civil liberties running rampant across this country and throughout the world.  This is my hope.

I know there are some people who believe with everything they are that gay marriage is evil.  But seriously people, what’s it to you?  If you believe in God, and this is the reason for your objection, read scripture and you will find passages saying things like judge lest ye be judged and do unto others and love your fellow man as yourself.  If you believe God won’t approve, then let God decide.  That’s how it’s supposed to work.  You aren’t God.  Just sayin’.

I don’t believe I’m going to be judged.  I believe in love.  I believe in hope and happiness.  I believe my love is no less important than yours.  I believe that if Karen and I were allowed to marry legally this would not undermine what you consider to be traditional marriage. I don’t care who you marry, as long as it doesn’t hurt either party involved, and I expect that I should have the same rights as you.

I’ve found the someone I will spend the rest of my life with.  I’m lucky.  And someday soon I will be able to legally marry her in any and every state in this country.  I believe this to be true.  Today’s ruling gets us back on the right road.  We’re going to get there.  Slowly, maybe, but we will get there.  And when we do Karen and I will stand up in front of friends and family and say I do.  Just like we did privately 8 years ago on that beach in Hawaii.  Someday soon…

This is good.  Really good.  Watch it.  If you love intrigue, murder mysteries, great filming, and fine fine television, you should check it out.

So along with this I like film, as I mentioned, and I like to get the inside scoop on it occasionally.  So when I saw this documentary on PBS called “These Amazing Shadows” I had to check it out.  Problem was it was on late and I couldn’t finish it.  Luckily there’s now such a thing as streaming Netflix and they, YES!, had it available.  For anyone who loves film this is a great little documentary about the National Registry of Film connected with the Library of Congress, how it came about, what it is, how they pick the films, etc.  Got me interested enough to go to the website of the Library of Congress and check out the list.  It’s pretty good, and not at all what you would think.  Well, partially what you would think, but not completely.  There are some very cool entries on the list.  Documentaries, home movies, shorts, newsreels, etc.  As well as films that are famous and you would know.  Very cool.

So if you love film and have a bit of time this one is worth viewing.

Is this making sense?

I’ve never attempted to articulate this before, but yesterday I was looking at our living room.  Simple.  We both appreciate art, in many forms, and it’s evident in our space.  The furniture is even sort of funky, which is part of it.  We are eclectic, because we always get something because we love it, not because it’s what we should have to go with whatever else we have.  We figure if we love something it will fit into the whole of what our place is.  The vibe.  We also believe in not having too much “stuff” so we try to keep things non-cluttered.  It’s a balance of taste and style and funk and having our space feel a certain way.  So I was looking at it and found myself thinking and feeling that a certain aesthetic sense fills it.  It fills me.  Anytime we go anywhere I see photographs.  Not the usual panorama, though sometimes that’s so, but usually a part of something, the form of something, the way the light hits a particular thing.  I notice.  And I’m glad I do.  It’s what happened yesterday as a certain winter light shone in through our living room window and hit part of a lamp.  That’s all.  Just a little light filtering in and hitting a part of lamp.  It was stunningly beautiful.

I never get too busy to notice, never too rushed to notice, because even when I am busy or rushed I still notice as my eyes pass something.  It’s wonderful.  At least I feel as though it’s wonderful.  I feel lucky to have this thing inside that naturally lets me see the larger, deeper, subtler things in life.  The way a leaf blows across the street, the barking of a distant dog that sounds happy, the passing shapes in clouds, the shadows made by the rising of the sun.  I sometimes feel these things so much I cry.  Cry from a place of joy for having seen something so stunning.  It used to embarrass me, but it no longer does.  I feel privileged, and I wish more people stopped quietly and said to themselves…wow… that is beautiful.  Whatever that may be.  I think the world would be a better and more joyous place.  How could it not be.  It brings connection with things, connection with the larger world, makes a person feel small and a part of something bigger all at the same time.  It brings a sense of peace, that things are as they should be for a moment, these brief snippets of time.  It’s freeing in a way.

I feel fortunate, lucky, privileged, to see the world through these eyes… these eyes that see beauty in the smallest things all around me.   And my hope is that you see it too…

If you think about the most important events in your life, they always involve the people you love.  Traveling to new places is best when shared because you aren’t just seeing something, you’re experiencing it with someone.  Buying things, though perhaps providing a brief level of happiness and excitement, a sort of rush, ends up just being stuff you own.  Stuff you have around you.  But events, dinners, days in the park, watching a movie and digging into the shared bowl of popcorn, walking, playing games, chatting over coffee… all these things involve people.  When I look on my life to this point there’s not one thing I have that I couldn’t live without… not one.  But the people… that’s a different animal, pun intended, all together.  The only things I ache for are more time with people I love.  More time.  The only thing I’m greedy about is time… and wanting more of it.

I was looking for quotes today as I always try to put one inside the Christmas cards we send, and I came upon this little gem from Mother Teresa…

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.    ~ Mother Teresa

It seems, not too surprisingly, that Mother knows what it’s all about…  Here’s to peace…

I don’t like being led through a film. Or at least feel like I’m being led. You know the type I mean. When you feel like, oh, this is where I’m supposed to cry, oh now… yes now I’m supposed to laugh. They never feel organic. And though sometimes they can still be enjoyable, I never get that wow, what a fantastic experience I just had kind of feeling. It’s more like… well, that was sweet, or that was cute. The Help is neither sweet nor cute, and that’s such a refreshing thing in todays movie scene.

I loved this movie. It’s poignant without being sappy, funny without being cheesy, heartfelt without being foolishly sentimental. It will make you laugh, feel heart break and triumph, cry, and leave you with a feeling of hope that things can and do get better. That though victory and change may happen in a small and slow way, they do happen.

Good art, no matter the form, makes a person think about the world in a deeper more meaningful way. Forcing you to examine personal opinions and boundaries, encouraging you to think about things in new and different ways than you had before. Good art offers discovery, hope, and changes of mind at the same time it wins and breaks our hearts. The film The Help, without question, is good art.

Can’t wait to see this…