Comments for Speaking of Cement

Comment on He was my last hope by admin

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:18:12 +0000

Thanks for your comment. McCain has changed over the years. I grew up in Arizona. There was a time when he actually did have some of the “Maverick” in him, but I think either he got so desperate to win the presidency that he grew willing to support anything he thought would get him elected or he just became more conservative as he got older. Sad to see bigotry become a defining characteristic of someone who used to be a decent guy. At least his wife and daughter don’t agree with him on this.

Comment on He was my last hope by Angla Cozzone

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:15:47 +0000

John McCain is also a very good politician. he did not win because the people are not satisfied on the Republicans.’”~

Comment on Panic in The Street by Hani Saigh

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:50:51 +0000

This is a fantastic 50K foot view of the situation, it’s frustrating that our elected “Leaders” don’t even grasp this. What’s worse is that by basically printing more money and triggering inflation, we stand to pay ever higher prices during this great economic decline. Slap in the face I call it!

Comment on Hang In There, Mr. Chief Justice by Antibush

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 03:45:07 +0000

Watch subject. Bush goes ballistic about other countries being evil and dangerous, because they have weapons of mass destruction. But, he insists on building up even a more deadly supply of nuclear arms right here in the US. What do you think? Is killing thousands of innocent civilians okay when you are doing a little government makeover?
If ever there was ever a time in our nation’s history that called for a change, this is it!
We have lost friends and influenced no one. No wonder most of the world thinks we suck. Thanks to what george bush has done to our country during the past three years, we do!

Comment on Speaking of Cement by maggie

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 10:42:04 +0000

I love the way you embrace life instead of looking to the clouds for another one after this. If there is an afterlife, that’s great, but so many people use that as an excuse to miss out on this one in the process. I KNOW liz didn’t miss out on this life. She danced. I regret that I didn’t know Liz in her adult hood, but given what I’ve heard of how she lived, she didn’t waste it. thinking way back on our childhood, I felt the vibrance of that appreciation of life and that attitude all your kids seem to have: “while I’m living, nobody can stop me from living this, my life”. That still inspires me. (Oprah would call it “authentic living”) Liz wasn’t here with us as long as we wished, but while she was here, she really lived. I think of how Liz danced, designed, acted, sang, played, and grew gracefully in the face of some hard curve balls. Even though the anxiety was real, she saw through it- she didn’t let it quell her creativity and her wit. Thinking of her humbles me and gives me strength, even when I’m feeling like I probably don’t deserve it, or like it may not even matter if I do or not. I snap out of that negative, pointless shit- I remember her smile. I cry and I smile, and I remember those days long ago. I’m so lucky to have had those days, and I’m so lucky to have part of her spirit in me. Always I can’t help but hope she really knows I feel this way, wherever she is. Maybe it’s just me placating myself, but I really do feel as though she does know that- if by nothing more than just that part of her that I feel lives on in me. I even felt it when we weren’t talking, even though I ignored it. She left us all a special part of herself, whether we deserved it or not, didn’t she?

Comment on Help me before I become something I hate! by maggie

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 09:10:45 +0000

I’ve had many gay friends, some of them fabulous, some of them just plain beautiful. The one I’m spot lighting now, was tall dark and handsome. He had a beautiful singing voice,and a sensitive, soul. He was mexican. His uncle was also gay. His macho father blamed his uncle for encouraging his son to come out as being gay. (Correction- he actually blamed him for CAUSING his son to BE gay. Ay caramba.) His father banished my beautiful friend from his home at the age of 17. My friend’s mother and sisters still loved him, but they could not change the father’s behavior. the last I heard of my beautiful friend, he was living with some older man, trying to “roll” and “tweek” his pain away. It’s a thought that sits in the bottom of my stomach. I hope he’s ok. How could a father so callously ignore the many gifts his son has to offer? Is it the fault of culture? Is it the fault of religion? Yes, partially, it is. Mostly, though, it’s the fault of fear. Fear of jugement, fear of being different, fear of weakness… fear of being fag bashed, or fag bashed by association… even fear of fear itself. (oh, and we can’t forget ignorance.)
There are past issues that I’ll let stay in the past for the sake of not letting it hurt people who can live more happily without ever knowing the sorted truth, but, suffices it to say that I understand the effects of this fear first hand, more than I wish to. It’s not just a problem that begins and ends with one particular culture or religion, though some really are worse than others. However, within those cultures exist supressed homosexuals who are products of the whole mish-mosh of conflicting ways of being. Try separating being gay or bi from your ethnicity or religion. It’s tough. All those things are part of who you are, whether you accept it or not, sometimes i’ts just a part of you. Religion is just an inseperable part of many cultures, they go hand in hand in many cases. These cases are quite scary. Just culture is overwhelming. Just religion is overwhelming. But couple them together, and GOD HELP YOU. The major culture/religion double whammie power houses are usually drunk with power and least likely to let any outside ways in, whether they pretend to be open minded or not. I don’t think it’s any one culture or belief- it’s something permiating almost everyone, almost everywhere. The good news is that I’ve seen GIANT strides against this horrible opression of alternate sexuality, only within the past 15 years. The ball is rolling.
One last comment about the race thing: How dare a few ignorant jerks supress gays by claiming to speak for every single member of thier entire ethnic group! There are always many views within each culture. Those jerks just have the biggest mouths and the most nerve, but they do not speak for everyone in thier culture. I know that the Bushies don’t speak for me, yet I might have a diffucult time convincing a french man that I don’t like the term “freedom fries”. My mom the catholic, always has some ’splainin’ to do whenever she tries to make people understand that the Pope is not her spokesperson. (Leave it to her to actively commandere the religion from the corruption instead of “letting them win”. I even think that’s wacky, but hey- it illustrates my point that even within each group, it takes all kinds!) I could never associate my beautiful mexican friend with his asshole mexican dad. I’d rather lend the overtone of his culture to him than to his dad. Rose colored glasses, mabye, but when thinking of culture, I usually think on a sub- culture level, which tends to help when I feel like just hating the whole lot of ‘em (whoever “‘em” are.)