you have reached zoe prizer

back to the world

2009-03-13T21:39:00.003-04:00

i've been venturing into the maybe world again. unraveling. it stops tonight.

mend, restore, redress

2009-03-13T08:30:00.002-04:00

when i was 19, katharina gave me a deck of rune cards to consult in times of uncertainty. today nauthiz answered my call.

"the need for restraint is unquestionable here. drawing this Rune indicates that there will be holdups, reasons to reconsider your plans carefully. there is work to be done on your self. so take it on with good will and show perseverance."

it says, don't take this world personally.

sehnsucht

2009-03-12T21:04:00.003-04:00

"Now I look for her always
I'm lost in this calling
I'm tied to the threads of some prayer
Saying, 'When will she summon me
When will she come to me
What must I do to prepare'
When she bends to my longing
Like a willow, like a fountain
She stands in the luminous air
And the night comes on, it's very calm
I lie in her arms, she says, 'When I'm gone
I'll be yours, yours for a song'"

magdalena terf

2009-03-11T21:42:00.006-04:00

on our hike today i remarked to christina that i am going to paint a picture of the red covered bridge when the weather gets warmer. i mentioned that i want there to be a girl on the bridge; so while i made a frame with my hands, she took the liberty of modeling sexy poses around its periphery.

now i know who painted this. (i also figured out that some bloggers post paintings found by image-googling emotions.):

artist: georges de la tour. french. 17th century painter. rediscovered in 20th century by hermann voss. influenced greenaway's film the draughtsman's contract. painted religious scenes by candlelight. this one is in the louvre. if i ever go there again i will look for it.

i will do what must be done

2009-03-10T23:01:00.002-04:00

i charged a bracelet with an incantation
i learned the symbols for all the signs of the zodiac, along with their corresponding elements
i wrote a list of alternative lines of work to consider
i wrote objectives for my culture jamming group
i picked up a copy of the roxborough star (there is a certain dynamic, mysterious, enigmatic art therapist on the front page...)
i assisted with the prepartions of some seriously delicious southern fried seitan
i watched buffy cope with her mother's death
i attended my african dance class

now i am going to attempt to watch another five minutes of another woman before i journey to the netherworld of kitten babies and jewish post-docs (great movie rec, angie!)

pussy willows

2009-03-09T08:07:00.003-04:00

had a nice little adventure with johanna yesterday. took the r5 into town to see the flower show. it was rather crowded and as you waded through the sea of people, all you heard was a reichian chorus of "that's really pretty". and then you joined in.

afterward we strolled through reading terminal market and got ale and fries at the hard rock cafe. i felt like a happy kid.

dave chappelle

2009-03-06T08:17:00.003-05:00

is wayne brady gonna have to choke a bitch?

game. blouses.

let's play the game.

drip drip drip, pee on you.

top ten films of 1984

2009-03-05T07:38:00.001-05:00

1) the times of harvey milk
2) and the ship sails on
3) 1984
4) next of kin
5) purple rain
6) the hotel new hampshire
7) stranger than paradise
8) body double
9) splash
10) murder rock

top ten films of 1985

2009-03-05T07:37:00.001-05:00

1) a zed and two noughts
2) after hours
3) the color purple
4) phenomena
5) red kiss
6) the breakfast club
7) l'effrontee
8) re-animator
9) desperately seeking susan
10) demons

top ten films of 1986

2009-03-05T07:35:00.001-05:00

1) blue velvet
2) hannah and her sisters
3) caravaggio
4) the fly
5) under the cherry moon
6) castle in the sky
7) tampopo
8) big trouble in little china
9) a room with a view
10) henry: portrait of a serial killer

top ten films of 1987

2009-03-05T07:34:00.003-05:00

1) full metal jacket
2) drowning by numbers
3) superstar: the karen carpenter story
4) opera
5) fatal attraction
6) dirty dancing
7) the princess bride
8) family viewing
9) the raggedy rawney
10) le petit amour

top ten films of 1988

2009-03-05T07:32:00.002-05:00

1) dead ringers
2) my neighbor totoro
3) alice
4) the vanishing
5) coming to america
6)dogura magura
7) the unbearable lightness of being
8) hairspray
9) 36 fillette
10) they live!

top ten films of 1989

2009-03-05T07:30:00.001-05:00

1) kiki's delivery service
2) born on the fourth of july
3) my left foot
4) speaking parts
5) heathers
6) the war of the roses
7) when harry met sally
8) steel magnolias
9) national lampoon's christmas vacation
10) the little mermaid

top ten films of 1990

2009-03-05T07:27:00.002-05:00

1) an angel at my table
2) the cook, the thief, his wife, and her lover
3) akira kurosawa's dreams
4) the comfort of strangers
5) wild at heart
6) jacob's ladder
7) misery
8) edward scissorhands
9) sweetie
10) cry-baby

top ten films of 1991

2009-03-05T07:25:00.001-05:00

1) naked lunch
2) silence of the lambs
3) rubin and ed
4) children of nature
5) fried green tomatoes
6) thelma and louise
7) dead again
8) poison
9) my girl
10) my own private idaho

top ten films of 1992

2009-03-03T22:22:00.001-05:00

1) twin peaks: fire walk with me
2) the lover
3) manufacturing consent
4) malcolm x
5) bitter moon
6) aladdin
7) basic instinct
8) that night
9) poison ivy
10) single white female

tenebrous oscillations

2009-03-03T22:15:00.001-05:00

anais nin describes it as follows: "conflict between wishes of the ideal self and the instinctive self." my two are not on speaking terms just now.

sweet snowy wishes

2009-03-02T07:40:00.000-05:00

today is march 2nd.
the moon is in the first quarter of taurus.
the color of the day is lavender.
happy birthday, karen carpenter.
happy birthday, dr. seuss
i se you.

the week in review

2009-03-01T15:45:00.005-05:00

1) visited the cezanne exhibit at the philadelphia museum of art. rather than featuring just the work of cezanne, they brilliantly put his work side by side with works by other great artists who were inspired by him. cezanne was a big dog for the modernists. even picasso said, "he was my one and only master!" giacometti: "...there is no painter so original as cezanne." i get it, but to be perfectly honest, i don't feel it. felt far more stendhal-like in front of the jasper johns pieces. i want to see an exhibit of his work!!

2) the oscars. i actually enjoyed this year's ceremony, despite the blase slumdog sweep. it seemed much more toned down, less snarky, and the recipients were a talented bunch. the presentations from the female actresses to their nominated peers were genuine and moving, i was glad to see milk gets its dues, especially for writing, and the little interlude with james franco laughing hysterically at the reader was wonderful. there were a few sore points though. i think it's criminal that bruce springstein didn't get a nod for his incredible song for the wrestler:

i also thought that should have been nominated for best picture, along with rachel getting married.

3) one great thing about being an aspiring cinephile is starting to connect the threads of the cinematic world. ever since i saw the elephant man, i have known it to be one of the great masterpieces. then on wednesday i saw truffaut's the wild child and it was like meeting the parent of lynch's film. so beautiful to see how the themes were honored, developed and re-worked. the wild child depicts the remarkably true story of a young boy who was found in the wilderness and taken in by a doctor to study and rehabilitate. i was not prepared for what i felt at the end and the questions it raised in my mind about what it means to truly be at home.

rare disease day

2009-03-01T13:04:00.004-05:00

i've really dropped the ball with my blogging of late. all week i was waiting to post about fascinating rare diseases and syndromes in honor of rare disease day and now the 28th has come and gone! well, better late than never, i suppose:

1) fatal familial insomnia this is an extremely rare genetic condition affecting only 28 families worldwide. at a certain point, an individual with ffi simply becomes untreatably unable to sleep. this leads to hallucinations, dementia and death.

2) pseudocyesis my mom wrote an article on this one! pseudocyesis is, quite simply, a false pregnancy. what makes it so fascinating is that the afflicted individual, quite convinced that he or she is pregnant, actually develops all the signs of a normal pregnancy. their periods stop, their bellies swell, they have morning sickness - they can even go into labor! heartbreaking.

3) munchausen syndrome by proxy this is typically a variant of child abuse, where the mother surreptitiously makes her child sick so that the child will depend on her for constant care and she will receive attention and sympathy from others. it can also exist in other types of relationships, but mother/child dyads are the most common. this seems so sadistic, and yet the underlying fear and loneliness must be unbearable.

4) folie a deux this is another interpersonal sort of condition that translates to "a madness shared by two". the sick part of me finds this impossibly romantic. the healthy part finds it terrifying. a shared delusional world that is cultivated and reinforced by each partner... very similar to a cult, where initiates are indoctrinated into a collective, and often delusional, belief system.

5) dissociative identity disorder everyone knows about this one - multiple personalities and all that. the psyche splits off into lots of different unintegrated pieces in order to survive intolerable trauma. i still wonder if those books i used to read about trauma-based mind control and c.i.a. sex slaves are for real. scary stuff.

6) stendhal syndrome named for the french writer stendhal, this is when you are so moved by beautiful art that you pass out. i wish i had this syndrome!

7) schneckenbecken dysplasia ok, this one i just included because it has a funny name. it's a really terrible genetic disorder involving bone abnormalities and shortness. babies born with this condition cannot survive.

8) de clerambault's syndrome i wrote all about this one back in february of last year after reading ian mcewan's awe-inspiring enduring love. this is when you are convinced that the object of your obsession is totally in love with you and sending you secret signals that only you can understand. (caveat: sometimes there may be a bit of truth to this.)

9) malignant hyperthermia thought i'd give a shout out to this one since my dad is the foremost expert on it. this is when you have an extreme allergic reaction to anesthetics, causing your body temperature to spike. it is fatal, unless treated promptly with dantrolene sodium.

10) koro a culture-bound psychological disorder in malaysia, koro involves a sudden and intense fear that one's genitals are receding into one's body. various measures are taken to prevent this from occuring.

why not make a donation to support the research and treatment of one of these conditions?

fusil contra fusil

2009-03-01T12:54:00.001-05:00

that's it luca. no cinnamon buns until you find that silvio rodriguez cd that lenya gave us.

top ten films of 1993

2009-03-01T12:47:00.003-05:00

1) m. butterly
2) the institute benjamenta
3) clean, shaven
4) the piano
5) calendar
6) what's love got to do with it?
7) flirting
8) what's eating gilbert grape
9) damage
10) boxing helena

oh, boxing helena. i wonder if lauren ever reads my blog anymore.

dick is coming

2009-02-25T20:58:00.004-05:00

i was thinking a lot today about why i have such a conflicted relationship with cleaning. this, of course, led me to consider the various messages about cleanliness that i received as a child.

my mother was and still is obsessive about cleaning and always makes a big production of it. i remember in particular the frenzy that would precede the arrival of guests around the holiday time or for the occasional dinner party. she became extremely short-tempered and aggressive, screaming at anyone who dared cross her path. when the guests arrived, she was the consummate host, giving tours of her impressively impeccable home. when my father was away on business, her compulsion to clean would mysteriously dissipate. she would leave dishes in the sink, mail on the table and generally project a much more relaxed attitude.

my father was and still is very pragmatic about his cleaning. neither obsessive nor compulsive, he just took care of things as a matter of course and made it look normal as opposed to crazed. my mother yelled at him for very reasonable things like leaving his sneakers by the door or coming into the house "all sweated up" after a jog. he, in turn, screamed at me and molly for "leaving our shit around" and tended to focus all of his anger on our apparent inability to follow the instructions on the daily notes he left for us: unload the dishwasher, bring in the mail, etc. he also had a big problem with our incessant watching of "the idiot box".

up until i was around 12, we had a housekeeper who would do the laundry, make the beds and wash the dishes. when she left, i was suddenly expected to clean up after myself. i found this impossibly taxing and received much flak for leaving dishes in the basement, jackets and bookbags by the door and little obscene drawings around the kitchen. my bedroom was a "disaster", with papers, clothes, books, magazines, art supplies and other "crap" all over the floor. i slept in a bed that was also piled high with various odds and ends. i was even quoted in my high school year book as saying "don't step on my cds" whenever a friend would enter my space. naturally, my parents were disgusted by the "pig-sty" in which i lived, and in fact our only interactions for a period of 2 or 3 years consisted of them yelling at me to clean up and me not cleaning up. i did feel guilty every friday though when the "cleaning men" couldn't get into my room to vacuum because everything i owned was on the floor. sometimes i would shamefully transfer everything to the bed before going to school, but more often i would just close my door. (in retrospect, perhaps i wasn't too keen on the idea of a bunch of men scouring my personal space?) when my grandmother would visit, she would try and make herself useful by offering to help me clean my room. i found that particularly annoying and always refused her offers. every so often when the mess became unbearable and my disgust with myself overpowered my need to spite my parents' value system, i would thoroughly organize everything and then try to hide it from them. it was always a mixture of satisfaction and resentment to receive praise in this regard. (molly, on the other hand, eagerly sought their praise and approval when we were kids, by convincing me to stay up all night with her and clean the house. i don't believe they ever commented on these odd overnight sweeps.)

in college i continued to struggle with maintenance of my space, despite a desire to not be "a mess" anymore. i even lost a housemate because she couldn't deal with my "spreading" behavior. one time after she moved out, she came over and found a bowl of pudding in the sink from which a healthy spray of mold was growing. after nearly vomiting, she said, "my mom always taught me to take pride in my home." the image i formed in my mind of alina's mother instructing her in the ways of creating a beautiful home has always stayed with me.

it wasn't until i moved to new york and got my own apartment that i discovered i was capable of taking care of my space. interestingly, the two moments when i became keenly aware of this capability came with the aid of a little pot smoking. the first of these moments was when i was walking home stoned from molly and her douchebag housemate's place after a painful evening of reality tv and interpersonal cruelty. i was thinking to myself how not only did i feel sick and abused, but that i was heading home to a sink full of dirty dishes, a filthy litter box and a desk in disarray. then suddenly i realized that it didn't have to be that way, that i had the power to make all of that better. and so i did. and instead of going to sleep feeling gross, i actually felt responsible and grown-up. the second moment was when lenya and i were smoking and it dawned on me that having crumbs on my floor didn't mean that i was a bad person. it's as if a spell had been broken and suddenly it wasn't a big deal to sweep and dust. if the mess bore no reflection of my value as a person, then why not clean it up? i had nothing to prove by doing so, and much peace of mind to gain. no longer a signal for attention, a mess became just that - a mess. it was totally up to me if wanted to straighten it up. and to my delight, i found that i usually did.

now it's a lot easier to "take pride in my home", but i still find that when i'm feeling poorly about myself, i'm less apt to attend to household duties. and i imagine that luca finds me disgusting - "a pig!" - for leaving dishes on the table or not folding the laundry. it's still hard to believe that i am lovable and valuable if i don't keep my space clean, but i'm more forgiving of myself than i used to be and definitely more considerate of my fellow dwellers. now i fight with my internalized mother about how best to spend a day off and my internalized father writes out instructions for me to follow on my computer. but dick doesn't come anymore on fridays, so my door is always open.

or something better

2009-02-25T13:00:00.003-05:00

woke up on my day off agonizing about the hampster wheel of necessity, wrote a list of everything i didn't want to do, then proceeded to do nearly everything on it. now i'm going to milkboy to read. in my new shirt.

what grace have i

2009-02-22T17:35:00.010-05:00

lizzie west just released an acoustic version of her song "chariot's rise" from the film secretary. it's so gentle and beautiful. have a listen:

grrr, i can't figure out how to get rid of the embedded ads. anyone know how to post songs without using imeem?

top ten films of 1994

2009-02-22T08:18:00.003-05:00

1) satantango
2) exotica
3) ed wood
4) serial mom
5) heavenly creatures
6) natural born killers
7) the lion king
8) the professional
9) 71 fragments of a chronology of chance
10) crumb

"i fucking hate lists. everyone on the internet constantly spews inane monkey shit and puts numbers next to it and calls it a "top (blank) list." ~film drunk

broken embraces

2009-02-22T08:09:00.002-05:00

pedro almodovar sets the standard for arthouse trailers that tell you absolutely nothing about the film but totally make you want to see it. here is his latest:

a coded message for angela blue

2009-02-19T19:29:00.003-05:00

i will not be smoking cigarettes and wearing leather pants to work tomorrow. if you get my drift.

~zoe prizer, atr-bc

top ten films of 1995

2009-02-18T22:01:00.002-05:00

1) maborosi
2) a soul haunted by painting
3) safe
4) 301/302
5) clueless
6) cold fever
7) angels and insects
8) sister, my sister
9) the young poisoner's handbook
10) balto

in other non-1995 film news - i do plan on seeing coraline this weekend. let it be noted that this is NOT a tim burton movie. it was directed by the same man who directed the nightmare before christmas. that's right, "tim burton's" the nightmare before christmas is NOT, i repeat: NOT, a tim burton film. let's give henry selick his dues, people.

chomsky says

2009-02-17T18:29:00.003-05:00

the question: was the u.s. right in invading afghanistan following 9/11?

his answer:

"I felt that was a major crime and still do. The United States invaded Afghanistan for a very explicit reason. It was made public, but there has been a lot of lying about it since, but it was very public. The reason was that the Taliban- the Bush Administration demanded that they hand over Osama Bin Laden to the United States and they asked for evidence of his crime. Well the Bush Administration wouldn't provide any evidence so they invaded. The reason they didn't provide any evidence, it later turned out, was because they didn't have any. Eight months later the FBI conceded that after the most major international investigation in history, they simply didn't have any evidence. They believed the plot for 9/11 was hatched in Afghanistan, but was probably implemented in the Arabian Peninsula and in Europe."

he then goes on to talk about how the invasion put millions of people at risk of starvation and how the u.s. has turned afghanistan over to warlords. he says this about the new administration:

"  As for current policies, I think Obama looks more aggressive and violent than Bush. The first acts to occur under his administration were attacks on Afghanistan and in Pakistan, both of which killed many civilians and are building up support for the Taliban and terror. He wants to extend the military side of the war. There is an Afghan peace movement, which is calling for a reduction or an end of terror. President Karzai has pleaded with the United States not to carry out attacks that will hit civilians and, in fact, has demanded a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces, American forces, but that's just totally disregarded and the opportunities for a peaceful settlement are just ignored. There are reasons for that I won't go into, but I think it's a terrible policy. They're ruinous for the Afghans and maybe for the Americans as well. It's also spilling over into Pakistan, naturally, which is really dangerous. Pakistan, by now, is partially under the control of the radical Islamist elements that Reagan helped install there. It's an extreme danger for Pakistan and actually for the world, since Pakistan has nuclear weapons."

no evidence whatsoever that osama bin laden was behind 9/11. i think if i mentioned this in conversation i would be considered mad.

top ten films of 1996

2009-02-15T22:29:00.002-05:00

1) female perversions
2) breaking the waves
3) conspirators of pleasure
4) the pillow book
5) the portrait of a lady
6) crash
7) the cement garden
8)picnic
9) welcome to the dollhouse
10) the stendhal syndrome

happy valentine's day

2009-02-14T23:59:00.001-05:00

"I tell you;
in time to come,
someone will remember us"
~sappho

a personal element of distortion

2009-02-12T20:21:00.004-05:00

when i first discovered lori earley's work several years ago in an issue of juxtapoz, i was instantly enamored. obviously cut from the same cloth bustier as mark ryden, her work was transfixing. it seemed fantastical in a dark, compelling way and technically awe-inspiring. i still find it hard to believe how flawless her painting is. then i went to see a show of hers in soho a while back and suddenly i found the work rather vapid. her dolled-up subjects who sit listlessly in eerie, radioactive landscapes or lying vacantly on gorgeously rendered satin sheets started to seem a little too much like fashion models, sylphs, whose coifed hair and fetish attire entice us to see mystery instead of vacancy, agency instead of apathy.

and yet, i still waited eagerly to see her finished portrait of madonna that she created for wil i. am's worlds on fire exhibit:

i must confess that i find it quite stunning.

top ten films of 1997

2009-02-11T19:46:00.002-05:00

1) the sweet hereafter
2) happy together
3) existenz
4) 4 little girls
5) lost highway
6) kissed
7) lolita
8) the house of yes
9) conspiracy theory
10) pi

every night when i have nothing better to post about, i am going to post another top ten list.

top ten films of 1998

2009-02-10T20:29:00.004-05:00

1) ringu
2) happiness
3) sick: the life & death of bob flanagan, supermasochist
4) elizabeth
5) lovers of the arctic circle
6) run lola run
7) velvet goldmine
8) ringmaster
9) rushmore
10) gia

surely there were better films than this in 1998? i guess i was too busy reading about serials killers at the time to pay attention. here's a creepy relic from that era of my life: a photo of grace budd that i morphed into a photo of her killer, albert fish. i remember being really impressed that joe coleman came into possession of the letter fish wrote to budd's mother, describing how he ate her daughter. now i can't even look at coleman's paintings without feeling sick inside.

quickening moon

2009-02-09T21:48:00.003-05:00

there was a lunar eclipse at 9:38 this morning. i was with a patient who was painting a tree sprouting new leaves.

"it's time to clear clutter within and around. let go of anger, resentment, and old, limiting behavior. clear yourself of habits and things that no longer serve you. make way for new growth. light a candle, white for purification and potential, beckoning the brightness of spring."

la negra: voice of the voiceless ones

2009-02-09T20:51:00.004-05:00

i'm so glad i went to see the che roadshow when it was at the ritz a few weeks ago. some ways in which it enriched my life:

1) gave me an understanding of che guevara's role in the cuban revolution.
2) provided me with a sexy picture of benicio del toro for my new bulletin board at work.
3) introduced me to the argentine singer mercedes sosa.

i was much in need of her at the end of this long workday. this was sweet therapy for the therapist:

Sueño Con Serpientes - Mercedes Sosa & Milton Nascimento

a handful of people in the depths of silence

2009-02-08T21:34:00.004-05:00

there is an interesting exhibit at the academy right now that i highly recommend checking out. a retrospective of the painter george tooker, who did some really unusual, eloquent work beginning in the 40's/50's. he painted in what was considered a magical realist style, using egg tempera to create fresco-like scenes that are rich in detail, informed by social consciousness and infused with a haunting light that seems to me as distinctive as vermeer's. his people have these strange elfin faces... occupying a space that speaks of both urban alienation and enigmatic mysticism. here are a few of his more famous works. you can see his thoughtful and powerful depictions of modernization and its consequent isolation:

i wish i could find his painting that was inspired by this joseph cornell shadowbox. i think it was my favorite in the show. these were quite lovely too:

new objectivity

2009-02-05T19:35:00.003-05:00

i think my drawings of dr. r. are getting better. i have this fantasy of painting her sitting behind a desk wearing a white coat with a severe germanic expression on her face.

in p*rple team i tried to draw molly, but unlike dr. r. she kept noticing me looking at her. so i drew this apple cheeked girl instead.

i'm in the mood lately for very clear paintings. this sort of thing:

that's always been my favorite portrait. artist: christian schad.

praise brigid

2009-02-03T21:19:00.003-05:00

yours,
amelia bedelia

imbolc

2009-02-03T15:18:00.002-05:00

i forgot to post pictures of llamas in heat yesterday. damn it.

musicology

2009-02-01T19:32:00.002-05:00

i read in the winter alumni magazine that professor suskin died in october. i had the great privilege of being in the last music history 101 class he ever taught at oberlin. it made a profound impression on my life. this is what i wrote in my journal on may 11th, 2001:

i just had my last class at oberlin. all i can think to write is WOW. suskin is a revelation. what he was saying about the cultivation of taste - that, was the perfect culmination of my college education. a total reminder of how i want to live my life - filled with great music and art and fine food and reverence for beauty and passion. what an experience taking his class. i have heard so much music in just the past week - schoenberg and webern and berlioz and john cage, stravinsky, bartok, bach and handel. i don't feel afraid of anything. what a world. and now, now it's time to study and write a paper on ozu's tokyo story and put the best damn art project together i can muster up.

oberlin pride

2009-02-01T19:07:00.000-05:00

two of my favorite directors have now had operas made of their films. cronenberg's the fly, composed by howard shore, starred oberlin graduate daniel okulitch in the role of seth brundle. david lynch's lost highway, adapted by olga neuwirth and with a libretto by elfriede jelinek, had its u.s. premiere at finney chapel. i have not seen either of these operas.

they complicate my life

2009-02-01T11:33:00.003-05:00

so while i'm dreaming about second weddings, i'm quite the inventor in lauren's dreams:

1) you and Luca were both in Seoul. You were selling clothing made of egg shells and you also had created some type of natural vaginal lubricant... someone in my dream bought it, so I guess that it was good.

2) Then, last night, we were running down the street because there was this gray chemical dust that was spreading through the city. We ran into some cafe and there were these two girls who kept opening the doors and I kept telling them to stop. Kristin had written us both letters but inside were diagrams on long term retirement plans and savings.

i'll always remember her dream in high school in which oprah was selling real estate in hell.

something worth fighting for

2009-01-31T18:43:00.004-05:00

while i was imploring participants in my body image group to consider what they are really trying to change in their lives by changing their bodies and reading to my trauma group from a speech by audre lorde, obama was signing into law the lilly ledbetter fair pay restoration act. this is a truly remarkable thing. feminists have been writing for decades about the inequality of pay for men and women and now equal pay is mandated by law! check out obama's words upon signing the act:

here's to the first man ever to grace the cover of ms. magazine.

a work without blemish

2009-01-28T22:59:00.003-05:00

in case you were wondering who is at the cutting edge of opera right now, it's the salzburg festival! this evening luca and i went to a screening of their production of don giovanni at the bmfi. it was an audio-visual feast! the music, of course, is unbeatable, but i have never seen an opera staged so stylishly before. it had this brilliant youthful vigor that seemed very befitting for mozart. plus i think i'm in love with erwin schrott.

harbinger of reclamation

2009-01-27T20:11:00.004-05:00

a few weeks back danielle sent me a link to the site of an artist friend of hers name sarah ciampa. it's great stuff! has a somewhat pop surrealist quality with super-saturated colors, classical realist stylings and compelling juxtapositions. there also seems to be an aesthetic exploration of the relationship of anatomical structures and consciousness, or spirit. these were my favorite pieces in the gallery:

more obamicons

2009-01-27T19:59:00.003-05:00

fun on the internets

2009-01-26T20:57:00.001-05:00

why does high def give me the wig?

2009-01-24T23:35:00.003-05:00

the shocking thing is how different it all is. i thought at first, it's like revisiting a sitcom that you watched every day for years of your childhood. you remember everything about it. you still find a withered core of comfort in its insipid formulas, but now its manipulative narrowness seems scary, harmful. it's not the stuff of triviality or banal nostalgia for some "you know you're a child of the 80's if..." list. it was designed to set emotional limits for you, to rape and nullify your mind with images of easy gendered roles, to draw you in and exclude you, a tantalizing object to leave you evermore hungry. but then i realized it wasn't like that at all, except that the 46" high definition television that luca "accidentally" bought online after returning the other one to best buy because "[his] wife said it wasn't big enough" has brought with it an unnerving degree of clarification. this is rather more than "better resolution." i feel like this is going to completely alter my experience of watching movies, and for an aspiring cinephile, this is no trifling matter. i was trying to explain to luca and little bear how "seeing more" is more akin to a shift in consciousness than a simple upgrade. everything is suddenly visible. where before there was this slightly gauzy screen separating me from the world of moving pictures, affecting me deeply, sometimes to the point of complete ego dissolution, but never entering my space, always across from me, always other. now this mega-pixel machine has gone and stripped that screen clean away, forcing me to reckon with the artifice of acting and set-design and camera movement - in short, that these worlds are constructed by human hands and do not belong to some parallel universe that i have needed to believe in. at the same time, a shift in perception of my own emotional world occurs, like the sitcoms in that the comfortably familiar becomes violently unfamiliar. little bear insightfully likened it to getting glasses for the first time. that made me think of the shift in art from flat spacial representations to the development of perspective and something i read a while back about how this was not merely an advance in representation but a reflection of changing visual perception. why isn't rudolph arnheim alive to explain to me what hdtv means within the socio-cultural matrix and why watching buffy today made me feel like i was on drugs?

ok, i have now retrieved my copy of art and visual perception: a psychology of the creative eye from off the shelf. thanks go out to ikuko for that. amazing! he speaks of something similar to what i have been trying to articulate:

"The early, two-dimensional method of spatial representation, found in the art of children and in Egyptian painting, makes the picture face the viewer like a flat wall, generously exposing all its contents to his exploration but at the same time excluding him. It is a self-contained, closed world..." (my gauzy screen!) "With central perspective, the relation to the viewer changes. Its principle structural lines are a system of beams that issue from a focus within the picture space and deny the existence of the frontal plane as they rush forward and break through it. Although it takes strong optical devices to give a viewer the actual illusion of being enveloped by this expanding funnel of space, even an ordinary painting done in central perspective will establish a rather direct connection between the events in the picture space and the viewer..." (my collapsing parallel universe!) "This explicit acknowledgment of the viewer is at the same time a violent imposition upon the world represented in the picture. The perspective distortions are not caused by forces inherent in the represented world itself. They are the visual expression of the fact that this world is being sighted."

then arnheim breaks my balls with an analysis of how central perspective was a manifestation of renaissance individualism. what would he say about high def in the post-modern era? i don't know everything in the world, but one thing i know is that i'll adjust to it. and at some point in the future i will not be able to imagine tv any other way.

wild card up my sleeve

2009-01-23T22:04:00.002-05:00

today i drove to the parking lot of an eating disorder treatment facility and placed a dozen banana split cupcakes in the passenger seat of an unlocked ford explorer, taking with me $25 that were tucked under the visor. a couple of parents were strolling around, probably in advance of a family session. i can only imagine what they must have thought.

barackstock: a star for the stars

2009-01-21T08:06:00.002-05:00

who remembers this?

oh how beautifully the tides have turned...

what an incredible day. here is aretha franklin, singing before obama took his oath. wow, BOB, wow!

restaurant review: abyssinia

2009-01-15T20:50:00.002-05:00

abyssinia
229 south 45th street
philadelphia, pa
(215) 387 2424

type of cuisine: ethiopian
culinary excellence: 8
vegan friendliness: 9
*recommended*

while i'm at it, here is a review i wrote of abyssinia, also in 2006. good old johanna.

Ah, the first restaurant Luca ever took me to. I still remember the exhilaration of such new exotic tastes, and even now it is no less thrilling. If you have never tried Ethiopian cuisine, I highly recommend making your way over to Abysinnia. You can expect all sorts of delights from their menu of both carnivorous and vegan dishes, served atop traditional Injera, an ingeniously conceived spongy flatbread, used for scooping up mouthfuls of culinary bliss. On my last visit I ordered the vegetarian combo plate, full of goodies such as collards, lentils of various colors and other delectable plant-based offerings. One selection tasted a bit mustardy, but everything else was exquisite and well-spiced. Johanna ordered the potato option from the veg menu - totally amazing. It's unfortunate we had to take our food to go and eat it in the waiting room at Bryn Mawr hospital, but comfort eating never tasted so good... And besides, I'll be back.

cultural options

2009-01-14T07:53:00.004-05:00

check it out, bloggers!

top ten films of 1999

2009-01-13T22:53:00.003-05:00

1) the matrix
2) eyes wide shut
3) titus
4) felicia's journey
5) the straight story
6) princess mononoke
7) lies
8) romance
9) memento mori
10) 8 1/2 women

also of note: the virgin suicides, holy smoke, pola x, all about my mother, the blair witch project, boys don't cry, my best fiend, girl, interrupted and but i'm a cheerleader.

louise gluck's take

2009-01-13T19:45:00.003-05:00

for anyone interested in this sort of thing...

"The tragedy of anorexia seems to me that its intent is not self-destructive, though its outcome so often is. Its intent is to construct, in the only way possible when means are so limited, a plausible self. But the sustained act, the repudiation, designed to distinguish the self from the other also separates self and body. Out of terror at its incompleteness and ravenous need, anorexia constructs a physical sign calculated to manifest disdain for need, for hunger, designed to appear entirely free of all forms of dependency, to appear complete, self-contained. But the sign it trusts is a physical sign, impossible to sustain by mere act of will, and the poignance of the metaphor rests in this: that anorexia proves not the soul's superiority to but its dependence on flesh."

i thought her essay was one of the few genuinely interesting and relevant pieces in the book. mostly i found it pretty discouraging. come to think of it, maybe that's what got me so tangled up about work - the degree to which the mindset remains unchanged in so many of these writers, despite their tenuous refusals to succumb to its demands. that's the half life, i guess. still, sometimes there is beauty in the description of indignities such as self-starvation - "the underfed form speaks, although softly, a confusing opposition of signals: i have no needs; take care of me."

actually, it's white carnation

2009-01-08T18:46:00.006-05:00

our week in the berkshires started like this:

then there was a bit of this:

followed by a whole lot of this:

("what fassbinder film is it? the one-armed man walks into a flower shop and says: what flower expresses days go by and they just keep going by endlessly pulling you into the future. days go by endlessly endlessly pulling you into the future. and the florist says: white lily.")

and finally, this:

let gaza live

2009-01-07T10:03:00.005-05:00

i received this flyer today from voters for peace. click on it to enlarge:

top ten films of 2000

2009-01-06T10:52:00.002-05:00

1) chunhyang
2) werckmeister harmonies
3) little otik
4) dancer in the dark
5) crouching tiger, hidden dragon
6) american psycho
7) audition
8) lumumba
9) i am an s+m writer
10) the gleaners and i

also of note: the isle, water drops on burning rocks, cecil b. demented, girls can't swim and bring it on.

top ten films of 2001

2009-01-06T10:48:00.002-05:00

1) mulholland dr.
2) rivers and tides
3) in the mood for love
4) fat girl
5) iris
6) in the bedroom
7) donnie darko
8) sleepless
9) ali
10) legally blonde

also of note: 101 reykjavik

top ten films of 2002

2009-01-06T10:46:00.002-05:00

1) spirited away
2) the pianist
3) ararat
4) bowling for columbine
5) the piano teacher
6) in my skin
7) far from heaven
8) in america
9) frida
10) secretary

also of note: the cat returns, the weather underground and bartleby.

kids are grand

2009-01-06T10:35:00.001-05:00

the song maker says it ain't so bad

2009-01-02T22:24:00.003-05:00

despite waking up from a dream in which i could no longer speak, quite convinced that i am better suited for professional wrestling than art therapy, my day actually turned out pretty well. i did, however, decide to amend my new years resolutions. they now read as follows: no change necessary.

top ten films of 2003

2009-01-02T08:01:00.006-05:00

1) oldboy
2) save the green planet!
3) spider
4) vibrator
5) the matrix: revolutions
6) the magdalene sisters
7) the matrix: reloaded
8) amandla!
9) kounandi
10) cafe lumiere

also of note: finding nemo, the corporation, koi... milk gaya, the story of the weeping camel, cet amour-la, ichi the killer and willard.

top ten films of 2004

2009-01-02T07:56:00.003-05:00

1) dogville
2) 2046
3) notre musique
4) downfall
5) a tale of two sisters
6) 3-iron
7) the motorcycle diaries
8) bad education
9) fahrenheit 9/11
10) in the realms of the unreal

also of note: shaun of the dead, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, the lion king 1 1/2, anatomy of hell, a dirty shame, citizen dog, story of the eye, the machinist, el crimen ferpecto and the brown bunny.

top ten films of 2005

2009-01-02T07:53:00.004-05:00

1) innocence
2) saraband
3) manderlay
4) cache
5) a history of violence
6) king kong
7) what is it?
8) whole new thing
9) corpse bride
10) howl's moving castle

also of note: the king, brokeback mountain, linda linda linda and this is ellie parker.

top ten films of 2006

2009-01-01T20:25:00.003-05:00

while i'm at it...

1) pan’s labyrinth
2) lunacy
3) black book
4) v for vendetta
5) strange circus
6) inland empire
7) volver
8) notes on a scandal
9) the science of sleep
10) the death of mr. lazarescu

2006 was a really good year in film. also of note were venus, backstage, half nelson, 13 tzameti, tristram shandy: a cock and bull story, the rape of europa, borat: cultural learnings of america for make benefit glorious nation of kazakhstan, apocalypto, the prestige and the u.s. vs. john lennon.

top ten films of 2008

2009-01-01T20:06:00.008-05:00

here is my list for this year. it was kind of tough to rank all of these dramatically different kinds of movies, but here is what i came up with:

1) che
2) wall*e
3) milk
4) reprise
5) rachel getting married
6) the wrestler
7) revolutionary road
8) paranoid park
9) let the right one in
10) help me eros

other noteworthy entries: the last mistress, patti smith: dream of life, be kind rewind, vicky cristina barcelona, forgetting sarah marshall, bad habits, water lilies, funny games, blindness, a christmas tale, the reader, revolutionary road, tropic thunder and ghost town.

best actors: sean penn as harvey milk in milk, emile hirsch as cleve jones in milk, benicio del toro in che
best actresses: anne hathaway as kym in rachel getting married, penelope cruz as maria elena in vicky cristina barcelona

restaurant review: maoz

2008-12-31T20:18:00.006-05:00

maoz
1115 walnut street (see website for additional locations)
philadelphia, pa
(215) 625 3500
www.maozveg.com

type of cuisine: felafel
culinary excellence: 9
vegan friendliness: 10
*recommended*

here's what you do. go to moaz, order a felafel sandwich with eggplant on a white pita, then load it up with tahini sauce and roasted cauliflower. sink your teeth in, savor every bite and remember what it feels like to be loved.

wisdom from walnut street

2008-12-31T20:16:00.002-05:00

"to dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."

i make the same new year's resolutions every year. read more, paint more, take better care of my body, take better care of my home, watch more great films, be more pagan, stop biting my cuticles, get more involved in peace and justice movements, conserve more, enjoy more, floss more, etc. this year i would like to add 'be more considerate', 'be more responsible', 'brood more' and 'sacrifice my identity as a spiritual daughter of the patriarchy' c/o sylvia brinton perera to the list. i'd also at some point like to make vegan croissants.

give my regards

2008-12-31T19:18:00.006-05:00

spent the last few days of 2008 reading about family art therapy, watching numerous films, the most extraordinary of which was 1977's equus, excavating the past with my old pal jeremy and traveling to the place where an estimated one million people are now gathering:

my fellow bloggers, i have seen "the lion king" on broadway. it was overwhelming. when tshidi manye came out and sang those first joyful notes and the slatted yellow sun rose as a procession of glorious, exultant, splendiferous animals took the stage, i was moved to tears. i am in total awe of human creativity. julie taymor, your gifts are as much proof of god as i'll ever require. literally breathtaking.

i also have prosopagnosia

2008-12-28T17:38:00.008-05:00

i am seriously off today. how is it possible that i sat through the curious case of benjamin button without even recognizing two of my favorite actors?

bite me

2008-12-28T15:34:00.004-05:00

i was trying to watch democracy now this morning, but was finding it exceedingly difficult to sit still. i kept gnawing on my cuticles, then consciously placing my hands in my lap, breathing and making every effort to concentrate until i noticed that i was nibbling on my lips or cheeks or chasing little traveling itches around my body. so i paused breyten breytenback at 30 minutes on the dot to google what is cuticle biting about? now i've never been one of those people who thought that i was the only one plagued with compulsions to bite off the dead skin around my nails and tweeze like there's no tomorrow, but i was pleasantly surprised to discover that there's a name for what i do. a name other than ocd or trichotillomania: ladies and trannies, i give you body-focused repetitive disorders. i fit the diagnosis to a T. there's even an online program designed to help bloggers like me to break the habit. i'm not sure i want to commit to something like that, but it never ceases to amaze me that so many people independently develop these very specific habits. and we even describe similar imperatives, such as the misguided attempt to restore perfection and order. like when that ingrown hair is taunting you, mocking you with it's just-under-the-surface beckoning and you wind up gouging a hole in your thigh in your efforts to remove it. and there's that calm voice inside saying, "look what you're doing, it's time to stop, put down the tweezers" but you simply must get it out at any cost.

now there have been many attempts i have made to cease this incorrigible behavior, some more successful than others. there's of course the self-soothe instead of self-harm approach which involves brushing cuticle oil on my fingers and stroking them lovingly when i feel the impulse to bite. there was that time i named each of my fingers individually so that i could empathize with them when under attack. there have been reasonably adequate substitute bodies such as styrofoam cups and paint crusted palettes to peel and mutilate. there are always momentous occasions to stop biting for. and of course, being a therapist, i have sought to uncover the issues that my symptoms bely, coming to the conclusion that i do it when i'm cold, when i'm pressed for time, when i'm stressed about work, when i'm waiting for something, when i'm uncertain, when i'm behind, when i haven't attended to my responsibilities, when i'm in team meetings, when my cuticles are beginning to heal, when i'm self-conscious, when i'm thinking about molly and when i'm confronted with long stretches of unstructured time. so all i need to do is deal with those things directly then, right? stop organizing my cuticles when it's my desk that needs organizing. take care of my responsibilities, not the hairs on my tummy. draw pictures not blood! the problem is that no matter how self-aware i become and how well i develop my coping skills, there remains this little voice inside that just doesn't care if i bite myself.

a foggy day

2008-12-27T21:59:00.004-05:00

went for a walk in saunder's woods this afternoon. it was a bit like this:

yule blog

2008-12-21T12:54:00.004-05:00

so today is the winter solstice - at long last, the light is returning. in celtic lore, this is the moment when the oak king, who rules during the waxing sun, defeats his twin the holly king, who rules during the waning sun. the holly king wears red, has sprigs of holly in his hat and drives a team of 8 deer, much like... come on, you know this! mistletoes, which grow in the branches of oak trees, are hung in honor of the oak king.

starhawk says:

"This is the night of Solstice, the longest night of the year. Now darkness triumphs; and yet, gives way and changes into light. The breath of nature is suspended: all waits while within the Cauldron, the Dark King is transformed into the Infant Light. We watch for the coming of dawn, when the Great Mother again gives birth to the Divine Child Sun, who is bringer of hope and the promise of summer. This is the stillness behind motion, when time itself stops; the center which is also the circumference of all. We are awake in the night. We turn the Wheel to bring the light. We call the sun from the womb of night. Blessed be.

so ask yourselves, dear readers, what must you lose to the night?

hello molly, my old friend

2008-12-21T07:55:00.004-05:00

here is a song for you:

The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel

zippy and ok

2008-12-15T23:50:00.001-05:00

i think the moment i started to feel inadequate about my blog was after i saw happy-go-lucky and i so wanted to write a scathing review of it in the voice of of barbara covet. and then i said to myself, "zoe, this i cannot do."

poetics of banality

2008-12-15T22:22:00.005-05:00

i like these paintings by lillian warren. they remind me of long drives, staring out the car window, feeling sad and empty, my absent longing reflected back to me in the rhythms of traffic lights and the shapes between electric wires waxing and waning against the vast godlessness of the sky.

there are a couple of landscapes that i do hope to paint some day. for now, go see my painting witness rage at the main line art center's member show. heck, go ahead and purchase it!

n'est pas?

2008-12-10T22:04:00.001-05:00

i'm under a cloud at work.

from the creators of "dick in a box"

2008-12-08T19:32:00.001-05:00

a real dotnose situation

2008-12-07T16:23:00.005-05:00

returned home a few hours ago from a lovely trip to new york. luca and i awoke at dawn on saturday and sang colbert christmas songs (purchased from itunes in support of operation humble kanye) all the way up i-95. at eleven, he got some hairs washed while i got some hairs ripped out of my body, then headed up to meet molly at book culture, a totally kick-ass bookstore in morningside heights. there we spoke about psychiatric mishigas and i picked up a copy of this:

the next leg of our journey involved a visit to the guggenheim for some fun with catherine opie. i never imagined that dr. h. of all people would hip me to an exhibit like this, but he heard that the guggenheim was showing artwork about self-mutilation and so of course thought of me. (he knows me he really knows me!) as it turns out, catherine opie is a renowned lesbian photographer whose work explores queer culture, focusing largely on portraits of transgendered people, urban landscapes, gay families and what she calls "temporary communities". the images were breathtaking and the audio guide, featuring opie herself, was incredibly helpful in framing the work.

here is a self-portrait featuring the word "pervert" carved into her chest:

opie talked about the meaning of reclaiming a word that is used to demonize her sexuality and owning it in a beautiful way. interestingly, she didn't talk about why she elected to cut the word into her flesh. when you look closely at the cutting, you can also see faint scars on her breasts and arms that appear to have been inflicted in a less formalized, less ritualized manner. this raised questions for me about the parallels between self-injury, which tends to be driven by self-hatred and sub-culturally sanctioned practices of body modification, so celebrated amongst opie's subjects. there are so many ways to experience and live in one's body. here is opie with her son in a madonna and child pose. you can see the now faded "pervert" scar across her chest:

i find that image very moving. in part because it's something i've never seen before - a large, scarred woman who bears none of our cultural markers of submissive femininity, nourishing and gazing tenderly at her child. who can say that this is not beautiful?

my favorite gallery in the exhibit featured absolutely gorgeous images of colorful "ice houses" in a bright white landscape:

luca and i rested in the cappuccino bar section of the museum before navigating over to fort lee. there, luca showed the big hens his pictures from cicily (i will post my favorites when his computer isn't "busy"), followed by another delicious dinner at su.

now i am going to spend some time with sarah silverman in valley village.

thank you thank you

2008-12-03T21:31:00.002-05:00

ever since sarah palin re-animated saturday night live, i have really been enjoying their programming.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

thanksgiving with the brasi's

2008-11-30T17:39:00.004-05:00

portraiture: quick and dirty

2008-11-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

wonkette

2008-11-20T07:17:00.001-05:00

"Everyone on Earth loves to party on old slave plantations with black and white distant relatives except John McCain. Why? Country First."

read on! (and be sure to watch the video at the end of the article.)

chin up / put on a pair of those rosies

2008-11-18T13:04:00.002-05:00

i had to peel myself out of the car this morning. "think positive!" says my study guide to me over the phone. "what?" says me. "oh, zoe's not home right now. so... bye." can't say that i'm feeling too happy-go-lucky this week. across the board, that is. there are times when "you're going to be fine" really does seem to help. and then there are those times when you kind of half force a smile but inside the vultures are at work. they thrust their beaks into your scars and feast on all the old hurt places. and it doesn't feel like you're letting them do it, it's just happening and you know it is but it's not like you can stop it. and these birds are brutal! well well well, "zoe prizer". always deriding everyone around you, priding yourself on knowledge and "giftedness", hoarding letters of gratitude and praise, pretending like you're better than everyone else. we'll see, zoe, we'll see the fraud you really are. and you will have to tell everyone that you FAILED. luca will know and molly and lenya and angela and oh god judy macentyre and your parents and...

yesterday luca said that my negativity and self-doubt are taking up space in my mind that needs to be clear in order to study and concentrate. alright luca - you got me there.

listen up, vultures. the bar is closed. go find someone else's blood to drink. and if you fly away pretty maybe i'll make a painting of it after my exam is over.

if i felt like blogging...

2008-11-16T22:21:00.002-05:00

...i would blog about the congo. i would direct my readers to friends of the congo to learn more about what is going on there. i would blog about the conference. jane fonda did not wear a leotard and she did not sign my book, but she was extraordinary. imagine seeing her and anita johnston in the same day! i might blog about milkboy, the white dog cafe or the films i have been watching. i might blog about my anxiety about my test next saturday or the things i have been studying. i might blog about sexual abuse as a major predictor of teen pregnancy and the implications of that startling correlation when people talk about "prevention". however, i have little motivation to blog at this time. and it's not just cause lenya's friends never link up to me.

mama africa

2008-11-10T22:41:00.002-05:00

miriam makeba died last night. i never knew who she was while she was alive, but now the sound of her voice and the beauty of her face touches something deep inside of me. i feel that i must stay connected to it.

my other mug is a fish statue

2008-11-07T22:37:00.001-05:00

some things i've been up to lately:

1) watching "democracy now" every day and taking notes. this has become the "general hospital", the "saved by the bell", the "melrose place", the "buffy the vampire slayer" of my 29th year. it started back when luca was in cicily and it continues to this day. i'm a little underwhelmed by their deflation of the obama messiah, but it's good to know about what's happening around the world.

2) watching seasons 1 and 2 of "the sarah silverman program". the tab episode is genius.

3) being nervous about my upcoming exam, not studying, eating chocolate peanut butter pie. an unfortunate grouping. still, i have had several study sessions with lori l. i particularly enjoyed making pictures for each diagnosis that contain every single visual indicator. "i see drug paraphernalia... i see a unicorn... hallucinogenic drug user!!" plus, administering landgarten's magazine photo collage was pretty great.

4) not journaling, not blogging, not doing art. the source of my crankiness, perhaps?

5) remembering, in bits, the salvation of literature and the wellspring of magick that i have collected over the years.

alas, the cycle of self-actualization, lethargy and re-programming continues.

OBAMA WINS!!!!!!

2008-11-05T08:19:00.006-05:00

to still my racing mind

2008-10-31T08:11:00.001-04:00

It Wont Be Long - Evan Wood

quit that moody brooding!

2008-10-29T19:23:00.002-04:00

that was a great scene from julien donkey-boy. now watch the following clip from spongebob starting at 5 minutes and 50 seconds:

respect.

"penis"

2008-10-29T19:00:00.001-04:00

samantha bee, won't you marry me?

obama may not be a socialist...

2008-10-29T00:53:00.003-04:00

but i think i wanna be one. steven colbert had brian moore, the socialist candidate for president of the united states, on his show tonight to respond to comments made about obama's "socialist" agenda. what? there's a socialist candidate running for president? sure enough, he was just a google away. this is mr. moore's mission statement:

We need leaders to speak out forthrightly to end the war in Iraq and for the need to bring our troops home immediately. We also need new leadership to address the critical threat to the loss of our democratic rights and freedoms. American’s rights are being threatened by our own government who seem to believe they are above the law, and condone such action under the guise of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, protecting America's safety or based on some kind of false "war against terrorism."

We need to be a county that adheres to the principles of international law, constitutional rights and humane principles of fairness, honesty and mutual respect. Equal rights for all needs to be reinforced and practiced better.

Corporate-occupied Washington needs to be challenged vigorously by weeding out the influence of money and corporate power and fighting for America’s forgotten lower and middle-classes. Corporate welfare and the corrupting influence of money in American politics needs to cease. Citizens' rights and power need to be enhanced and protected. Poverty needs to be eliminated and a more equitable system of housing, health care, education and work needs to be implemented. Protection for the environment and use of alternative fuels and transportation systems need to be enforced in order to alter the adverse direction our society is headed.

It is imperative that the citizens of the United States be given alternative choices in their selection of presidential candidates and political parties, and that they be able to hear and to debate opposing ideas, philosophies and alternative forms of governing. New proposals should include offering a national health plan for all Americans, and that it be offered as a right and not just a privilige of class or employment. Guaranteed incomes for all Americans, working or not, is essential as well as new policies to block the outsourcing of jobs and/or companines to foreign lands. Caps on exhorbitant executive salaries and corporate profit margins should be debated and new policies developed in this area. Employee benefits and rights need to be enhanced and protected and the support of labor unions needs to be a right for all workers.

The arts, athletic and sports activities and culture need to be a more essential part of America as well. The United States also needs to become more self-sufficient in its manufacturing capacity and agricultural production and less dependent on foreign customers. Heavy spending in the defense industry needs to be reduced, especially on high technology planes, tanks, ships and weaponry, while better support of a the needs of soldiers during and after their time of service should be a high priority.

Better and more diplomacy, fairer foreign and economic policies and the elimination of special interest influence should be the guiding principles of our nation. Self-interest actions or policies, at the expense of fairness, honesty and mutual respect and human decency should be a thing of the past.

huh. it's hard to argue with that.

i thought i might see what green party candidate cynthia mckinney's mission statement was, but it appears that her website has been hacked. don't you hate that? it's like when i went to the code pink website last week and i was rerouted to the u.s. marine's home page.

ok, go to sleep now zoe. there's nothing to be afraid of. your eyes are burning and its time to stop blogging. just wash your hands, get under the covers and turn out the light. it's easy, you can do it!

my vagina will not be denied in your subjective election

2008-10-29T00:42:00.007-04:00

haven't signed no more stolen elections!' pledge of action yet? go! now!

if you are told you can't vote because the information on your voter registration isn't an exact match with government databases...
if you hit the obama button and the mccain button lights up...
if your voting machine is made by election systems and software...
if you are harassed or assaulted outside your voting site...
if you return to your car after voting and find that the tires on your obama- mobile have been slashed...
if you've received notice that if you have any outstanding parking tickets you will be arrested on the spot when you show up to vote...
if you were told you cannot vote because you do not have a driver's license...
if you cannot wait on line to vote on the only working electronic machine at your site...
if you haven't received your absentee ballot...
if you checked and your early vote was not counted...
if the news media are pimping the myth of the bradley effect...
if there are signs posted in your neighborhood saying the election is actually going to be on november 5th...

there's a good chance that john mccain is going to be your next president. do NOT let this go uncontested. call 1-866-myvote1. TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED! you should also report your complaint at no more stolen elections!. and while you're on the internets, visit voter action.

listen to zoe. she knows from election theft.

sacred is the prayer that asks 4 nothing

2008-10-26T23:31:00.000-04:00

The Love We Make - Prince

prince understands love.

my night with samara

2008-10-26T11:52:00.006-04:00

and then we watched elf.

the new face of disney?

2008-10-26T11:49:00.003-04:00

making new friends

2008-10-24T08:36:00.000-04:00

now my blog is fun again!

severe reprimand

2008-10-22T20:55:00.002-04:00

today i was like an inert lump. that's what i get for neglecting the counsel of an open letter i wrote to myself in early september, cautioning against certain reading material. so after bingeing on various kinds of emotional sugar, i sat down to learn two thirds of a little piano piece by satie. i am hoping to have it prepared for luca's return.

if you're not concerned about election fraud, you're definitely not paying attention.