I cry, okay? I’m an emotional person. I cried on my wedding day, I cried both times I gave birth. I cry when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m stressed out, PMS, moved by a piece of music. I cried today in church when my girlfriend made me laugh really hard. I cried because the service was moving. I cry when someone’s mean to me, then I laugh because honestly. Who cares? I don’t cry over stupid comments left on blogs, or people who want to argue politics with me. They’ve got the right to their opinion, lame and ignorant though it may be. And I don’t cry in traffic.

(Today some guy in the car behind me shook his fist at me. Know why? I had stopped — safely, thank you, not slamming on the brakes or something stupid — on an extremely narrow street so an elderly woman could get into her car. She had just gotten out of church. She waved at me. I waved back. This infuriated the guy, and his wife. Honestly, I’m gonna cry over that? I think not.)

Anyway. I cry.

But at my home church (Unitarian, all touchy-feely, allegedly), they’re not criers. Or clappers. Or yelling Amen-ers. They’re a reserved lot. In fact, out of all the times I have cried when I’ve been at church (and I’ve been attending this church two years, so there have been several times I have been moved to tears)… well. Here are some numbers for you:

1) Number of times someone has handed me a tissue: Zero. (I forget the kleenex half the time.)

2) Number of times someone has patted me when I’ve been crying: Zero.

3) Number of times someone has asked how I’m doing: One. (And that was my neighbor, who I already knew. She always asks me how I’m doing cuz you know why? She cares a lot. She is a sweet, Nekkid Neighbor, that one.)

4) Number of times anyone at church has introduced themselves to me (anyone who is not the parent of one of my Sunday School students, make that): Zero.

Today I went back to my old church (Baptist, the faith I grew up in), which is really my girlfriend’s church. She moved away from Portland years ago, but was stayed the weekend with us. Fun. FUN FUN FUN. I love her and miss having her here. Phone and e-mails and postcards are not the same.

Classic: The sermon starts, there I go with the waterworks. I closed my eyes, prayed, tried turning off the tears. I felt someone shoving something into my hand, opened my eyes. It’s my girlfriend, giving me a wad of tissues. She was crying, too.

“Here, kleenex!” she says. “Look, they have boxes all over!”

They do. Every other pew.

You think they heard I’d be there today?

My kids now call all their stuff — ie, various trikes, Big Wheels, scooters, bikes, wagons, etc. — their “vehicles.” Very official.

As in: “We spent the evening riding our vehicles with the Nekkid Neighbors.”

“You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.” — Hal Borland, journalist (1900-1978)

I do not really have any idea at all what that quote means, but I like it. And now, in the spirit of the Chicken Dance…

“I don’t want to be a chicken/
I don’t want to be a duck/
So I shake my butt/
quack quack quack quack”

(my kids’ favorite song. Repeat 10 or 20 times in a row.)

have a super-wonderful day.

wm

…all I want to do is run away with Vixen?

Wish me luck on fulfilling this long-held dream.

wm

Seriously. What happened to my brain? OK, a short list, then I go to work.

* The weather is sunny and HOT here in Portland, Ore. Go figure. What’s next, the smelt running?

* The kids are settling into first-grade and fourth-grade really well. A little too well. My daughter: “I know, Mom. My babies!”

* My babies!!!

* It was our tenth wedding anniversary. We went to the beach. The ocean was right there in our faces. The coast line is changing. Yikes.

* It was our girl’s birthday, so the celebration was for her, too. It’s a cocktail party on the street over here every September, what with the anniversary, the birthday, school starting, the realization that it’s almost fall and all we did all summer was water the garden and watch TV.

* Hockey God: “Did we even go to the beach this summer, other than right now?” Me: “Uhhh…” Wacky Girl: “We went last Easter.”

* We went to Depoe Bay, the “Smallest Harbor in the Universe” and watched the ships come and go. Did not see the whale the lady was trying to point out to us, “There! Past the rocks, about 300 yards…” Approximately 200 whales a year don’t mess with the roadtrip to Alaska, they just kick it at Depoe Bay, then head back to Mexico. Two hundred whales, you think we’d see one. It’s not like they’re tiny. Nope. Did see a large sea lion.

* If you have braces, you cannot eat the following: kettle corn, carmel corn, popcorn, caramel apples, fudge, salt water taffy. My poor kid.

* Also went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and saw crazy fish and seal lions and otters and those adorable little snowy plovers.

* Went for lunch at Gracie’s Sea Hag (in beautiful downtown Depoe Bay) because, you know. It seemed appropriate. They play the Chicken Dance song on bottles and rock out. Our waitress was adorable.

* I gotta stop now or I’ll be late for work. What’s new with you, Internets?

love,

wm

tired.

more tomorrow.

wm

A note I received today from Amnesty International. Because this can, and does, happen to black men across America, every year in this country. We have a disproportionate number of brothers locked up. We need to change this.

wm

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed on September 23.
Justice matters, stop the imminent execution of Troy Davis!

Dear Nancy,

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.

Take action right now to stop this execution!

Troy Davis was convicted of murder solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.

Take action and then forward this action to ten friends!

On July 16, 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles stayed Troy Davis’ execution, stating that it would “not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused.” The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis’ guilt will remain unresolved.

Urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to be true to its words and prevent this execution from proceeding!

In solidarity,

Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

…- hello.

…-I am off to school soon. First day with students. Nervous? Yeah, like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

…-still reading like a maniac.

…-haven’t started my online class, although the textbook arrived several days ago.

…-I opened it up. Did you know they make the print in textbooks really really tiny small nowadays?

…-I’m sure it’s not my eyes.

…-my kids are excited about school. They set out their backpacks last night.

…-I have a big year planned. I’m going to read, read, read with the kids, everything from Where the Wild Things Are to Lemony Snickets. Yay. I will also give away a ton of books to the students and their parents — I appreciate that people like to donate books to schools, and I want to get them out to some readers. It’s so nice to be the middleman on this.

…-Do I go back to bed? Or start drinking coffee?

…-ha ha ha like that’s even a real question.

…-have a good day, y’all.

love,

wm

My favorite tortured love song. I love Karen Carpenter. Loved.

Who knew?