Ramble

My brain doesn't seem to want to sit still tonight. I'm tired and I feel like 37 kinds of crap. I'm both restless, and too tired to move. It's maddening. My skin twitches and I shake out my fingers and my arms, shift position on the couch, but nothing helps. I grit my teeth. My mind wants to do… something… but I can't figure out what so it just unnerves me.

I watch shows on TV but I don't really pay attention all that much. Open and close my laptop, go on the internet, check my email. Nothing. I open a story, figure maybe I can write. I read it. The opening is strong. I like it. But when the cursor gets down to that white part of the page, I've got nothing. I write a few sentences, reread it, delete it. It's crap. I try another story, but it's the same thing.

My mind wanders off. I watch Intervention, try and put my problems in perspective. I cry when the families cry, begging their loved ones to accept their love and help themselves. The first episode is about a girl named Emily. She's anorexic. She looks like a skeleton with skin. Her story makes me sad. I'm sad for her and her stick thin arms and dead eyes. But my skittish mind wonders things. How come when someone starves themselves and gets dangerously skinny, it's considered a disorder, a disease? People don't make fun of anorexics and tell them to have some self-control or call them disgusting pigs.

But fat people… fat people are joke worthy. It's their own fault, the fat fucks. They're shoving their faces. All they have to do is eat less, eat better, get some god damned exercise. It doesn't really occur to people that it's not that easy. It's not just about putting down the fucking donut already. I'm not talking about the people with the few extra vanity pounds… I'm talking about the people drowning in their own flesh. That's what it feels like. Shuddering and choking underneath the weight of it. It's just as dangerous to be overweight as it is to be underweight.

I watch Emily talking about how she doesn't think she deserves food, doesn't deserve the pleasure of food, hates the feeling of it inside her. I'm getting nauseous. Cry. Feel like throwing up my dinner. I never could be a bulimic. I hate not being in control and throwing up feels like being out of control to me. Your stomach heaves whether you want it to or not, and once I start I can't stop. I hate that. The gag reflex doesn't give you a choice. But it's a lose/lose situation. Food is comfort. It fills what feels like a big, echoey hollow. It feels warm and tastes good and for a moment brings peace. And then the flipside…  Food is… I don't know. Hate, shame, fear, sadness. Everything. And nothing.

Emily has agreed to go to treatment. I still feel sick. I don't want to think about it anymore. The next episode is about a boy who shoots cocaine. I can't relate, but I still cry when they do the intervention for him and his sister. They both go to rehab, do well. Good for them.

I check my email again. I don't know why. I'm not expecting any emails. I look at news stories I've read three times already today. Check rental listings I'm not planning on renting. Pick at scabs, try and read. My mind still whirls. I watch The Closer, figure out the killer about 15 minutes in, stop really paying attention.

Spin, spin, spin little mind. I'm shaking now, sick and antsy and restless and wanting something and still not knowing what. Saving Grace is on. This… this I can relate to. Not the exact situation, not that. But the brokenness, the jagged abrasive angry unfinishedness. The desire to be saved, redeemed, rescued. So I open up word again and stare at the blank white page.

And then I just start to type the things my jittering brain wants to light on. I start to feel a little better. My stomach settles a bit, my hands still. I don't feel better, exactly. Nothing has been resolved or understood. My heart still hurts a bit, heavy with my thoughts. But whatever restless demon seized me has passed for the time being. Now I'm just tired, a little hot from holding the laptop on my lap.

I think I'll go lie in bed and watch Bones. It's really passed my bedtime anyway.

8:12 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Shit like this is why I plan on home schooling my kids...

St. Lucie teacher has students vote on whether 5-year-old can stay in class

By Colleen Wixon
Originally published 01:50 p.m., May 23, 2008
Updated 04:30 p.m., May 23, 2008
PORT ST. LUCIE ?Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.
After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the class voted him out of the class.
Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Aspberger's, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February for an official diagnosis under the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marsha Cully.
Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disabilities, Barton said. The school and district has met with Barton and her son to create an individual education plan, she said. His teacher, Wendy Portillo, has attended these meetings, she said.
Barton said after the vote, Alex's teacher asked him how he felt.

"He said, 'I feel sad,'" she said.
Alex left the classroom and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office, she said.
Barton said when she came to pick up her son at the school on Wednesday, he was leaving the nurse's office.

"He was shaken up," she said. Barton said the nurse told her to talk with the child's teacher, who told her what happened.
Alex hasn't been back to school since then, and Barton said he won't be returning. He starts screaming when she brings him with her to drop off his sibling at school.
Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special."
Barton said Alex is reliving the incident.
They said he was "disgusting" and "annoying," Barton said.

"He was incredibly upset," Barton said. "The only friend he has ever made in his life was forced to do this."

The child's mother filed a complaint with the school resource officer, who investigated the matter, said Port St. Lucie spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said. Port St. Lucie Police is no longer investigating, but is documenting the complaint, she said.
Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident did occur.
St. Lucie School's spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment.
Vern Melvin, Department of Children and Families circuit administrator, confirmed the agency is investigating an allegation of abuse at Morningside, but said he could not elaborate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disgusted? I am. My nephew has Aspberger's, and socializing is hard enough for kids with Aspberger's without teachers - who are supposed to be professionals - making it more difficult. He may have been a discipline problem... kids with Aspberger's don't realize how disruptive they are... but this teacher should never have dealt with the situation like this. Aspberger's or not, you don't ostrasize a FIVE year old from his entire class. Nice teaching skills Ms. Portillo... you numb cunt. I wouldn't let you teach my dog.

IF YOU WANT TO, WRITE A LETTER (I plan to) WITH YOUR THOUGHTS TO THE FOLLOWING:


Morningside Elementary School Principal:
Mrs. Marcia Cully
(772) 337-6730

St. Lucie County Schools Superintendent:
Michael J. Lannon
4204 Okeechobee Road
Ft. Pierce, FL 34947-5414
Phone: 772/429-3925
FAX: 772/429-3916

St. Lucie County School Board Chair:
Carol Hilson
772-519-0397

Vice Chair:
Judith Miller
772-528-4545

7:23 AM - 2 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

Turn It Up
Current mood: bored
Category: Music

So right, anyone who knows me knows I'm a Coheed fan. Have been since I was 12 and they were Shabutie.

I used to love seeing them live at shows when I was growing up. (And not all of that had to do with the the lusting after various band members that me and my friends did, honest.) But, when they started releasing albums, I didn't really like them at first.

The first time I heard SSTB, I kind of went 'eh, it's okay'. I didn't plan on buying it. Then, one night sometime later, I was over Casey & T's and we were all feeling pretty good about things (aka on the way to, or already wasted) and Casey and I started talking about the album. When I told him I thought it was just alright, he insisted on playing it. And of course, being where we were, who we were, and the condition we were in, he played it LOUD.

And I rediscovered my love for Coheed & Cambria. And I went out and bought it.

Granted, I still think the levels on SSTB are off,  but I dug the album a lot more when I had it crankin' loud enough that the bass line would vibrate walls. And after several listens to it that way, I could turn it down and appreciate it at civilized levels too.

And the same thing has happened with each consecutive album. I buy them now, but the first couple of times I listen I always think 'eh, I'm not so sure I like it'. And then I crank it up and I go 'what was I thinking?'.

IKtSoSE:3 is my favorite of all the albums, and when I first heard it I didn't like it at ALL. Now I can listen to it on an almost endless loop and be completely content.

The same thing happened with Good Apollo. That's when I realized it that the music grew on me the longer I listened to it, and the louder I played it.

I don't know what strange mechanism in my head has to hear it at eardrum rattling, bone thumping decibels before appreciating it, but that's how it works. Now, when I buy a new Co&Ca CD, I have to put it in the CD player (I've got one in my car now, which makes this a lot easier - I know, this being such a new development puts me severely behind the times) and crank it up until the windows rattle.

I think this probably stems from my childhood.... Back in the Shokan house, when I was just a little tyke, my dad would have guys like Padula or Jonathan over and they'd jam in the mudroom. And when we moved to the Jam House, Eric and the guys were ALWAYS there playing music... often, when mom wasn't home, at floor vibrating levels. Evidence of this exists in the celluloid of my 9th grade social studies short film, Eternities of Darkness (or Extremities of Dumbness as we lovingly call it). Scenes we filmed in the basement of that house are chock full of the rumble of either my brother or Quentin (or both) jamming upstairs.

I guess that might be weird. Intellectually, I know I'm weird. Although I never really FEEL weird.... at least not until I pull into work or turn down the road to my house and people give me strange looks because my car is thumping and vibrating.

But that happens to me all the time.... the not feeling like I'm weird until someone else's reaction to something points out the weirdness of it thing, not the staring thing.

I'm not really sure what the point of this was. I was just thinking about this particular subject and free association writing. Oh well. I'm going to go eat some lunch now. Maybe sit in the parking lot in my car and crank up the volume.

If I'm going to be weird, might as well embrace it, eh?

Currently listening : No World For Tomorrow By Coheed & Cambria Release date: 23 October, 2007

8:38 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Where I’ll be in March

The second annual Fear Fest horror con is coming up. I'm already getting excited. If you don't know what Fear Fest is... shame on you!

Check out the site at www.txfearfest.com

Normally, I wouldn't have a whole lot of reason to be going to Texas.... but here's a few.

1. It's a horror con... Yay horror!

2. Last year's was 468 buckets of fun.

3. I get to see all my fellow Dread Central beasties in one place.

4. The stories you get to tell after it's all over (like last year, David Arquette getting in the elevator and practically rubbing his butt all up on me.... among other things.)

5. Getting to meet lots of cool celebs.

6. It's a horror con.... duh!

And as if that all wasn't reason enough.... Now, it's all for a good cause!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 28, 2007: Dallas, TX - March 7th, 8th, and 9th. Texas Fear Fest will be helping to raise money and awareness for the West Memphis Three (www.wm3.org) -- three men who have been falsely imprisoned for murder since 1993. Recently completed DNA testing (not available back in 1993) does not match any of the three men, and their many supporters hope to see them freed in the near future. Tammy Adin (coordinator for the West Memphis Three World Awareness Day) and Anje Vela (president of Music4Life) will be teaming up with John Gray of Texas Fear Fest to bring donated items from Skeleton Key Auctions (www.skeletonkeyauctions.com) and other sources for a huge silent auction of memorabilia, artwork and many other items, to raise money for the West Memphis Three's legal defense fund.

Contact: John Gray (TX Fear Fest) at fearfesttx@yahoo.com

Tammy Adin (coordinator for the West Memphis Three World Awareness Day) at tammy@mcmsys.com

Anje Vela (President of Music4Life) at velaentertainment@yahoo.com

if you would like to donate an item to the silent auction.

About The West Memphis Three: Shortly after three eight-year-old boys were found mutilated and murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, local newspapers stated the killers had been caught. The police assured the public that the three teenagers in custody were definitely responsible for these horrible crimes. Evidence? The same police officers coerced an error-filled "confession" from Jessie Misskelley Jr., who is mentally handicapped. They subjected him to 12 hours of questioning without counsel or parental consent, audiotaping only two fragments totaling 46 minutes. Jessie recanted it that evening, but it was too late -- Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were all arrested on June 3, 1993, and convicted of murder in early 1994. Although there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution pathetically resorted to presenting black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as proof that the boys were sacrificed in a satanic cult ritual. Unfathomably, Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin received life without parole, and Misskelley got life plus 40. For over 14 years, The West Memphis Three have been imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit. Echols waits in solitary confinement for the lethal injection our tax dollars will pay for. They were all condemned by their poverty, incompetent defense, satanic panic and a rush to judgment. But there's still hope for them, and you can help. http://www.wm3.org

About TX Fear Fest: Texas Fear Fest is a horror-oriented for-profit media event held annually in the Dallas, Texas area. Guests have included actors, directors, and producers from classic and upcoming horror films. Texas Fear Fest is presented in conjunction with horror websites Pit of Horror.com and Dread Central.com.

http://www.txfearfest.com

http://www.pitofhorror.com

http://dreadcentral.com

About West Memphis Three World Awareness Day: The West Memphis Three World Awareness Day (WAD) is an annual event that brings together supporters on a single day or weekend, with fundraisers, concerts, and viewings of the Paradise Lost films taking place all over the world during that time. Over 100 events have taken place since the first WAD in 2005, involving such contributors as Alkaline Trio, Pearl Jam, Chuck Prophet, Jonathan Richman, Michale Graves, Nick Oliveri, Art Alexakis, the Supersuckers, Margaret Cho, the Dresden Dolls, Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins.

http://www.myspace.com/wm3worldawarenessday

About Music4Life: Music 4 Life is a non-profit organization that puts together live music events to raise funds and awareness on social justice issues such as death penalty reform. Our unique mission uses the 'rock concert' auditorium as classroom for powerful public education. We seek to direct attention and focus to the inconsistencies that are standard operating procedure in many U.S. courtrooms.

http://www.myspace.com/musicforlifenp

So see?

I ask you..... where else can you go hang out, meet celebs, chill with cool people, have some drinks and see some good horror movies... and all have it benefit a good cause???

Nowhere, I say.

That's why I'll be in Texas this coming March. And why YOU should join me.

11:25 AM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

The West Memphis Three - "The time is NOW".

..> ..>

WM3 - "The time is NOW" ***Please Read & Repost***

I know a lot of you are aware of who the West Memphis Three are (if not, PLEASE check out www.wm3.org), and my stance on their convictions.... My firm belief that Damien, Jason and Jessie are innocent keeps me checking out the website frequently to see if there is any new news... and also lurking on the discussion board (there's a link to it on the site, under CONTACT). If you think you're interested in the case, the boys and girls there have compiled just about all the evidence there is to be had and made it accesible, or know where to get it. It's really amazing. But that's not why I'm posting today.... I'm posting today because during a check of the boards there, Kathy (one of the founders, if you've seen PL2 you'll know she's been part of the case for years and years) posted a letter from Damien's wife Lorri .... and I wanted to pass it on, and ask everyone personally - do what you can here. I am. I've pasted the body of the letter below. I'm not asking anyone to break their banks, or donate to something they don't believe in.... if you don't know anything about the case, read the info, do some googling, and make up your own mind. But if you're like me, and many others out there, and feel these three deserve a FAIR day in court... it would be amazing if you could send a few bucks their way. You're helping save a life... three lives. Think about it. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Ghandi xoxo Morgan aka Horror Chic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Friends & Supporters: For more than a decade, thousands of you from all over the world have spoken out about the grave injustice in West Memphis, where three men Ð including my husband Ð were wrongfully convicted of murder. You have spoken out to raise money and awareness; you have brought widespread attention to this case and refused to let people forget that three men are in prison for a crime they did not commit; and you have made a difference, through creativity, passion and sheer force of will. The families of the West Memphis Three (Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin) can never thank you enough. Today, I am writing to you because we urgently need your help. Whether you have supported and followed the case over the years, or you are just learning about this tragic injustice, we need you to step up today. Over the last two years, compelling new evidence has been discovered by DNA tests, forensic pathologists and investigators. The lawyers are working to assemble what will be a dynamic appeal; one that will change forever the way this case has been perceived, and will prove Ð once and for all -- the innocence of the three convicted. The filing will include new evidence that is backed up with factual, hard science; a miraculous development in this error-ridden case. Your support over the years has enabled us to achieve unbelievable progress. WeÕre now asking for your help to put all of this effort to work in the courts. We need the resources that will enable our experts, lawyers and investigators to work full time over the next couple of months, so the appeal can be filed as quickly as possible. Time is running out, and we need your help. Please make checks payable to the Damien Echols Defense Fund, PO Box 1216, Little Rock, AR 72203. You can also donate online, through PayPal to: Ldavis11@hotmail.com. If you have ever considered donating, the time is NOW. Cases like this take years and cost millions of dollars. We are in the final lap toward overturning these convictions and finally securing justice, but we simply cannot do it without the money it takes to bring all of the science and expertise and investigation into court so that the truth can finally come out. I am not an expert on the law, science, the criminal justice system or the art of fundraising and organizing. What I know for sure is that these three men are innocent, and that we can prove it Ð if we have the money it will take in the next four weeks to file the appeal thatÕs been more than 10 years in the making. Please help us, and please know that your support has already gotten us farther than many people thought possible. Thanks very much, Lorri Davis and the Damien Echols Legal Team

11:08 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Hear that horn?

Okay, yeah so it's tooting my own horn, but I'm super excited so I thought I would share....

In the latest issue of Rue Morgue (awesome magazine) there's an ad for the upcoming DVD of Masters of Horror episode The Black Cat - and right at the top of the page, in letters almost an inch tall is a quote from Dread Central.... FROM MY REVIEW!!!

I know it's corny to be excited by something like that... but it is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time something I wrote was quoted in print. And even though it's not credited to me directly, I know it's me... and now so do you! So it's kind of a cool moment for me.

Alright.... I'll shut up now... I won't say another word on it.

I'll just post the picture. Yeah... I know. You don't have to say it.

xoxo

Horror Chic

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4:46 PM - 3 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Read It And Weep

I do not think our founding fathers (or mothers) were infallible. They were just as human as we are. They ate and slept and went to the bathroom, and had families and friends, much like we do. I don't even necessarily think they were all good people, or agree with everything they believed was right and normal.

But I do believe that, collectively, they had an idea for a nation based on principles we all admire. They stood strong for their beliefs and spoke out against the things they didn't agree with, and fought for those things they did. They faced, in the infancy of our country, a government with much greater might, and still stood their ground - and won! There was an idea of America, and it was a good idea. But the practice of it has never been perfect, and seems to move further and further away from what we started off to be.

To see the nobility and strength with which our country was founded, you really have to look no further than the Declaration of Independence - our very first act as Americans. I bet most people haven't read it in it's entirety... sure we've skimmed the famous bits (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), but all of it? I hadn't, until recently.

And reading it, I felt... sad, angry, betrayed... to name a few of the emotions. Like this country we have today is NOT what they intended when they wrote those fairly eloquent words.

Don't believe me? Read it. I'll let it speak for itself.

xoxo

HC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The original spelling and capitalization have been retained.

(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)

The Unanimous Declaration
of the Thirteen

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

7:31 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Haunted

People don't have to be dead for them to haunt you. Here's something I wrote this morning.

xoxo

HC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was just the thought of you
in the early morning
I was not yet fully awake
and hadn't cleaned the soft cobweb
of dreams from my eyes
my guard was down

Just the thought of you
and it's cut me here
down to the marrow
with razor sharp memories
of longing

seven years spent
playing the flute to your fiddle
eyes blind with love
and I couldn't see the reflection in yours

and this is what it all comes to
a collection of sensory perceptions
a crooked smile, a brief taste of your lips
the late night sound of your voice
an electric touch, your thumb on my collar bone
and the smell of you
at the crease of neck and shoulder
in the hollow of your chest
sweat and spice
like home to me
I still seek it
funny how I could never tell you
until it was way too late

so sweet
it breaks my heart
remembering the days
when my sun rose and set in you
as if they've gone away

when all it takes
is just the thought of you

7:54 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

just foolin' around....

Something I wrote this morning....

SCARS

These are my scars
they tell the story of me...

this one from the stove
on the back of my right hand
I was 3 and fell
and on the left hand
between thumb and forefinger
at 12, a careless catfood can
I was on the phone with a boy
and here on my shin, at 14
where I knelt on sharp rocks
in the river at his feet
while he looked over my head
here's one on my lower lip
a missed ball playing catch with my dad
I might have been only 8
this here on my elbow
I don't remember what age
but I do rememeber gravel
summer at the park
lying next to a brilliant eyed boy
who became a beautiful man
for much too briefly

and here, and there, and there
on knees and hands
and belly and back
and legs and face
each one a memory,
if I can only recall it
accidents, tragedies,
acts of merriment or mischief
even a few I have chosen to wear

These are my scars
they tell the story of me
to anyone who cares to listen
they say everything about me
or maybe nothing
except 'I have lived'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And yes, I actually have all those scars.

xoxo

8:05 AM - 1 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Long Time Gone....

14 years ago I was 12. I was in 6th grade, maybe 7th. I hadn't really had a real boyfriend, or my first kiss. My biggest worry was that I was too tall (yeah... THAT didn't last - I stopped growing right around then) and going into highschool.

I remember my 6th grade graduation, and the boys I had crushes on. I remember getting my first period, the dress I wore for graduation, the fights (okay fight.... remember Suz? Wasn't it over Corey or something, and I gave you back a box of stuff you'd given me? Isn't that like, the last fight we had???) and the new friends I made the first year of high school (yeah Mel, David, Kim, Jordon, Walter-Kevin, tons others here on Myspace I'm sure.... FOURTEEN YEARS guys... holee sheet right?)

If I had kept a list of all the things I'd done and seen and experienced since then, it would take a rainforest worth of paper. I mean fuck.... fourteen years right? We ALL change a lot in fourteen years!

Now, imagine if you'd been locked up for all that time... missing the life of your child, on death row, for a crime you didn't commit. Can you do it? I sure as hell can't... the mere thought makes my heart break. That's how long the West Memphis three have been in jail, convicted based on fear and small mindedness, instead of facts. Because see, that's the thing.... even if you think they DID do it (and you're entitled to your wrong opinion  ), I don't see how any intelligent person can look at the facts of how the trial was handled and say they had a fair day in court. I've always said, guilty or innocent, they need a retrial.

Well, it looks like that might finally happen!!!

http://www.wm3.org/live/newsevents/newsitem.php?index=1&news_Id=129

And it only took FOURTEEN YEARS..... (that's sarcasm, in case you can't tell).

It's sad it had to take this long, but I'm glad it's finally happening. Those boys (and they were just boys when this first happened) have had to waste so much of their lives in prison. Here's crossing everything I can cross that the retrial happens fast, and that justice is FINALLY done!!!!!

Keep up all those good thoughts and wishes flowing and most of all, keep spreading the word folks.... Sometimes, it DOES make a difference.

xoxoxo

Horror Chic

12:55 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment