Sympathy By John Carter

I don't want your sympathy
I just want you here with me
Though I sing so awkwardly
Only you can comfort me

And the night falls down like a window shade
Your words cut me like a blade
I can't feel the simple pain
But I can hear the things you say

I can't take this pain from you
It's something I could never do
So I will turn and walk on through
The cold, hard place I always knew

I don't want your sympathy
I just want you here with me
Though I sing so awkwardly
Only you can comfort me

I can stay or I can go
Love waits for me, this I know
I can't be your puppet show
because a puppet just can't grow

Cut my strings and walk away
I still hear the words you say
Maybe I'll be back someday
Reclaim the life you took away

I don't want your sympathy
I just want you here with me
Though I sing so awkwardly
Only you can comfort me...
posted by 123454321 at 8:58 PM

Thunderstorm By John Carter

Why does it always end like this
Why couldn't we stay together
These are the questions you ask me
When I tell you it can't last forever

I can't tell it from the words you say
But I can hear it in your voice
You blame me for everything
You think this was my choice

I can see the lightning flash in your eyes
I can feel the storm brewing in your skies
I can hear the thunder from inside
I can taste the rain falling from your eyes

You tell me you still love me
And I don't doubt it's true
If I had to tell the truth
I still love you too

No one knows the pain I feel
How it hurts to tell you this
I know I can't be with you
But it's you I'm gonna miss

I can see the lightning flash in your eyes
I can feel the storm brewing in your skies
I can hear the thunder from inside
I can taste the rain falling from your eyes

You know it's not meant to be
You just don't know you know
The things you can't admit to
And love that would not grow

Oh, I can see the lightning
I can taste the rain
Can you feel my heartache
Cause I can feel your pain

And I can hear the thunder
It's driving me insane
Can you tell I'm crying
Just standing in the rain
posted by 123454321 at 8:39 AM

Exit Strategy
by George Saunders

How To Leave Iraq In Three Simple Steps

It is clear we are at a crossroads in Iraq. Naysayers are claiming the situation there is chaotic and confusing. Nonsense. It is not confusing. It is quite simple.

Allow me to explain.

There are, at present, two major constituencies in Iraq: those who want to kill us, and those who do not. Success will require minimizing membership in the former group. Complications along this path may include the following:

1) In the process of killing the ones who want to kill us, we sometimes kill some who are not trying to kill us. This has been observed to cause a sudden increase in the number who want to kill us, which means a longer stay for us, since we then must kill, not only the ones who originally wanted to kill us, but also the ones who just started wanting to kill us.

2) In order to identify the ones who want to kill us, it is necessary, once we have caught someone who wants to kill us, to encourage him/her to help us identify others who want to kill us. Sometimes we mistake ones who don't want to kill us for ones who do, and catch them, and encourage them. Upon their release, there occurs a sudden increase in the number of those who want to kill us.

3) Given the large number of us over there, it should come as no surprise that some of us are bad. Certain abuses have occurred. However, it is only fair to note that many more abuses were occurring before we arrived. Plus, if our abusers are abusing over there, they are not abusing over here. So really, it is a win/win: The Iraqis have fewer abuses than they were having, and we have fewer abuses than we would have had had our abusers stayed at home. Everyone is happy, except, it has been observed, those who were abused and those who hear of the abuse and suddenly join the group of those wanting to kill us.

Since it is clear that we cannot leave until they stop killing us, and equally clear that they will not stop killing us until we leave, I propose the following exit strategy:

1) Kill all the ones who are trying to kill us, in such a way that none of those who presently do not want to kill us suddenly start wanting to kill us.

2) At the moment of the death of the last person who wanted to kill us, race quickly out of the country before some additional person suddenly decides he/she wants to kill us, thus necessitating our continued presence in Iraq, in order to kill him/her.

3) Having left Iraq quickly, do not look back, so as not to witness individuals claiming they would have liked to kill us, which would then necessitate a return to Iraq, in order to etc., etc. (See No. 2, above.)

To implement this exit strategy, we will have to practice running quickly. It is further recommended that, while running, the eyes be cast down, to avoid witnessing any last-minute people trying to kill us. We will have to establish excellent communications so that the moment that final person begins dying, we can all begin running quickly at the same time, eyes cast down, quickly, to our vehicles, to get to the airport and get out of the country.

This exit strategy will demand a high level of coordination, dedication, and planning.

But our leaders have already shown the way by showing that, if one has a vision, and refuses to betray that vision by modifying it, or becoming distracted by small details, such as, for example, the confusing data emanating from the non-theoretical world, filled with actual people, pets, clothes on clotheslines, nuanced loyalties, etc., mountains can be moved, nations can be changed, great things can be accomplished.

It is clear that the fate of Iraq now rests in the hands of Iraqis.

People of Iraq, I say to you:

Stop trying to kill us, so we can leave. But also, do not fear. We are in it for the long haul, although we cannot stay with you indefinitely. No, as soon as you stop trying to kill us, believe us, you will never see us again. Therefore, trust us, people of Iraq, have faith, we assure you: As long as you continue trying to kill us, we will never abandon you.

posted by 123454321 at 1:40 PM

Imagine that I'm on stage
Under a watchtower of punishing light
And in the haze is your face bathed in shadow
And what's beyond you is hidden from sight

And somebody right now is yawning
And watching me like a T.V.
And I've been frantically piling up sandbags
Against the flood waters of fatigue and insecurity

And that's when I hear my guitar singing
And so I just start singing along
And somewhere in my chest all the noise
Just gets crushed by the song

Imagine that I'm at your mercy,
Imagine that you are at mine
Just pretend that I've been standing here,
Watching you watching me all of this time

Imagine that you are the weather
In the tiny snow globe of this song
And I am a Statue of Liberty one inch long

So here I am at my most hungry,
And here I am at my most full
And here I am waving a red cape,
Locking eyes with a bull

Imagine that I'm on stage
Under a watchtower of punishing light
and in the haze is your face bathed in shadow
And what's beyond you is hidden from sight.

posted by 123454321 at 12:36 PM

Imperfectly

I'm okay
If you get me at a good angle
And you're okay
In the right sort of light
And we don't look
Like pages from a magazine
But that's all right
That's all right

We get a little further from perfection
Each year on the road
I guess that's what they call character
I guess that's just the way it goes
Better to be dusty than polished
Like some store window mannequin
Why don't you touch me where I'm rusty
Let me stain your hands

When you're pretty as a picture
They pound down your door
But I've been offered love
In two dimensions before
And I know that it's not all
It's made out to be
Let's show them how it's done
Let's do it all imperfectly
posted by 123454321 at 5:05 PM

32 Flavors

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am thirty-two flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
Cause someday you are gonna get hungry
And eat most of the words you just said

Both my parents taught me about good will
And I have done well by their names
Just the kindness I've lavished on strangers
Is more than I can explain
Still there's many who've turned out their porch lights Just so I would think they were not home
And hid in the dark of their windows
'Til I'd passed and left them alone

God help you if you are an ugly girl
Course too pretty is also your doom
Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred
For the prettiest girl in the room
And god help you if you are a phoenix
And you dare to rise up from the ash
A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy
While you are just flying past

And I'll never try to give my life meaning
By demeaning you
And I would like to state for the record
I did everything that I could do
I'm not saying that I am a savior
I just don't want to live that way
No, I will never be a saint
But I will always say

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am thirty-two flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
Cause someday you might find you are starving
And eating all of the words that you said

-Ani DiFranco

posted by 123454321 at 4:30 PM

Evolve

I walk in stride with people
much taller than me
and partly it's the boots but
mostly it's my chi
and I'm becoming transfixed
with nature and my part in it
which I believe just signifies
I'm finally waking up

and there's this moth outside my kitchen door
she's bonkers for that bare bulb
flying round in circles
bashing in her exoskull
and out in the woods she navigates fine by the moon
but get her around a light bulb and she's doomed

she is trying to evolve
she's just trying to evolve

now let's get talking reefer madness
like some arrogant government can't
by any stretch of the imagination
outlaw a plant!
yes, their supposed authority over nature
is a dream
c'mon people
we've got to come clean

cuz they are locking our sons
and our daughters in cages
they are taking by the thousands
our lives from under us
it's a crash course in religious fundamentals
now let's all go to war
get some bang for our buck

I am trying to evolve
I'm just trying to evolve

gunnin for high score in the land of dreams
morbid bluish-white consumers ogling luminous screens
on the trail of forgetting
cruising without a care
the jet set won't abide by that pesky jet lag
and our lives boil down to an hour or two
when someone pulls a camera out of a bag

and I am trying to evolve
I'm just trying to evolve

so I walk like I'm on a mission
cuz that's the way I groove
I got more and more to do
I got less and less to prove
it took me too long to realize
that I don't take good pictures
cuz I have the kind of beauty
that moves

-Ani Difranco
posted by 123454321 at 10:30 PM

The entirety of Jon Stewart's commencement address at William and Mary:

Thank you Mr. President, I had forgotten how crushingly dull these ceremonies are. Thank you.

My best to the choir. I have to say, that song never grows old for me. Whenever I hear that song, it reminds me of nothing.

I am honored to be here, I do have a confession to make before we get going that I should explain very quickly. When I am not on television, this is actually how I dress. I apologize, but there’s something very freeing about it. I congratulate the students for being able to walk even a half a mile in this non-breathable fabric in the Williamsburg heat. I am sure the environment that now exists under your robes, are the same conditions that primordial life began on this earth.

I know there were some parents that were concerned about my speech here tonight, and I want to assure you that you will not hear any language that is not common at, say, a dock workers union meeting, or Tourrett’s convention, or profanity seminar. Rest assured.

I am honored to be here and to receive this honorary doctorate. When I think back to the people that have been in this position before me from Benjamin Franklin to Queen Noor of Jordan, I can’t help but wonder what has happened to this place. Seriously, it saddens me. As a person, I am honored to get it; as an alumnus, I have to say I believe we can do better. And I believe we should. But it has always been a dream of mine to receive a doctorate and to know that today, without putting in any effort, I will. It’s incredibly gratifying. Thank you. That’s very nice of you, I appreciate it.

I’m sure my fellow doctoral graduates—who have spent so long toiling in academia, sinking into debt, sacrificing God knows how many years of what, in truth, is a piece of parchment that in truth has been so devalued by our instant gratification culture as to have been rendered meaningless—will join in congratulating me. Thank you.

But today isn’t about how my presence here devalues this fine institution. It is about you, the graduates. I’m honored to be here to congratulate you today. Today is the day you enter into the real world, and I should give you a few pointers on what it is. It’s actually not that different from the environment here. The biggest difference is you will now be paying for things, and the real world is not surrounded by three-foot brick wall. And the real world is not a restoration. If you see people in the real world making bricks out of straw and water, those people are not colonial re-enactors—they are poor. Help them. And in the real world, there is not as much candle lighting. I don’t really know what it is about this campus and candle lighting, but I wish it would stop. We only have so much wax, people.

Lets talk about the real world for a moment. We had been discussing it earlier, and I…I wanted to bring this up to you earlier about the real world, and this is I guess as good a time as any. I don’t really know to put this, so I’ll be blunt. We broke it.

Please don’t be mad. I know we were supposed to bequeath to the next generation a world better than the one we were handed. So, sorry.

I don’t know if you’ve been following the news lately, but it just kinda got away from us. Somewhere between the gold rush of easy internet profits and an arrogant sense of endless empire, we heard kind of a pinging noise, and uh, then the damn thing just died on us. So I apologize.

But here’s the good news. You fix this thing, you’re the next greatest generation, people. You do this—and I believe you can—you win this war on terror, and Tom Brokaw’s kissing your ass from here to Tikrit, let me tell ya. And even if you don’t, you’re not gonna have much trouble surpassing my generation. If you end up getting your picture taken next to a naked guy pile of enemy prisoners and don’t give the thumbs up you’ve outdid us.

We declared war on terror. We declared war on terror—it’s not even a noun, so, good luck. After we defeat it, I’m sure we’ll take on that bastard ennui.

But obviously that’s the world. What about your lives? What piece of wisdom can I impart to you about my journey that will somehow ease your transition from college back to your parents' basement?

I know some of you are nostalgic today and filled with excitement and perhaps uncertainty at what the future holds. I know six of you are trying to figure out how to make a bong out of your caps. I believe you are members of Sigma Nu. Hey that did work, thank you for the reference.

So I thought I’d talk a little bit about my experience here at William and Mary. It was very long ago, and if you had been to William and Mary while I was here and found out that I would be the commencement speaker 20 years later, you would be somewhat surprised, and probably somewhat angry. I came to William and Mary because as a Jewish person I wanted to explore the rich tapestry of Judaica that is Southern Virginia. Imagine my surprise when I realized “The Tribe” was not what I thought it meant.

In 1980 I was 17 years old. When I moved to Williamsburg, my hall was in the basement of Yates, which combined the cheerfulness of a bomb shelter with the prison-like comfort of the group shower. As a freshman I was quite a catch. Less than five feet tall, yet my head is the same size it is now. Didn’t even really look like a head, it looked more like a container for a head. I looked like a Peanuts character. Peanuts characters had terrible acne. But what I lacked in looks I made up for with a repugnant personality.

In 1981 I lost my virginity, only to gain it back again on appeal in 1983. You could say that my one saving grace was academics where I excelled, but I did not.

And yet now I live in the rarified air of celebrity, of mega stardom. My life a series of Hollywood orgies and Kabala center brunches with the cast of Friends. At least that’s what my handlers tell me. I’m actually too valuable to live my own life and spend most of my days in a vegetable crisper to remain fake news anchor fresh.

So I know that the decisions that I made after college worked out. But at the time I didn’t know that they would. See college is not necessarily predictive of your future success. And it’s the kind of thing where the path that I chose obviously wouldn’t work for you. For one, you’re not very funny.

So how do you know what is the right path to choose to get the result that you desire? And the honest answer is this. You won’t. And accepting that greatly eases the anxiety of your life experience.

I was not exceptional here, and am not now. I was mediocre here. And I’m not saying aim low. Not everybody can wander around in an alcoholic haze and then at 40 just, you know, decide to be president. You’ve got to really work hard to try to…I was actually referring to my father.

When I left William and Mary I was shell-shocked. Because when you’re in college it’s very clear what you have to do to succeed. And I imagine here everybody knows exactly the number of credits they needed to graduate, where they had to buckle down, which introductory psychology class would pad out the schedule. You knew what you had to do to get to this college and to graduate from it. But the unfortunate, yet truly exciting thing about your life, is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective. The paths are infinite and the results uncertain. And it can be maddening to those that go here, especially here, because your strength has always been achievement. So if there’s any real advice I can give you it’s this.

College is something you complete. Life is something you experience. So don’t worry about your grade, or the results or success. Success is defined in myriad ways, and you will find it, and people will no longer be grading you, but it will come from your own internal sense of decency which I imagine, after going through the program here, is quite strong…although I’m sure downloading illegal files…but, nah, that’s a different story.

Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. And let the chips fall where they may.

And the last thing I want to address is the idea that somehow this new generation is not as prepared for the sacrifice and the tenacity that will be needed in the difficult times ahead. I have not found this generation to be cynical or apathetic or selfish. They are as strong and as decent as any people that I have met. And I will say this, on my way down here I stopped at Bethesda Naval, and when you talk to the young kids that are there that have just been back from Iraq and Afghanistan, you don’t have the worry about the future that you hear from so many that are not a part of this generation but judging it from above.

And the other thing….that I will say is, when I spoke earlier about the world being broke, I was somewhat being facetious, because every generation has their challenge. And things change rapidly, and life gets better in an instant.

I was in New York on 9-11 when the towers came down. I lived 14 blocks from the twin towers. And when they came down, I thought that the world had ended. And I remember walking around in a daze for weeks. And Mayor Guiliani had said to the city, “You’ve got to get back to normal. We’ve got to show that things can change and get back to what they were.”

And one day I was coming out of my building, and on my stoop, was a man who was crouched over, and he appeared to be in deep thought. And as I got closer to him I realized, he was playing with himself. And that’s when I thought, “You know what, we’re gonna be OK.”

Thank you. Congratulations. I honor you. Good Night.

posted by 123454321 at 10:07 PM

The entirety of Bono's commencement address at The University of Pennsylvania:

Because We Can, We Must


My name is Bono and I am a rock star. Don't get me too excited because I use four letter words when I get excited and I'm that guy. I'd just like to say to the parents, your children are safe, your country is safe, the FCC has taught me a lesson and the only four letter word I'm going to use today is PENN. Come to think of it Bono is a four-letter word. The whole business of obscenity--I don't think there's anything certainly more unseemly than the site of a rock star in academic robes. It's a bit like when people put their King Charles spaniels in little tartan sweats and hats. It's not natural, and it doesn't make the dog any smarter.

It's true we were here before with U2 and I would like to thank them for giving me a great life, as well as you. I've got a great rock and roll band that normally stand in the back when I'm talking to thousands of people in a football stadium and they were here with me, I think it was seven years ago. Actually then I was with some other sartorial problems. I was wearing a mirror ball suit at the time and I emerged from a forty-foot high revolving lemon. It was sort of a cross between a space ship, a disco and a plastic fruit. I guess it was at that point when your Trustees decided to give me their highest honor. Doctor of Laws, wow! I know it's an honor, and it really is an honor, but are you sure? Doctor of Law, all I can think about is the laws I've broken. Laws of nature, laws of physics, laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and on a memorable night in the late seventies, I think it was Newton's law of motion sickness. No, it's true, my resume reads like a rap sheet. I have to come clean; I've broken a lot of laws, and the ones I haven't I've certainly thought about. I have sinned in thought, word, and deed and God forgive me, actually God forgave me, but why would you? I'm here getting a doctorate, getting respectable, getting in the good graces of the powers that be, I hope it sends you students a powerful message: Crime does pay.

So I humbly accept the honor, keeping in mind the words of a British playwright, John Mortimer it was, "No brilliance is needed in the law, nothing but common sense and relatively clean fingernails." Well at best I've got one of the two of those. But no, I never went to college, I've slept in some strange places, but the library wasn't one of them. I studied rock and roll and I grew up in Dublin in the '70s, music was an alarm bell for me, it woke me up to the world. I was 17 when I first saw The Clash, and it just sounded like revolution. The Clash were like, "This is a public service announcement--with guitars." I was the kid in the crowd who took it at face value. Later I learned that a lot of the rebels were in it for the tee-shirt. They'd wear the boots but they wouldn't march. They'd smash bottles on their heads but they wouldn't go to something more painful like a town hall meeting. By the way I felt like that myself until recently. I didn't expect change to come so slow. So agonizingly slow. I didn't realize that the biggest obstacle to political and social progress wasn't the Free Masons, or the Establishment, or the boot heal of whatever you consider the man to be, it was something much subtle. As the Provost just referred to, a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of nos you encounter as people vanish down the corridors of bureaucracy. So for better or worse that was my education. I came away with a clear sense of the difference music could make in my own life, in other peoples lives if I did my job right, which if you're a singer in a rock band means avoiding the obvious pitfalls like say a mullet hairdo. If anyone here doesn't know what a mullet is by the way your education's certainly not complete, I'd ask for your money back. For a lead singer like me, a mullet is, I would suggest, arguably more dangerous than a drug problem. Yes, I had a mullet in the '80s. Now this is the point where the members of the faculty start smiling uncomfortably and thinking maybe they should have offered me the honorary bachelors degree instead of the full blown, (he should have been the bachelor's one, he's talking about mullets and stuff) and if they're asking what on earth I'm doing here, I think it's a fair question: What am I doing here? More to the point: what are you doing here? Because if you don't mind me saying so this is a strange ending to an Ivy League education. Four years in these historic halls thinking great thoughts and now you're sitting in a stadium better suited for football listening to an Irish rock star give a speech that is so far mostly about himself. What are you doing here?

Actually I saw something in the paper last week about Kermit the Frog giving a commencement address somewhere. One of the students was complaining, "I worked my ass off for four years to be addressed by a sock?" You have worked your ass off for this. For four years you've been buying, trading, and selling, everything you've got in this marketplace of ideas. The intellectual hustle. Your pockets are full, even if your parents' are empty, and now you've got to figure out what to spend it on. Well, the going rate for change is not cheap. Big ideas are expensive. The University has had its share of big ideas. Benjamin Franklin had a few, so did Justice Brennen and in my opinion so does Judith Rodin. What a gorgeous girl. They all knew that if you're gonna be good at your word if you're gonna live up to your ideals and your education, its' gonna cost you. So my question I suppose is: What's the big idea? What's your big idea? What are you willing to spend your moral capital, your intellectual capital, your cash, your sweat equity in pursuing outside of the walls of the University of Pennsylvania?

There's a truly great Irish poet his name is Brendan Kennelly, and he has this epic poem called the Book of Judas, and there's a line in that poem that never leaves my mind, it says: "If you want to serve the age, betray it." What does that mean to betray the age? Well to me betraying the age means exposing its conceits, it's foibles; it's phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths. Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will. Slavery was one of them and the people who best served that age were the ones who called it as it was, which was ungodly and inhuman. Ben Franklin called it when he became president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Segregation. There was another one. America sees this now but it took a civil rights movement to betray their age. And 50 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court betrayed the age May 17, 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education came down and put the lie to the idea that separate can ever really be equal. Amen to that. Fast forward 50 years May 17, 2004, what are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your post-Penn lives trying to do or undo? It might be something simple. It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it?

Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it. And for me the proving ground has been Africa. Africa makes a mockery of what we say, at least what I say, about equality and questions our pieties and our commitments because there's no way to look at what's happening over there and it's effect on all of us and conclude that we actually consider Africans as our equal before God. There is no chance. An amazing event happened here in Philadelphia in 1985--Live Aid--that whole We Are The World phenomenon the concert that happened here. Well after that concert I went to Ethiopia with my wife, Ali, we were there for a month and an extraordinary thing happened to me. We used to wake up in the morning and the mist would be lifting we'd see thousands and thousands of people who'd been walking all night to our food station were we were working. One man--I was standing outside talking to the translator--had this beautiful boy and he was saying to me in Amharic, I think it was, I said I can't understand what he's saying, and this nurse who spoke English and Amharic said to me, he's saying will you take his son. He's saying please take his son, he would be a great son for you. I was looking puzzled and he said, "You must take my son because if you don't take my son, my son will surely die. If you take him he will go back to where he is and get an education." Probably like the ones we're talking about today. I had to say no, that was the rules there and I walked away from that man, I've never really walked away from it. But I think about that boy and that man and that's when I started this journey that's brought me here into this stadium. Because at that moment I became the worst scourge on God's green earth, a rock star with a cause. Christ! Except it isn't the cause. Seven thousand Africans dying every day of preventable, treatable disease like AIDS? That's not a cause. That's an emergency. And when the disease gets out of control because most of the population live on less than one dollar a day? That's not a cause. That's an emergency. And when resentment builds because of unfair trade rules and the burden of unfair debt, that are debts by the way that keep Africans poor? That's not a cause. That's an emergency. So--We Are The World, Live Aid, Start Me Off it was an extraordinary thing and really that event was about charity. But 20 years on I'm not that interested in charity. I'm interested in justice. There's a difference. Africa needs justice as much as it needs charity. Equality for Africa is a big idea. It's a big expensive idea. I see the Wharton graduates now getting out the math on the back of their programs, numbers are intimidating aren't they, but not to you! But the scale of the suffering and the scope of the commitment they often numb us into a kind of indifference. Wishing for the end to AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa is like wishing that gravity didn't make things so damn heavy. We can wish it, but what the hell can we do about it? Well, more than we think. We can't fix every problem--corruption, natural calamities are part of the picture here--but the ones we can we must. The debt burden, as I say, unfair trade, as I say, sharing our knowledge, the intellectual copyright for lifesaving drugs in a crisis, we can do that. And because we can, we must. Because we can, we must. Amen.

This is the straight truth. The righteous truth. It's not a theory, it's a fact. The fact is that this generation--yours, my generation--that can look at the poverty, we're the first generation that can look at poverty and disease, look across the ocean to Africa and say with a straight face, we can be the first to end this sort of stupid extreme poverty, where in the world of plenty, a child can die for lack of food in it's belly. We can be the first generation. It might take a while, but we can be that generation that says no to stupid poverty. It's a fact, the economists confirm it. It's an expensive fact but, cheaper than say the Marshall Plan that saved Europe from communism and fascism. And cheaper I would argue than fighting wave after wave of terrorism's new recruits. That's the economics department over there, very good. It's a fact. So why aren't we pumping our fists in the air and cheering about it? Well probably because when we admit we can do something about it, we've got to do something about it. For the first time in history we have the know how, we have the cash, we have the lifesaving drugs, but do we have the will?

Yesterday, here in Philadelphia, at the Liberty Bell, I met a lot of Americans who do have the will. From arch religious conservatives to young secular radicals, I just felt an incredible over powering sense that this was possible. We're calling it the ONE campaign, to put an end to AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. They believe we can do it, so do I. I really, really do believe it. I just want you to know, I think this is obvious, but I'm not really going in for the warm fuzzy feeling thing, I'm not a hippy, I do not have flowers in my hair, I come from punk rock, The Clash wore army boots not Birkenstocks. I believe America can do this! I believe that this generation can do this. In fact I want to hear an argument about why we shouldn't.

I know idealism is not playing on the radio right now, you don't see it on TV, irony is on heavy rotation, the knowingness, the smirk, the tired joke. I've tried them all out but I'll tell you this, outside this campus, and even inside it, idealism is under siege beset by materialism, narcissism and all the other isms of indifference. Baggism, Shaggism. Raggism. Notism, graduationism, chismism, I don't know. Where's John Lennon when you need him. But I don't want to make you cop to idealism, not in front of your parents, or your younger siblings. But what about Americanism? Will you cop to that at least? It's not everywhere in fashion these days, Americanism. Not very big in Europe, truth be told. No less on Ivy League college campuses. But it all depends on your definition of Americanism. Me, I'm in love with this country called America. I'm a huge fan of America, I'm one of those annoying fans, you know the ones that read the CD notes and follow you into bathrooms and ask you all kinds of annoying questions about why you didn't live up to that. I'm that kind of fan. I read the Declaration of Independence and I've read the Constitution of the United States, and they are some liner notes dude. As I said yesterday I made my pilgrimage to Independence Hall, and I love America because America is not just a country, it's an idea. You see my country, Ireland, is a great country, but it's not an idea. America is an idea, but it's an idea that brings with it some baggage, like power brings responsibility. It's an idea that brings with it equality, but equality even though it's the highest calling, is the hardest to reach. The idea that anything is possible, that's one of the reasons why I'm a fan of America. It's like hey, look there's the moon up there, lets take a walk on it, bring back a piece of it. That's the kind of America that I'm a fan of. In 1771 your founder Mr. Franklin spent three months in Ireland and Scotland to look at the relationship they had with England to see if this could be a model for America, whether America should follow their example and remain a part of the British Empire. Franklin was deeply, deeply distressed by what he saw. In Ireland he saw how England had put a stranglehold on Irish trade, how absentee English landlords exploited Irish tenant farmers and how those farmers in Franklin's words "lived in retched hovels of mud and straw, were clothed in rags and subsisted chiefly on potatoes." Not exactly the American dream. So instead of Ireland becoming a model for America, America became a model for Ireland in our own struggle for independence. When the potatoes ran out, millions of Irish men, women and children packed their bags got on a boat and showed up right here. And we're still doing it. We're not even starving anymore, loads of potatoes. In fact if there's any Irish out there, I've breaking news from Dublin, the potato famine is over you can come home now. But why are we still showing up? Because we love the idea of America. We love the crackle and the hustle, we love the spirit that gives a finger to fate, the spirit that says there's no hurdle we can't clear and no problem we can't fix. (sound of helicopter) Oh, here comes the Brits, only joking. No problem we can't fix.

So what's the problem that we want to apply all this energy and intellect to? Every era has its defining struggle and the fate of Africa is one of ours. It's not the only one, but in the history books it's easily going to make the top five, what we did or what we did not do. It's a proving ground, as I said earlier, for the idea of equality. But whether it's this or something else, I hope you'll pick a fight and get in it. Get your boots dirty, get rough, steel your courage with a final drink there at Smoky Joe's, one last primal scream and go. Sing the melody line you hear in your own head, remember, you don't owe anybody any explanations, you don't owe your parents any explanations, you don't owe your professors any explanations. You know I used to think the future was solid or fixed, something you inherited like an old building that you move into when the previous generation moves out or gets chased out. But it's not. The future is not fixed, it's fluid. You can build your own building, or hut or condo, whatever; this is the metaphor part of the speech by the way. But my point is that the world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape. Now if I were a folksinger I'd immediately launch into "If I Had a Hammer" right now get you all singing and swaying. But as I say I come from punk rock, so I'd rather have the bloody hammer right here in my fist. That's what this degree of yours is, a blunt instrument. So go forth and build something with it. Remember what John Adams said about Ben Franklin, "He does not hesitate at our boldest Measures but rather seems too think us to irresolute." Well this is the time for bold measures and this is the country and you are the generation.

Thank you.


posted by 123454321 at 10:04 PM

Rhetorical Question of the day:

How many roads must a man walk down
Before he gets smart and buys a car?

posted by 123454321 at 5:11 PM

Once Upon A Time By John Carter

Once upon a time
Our love filled up the sky
And I could see the moonlight
Reflected in your eyes

But once upon a time
And oh, so far away
Don't seem to do a bit of good
For the man I am today

A memory so sweet
It brings me to my knees
For even the sweetest memory
Can hurt like a disease

All it does is remind me
That you're no longer here
To hold my hand in the darkness
And chase away my fears

Haunted by the love
That faded into this
You can't imagine how badly
I've longed for your kiss

Memories of you
Creeping through my dreams
And the saddest part about it
Is I don't know what it means

I just can't stand the pain
To love should be a crime
But I can't deny that I loved you
Once upon a time...



posted by 123454321 at 4:40 PM

Someone Like You By John Carter

Victoria's deepest secrets
Are all out of the bag
And the champions of decency
Are waving their white flag

And the hula girl on my dashboard
Is swinging her little spring-hips
While the pop songstress on my radio
Is flapping her collagen lips

I never thought I'd say it
But more and more, it's true
I'm getting tired of cheap fakes
I want someone like you

Real beauty seems so hard to find
But that's just cuz you can't see
The beauty that you're looking for
Is found in you and me

Perfect people everywhere
They won't leave us alone
But tell me truly, can you see
The content of their souls?

I never thought I'd say it
But more and more, it's true
I'm getting tired of cheap fakes
I want someone like you...


posted by 123454321 at 4:24 PM

Opinion By John Carter

If you are what you eat,
Then I am my own feet
Cuz I've always got one in my mouth
I say the wrong thing
In a song that I sing
And suddenly my whole day goes South

But if I say what I mean,
It's a sight to be seen
When a man comes to be his own man
For to voice an opinion
Is to expand your dominion
With your words, you can rule this land.
posted by 123454321 at 4:16 PM

Hat Shaped Hat

In walked a man in the shape of a man
holding a hat-shaped hat
he held up two fingers and said 'how many fingers?"
and i said 'Peace man, that's where it's at"
i said you are what you do in order to
prevent becoming what you're busy not doing
and if you do do it truly
then you arrive at it newly
then in the end you are absolved
and the problem of heaven is solved

and the man broke into a smile,
like he was breaking into a song
and he was broken and smiling
and i was singing along
and we agreed completely agreetly about most things
'til the sun set sweetly
like it does in those paintings
the ones they hang in hotel rooms
the ones they bolt to the wall
as though anyone would want to steal them at all

we talked like children without breathing
'til i stopped this lady as she was leaving
and i said 'excuse me,
but do you know what time it would be
if we were on mars ?'
and she held up her hand
like a crossing guard stopping the cars
and she said
five in the morning

in walked a man
in the shape of a man
holding a hat shaped hat

-Ani Difranco

posted by 123454321 at 3:46 PM

Never Before By John Carter

Oh, why
Why do I feel so alone
Oh, why
Why can't I call this place home?

Surrounded by the people
And the places that I know
But feeling so entangled
And I've got nothing to show

All this effort
All this trying
All this time spent
On all this crying

Never before
Have I known myself
Never before
Was it so clear

All I ever wanted
Was someone to call my own
All I ever needed
Was a place to call my home
Never before...

Oh, why
Why can't I breathe?
Oh, why
Why can't I force myself to grieve?

Surrounded by the life
I built upon the things I know
But watching it all crumble
Now I've got nothing to show

All this effort
All this trying
All this time spent
On all this crying

Never before
Have I known myself
Never before
Was it so clear

All I ever wanted
Was someone to call my own
All I ever needed
Was a place to call my home
Never before...
posted by 123454321 at 9:12 PM

It occurs to me now, in moments of reflection, that there truly are at least two sides to every story. There are those who believe that treason for any reason is the worst sort of crime, akin to stabbing your best friend in the back. Then there are those who believe that such an act may be the most courageous of all, taking the supreme risk and giving up your homeland for a cause one truly believes in. I have therefore come to the conclusion that treason cannot be considered a 'crime' in the historical sense. History is written by the victors, as they say, and is thus a completely biased account of events.
Benedict Arnold is considered a traitor to this day, though there is certainly someone somewhere who was benefitted by his actions. Benedict Arnold fought brilliantly for the American cause for over 6 years before the source of his notoriety occurred, but that segment of history is seldom recalled. As the American Revolution was breaking out, Arnold volunteered to lead 1000 men up through the woods of Maine to attack British Canada by surprise, through its back door, at Quebec City. This journey, which is still talked about in that part of the country, proved to be a disaster for the volunteers who marched off. Half starved, frozen, and making broth by boiling their own shoe leather and cartridge boxes, they stumbled out of the wilds 50 days later...with 40% of them dead. Many believed they would have all perished were it not for Arnold's courage and leadership in those woods. So you see, there is more to every story. Certainly, Arnold's actions later in life were justifiable in his mind, and who would be better qualified to judge such a choice than he?
This brings me to the point of this thought, which is that an action is simply that: an action. It only becomes a crime when its consequences are later realized, and the historians become judge, jury, and executioner of the man's very soul. The immortalization of a man in the history books can make him revered or reviled, and sometimes both. In fact, if one were to dig deep enough, there would be evidence of both in every story.
So, Dear Reader, I ask this: Please read the whole story before you judge the news figure of the day, be he a Dictator, a terrorist, a politician or a hero. Maybe there is no 'truth' to anything, but at least we'll all have a better idea of what's really going on- and maybe we can all get along a little better.

By John Carter
posted by 123454321 at 9:23 AM

Who I Am By John Carter

I'm all dressed up
And nobody cares
And this chip on my shoulder
Has no reason to be there

I'm all attitude
And a lot of empty words
And I feel like a warrior
When I rattle my rusty sword

Every single song
Has a hidden meaning
I wonder what new info
You'll learn when I sing

This song for you
To tell you who I am
This song is for you
To let you know that
I'm not really who I am
I don't do the things I plan
And above all else, I just can't stand
Not knowing who I am
posted by 123454321 at 2:00 PM

Reality By John Carter

Another lonely day
Every sentence starts with 'why'
Another sad display
Every breath another try

All I wanted was
A chance to be the same
All I am now is
A freak up on display

Look at me
Oh, don't you know
That's why I'm here
Can't you see
Oh, look a little harder
Now it all seems clear

I'm the reality inside you
I'm just the part you wanna hide
I am the stranger beside you
The more you look, The more you'll find

Another turn to cry
Every time it's all the same
Another chance passed by
To escape from my display

All I wanted was a chance
To play my part
All you did to me
Was tear my soul apart

Look at me
Oh, don't you know
That's why I'm here
Can't you see
Oh, look a little harder
Now it all seems clear

I'm the reality inside you
I'm just the part you wanna hide
I am the stranger beside you
The more you look, the more you'll find

posted by 123454321 at 10:14 AM

"Son, I'm not going to lie to you; you're dumb as a mule and twice as ugly. If a strange man offers you a ride, I say take it..."
-Grandpa Simpson
posted by 123454321 at 3:57 PM

Our Generation has had no Great War, no Great Depression. Our war is spiritual, our depression is our lives.
-Chuck Palahniuk
posted by 123454321 at 3:54 PM

Have you ever noticed the women most adamantly against abortions are usually the ones so ugly you'd never have sex with them in the first place?
-George Carlin
posted by 123454321 at 3:40 PM

SERPENTINE

Pavlov hits me with more bad news
Every time I answer the phone
So I play and I sing and I just let it ring
All day when I'm at home
A defacto choice of macro
Or microcosmic melancholy
But, baby, any way you slice it
I'm thinkin I could just as soon use
The time alone

Yes, the goons have gone global
And the CEOs are shredding files
And the democrins and the republicrats
Are flashing their toothy smiles
And uncle tom is posing for a photo op
With the oval office clan
And uncle Sam is rigging cockfights
In the promised land
And that knife you stuck in my back is still there
It pinches a little when I sigh and moan
And these days I'm thinkin I could just as soon use
The time alone

Cuz all the wrong people have the power
Of suggestion
And the freedom of the press is meaningless
If nobody asks a question
I mean, causation by definition
Is such a complex compilation of factors
That to even try to say why
Is to oversimplify
But that's a far cry, isn't it dear?
From acting like you're the only one there
Unrepentantly self-centered and unfair
Enter all suckers scrambling for the scoop
Exit Mr. Eye contact
Who took his flirt and flew the coop
But whatever
No matter
No fishin trips
No fishin
Cuz mamma's officially out of commission
And did I mention
In there
Somewhere
Did I mention
Somewhere
In there
That I traded babe Ruth?
Yes, I traded the only player that was bigger than the game
And I can't even tell you why
Cuz you'd think I'm insane
And that's the truth

And the music industry Mafia is pimping girl power
Sniping off their sharpshooter singles from their Styrofoam towers
And hip hop is tied up in the back room
With a logo stuffed in its mouth
Cuz the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house
But then
I'm getting away from myself
As I get closer and closer to home
And these days I'm thinkin
I could just as soon use
The time alone

And I must admit
Today my inner pessimist
Seems to have got the best of me
We start out sugared up on kool-aid and manifest destiny
And we memorize all the president's names
Like little trained monkeys
And then we're spit into the world
So many spinny-eyed t.v. junkies
Incapable of unravelling the military industrial mystery
Preemptively pacified with history book history
And I've Bin around the world now
And I can see this about America
The mind control is steep here, man
The myopia is deep here

And behold
Those that try to expose the reality
Who really try to realize democracy
Are shot with rubber bullets and gassed off the streets
While the global power brokers are kept clean and discreet
Behind a wall
Behind a moat
And that is all
That's all she wrote

And my heart beats an sss o o o sss
Cuz folks just couldn't care care care less less less
As long as every day is Superbowl Sunday
And larger than life women in lingerie
Are pouting at us from every bus stop
Shelovesme shelovesmenot shelovesme shelovesmenot...

And "big government should not stand between a man and his money"
Cuz "what's good for business is good for the country"

Our children still take that lie like communion
The same old line the confederacy used on the union

Conjugate liberty
Into libertarian
And medicate it
Associate it
With deregulation
Privatization
We won't even know we're slaves
On a corporate plantation
Somebody say hallelujah!
Somebody say damnation!
Cuz the profit system follows the path of least resistance
And the path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked
Makes it serpentine
Capitalism is the devil's wet dream
So just give me my Judy garland drugs
And let me get back to work
Cuz the empire state building
Is the tallest building in new York
And I always got the feeling
You just liked to hear it fall

Off your tongue

But I remember my name

In your mouth
And I don't think I was done
Hearing it close to my ear
On a whisper's way to a moan
But Pavlov hits me with more bad news every time I answer the phone
So I play and I sing and I just let it ring all day when I'm at home

A defacto choice of macro
Or microcosmic melancholy
But baby, any way you slice it
I'm thinkin I could just as soon use
The time alone


posted by 123454321 at 7:56 AM

Decide By John Carter

Good or Evil
Dark or Light
Depends on your perspective.

Human or Animal
Fight or Flight
Depends on your point of view.

Virtue or Criminal
Justice or Vengeance
It's up to you.

Circus or Trial
Freedom or Sentence
Think about it.
posted by 123454321 at 7:44 AM

Creep By John Carter

I'm creeping through the shadows
I'm stealing through the night
Drowning in the darkness
Or evaporating in light

Hunter being hunted
Predator and prey
Looking over my shoulder
Running out of things to say

Running for my life
But only running from myself
The one who kept me going
Is put away upon a shelf

Gone away again,
But never out of sight
I know I hurt my friend
And I never had the right

I'm no shining example
Of who or what to be
You can be whatever you want
But you don't wanna be me.
posted by 123454321 at 5:22 PM

What Katie Said

On a page full of words
You’d think that a few would be right
But I tried the rest out
Driving home last night
Ear drums numb
Safety glass on the floor
Should’ve called you last night
But I had to get more

By going back to your house
Back from the dead
Maybe I’ll forget what Katie said
You’re a cool girl
What the hell are you doing with me?

Pay phone hanging off my face
Your mamma is on the line
God I'm such a disgrace
With a face full of change
You’d think it maybe make sense
But my intellect is fading in the tense

And I am back at your house
Back from the dead
Maybe I’ll forget what Katie said
You’re a cool girl
What the hell are you doing with me?

You’re not as cool as you think you are
With your fake ID and your favorite bar
The road too much in your pretty little head
I got a plan and I got a local band
I got a hand in a magazine stand
And I gotta kill what Katie said

By going back to your house
back from the dead
maybe I’ll forget what Katie said
you’re a cool girl
what the hell are you doing with me?

back to your house
back from the dead
maybe I’ll forget what Katie said
you’re a cool girl
what the hell are you doing with me?

yeah what the hell are you doing with me?
yeah what’s a hot girl doing with me?

-The Matches

posted by 123454321 at 1:31 PM

Anticipation

We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasin' after some finer day

Anticipation
Anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'

And I tell you how easy it feels to be with you
And how right your arms feel around me
But I, I rehearsed those lines just late last night
When I was thinkin' about how right tonight might be

Anticipation
Anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'

And tomorrow we might not be together
I'm no prophet and I don't know nature's ways
So I'll try and see into your eyes right now
And just be right here
'Cause these are the good old days

These are the good old days
And stay right here
'Cause these are the good old days
These are the good old days

-Carly Simon
posted by 123454321 at 6:52 PM

It Seems To Me Now -By John Carter

It seems to me now
I had no way of knowing
What you held inside
Cause you kept it from showing

When you started out
It happened so slowly
It seems to me now
I had no way of knowing

It seems so hard to me now
Just to keep on going alone
And it's not where I wanna be now
A King with no Queen for my own

It seems to me now
I had no way of knowing
That the pain in your eyes
Would keep me from growing

But the pain in my heart
Couldn't keep me from going
And it seems to me now
You had no way of knowing

It seems so hard to me now
Just to keep on going alone
And it's not where I wanna be now
A King with no Queen for my own...
posted by 123454321 at 3:04 PM

Factoid:

When seamen first landed on the Easter islands, they were distracted by two things: all the big statues placed on various spots around the island and the fact that the island was completely uninhabitated. New research now found out that the early native tribes, the Rapa Nui, that lived on the island started to produce these marvellous statues in a sort of race of some families against other families. Nowadays you might call it a "hype". But because it takes up a lot of hard work to produce these statues, some of them weighing more than 50 tons, they needed more and more people to do it. So less and less people cared about food and shelter. Moreover they cut down every single tree on the island because they needed them to move and place these statues. So, by producing these statues, they destroyed the basis of their existence. I guess, there is a lesson in there for all of us.

posted by 123454321 at 10:53 PM

Nothing is Real -By John Carter

I'm in the dark again
Tossing and turning
And waiting for sleep

We've lost that spark again
Wishing and hoping
You were mine to keep

It's all a dream anyway
Tomorrow we start again
Who knows what we do
Who knows what we feel
It's so hard to tell
Cause nothing is real

I'm holding my head again
Crying and sobbing
And praying for help

We're on this ledge again
Stretching and leaning
Out over the shelf

It's all a dream anyway
Tomorrow we start again
Who knows what we do
Who knows what we feel
It's so hard to tell
Cause nothing is real
Nothing is real

All that we do, all that we feel
Nothing is real
All we can beg, borrow or steal,
Nothing is real
posted by 123454321 at 4:45 PM

Run Like Hell

You better make your face up
In your favorite disguise
With your button down lips
And your roller blind eyes
With your empty smile
And your hungry heart
Feel the bile rising from your guilty past
With your clothes in tatters
When the cockleshell shatters
And the hammers batter
Down the door
You'd better run
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run
You better run all day
And run all night
Keep your dirty feelings
Deep inside
And if you're taking your girlfriend
Out tonight
You'd better park the car
Well out of sight
Cause if they catch you in the back seat
Trying to pick her locks
They're gonna send you back to mother
In a cardboard box
You better run
posted by 123454321 at 9:58 AM

Don't marry someone you can live with- Marry someone you can't live without.
posted by 123454321 at 8:32 AM

Whispering in the Dark

morning light paces the fog and
cuts through my window like laughter into sorrow
makes the movement and stir into the day
this is nothing more than just tomorrow
it's still here it didn't go away
but I guess that it's okay
cause I can wait a little while longer
been talking all my life
dancing in the dark with lot's wife
you know that thorn in your side can always make you stronger

it's no use
we have no excuse for turning fear into laughter
this is the end in my soul I will send
maybe I'll see you in the ever after
this mind is dangerous and
gives strength to the fury of these hands that mark
the truth and pain
this is a song in vain
so I will make my stand whispering in the dark

would you believe me if I told you that the stories were true
would you believe me if I told you that the whole world was blue
would you believe me if I told you that I was wrong
would you believe me if I told you this was a song about love
just a little crazy song about love

when you are alone in your room you can think of me and I will think of you
and somehow we will all be remembered
maybe you can think about all the times you said the word 'never'
you can feel it in the wind
you can feel me coming down over the mountain
and I will get and put this one away
I will put this one away

standing on the curb
rain running down his jacket
humming softly to the beating of the drum inside his chest
a contradicting fool
a trick he learned in high school
he always hurts the ones he loves the best
and I have been told that every day in the sun is a good day
and I will put this one away
I will put this one away
I'm gonna put this one away

would you believe me if I told you that the stories were true
would you believe me if I told you that the whole world was feeling blue
would you believe me if I told you that I was wrong, I was wrong
would you believe me if I told you this was a song about love
another song about, just another song about love

one last dance
she wouldn't give me one last dance
one last dance
posted by 123454321 at 7:59 AM

Failing the Rorscharch Test

Hey Alice
I'm caving in, I'm caving in
I know it's...not allowed
But sometimes
I fantasize
I'm peeling off my skin
Enough to fill it up again
Hey rabbit
Into the pavement
I'm caving in

Mother told me "be something"
So I'm afraid
Enough to stay
Wide awake
So wide awake
Wide awake

Hey rabbit
I came to win, I came to win
I know it's not allowed
But sometimes
You might find
It feels like nothing is
Miss everything you've been
Hey Alice
Into the pavement
I'm caving in

Mother told me to be something
So I'm afraid
Enough to stay
Wide awake
So wide Awake
Wide awake

Mother told me to be something
So I'm afraid
Mother told me to be something
Enough to stay
Wide awake

This ain't real baby
Got a better excuse for myself
This ain't real baby
Got a better excuse for myself
This ain't real baby
Got a better excuse for myself


posted by 123454321 at 7:50 AM

It's All Good

I know where you were last night
But it's all good.
I know the words you said were lies
But it's all good.

I can't bring myself to care for you
Not now, not anymore
I don't give a damn what you do
Not now, not anymore
I can't see me living with you
I can't stand the things you do
I can never love you again
But it's all good

I don't know why you called me that
But it's all good.
I don't know why I came right back
But it's all good.

I don't blame any of this on you
Not now, not anymore
You can't take back the things you say and do
Not now, not anymore
I can't see me caring for you
I can't wait to see this through
I can never love you again
But it's all good...

-John Carter
posted by 123454321 at 10:18 PM

Easy

It ain't so easy
Just being easy
So much to give
But nobody wants
What I have
The deeper truth
Lies dormant
While others take
From my surface
Like deer
Drinking from a stream
But I don't want
To be your water trough
I want to be
Your lifeblood
I want to be
Your soulmate
I just want
You to care
But I guess I'll take
What I can get
For now
But it ain't easy
Being easy.

-John Carter
posted by 123454321 at 10:04 PM

The Dingo Ate Your Baby

The promises we make
And the bullshit that we take
Are building up a wall around our souls

The time we spend alone
Or when we're talking on the phone
Is tearing down the wall around our souls

Acceptance isn't easy
And it makes us feel so sleazy
Thinking we're just here to make more people

Learn to accept that maybe
The dingo ate your baby
And you can go along with feeling regal.

-John Carter and Katie Reilly
posted by 123454321 at 9:58 PM

Till The Day That I Die

I will love you till the day that I die

You walked into the room
The sun hit my eyes
The force you struck me down caught me by surprise
You sprung the mojo and it worked like a charm
I felt invincible with you in my arms

I must confess it can feel good to feel pain
Like breaking waves or getting caught in the rain
Playing those games cause we had nothing to do
I was oblivious I was losing to you

I will love you till the day that I die
I will love you till the day that I die
I will love you till the day that I die
I will love you till the day that I die

Holy Jesus
Holy rock’n’roll
The more I gave to you the more you grew bored
And making love became the waging of war
No peace
No tenderness
No fun anymore

I will love you till the day that I die
I will love you till the day that I die
I will love you till the day that I die
I will love you till the day that I die

I dreamt that I called out your name
You turned your face to me and started to say
Something so beautiful it hurt deep inside
So I will love you till the day that I die


-Garbage

posted by 123454321 at 9:40 PM

The Best Deceptions

I heard about your trip.
I heard about your souveneirs.
I heard about the cool breeze in the cool nights
And the cool guys
That you spent them with.
I guess I should have heard of them from you
I guess I should have heard of them from you

Don't you see, don't you see,
That the charade is over?
And all the best deceptions
And the clever cover story awards
Go to you.
So kiss me hard cause this'll be the last time that I let you.

You will be back someday,
And this awkward kiss that tells of other people's
lips
Will be of service
to keeping you away.

I heard about your regrets.
I heard that you were feeling sorry.
I heard from someone that you wished you could
Set things right between us.
I guess I should have heard of that from you
I guess I should have heard of that from you

So don't you see, don't you see,
That the charade is over?
And all the best deceptions
And the clever cover story awards
Go to you.
So kiss me hard cause this'll be the last time that I let you.

You will be back someday,
And this awkward kiss that screams of other people's
lips
Will be of service
to keeping you away.
to keeping you away.

I'm waiting for blood
To flow to my fingers
I'll be all right when my hands get warm.
Ignoring the phone,
I'd rather say nothing,
I'd rather you never heard my voice.
You're calling too late,
Too late to be gracious.
And you do not warrant long good-byes.
You're calling too late,
You're calling too late.

-Dashboard Confessional
posted by 123454321 at 9:18 PM

We're alone in the dark
On this blue moon mile
You stare at me, wearing
Your Cheshire Cat smile

You know something I don't
Your secrets abound
But I have secrets too
I can turn it around

So lay back and imagine
How different life could be
If you thought less of yourself
And a little more of me...

-John Carter
posted by 123454321 at 9:17 AM

To pierce through the illusion of separateness, to realize that which lies beneath the tormenting wound of duality -- that was a goal worthy of a lifetime. Richie, however, never really believed he could unravel this mystery which had baffled the greatest minds of humankind. He certainly didn't have anything resembling a great mind. Then it occurred to him... maybe a great mind was not what was needed to see behind the veil of illusion. Maybe true perception comes from a great heart. This realization troubled Richie, for he knew in his gut that he didn't have a great heart either. But then he thought, perhaps with some desperation, maybe the secret was in having a great gut. Or nice shoes.
posted by 123454321 at 10:50 PM

The Buddha taught that the first principle of existence is impermanence.

Absolutely everything in this universe is impermanent.

Impermanence creates uncertainty.

I don't know about you, but I have a very low tolerance for uncertainty.

Uncertainty causes me discomfort.

Discomfort causes me to think stupid things.

Stupid thoughts cause me to take stupid actions.

My stupid actions bring about unfortunate results.

Luckily, the unfortunate results are impermanent.

Is this a great universe or what?
posted by 123454321 at 10:48 PM

It seems to me, in brief moments of clarity, that the only way to proceed is with a tub of popcorn, a good seat and a willingness to be surprised, delighted, horrified, amused and/or bored as I watch the play unfold, while simultaneously being grateful for having been given a bit part. The upside to this way of thinking is increased compassion for the other bit players, a sense of perspective as to one's true size, and a release from suffering. The downside, as previously stated, is this way of "thinking" is brief and I spend most of my time complaining bitterly that the popcorn doesn't have real butter flavoring.
posted by 123454321 at 10:48 PM

In certain cultures, people greet each other with a little bow and their hands pressed together in a prayer position. This is meant to convey that one acknowledges the divinity in the other. In our culture we greet each other by shaking hands, a gesture meant to convey the cheery thought, "See? I'm not holding a weapon." Personally, I like the divinity "hi, how are ya" a lot better. In fact, sometimes I like to walk down the street and remind myself that each and every person I see is of divine origin and on a journey that is unique, profound, tragic, joyous and, to them, immensely important (airports are also good for this exercise). Now that's not to say that I don't often consider others as being mere speed bumps on my little drive through life. I just find that when I make the slightest effort to acknowledge that spark of divinity in the people I meet, I feel better. Life is less threatening. I feel safer. More inclined to being open and loving. More inclined to leave the safety on.
posted by 123454321 at 10:47 PM

The sun rises, the sun sets
The seasons change
Rivers flow
Leaves fall
It's raining somewhere
Spiders make webs
Fish eat each other
Babies are born
Stars are born
People and stars get old
then stop getting old
All this happens and more
day after day after day
At no time am I consulted
posted by 123454321 at 10:47 PM

As I write this I'm sitting in a big, dark cloud of anger. The feeling is highly energetic, almost electric, and, for some strange reason, seems to be most evident in my skin. The experience is vaguely uncomfortable and is dissipating slightly as I write these words. Thinking back, I see now that there was a brief moment when I had a choice as to how I would react to the situation that led to my current condition. I could have just as easily chosen resignation, or amusement, or even sadness. So the obvious question is why did I choose a destructive emotion? I suppose that on some deep, unconscious level I must be hard-wired to believe that anger is the appropriate response. Which leads to the next obvious question: how does one undo a damaging mental process that appears to be inextricably woven into the organism itself? Well, let me state right here, that burning it out doesn't work. God knows I've tried and therefore will not be running for public office anytime soon. Thinking it away (which I'm doing now), is terribly ineffective. And I'm certainly not ready to line up at the great pharmaceutical "happy" trough. So what then? Well, perhaps I could give my anger away. I know it sounds silly, but maybe silly is what's called for. Perhaps I could simply give my anger to everyone reading this message... whoa, suddenly I'm feeling very affable! CAUTION: This is not a chain letter. Do not pass the anger on. Gently put it in a box, bury it in your backyard and blame it on the dog when no grass grows on that spot.
posted by 123454321 at 10:46 PM

It's the same bad dream
All over again
It seems so familiar
Like a dear old friend

And it comes, and it goes
And the blood still flows
And the pain still shows
But no one knows

It's the last time
The last time I'll be here
It's the last time
The last time that I'll fear

I'll step into the darkness
I can leap into the black
I'll shove off in my ship
And I am never turning back

It's the last time
The last time you'll see me
It's the last time
I'm setting myself free

I'm sailing off into the sun
So many battles no one won
So many tasks remain undone
I wasn't hurting anyone
posted by 123454321 at 10:44 PM

"Oh, sure, your conscience forces you to vote Democrat, but deep down inside you really want a Republican to lower taxes, punish criminals, and rule you like a KING!" -Sideshow Bob
posted by 123454321 at 9:48 PM