Lifewriting Theme song?

Someone pointed out that Liberals tend to use the term “Neocon” as an umbrella term for whatever they don’t like on the Right. I think there’s some truth to that. But to complete the position, it seems to me that in casual discourse and on talk radio, Liberals use the term “Neocon” the way Conservatives use the term “Liberal.” There seems to be genuine venom there, even the “Hah-Hah only kidding” venom of the old bumper sticker “If they take away our guns, how will we shoot the Liberals?” that I used to see. Hah hah.
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I remember when Liberality per se lost me. It was during the initial debates on Nuclear Power. It seemed to me that Liberal Democrats were debating on primarily emotional basis, and most of the technical, scientific information supported the position of nuclear power as a viable alternative, with its risks and rewards—like every other form of power. The protestors certainly had their valid thoughts, but there seemed to be a huge amount of sheer raving emotion there as well.

Of course, a strange variant of that seems to be happening now with Global Warming—only from the opposite side. And I think it’s just as sad. But the Conservatives lost me during the Civil Rights era, where they were very clearly fighting every piece of legislation, and to this day love bringing up Martin Luther King’s sexual peccadilloes as if that had something to do with his position on social justice. As if Thomas Jefferson’s ownership of slaves diminishes his position in the historical firmament. Yeah, right.

Of course, I can’t go Libertarian, either. I’ve heard Libertarians—all white, of course—suggest that Federal intervention during the Civil Rights era was a mistake. That blacks being lynched and beaten should have just “moved north” rather than ask the Feds to intervene, and try murderers for “depriving of civil rights” slain poll workers. Why, just because the local authorities wouldn’t try them, is no reason to tread on Double Jeopardy territory!

I consider this to be moral cowardice of the very worst kind, the kind of thing that implies a total lack of empathy for other human beings, if they are not of your tribe. I would not want such a person as a neighbor.

So…I have no political home, really. But I’m not at all certain I need one.
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I was just asked to do a commentary piece for a Philadelphia paper on the subject of King Tut. Specifically, does it matter if he was Black? It’s so interesting being a cultural bridge. No matter what group I’m around, I’m asked to explain the positions of the other group. Story of my life.
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Lifewriting Theme song?

Two weeks ago I was listening to the radio, and heard (again) Natasha Bedingfield’s terrific song “Unwritten.” It seemed extraordinarily beautiful to me, and I suggest you hunt up the lyrics. But a quote from them (all rights reserved to Miss Bedingfield)…


“I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten, yeah…”


Oh, oh

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines, oh yeah yeah
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way oh, oh

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inner visions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins…”


Wow. Nobody can tell me that today’s kids don’t have spirit, or can’t write music, or don’t appreciate the wonder of life. Love that song.

I was asked who my favorite poets are. I love Shakespeare, and Poe, and Emily Dickenson, and Maya Angelou, and Rumi, and the Bible, and many, many more. And in music I enjoy (while not considering them at the level of those mentioned) any number of poets, from Prince and Kanye West and Snoop to Harry Chapin (“A Better Place to Be” is incredible) and Bob Dylan to Stevie Wonder and Shawn Colvin ("Sunny Came Home", a devastating song about an abused girl incinerating her abusers, really hits my buttons) and others.