August | 2009 | voxygen.net

From the monthly archives: August 2009

Those Whacky, Peppery, Obama-y Nigerian Scams

By ~LS~ On August 28, 2009 · Add Comment · In Humor, The Web and tagged Tagged With: Nigerian Scam

My Father, the Communist

By ~LS~ On August 25, 2009 · Add Comment · In Politics, This is my life? and tagged Tagged With: Politics

My father passed away on January 11. We had a strained relationship for most of my adult life. One of my biggest regrets about losing him is that I didn’t get to learn about his life story. He was an interesting but broken man. I only knew him when he was broken. He was a wonderful storyteller but he was reticent to tell the details of his adult life except for snatches of memories and the more mundane events that happened to him. The heart of his life was told only in fragmentary, hushed whispers. The rest I heard haphazardly from my mother.

The defining moments of my father’s life was his time in federal prison. How he got there was tragic and vile and it represents one of the worst, darkest parts of this nation.

I know that he was a union organizer in the south some time during [...]

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Time isn’t holding up – My obsession with aging

By ~LS~ On August 25, 2009 · 2 Comments · In Random Musings and tagged Tagged With: Age

Ever since my return from Florida a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been hit with a wave of nostalgia. It’s made me reflect on my life and I’ve realized how much I’ve changed in the past fifteen years, some for good and some for bad. What I’ve noticed mostly, though, is that I’m obsessed with growing old. Not in an “OMG I have wrinkles” sort of way. It’s actually hard to explain the exact nature of my obsession, though. I never thought I’d live past 30. I had a deep-seated belief that I would die before then. I was shocked when that birthday came and went uneventfully. I know, I know, getting old is so far fetched to someone in their 20s. Today, though, it’s all I can think about. Given my doubts about my own existence, I should feel grateful that I’m even alive. Far too frequently, I feel [...]

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This Machine Kills Facists

By ~LS~ On August 21, 2009 · Add Comment · In Politics and tagged Tagged With: Music, Politics

Like every good, card-carrying leftist, I know who Woody Guthrie is and what he stood for. I’m sure pretty much everyone in the U.S. has heard at least part of “This Land is Your Land.” They’ve mostly heard it in white-washed settings where it’s usually been severed from its political roots.

I didn’t know about the additional verses to the song, though. I found them on Wikipedia. Here:

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I’d seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?

The Wikipedia site is actually pretty interesting. It talks about how the above lyrics were restored at Obama’s inaugural (more proof that he’s a socialist). It also includes a note Guthrie made about his copyright of the song:

“This [...]

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Observations on a new semester

By ~LS~ On August 21, 2009 · Add Comment · In I have to work? and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, Teaching, Teaching Activities

I have almost completed the first week of class. I have two more classes to go, but I can safely say that my classes this semester are going to rock. Despite my negative attitude all month, and despite the shit-ton of bull that I’ve been experiencing, I’m actually pretty psyched about school now. My students have seriously lifted my spirits. This is why I entered this profession.

I just came out of a class where we did the “I am From Poem.” I have written about using this activity in class before. I enjoy this poem because it teaches me about the students’ lives. One of the poem’s stanzas is to list sayings you heard growing up. Today, I heard some of the most humorous things: “Just because she was in your face doesn’t mean you had to hit her..” “stay out of grown folks’ business…” and “the grass [...]

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The Glenn Beck Boycott

By ~LS~ On August 19, 2009 · Add Comment · In Politics, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: News Media, Politics, Race

As everyone knows by now, ColorOfChange.org is sponsoring a successful boycott of Fox New’s Glenn Beck. Right on!

I don’t know -why- I read AOL’s “Politics Daily” blog on occasion, but I do. The audience is heavily conservative, so the comments are vitriolic, vituperative, and vigorous (I needed another v-word for balance). They make me point-laugh. So, yesterday, Carl Cannon wrote some stupid bullshit about the boycott, claiming that it’s censorship and not good citizenship. Well, after reading pages of comments, I got totally frustrated and I actually posted a comment. I suppose it’s just a means of blowing off steam. It’s buried 5,000 comments in, so I doubt a soul will read it. But it was fun and it made me feel better. So here’s what I wrote:

I know I’m stupid to post here given the [...]

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Page 1 of 212 »

Those Whacky, Peppery, Obama-y Nigerian Scams

My Father, the Communist

Time isn’t holding up – My obsession with aging

This Machine Kills Facists

Observations on a new semester

The Glenn Beck Boycott

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Those Whacky, Peppery, Obama-y Nigerian Scams

My Father, the Communist

Time isn’t holding up – My obsession with aging

This Machine Kills Facists

Observations on a new semester

The Glenn Beck Boycott

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Catch me if you can!