Music

A road trip playlist!

Here’s the playlist for Connor and Luke’s epic road trip. I’ve linked it on Amazon if you have an account and want to listen. Otherwise, you can search for any or all of the songs on your favorite music website.

When I was writing this novel, I wanted some music both for the story and for inspiration. I asked friends and family on social media and offline to supply me with some songs. I anticipated I might get several repeats, especially some of the more familiar songs. However, what happened was a long list (160 songs!) with very few people suggesting the same ones. Instead of choosing, I added them all and figured a cross-country road trip definitely needed many hours of different music. This is the result. Enjoy!

Pre-order links:

Note: You can certainly purchase through one of the vendors, but my preference is that you buy from the publisher. This is a small press, and going through them supports the business directly rather than a large corporation.

BEATEN TRACK SHOP:

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Synopsis

Luke works a job he hates and shares a dirty, small apartment with his roommate, barely making ends meet and envying the successes of his friends. When they all return for a wedding, Luke comes face to face with one of the people he left behind when he took off. Instead of the bitterness Luke expects, Connor invites him on a forty-day, cross-country trip.

They travel the length of route I-90, following the last journey Connor’s father made from Boston to Seattle, recorded in a nearly incoherent memoir. The two of them meet hitchhikers, stowaways, and a collage of people all willing to help uncover the secrets of who Connor’s father was. Along the way, Luke’s hidden past catches up with him when it collides with Connor’s present. With the help of friends and strangers, both of them must learn what home and family mean before Luke runs away again.

Excerpt

He returns to the RV, where Connor is already in the driver’s seat. Luke tucks the new postcards into the scrapbook. On a whim, he takes out his camera and snaps a picture of Connor, whose smile is shy.
“Enough of that. Ready?”
“Almost. Got any music?”
“Yeah, of course.” Connor taps his phone. “Help yourself.”
Luke opens the app and finds Connor’s playlist. His surprise increases until he’s laughing. “Connor, what the fuck?”
“What?” Connor sounds genuinely perplexed, but he could be playing around.
“Why. Why do you have ten goddamn hours of music on here?”
“It’s not ten,” Connor mutters.
“Close enough and…Jesus.” Luke’s laughing harder now. “Why these songs?”
“Because I like them, Janet,” Connor snaps. “Just pick something already.”
Luke shrugs and hits shuffle. He can’t help the continued random giggles as “Movin’ Right Along” plays. He says, “Oh, man. Fozzie’s smooth vocals get me right here.” He thumps his chest.
“Shut up,” Connor replies, but he’s grinning as he pulls back out onto the highway.

Playlist:

The Saga Begins – Weird Al Yankovic
Cello Suite no. 1 – Yo-Yo Ma/J.S. Bach
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder
Out There on the Road – Big Fish
Join the Circus – Barnum
Wake Me Up When September Ends – Green Day
You Can Sleep While I Drive – Melissa Etheridge
Ni Na La – Solas
Sound of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel
Wake Me Up – Avicii
Movin’ Right Along – The Muppets
Road to Nowhere – The Talking Heads
Get Out the Map – Indigo Girls
Invincible – Pat Benatar
Friend Like Me – Aladdin
Sh-Boom – The Chords
Time to Move On – Tom Petty
Best Day Ever – SpongeBob SquarePants
Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
Ramblin Man – The Allman Brothers Band
You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon
Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
It’s Raining Men – Pointer Sisters
Girls/Girls/Boys – Panic! At the Disco
I Wanna Dance with Somebody – Whitney Houston
Dancing Queen – ABBA
Shut Up and Dance – Walk the Moon
I can’t drive 55 – Sammy Hagar
Born In the USA – Bruce Springsteen
This Land Is Your Land – Woody Guthrie
R.O.C.K. in the USA – John Mellencamp
Firework – Katy Perry
Gary, Indiana – The Music Man
Rainbow Connection – The Muppets
I Ain’t Got No Home – Woody Guthrie
All That Jazz – Chicago
Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen
Stand – R.E.M.
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
Cell Block Tango – Chicago
One Jump Ahead – Aladdin
My Shot – Hamilton
Beat It – Michael Jackson
Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat – CATS
Another One Rides the Bus – Weird Al Yankovic
Yellow Submarine – The Beatles
Youth – Troye Sivan
Seventeen – Heathers
America’s Sweetheart – Elle King
Preachin’ Blues – Larkin Poe
This Is Gospel – Panic! At the Disco
Good Morning, Baltimore – Hairspray
Runnin’ Down a Dream – Tom Petty
Guys Like Me – Aimee Mann
Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
On Top of the World – Imagine Dragons
On the Road Again – Willie Nelson
Walk of Life – Dire Straits
Somethin’ Stupid – Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman
Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
Float On – Modest Mouse
Georgia on My Mind – Ray Charles
Man Like That – Gin Wigmore
Cecilia – Simon and Garfunkel
Best of Both Worlds – Hannah Montana
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Monty Python
Gimme Gimme Gimme – ABBA
American Pie – Don Maclean
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sparklejollytwinklejingly – Elf
You and Me (But Mostly Me) – Book of Mormon
I Got This – Freaky Friday
Mamma Mia – ABBA
1999 – Prince
Thriller – Michael Jackson
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Life Is a Highway – Rascal Flats
For Forever – Dear Evan Hansen
Take Me to Church – Hozier
Headlong – Queen
Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
Running on Empty – Jackson Browne
Highway to Hell – AC/DC
Mama Who Bore Me – Spring Awakening
Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn – Evelyn Evelyn
On My Own – Les Misérables
Open Road Song – Eve 6
There Is a Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute – Barnum
Ya Got Trouble – The Music Man
You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son – Wolf Parade
Carry on Wayward Son – Kansas
You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home – Hannah Montana
When You’re Home – In The Heights
I’m Goin’ Home – Hootie & the Blowfish
Home Sweet Home – Mötley Crüe
Sincerely, Me – Dear Evan Hansen
Fight the Dragons – Big Fish
King of the Road – Roger Miller
Satisfied – Hamilton
Born This Way – Lady Gaga
I Like It – A Bronx Tale
I’m a Believer – The Monkeys
I’ll Make a Man Out of You – Mulan
I Feel the Earth Move – Carole King
What Makes You Beautiful – One Direction
I Want it That Way – Backstreet Boys
Good Time – Carly Rae Jepson & Owl City
When Can I See You Again – Owl City
Drive – The Lightning Thief Musical
Hakuna Matata – Lion King
Only for You – Heartless Bastards
Radar Love – Golden Earring
Sedona – Houndmouth
Amen – Halestorm
Brown-Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
I Gotta Feeling – The Black Eyes Peas
Here’s to Us – Halestrom
Make Me Feel – Jannelle Monáe
Old Town Road – Lil Nas X
John, I’m Only Dancing – David Bowie
Cool for the Summer – Demi Lovato
Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles
Rivers and Roads – The Head and the Heart
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
Crocodile Rock – Elton John
Take the ‘A’ Train – Ella Fitzgerald
Piano Man – Billy Joel
Lone Digger – Caravan Palace
Gettin’ Bi – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
America – Simon & Garfunkel
Camelot – Camelot
Sunrise, Sunset – Fiddler on the Roof
I Believe in You – Michael Buble
Crazier than You – The Addams Family
If I had 1,000,000 Dollars – Barenaked Ladies
Money for Nothing – Dire Straits
Defying Gravity – Wicked
I’m Still Standing – Elton John
Happy Ever After – Gin Wigmore
With a Little Help from My Friends – Joe Cocker
Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
For Good- Wicked
Viva La Vida – Coldplay
It’s Time – Imagine Dragons
Stand By Me – Ben E. King
Somewhere – West Side Story
Corner of the Sky – Pippin
50 Ways to Say Goodbye – Train
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon
Back to the Middle – Modest Mouse
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) – Green Day
I Don’t Know How to Love Him – Jesus Christ Superstar
Michael in the Bathroom – Be More Chill
Climb Ev’ry Mountain – The Sound of Music
Seasons of Love – RENT
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – The Beatles

God Is Not Your Abusive Lover

Evangelism, Music, Religion, Worship

Content warning: God-talk, Christianity, worship music, conservative evangelicals, intimate partner violence, child abuse, bullying, various types of -isms and shaming. Nothing graphic or detailed, but no mincing words, either.

I debated whether or not to write this. I’m still tired from a weekend at a youth event with kids from our church, so my words are running together a bit. Aside from that, this involves one of my kids. I try hard to keep them out of my public writing, and I do ask their permission first when I want to include them. Usually it’s positive stuff like their accomplishments (hey, I get to be a proud mama sometimes!). This time, it’s not so positive, and my Mama Bear claws were/are unsheathed. So there you have it—full disclosure on why this made me furious enough to blog about it.

First, the good stuff. Our weekend trip was great. I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest. I haven’t been to a youth event in years, and my experiences with them are…not good. I recall lots of negativity: wearing kids down until they’re “broken” enough for an altar call (yes, that’s really what we were instructed to do at one camp); assuring youth that they are damaged, sin-sick wretches; providing lists of sins and how they can keep themselves pure. I pretty well figured it wouldn’t be like that, since my older one has gone on this trip before. I was pleased to find that it all had a healthy tone which was outward-focused. And no altar call!

That said, the one thing which rattled me was how upset my older child was after singing a particular worship song.* I’m gonna say it—that song needs to be stabbed to death with a thousand knives, set on fire, and never, ever played at any youth function again.

At first, when my kid was upset, I let him go. He was with a friend, and he talked with a couple of other trusted adults who care about him. Eventually, I caught up with him and asked if he was willing to talk to me as well. Even after he told me why the song affected him, I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I actually ended up asking him if there was more than he was saying because it wasn’t making sense to me. I finally began to piece it together: He is fine. He isn’t hiding some secret he’s ashamed of. (Explaining how I know this would break my child’s trust on private things he’s shared.) No, he’d merely absorbed the negative message of the song and had come to (temporarily) believe that he was unlovable for who he is.

In a nutshell, the message of the song is, “You don’t fit in, people will never love you, and only God actually tolerates your existence. You’re so lucky God loves you!” On the surface, maybe it sounds okay to express a very real feeling of not fitting in. Except this is a twisted way to achieve that, and it makes God sound exactly like the kind of controlling lover who isolates and assures you they are the only one who will ever love you.

Let me just link the words for you. I had to look them up myself, and I cannot even with this song. It’s full of victim-blaming (verse one, which implies child abuse of some type), fat-shaming (verse two), and equating being hurt to being a literal murderer (verse three). All of this is wrapped in a lovely package of telling people they are so terrible that no one could possibly love them except God. And who knows exactly how God plans to show this, since God’s primary vehicle is people. But hey, I guess it’s enough to say “God loves you” while walking on by, right?

While I appreciate the acknowledgment that people in various situations can feel alone and unloved, telling them they literally are alone and unloved seems…well, unloving. In the case of my kid, he ended up dwelling on the fact that some kids at school have targeted him for homophobic and ableist bullying. You know what this song taught him? That the bullies are right, he’s too weird, and no one actually loves him. This, despite the fact that on a day when he isn’t listening to that song, he’s very well aware how many people adore him—“weirdness” and all.

This is exactly the type of thing that evangelicals** use to break people down so they can get in there with their message of “hope.” It’s othering at its finest. Convince people they’re worthless (oh, excuse me, “unworthy”) in order to deliver the promise that God (but not them personally, of course) will love them. At least, God will love them if they make some effort at changing. This is how I got sucked into an evangelical black hole and why I’m still trying to recover, nearly seven years after waking up to the harm done in God’s name.

This is not a healthy message. It’s not even a Christian one. In particular, I’m incensed at delivering a message to our youth which suggests that the hurt they’ve experienced makes them so ugly to others that only God could look on them without being disgusted (and also implies that being abused or being fat are sins equivalent to murder). It offers no real help, no suggestion for where someone could turn. No encouragement to fellow humans to be a shoulder to cry on and a loving presence in someone’s life.

I’m sure this song is powerful for some folks. I’m equally sure someone is going to come over here to comment that I’m intentionally missing the point or that one song can’t deliver everything. If only it were one song! A whole lot of worship songs are in the same vein, designed to evoke a particular feeling for the sake of “winning souls.”

Can we just not? This isn’t a message I want my kids hearing. It’s certainly not the message they hear in our church week after week. Like me, my older child’s spirituality is heavily bound in his love for music, so it’s much more likely he’ll absorb incorrect theology from a song. We need to do better for our kids than this warped thinking. People are not worthless, broken wretches who don’t deserve love from other humans. God is not an abusive lover who isolates us from each other in order to “fix” us.

*I’m not giving old hymns a pass on this either, but my most negative worship experiences have involved pop-Christian songs. There are certainly plenty of examples of hymns with dreadful and equally damaging theology.

**I’m using “evangelicals” to refer here to predominantly white conservative evangelical protestant denominations, mainly Calvinism/Arminianism-based. My denomination, ELCA, has “evangelical” in the name but isn’t an Evangelical Denomination. It’s still considered liturgical and isn’t by any stretch of the imagination Calvinist/Arminian.

The Monday After

Arts, Music

This is always the busiest time of year. As school winds down, there are so many things planned. We’ve been in concert/recital mode on and off since mid-April, but the end of May and the beginning of June are always the most rushed.

After the weekend we just had, I’m taking today to just breathe. So instead of posting some of my fiction or writing a scathing takedown of something-or-other, I’m going to play proud mommy for a few minutes. Tune out if you don’t care about kids’ concerts and recitals. If you like that sort of thing, and if you don’t mind a bit of shameless bragging, then keep reading. Warning: You may encounter cuteness. Beware.

We kicked off our marathon weekend with a trip to jazz band competition. My son, who is in fifth grade, plays the saxophone in his school band. He played in the jazz band last year, which was a big deal because it’s a select group. This year, he was invited to play bass keyboard instead of saxophone. This is a great bunch of kids, and they work hard, practicing three days a week. I was amazed at what their teacher had them doing—he had these nine- and ten-year-old kids performing some complex skills. They even used mutes at one point, and were coordinated enough to unmute without breaking stride in the song.

They performed three selections, and this one was by far their best:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwdxudOPiSw]

They’re the only elementary school, so they compete at the middle school level. We just learned that they placed first in their division. Way to go, kids!

We spent the rest of our weekend in rehearsal and performance for the annual dance recital. Some of you may remember that two years ago, we had to find a new dance studio home when the kids’ former one closed. I’ve said it before, but I’m so glad we made the choice we did. They’ve been very happy here, and I’m grateful to the teachers for their care and instruction. Like with jazz band, one thing I’ve been consistently amazed by is what they can get these young kids to do. My son’s tap class is ages 9-11, and they put on quite a show with their dance this year:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7EOdPNa7M4]

Sadly, there aren’t more students my son’s age taking ballet. The good news is, he had private lessons with his wonderful teacher (who came over from their former studio). He was a little nervous about his first solo, but he made it through. When he was finished, I met him backstage. He rushed at me and shouted, “I did it! I didn’t mess up! I did it!”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRjRZQeeFmM]

Finally, I think one of my favorite moments was seeing my daughter let go and just enjoy herself. She’s never been as sold on dance as my son, though she does say she likes classes and wants to keep going. But there’s a moment when you know that your kid has found a good fit. It’s not about her talent or the skill level of her class; it’s about how free she looked on stage and how much joy I saw reflected in her face.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP3gZf0ae84]

If you’re interested in the rest of the weekend performances, you can check them out on my YouTube channel (or look at past performances on my other channel; Google weirdly separated my videos by email address).

Here they are in their costumes:

Come Fly with Me/Live It Up — Before the big show

We still have another concert, a mini-concert, an Irish dance recital, a Girl Scout bridging ceremony, and fifth grade graduation to attend. Mercifully, those are more spread out than this past weekend. At least I’ll have time to breathe in between.

How about you? What’s the end of the school year look like in your house?

So, long, Pete Seeger.

Arts, Music

Not even a day after I said I was burned out and taking a break, and here I am again. I did say I would write if I felt inspired, though, so I have a good excuse.

Today, I am sad. Singer/songwriter Pete Seeger passed away at age 94. For the first time, I actually cried at the loss of someone famous. Not that I’ve never been sad about a celebrity’s death, but none have touched me in quite the same way.

I should say here that I didn’t actually know Pete, of course. I know people who knew him, but I never met him personally. But I grew up on his music, and I’m grateful that I did.

I’m a genuine product of the 1970s. As most children do, I listened first to my parents’ music. The Beach Boys and the Beatles were often on the stereo. My dad didn’t often dance with me when I was little, but I remember him teaching me a few steps to the early rock ‘n’ roll tunes he loved. Since I was the youngest sibling by quite a bit, I also heard my fair share of Pink Floyd, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, and Queen. But it was my mother’s folk music I liked best of all.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a physical response to Pete Seeger’s words and music. I imagine what I feel is very much the effect contemporary church worship leaders often work far too hard to achieve. I’ve never had a “mountain-top” spiritual experience when singing praise songs, but I sure have when I hear one of Pete’s tunes.

It’s not the complexity of the music or even Pete’s voice (which was, let’s be honest, middle-of-the-road). It’s the something that just speaks right into my soul. That sense of longing, of there being something better–and perhaps I can, in my humanity, bring that something better to fruition.

When my son was younger and I homeschooled both kids, we used to listen to all kinds of music together. One of the first songs that made an impression on them was “Turn, Turn, Turn” (yes, I know the Byrds sang it; but it’s Pete Seeger’s song). My son created elaborate interpretive living room dances to it, and he knew all the words before he was six years old. I was delighted to be able to play more for him, and even more delighted by his enjoyment. I am honored to have been given this gift by my mother, and I feel so fortunate to be able to pass it on to my children. Perhaps one day, they will have children of their own with whom they can share it.

I kept my son home today because of the cold weather. Later, the kids and I will fire up YouTube and find some of my favorite Pete Seeger songs. We will listen, and we will talk. We will speak of the legacy Pete has left and the future they can create and their place in the larger tapestry of the world.

There is a candle on my mantle, lit in loving memory of Pete Seeger for all he’s given us. Thank, you Pete, with all my heart. Thank you.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxgxK2plb4w]

What a Weekend

Arts, Family, Music

It’s June, which means performance season when you have dancers. We’ve made it through one recital, and we have one more to go. The next one will be a little easier on us–they have dress rehearsal and the recital on the same day, and it’s short. This past weekend was pretty intense.

We kicked off the weekend on Friday with my son’s jazz band competing about an hour away in a Festival of Bands. They took the top spot in their category (middle and elementary school bands–they were the only elementary school) and had the third highest score of any school in the competition. Considering the fact that they are mostly ages 10 and 11, with a few 9-year-olds like my son sprinkled in, it’s impressive that they held their own against kids as old as 18. All that hard work paid off! Congratulations to the school with the top spot, which turned out to be another high school in our county.

Here they are performing “Swingin’ Shepherd Blues.” There’s a singleton soloist and then some pairs. My son is in the second pair to solo.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8al3TQ-Xw]

My son’s band also received honors for best soloist, best woodwinds, and best rhythm section in their middle school category.

One of the good things that came out of all the busyness was confirmation that we made the right choice when we joined the kids’ new dance studio. Both kids have had a wonderful year, and I could see on their faces how much they were enjoying themselves. Off the stage, my kids have very different personalities. Put them under the spotlight in front of an audience, though, and they’re both born performers.

I hate to say it, because I know I’m not supposed to have a preference, but I think my daughter’s ballet was my favorite of the dances they were in. I suppose a small part of that may have been that it reminded me so much of something she might have done at their previous studio. This video is from the dress rehearsal, and it’s not particularly high quality, but you should be able to get a sense of what the girls are doing. Mine is the one who waves at the camera about a minute in.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67u6cyvcXiA]

At the recital, the girls were even better. They all looked so happy and confident, pouring themselves into the dance. Like I said, I’m glad we made this choice–watching them on stage, it finally felt like home.

My son and his class had their best performance with “Mr. Postman” (he was the postman, of course). In similar fashion to my daughter’s class, they turned it up several notches at the recital. My son caught my eye (I was right in front) at the beginning and gave me a huge, wicked grin. He started flirting with the audience a little, giving these incredibly cheeky looks which would have been visible to about the first five rows. They ate it up, which not only fueled him but his classmates as well. It was priceless.

If you want to see any other videos from the weekend, you can visit my YouTube channel and watch the rest. This weekend’s performances are tagged as Jazz Band and Dance. Next weekend is the kids’ Irish dance recital. If you’re local, come see them! You can send me a message for the details.

If your family has participated in end-of-year performances, congratulations on all the hard work. If you have upcoming recitals and concerts, I wish you the best. I hope your experiences are as good as ours have been this year.

Notable News: Week of September 29-October 5, 2012

Blogs, Cool Stuff, Doctrine, Faith and Spirituality, Gender Roles, LGBTQ+, Links, Music, News, Women

Lots of around-the-web goodness for you all today. This week’s best posts are all over the map for content. Enjoy!

1. Roger E. Olson on “Evangelical Inquisitions”

This timely post is spot-on about the way that some Christians like to play Doctrine Police with other Christians. At our house, we call it doctrinal purity. It’s the idea that there is one absolutely correct way to interpret Scripture and if you don’t do it that way, you are in error and must be disciplined. I have to admit, I’m not fond of the term “evangelical” in this context. This is not necessarily a hallmark of evangelicalism, only of extreme conservativism. There are plenty of wonderful evangelicals who hold Scripture in high regard but don’t adhere to a strictly conservative reading. Rachel Held Evans, Brian McLaren, and Mel White come to mind, for example.

Which brings me to…

2. Denny Burke is an idiot

Or at least he isn’t very kind to Christianity Today’s article on women to watch. Instead of appreciating the diversity of women on the list, he goes off on how CT didn’t do enough to highlight the differences in belief about women’s roles. Well, of course, Burke, you fool. The point of the CT article was to honor Christian women and what they’re doing, not point out their doctrinal error (see above). I don’t normally read the comments, but the first comment says, “Rachel Held Evans — what do you mean, ‘non-evangelical’?” This got my attention, so I read on—only to discover a long, long discussion about whether Rachel Held Evans is or is not evangelical. Because that’s the real point, of course.

And speaking of women…

3. Slacktivist shreds Kent Shaffer

Oh, Slacktivist. You are so many, many kinds of awesome. This post quotes Shaffer’s disgusting response to Christian women bloggers and links every single word to a blog written by a woman. And in case you missed my mad tweeting about it, I’m on that list too! (It’s in the last set of links, the final word “always.”) I am honored to be counted among the likes of Alise Write, Andrea Cumbo, Grace, Kimberly Knight, Crystal St. Marie Lewis, and others. Many thanks to my cousin for pointing this out to me, I would have missed it otherwise. (And double points for this being posted on my birthday!)

4. If only

If only this were a sign that Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill were moving into the 21st century. I agree with this woman’s points, but I doubt that her actual presentation at Mars Hill will be anything outside of the narrowly defined roles that church expects from women. Still, nice to see another woman who doesn’t like women’s conferences.

5. On juggling

Shannon M. Howell says it nicely. We all have a lot of plates to keep in the air. If anyone figures it out, please email me. I’ll get to your message sometime next month.

6. Boy Scouts of America are idiots too

And right here, folks, is exactly why my son is not a boy scout. (Not that he is or isn’t gay, but I won’t give my money to an organization that actively discriminates against people who are non-het and non-religious.) Keeping a hard-working kid from being awarded his Eagle Scout is just not cool, I don’t care what your policies are. Seriously, BSA? Get a new hobby. Also, if your kid is a scout, sorry, but I’m not buying your popcorn.

7. Jonathan Zeng: heartache and hope

This piece is beautifully written. It breaks my heart that there is still such discrimination against people for who they are. At the same time, Zeng captures the spirit of creativity and working out our pain. I am reminded again of the importance of standing alongside people in the midst of trials. I hope that we are teaching our children to do the same.

I hope you all have a great weekend, see you Monday for the next installment of 50 Shades!

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God Is Not Your Abusive Lover

The Monday After

So, long, Pete Seeger.

What a Weekend

Notable News: Week of September 29-October 5, 2012

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