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Sam

About Me

I like this, that Anne Lamott said: "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor."And this that Leonard Cohen said: "Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in."And here is something I just heard Terry Waite say, and am impressed with: "If you just have the truth on your side, that's a powerful ally."I can't explain why, but for some reason I think this crazy little thing is brilliant: Oh, and another crazy little thing that is brilliant:

My Interests

Art; Science; Earth; Family and other animals, most especially my beautiful beloved daughter; Discovering the interconnectedness in all things. Justice; Delight; Beauty.

I'd like to meet:

Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Jamie Oliver, Pam Platt, Hugh Laurie, Elizabeth Edwards, maybe some old friends from the Greece years. People who like serious fun. People who are intelligently ignorant. People who can discuss freely and argue constructively with objective zeal, or...go out in the middle of the night on the spur of the moment for ice cream.

Music:

Aaron Copland, Bach, Billie Holiday, Bjork, Cake, Cat Stevens, Chopin, Clannad, Coldplay, Cranberries, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Dave Matthews Band, Dire Straits, The Eagles (I admit it!) Enya, The Epoxies, Etta James, Eurythmics, Feist, Gershwin, Green Day, Handel, The Inkspots, John Denver (I admit that too!) Jimi Hendrix, k d lang, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Massive Attack, later Moody Blues, Mozart, Natalie Merchant, Nat King Cole, Paul Simon, Paula Cole, early Robert Palmer (some later, too, sort of), Peter, Paul and Mary, Pink Martini, Return to Forever, Shawn Colvin, Tori Amos, Wicked Tinkers, Yma Sumac; calypso, didgeridoo, Greek folk, Gregorian chant (Tibetan monk chant, too), Indian, steel drums, steel guitar, surf guitar, birdsong, children laughing, falling water.

Movies:

Amazing Grace. Once. Children of Men. Blood Diamond. Little Miss Sunshine. Bend It Like Beckham. Blade Runner (original; haven't seen the others) Fifty First Dates. The Lion King. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. Cast Away. Superman. Spiderman. Twelve Monkeys. Fight Club. Imitation of Life (both versions). Syriana. Strictly Ballroom. Shall We Dance (the original Japanese version). Shaun of the Dead. Ray. The Usual Suspects. Flags of Our Fathers. Camelot. The Man Who Wasn't There. The Big Lebowski. Ed Wood. I, Robot. Minority Report. Stargate. Good Night and Good Luck. Gladiator. Life Is Beautiful. The Wind and the Lion. Il Postino. The Last Emperor. Awakenings. The World According to Garp. Dead Poets Society. The Others. The Sixth Sense. Bambi. Cinderella. Lady and the Tramp. Beauty and the Beast. The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio. Hotel Rwanda. The Year of Living Dangerously. Get Shorty. Big Fish. The Seventh Sign (The Seventh Seal was very interesting too, but I loved The Seventh Sign). All the versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. An erratic and subjective list....

Television:

Ace of Cakes, The Big Bang Theory, The Colbert Report, CSI, Diagnosis Murder, Futurama, House, IFC, Keeping Up Appearances, The Simpsons, Numbers, Star Trek: Voyager

Books:

Rereading "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", in the form of the actual old paperback copy that my daughter and husband gave me for my birthday in the 80s, after skimming most of "The Salmon of Doubt" and being re-entranced with the Dirk Gently storylines. Pity we can't find out what happened to Gusty the half-a-cat and all...Recently finished "The Shawnees and the War for America". You might think it sounds weird for me to say it's a "must read", till you read it. Now have "Creek Mary's Blood" on loan from my cousin to follow up and round out that picture.Finally finished "Bird by Bird". Fantastic. Earlier, "The Deathly Hallows", "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive", reread the whole "Hitch hikers' Guide to the Galaxy" series, then "A Far Rockaway of the Heart"--wonderful wordsmanship. Love most of the work of Barbara Kingsolver, especially "The Bean Trees". That might qualify for my single favorite book, but "Bird by Bird" is up there now, too, and oh, yes, thank you for reminding me of "The Prophet", dear one! It was an early and longstanding favorite, and still is up there, tho I hadn't given it as much thought for awhile as I used to. But it was beloved and formative to me.

Heroes:

Aung San Suu Kyi, Joe Darby, Doctors Without Borders, Elizabeth Edwards, Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, International Crisis Group, Dolley Madison, Pam Platt, Martha Raddatz, Paul Rusesabagina, Desmond Tutu, Terry Waite, Henry Waxman, Muhammad Yunus, Jan and Antonina Zabinski; my daughter

My Blog

The paradoxically liberating power of humility

Self-Deception: The Cure I'm a big believer in, if probably weak practitioner of, humility, so I liked this nice thought-provoking little bit of wisdom by way of Annie B. Bond , adapted from...
Posted by Sam on Thu, 29 May 2008 06:16:00 PST

Tax season

This just makes me fighting mad--no consumer protection in BushWorld, only corporation protection: CDF Report Finds Low-Income Families Lose Billions to Predatory Commercial Tax Preparers Provides Su...
Posted by Sam on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:20:00 PST

Elizabeth Edwards

Probably one of the greatest women who ever lived, and we have her among us right now, for a little while longer anyway. And, oh, what she’s making of her last months or years.......
Posted by Sam on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:42:00 PST

A little of why I admire them both.

(CBS) President James Madison was born 257 years ago today. And now, after a long period of relative obscurity, a re-birth of interest in his life is well underway. Rita Braver brings the Madison...
Posted by Sam on Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:46:00 PST

Mullahs and Huckabeeans

There appears to be a...difficulty...related to the unpredictability of a legal code that is based on the mind of God, as opposed to a humdrum, rights-based rulebook. (Thanks to Catherine Bennet...
Posted by Sam on Sun, 10 Feb 2008 07:38:00 PST

Thanks to someone on tv.com, now I know

'The lyrics to the portion of Barenaked Ladies' theme "History of Everything" heard in the opening credits of "The Big Bang Theory". View the video for the full-length version of the song at http://ww...
Posted by Sam on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:52:00 PST

The average white guy. Seriously? Yeah, seriously.

Exciting as the prospect of "making history" sounds, and much as I do like Obama, when it comes to voting for President of the United States, the really important thing is to have the absolutely ...
Posted by Sam on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:41:00 PST

A BLESSING FOR EQUILIBRIUM.

BY JOHN O'DONOHUE, from 'Benedictus  A Book of Blessings' (By way of Gareth Higgins.)Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,May the music of laughter break through your soul.As the wind wants t...
Posted by Sam on Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:32:00 PST

Credit where it’s due.

My headline saying for today is stolen from the TerraPass comment board rules. I thought it made a great life philosophy. Hope all had joyful holidays. I did. Miraculously. ...
Posted by Sam on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:40:00 PST

Cute Overload saves my soul.

That is all, people (in the classic words of the famous Overload overlord[lady]). Just wanted to say.
Posted by Sam on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 06:28:00 PST