99 Things Meme

It has been forever since I did a meme.  I bumped into this one a few places in the past couple days, so I thought I would give it a whirl.

Things you’ve already done: bold = 58
Things you want to do: italicize = 5
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band. (In Jr. High, I played french horn.)
4. Visited Hawaii.

5.Watched a meteor shower.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.  (Well, maybe more than was a good idea, but it didn’t send us to the poorhouse.)

7. Been to Disneyland/world.

8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.  (Hated it, but that could have been due to my infected newly-pierced tongue.)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.  (More times than I care to remember)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.   (I think it was total, but maybe it was only partial?)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.  (I have tried, though pretty unsuccessfully.)
37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.  (Actually, it was drawn with pastels, does that count?)
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  (No, but I ate a hotdog on a baguette under it and it really hurt my tongue.  See #12 above.)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.  (Does being laid off count?)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.  (Really, it was a moped, but a fancy, very fast one.)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.  (From a plane flying over.)
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.

Dear Mr. President

Dear President Obama,

Today is the day we have all been waiting for.  You are the one we have been waiting for.

Please remember you are carrying the hopes and dreams of a nation.  You are holding our dreams for justice and equality,  for peace and freedom, for  a better future.

The burden you are carrying is a heavy one, but we have your back.

Please be a president who values intelligence and integrity and don’t forget the people who rarely have a voice in our democratic process.

Today is a historic day.  I am lucky to be alive to witness it.   Thank you.

Much love and strength,

from one American family

Man of Peace?

M came home from school last week wearing a “Peace Begins with Me!” medallion.   When I asked her about it, she said it was for Martin Luther King day, because “Martin Luther King was a man of peace!”

Then she sang a little song to the tune of Mary Had  a Little Lamb:

“Dr. King once dreamed of peace,  dreamed of peace, dreamed of peace.  Dr.  King once dreamed of peace, sweet peace for you and me

Living free in har-mo-ny, har-mo-ny, har-mo-ny,  living free in har-mo-ny, we thank you Dr. King!”

While I apprecate that there are not a lot of catchy songs with the worlds “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” in them, this song strikes me as kind of …. weird.  Not to mention inaccurate.

I grilled M on what exactly they had learned about MKL at school and her response was something like  “Well, I think there was a war and Dr. King wanted peace.  So he worked for peace and now the war is over.”

Huh?

Not one mention of racism, poverty,  slavery or protest anywhere to be seen.

Now, I will give the school a little credit for trying.  Even this cryptic celebration of MLK and MLK day is more than I ever had in school.  (As a matter of fact, I don’t know that I ever managed to even get as far as the civil war and certainly NEVER did we study anything after 1900 in my history classes.  But pilgrims, I could tell you all about the pilgrims!)   But why bother talking about MLK day if you aren’t going to talk about the real issues?  How can you talk about MLK without talking about the history of racism and race relations in the US?

Dr. Martin Luther King was not a man of peace.

He was a man of conscience.  He was a man who fought for what he believed in.  He was a man who believed in equality and dignity.   He was a man who protested.  Certainly he believed in nonviolent protest, but this was a man who was at war.  He (and his colleges) fought long and hard for justice and equality for people of color and the poor.

I think it does a disservice to our children to boil such an important person and moment in history down to a pat little song  or catchy words like “man of peace”.

So this weekend, we have been talking to M about Martin Luther King Jr. and his place in history.  We have been talking about race relations then and now.  We are talking about this moment in history when a man who has ancestors from Africa and from Europe is going to be the president of our country.

Already, M understands more than I knew about these topics at twice her age.  Hopefully, if we keep talking honestly with them,  our children will come to know that we are not “at peace”.   I want them to know  we all have to keep fighting Dr. King’s fight.

Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten.  A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses the will to finish or slackens in its determination, history will recall its crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most element of greatness — justice.

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   Where Do We Go from Here : Chaos or Community