MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann interviews Retired General John Batiste in the wake of VoteVets.org’s launching of a three-ad series featuring three retired generals, two of whom were George Bush’s commanders on the ground. In the first ad, retired Major General John Batiste takes the President on, directly, when he says that he’s just ‘listening to commanders on the ground’ in Iraq. Batiste should know if the President is listening or not, since he was one of those commanders!
This kid, Lasse Gjertsen, is 22 years old, from a town called Larvik in Norway. He is so talented at putting together short films that he has an amazing following. It’s been about 5 months since he last posted something and finally TODAY the anticipated video is here. As you can see, he posted it today and already has had almost 2,000 views and over 200 comments.
This is the latest one, and it comes in 2 parts. Please be sure to also see his other videos (click on his name “lassegg” in blue to the right of the video). My favorite is the first one I saw of his called AMATEUR.
It’s still me…I just got bored with the other look and decided to try a new one. Brown’s a good color, it matches so much. I also like the “cleanliness” of this one, the clear separation of each blog entry. Just a little Spring Cleaning.
But I really don’t have much to say right now. So I’ll just leave you with Mercedes Sosa, a great singer from Argentina. The song is called
GRACIAS A LA VIDA
This famous song by Violeta Parra has been sung by Mercedes Sosa, Joan Baez, Inti Illimani, and many others. It was made popular in the US by Joan Baez in the mid-1970’s. Violeta Parra was one of the artists that inspired the popular song movement in Chile that was so important in the years leading up to the election of President Allende.
The words to the song, in Spanish and English are at the bottom of this post and were copied from this website: Gracias a la Vida
Gracias a La Vida (Espanol)
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me dio dos luceros, y cuando los abro,
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco,
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado,
Y en las multitudes al hombre que yo amo.
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el oído que, en todo su ancho,
Graba noche y día grillos y canarios
Martillos, turbinas, ladridos, chubascos,
Y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado.
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto,
Me ha dado el sonido y abecedario.
Con él las palabras que pienso y declaro,
“madre, amigo hermano” y luz alumbrando
la ruta del alma del que estoy amando
Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados.
Con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos,
Playas y desiertos, montañas y llanos,
Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me dio el corazón, que agita su marco.
Cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano,
Cuando miro al bueno tan lejos del malo.
Cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros.
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la risa, me ha dado el llanto.
Así yo distingo dicha de quebranto,
Todos materiales que forman mi canto,
Y el canto de ustedes que es es mismo canto.
Thanks to Life (English)
Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me two eyes, and when I open them
I clearly distinguish black from white
And in the high sky, its starry depths,
And from the crowds, the man that I love. Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me hearing, which in all its breadth
Day and night records crickets and canaries,
Hammers, turbines, barking, dark clouds,
And the tender voice of my beloved one.
Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me sound and the alphabet
And with it the words to think and speak
Mother, friend, brother, and the light that brightens
The path of the soul of my loved one.
Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has kept my tired feet walking
With them I walked through cities and puddles,
Beaches and deserts, mountains and plains
And your house, your street and your courtyard.
Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It gave me my heart, which shakes its frame
When I look at the fruit of the human brain
When I look at good ones so far from bad ones
When I look at the bottom of your light-color eyes.
Thanks to life, which has given me so much
It has given me laughter and it has given me tears
Thus I distinguish between joy and pain,
They are all elements of my song
and of your song, which is all one and the same.
What is it about getting old that is frightening? I am now 41 years old. People who are 10, 20, 30, 40 years older than me will say to me: “I only wish I was your age again?” And of course the 20 year old will see you as being ancient.
But how does a 41 year old think about being 41?
I was always the baby in the family, younger than my siblings, never feeling old! Now I am 41. I look at myself in the mirror, and even though I sometimes have to remind myself that I am NOT 17, I can now begin to see proof. Those signs I always heard about. You know…midlife. I’m here and I am trying to assess myself. I am watching myself watch Michele. I see the physical changes.
The other day I was trying on clothes in a store and it was one of those moments. You know. You’re there, in front of the mirror and you have to look at yourself and you can’t avoid the critical eye. I’m not much of a clothes shopper so these moments don’t happen that often. They are unique, not the same as standing in front of the mirror at home. I’m usually walking around the apartment in my underwear and bra, not standing in front of the mirror without being able to move much.
In the store, you HAVE to stand there when you are taking your clothes off and putting others on. (and I am not even touching on the subject of size!) So I was looking at myself and noticed new skin. I have to look twice. I’m thinking: “where’d THAT come from?”. Immediately I think: “shit! I really have to get back into working out!” Suddenly I recognize my mother. I recognize the way that skin “hangs”. I don’t remember details of my mother when SHE was in her 40s (she was 35 when I was born). But I know what she has looked like in the last 20 years. And I recognize it. In a certain way, it makes me laugh and think that SHE will appreciate and get a kick out of that!
Now my face, that’s another thing. I look at that all the time. How can’t I. I like my face and I talk to it all the time! But. The lines are appearing. More and more. Around the eyes and around the mouth. What used to be laughing lines are slowly becoming wrinkles. Damn. That’s what I get for smiling and laughing so much throughout my life! It’s not too bad yet…but it’s unmistakable.
So now what? I guess the big question is: how am I taking this and how will I accept the fact that my aging is beginning to show in a physical way.
As much as I love to laugh and smile, I also like to think and ask questions. My entire adult life has been about finding answers to my questions. My journals are filled with them. My theories about aging are simple and pretty cliché:
- people should accept the fact that they are getting older (simple)
- It’s not what you look like, but how you feel inside (cliché, I know, but I really believe it!)
- I will age gracefully like those others I’ve seen and admired
- I will NOT be one of those people who obsess about their look, do the botox etc…thing
And now that I am here, changing, slowly… At 41, the test begins. I don’t know. I hope I will follow these steps and come up with more. I hope I will have the inner strength to accept the fact that I am aging, that my body, my face, my eyes, my physical self is transforming.
I am blessed with parents who are in their 70s and 80s and yet their spirit is so young! I have that same spirit. My brothers have it too. I hope it stays with me and guides me through the physical changes that will be sometimes painful and embarrassing to look at and accept. But I will try and I will continue to watch myself, to be honest with myself, to give myself pep talks when I need to and most of all to laugh at myself and my hanging skin. I will try.
In that spirit, here is one of my favorite singers, Jacques Brel, singing “Les Vieux”. A beautiful and very sad song about old people, a song that makes me cry because it touches so deeply. This man, this poet, who unfortunately died of lung cancer at the age of 49 understood life and understood the fear of getting old. He wrote about it, he sang it and he touched millions. He is one of my favorite singers.
