What are you doing on December 1st??

Reach out...

Connect...

• Stay educated and mindful of what's happening with new rates of infection (particularly among young queer African-American and Latino men and straight African-American women), drugs therapies and alternative/integrative health options.

•  Never lose sight of how far things have come....and how much further things need to progress towards a cure (and if you know any loved ones who like to "party -n- play", share needles or prefer to bare-back instead of wearing condoms, feel especially empowered to give them some extra loud extreme wisdom and love). 

• Here's to all of the survivors and loved ones who are still standing tall 20 plus years later in the face of this evil epidemic....

• Never forget those amazing, beloved souls we've lost.....x0x0x0

*Looking for something to do or how to get involved?
Check out these links.....

http://blog.aids.gov/2011/10/ready-to-join-us-in-facing-aids-for-world-aids-day-2011.html

http://aids.gov/awareness-days/

http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/2011/11/unaids-world-aids-day-report-2011/

http://www.worldaidsday.org/

Reflections on Greedy Friday....

Seriously???? 

People shoved?

Trampled?

Punched?

Tasered?

Shot?

Pepper-sprayed?

Over a bunch of plastic, silicon and wires??

Over clothes and shoes sewn by children and women in Asian sweatshops?

Over toys that will be tossed aside by New Year's Day 2012?

Over electronics and other distracting doo-dads that will be obsolete in a year or so and ripe for yet another pricey upgrade? 

[This shit passed the boundaries of capitalist insanity a long, looooooong time ago, but it's times like this when I can almost hear the laughter of the aliens many people believe are monitoring our planet -- I can't help but picture the 2 one-eyed, tentacled guys from The Simpsons...drooling and laughing maniacally....while another silver-haired grandmother tackles a 15 year old for a flashy $500 electronic gadget.  Beam me up, Scotty]

http://news.yahoo.com/much-crazier-black-friday-221456950.html

Happy Unthanksgiving Day

Never stop learning the lessons of the past and how deeply the threads knot into how things are in the present.  Never forget the power that just one person can have to inspire change.  What are you thankful for today?

Creative thought for the week.....

"Everything is so dangerous that nothing is really very frightening." ~ Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein -- by Pablo Picasso, 1905–6

    

 

 

It's November 20th...Do you know what this day is??

For some it may be all about football...others may be starting to enter Xmas shopping madness.  But every year in November, there's a special day of remembrance for transgender murder victims.  In this year alone over 200 transgender women and men were brutally murdered and cast aside like trash.  If you have any loved ones who are transgender, reach out and let them know how much you love and respect their presence in your life.  Take a stand against hateful remarks and jokes people around you may say about transgender women and men.  Never forget that silence equals consent.

*Check out this article in the Advocate and the link to the Transgender Day of Remembrance website honoring the many beautiful souls who are missing from this world:

• http://www.advocate.com/News/News_Features/In_Memoriam_2011s_Transgender_Murder_Victims/

• http://www.transgenderdor.org/?page_id=1663

The west coast Pope of Punk.....

Hilly had the east coast covered with CBGB's....and Dirk Dirksen definitely had things covered out here in San Francisco. He helped give so many punk bands a literal stage to find their legs and define themselves. I'm grateful for the chances I had to travel out here from Chicago in the 80's and check out punk shows at The Mab and On Broadway. There was really something powerful happening.

We miss you  x0x0

Creative thought for the weekend....

" Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace." ~ Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart

Harriet Tubman

Annie Mae Pictou Aquash

Oscar Romero

Rigoberta Menchú Tum -- photo by Rino Bianchi

Leymah Gbowee -- photo by Michael Angelo

                                         

                                                                        

Powerful thoughts from Audre Lorde...for today...tomorrow...and eternity....

 "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." ~ Audre Lorde

Audre in 1980 -- by K. Kendall

"The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot."

"There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt."

"If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive."   

Rest well, dear sister x0x0x

Creative thought for the week.....

"Chance is always powerful.  Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it there will be a fish." ~ Ovid