November 26, 2009: Barry Cauchon

LOOKING FOR CIVIL WAR DIARIES, LETTERS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ARTIFACTS AND KEEPSAKES for possible inclusion in our upcoming book and documentary about the Old Arsenal Penitentiary and the Lincoln Conspirators.

Example: Ed Isaacs family has been living in the northeastern United States for several hundred years. Last year Ed’s cousin Pam gave him the diary of his great-great grandfather George Dixon. George was a Civil War Union soldier who was stationed at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary in Washington DC during the incarceration, trial and eventual punishments of the Lincoln conspirators. Amongst other interesting notations found in the diary, George listed the cells used by the prisoners and the guards who watched over them on the last day or two leading up to the executions of four of the conspirators. Ed Isaacs contacted me awhile ago and shared George’s diary with me. We have become friends and are planning on including information about George Dixon and his diary in our upcoming book and documentary. Ed hopes that it will help celebrate his ancestor’s life and we are thrilled to do so. To read the story of George Dixon and his diary as presented by Ed Isaacs, please click on the following link  http://awesometalks.wordpress.com/an-awesometalk-with-ed-isaacs-owner-of-civil-war-diary-from-soldier-who-guarded-the-lincoln-conspirators/).

APPEAL FOR HIDDEN HISTORY: We are appealing to others out there who might have ancestors who were connected directly or indirectly to the Lincoln conspiracy, the Old Arsenal Penitentiary, Washington DC or other Civil War occurences that related to the events that took place between April and August of 1865 in Washington DC and other surrounding areas. Items such as personal diaries, letters, photographs, artifacts, keepsakes and other Civil War related items in your possession could contain valuable historical information of great significance presently unknown to the research community. We would love to include your finds, if historically relevent, in our book and documentary.

So check your attics, basements, the old shed out back, garages, farm houses, barns and even below the floor boards of your old home. Check with your family members about stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. Those conversations may give you a clue as to where your ancestors may have been during the time of the Civil War and the Lincoln assassination and conspiracy. Even if you do not know whether you have something that is important, you should inform us anyway. A name of a buddy or commander found in a diary could be very important. A location mentioned is a possibility. A comment about contemporary events from the time of the assassination may be the perfect thing we are looking for.  You never know what might be important to our projects and the historical community in general. And if you do find something that doesn’t necessarily fit within our research, we will do our best to help direct you where you can go to get more information about your find.

We are looking for genuine historical articles from the time of President Lincoln’s assassination, funeral, conspiracy trial and prisons located in Washington DC (Old Arsenal Penitentiary, District Penitentiary, Washington Penitentiary, Old Capitol Prison, Carrol Annex and Carrol Branch Prison). Items related to the Navy Yards and the ironclad monitors USS Saugus and USS Montauk could all be important clues to help tell the story better.

WHAT THIS IS NOT

Regretably we are not offering to purchase your family relics or assign a price to them. That is not our specialty and we cannot offer expert advice on an artifact’s value short of its historical significance to the story. As mentioned before, we will do our best to help direct you towards those who might be able to assist you. But no guarantees of course.

If you have an item that you think might be of interest to us, please do not use the comment area below. Instead, write me directly at outreach@awesometalks.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Please describe the item (and include a picture if possible). If relevent, please explain why you think this may relate to our research.

As you can see from previous postings on this blog over the past 18 months, we have had a few really cool finds that I’ve been able to share with you. The George Dixon diary, Mr. P’s original fake ‘Lincoln in Death’ photo used in many Lincoln books published over the years and some genuinely great stories from family members from their ancestor’s past.

Give it a try. Everyone has treasures in their family. Share them.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best

Barry

outreach@awesometalks.com

Ok, so I was on Twitter, and there was a trending topic of pointless signs. This gave me an idea to go around collecting amazing signs and to put them in a two part post for all my readers. So I found them, and here they are along with my comments to each of them.

is rain supposed to be dry?

wait..warthogs?

my car will be fine though...

my car is supposed to work underwater thought

good luck figuring it out

I won't trespass on this property

it is a traffic light tree!

But I wanted to jump in the toxic waste!

this makes me want to throw a stone at it

haha wow

wow...

only in America

is this person dislexic?

where is the snow here?

I hope that people understand this sign

what do I need to obey?

isn't the bridge being out more important?

which sign do I follow?

we need a sign to let us know about a sign?

so if you need access, then you can get through?

dog

really? I couldn't tell

Parking for a drive through pharmacy?

penguines? are they the ones from Madagascar?

it is the other left?

I thought it was purple!

which one do I follow?

which way is the one way?

haha nice

so..if nothing happened then why is there a plaque

Great colours and they stand out because there differet.

http://www.thedonutproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/bela-borsodi-alphabets-wad-3-600×383.png

Clean, neat and a new idea (for me anyway).

http://www.porcupinesfloat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/_library-alphabetrgb.jpg

I think the layout is what makes this work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelly_lolz/2193705570/

It’s beautiful, is ethereal.

My heart goes out to all the survivors of the NNW bombing (If there were any besides the Chief Editor, lol). I think it’s abhorrent that terrorism continues in this world! We must all come together to defeat this evil! Brian (Letter)

Brian, I could not agree more. We must fight this evil! Thank you so much for your sympathy.

I can’t believe what happened! Somebody actually attacked NNW. It’s just so terrible. I mean you guys are the most non-provocative newspaper out there. I just can’t think why somebody would do this. Carol (Letter)

I wonder that myself Carol. As I sit in my underground sewage lair typing my responses to this week’s letters, my mind wanders and as it drifts these same questions haunt me. But know this Carol, we are not defeated and it is all because of the support of our valued readers.

Guys, fabulous newspaper. Keep up the good work and don’t let terrorists scare you. Amy (Letter)

Thank you Amy. Keep reading and keep supporting us. So long as the public has not yet given up, we won’t either.

I want job. I read you look for staff last week. So you give me job. I sent CeeVee with letter and you look, maybe call me. Narasda (email)

I’m sorry but judging by the writing style you use, I think that you may not be well suited for NNW’s new staff. “Go to learning English” and maybe then we’ll talk.

Ha, ha, ha! Very funny guys. I’m referring to that prank article last week about the bombing! This is so obviously a publicity stunt! I’m disappointed in you all as I thought NNW was a reputable newspaper. Janice (email)

Dear Janice, I’m sorry to disappoint you but this is no publicity stunt. I wish it was but what happened was as real as when the World Trade Center got destroyed.

My first alphabet

Originally uploaded by Feisty Elle

The letters supposedly spell out the usual “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” but for some, I just can’t see it. Cool looking font regardless.

Nuala,

It’s been a whole half year since you were born.  Incidentally, I fear the cumulative pressure of teaching, learning, writing, wifing, and mothering has taken its toll on my command of grammar.

I don’t know if it’s hitting this half-year milestone, which is fairly meaningless in the long run, or if it’s a regular effect of the return of winter (sigh), but I’ve been feeling a bit reminisce-y of late.  It’s a good thing, then, that I write this blog, because otherwise I think I’d be sitting around thinking vague thoughts about how you were so wee at one point, and that you used to periodically shriek and cry for no reason that we could ascertain, and that you never used to sleep more than two or three hours at a time throughout the night, without knowing exactly when these things happened, or how long they lasted.  Where the first three months d-r-a-g-g-e-d, the second three months has gone by so quickly I’m not so sure I haven’t experienced some kind of dissociative fugue and come to in the future where you sit up all by yourself, “bah bah bah” all day long, and sleep for six to eight hours at a time overnight.  All that crap I’ve hated to hear from other parents about savoring moments because time flies with a baby in the house, I hate even more to say it’s true.  You know, once we got past the really hard first months.  I digress.

A good bit of my reminiscing lately has been about that first moment when the nurses flopped you up on my chest. I’ve been thinking about being overwhelmed with joy that labor was (finally) over and that you were so, so very perfect and beautiful, but I’ve also been thinking about how no one told me that I might be completely boggled by the fact that you were a human being completely separate from myself.  Why yes, that is one of the dumber things I’ve ever said, but it’s also one of the most profoundly true.  I spent ten months carrying something around inside me, and I thought I knew this thing that was inside me, and then all of a sudden, it comes out and it’s not only a tiny human being, it’s a human being I don’t recognize.  I don’t know whether I expected I’d look into your face and see a miniature version of myself, but I didn’t really expect to think that introductions were in order.  That would’ve been a moment, huh, shaking your little hand and exchanging business cards, perhaps.

I think the reason why I’ve been reminisce-y with that moment in particular is that every day, it is becoming more and more apparent that you’re becoming your own little person.  Some days, to an astonishing degree, like when something tickles your fancy and neither your dad nor I can figure out what the hell it was.  I mean, I guess laying back on a stack of laundry on the bed and looking at us discussing the grocery list is funny in the extreme.  It’s probably inevitable, given your weirdo parents, that your sense of humor will be a little skewed, but it would be nice if it’s the least little bit intelligible to us.

Six months. Where has the time gone?

Love,

Mom

I set up this blog many months ago to practice writing and to help me get a job. But then soon after I became scared of publishing entries for fear of judgement and failure despite its small, highly-supportive audience.

But if there’s anything I’ve learned from my improv classes at the Impatient Theatre Company, it’s that this is a safe place for me to try things. I stand to gain more by continuing to try and feel embarrassed about little efforts than hiding and not publishing anything at all.

So you’ll see a new series of stories. Some will be clippings I recently published or finally found online. Others will be new commentary on current events and pop culture, like the excellent ones done by Karon Liu.

But finally, the last story idea I have will allow for me to communicate more with others offline as well as publicly track my efforts in the journalism industry.

In my travels, I’ve always collected postcards. I’ve offered to mail them to friends from places like Jamaica, Italy, Paris and Germany. Everyone likes getting something in the mail that’s not a bill or flier advertisement. But very rarely do I get responses back.

So after finding about two dozen of them in my room I’m offering up the chance for people to receive postcards and letters in the mail again. We can be friends already, know each other on twitter or total strangers. I’m willing to send things anywhere in the world. Most will include how I’m doing in my career, such as my recent audition with Muchmusic. But there will also be funny stories about my life, comments about news, music or any other reasonable request.

I only ask that some sort of reply be sent through the mail. And those who don’t will have their postcards put up on the blog.

In the age of Twitter, Facebook, email, instant messaging and even ubiquitous cell phones, it feels like letters, postcards and penpals have almost been wiped out. Let’s bring them back.

You can send me your address at email [dot] karen [at] gmail [dot] com, message me on twitter at @karenkho, or commenting below.

PO Box 202162

Southgate

TAKANINI

24 November 2009

Hon Steven Joyce
Minister of Transport
Parliament Buildings
Wellington 6011
New Zealand

Dear Mr Joyce

I am a 14 year old homeschooler.  I am doing a project on the independence of rural kids with my friends.  One of our solutions was cycling but the majority of rural roads are not safe for biking.

The traditional modes of transportation like horse riding, biking, and walking aren’t safe, farm access is no longer commonly available.

35 million dollars has been put aside for the creation of cycle lanes for tourists while the roads for New Zealand resident cyclists aren’t safe.  Because there is not a lot of public transport in rural areas, kids that do not have their licence and a car can’t get around safely without relying on their parents.

Would you consider supporting any initiatives that come forward towards making more cycle lanes? Denmark has a network of 10,000km of safe, interconnected, co-ordinated and well sign-posted cycle paths that can take you right off the beaten track.  These include 11 national routes, running either north-to-south or east-to-west throughout the country. On top of this are countless regional and local routes, all perfectly laid out for cyclists.

I understand that tourism is an important part of New Zealand industry but Denmark’s cycle lanes attracts tourists.  Having cycle lanes like Denmark’s would be beneficial to residents and tourists of New Zealand.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Burge

Mechanical Outcasts

PO Box 202162

Southgate

TAKANINI

24 November 2009

Hon John Key
Prime Minister
Parliament Buildings
Wellington 6011
New Zealand

Dear Prime Minister

I am a 14 year old homeschooler.  I am doing a project on the independence of rural kids with my friends.  One of our solutions was cycling but the majority of rural roads are not safe for biking.

The traditional modes of transportation like horse riding, biking, and walking aren’t safe, farm access is no longer commonly available.

35 million dollars has been put aside for the creation of cycle lanes for tourists while the roads for New Zealand resident cyclists aren’t safe.  Because there is not a lot of public transport in rural areas, kids that do not have their licence and a car can’t get around safely without relying on their parents.

Would you consider supporting any initiatives that come forward towards making more cycle lanes? Denmark has a network of 10,000km of safe, interconnected, co-ordinated and well sign-posted cycle paths that can take you right off the beaten track.  These include 11 national routes, running either north-to-south or east-to-west throughout the country. On top of this are countless regional and local routes, all perfectly laid out for cyclists.

I understand that tourism is an important part of New Zealand industry but Denmark’s cycle lanes attracts tourists.  Having cycle lanes like Denmark’s would be beneficial to residents and tourists of New Zealand.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Burge

Mechanical Outcasts

Here we are with yet another letter. It seems like bilingualism is the real bumper crop!

Make mother tongue less critical in PSLE (26 November, 2009)

THERE is a need to prevent Chinese language scores from forming such a critical component of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) aggregate scores quickly, as early as the next PSLE.

I value the importance of Chinese language, especially with the re-emergence of China as a major global player, but I do not think China will replace the United States as the world’s most important economy any time soon. Neither will Chinese replace English as the most important language.

I do value the cultural importance of the Chinese language. But I would like to think that my children and I are Singaporeans first and Chinese second; and that English is the medium of education and business in Singapore, as in many other important parts of the world.

My son will sit for his PSLE next year. He may score three As, as he did in Primary 5 this year, but may be dragged down by Chinese if he repeats this year’s C. He may even fail and if either happens, his choice of secondary school and stream will be wrongfully compromised.

Wrongfully, because the poor mark he may score in Chinese has no bearing on whether he has the aptitude to become a surgeon or accountant or any other key professional. Human capital, our most vital resource, should not be stunted this way.

This letter is hilarious for being one of the worst attempts to dress up a self-centred motive ever. In fact our writer just all but gives up towards the end. They usually at least try (pathetically, but still) to maintain some pretence throughout.

He probably should not have bothered at all, though, because the very first paragraph destroys any hope that this won’t be about our writer’s offspring. The line that change should occur by the next PSLE makes it all incredibly obvious to anybody with a pair of brain cells to rub together, mainly because there is no conceivable reason why this change should go in so soon and the letter does not even attempt to provide one.

After that he tries harder. It is futile, but he gives it a shot. Points for effort. Unfortunately he walks right into a false dichotomy – because English and Mandarin are not the only subjects being offered at PSLE level. I suppose he is trying to justify why Mandarin should be de-emphasized while English should not, but he fails to consider the other subjects at all. Why shouldn’t they be de-emphasized?

Well… because his son can score As in them! I was open-mouthed in shock at this revelation. I was more stunned than I would have been had the radiator in my room grown a set of slimy green tentacles, torn itself off the wall, and greeted me in a posh British accent. Complete astonishment there, I assure you.

So here we are again – the third parent to be teaching his child valuable lessons in as many days. What do we do when we encounter difficulties in life? Do we muster our will and strength to face and overcome these difficulties? No, that’s for losers. Real men, and women, always try their best to circumvent their problems. To shift the goalposts to one’s advantage! Well, at any rate, we can see how successful Moral Education has been the past few decades. Or maybe it’s the parents that need the lessons, instead.

So, to spell out once more my argument – there is no reason to treat Mandarin, or any other mother tongue, differently from any other subject. I learnt mathematics because I had to, and I fucking sweated blood at it for years. I did not write to MOE to call for mathematics to be de-emphasized, and neither did my parents when I was in Primary 5. Maths results at primary school level have no bearing on a person’s aptitude for many key professional roles, either. Yet I recognize that, by de-emphasizing it, we would be stunting lots of human capital, because there exist many students out there who depend on their maths results to do well in examinations. Many students rely on mother tongue to do well too, and de-emphasizing it would be grossly unfair to them.

So our writer here is not in fact afraid of stunting human capital in general. He is merely afraid of stunting the human capital of his own offspring. I have an excellent suggestion for him to avoid this fate: teach your child the value of hard work and make sure he works hard. Please – be a better parent for your future and for mine.

today i received the best package in the history of royal mail. i felt so blessed. through and through. my beautiful friends are creative, genuine, artistic, loving, caring, kind, good looking people. the day before thanksgiving was the perfect time to receive such a good package-it reminded me of the makeshift home and family i have back in california. i am overjoyed to reunite with these people. shmalyssa, you are wonderful. i love you. thank you for putting it all together. and i think i shall sport the moose-stache everyday of the year. and the scarf. they shall be seen often, hanging out together, on my face and neck. NTM, your drawings are spectacular. are you an art  major now? emily. so good to hear from you via updates. mar. the photo is going on my wall, STATASAP. so fun. april. i cannot wait to return to asap and hang out with you ladies. grace. hello busy lady. you are living a whirlwind of life, and its so good to see your words. you mcgees are great. samini and joshua david watson. i cannot wait to hang out. my words are not flowing very well, and im not feeling abundantly creative. but this is pretty straight forward. boasting of california friends. you guys are wonderful, and i cannot wait to see each and EVERY one of you when i return. lots of love floating from england to you.

Dear A,

I’ve been writing emails to plenty of people now and since I am currently on an email writing frenzy and that I cannot control myself anymore because of my apparent OCD… I’ve never actually asked my doctor if it was OCD but sometimes I go crazy on simple things like this ( and actually I like it because i always feel fulfilled once I’m done… 3 hours later ).

You kinda gave me an idea. I don’t know if I told you about this but I am seriously considering hitchhiking Canada. I would start from here in the province of Quebec, then I would go to Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and then I would come back. If I have more time on my hands and everything is right I also consider checking out Yukon. I started planning stuff. I began thinking about what I should bring and what I shouldn’t bring and what kind of craziness might happen. In between this I began to realize that I needed something to attract drivers in order to be picked up easier and faster so I don’t stand like a wounded dog under the rain for five hours. I almost immediately thought that I should bring my guitar ( and that means I have to re-learn how to play it ) but then I thought that it would be too big so I thought of the ukulele you kept mentioning and now I am considering buying a cheap ukulele!!! Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing!?!? I mean I would be known as the legendary ukulele wanderer!!! I would make the news like ” Have you seen the Uke Traveller?! ” and ” The Ukulele Wanderer strikes again! “. Ok, ok, I’m dreaming here… But I do think about bringing a ukulele with me.

So yeah I’ve started planning this thing. I subscribed to a hitchhiking forum where experienced people will probably be able to give me some advice. I plan on doing this in two years from now on june 2011. I will try not to spend money during this trip and I expect to spend most of the summer travelling this way. I still have to tell my family about it and I am pretty sure everybody’s going to freak out so I have to choose the right moment or unless they will believe I am in some sort of state of distress or something… Frankly I have no idea how I will present this idea, most especially to my mom, because I’ve been there forever for her and she has been there for me as well.

I see this as a personal journey rather than a travelling experience. I will write my daily experiences in a journal that I will bring with me. I will also bring my Canon camera that is neither too expensive neither too crappy so I will bring some great pictures ( I think ). I’ve started thinking about some “tricks” like putting two 200$ in two plastic bags and hide them in my two shoes for desperate measures. I also plan on bringing my cd player and some amazing cds like Sigur Ros!!! I will try not to go in hotels and rent rooms and I will try to camp as much as possible and for this I expect to deal with cops and thugs so I will bring my best smiles with me for the cops and my little handy knife for the thugs…

I think what’s triggered me to think about this seriously is Jack Kerouac’s book titled ” On the Road ” which is all about hitchhiking. The guy in the story is pretty messed up and I am different ( I think ) when compared to him, but I still need that freedom I can’t seem to find in here. Plus, this Jack Kerouac guy, well, the “hero” in the book, is him and it’s mostly an auto-biographical novel. I don’t know if I told you about this, but I have always had some sort of love for the 50s and when I found the Beat Generation writers like Kerouac I immediately associated myself to them and Jack Kerouac seems to have some sort of link with me. He was french canadian too! I don’t know what the hell is going on between him and I.

I’m pretty sure that what I am searching for won’t be found during this trip but I have been sick enough in the recent years to see people around me are living in a daily routine and I don’t want to live that. I’ve spent some time in hospital beds and when I would talk with other sick people the topics were really different. We would talk about simple things. Things you don’t think of when you aren’t sick. I remember I spoke to an old man while we were eating that horrible hospital food and we were wondering what we would eat and drink when we would get out. I remember I wanted a good bloody steak with mashed potatoes and some green broad beans. It was enough to make me feel happy and I wanted to get out of there just to eat that. Nowadays I’ve begun to fall back into routine and I almost forgot about that desire I had back in the hospital and I don’t want to forget about that and that’s why I want to leave this place with a feeling of uncertainty so I can enjoy everything I see, taste and touch. It’s like in my favorite book, “The Little Prince”, when he goes to the well in the middle of the desert and he drinks water with the aviator. The water would be ordinary to other people who drank water everyday, but to the aviator, it was the product of their desire to get water, the fact that they walked so long and the fact that they had to use the pulley in order to ultimately get it! That’s why it tasted so good to him and to the little prince.

The fact is that I am doing this knowing that I will probably find adversity. It’s not like I am going there with an improvised bag using a red cloth with white spots on it, all of it attached to a wooden stick like in the cartoons. I know I’ll probably be unable to sleep during some nights. I might get robbed or beaten or whatever. I’ll try to avoid this as much as possible, but I still have to hitchhike the way I want to or else it won’t be hitchhiking anymore. Still, I have to train my body for this because I’m pretty sure I’ll be dead tired most of the time so I have to be in the best shape possible.

That’s why I’m going to walk practically everyday from now on. I’ve already been walking pretty often but it was only for entertainment purpose or to go out with friends. I don’t have a car and when I have to buy stuff or whatever I just WALK to the store and bring back the goods home. I still don’t get the car thing and I don’t understand why so many people have cars. I don’t know if I missed something here. So, yeah, from now on I’ll walk a lot. Next summer I’m planning on walking from home right to the camp ( which means about 250 kilometers… and seriously I won’t do the math to explain how long that is in miles because you americans need to use the metric system ). I will bring the usual stuff I bring when I go there ( clothes and books and some cds and other things ). It should give me a preview of a hitchhiking experience without drivers picking me up ( which should be the hardest days ).

So, yeah, I’m going to write a book on this. I don’t expect it to be published by anyone but I’ll try to if I feel like the material is somewhat worth it. I’ve never studied literature ( so my curriculum vitae in that department would be pretty short ) but I think I’m pretty good ( in french, at least ) and I know a couple of authors in the area who might be able to help me.

I’ve recently met very old friends who were in classmates in primary school and high school. When I was really sick I lost sight of them and back then I thought that they were really ahead of me in studies and jobs. I mean, they are. Some of them are going to be doctors and pharmacists, others already have great jobs and live a steady life. But somehow I feel like I have something more inside my head that they don’t have. They don’t question society like I do and they don’t see the things I see. They don’t know how to write either ( I found that out on Facebook ). I think that all these years of illness I’ve spent reading and listening and watching others is finally paying off. I feel like I am stronger inside. I also am sad to see that these young minds who sometimes were breaking laws and questioning so many things in life ended up as ordinary human beings with very little imagination, ideas and hopes. Of course they still have these things but it’s hidden deep inside now and it will only bloom when it will be too late.

I can’t believe I wrote so much stuff! I don’t even know how much time I spent on this email! Ok, I have to stop myself now. I guess I had to tell someone about this and since I’m too chicken shit to tell my hitchhiking plans to the people who live next to me and I wanted to tell them to someone like you who can’t really judge me or anything. I guess this is the good side of internet? I don’t know, really. This place is both full and empty at the same time. It’s confusing.

Thanks for reading my “dreamer’s melodrama”,

X

http://www.flickr.com/photos/linzie/

Adam Lambert…oh what an interesting case it is for me to discuss, yet I feel the need to the more I read about recent happenings.

Briefly, to sum up what I’m about to post about:

-I dislike Adam Lambert. Obviously not because he’s gay, but because I dislike American Idol and those involved in it usually. Also, the fact that his voice sounds like grating metal when he hits high notes irks me a bit. Just not my cup of tea. You understand?

*Image from Photobucket.

-Adam here was at the AMA’s (American Music Awards) a few nights ago. He decided to willingly and knowingly to [attempt to] break the sex/gender norm and present in a very high sexually driven way (see Lady Gaga’s skin colored outfit with a strap on etc, and Rihanna’s band outfit that left little work for the imagination…also featured in the AMA’s).

-Adam did perform. He sexy danced with a keyboardist, pushed some other guy’s face into his crotch momentarily, and then proceeded to also make out with the guitarist.

-Such blatant homosexuality! On national television?! The people wouldn’t have it. Over 1500 complaints to the station, and he was even canceled on Good Morning America. He plans to appear on another talk show to explain the performance, but for now it seems that no one wants to touch him with a ten foot pole.

Let me now quote someone from another site who stated:

If Lambert hadn’t kissed that boy, no one would care about that performance.

Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. You watch the video and it’s truly almost difficult to catch these moments unless you are looking for them specifically. I have to drop my normal feminist tendencies to say, “WTF!?” If Lady Gaga and Rihanna can do what they did at the AMA’s without complaint, and the damn BritneyxMadonna kiss was so hyped to the point of insanity…what is wrong with this? Why is it that the MSM (mainstream media) can allow two women to be together so all the straight men can get off, but a gay guy appears and he’s automatically crucified? For a performance…at an award show known for crazy performances?

Really people. What did you expect? And how were you shocked by this? I smell sexism…as always.

I say: Adam, keep doing what you’re doing. Tear down society’s stupid sexist expectations and throw a knife into their comfort zone. Get it, legit.

~Peace.

I didn’t like Subway’s response, so the issue has been passed along to the allergy people. I forwarded the entire conversation along with this explanatory note…

From: ERiC AiXeLsyD world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com
Date: Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Subject: Allergy Concerns & Subway Restaurants
To: Info@aafa.org, info@worldallergy.org, info@aaaai.org, t.wirth@sfaft.org, webmaster@foodallergy.org, help@allergysupport.org, help@foodallergyadvocate.com, niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov, jlieu@aanma.org, mszegedy@aanma.org, info@faiusa.org, lmitchell@kidswithfoodallergies.org, nicole@allergicchild.com

 

Aloha Allergy Afflicted Amigos,

Please see my experience with Subway’s lack of concern for allergens and cross-contamination highlighted below, surrounded by their ensuing lack of customer service/respect. Their final unapologetic apology can be viewed on my blog.

I find their lack of concern quite disturbing. What can be done to make companies like this more aware of these issues that can be deadly for a certain percent of the population?

While shellfish is surely simple to sidestep, what about my peeps that are petrified by peanuts, terrans that are terrified by tree-nuts, friends that are fearful of fish, my mates that are mired by milk, my sidekicks that are scared of soy, or my well-wishers that are weary of wheat?

Thank you in advance for your time, and I hope you have a safe & happy Thanksgiving holiday!

Always Anti-Anaphylaxis,
-ERiC AiXeLsyD

Preparations for baby and Thanksgiving have got me all up in a tizzy.  We have everything but this damn dresser in the baby’s room.  Bad weather and poor timing have prevented the final trip to Ikea.  But hear you me world, when we get back from Thanksgiving, the first thing we’re doing is driving to Ikea and getting that cursed dresser.

Decorating wise, we’re done.  I finished this project earlier this week.  The letters are all spread out with palm trees flanking the ends.  Really, it’s very precious.

As for the pregnancy, we’re done with birthing classes.  Yesterday, I was informed that nearly anything in a car with a baby in a car seat is a potential projectile and should be thrown out the window.  Who knew mirrors and window shades were dangerous?

Tomorrow is the 38 week mark.  If Baby Mikey decides to poke his little head out tomorrow, I’m going to be pissed.  I have been looking forward to eating Thanksgiving dinner this whole pregnancy.  And by god, I’m going to get it.

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