BBQ Bob's Ghost Parts

(This post is surprisingly full of religious content and anti war sentiment. So read at your own risk.)

Pam Kitty Morning requested a shot of the window with the finished Easter baskets on display. See, I'm still not all that thrilled with my window dressing skills, but this is certainly better than the last version.

A while ago I bought these tiny crocheted baby booties to use as embellishments for presents but it turned out I didn't have any good wrapping paper to really set them off with. I think this worked out very nicely though. This is our new store wrapping paper. It has to be, because I had to buy it in a huge roll.

I can't help myself. Just had to share the pretty packages.

See anything wrong with this picture? Can you see why BBQ Bob might not be feeling his absolute best right now? I am tempted to wrap up his stump with a bloody looking bandage. Don't worry, I won't. I don't even have to ask why someone would steal a mannequin hand from Bob. Who wouldn't want to show off such a score to all their other drunk buddies? What could be more fun than running around with a mannequin hand? People with fiberglass body parts are always leaders of the pack. Dismembered hands are also babe magnets in case anyone out there didn't already know that.

That doesn't mean I'm not angry though. I don't know if I can get a replacement for it. Just in case anyone might be bristling at the sly implication that it was a male who stole Bob's hand, I just want to say that I am totally aware of how many stupid teen-age girls out there are not only capable of doing such a thing, but also ripe for such hi-jinks. As you all can imagine, I myself was a perfect specimen of teen-age innocence and you could have crowned me with a halo right there and then and let God impregnate me, I was that pure....


Have I mentioned how creepy I think the whole concept of immaculate conception is? I'm not trying to ruin any one's breakfast, but c'mon, how much more lecherous can a spirit get? The Virgin Mary actually happens to be one of my favorite biblical characters. Probably because she had to have had some pretty big balls to have given birth in a barn in front of about two hundred people. I also love how beautiful she always is in religious art. Statues of her in Notre Dame in Paris are so delicate and ethereal that I almost broke down and cried when I saw them.


While I'm not religious myself and I do enjoy an irreverent attitude towards most religions, I have wanted a Virgin Mary in my garden for a long while. I collect religious art and love religious music. I am also attracted to old churches. To me, the most beautiful thing about religion isn't the worship of god stripped down to it's bare essentials. To me, the most beautiful thing about religion is to see it reflected in the hearts of the people who believe. To see their love in a statue, a painting, or the carvings in a cathedral. There you can see love blossoming on almost nothing but thirst itself. I think it's incredible what people have been inspired to make and build in worship, it pulls the most awe inspiring work out of artists.

God doesn't give gospel it's power, the people who are singing and believing while they're singing from the depths of their ragged dog-eared faith are what powers the music. God didn't make that music, the people did. God didn't write Mozart's music, Mozart wrote that music, sometimes inspired by God. God is the ultimate human muse.

I realize how much that may upset some Christians. But why shouldn't humans get the greatest of their inspirations, to make art and to live well, from the spirit they believe made all the tools they use?

It's amazing how I can turn a store update into a bitter political statement. This demonstrates my commitment to the joys of wandering conversations. If you hate anti-war sentiments, now would be an ideal time to exit this page.

Now we all need to listen to more classic Bob Dylan songs to remember the truth: that everyone thinks God is on their side in war. It will be impossible for me to ever embrace religion until humans stop using God as an excuse to control other people, kill them, torture them, rape them, and take their oil. Christians come to my door with their literature, wanting to draw me in, but all I can see are the great waves of violence that Christianity has been responsible for since the very beginning. Since right after Jesus was supposedly telling everyone about living a peaceful existence. About non violence.

For a messiah, his message was pretty spectacularly ignored.

I don't disrespect Christians, by the way. But I cannot pretend to be blind to the enormous contradictions inherent in that, and most, faiths. I am aware, however, that not all Christians support war. I know that not all Christians think it's alright to torture Arabs just because they worship differently. There are many Christians out there who's faith is much more aligned to the message Jesus was really trying to get out there. There are many Christians who feel as I do about war. Who want the same things in life that I do for myself and my family.

The exact same things apply to Islam. Not all Islamic people support war. Not all of them think it's righteous to torture American soldiers. Although, right now, and the longer we keep sending troupes over there, the fewer Arabs there will be who will be willing to sit next to Americans in peace. I can't blame them. The longer we keep this up, the more persistent and deserved future terrorism will become. And for this, for this future danger that Bush and all his men have set up for all of our children, I think he should not be impeached, but convicted of this war crime. Of aiding and abetting and building hatred of Americans to the point where we will never be safe again.

Because now, unless the American army plans to kill every last middle eastern person, hatred for what we have done will brew in new generations of orphans living in the oppressive shadow of the American strong arm. When will everyone see this? While American life on our own soil is deteriorating beneath the weight of heavy taxes, while our own ghettos become small desperate nations, while all the small businesses across the nation are systematically being swallowed up by corporate greed, we are making new ghettos in other people's countries.


I do. I care very much about the food our country produces, the poisoning of our environment, the diseases we are fighting, the spreading divide between the rich and the poor, the education our children are (not)* receiving, the health care most of us cannot afford. We have so much to do in our own country, right here, right now.

I learned from a great U.S. history teacher named Dean Frasier that you can be both patriotic and also critical of your own country at the same time. I learned that patriotism isn't about blind faith in your leaders, it's about being able to think critically and be involved in change. It's about having pride in the best parts of your nationality, and about being willing to look at what isn't working and fight for what will work. You can be respectful of our troops while disagreeing with their mission.

When's the next peace march in Portland Oregon? I marched in San Francisco. I've signed every petition that comes my way. I've called my Senators and Congress people. I've written letters. I've spoken out. I've voted.

I guess the only thing left to do is hope.


*I don't have a personal complaint about the education Max is getting, because he's actually so far gone to great schools. But that's not the experience all parents are having.


Note: partly what steered this post into a political direction was because I was thinking about a great post over at Abby Try Again about ending the war. It was refreshing to hear someone say something about it. She has a great blog which is largely craft related, but sometimes she explores other topics she's interested in. For a lot of people it's an act of bravery to publicly state their political beliefs and I always admire people willing to put themselves out there. There has never been a more important time to get vocal.