Well....Life has been interesting here lately to say the least. I can't really go into it on a public forum but I can give you an idea of what I'm experiencing during this season of life.
Imagine an old filing cabinet. This filing cabinet holds all my most important interpersonal correspondence, my definitions of who people are and what I have come to expect of them as well as who I am and who I want to be. Now imagine that filing cabinet being picked up and thrown across the room by an 800 pound gorilla with it's usually ordered contents now scattered and drifting across the floor. That is what my brain has been like in the past few weeks and when my brain goes awry so goes my heart right along with it.
I don't handle change well and I have been snappy towards some of my friends. So to those reading this, and you know who you are, I sincerely apologize for the short temper and I will do better in the future. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm still the same old Jessica just in repair at the moment. So in honor of the quick reference to Mr. John Mayer here's a song for ya!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
New Norah Jones album "Featuring" out today!
Y'all make sure to go pick this album up. I have always adored her voice and am extremely interested to see how it gels with some of the artists "featured" on the album such as: Andre 3000, Q-Tip, Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, Herbie Hancock and Dolly Parton just to name a few. Below is a trailer for the album...enjoy!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Amazon Books and the Sexual Exploitation of Children/Stop The Candy Shop
DISCLAIMER: I rarely get on a forum such as a blog and write something really angry but this situation warrants an angry reaction.
I read a post on twitter last night from one of my friends about Amazon selling a book that tries to instruct pedophiles on a code of conduct in reference to the relationships they have with children. The author (Philip R. Greaves II) even goes as far as to label these people "Pedosexuals" thereby likening their diseased minds, and the behavior that is a by product of those diseased minds, to the accepted behavior of "heterosexuals" and "homosexuals".
There is a line here people and Amazon just danced on it and over it with their big, money driven feet. They are profiting from the sexual exploitation of children! I would like to ask anyone reading this to boycott Amazon until this book and any others like it are removed from their stores, online or otherwise.
And while we are on the subject of sexual exploitation let me share with you what I got to do this week. I went to the premier of a brilliant movie called "The Candy Shop" this past Monday at The Fox Theater in Atlanta. I was so impressed not only by the excellence of the film itself but by the heart of those involved in making it and the passion they show for the cause this movie so beautifully communicates. It's not easy to take the sinister subject of child sex trafficking and build a film around it that you could take your (older) kids to see but Whitestone Motion Pictures did just that. I won't spoil the whole storyline for you but the film is a dark fairytale about girls who are abducted for the purpose of providing a "service" for older men. They are lured into the store and turned into these giant lollipops by the owner of the "The Candy Shop"...hence the title of the film... and that is what the men buy each day when the store opens. Crazy right? You would think so but it works! This film is going to be an important tool in bringing this horror to the forefront of peoples minds. That is the only way that we can stop this specific brand of tragedy. I'm not entirely sure if Atlanta is the worst city in the nation for child sex trafficking but if it isn't it's close. The numbers are astounding in reference to the amount of sex crimes happening in our own backyard. (I don't know them off hand but I will post a website below that you can visit to get more specific information as well as watch the trailer for the film) And what's even more shocking is that there's really not much presently being done about it...but...we can help to change that. The citizens of Georgia can change these statistics by talking about the issue, writing about it, showing up to the state capitol on Lobby day (February 1, 2011) and showing our lawmakers that this problem needs to be addressed swiftly and those criminally involved punished harshly. We can begin to make a difference if we just act and a fairly easy start in taking action would be to do something like boycotting Amazon until this book is taken down. It worked with Craigslist and their "Adult Services" section and it can work with Amazon. We just need to make our voices heard.
So here is the website I mentioned above. When you have the time please visit http://www.stopthecandyshop.com/ and learn more about what we can do beyond boycotting and blogging to end this sad chapter in our states history.
I read a post on twitter last night from one of my friends about Amazon selling a book that tries to instruct pedophiles on a code of conduct in reference to the relationships they have with children. The author (Philip R. Greaves II) even goes as far as to label these people "Pedosexuals" thereby likening their diseased minds, and the behavior that is a by product of those diseased minds, to the accepted behavior of "heterosexuals" and "homosexuals".
There is a line here people and Amazon just danced on it and over it with their big, money driven feet. They are profiting from the sexual exploitation of children! I would like to ask anyone reading this to boycott Amazon until this book and any others like it are removed from their stores, online or otherwise.
And while we are on the subject of sexual exploitation let me share with you what I got to do this week. I went to the premier of a brilliant movie called "The Candy Shop" this past Monday at The Fox Theater in Atlanta. I was so impressed not only by the excellence of the film itself but by the heart of those involved in making it and the passion they show for the cause this movie so beautifully communicates. It's not easy to take the sinister subject of child sex trafficking and build a film around it that you could take your (older) kids to see but Whitestone Motion Pictures did just that. I won't spoil the whole storyline for you but the film is a dark fairytale about girls who are abducted for the purpose of providing a "service" for older men. They are lured into the store and turned into these giant lollipops by the owner of the "The Candy Shop"...hence the title of the film... and that is what the men buy each day when the store opens. Crazy right? You would think so but it works! This film is going to be an important tool in bringing this horror to the forefront of peoples minds. That is the only way that we can stop this specific brand of tragedy. I'm not entirely sure if Atlanta is the worst city in the nation for child sex trafficking but if it isn't it's close. The numbers are astounding in reference to the amount of sex crimes happening in our own backyard. (I don't know them off hand but I will post a website below that you can visit to get more specific information as well as watch the trailer for the film) And what's even more shocking is that there's really not much presently being done about it...but...we can help to change that. The citizens of Georgia can change these statistics by talking about the issue, writing about it, showing up to the state capitol on Lobby day (February 1, 2011) and showing our lawmakers that this problem needs to be addressed swiftly and those criminally involved punished harshly. We can begin to make a difference if we just act and a fairly easy start in taking action would be to do something like boycotting Amazon until this book is taken down. It worked with Craigslist and their "Adult Services" section and it can work with Amazon. We just need to make our voices heard.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Well, well, well...what do we have here?
Doesn't that title just sound juicy? Well what I have here is a raging need for some new and fun form of exercise. I get bored very easily. I think it's a curse of the creative brain...Anyways...I love to dance and I am thinking of taking swing classes again. I used to swing dance a lot when I was younger but once I got out of high school it went out of fashion and I moved away from my partner, etc., etc., etc...I quit doing it. Many of my friends salsa and thats great. I personally love it and would love to be better at it however; I have a very special place in my heart for swing. It's loud (like me), it's boisterous (like me) and it moves! (That one...not so much like me...I'm guilty of coach potato-ism from time to time.) So if anyone is interested in taking some classes...they have great group rates btw...let me know!
Now this is Lindy hop w/c is swing on crack...Love it!
Now this is Lindy hop w/c is swing on crack...Love it!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tempering a double edged sword...
If you know me personally then you are probably aware of a particularly bad habit of mine. In social situations I am occasionally guilty of speaking before I think. I'm not necessarily reckless but I often say things without running them through the "appropriate" filter. Mostly these incidents incite laughter or a chorus of giggles but sometimes they cut to the quick and unfortunately sometimes it cuts someone I care deeply for.
I blame Dixie Carter and my mother for this. Haha! Just kidding;)... But seriously, I was raised around highly intelligent women (the entire Jarrett side of the family I am talking to you) and came to appreciate a supremely quick/dry wit above all other humor. I mean come on, who didn't love watching Julia Sugerbaker go off on someone or tease her ditzy sister on "Designing Women"? It was great! And (I say this as a straight woman) it was kind of hot! Intelligent humor is flat out sexy to me...however in saying that...when humor becomes meanness it most certainly is not hot, funny, or appreciated.
The bible calls the tongue a double edged sword and I don't think there is any better way to describe it. It can in one moment uplift and in the next curse or demean. I don't want to be known for the latter so I am at the moment trying to temper this double edged sword of mine.
But just for kicks and giggles here is one of my favorite moments on "Designing Women" involving Miss Julia Sugarbaker...
I blame Dixie Carter and my mother for this. Haha! Just kidding;)... But seriously, I was raised around highly intelligent women (the entire Jarrett side of the family I am talking to you) and came to appreciate a supremely quick/dry wit above all other humor. I mean come on, who didn't love watching Julia Sugerbaker go off on someone or tease her ditzy sister on "Designing Women"? It was great! And (I say this as a straight woman) it was kind of hot! Intelligent humor is flat out sexy to me...however in saying that...when humor becomes meanness it most certainly is not hot, funny, or appreciated.
The bible calls the tongue a double edged sword and I don't think there is any better way to describe it. It can in one moment uplift and in the next curse or demean. I don't want to be known for the latter so I am at the moment trying to temper this double edged sword of mine.
But just for kicks and giggles here is one of my favorite moments on "Designing Women" involving Miss Julia Sugarbaker...
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