A threat

I listened to a call-in show today on NPR about the resistance to building a mosque near Ground Zero here in New York. There are some people who believe it's dishonoring the memory of those killed on Sept. 11, 2001 to establish a religious center celebrating the same religion of those who executed the attacks on that crystal clear morning.

First of all, I have no idea what the loved ones of those who were killed have gone through. I can only imagine it to be a long, arduous road through grief, anger and loss. My heart goes out to all of the people who were murdered that day and their friends and families who I know still grieve their absence.

However, I have never quite understood the argument that some people non-violently celebrating their religion or lifestyle is dishonoring anyone. I know there are many deep feelings surrounding what happened on 9/11, but it seems to me that the terrorists win a bit if we aren't able to differentiate between people who practice non-violent Islam and Muslim extremists who wish destruction and chaos on the USA.

I personally hope we are able to welcome Muslims to worship near Ground Zero, to grieve those loved ones they may have lost on that day, and embrace the mutual sadness that would unite us. After all, the terrorists hope is to divide us with fear and hate, bringing us to a place where we are afraid to reach out to other people. That is what they are banking on - that violence and terror will begin to run our lives instead of our human desire to connect with other people.

I think I can say with total assurance that the bravest acts in my life have included moving beyond the hate, anger, sadness and hurt to a place where I still FEEL those emotions, but recognize that that is not the place to set up camp. Bad things happen in life - America is a young country and we are not familiar with having war brought to our soil. There is no guarantee of safety, no matter how few mosques we have, how many clothes we take off at the airport when passing through security, how much racial profiling we may do... there will always be people who want to hurt us for who we are, how we live our lives and express ourselves. Sound familiar?

I feel that the moment we give in to hate and fear mongering and stop the difficult process of sorting out who is our friend and our foe (even within our own country, our own selves), regardless of race, nationality or religion, we become the terrorists. We become the people who are intolerant, hateful and exclusionary.

I'm not a particularly religious person, but I know what most world religions have in common: the advice to treat thy brother/neighbor/sister/friend/family as you would want to be treated. To work towards a peaceful coexistence, not a conflict-filled one. Only extremists preach violence and intolerance. In times of crisis we find friends in unusual places and people.

I hope New York City can pave the way with this new mosque for tolerance, acceptance, and friendship in a new world, no matter how scary that may be. Because I can tell you how scary a world without (religious) freedom is - and I don't want it.

Today

A shady looking man (homeless?) said to me, "I had no idea Miss America was in Brooklyn"... and I was secretly flattered.

Cute, environmentally friendly and very useful.

I am obsessed with these reusable towels (thank you, sister-in-law, who introduced them to me... me to them... whatever)!

They come in all kinds of cute designs and they are perfect for cleaning off counters, stove tops, fridges etc. They can get spills and just wipe things down - things that I often use paper towels for, but I realize this is wasteful and want to cut down on it. AND they're biodegradable.

Et voila! The fuckin Scandinavians, I'm telling you, everything I covet I eventually find out is Swedish. Maybe I should go to Stockholm! I hear they are tall there too...

Check these tea towels out too. LOVE!

Say hello to "Farewell"

It's time to call in sick to work and go to your nearest movie theatre that would be playing a foreign film to see "Farewell". It's a riveting spy thriller about a real life Russian KGB agent who decided to leak crucial information in 1981 to the French (and therefore got passed on to President Reagan).

I wasn't sure what to expect after reading a few reviews, and only as the movie ended did I begin to realize how great the movie is. The story is expertly told, the cinematography is great, acting, directing... all really good. It got compared to "The Lives of Others" which I can see... I loved that movie as well.

It's rare that I am deeply impressed by movies in the theatres. It's even more rare that that movie is American. This it is not... and you should definitely see it as soon as you can. It's probably the best movie I've seen since "Let the Right One In" (Swedish vampire movie) that Hollywood is now remaking (groan).


It renewed my faith in storytelling. According to some reviews, the screenplay is more romantic than the real life version, but I have no problem with that. I often prefer artistic versions of things anyway unless the truth is locked into the reality of a situation. I'm blathering.

GO SEE IT!