Religious Freedom in Viet Nam
Target:EU, US & ASEAN governments and UN High Commissioner, Human Rights
Sponsored by: Friends of Thich Nhat Hanh

Please sign this petition addressed to the European Union, the United States government, ASEAN governments and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to ask the Vietnamese government to formally recognize the Plum Village practice of buddhism. By joining the petition and the group of 100,000 people asking for religious freedom, you will make a great measurable step towards global human rights in Southeast Asia.

The Bat Nha community has been under severe violent governmental pressure to cease activity in Viet Nam. The monks and nuns were forcefully expelled from Bat Nha monastery and are been persecuted in their place of refuge, Phuoc Hue temple, Bao Loc, in Lam Dong province. These monks and nuns are practicing in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and continue his tradition in his homeland.

Our initial effort and petition to protect the Bat Nha monastics was recognized by EU and U.S. leaders, which in turn caused the Viet Nam government to ease pressure on the Bat Nha monastics for the last three weeks of Oct 2009. But on Nov 2nd, the Chief of the Province Lam Dong summoned the Abbot who is currently hosting the 400 refugee monks and nuns, and demanded he force them to leave by the first of December.

The strong harassment and intimidation of this community continue with attempts to disband them from Phuoc Hue and other temples where they have sought refuge. They also are threatening to draft the young monks into the army within a few weeks. We need your help to bring an end to religious persecution in Viet Nam with this new petition to ASEAN, European Union, United States governments and the High Commission for Human Rights to continue diplomatic pressure.


Read more and sign petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/6/religious-freedom-in-viet-nam

We got up very early to take Tim to the airport. We're finally getting some winter rain. In fact, it's pouring, and in the distance the mountains are covered with snow far down their sides. We hit some heavy rain on the way to the airport, along with some pretty impressive lightning, and saw no less than five cars spun out or overturned by the side of the road and a two-car collision. Folks, you've got to slow down!

Great visit with Tim. He'd met Jackson as a pup last Christmas, but they hadn't seen each other since. J did some initial barking, wuffing, and skulking, but was won over very quickly and soon up in Tim's lap, bringing him toys and socks. It was good to see. Apart from his trust/shyness issues, he's such a good, friendly, playful dog. On the show Dogs 101 they did a segment on English Mastiffs. Jackson may not be a purebred, but he sure takes after that side of the family in face and temperament. Hopefully he'll stay on the runty end of the weight spectrum. Still well under 100 lbs. but he's only a year old. Emma was her usual canine velcro self and spent a lot of time in Tim's lap, soaking up attention. Tim even coaxed Oscar the Garage Cat in for some visiting. Oscar is his cat, whom we are cat sitting until Tim gets a place that allows cats. Could be never. Oscars nice, but pees in the house. Hence the garage accommodations.



Back now, sitting by the fire trying to decide the day's tea, or at least day's first tea. I seem to be craving Tie Guan Yin, after reviewing an especially fine one the other day, from Norbu Tea. I just ordered some for my own private stash, along with an interesting pu ehr baked and aged in sweet bamboo. It's very sweet and light, without some of the damp earth flavor of a more traditional pu ehr.

I also need a Yixing pot to dedicate to TGYs, and have been looking for a long time. Finally settled on this cute and funky one, from sensationalteas.com, made by Xiao Ma. The colors come from different colors of zisha clay inlay.




Good excuse to sort through the TGYs I have lying around, and cull out the old and inferiors while I wait for the Diamond Grade to arrive and spoil me for everything else.


Friends coming over tonight for a "Thanksgiving left overs" potluck.

Thank you for all the wonderful entries! I loved them all and appreciate them, too. As you will see, I had a hard time choosing just one, so instead I allowed myself a baker's dozen and we had a few ties. Here are the results. Please email me your mailing address: lbflewelling@roadrunner.com Please include your LJ name, so I can make sure I get everyone. Thanks!

1. Best Foreign Story: hikari shiroki

2. Best Book Pusher: asatomuraki

3. Best Guilting: tobyspit & ferretpaws

4. Best Not Mentioning the Word "Bookmark": tsuralai

5. Most Poetic: snowydragon & julzbat

6. Most Schizophrenic: animangel

7. Most Scholarly: theelk

8. Foxiest: enedven

9. Most Heartfelt: cutiedorklady

10. Most Inspirational: rikunghts

11. Best Gustatory: Dmujumu

Evil Council 3!

The obligatory and time-honored left over supper; games of dominos and Continental Rummy; Law and Order; now on my third steeping of Canton Tea Co. Jasmine Pearl tea made with Silver Needle white tea. Favorite with my kids and meditation group.

Daily twitterings. ♥

• 18:12 has spent almost every night since she got home on Friday watching Inspector Morse with her parents and thinks it's pretty much awesome. #
• 23:41 @alexhaven Because Star Trek is just that awesome, of course! #

♥ ♥ ♥

Turkey tackled.
Side dishes summarily dispatched.
Gravy gorged upon.
Pies plundered.

Tryptophane coma.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

A lot has changed since last year and I will tell you right now that I am thankful for everything that happened in the past year. A lot of it was good and a lot of it was bad but through all of it (the wonderfully good and the wonderfully crappy) I have learned and gained so much. Though there was quite a bit of pain involved, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I wouldn't want to go through it a second time but I would never wish to change it.

If nothing else, awful situations build character. And as a bonus, they make you feel as if you never have to take crap from anybody.

Thanksgivings, like other holidays, are complicated in my family. We have joy, don't get me wrong, but there is always a profound sadness and a sense of loss. Even my severely autistic younger brother feels the loss. All day he has been saying "I want Papa." Though he was verbally and emotionally abused, he still misses having that fourth person. The stability, the wholeness. Because for him, four is the way families are supposed to be, four is 'right'.

It is very difficult to explain drug and alcohol addiction to a disabled child.

I honestly do not dwell much on the past twelve years of my life, what happened to us happened and it was very, very bad. I don't minimize it or brush it off, but it is in the past now and I have accepted that. For the first time in I don't know how many years, I am finally whole. And I am finally Julia. That is the thing I am the most thankful for.

And of course, I am thankful (extremely so) for my BFFs: Melissa, Melanie, Ally and Alex. You guys rock more than Neil Schon during that sweet guitar riff in "Anyway You Want It". You guys helped me through so much in the summer and even during the school year whenever I needed you. I love you all so much <3^pi x infinity

[PS: WE NEED TO GET TOGETHER EITHER TOMORROW OR SATURDAY BECAUSE I GO BACK ON SUNDAY]

Watched 'Fiddler on the Roof' as is the Thanksgiving tradition in our family and now my mother wants to watch 'Doctor Who' with me after hearing me refer to it since the end of May. Five bucks says we'll have to use subtitles since asian people have difficulty understanding English + any form of accent.

I can't wait until Crimmus! I have so many great presents for my mama and brother :D And I'm so freaking excited for our yearly Christmas/New Years celebration, ladies!

Stuffing made- much wreckage ensued.
Turkey rinsed, warmed, stuffed, trussed, buttered, and roasting.
Giblets simmering.
Livers sauteed and nibbled.

Kitchen a shambles. This is what sons are for.

Vegetables next.

Last night the house smelled of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, pastry, and apples. At the moment it smells of coffee, sage, Herbes de Provence, and sauteed celery, parsley, and onions. And is there any better foundation to good food than sauteed celery, parsley, and onions?

I love feast days. :-)

One son home for Thanksgiving this year. No other guests, so it will be a laid back day.

So far: (3) pies made, two pumpkin, one apple-- we're doing Leftover Night with friends Friday.
(1) turkey soaking in brine

Other ingredients staged and ready to go.

As a follow-up to the last post, we managed to raise another $800 for the voice mail at Desert Bus For Hope. So that's nearly $2,000 in total raised for Child's Play! Awesome! Of course, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the $80,000+ that LoadingReadyRun have already raised, but every little helps.

I just uploaded a new video that is comprised of footage from our latest rehearsal for Aladdin. It's probably not really of much interest to a lot of you, but I'm trying to help promote the panto as much as possible. I do feature in the video a few times, but it's fleeting since most of it is being filmed by me.

Scunthorpe LTC Aladdin Rehearsal

*edit*

Bonus video get!

The Andy Story

I encourage everybody to go visit Desert Bus For Hope and donate as much as they feel they can. Money goes towards supporting Child's Play. For those of you who don't know, Desert Bus is a game in which you drive from Tucson to Las Vegas in real time. Every time you make the trip, you get a point. The crew at LoadingReadyRun are playing the game non-stop for twenty four hours a day, and the more you donate, the longer they have to play.

Us kind folks at Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged are helping out, and have managed to raise over $1,000 for Child's Play by offering shirts up for people to bid on. We're also going to be offering up a personalised voice mail message from me, in whatever character's voice you'd like.

Also, Linkara's latest edition of Atop The Fourth Wall has a glorious YGOTAS nod at the end. Gosh, that catchphrase is almost as big as Kaiba's now. Ironic.

Be the first to win a WHITE ROAD bookmark--signed!

Just tell me (here) in 20 to 250 words why you want one. I'll choose the response I like best. Be imaginative! Ties are possible.

Contest ends on Friday, noon, PST.




I am also running this on FB and Yahoo Group. Please enter only at one site. Each site will have a winner.

It's official! SHADOWS RETURN is now available at Audible.com! I just listened to the sample and I really like the guy's voice. He suits the characters.

http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&productID=BK_ADBL_001198&redirectFlag=

Pirate Radio rocks! Great cast, fun story, excellent cast. While "based on real events," it's a highly fictionalized and embellished version, but who cares? It was really fun. Laughed all the way through. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branaugh, and a great cameo by Emma Thompson. Already downloaded the soundtrack from iTunes.

November 28 is being declared Same Sex Hand Holding day (Sshh) to promote equality. http://ow.ly/En3R

:-)

My eyes are blurry. I'm seeing double. I'm high on red pencil fumes. I've had way too much tea. And still a long way to go on the galley edits. Good thing they're not due until Dec. 14. I've already found a few nasty little lurkers needing to be fixed. How do these things get through two editing cycles? But they always do. At least I get to tuck in a little last minute nookie here and there.

Strange request go!

Does anybody know of any public domain animé titles at all?

They shot this after I left Youmacon 2009, and it's every bit as hilarious as I imagined it would be.

Going to stop whining and get things done.

Viola update: had my recital performance in which I flubbed a few notes (BADLY HOLY COW) though when I spoke to others about it afterwards, they said the only reason they knew I flubbed was because I "told the audience through my face". My face is a continuing problem for me in performances, but I can't help it. I have an expressive/mobile face. Anyway, I thought for sure my viola prof would be on my butt for it but I got an email from him in which he said "You did well! We'll discuss this at your lesson." Hey, it's not a pat on the back but with him, you take what you can get. Whoo.

Speaking of professors, I give you Exhibit Z on why Wilson is the greatest prof ever:

We were all sitting in class on Wednesday and five minutes after class should have begun, Wilson has not shown up yet. Zac, Cam and I always sit by the window so I was kind of zoning out, watching the world amble by. Suddenly I see Wilson burst out one of the chapel doors and start power-walking towards the art building (where our Great Con class is randomly held. I don't know why). He was cutting across the grass to save time and at one point he looked up, so I wave my arms at him. He has a briefcase in each hand and waves his arms around above his head, while veering off and approaching the window. I was laughing my head off at that point, thinking OH MY GOSH, WHAT IS HE DOING?. He finally gets to the window, braces his hands against the ledge and tries to CLIMB THROUGH IT, foot up on the ledge and everything! Then he ends up just clawing and banging on the glass. Eventually he gives up and heads over to the entrance, breezes into the room and acts as if nothing happened. Class then proceeds as usual.

BAHAHAHAHAHA. HE IS SO COOL I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT. I want to be JUST LIKE HIM someday! Sans beard, though. I had a writing conference with him yesterday for my Milton paper and he helped me figure out a conclusion that was freaking genius. I was so moved that I stared at him for about five minutes before saying, "How long did it get you to be so clever?" to which he laughed and said, "Oh, no it has nothing to do with being clever. Your paper pointed me in that direction, I just worked off of you."

WILSON LIKES ME. That's all I require in life.

This weekend's going to be busy. Have to edit my Milton paper (WHICH IS NOW BRILLIANT THANKS TO THE GREAT CHARLIE WILSON) and study Chemistry. And work on a proposal for my Spencer paper. It's a good thing that I actually enjoy writing papers, or being an English major would be awful. So we've got academics plus a lot of events/shows to go to as well. Eeep.

And here, apropos of nothing, have some Winston Churchill quotes:

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.

A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.

Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put. MY FAVORITE ONE, I AM SO USING IT FROM NOW ON.

I love quoting Churchill.

Have a good weekend, friendies! I know a lot of you had icky weeks, but it's Friday and so, in the words of my roommate's bag of 'Flavor-Blasted Goldfish': CARPE some DIEM.

EDIT1: Got into all my Semester II classes! Next term is going to flipping ROCK.