freckles make me strong.: Archive

“…there’s violence in our schools, too much mayhem in our culture, and we can do something about that. There’s not enough character, discipline, depth in our classrooms. There aren’t enough teachers in our classrooms. There isn’t nearly enough, not nearly enough, not nearly enough money in our classrooms, and we can do something about that. We’re not doing nearly enough, not nearly enough to teach our children well. And we can do better and we must do better and we will do better, and we will start this moment. Today.”—

Martin Sheen, The West Wing

Today, four police officers were shot and killed while off duty in a Tacoma area coffee shop. It made me think of this speech from The West Wing. My thoughts are with their families. RIP.

Nov 30, 20091 note

#RIP #seattle

Nov 27, 2009

a father's Thanksgiving prayer, from Home for the Holidays

Henry:Dear Lord, We realize that lately everything's changing too damn fast. And all sorts of things are always the same, even things we hated, like shoveling the turkey and stuffing the snow and going through the same crap year in and year out...
Adele:Your food's getting cold.
Henry:As I was saying, dear Lord, before my wife interrupted me, even those old fashioned pain in the ass traditions like Thanksgiving, which really mean something to us, even though God damn it we couldn't tell you what it is, are starting to stop. And thousand year old trees are falling over dead and they shouldn't. That's all from this end. Amen.

Nov 26, 2009

“Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.”—Johnny Carson

Nov 26, 20091 note

Nov 25, 2009357 notes

#things that make my day

“

I don’t think we are a delicate country. And I don’t think we’re a fragile country. I think that we’re an incredibly tenacious [one]. The whole fabric of this country was born of people who came from a place they didn’t want to be to a place they wanted to be, to do whatever they had to do to make that. And that ethos still lives in this country.

The idea that trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed in New York will destroy us, or trying to bring universal health care to people will destroy us, or trying to solve the problem of global warming will destroy us is trumped up fear that’s being used as a wedge to flatter people into voting for them. And it is absolutely not a part of our national character. The people who continually tell me how much they love this country and I don’t… also say how little this country can accomplish to overcome the problems that all countries face.

”—Jon Stewart (via Southpol)(via meredithnyc) (via apsies)

Nov 21, 200983 notes

#government

“You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could’ve, would’ve happened—or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.”—Tupac Shakur

Nov 20, 20093 notes

Play

Nov 18, 2009273 notes

The Onion: Watching Fewer Than Four Hours Of TV A Day Impairs Ability To Ridicule Pop Culture [Link]theonion.com

NEW YORK—A Columbia University study released Tuesday suggests that viewing fewer than four hours of television a day severely inhibits a person’s ability to ridicule popular culture.

“An hour or two of television per day simply does not provide enough information to effectively mock mediocre sitcoms, vapid celebrities, music videos, and talk-show hosts—an essential skill in modern society,” said Dr. Madeleine Ben-Ami, a professor of cognitive science and chief author of the study.

Tracking 800 individuals between the ages of 15 and 39, researchers found that people who watch fewer than four hours of television a day have difficulty understanding the references made on VH1’s Best Week Ever, and are often unable to point out the absurdity of infomercial products …

Ben-Ami said study participants who watched fewer than 28 hours per week were unable to ridicule Paris Hilton “with any specificity whatsoever.”

Nov 17, 2009

Nov 16, 2009

Listen

robot-heart:

thepoliticalpartygirl:brooklynmutt:inothernews:bringtheruckuss:nedhepburn:

The Mary Tyler Moore Theme “You Might Just Make It After All”

Nov 7, 2009

“The Library Department is the most diabolical, ruthless bunch of bureaucrats I’ve ever seen. They’re like a biker gang, but instead of shot guns and Crystal Meth they use political savvy… and shushing.”—Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation (via lorenrochelle) (via apsies)

Nov 5, 200925 notes

Nov 5, 2009

Nov 4, 20091 note