Strippers Protest Church…

Oh wow. A church has been protesting a strip bar. Now the strip bar is protesting the church.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/08/09/of-ire-and-brimstone.html

I think there’s a lot to be said about the situation.

Here’s the deal. I’m a Christian, so my comment has to be directed to the church, not to the strippers. I have never had to make the decision of how to feed my kids. If I didn’t have a job and my kids were hungry, I would do anything in my power to give them what they need. I would hope I could find other work, but if not…who knows.

What bothered me about this story was the tactics of the people from the church: Every weekend for the last four years, Dunfee and members of his ministry have stood watch over George’s joint, taking up residence in the right of way with signs, video cameras and bullhorns in hand. They videotape customers’ license plates and post them online, and they try to save the souls of anyone who comes and goes.

Bullhorns? Videotaping license plates?

Somehow I’m really desperately trying to find the grace and mercy in this story.

In the piece, the pastor said that they have offered to pay the bills of the strippers to stop them from working there. Which is great, but not if you’re offering it with a bullhorn. Not if you’re tracking their license numbers. Not if you’re passing judgment and not leading with love.

I beg the people of the New Beginnings Church to look at their name. You say you’re about “new beginnings” but without love, without mercy, without grace, why would anyone be interested in the new beginnings that you’re offering?

I am thankful to the one church member, Stan Braxton, who actually went out and talked to and prayed with a protester.

It’s easy to attack people who are living on the fringe. Who are living a lifestyle that, I doubt many would question, as being not the most moral. But here’s the deal – all of us are sinners. All of us have struggles. I’m sure there are people in that congregation that struggle with lust, with porn, with food, with adultry, with pride… maybe instead of bullhorns, a better idea might be to admit their trials, and their own struggles and hurts, but suggest that there might be a better way.

It’s funny. In my life, I’ve always had much more luck with a soft spoken conversation, where I actually get to share my life’s story with someone else.

So New Beginnings Church, I offer you an idea. How about you throw a BBQ in the parking lot of the Foxhole, instead of the girls BBQing at your church. And instead of videotaping the patrons, offer them a hamburger. Instead of learning license numbers, why don’t you learn names. Instead of yelling into bullhorns, how about sitting down, share a cup of coffee and listen to the lives of these women, these patrons. That’s how Jesus interacted with tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, saints and sinners. Somehow I think that could have a much better effect on your community.

“No one ever converted to Christianity because they lost the argument.” – Phillip Yancey. Rumors of Another World.

Cancer Cells Slurp Up Fructose

Reuters last week had a headline that stated: “CANCER CELLS SLURP UP FRUCTOSE, US STUDY FINDS”

Here’s the article. You should read it. http://www.reuters.com/article/idAFN0210830520100802

Basically, its showing that fructose (specifically that found in high fructose corn syrup) helps pancreatic tumor cells divide and multiply. Regular glucose doesn’t do this, so basically the study “challenges that common wisdom that all sugars are the same.”

Breads, soda, crackers, Doritos, Publix Fat Free Half and Half, the cake mix in my cabinet. This is for you. Stop putting High Fructose Corn Syrup in our food supply.

But this is my favorite part of the story:
“I think this paper has a lot of public health implications. Hopefully, at the federal level there will be some effort to step back on the amount of high fructose corn syrup in our diets,” Heaney said in a statement.

Now the team hopes to develop a drug that might stop tumor cells from making use of fructose.

U.S. consumption of high fructose corn syrup went up 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, researchers reported in 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

What? The team hopes to develop a drug.

How about we just stop eating fructose?

How about we put a giant red circle around the ingredients list on food, with a note that says, ‘by the way, this will probably kill you?’

How about we start educating people on just what these altered foods can do to our bodies?

How about we start pressuring the food manufacturers and grocery stores to help us be able to make better choices?

I’m a capitalist, and I really do believe that people should get to make their own decisions on how they treat their bodies. But coming up with a drug to stop cells from making use of fructose just seems like a giant band aid. This is an easy problem to remedy. Know what you’re eating. Stop and read the labels. Ask the companies who make and sell our food to consider the health ramifications of what we are often blindly consuming.

And for the love of God, stop trying to overmedicate us.

This finding is solidifying in my mind that today, I will drive past the grocery store and head to the farmers market and Trader Joes to buy groceries.

Big Star

Today, Andy Hummel, the original bass player for the band Big Star, died at the age of 59, four months after Alex Chilton, the leader of the band, died at the same age.

After Alex died, I realized just how many of my friends didn’t know Big Star. And upon playing them a few songs, they typically said “they sound like whoever did the theme song to ‘That 70s Show’ and I would sigh and say, yes, yes that is Big Star as well.

So now none of the people who read my blog can say they haven’t heard Big Star. Andy Hummel, rest in peace.

Inception

I love a good story……honestly, I’m a sucker for it. I can’t get enough of the brain creating situations and centuries and sentences that may, or may not exist.

So I decided to play hookie from work (ssss…don’t tell my boss) and catch a late afternoon showing of Inception yesterday. I was instantly drawn in. The world Nolan creates is bizarre and real and … I’m not going to say any more as I imagine most haven’t seen it yet.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of the movie – it’s about extracting – and planting – ideas in people’s minds while they are dreaming. Time travels at different speeds during different levels of a dream, and through coaxing and manipulating you can gain as much, or plant as much, information as you need.

“Dreams feel real while we are in them…..it’s only when we wake up that we realize something is actually strange.” States DeCaprio’s character Cobb states.

It really is an incredible concept. But I have to wonder just how sci-fi the idea is. At what point can you convince an unconscious change your thinking by a dream? What can carry over from the world where you mind has no limitations? What can we learn if we were able to fully listen to what our brain tells us each evening when we sleep?

And if you knew you could get inside someone else’s dream, would you do it?

Another brilliant theme is that one single idea can build a city, create the impossible, change the world. If we would could remember just what our brain allowed us to do, to see, to be in a dream – how much more would we do with our life?

I probably will write more later, as I’m sure I’ll be seeing it again this weekend. But for now, let me just say, you should go buy a ticket, and check out Inception.

And don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

Old Spice Got It Right, Man.

While this is a personal blog, and I rarely post business stuff on here, I wanted to make a little statement about Proctor and Gamble (who I’m a fan of thanks to their slave-free supply chain), and Wieden + Kennedy, the ad agency behind the brilliant “Old Spice Man” campaign.

Seems like single-handedly, Old Spice Man changed the rules of advertising … For the better.

First thing is obvious. I am female. Isaiah Mustafa is beautiful. Nuff said.

But second. A brand, that arguably should have disappeared years ago as my generation’s buying dollars took over, has suddenly become one of the most talked about products on earth. How? They personalized it. “Hello Ladies – look at me – look at your man – now look back at me – now look at your man.” And made a campaign so ridiculous that it was the only ad our Lost group wouldn’t fast forward over on Tuesday evenings. The men laughed, the women swooned. The first two commercials were immensely entertaining.

And lets face it. Married men, when’s the last time you bought body wash. Exactly. Your wife is the one who buys it, so technically you’re out of the equation anyway.

So now, do a third commercial that is even more amazing (“Swan dive into the best night of your life!”) and then make it even more personal.

I honestly thought the campaign was brilliant when there were 20 or so videos posted online with Old Spice Man responding to statements and questions from Facebook, twitter and general yahoo questions. But when the video numbers are in triple digits, the answers are directed to super stars and normal folks, and video responses start popping up all over the web, what do you have?

Millions of people engaging in your brand. Your name being locked in their memory as not only a quality product, but downright fun ride.

It’s brilliant. Engaging your audience on a very personal level. Taking advertising out of the TV and banner ads and starting a buzz that brings new customers seeking you out. Yes, it’s funny. It’s amazingly entertaining (see his responses to George Stephanopoulous, his daughter, and even a response to one of his own personal tweets) And Mustafa gets extra credit for spending 2 days wrapped in a towel in a bathroom set.

Yesterday, after spending several hours throughout the day clicking back to the Old Spice Youtube channel to catch up on the new messages to fans, I had to make a run to Walgreens to buy some toothpaste. And funny, I haven’t been in a men’s soap section in 5 years, but yesterday, I did. I walked over, and sadly for me, the Walgreens was sold out of all but one scent of Old Spice bodywash for men.

They did have 2 bottles left of “Swagger” and ya know, it did smell pretty darn good.

So my question is, according to one of the videos, men who use these washes tend to attract droves of women who find themselves powerless to the manliness of these products. So as a single woman, I ask if simply buying these products can attract men to me, who want to smell like a man, man. Somehow I doubt it works in reverse.

No matter what, kudos to the team at Wieden + Kennedy. You have created a social media campaign that did just exactly what social media campaigns are supposed to do – engage the audience, let the audience make it their own and give an entertaining afternoon to many of us who are now dreaming of ways we can engage our audience as well as the Old Spice team.

Don’t Give Up

I never thought I’d have a post saying someone should watch a Pink video…but combine Pink with Herbie Hancock and John Legend, and that’s a different story.

Peter Gabriel wrote this song for his amazing So album in the mid-80s, and Kate Bush sang the sweet, supportive back up. The song is about a man in economic hardship, being out of work and feeling unneeded. The second voice is what women are good at: “don’t give up, you still have friends…”

Sort of a classic look at men needing to be respected, women needing to be loved.

Anyway – Herbie Hancock’s remake of the song is nothing short of stunning, and in a day where unemployment, housing foreclosures and economic downfall are in the news every day, many can resonate with these words

moved on to another town
tried hard to settle down
for every job, so many men
so many men no-one needs

And the woman’s refrain:

don’t give up
’cause you have friends
don’t give up
you’re not the only one
don’t give up
no reason to be ashamed
don’t give up
you still have us
don’t give up now
we’re proud of who you are
don’t give up
you know it’s never been easy
don’t give up
’cause I believe there’s the a place
there’s a place where we belong

All that to say, enjoy a beautiful take on a beautiful song. And to anyone out there needing support, encouragement and rest, don’t give up.

Landon School Scandal….

It’s been a while since I was taken back by a news story.

In fact, I haven’t been watching the news. I check headlines, but lately that has become more of a rarity. Maybe because it’s summer and I just don’t want to deal with the world’s tough issues.

But thanks to a tweet, I ran across this story. Maureen Dowd’s Op Ed in the New York Times called Their Dangerous Swagger. You should read it –

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/opinion/09dowd.html

This was followed up by the Washington Examiner doing a story –

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Landon-School-scrambles-to-contain-_slampigs_-scandal-96098939.html

And the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/09/AR2010060905925.html

Freshman boys from an elite private boys school called Landon were caught playing a game, sort of like fantasy football, complete with a draft. But this game involved girls in their area and the game was all about sexual encounters. Points for the basics – first, second and third base, even extra points for kissing up to the parents. Money was on the line, sex parties where points could be gained were planned and at the end of the year, the young boy with the most points, won.

So girls were going to be under the impression these boys actually cared about them, actually liked them…but the honest truth was simply about the game.

From the Op-Ed:
“Landon is where the sons of many prominent members of the community are sent to learn “the code of character,” where “a Landon man” is part of a “true Brotherhood” and is known for his good word, respect and honesty. The school’s Web site boasts about the Landon Civility Code; boys are expected to “work together to eliminate all forms of disrespect” and “respect one another and our surroundings in our decorum, appearance, and interactions.’”

This story really took me back. How can kids in a prep school with a “Civility Code” believe it’s ok to turn the emotional and physical life of girls in their community into a game?

What’s going on in these kid’s homes?

I have to admit that I’m seeing the stereotype: raised by a nanny, mom and dad work all the time, instead of dealing with kids issues parents just give the kids some money and send them to a movie. I know this is a stereotype, and I know I’m projecting perhaps my own stereotypes, but I can’t help it.

How do these boys treat their mothers and sisters? And what kind of picture of respect for women is being shown by their fathers?

What I’m really concerned about might be quite a bit deeper. After working with human trafficking groups for the past few years, there seems to be a sad trend where males (I won’t call them men) think of the women outside their home strictly as objects. They forget that girls on the porn sites have fathers and brothers and probably didn’t choose to have the lives they are leading. This opens the door to thinking that sex trafficking and sex tourism is ok.

But as long as the girls aren’t in their family, it doesn’t matter. They are property. A commodity. Something to be used for their instant pleasure, eventually only a credit card number is required.

I’m sorry, but people and property should never be the same thing.

Is it just me, or is this story really disturbing?

If some of the best educated, most promising young teens in the country think that it’s ok to convince a girl to let them kiss her so they can get points is just flat out disgusting. As if teens girls don’t have enough emotional and body issues to deal with, now lets throw in not knowing if a boy likes you because your YOU or because he wants to score extra points for a sick game.

Plus, how will this effect these young boys in the long term? I can only hope and pray that they realized that women are a gift to be prized, not a pawn in a game.

I guess this is the point where I plead to my male friends to be good examples to the young men in their lives.

Please let them know that every one is precious. Every one is unique. And every one is worthy of protecting, supporting and building up. Only then can we truly have a strong, trusting beautiful relationships that were created on the basic of mutual respect as God intended.

Decktop Garden Adventure, day 1

Reasons to Love Nashville, #774

Saturday shouldn’t have been interesting. Had a tentative date that, of course, the guy backed out on. Hit a couple of garage sales and bought a perfect messenger bag for my scooter for only $30. At the farmers market i bought a giant bag of groceries, 8 pepper plants, 4 tomato plants and an oregano plant for less than $20.

And then I happened upon a garage sale.

The house was a classic Nashville brick ranch. The front part of the driveway was littered with deer heads, birdhouses and camping gear. But at the back of the driveway sat an older woman. She saw me pick up a flower pot (I was thinking I could plant one of my new pepper plants in it), and she said “Do you like plants” and I responded, “I am trying to.”

She lumbered up from her seat. Leaving her cane behind, the woman moved slowly, inching her way over to another pot and said, “Let me help you.”

Her 11 year-old grand daughter rolled her eyes. “Granny Sue has someone to talk about plants with,” she exclaimed. I asked if she liked plants and the young girl with pink streaks in her hair said a definitive “No.”

At this, 75 years of knowledge of gardening poured from the woman.

Brown bananas attract butterflies.

If you plant marigolds by tomatoes you won’t get any bugs

Take the last tomato of the year and just leave it on the dirt. It will seed itself for next season.

Planting 1 hot pepper underground by sweet potatoes will keep moles away

Tale after tale of how to keep your plants happy and healthy. I’d ask a question and Granny Sue would respond “just plant it.”

Does this need to be in the shade? “Just plant it.”

Don’t strawberries need to be in a yard? “Just plant it.”

Is this pot big enough? “Just plant it.”

She made clippings of geraniums, lambs ears, strawberries, sweet potatoes and assorted plants. She spoke stream of consciousness, “Keep these in water, and then, just plant them. If they look like they are dead, just keep watering them”

She then donated to my cause several planters that still had the remnants of dying looking plants in them. “Just add your tomato plants to these. They are plenty deep,” I think she could read my mind “and no, these other plants aren’t dead. Just water them. And plant the tomatoes. With some marigolds.”

I drove my car up behind the house, took the top off and loaded up my back seat with plants. She wished me luck and waved and said she wanted to come up and see my garden deck when it was in full bloom.

As I drove away, something hit me. Granny Sue said most of the time plants aren’t dead, they just need to be taken care of in a new way. Water them more. Water them less. Move them from direct sun to the shade. Replant them. Give them space.

That’s probably just like a lot of us. A few years ago, people might have written me off, where really I just needed to be replanted in a new space so I could thrive. Others who have fallen onto hard times or have made wrong decisions just need a little more water. Probably a lot of us could use days with more sun.

So I’ve started my deck-top gardening adventure with about 37 plants. I hope that maybe I can live my life with a few of Granny Sue’s lessons. Some of these plants may be meant for big gardens, but they will grow, and hopefully thrive where they are planted. There might be a few people in my life that I could offer some water.

I’ll keep you updated on the garden, but here’s what it looks like today.

Sunday Song

It’s Sunday. And I give back my voice.

Magnificent
Songwriters: Clayton, Adam; Eno, Brian; Evans, David; Hewson, Paul; Lanois, Daniel Roland; Mullen, Laurence;

Magnificent
Oh, oh, magnificent

I was born, I was born
To be with you in this space and time
After that and ever after
I haven’t had a clue only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue, oh, oh

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

I was born, I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice from the womb
My first cry, it was a joyful noise, oh, oh

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
Justified, till we die you and I will magnify, oh, oh
Magnificent, magnificent, oh, oh

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts
Justified, till we die you and I will magnify, oh, oh
Magnificent, magnificent, magnificent

Freedom isn’t free

Freedom isn’t free.

It’s Memorial Day and, I think, like many, I get a little choked up about remembering people that I’ve never met. Men and women who without concern for self, believed this concept of freedom and liberty were worth sacrificing themselves to champion. Who didn’t recoil at the thought giving their life so that me, a normal girl in Tennessee, can have the choice to get an education, choose a job of my suiting, marry (or not-marry) the person of my choice. Wear clothing of my choice. Drive a car. I can succeed, fail, try hard, win big and not fear speaking up about what I believe.

And I am forever indebted. But I realized that I take this sacrifice for granted, every day.

Over 600,000 people have died in the line of service in the last 100 years, defending my country.

Over 1,100,000 since the inception of America.

Yesterday, back in my hometown, Pastor Reser showed a few clips from the amazing film Saving Private Ryan in the service. If you haven’t seen it, go on Netflix and watch it now. You won’t regret it.

But I keep going back to the line, said by Tom Hanks’ character (John something?), after finding and rescuing Private Ryan from battle in France. His dying words to young Ryan simply said “Earn This”.

And somehow I don’t know if I have. I’ve done my best to love my country, but how does one do that? I hope I defend her when friends who really haven’t traveled complain about our country. Of course she has her faults, but I know that my country is one that I can be proud of. And maybe over the past few weeks of flooding in Nashville I just feel more of a sense of community- that I live where people put other people first. That we have government groups that help those in need. That we are encouraged to create businesses and non-profits that can help the economy and help build revenues to support programs of our choosing.

What can I do to earn the deaths of 1,100,000 people?

I think just by enjoying each day. By helping someone in need. By remembering that I use more water in 1 shower than the majority of the world uses in a day. By recycling. Planting some flowers or picking up trash. By going to support a great Thai food at a restaurant started by immigrants who came to this country to start a new life. Using my freedom of career to create or support something that will make a positive change in the world.

And maybe It just means thanking the soldier in the airport for his choice to defend my rights as a woman to have a career and an education. That I don’t have to fear walking outside alone at the risk of being raped or beaten by rebels who see women as property, not people.

“Earn this” he said to the Private. I hope that I can remember that my thoughts and attitude need to be in thanksgiving to so many who gave so much. Thank you to all who have served and who are serving in the military. You are appreciated, and today, on Memorial day – we salute you.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay done his life for his friends.” – Jesus (John 15:13)