It’s true. 

I want to write a book that is banned with long stretching arms of censorship for a catalogue of reasons as a rationale.

I want to write something that readers will instantly recognize as insightful, or that makes people take stock of their own environment, fishbowl, or personal perspectives and invisible but ingrained biases.

I want to write something that causes people to ask questions to those who hold power over them.  I want young people to read it and allow themselves to throw away the nonsense idea that questioning a thought or concept is blasphemous simply because it’s in print or in a textbook.  I want thought leaders to read it and question whether or not they’re the antagonist or the protagonist.

I want to write something that upsets people enough to take action.  I want to stir the pots of cooking frogs and force them to leap out of their apathetic, slow burning pots.

I want to write something that shocks institutions because it challenges their authority over thought and information.

I want to write something that makes men in robes uncomfortable because it encourages questioning centuries-long authority based on “that’s how it has always been” and “it is not our place to question the divine.”  I want people to voice the questions they were always afraid to ask and not settle for “mystery” because no one has a logical, or reasonable answer.

I want to write something that makes people ask themselves if they treat their friends or family members with the respect they deserve.  Something that makes locker room comedy an embarrassment to everyone, not just the target of the joke, something that drives offenders to perhaps uncomfortable self assessment and evaluation.

I want to write something that will become outdated and irrelevant, and remembered only because of the impact it made on society and those who read it rather than because the issues will continue to be issues in the future.

I want to write something that people can burn ceremoniously because the challenges have been overcome.

Banned Books

It’s Banned Books Week, and I would be remiss if I didn’t point you to a list of some of the greatest works pulled from shelves for challenging ideologies, “values,” and social norms.  Go do yourself a favor.  Read a banned book.  Then give it to someone you want to inspire.

• BannedBooksWeek.org
• Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read (ALA.org)
• Banned Books Online (Great list and explanations on The Online Book Page)
• Wikipedia’s list of Banned Books
• Books that were banned or challenged in 2007-2008 (by Robert Doyle)
• Map of Book Bans and Challenges (2007-2009)

How are you?

No… really… How are you?

We ask these questions to each other out of rote socialization, and most times the answers go unheard.  We ask it in passing in the halls, we ask it as a place holder when there is no other way into a conversation, and we ask it to be polite.  How often does someone ask it to genuinely know? How often, when asked that question, do you feel that the person asking has already moved on to the next strand of thoughts before you’ve even opened your mouth? How often do you actually listen for an answer?

The problem with this query is that all too often it is mistaken for “How are things with you?”  They’re not the same at all, really.  One implies curiosity about the circumstances and events in your general life, the other, the first, is a curiosity about you the person, about how you feel and are engaging with the world.

To answer the question honestly requires a moment of introspection, evaluation (of both yourself and the perceived relationship between you and the questioner—do you trust them with your emotions? With the truth?), and honesty.  It requires you to lower your shields if just for a moment to let someone in to see your world, for good or for ill.

So this homework assignment is a question, even a Meme, if you will.  I want you to stop, take a moment and answer.  Emotions are wily things, and often the more profound they are, the more difficult it is to express them without asking someone to crawl inside your head and heart to feel it themselves.  But that’s the beauty of words.  They provide you, when strung together, with the ability to describe emotion—whether in a jumble of words together, through metaphor, through analogy, or through poetry or a story.  Even images carry great weight to convey meaning and emotion.

Express it however you wish, and feel free to leave it in the comments here anonymously, or to me via email.  Feel free to leave your name, but I hope that the anonymity will provide for a cushion of honesty and sincerity without the fear of scrutiny.  Here’s your chance to capture whatever emotion/s—wonderful, horrible, or middling–you’re feeling right now and express them to someone who genuinely wants to know…

How are you?

That’s right, it’s the return of the Friday 5!  I’m knocking the dust off of my blogging habits, and this is as good a reason as any.  Don’t forget to play along on your own blog/site and let me know if you do.  As always, you can get each week’s set of questions over at Friday5.org.

1.  On May First, 1738, King Kamehameha I was born. What are your impressions of Hawaii?
This question is funny for a number of reasons—the primary one being that Jack and I have been arguing about moving to Hawaii.  He’s pro Hawaii and living on an island, I’m all for living on an island without massive volcanoes.  Call me crazy, but with my luck one of those “sleeping” volcanoes would decide to wake up right under us!  But I can’t argue the fact that it’s beautiful there, which, in itself, is a good reason to move there.  I just don’t like that it’s so far away and that everything is so much more expensive there.  I’m trying to convince him that the Virgin Islands are a better choice.  So they have hurricanes… minor detail.

2.  On May First, 1873, Dr. David Livingstone died. When did you last presume something erroneous about someone or something?
Hmm.  Well, I try to not presume, but we all do it.  That’s what stereotypes are—assumptions about individuals without having all the facts.  I’ve come to learn that more often than not, those assumptions are wrong.  I have also learned that instinct is not to be ignored or denied, and that if you (well, I) have an inkling about someone/something, it usually ends up being right.  This doesn’t work when people change their patterned behavior, though.  My parents are a perfect example of this.

3.  On May First, 1876, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro debuted. How do you feel about Disney’s animated classic Pinocchio?
I’m not really a fan.  Okay, not at all a fan.  Growing up I wanted princess stories, not stories about little wooden boys who wanted to be real.  Maybe I should give it another shot.

4.  May First is Walpurgis Night in Sweden and other parts of northern Europe. When did you last sing in front of an audience?
Uhm… I do believe that the last time you would have caught me singing in public in front of an audience was in graduate school at a local bar.  My entourage went out for a karaoke night, and only after a considerable amount of prodding and Malibu & Cokes did I get up and sing Reba McEntire’s “Fancy.”  I still have nightmares about it.

5.  Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are a punk rock cover band. What song’s cover version do you like better than its original version?
Well, pretty much anything that Michael Buble covers I love.  I love his covers of “Save the Last Dance for Me” and “Feelin’ Good.”

Oh, and Happy May!  Spring is finally here and though my allergies disagree, I can’t wait…