pink rain boots/one love

we are one/but we're not the same/we've got to carry each other/carry each other

i wore my pink rain boots today. the ones you told me not to buy.

we were in the department store trying to find snow boots, and i found rain boots. and i live in a city of sunshine, and grew up in a state of bliss, and you live in a world of destruction and an empire of chaos, and so, understandably, you, as a protector and provider and controller, were trying to outfit my feet properly. you wanted me to have snow boots.

i found pink rain boots. they were ten dollars. and pink. and i wanted them. you told me not to buy them. i said that if i wore two pairs of socks i bet i'd be warm enough, and plus, at least i'd be able to wear them back home when it rained. your sister agreed that they were adorable. your brother-in-law to be could see how much i wanted them. i didn't even dare point out that it was my money.

i did end up buying horribly ugly grey puffy snow boots, too, which the brother-in-law-to-be (yours, not mine, now, never mine - although he is a good man, it has turned out, you are not the right man) waterproofed until my feet stayed very comfortable in the snow. but they were ugly.

my pink rain boots, on the other hand, are adorable. i got approximately 34 compliments on them today. "i don't get to wear them often around here, but i love when i get to!" is what i said each time someone commented on them. my mother made me promise to bring some to her next time i come to visit her in rehab.

i'm so glad i bought them. they're perfect. the pink is such a contrast to a rainy day. they give me courage to step in puddles. i'm not weary of having cold, wet ankles. and they brighten other people's day - even, as i discovered today, heroin and oxycodone addicts.

one love/we get to share it/leaves you baby if you/don't care for it

songs of the week

one by U2
ghost of a good thing by dashboard confessional
where the story ends by the fray
don't mean a thing by death cab for cutie
starting now by ingrid michaelson

set free

the end of an era! is there a sport that you truly dislike, and then one that you really love? it feels like that... like one season ended... i tend to prefer baseball over football, let's say, so it's like the super bowl's over and it's opening day?

(i can't think of a great analogy but that's sort of how i'm feeling. like i just finished up something treacherous and am entering into, sighhh... freedom.)

it's like, summer. in february.

respect

absolutely loved this thought from my cousin heather:

Let's encourage our children to appreciate differences. Model for them acceptance. Teach them to admire the beauty of their own & other's imperfect perfections. Be their example, and set the standard high, because qualities such as acceptance, empathy, appreciation & respect seem to be wasting away while judgment, ...disrespect, gossip, material adoration, neglect & selfishness are suffocating our planet.

this was a primary conflict in the relationship i just got out of. embedded in the humor of my former gentleman friend were less-than-dignifying references to women and people of other ethnic dissents. this bothered me to no end, because i recognize how many people have fought and died to end this type of injustice (including Christ Himself). the cycle of disrespect for fellow humans has lasted too many generations and it's our responsibility to have it stop here, with us.