Book of the Week!

So I have this problem where I think everything is interesting. Like all the different cultures of the world are cool and I want to learn about them all. Therefore I have books of poetry from Australia, India, the Caribbean, and Polynesia scattered across my floor and am having a hard time processing them all. Sooo I am going to try to focus on a different region that interests me every couple of weeks and switch off every once in a while. Thus, this week's focus is PALESTINE.

I just finished reading a book of poetry called 19 Varieties of Gazelle by Naomi Shihab Nye, which was LOVELY. She's an Arab-American author and poet who ANNELISE HAS ACTUALLY MET WHICH IS SO GREAT. Her poems about the Middle Eastern Palestine conflict are just so great. And I have to say, I really don't understand why America is so pro-Zionist...because it doesn't make actual sense. Idk. So now I'm reading another book of her poetry called Honeybee, and here is a poem she wrote about George Bush, which makes me sad and pleases me.

Letters My Prez Is Not Sending

Dear Rafik, Sorry about that soccer game
you won't be attending since you now
have no...

Dear Fawziya, You know, I have a mom too
so I can imagine what you...

Dear Shadiya, Think about your father
versus democracy, I'll bet you'd pick...

No, no, Sami, that's not true
what you said at the rally,
that our country hates you,
we really support your move
toward freedom,
that's why you no longer have
a house or a family or a village...

Dear Hassan, If only you could see
the bigger picture...

Dear Mary, I'm surprised you have
what we would call a Christian name
since you yourself...

Dear Ribhia, Sorry about that heart attack,
I know it must have been rough to live
your entire life under occupation,
we're sending a few more bombs over now
to fortify your oppressors,
but someday we hope for peace in the region,
sorry you won't be there to see it...

Dear Suheir, Surely a voice is made to be raised,
don't you see we are speaking for your own interests...

Dear Sharif, Violence is wrong
unless we are using it,
why doesn't that make sense...

Dear Nadia, I did not know about
your special drawer, you know I like
to keep a few things too that have meaning to me...

Dear Ramzi, You really need to stop crying now
and go on about your business...

Dear Daddo, I know 5 kids
must feel like a lot to lose in one swoop
but we can't stop our efforts...

Dear Fatima, Of course I have feelings
for your own people, my college roommates
was from Lebanon...

Dear Mahmoud, I wish I had time
to answer your letter but you must understand
the mail has really been stacking up...

I realize I'm a little bit strange, but...

Did the last devotional annoy anyone else? I didn't actually watch it, as per the usual, but they always have a summary in the Daily Universe, and while I was sprinting (...walking briskly) to class this morning, the headline caught my eye:

SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS WORTH OF WOMEN

Feeling optimistic but preparing myself for disappointment, I read the opening sentence:

"Women have a sacred role in the purification and sanctification of men, said a member of the Quorum of the Seventy at Tuesday's devotional."

Elder Pace, who looks in his picture like a precious and adorable man, so no offense meant, says "women have...the destiny to complete men."

Hm. Now, I think that's all fine and dandy. I think we all have a role to play in helping complete the lives of others. But I think that goes for men as well as women--we complete each other. Putting the role squarely on women's shoulders makes for a kind of parasitic relationship.

Also, this quote made me laugh, but I think reading it out of context made it a little more oedipus/elektra-complex than it was meant to be: "If all men had the perspective of seeing women the way a father sees his daughters, 'respect for and treatment of a young woman during his dating years would improve significantly.'"

Okay, so don't be freaked out that I'm apostatizing (Mother...), but I kind of think this whole talk is being smothered in Victorian sentiment and is therefore pretty ridiculous. It sounds angel in the house/madwoman in the attic, if you know what I mean. I'm all for divine nature and completing each other, but really? Dang it, men, purify yourselves, because I'm not into accepting that it's my divine destiny to do it for you. And it's not your divine destiny to "purify" me. Either we help purify and sanctify each other, equally and as equal partners, or it's a bogus relationship with too much pressure being put on one party or the other.

Okay, my rage has been diluted somewhat. I should be carefuller (...it's not being underlined in squiggly red. Spellcheck!fail) about what I put on the internets, and I didn't actually see the devotional, so I can't really judge what Elder Pace was trying to do. And he seems like a nice old 70 dude who really was trying to emphasize that women are of worth, so that was nice of him to do, and kudos to him.

But I still disagree with him, in spite of his cuteness.

Also, 200-ish people were massacred in Nigeria the other day, which sucks. I'm sorry, Nigeria. I really am.

:(