Activist Me
Yep, I’m putting my money – and self – where my mouth has always been.
1. I started a school Amnesty group. It’s got maybe 10 very passionate kids coming along already (“can we go on a rally, miss?”). Today we held a lunchtime stall to raise awareness of violence against women, as part of AI’s 16 Days of Activism. We had badges, and they went very quickly. Got lots of kids to sign the petition… perhaps because we bribed them with badges, but I think saturation advertising has to have some good things going for it.
2. I went on strike, and went to the rally at the MCG last week, to protest against the new IR laws. It was a pretty cool atmosphere, and I really hope it makes a difference. It certainly felt amazing to be part of tens of thousands of people walking into the city together. Seriously people can make a difference. I hope.
Songs that make me cry
1. Brighteyes, by Simon and Garfunckle, from the movie Watership Down, which I saw as a kid and refuse to see again.
2. To her door, by Paul Kelly; it’s just so heart-breaking, and so real.
3. Forever Autumn, by Justin Hayward (singer for the Moody Blues), from Jeff Wayne’s musical version of War of the Worlds, which was one of the first CDs I ever bought. Again, this is a heartbreaking song… and just beautiful.
Supercentenarians
That may be spelt incorrectly. It’s people who’ve lived to be older than 110 years old. This website has really remarkable photos of some of them, and a few other people who are only just over 100 years old. There’s one man whose father stood next to Abraham Lincoln for the Gettysburg Address… I’m not even American and I think that’s cool.
**Edit: I got a great deal of traffic to this one little post when I had it spelt ‘supercentarians’. I decided I couldn’t stand the spelling error but wanted to see if I kept the traffic!!
Randomly Yours, Alex 