JP, I would like my daughter to understand more about homeless people, and suffering in general, as she develops, so she will turn out to be kind and understanding. Thanks for suggesting the Paretsky book. Isn't she supposed to be a very good writer? Her name is familiar to me, even though I haven't read her books, so she must be fairly prominent.
There is a book by a ninety-two-year-old woman which came out last year, that I really want to read, about how you live to be ninety-two by taking risks and continuing to experience stuff, and grow. Do you, or does anyone else, have any familiarity with this book, or can you suggest a way for me to find out? I really wanted to read it, and then lost the review. I think sometimes that I over-protect myself, and am trying to change a little.
All the Sunday talk shows were full of religious right people who just made me sick with their erroneous assumptions about homosexuality as a lifestyle choice. I am not sure if they really cannot see the connection between this attitude and the prevalence of hate crimes against gays in this country--even in San Francisco--but it is really offensive to me. In particular, there was an ad shown from their new campaign of getting people to "convert" to heterosexuality, where a gay man with AIDS is the narrator, and it shows his mother as well. The ad doesn't go into the fact that almost all conversions not only do not work, but do real damage. There is an increased rate of suicides, and sometimes really violent psycho-therapeutic methods like electro-shock therapy are used in the attempted cure. Do most people know that the first two leaders of Exodus, the organization they have, were gay men who fell in love with other after their "conversions" and left to go live together? That really says a lot, I think. |
