Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    
    .....I get to meet a sister sapphite from Alameida, CA.  We've been
    communicating for a month, and I pick her up at the airport in
    exactly 3 hrs and 15 minutes....
    
    

    ...that I shall remain at peace inspite of the turmoil around me.
    
    ...that I shall let others say what they want without feeling a
    need to respond in kind.
    
    ...that I shall return kindness for insult, for I cannot be irritated
    unless I allow it to happen.  Therefore, this day, I choose happiness.
    
    Barb

    ...that I'm going to actually say, "What the @$*&!!"
    
    You know, I think I'll take a half vacation day and go to the
    petting zoo with my son.  After all, this is America, I can do
    anything I want, and it's a beautiful day here in Santa Clara.
    
    Kel
      

    
    Lifted from an Ann Landers column I've had pinned up on my cube
    wall for a few months.  I like it.
    
    On This Day
    
    Mend a quarrel
    Search out a forgotten friend
    Dismiss a suspicion & replace it with trust
    Write a letter to someone who misses you
    Encourage a youth who has lost faith
    Keep a promise
    Forget an old grudge
    Examine your demands on others and vow to reduce them
    Fight for a principal
    Express yor gratititude
    Overcome an old fear
    Take two minutes to appreciate the beauty of nature
    Tell someone you love them
    Tell them again
    ..and again
    ..and again
    

     Actually it was 1 year ago today ...
     that the man who r---- me was officially released on parole from prison.

     I wonder if He has raped again.
     I wonder if I will ever stop having nightmares.
     I wonder if the other 2 women He attacked before me also have nightmares.
     I wonder why they didn't press charges.
     I wonder if they were the smart ones; maybe they knew better.
     I wonder if He is still married.
     I wonder what His wife thinks.
     I wonder how many other rapists the parole-grant board has let out since.
     I wonder if He will ever find me and seek revenge.
     I wonder what would happen if rape victims refused to participate in the
              revolving-door criminal injustice system where the cliche about
              the trial being the second rape is the truth.
     I wonder if the terms of His parole have changed now that it's been a year.
     I wonder if He doesn't have to report in so often (more time to travel).
     I wonder if lawyers are still using sexist notions to acquit their clients
              with such a success rate that even blatantly guilty rapists opt to
              go through a trial instead of plea bargain.
     I wonder if a drug I've heard of that suppresses dreaming would work.
     I wonder if I should feel guilty about needing (using) someone to sleep
              with to avoid having nightmares.
     I wonder if I can tell the difference between love and emotional
              dependance.
     I wonder why the mere passage of time doesn't seem to be able to heal my
              wounds.

                                                  nancy b.

     ------------------------------------------------------------
     "Damn my soul  that remembers  and clutches to  this pain."
               -- Melissa Etheridge
                  from the CD of the same name, song #6
     ------------------------------------------------------------

    
    50 years ago today the town of Coventry, England, was flattened through
    intensive bombing by the Germans during WW 2.
    
    Coventry and it's people are special, because they have used this event
    to build a concept of unity and forgiveness - the city is now seen
    as a world centre for reconciliation. It has become twinned with Dresden,
    a German town that suffered the same scale devastation at the hands
    of the British, and preaches forgiveness for *all* involved and
    reconciliation between all warring factions.
    
    A key symbol of this is Coventry Cathedral.
    The original cathedral was reduced to a ruin during the attack. 
    A new cathedral was build during, I think, the 60's - it has a glass
    wall at one end so that the ruins of the old building can still be
    seen, providing a visual link between the past and the present.
    A cross was placed in the cathedral ruins made of the twisted iron
    from the ruined cathedral - on the back is written "Father, forgive". 
    Not "Forgive them", or "Forgive us", but simply "Forgive"....
    The new cathedral is, IMO, exceptionally beautiful.
                                                     
    The city is holding many commemorative events today - this evening
    they will be lowering the streetlights and sounding the bomb warnings,
    as happened on that night. Dame Vera Lynne will be switching on the
    city's Xmas lights after that, and then there will be many parties,
    parades and prayers. The Queen Mother will be there, as she was on the
    night of the bombing (an immensely brave gesture), and various German
    dignitaries will be attending a service along with many visitors from
    Germany. 
    
    The whole Coventry community will be commemorating the event - not only 
    with the respect and remembrance due for those who died and whose lives 
    were shattered, but also with joy and celebration and thanks for the 
    opportunity to learn, forgive, and share their attitude with the world.
    
    'gail
    

    
    benjamin britten's 'war requiem' was premiered at the rededication
    of the conventry catherdral (1960, i think). it is perhaps the most
    moving piece written since 1945, using elements of both the traditional
    requiem mass and poetry by wilfred owen, a young poet killed in the
    first world war. at the first performance the soloists were from
    the former combatant countries england, germany and russia.
    

    Today is the day.....
    
    that I am no londer a deccie..... as of 11 today....
    
    Bye....

    Best luck, Al.  (but you're continuing as a contractor, right?)
    
    						=m

    Um, no.. I am not.  I am heading to Fla. to work for an agency in
    Orlando.

    E Grace, no note from you here today?
    
    :-)
    
    Bonnie

    Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot!  Some guy from Colorado is coming to New
    England tonight, and out of the kindness of my heart, I volunteered to
    pick him up
    
    at the airport.
    
    (*8
    
    E Grace

    Darn!  Here I was in Boston yesterday afternoon, just minutes away from
    Logan; I coulda crashed E Grace's and Mike's party if I'd just known
    YESTERDAY that there was something special going on.
    
    Oh, well, guess I'll just have to try to make it to Friday night's
    gathering to make up for missing the fun at the airport.  8-(
    
    Karen

    Actually Karen,
    
    she may be reading notes, I got mail from her today.
    
    :-)
    
    Bonnie
    

    I'm reading notes.
    
    I seem to be blushing a lot also, but I am reading notes!
    
    E Grace

    How could  you  have picked him up at the airport? I thought you'd
    already picked him up on the VDT. :-)