Chum Chat: Shannon, Gay Pride and Bono's 'One'

My friend Shannon is a real go-getter!  She always seems to be involved in some humanitarian project or another and I knew that I if I could just get her to sit still long enough she would give the most interesting interview in the history of ever!  The opportunity finally presented itself and I was able to talk to her about jamming onstage with Bono, helping out with the organization One, and getting involved in the Gay Rights Movement.

JOAQUIN:   Hey Shannon!  So I heard that U2 recently came to Utah and you were somehow involved in that…  Do you mind explaining a bit?

SHANNON:  My friend, Mike Monroe, works for the organization One—a humanitarian organization co-founded by Bono.  Basically, One is a political advocacy organization that educates, gathers petitions, and puts pressure on law and policy makers to support initiatives that help the developing world—or what many people consider to be the former "Third World.”

J:  Oh, I see.  So what does this have to do with the concert?

S:  For the concert, Bono wanted to focus on getting people to join One and sign a petition supporting childhood vaccinations in poorer countries like those in Africa and South America.  So my friend Mike, who was in charge of coordinating volunteers, called me up and asked me if I wanted to help out getting signatures at the concert. Of course I said yes!

J:  Of course you did!  You wouldn’t be Shannon if you said no!  Ha ha!  So tell me more about this petition…

S:  Sure.  Three and a half million children under the age of five die every year from Diarrhea and Pneumonia.  That is crazy!  I mean, do you ever hear about a kid in the US dying from Diarrhea?  Yet 3.5 million kids are dying from it each year!  That's more than the number of children that die from HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis COMBINED.  And these deadly diseases are completely preventable with vaccination.  That's just not right.

J:  That’s horrible.

S:  So One decided to do something about it.  They gathered over 150,000 signatures on a petition asking President Obama to pledge 450 million dollars for the distribution and development of these vaccines at an upcoming Foreign Aid Conference in London.  After receiving the petition and getting thousands of emails, letters, and calls, the White House contacted One's headquarters.  On June 13th, Obama pledged 450 million over the next 3 years!

J:  That's great! So I’m sure you are dying to plug this organization.  Where should someone go if they want to find out more about One?

S:  Just go to www.one.org.  There you can read more about what One does and how to join.  And the best part is, there are no dues or donations required!  One is 100% funded by people like Bono, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett. So we never have to ask for money.  We just ask for your voice.

J:  So even somebody poor like me can get involved?  That’s really awesome!  So what was your favorite part of the concert?

S:  My favorite part was DEFINITELY going onstage during the song "Walk On.” 

J:  What??  You got to go onstage!?

S:  Bono has dedicated that song to Aung Sang Suu Kyi, a political prisoner in Burma who's been under house arrest for about twenty years.  She also happens to be the legally elected president of the country and a personal hero of mine.  Anyway, she's recently been released and in order to honor her and remember all the thousands of political prisoners around the world who remain behind bars, U2 has volunteers walk onto the stage carrying Amnesty International lanterns and stand there throughout the song.  Because I had the third highest number of petition signatures from that afternoon, I got to be one of those volunteers!  It was so cool standing there in front of 60,000 people, onstage with U2, standing up for something I really believe in.  And afterword, the band played a recording that Aung Sang Suu Kyi made for U2 fans and the political activists that supported her.  I have a real soft spot for Burma and Ms. Aung Sang, and it felt like she was talking directly to me.  It was a really special experience overall.

J:  You just like being front and center don’t you?  Weren’t you in Salt Lake City’s Gay Pride Parade as well?

S:  Ha ha.  You know me.  Always the entertainer.  I DID get to march in the parade.  I even got to ride in a convertible.  It was great!

J:  How did you swing that?!

S:  Well, my roommate, Aaron, is really into politics and a couple of years ago he interned with Ralph Becker, who is the mayor of Salt Lake City.  Becker, who has done a ton for gay rights in Salt Lake, was receiving the Suazo Political Action Award and marching in the parade with a bunch of his staffers.  So Aaron invited me to come march with him and his boyfriend Rigo.  Luckily, when Mayor Becker asked for volunteers to ride in the convertible while he walked, Rigo grabbed Aaron's and my hands and said, "We will!" So there I was, front and center, AGAIN!  Ha ha.  It was a lot of fun.

J:  That’s awesome.  What was your favorite part about Pride Festival this year?

S:  You mean besides the bangin' transvestite walking around wearing nothing but body netting and big yellow "Censored" stickers over her nipples?

J:  Ha ha!  Yeah, besides her!

S:  Probably the atmosphere.  It was so cool to be surrounded by all these people dressed in these crazy getups, just being themselves and proud of it!  I even got to see a former BYU friend dressed in his drag persona "Wilma Blowem.”  Hee hee.  It was awesome.

J:  Do you think it’s important for straight people such as yourself to get involved in the Gay Rights Movement?

S:  Absolutely.  Gay Rights is about Human Rights.  It's about refusing to allow having second class citizens in our society.  We as a people are better than that.  If we aren't willing to stand up for our gay friends and family members, how can we create a better future for ourselves?  How can we be proud of our lives and our communities knowing there is so much injustice happening all around us?  Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor, said it best:  "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.  We must always take sides.  Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.  Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

J:  That’s a terrific quote, Shannon.  Thanks for sharing it.  So what other fun adventures do you have coming up??

S:  Well, I'm going to New York City next week to see The Book of Mormon on Broadway and I could NOT be more excited!  After that, I'll just be working on finishing my Peace Corps evaluations and HOPEFULLY getting an invitation to serve at the end of the summer.  Keep your fingers crossed!

J:  I will, Shannon!

Chihuahua Comics: Cards

Brian and I would like to wish Chris Kesler, Jack Garcia and Jim Richardson a very happy Father's Day!  You guys are awesome, but the Father's Day cards these days... not so much.

New 'John' Opening

So for those of you who care about the book I'm writing, I actually know where it's going now!  The random writing exercises that sparked ideas have finally become a full-blown storyline.  I know every major event in each of the three acts!  I know how it ends!

Unfortunately the very first part I had written about John had to go.  It just didn't fit in at all with the new direction my story is going.  So forget that ever happened!  This is how my novel starts now... enjoy!

Looking below he observed the trees like miniature scale models, their wire branches and painted foam leaves all green and orange and rust.  Summer was slowly releasing its hold on Mother Nature and passing her off to autumn.  Although he couldn’t feel it through the glass window of the aircraft, John imagined the crisp fresh air.  The delicious crunch of fallen leaves underfoot.  The intoxicating aroma of apples and compost and wood.  The landscape was rejoicing in one last beautiful burst of color before the dead of winter struck with its icy fist.

John pulled his gaze away from the slow-moving forest sprawled out beneath him.  He fiddled with the armrest and found the switch to recline his seat, smoothly lowering himself into a more comfortable position.  He laid his hands neatly on his lap and closed his big brown eyes.  John allowed himself to sleep.

He was exhausted after all.   The last few years had been spent on an important mission for the Church.  Not many young men were qualified to go into the Unknown.  Members of the congregation weren’t permitted out there.  The Unknown was exactly that—unknown—and people tended to fear what they didn’t understand.  It was located beyond the forest trees that gently nestled Society and all of its good, sociable people.  In the Unknown lived the Unspeakables who had rebelled against the Word.  At first John had feared them.  At first.  But after some time there, fear turned into understanding.

He remembered his first day there.  All of John’s life he had been taught that the Unknown was a dark, dreary wasteland.  The stuff of nightmares.  The setting for many a childhood ghost story told around the firelight.  But everything he had heard had been wrong.  He had been surprised to see it was a vibrant and booming metropolis.  He had never seen buildings so big, architecture so refined, with lines and curves so daring.  He had never seen such bright lights!  Such vivid colors!  It was like the Mecca of Society back home, only bigger, broader, and brasher.

“It’s not what you expected, is it?” said Bishop.  He had accompanied John out that day.  To get him started on his mission.  “Do you feel like we’ve lied to you?”

That’s exactly how John had felt, but he knew he couldn’t accuse Bishop and the Brethren of lying.  “It is different than I had imagined,” John said judiciously, not wanting to offend.

Bishop laughed.  “But do you feel like you’ve been lied to?”

John only stood there.  He had flown miles away from Society—ready to spend two or three years defending the Church and all he’s ever known—only to have his escort plant seeds of doubt into his mind.  He didn’t know what to say.

But Bishop continued on without him.  “Don’t look with your physical eyes, Brother John.”

John wasn’t sure what Bishop meant by this.  He squinted his eyes a little.  He tilted his head.  He thought of those optical illusion posters where if you stared long enough out of focus you were supposed to see an entirely different image emerge from the paper.  His schoolmates always giggled excitedly when they saw it.  “It’s a rocket!” they would say.  John never saw a rocket.

“Sure, on the surface it’s a spectacle to behold, isn’t it?  Glitzy and glamorous in a worldly way.  But look deeper.  Look with a spiritual eye, Brother John.  Look!  Don’t you see it?”

Bishop was excited now, grabbing John by the shoulder as he towered beside him.  “Look at it all!  See the sin!  See the filth, the moral decay, the bankruptcy!  The murderers that reside in here.  The pedophiles, the narcissists, the nymphomaniacs.  The prideful, greedy, envious, wrathful, lustful, gluttonous, slothful sinners that slide on their bellies and crawl through the mud.  Don’t you see, Brother John?  Don’t you see?  It’s the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah right before your very eyes!”

John gawked at the city.  He knew he should see it the way Bishop did, but he wasn’t sure if he did yet.  Perhaps he wasn’t as faithful as he should be.  He tried so hard to be.  He worked so hard to keep his demons at bay.

“We’ve told you it’s a dead and barren place because it is!  Look past the illusion of grandeur!  Don’t be fooled by the magician’s tricks!  What can grow here, Brother John?  What?  Can faith grow?  Can love grow?  Can obedience, and honor, and discipline grow?  No!  Nothing can!  There is no dirt—no soil!  All cement and stone and brick and plaster and above it all vulgar neon lights!  But not sun, Brother John!  This light doesn’t nurture!  This light doesn’t give!  It takes, Brother John.  These Unspeakable Sodomites think they have it all, but they have nothing!  They have nothing!”

Bishop stopped suddenly and began to sob.  “Nothing,” he repeated quietly, “Nothing.”

John watched as the flushed red of his religious leader’s cheeks slowly faded to the original pasty white.  He listened as the loud, quick breathing calmed down.  He waited until the tears had dried.  It was silent except for the roar of the city.  After what seemed an eternity, Bishop spoke again.

“It’s up to you to do the impossible.  You must make good things grow.”

Bishop hadn’t stayed long that day.  He showed John his living quarters, gave him a map of the city, and left him with a special blessing of strength and valor…

John opened his eyes and put his seat upright again.  He could feel the aircraft descending and he knew he must almost be home.  Looking out the window once more, he saw rows and rows of houses and steeples and cul-de-sacs and roundabouts.  He saw neat little gardens and willow trees and hedges.  He saw women with babies and men with dogs and children playing hopscotch.

Here was his glorious Society—his wholesome home.  He smiled at the sight of it and caught his reflection in the window.  His smile looked strange.  He knew the Unknown now.  The Unknown knew him.  He was homesick for it.

 What do you think?

Ask Joaquin: If You Became a Millionaire Overnight, What Would You Buy?

From Loren:  If you became a millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

That's a great question, Loren!  Here's the breakdown:

• A new computer!! Mine isn't very reliable.  Sometimes I'll be using it and it will just shut off.  It's very frustrating.  Also, my computer isn't very powerful.  I would want a really powerful, reliable computer that I could do a lot with.
• Once I had the new computer, I would want to buy animation software!  Even Photoshop or Illustrator would be nice.  I just really need some technology!
• Brian and I have been wanting a Wii for a long time now (Brian's old one broke).  We'd get a Wii Fit so we can get healthy.  And also the new Super Mario game... and Lost in Shadow.
• We haven't bought new clothes in far too long.  There isn't a thing in my closet that I like.  I don't even have a good-fitting pair of jeans.  So I think I would hit up the mall and go on a shopping spree!
• And if I'm a millionaire in need of clothes, I might just fly to Paris or Milan!  Brian and I could sure use a vacation!  We could see the sights, eat delicious food and probably never come back!
• Oh, I also need a car.  Not having one sucks.  So I'd get me a new car, and pay off Brian's.
• Since I'm paying things off, I'd pay off our remaining credit card debt, student loans, and the money we owe our families.
• Brian and I could both enroll in school full-time and pay it all upfront.  A stress-free, debt-free education.  Wouldn't that be nice?
• We would also buy a big house with plenty of room for all our adopted children!  Not here in Utah, though.  If we were millionaires we would definitely move to New York.

What would you buy?

Have a question?  Ask Joaquin!

Movie Reviews: '8' Plus 3

Super 8 movie poster, image property of Paramount and Amblin.

Super 8 AWESOME!

Before seeing J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 this afternoon I had heard it called “the E.T. of our generation” or “a cross between Goonies and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”  After seeing it, I couldn’t agree more.  And that’s a good thing.

The trailers do a really good job of keeping a lot of the events a mystery, so I won’t give too much of the plot away.  It’s a small town in 1979.  Our hero is a young middle schooler named Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) whose mother has recently died in an unexplained accident at the factory where she worked.  Joe and his father Deputy Jack Lamb (Kyle Chandler) seem unable to communicate with one another and neither one has fully gotten over the loss of their wife and mother.  Jack focuses mostly on his job.  Joe makes monster movies with his friends.

One night Joe and his friends sneak out with Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) to go shoot a scene for the zombie movie they are working on.  They witness a horrible train accident when a white pickup drives directly into the path of a military train.  From then on, things just get weirder and weirder and the kids realize that they are part of something much more real than their amateur horror flick.  The government gets involved, people and pets are disappearing, and nobody seems to have any answers.  Amidst all of the crisis friendships are tested, families are strengthened and pasts are forgiven.

What I loved most about this movie was its keen focus on its characters.  Oftentimes in these big-budget sci-fi thrillers we are only treated to big explosions and action—visual eye candy and nothing more.  Here the special effects are handled with restraint.  The creature is only shown when necessary, maintaining a lot of the mystery and reminding us that the film is less about the monster and more about its victims.  It’s about Joe and Alice’s blooming relationship—full of raw emotion and vulnerability.  It’s about Jack’s inability to let go.  It’s about old enemies coming together.  It’s about kids having an adventure.  It’s about an alien wanting to go home.

It really is the E.T. of this generation.

17 Miracles AVERAGE

Jasen Wade stars as Levi Savage, a Mormon man who joins the Willie Handcart Company and journeys through the harsh, cold winter to the Salt Lake Valley.  The film by LDS director T.C. Christensen chronicles the trials of the early Mormon pioneers and some of the miraculous events that the real Levi Savage recorded in his journals.  The movie isn’t necessarily very plot-driven—most of the events and characters are unrelated to each other—but it paints a fairly vivid portrait of the pioneers’ struggles and faith.  Although some of the miracles were cheesy, overall I was impressed with the quality of this obscure, low-budget movie.

The Hangover Part II AWFUL

Ed Helms plays Stu, a man getting married in Thailand who brings his friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha) and Allan (Zach Galifianakis) along with him as his groomsmen.  A sequel to 2009’s hilarious drunken misadventure The Hangover, this movie also has the boys waking up without a clue as to what they did the night before, desperately trying to piece things together before the wedding ceremony.  What makes this movie different than the first is that it’s not funny.  It follows the exact same story of the first film—almost scene for scene—making all of its gags unoriginal and uninspired.  You can’t laugh at a joke when the punch line has already been given away…

Soul Surfer AVERAGE

AnnaSophia Robb plays Bethany Hamilton, a teenage surfer who eats, sleeps and breathes the sport.  When she loses an arm in a horrific shark attack, she fears that she might never be able to surf again.  But with her supportive parents (Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt) and church leader (Carrie Underwood) coupled with sheer determination she’s able to get back into the water and surf again.  This movie was a little heavy-handed with the inspiring messages and Christian themes, but all in all it was much better than I expected.  Although Underwood should stick to singing and leave the acting to the actors, the performances from Robb, Quaid and Hunt were very well done.

Love movies?  Check out my Movie Page!

The 2011 Tony Awards

So a gay friend of mine said to me "Gosh, you are soooo gay!" when I mentioned that I was going to watch the Tony Awards tonight.  My response to him was, "Um... duh."

But as tonight's opening number proudly proclaimed, the Tonys aren't just for gays anymore!  Neil Patrick Harris hosted the ceremony and he did a phenomenal job!  The entire night was full of show-stopping musical numbers, hilarious comedic bits, and plenty of memorable acceptance speeches.  After the abysmally dull Oscars earlier this year, I was very grateful for some entertainment!

Here are some of my favorite moments:

• Neil Patrick Harris' opening number was phenomenal.  But even better was his number with Hugh Jackman about midway through, where the two spoofed "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" along with several other Broadway tunes arguing over who was the better awards show host.
• Nikki M. James' acceptance speech brought me to tears.  Her sheer happiness and gratitude were so overwhelming!  And the part about the bumblebees??  Priceless.
• I was so proud of my boy Daniel Radcliffe!!  He performed so well in the number "Brotherhood of Man" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying!
• The numbers that The Scottsboro Boys and Sister Act performed were both very good and featured some fantastic vocalists like Joshua Henry and Patina Miller.  Unfortunately neither show was a big winner.
• John Leguizamo's standup bit from his show Ghetto Klown was highly amusing!
• "I Believe" performed by Andrew Rannells from The Book of Mormon was very very good.  I was quite happy that the show walked away with nine awards (out of 14 nominations) including Best Musical.  Congrats to Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez!
• Neil Patrick Harris riding in on the giant puppet horse from the play War Horse.  That thing was so cool!
• Whoopi Goldberg's hat.  What was that thing?
• The acceptance speech by Frances McDormand was so crazy and random!  Ha ha!  She didn't even dress up!  And Mark Rylance's speech was even stranger than hers... he just went on and on about how to walk through walls.  It was so odd but so funny!
• Neil Patrick Harris closed the night with a rap that mentioned so many specific details from the night that it had to have been written moments before he hit the stage.  Impressive!

Mary

Hey everyone!  So I made a few changes to the "John" story I had written the other day.  I decided that I didn't want him to be an LDS person living in the real world that we inhabit.  I didn't want BYU in it or Provo in it or any of that.  In fact, the whole paragraph where he mentions ward prayer and Elder's Quorum and temple trips is completely gone.  It was all too Mormon-specific.  Instead, I'm imagining it as if it's a very religious and chaste society where everyone wicked is known as the Unspeakables.  The Unspeakables are shunned and sent out into the Unknown.  Everyone else is a member of the Church (an unspecific religious entity) and I am now using the word congregation instead of the word ward.  The Church is led by Bishop, who is referred to as such, and his directions come from the Prophet.

I changed everyone's names except for John's.  I wanted to keep the names biblical, because I couldn't imagine a society like this having any other names!  So the girl Sharon is now Deborah, Bishop Walters is just Bishop and Brandon is now Ezekiel.  Although Jared was already biblical I changed it to Jonah just because I like it more!

Anyway, other than that it essentially reads the same as when I first posted it on this blog.  I've decided that the part you have read is going to be the Forward.  The rest of the book will be events leading up to that moment when he decides to call Bishop.  Got it?  Okay.  Oh, and I've also decided that the narration will follow characters beside John.  The part I'm going to share with you right now is the first part of Chapter One and it is from the perspective of a character named Mary.  Let me know what you think!!

Mary was sitting very stiffly on the couch as the movie washed over her with its colors and sounds.  The images flashed before her eyes but she wasn’t really seeing any of it.  She wouldn’t let herself.  This wasn’t her kind of film.  She couldn’t even fathom how John could like it, yet here they were, watching it on his insistence.

He was sitting only a foot or so away on the neighboring seat cushion yet it felt like yards or miles or worlds apart from her.  The distance between them was vast.  She couldn’t understand it.  Everything was so perfect in the beginning.  John had returned to the congregation in a blaze of glory so to speak.  He was their valiant hero.  He had ventured out into the great Unknown, preaching the Word to the Unspeakables who refused to take heed.  He was a shining example of everything that was good.

So why are we watching this filth?  This isn’t uplifting, she thought to herself, this isn’t lovely or virtuous or of good report.  This isn’t John.

Mary remembered how John had looked that first Sunday back.  He somehow seemed taller.  More grandiose.  Positively handsome in his dark suit, crisp white shirt and contrasting lilac tie.  She always noticed his ties.  They were so fetching, providing a pop of color in what was otherwise a drab ensemble.  Checked ties, striped ties, even polka-dotted ties in every color of the rainbow.  Yet never trashy.  Always in the best of taste.  None of the other men in the congregation had such ties.

“Mary!  My, how’ve you grown!” he had said, stretching forth his hand to shake hers.  His hands were admittedly small, yet there was a power in their fragility.  Something warm and comforting.  Electric.  He had always been attractive to her.  He had been friends with her older brother growing up.  John and Michael were almost inseparable.  Playing Frisbee, racing their bicycles, camping in the backyard.  Mary had begged and pleaded her mother to let her sleep out in the tent with the boys.  Her mother gently reprimanded her—and Mary knew that she was right to do so—but she would still stand near the back screen door and stare longingly at the two boys’ shadows whispering together with their faces near the flashlight.  The sound of their voices like music notes floating over the summer air…

He addressed the congregation over the pulpit that day.  His voice wasn’t particularly masculine in its tonal quality, but it wasn’t feminine either.  It was like velvet—soft and soothing.  It rose and fell lyrically as he emphasized certain points.  Seeing him speak was like seeing a play.  The words were so eloquent and so moving.  He would build you up to the point that you thought you were about to burst with the sheer sensation of it all before letting you down gently again with a string of calming rhetoric.  Mary didn’t remember much of what he actually said, but she remembered how he looked up there.  Radiant.  Beaming.  Like God himself. 

She remembered how she felt.  Her body tingling all over.  Quivering almost.  Her short breaths so audible in the silence of that great room.

Of course, she wasn’t the only one affected by John’s speech.  Deborah made it quite obvious that she liked him, tugging at his arm and giggling at his every word.  Mary had fought Deborah for John.  Not literally like how men fought in wars but the way women fought.  Mary had won.  But who had she won?  Who was John?  Here and there she would catch glimpses of her prize that she didn’t like.  He had ideas that were different than hers.  Dangerous ideas at times.  At first she thought she was overreacting.  Or perhaps misreading him.  But that was the trouble.  She never misread anyone because everyone was so easy to read.  Everyone else watched the same programs that she did, read the same books that she did, and always felt the same way as she did on every issue under the sun.

Abortion? Ungodly.  Homosexuality?  Sinful.  War?  Noble if the cause was just.  But John… oh, how could she put it?  John.  John John John John John.  John seemed to consider both sides.  It was true!  She couldn’t deny it.  He seemed so open-minded about things.  An open mind was an empty one in her opinion.  A mind needed to be shut up to keep all the good inside.  John seemed to be entertaining ideas that weren’t honorable.

“But how can you say we shouldn’t go to war?” Mary had asked him a few weeks ago.  She knew she had put him on the spot, and he seemed suddenly uncomfortable.  Perhaps he regretted saying anything at all.

“I just—“ he faltered.  “I just don’t see how it’s constitutional.”


“Constitutional?”  She was so utterly confused at this response.  She had never read the Constitution, of course, but she knew it to be a godly document.  How could the war on the Unspeakables be unconstitutional?  The Unspeakables went against everything that was moral.  Everything that was decent in the world.  All the Church leaders had said so.  It came direct from the Prophet.

John continued, “Mary, I don’t mean go against the Word or anything.  I don’t agree with the Unspeakables either.  I just don’t feel that we should impose our ideas on them so violently.”  He took her hand and she let him.  He smiled at her and said, in a lighthearted way that was clearly meant to diffuse any tension and drop the matter, “I just wish there was another way.  A more peaceful way.”

She felt momentarily reassured.  “You’re always so compassionate.  Even towards the Unspeakables who are so undeserving of your compassion.”

And although that statement was received with a gentle squeeze of her hand and another one of John’s dazzling smiles, she couldn’t help but notice his countenance had changed.  He seemed a little out of it the rest of the night.  Like his mind was deep in thought.  Elsewhere.  Away from her.

That’s how she felt tonight on that couch.  John had been so excited to show Mary the movie.  He talked of how beautiful it was.  It had such artistic merit he had said.  It was powerfully driven and revolutionary he had said.  It was essentially a love story, although the young man and young woman of the film had questionable moral standards.  There was a nude love scene that caused Mary to look away.  The image caused her to feel something.  Something not quite right.  Something she knew she shouldn’t be feeling.  She was a little girl again, watching the boys sleep at night in their tent.

Other things were happening in the film that she didn’t quite like.  Ideas like feminism, intellectualism… was that a hint of socialism?  She felt bombarded by isms.  Even lesbianism.  The film was grotesque.  Thoughts she had never thought before were creeping into her mind, and she was fighting to keep them out.  Memories from her past were surging up.  Memories she had tried to bury.  To forget.  That damned night under the stars, the soft breeze that whipped around her sundress and blew raspberries along her thighs.  Oh, Michael, she thought.  Michael.  Why did you abandon the teachings of our father and mother?  Why did you run off into the Unknown?  Where are you now, dear Michael? Michael, you fallen angel…

Tears fell from her face.  She didn’t usually cry.  The realness of it frightened her.