I really don't care...

what ice cream Oprah prefers.

to hear of the decor or dog choices of the Obama family. I will still eat up the politics, not the paparazzi.

who dates Real or Chance

about BritNEY's exposé

I will however stay loyal to ESPN and read Richard Belzer's (fiction) "I Am Not a Cop" *thank you Jon Stewart

DRAT plans foiled :(

Well, I didn't make the lottery for the NYC Marathon this year. But I can still secure a spot to run if I commit to a fundraiser

I don't know if I can raise $3000, but if any of you all think you would want to donate to one of the charities on this page, let me know and I'll sign up to raise the dough!

RRRRRAAAAAAALLLLLLYYYYY-in the support y'all. Think we can do it? *I'm leaning towards Amercan Heart Association because of my mom and grampa.

I've never been moved like this before. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO VIEW!!!

BI-RACIAL HAIR

Gideon's Trumpet / Human Rights

If MLK day has you thinking about those who have been instrumental in preserving basic human rights AND you are looking for a 'classic' film to watch, try "Gideon's Trumpet" This one might just remind you to thank those that also stood up and made change, but had much quieter voices.

Henry Fonda's 1980 portrayal of Clarence Gideon became the voice loud enough to take his story from complex law journals to reach the mainstream.

In a nutshell, Gideon asked the Supreme Court to allow for rights under the 6th Amendment previously denied allowing full protection of rights every citizen was guaranteed and deserved.

Read about the film: HERE

Katrina: Gulfport, Mississippi 9 months later

The feeling is indescribable as I drive my rental car along the bumpy highway. She had given me a tour the day before, but I wasn't prepared. I really couldn't fathom what I was about to see. Only three rolls of film, so I put the camera down on the car seat next to me and rolled the window all the way down. The humid salty air painted my skin as it whipped into the truck. I caught myself holding my breath until I choked. She would interject into my desperate babbling from time to time to give me some "locals-only" insider knowledge as to what I was seeing. I was happy to hear her voice as it meant my own incessant chatter and bewilderment could rest for a moment. On the other hand, her words created a sad desperation of their own to mark my heart like few other experiences.

I felt like I was stuck in a quasi-world dangling between the decadent South, a war-zone, a third world country, and an old settler's baron land. Addresses marked on dying hundred-year-old oak trees with nervous spray paint. It was hard to tell where we were without the markings. I kept imagining the horror of those stranded or too weak to evacuate. The shrimp boats catapulted into the trees, tucked away in the marsh.

I'm back the second day on my own this time. Fully stocked with film and free to stop and soak in the surroundings as I catalog what I can see in 35 mm roll after roll. The beach is closed except for carefully combed sections of pristine white Gulf-Coast sand. The scene is scant so I casually stroll off to the restricted portions of the waters. Here is where I find a treasure trove of wreckage and a host of saturated items representing lifetimes of memories and accumulation of personal stories. Mattresses rotten and algae trimmed caught under the haggard, broken docks. A microwave oven clinging to the branches of an old oak tree lofting in the shallow beach waters. No one will ever know the extent of the items that have taken up residence in the warm, welcoming waters. A ladies handbag washed up on shore adorned with proud barnacles sits lonely in the sand.

Once elegant Southern palaces with their garage-conversion slave quarters sit gutted. Foundations remain as a newfound patio for the luxury of a FEMA trailer.

The nearby cemetery is disheveled as if having fallen prey to pipe bombs. I close my eyes and suck in a deep sigh as her words float in my mind "yes, there were caskets floating in the flood waters."

Photos: copyright 2006 Nichole Leigh

Political Philosophy: On the current immigration issues

Things that are effortless are the best things in life.

Last night, a wise Native American man plead to a group of people to welcome our brothers and sisters from Canada, Mexico, Panama, and the like as such, our brothers and sisters. he went on to explain that had it not been for events such as the yielding of California to the Union and Texas at the Alamo, the people we know as Navajo, Yuki, Mohave, Apache and many others would simply be Mexicans today. The borders are artificial borders and our people (the Natives) span two hemispheres.

His intention was not to make a political statement, yet his words were so strong in light of the current situation. I have been moved by the words lately of so many Native Americans being so pro-immigrant. Somehow it seems absurd to them that the descendants of immigrants (the white man) claim so much that this land cannot welcome it's native brothers and sisters from a mile or an inch past an artificial line.

If it is solely about being illegal or respecting the laws, I ask you to consider this: In the words of Red Wolf, "Everyone is ignoring that these people, because of their status try ferverently to obey the law and pay taxes. Their only crime is to not YET have legal residency. Aside from that they generally obey all of the laws for fear of being caught. I ask you then, to tell me that you, as a citizen, have never done something illegal? You'd be hard pressed to find me a person who has never cheated on his taxes. You are no different than the one without papers who pays his taxes."

One of the founding fathers of our modern political philosophy (aside from Hobbes and a sprinkle of others) was John Locke. Influencing our Constitution, Democratic structure, and essentially everything we know as law and politics in the United States, John Locke is rightfully one of the most respected political philosophers. Why then does our greed for land ignore one of the mainstays of his views on property? He said in his Two Treatises ~2.27, one must leave enough and as good for others (the sufficiency restriction) when staking claims on property. To embrace these ideals when it benefits us and ignore them when it comes time to benefit others is absurd and hypocritical. In a world where population overgrowth has made this simple concept unobtainable, how can we rectify this? Ought it not be to share the land with our own people?

A friend said to me last night that it is time that someone takes a stand against Nationalism in the same way that people such as MLK took a stand against Racism. I said to say that with passion and not act is the hinderance to change.

Understanding homelessness

Last weekend I went out with a friend who's been asking me to go out for some time now and I never wanted to go because I seem to always have something else going on. I'm so glad I finally went because we had such a nice time at this chic place in Belltown, The Queen City Grill. After a really chill evening of drinks, conversation and fabulous Ahi apps, I walked out with a glow I hadn't had in weeks.

But, just like a lot of things lately, my glow was quickly doused by a bucket of yuck. You see, I was doing a little people observing of a couple of girls at the next table over. One of them asked the other to cover the bill of $90 when it came because she "forgot her wallet" and only had a few singles on her. As we all happened to leave at the same time, we all walked past a homeless man selling the local homeless newspaper named "REAL CHANGE" (instead of panhandling, these guys get lisenced to buy the papers and sell them for $1 which I believe is a $.50 profit). I think it's a positive program and was pleased to see the girl who paid the bill ask her friend if she could have one of her singles. The second girl refused going off about how she is a single mom who works hard and doesn't get child support and it's a rack of BS that these freaks can't do it if she can and she won't support their laziness. As the other girl argued that this WAS this person's job and the pay was terrible, but being homeless makes you less than desireable when interviewing for jobs. The other one responded about how she can't afford to support them at this point in her life. But the woman can expect her friend to pick up a $90 FRIGGING TAB???

I've been sick about the way people view the homeless. I run everday at Green Lake and today I saw a woman on the bench with her bags turned to the side with tears in her eyes. He skin was leathered from the sun and she was holding an old picture. The lake was packed and no one even looked at her. I wanted to stop and talk to her. But what was I going to say? That I understand how she feels? That I can somehow brighten her day? Unlike the Greenlake stay-at-home moms with their $500 baby joggers and their half million dollar homes on East Greenlake Drive (don't ask me what they cost on the "good side" of the lake).

Who am I really but another single mom trying to make it in the world? I'm just like anyone else. I'm just one step away from being that lady on the bench crying over something she's lost.

I've cried a lot this past couple of weeks over losing a cat, losing money, and rejection. I want so much that I don't have, just like everyone else. But what I do have is compassion and empathy. I never can understand what brought every individual to the streets, but maybe tomorrow, I'll think of something to say. Maybe tomorrow, I'll stop and ask her about the picture she clutches. Maybe tomorrow.....