Whew, the final performances are finished and the musical is finally over. It's been alot of fun, but a hell of alot of work too. It was some really good experience, and I'll probably do it again if I get the chance.

There's been alot of talk about the upcoming "Day of Silence" lately. Let's not be confused, I DO support the cause, wholeheartedly. But I've never been one to tape my mouth shut, literally OR figuratively. If you cover your mouth with tape and hand out little cards, people will read the cards, be interested for a few nanoseconds and then get back to their lives, quietly forgetting the message you're trying so hard to convey to them. If you want people to listen, you've got to take it to the streets and get excited about it. That way, your message is much better heard, understood and, most importantly, remembered. Absolutely, it is time that we let go of some of our deep-seated beliefs and "understandings" about people we don't understand. We've fallen on hard times lately, and maybe it'll be enough to make us realize that we've got much, much more to worry about then who's marrying who and who's afraid to be themselves out of fear of being rejected or brutalized. It's a sad world when we'll send our sons and daughters to die overseas, but won't let someone marry their true love because of the status of their gender. All you super-patriotic types don't get all angry at me. I love this country, and I'm thankful every day for the freedoms that I have. But we're not without our problems, and it's high time that we swallowed our pride and took several leaves out of the books of other countries that don't have these problems.

The other day, I was unfortunate enough to be watching TV at the same time that a commercial came on for "Hannah Montana, The Movie". I've seen alot of bad things on TV. I've seen some downright awful things on TV. But very rarely have I seen something that made me sadder for the youngest generation than this commercial. I'm hoping that something will happen to delay the production of this movie indefinately.

I'm afraid that photo opportunites have been rather dismal lately. It's not quite Spring, but Winter isn't totally over yet, so it's really not prime photography real estate yet. In a few weeks the Japanese Garden should be in full bloom, and I plan to take a trip there. Hopefully I will return with a reservior of decent pictures to be uploaded slowly over the course of a few days or weeks. With any luck, the sun will decide to be out when I decide to go, but living in Washington, I'm not holding my breath.

I'm done, you can all get back to your lives now.

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The Preceeding was a public service announcement from the desk of Shinobi Butterfly, Lordess of the Intergalactic Order of Kitten Cuddling and Twinkie Conflagration.
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