"Thanks y'all" (NSBR BLOG!!!!)

Amy and Emily (the Indigo Girls) rocked the house last night in Mankato. Their shows are always an amazing time, and I've never left a show without a renewed spirit and call to action.

I've been a big IG (Indigo girls, not italian greyhound--although they are cute little buggers, I just like my full-size greyhound better...anyway, I digress) since the early 90's--I suppose around 91 or 92. With every song, every album, every lyric I read, I know it's more than their amazing melodies and acoustic strumming that I love, it's what they stand for.
If I wasn't living scenes from Office Space on a daily basis and scrapbooking, I think I'd go on the road with the Indigo Girls, (that of course in a fantasy world where I'm cool enough to hang out with them), be surrounded by their beautiful music and fight against social injustices with them......seriously, they rock, big time.
IG remind us that we're human, that we make mistakes--but they also remind us that we have to make up for a lot of mistakes that other people have made, and we can't just sit around if we want to the world to be a better place. Complacency is not an option. Remember, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.


SO WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR??????




THIS IS WHAT I STAND FOR..................................





I didn't tell you this to make friends, and I didn't tell you this to make enemies--I told you this because we shouldn't live our lives behind walls, afraid of what people might think if they know who we are and what we believe in...........I'm more afraid of what you might think of me if I didn't stand up for what and who I believe in.

I have a gay brother. 3 of my best friends in the world are gay. 2 of my greatest heroes and influences on my life are gay.............and I know that God loves them just as much as every other creature that he created....because he created them that way, to love and honor him. Everyone should have the same right to love another person, to marry another person, to raise children with another person, to share insurance with another person, to be protected under the law with another person.....no matter what their sex. Had gay marriage been the issue it is today when I got married, I would have seriously discussed not getting married with my husband---because I would not shop in a store that discriminated against people, why would I marry in a country that discriminates against people.........I support a total US marriage boycott until the laws are changed. I don't deserve any benefits that those I love cannot receive.

When I was 17 I got my first tattoo on my ankle--one I stand proudly with today, a large purple women's symbol....stand together, stand strong......there are a lot of young women today who take for granted that which our mothers and grandmothers struggled for, and what we must continue to fight for, not only for ourselves, but our daughters............and our sisters in other countries who haven't yet realized our dream.

Last year, over 12,000 greyhounds were killed simply because they weren't "good enough"----they were too slow, or fell on the track, or god forbid wanted to play. I belong to an amazing greyhound organization, and along with other organizations over 14,000 dogs were adopted and saved last year---but adoption isn't enough--we need to stop the over-breeding, stop the culling, stop the racing, stop the kennel abuse.

Child abuse is preventable. You can do something about it. Help a child, Help a family, Help the Future.

I want to know what you stand for, and why you stand for them--I want to know what you're doing about it--are you writing and speaking to your lawmakers, and at the very least voting for lawmakers? Are you involved in your community, your world around you? Are you standing for something, or falling for anything?