Marie Osmond's Son Commits Suicide

I'm putting this out quickly and therefore I'll be laying it right on the table. This post on my blog friend libhomo at Godless Liberal Homo site on Marie Osmond's son's suicide really hit home. I believe I have to agree with his opinion on this. Here's why.

You may or may not know that my daughter, now 22, happily married and working her way toward graduate school, is a lesbian who came out as "bi-sexual" at age 16. As if the rejection of several of her peers, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her then boyfriend who become irate and deranged when she told him she thought she might actually be a lesbian and not bi-sexual after all, and a parallel bi-polar episode, weren't enough to make her want to kill herself  -  add to that the what-if of if I were a strict Mormon and added the beliefs of my screwed up church to conservations with my daughter, even while I loved her. I would have lost her to suicide. I know that with every fiber of my body. I know myself and there is no way I would choose a church's doctrine over my child's life and well-being.

 My daughter and daughter-in-law, taken during their college graduation week-end in 2009

Be aware that the Mormon church continues to advocate the use of Electro-Shock Therapy for people who are coersed into "treatment" because of their "problem" which had to be caused by the individual him or herself.


I feel for anyone who loses a child and I encounter the affects of that hurt every time I interact with WP's sister who lost her 25 year-old daughter to suicide in 2005. I know the pain my family and I went through knowing our daughter didn't want to live anymore. What I can't understand is why a person can't wrap their heads around the situation and understand that they have to do everything they can to save their child. If one's child is physically ill and needs many changes in order to live, wouldn't you go to the ends of the earth to try to eliminate or add anything you could possibly think of to save them or even to make them comfortable? Then why not chuck the church and the toxic friends and open lines of communication in order to save your child?

If I were a gay teen living in a strict Mormon household, I'd kill myself too.

What Artist Would You Choose to Paint Your Portrait Part II

In this post, What Artist Would You Choose to Paint Your Portrait, I asked my readers and blog pals to give me the names of artists (living or dead) whom they would choose to paint their portrait.

Since then, I've received responses from more folks.  Flor Larios, an artist herself and proprietor of the Etsy shop Flor Larios Art, comes a request for a portrait by either her inspiration Frida Khalo or by Gaugin. You'll love Flor's beautiful Mexican inspired paintings, prints, boxes and other artworks. I've purchased a couple of prints as gifts and some beautiful note cards for Christmas.

While it's true that Frida mostly painted self-portraits, I'm particular fond of this portrait of her sister Cristina Khalo:

My Sister Cristina Khalo

1928

My Sister Cristina Khalo

Detail

And also for Flor, a favorite Gaugin of mine. With her long, dark hair, she would make a perfect subject in a Gaugin painting.

Three Tahitians
1899 

Steve of the blog Color Sweet Tooth, also a fine artist, said that if Friedensreich Hundertwasser painted portraits, he would be his choice. This is the closest I came to anything resembling a portrait. Thanks, Steve, as I'd never heard of him. Incredibly good stuff to sink my head into in the very near future.

Steve also thought of Klimt. I thought of Klimt too. What woman wouldn't think of Klimt to paint her portrait.  But finding any portrait of a man by Klimt proved to be difficult. Here is one I found:

Joseph Pembauer
Pembauer was a pianist and piano teacher of the times in Vienna. The frame is also A Klimt design. I believe this is a glicee print.

And because Klimt's portraits of women are so extraordinary, I leave it to your imagination how he may have painted a male portrait in the same vein in this one, without the woman. Just a thought.

Libhom chose Man Ray, who is also a huge favorite of mine. Here is a sample:

Cloudia of wasn't fussy about who should paint her portrait as long as she was painted as a nymph. What exactly is a nymph, you ask? There are many. Read up on them here. Depicted here, however, is a particular kind of nymph called a Haliai.

Haliai

Quite simply, sea nymphs. They show up under this name in a random play by Sophocles and in Callimachus' Hymn to Artemis (read it!), but doesn't seem to be as commonly used as the more general "nymph" or the more specific "Nereid" or "Oceanid". Haliai comes from the word for "sea" and also means "salt". Oh, for a moment of amusement,  glance to the right at the poll results. I'm really curious about who has had their portrait painted and by whom. Come on! Fess up!  ;-) I was the only one who voted that I would have to think about it.  I had such a hard time choosing just one portrait. There were so many, for the various stages of my life; finally settling on Mona Lisa. I can't give Mona up...   I hope you're having a good Saturday. Peace, love and all groovy things, Pagan Sphinx

Building Solidarity With A Blog Award

Who is Godless Liberal Homo?

He's a tireless, righteious blogger for peace and justice. One of his efforts was the Iraqi Blogswarm back in March, which was a very broad and hugely successful effort to mobilize bloggers who want withdrawal from the illegal war in Iraq.

He keeps a very focused blog with news and opinions about issues that left-of-center bloggers need to keep informed about. I know that I look to his blog for not only information but his take on it, as I trust his judgment and look to his leadership frequently. I don't know about you, but I need to feel that there are people out there whom I can look to for structure and organization. In essence, I look at Libhomo as a blog community organizer.

So when I received a comment from Libhomo that he'd given me a blog award, I wasn't surprised by his goal for doing so: he hopes that passing around this award will build solidarity between left-of-center bloggers. I've already received this award and passed it on to five bloggers. But now I have an opportunity to choose more for the sake of political and social solidarity. How cool is that?

Dianne of Forks Off The Moment
Word-wizzleler, liberal, open-minded, wonderful woman

Sherry at After The Bridge -
the sweetest Blue Collar Democrat on the web!

Homeyra at Forever Under Construction
A kind, creatively minded Iranian blogger

This photo connects to a fascinating post
Check it out!

Ben Heine

Click on the photo to connect to this stunning blog

Ben is a political cartoonist, artist and photographer blogging from Belgium

Betmo of Life's Journey
Beyond progressive into radical enough to tell the truth. Thoughtful and kind, too.

The Peace Tree

(Poetryman's blog with contributions from many tireless bloggers; in my case tired blogger ;-)

Here's the top post over at the Peace Tree
Trying to Have Hope
from the excellent blog The Intrepid Liberal Journal by Robert Ellman

Bobbie at Almost There
Family, nature, life, and paying attention to what's going on in the world
I love the photo below

Bobbie, her late husband Ralph and three of their four children. The fourth was to arrive later.

These blog recommendations represent people very different from each other in many ways but all of them having in common a desire for peace and justice for all.