Alyssa Alhadeff
Scott Beigel
Martin Duque Anguiano
Nicholas Dworet
Aaron Feis
Jaime Guttenberg
Chris Hixon
Luke Hoyer
Cara Loughran
Gina Montalto
Joaquin Oliver
Alaina Petty
Meadow Pollack
Helena Ramsay
Alex Schachter
Carmen Schentrup
Peter Wang
I'm sure by now, you know who all of those names belong to. For once, the media got the names to the majority of their outlets, unfortunately, I've been hearing the name of the vile that took all those lives, and hurt so many more. There is a lot of blame to go around, but one place I haven't heard blamed is the media itself. By them continuing the practice of naming the viles that commit these horrific acts, they create more monsters. If you need evidence of this, just look to another incident that nearly happened last week, the day after the Valentines Day Slaughter. In Washington State, a grandmother turned in her grandson for things that were written in his diary. He mentioned that he had learned from all the other shooters in the past. He learned what they did, who there were, and what their mistakes were. Thankfully no one had ever kept a journal before. That was his downfall, Turns out, he didn't learn enough. Stop naming these people once they are in custody. That is what they want. This vile in Parkland even said that he wanted to be infamous. He got his wish granted when every media outlet named him, over and over again. Stop telling their stories. They don't need to be heard. You know who's stories need to be heard? Those 17 above. Find their stories. Learn about them and who they were. Three of them received posthumous medals from the Army. Alaina Petty, Peter Wang, and Martin Duque who were all in the Jr.ROTC program, were awarded the Medal of Heroism.
Despite the horrors of last week, some pretty amazing things have begun to come out of this. Despite the Legislature of Florida failing to bring an assault weapons ban to the floor today, students stood at the hearing to have their voices heard. Legislators had to look then in the eyes as they voted no. A great many of these students will be of voting age come this November, and they want their voices heard. I want to point out one in particular. I saw her speak at a vigil over the weekend. She was brave, smart, and rather eloquent. She spoke so that her voice could be heard. She was in that school with bullets flying by her. She hid in a classroom with other students and teachers hoping that a bullet wouldn't find them. She spoke for those that were silenced, and she spoke for those who so often are afraid to speak. Her name is Emma Gonzalez. She is standing up and letting her voice be heard, when so many adults won't. I got news for all the politicians out there, the kids are coming, and if you aren't trying to change things, you are in the way and will get voted out. This is Emma's twitter account Emma4Change if you want to check it and her out. Let's make some real change for the better come out of this. If you aren't registered to vote, please register, and if a politician in your area doesn't stand up for the same things that you do, let them know by contacting them, and tell them that if they don't change, your vote will not be going to them when they are up for reelection.
These students have also put together the March For Our Lives, which will be on March 24th. It is in D.C. but there will marches in coordination with the main one all over the country. If you go to the website MarchForOurLives you can find out information and sign up to march. It is going to be held on a Saturday so look for a march that is local to you, and get out there and let you own voice be heard.
This is where I would normally put Favorite Song of the Week, but since this post is rather heavy, I thought a change might be in order for tonight, and instead of FSOTW, I'm going to do Favorite Thing of the Week. I came across this video this weekend, and it just made me smile. I think it will do the same thing for anyone, so I'm going to share it here for you to enjoy. If you want the heaviness of this post raised just a little, I suggest that you watch this video all the way through. It's worth it, trust me. This is from a guy who calls himself Ghetto Spider. If the name doesn't give it away, he wears a spiderman costume and dances. It is one of the most enjoyable things I've seen lately, and even though I shared it with some close friends immediately, I wanted to share it with you as well, so here is the video, I hope you enjoy it.
Come on, how fun was that. If that didn't put a smile on your face, then nothing will. I for one followed this guy on YouTube, so you may see more videos from him in the future here. If something pops up that I think is worthy of a Favorite Thing of the Week, then I will do that instead of FSOTW. Don't worry FSOTW isn't going away, I just might switch it up form time to time.
One last thing. I still haven't ordered that gimbal yet, but I'm 99% sure that I will order it soon. It's something that I want to make videos better for you, so it will be bought, I'm just holding out a little longer. Maybe later this week or early next week. Then again, I could just order it tomorrow. Who knows. Well, you will after I order it and let you know right here.
Oh, this really is the last thing. I got my signed mini print in the mail from Kevin Llewellyn today, and it looks fantastic. I wish I could show you what it arrived in, because the packaging is super cool, but my address is written in big letters on it, and if I blurred that out, it would take something away from the overall look. I can however show you the print itself. I will be framing this as soon as possible, and put it up. I'm thinking it should eventually reside in Saki's Lounge, but for now it will just stay in the house. I put up a picture on Instagram of the print, but it's not the one I'm going to share with you here. I thought about posting this one, but thought that if Llewellyn saw it, he might be upset with my choice of lighting for it, so I just went for standard white light picture for that. You get the special lighting treatment though. So here it is, the signed mini print of Kevin Llewellyn's painting White Widow.
Come on, how fun was that. If that didn't put a smile on your face, then nothing will. I for one followed this guy on YouTube, so you may see more videos from him in the future here. If something pops up that I think is worthy of a Favorite Thing of the Week, then I will do that instead of FSOTW. Don't worry FSOTW isn't going away, I just might switch it up form time to time.
One last thing. I still haven't ordered that gimbal yet, but I'm 99% sure that I will order it soon. It's something that I want to make videos better for you, so it will be bought, I'm just holding out a little longer. Maybe later this week or early next week. Then again, I could just order it tomorrow. Who knows. Well, you will after I order it and let you know right here.
Oh, this really is the last thing. I got my signed mini print in the mail from Kevin Llewellyn today, and it looks fantastic. I wish I could show you what it arrived in, because the packaging is super cool, but my address is written in big letters on it, and if I blurred that out, it would take something away from the overall look. I can however show you the print itself. I will be framing this as soon as possible, and put it up. I'm thinking it should eventually reside in Saki's Lounge, but for now it will just stay in the house. I put up a picture on Instagram of the print, but it's not the one I'm going to share with you here. I thought about posting this one, but thought that if Llewellyn saw it, he might be upset with my choice of lighting for it, so I just went for standard white light picture for that. You get the special lighting treatment though. So here it is, the signed mini print of Kevin Llewellyn's painting White Widow.
How cool is that. That is his signature right below the figure. The painting is in black and white, and the signature is in a silvery gray. I love it, and am so happy to own two prints from my favorite modern painter. Peace in and goodnight.
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