Theodora L'Engle Knight

Theodora L'Engle Knight
Location
Portland, Oregon, USA
Birthday
July 02
Title
Pack Leader, Her Royal Highness
Company
Prozac On Paws: The Tale of Three Spayed Females
Bio
raised in Boston and never meant to leave. went to hahvahd and barely survived the experience, but i did have some lovely brushes with greatness there that i will never forget. i got 2/3 of an mba and mistakenly got into finance. now i'm a recovering accountant. you never really recover. thankfully fell into screenwriting by collaborating on a tv movie and selling it to nbc. wrote scripts for a while. also did some playwriting and was blessed to have my stuff workshopped with some pretty good actors. then i became agoraphobic after a hysterectomy to remove The Fibroid Tumor that Ate Santa Barbara. I adopted a 9-year-old yellow lab, Good Willa Hunting, and trained her to be my service dog. the second time around i married a wonderful and talented landscape architect/jazz flute and sax player. we moved up to portland, oregon 2 weeks after 9/11. lost thelma the love kitty on the way. lost my husband to pancreatic cancer and part of my brain to george brad pittuitary boomer tumor willis. now i live in senior low income housing with my current service dogs/canine crew: Ella Fitzgerald and Cocoa Chanel. tumor george is gone gone gone, i'm writing again and even thinking about going back to the standup comedy open mikes. anything and everything is possible. i just have to leave the house one day at a time. As Steven Wright says, "You can't have everything. Where would you put it?"

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 3:46PM

the more things change...tsumanis, phil ochs, richie havens!

Rate: 28 Flag

the more things stay the same, or that's how it's feeling today. another terrifying tsunami, our leader in Copenhagen and not where he needs to be, war, inequity, pestilence... OS feels like the Small Circle of Friends, the place where people give a shit about what's happening in and to the world, as the Earth fights like mad, trying to throw us all off her back once again. i can't say that i blame Her.

 

Here is Richie Havens at Woodstock, telling it like it is, man. talking and singing about Freedom! people, we need an anthem and we need it now.

 

please rate this and pass it on! this is not a lot to ask, people. seriously. ask Scanner. he will tell you how awesome i am.

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Theo, That last line is one of the most beautiful I've heard in some time!
junk1
September 29, 2009 04:12 PM
Yes to everything, and you learned to embed video! You are now officially light-years ahead of me technically. Timeless song.
Sirenita Lake
September 29, 2009 04:13 PM
Theo, OS is a small circle of friends, with you in the middle. I hope you're better today. I love this song!!
scanner
September 29, 2009 04:13 PM
oh, you all rock!!! thank you so much. i'm off to the poor people's clinic downtown, out of my safety zone and it's going to rain and i'm panicking. but, shit, if people enjoy this song, well, something is okay.

please pass it on!!! we all need a bit of entertainment and cynicism today!
Theodora L'Engle Knight
September 29, 2009 04:21 PM
Theo, I guess I should say the next to the last line, "Earth fights like mad, trying to throw us all off her back once again. i can't say that i blame Her"
Rated
junk1
September 29, 2009 04:23 PM
I turn to crossword puzzles when I feel this way.
Steve Blevins
September 29, 2009 04:25 PM
Teddy, This poignant post is just the right message at just the right time, thank you! What an image that is: 'Earth fights like mad, trying to throw us all off her back once again'. I wonder if gravity is more about 'holding on' than Newton's theory of 'falling'? If so, I'd like to think we could hold hands across OS...
psychomama
September 29, 2009 04:29 PM
Theo, you are a beautiful spirit. Hang in there, Lady!
Owl_Says_Who
September 29, 2009 04:30 PM
The rain will pass and beautiful light will return. Ochs is a favorite for me and my youngest, it kind of gives me hope for the future that she gets this stuff. Well done Teddy.
bobbot
September 29, 2009 04:37 PM
Wonderful post and sentiment Theo. Namaste.
JK Brady
September 29, 2009 04:54 PM
This was weird (in a good way) because I was thinking about Phil Ochs a few days ago and I have no idea why and I couldn't think of any of his songs. I totally remember that song from the days of my youth. Great find. (Rated)
Roger Fallihee
September 29, 2009 05:38 PM
Sigh. We just gotta stick together.
Gwendolyn Glover
September 29, 2009 06:01 PM
I loved Phil Ochs. A beautiful tragic life.
rated
micalpeace
September 29, 2009 07:08 PM
This such a succinct and poignant post. I loved the song.
Brie
September 29, 2009 09:00 PM
"But monopoly is so much fun I'd hate to spoit the game. . ."
Chicago Guy
September 29, 2009 09:11 PM
oh wow, i'm so happy that this resonated with several of you. i'm still hoping that people will pass this on. i've decided that i will now do Folkie Fridays because i was there back in the day, in harvard square, listening to Bonnie Raitt in local coffeehouses and Tom Rush and Richie Havens and Dave Van Ronk and so many others whom people my age may remember... but the younger ones, i don't know. and we need these protest songs now!!!! we need them we need all the rallying cries that we can find. these are ridiculous times. so Folkie Fridays, folks, from now on. this is something that i can do. something small but concrete.

please help me by passing these posts along to your favorites. this is as fucking brilliant and entertaining a song as a lot of the shit that is posted on here. i know it is. love love love and gratitude!!!! to those who came by.
Theodora L'Engle Knight
September 29, 2009 09:37 PM
I'm sure you're awesome! Fun music for your OS circle of friends. I once sat on a lawn with Richie Havens in Palmer, Alaska, and talked with him about normal stuff for about an hour. Great guy!
Ralph Tingey
September 29, 2009 10:49 PM
Haven't heard Ochs for a hundred years. Rated.
jimmymac1025
September 29, 2009 10:51 PM
wow, Ralph, that is so cool!!! i talked with him on the streets in hahhvahhd squahh. used to run into him all the time for some reason. him and Eugene Mccarthy, at rallies. love love love!!

Iamsurly!!! i love seeing new people here. yes, i thought this was fun, despite my dire words. love love love!

Jimmy! god, i know. it has been a hundred years since phil ochs and richie. i'm going to start doing Folkie Fridays so stay tuned. we need an anthem for these troubled times. and there were so many great ones back then! love love love.

and huge gratitude for all of you.
Theodora L'Engle Knight
September 29, 2009 11:02 PM
oh, and Julie love!!! i'm so happy that you loved my last line. it just came to me when i heard about this awful tsunami, again. love love love!
Theodora L'Engle Knight
September 29, 2009 11:03 PM
Thank you, Teddy. This is really good. Love the songs and you're right--we need something like this now, a rallying cry, a REAL protest, people who will stand up and be counted when it counts!

How did the clinic visit go?

Rated. D
Yarn Over
September 30, 2009 12:17 AM
Good post! And, I vote for Folksie Fridays, too!
rated.
Debbs4
September 30, 2009 01:16 AM
Positive words for peace, thanks for sharing. Rated,
rita shibr
September 30, 2009 02:40 AM
Thanks for this joy, Theodora. I really appreciate it.
aim
September 30, 2009 03:41 AM
sometimes i feel like a motherless child so far away from my home. he's got that right.
jane smithie redux
September 30, 2009 08:17 AM
The Wellspring of Life

We are one people
standing together
united in our common call
children of this good earth
the wellspring of life
and mother to us all

We join together
to fulfil our purpose
as stewards of the land
we venture forward
into tomorrow's promise
to her we lend our hand

We have many voices
but a single vision
a joyful world of plenty
this humble goal
to which we aspire
combines the work of many

The people on the earth
are of the earth
and bound to her forever
living out their days
they return to her
the sum of their endeavours

(http://open.salon.com/blog/mr_e/2009/09/30/the_wellspring_of_life)
mr e
September 30, 2009 10:44 AM
oh wow, i'm so grateful to all of you who came here and listened to the songs and commented and supported this!! it's so excellent.

i had a big day yesterday. huge for an agoraphobic person. the pups and i went downtown, well, to the Pearl District, which is kind of portland's hip and trendy area. the clinic i go to is in Oldtown, the bad area next door to the Pearl. long story short, saw my wonderful PA and the meds nurse. change up with my meds. cautious optimism. long walk with pups. whole foods for sliced turkey -- big fave in my interspecies family -- and huge frosted brownie. out and about for 3-4 hours.

sick as a canine-american today so back to bed after this, but it was worth it. chronic fatigue, chronic sinus infections, gum infections, eye infections, fevers, swollen glands. blech! but, shit, i left my safety zone and got new meds. one day at a time.
Theodora L'Engle Knight
September 30, 2009 03:34 PM
Love that Phil Ochs song - hadn't heard that one before. He is awesome. In the beginning, isn't he alluding to the infamous Kitty Genovese case where this young woman was being violently attacked in broad daylight and passersby just ignored it? Great post altogether -- I agree with your sentiments and like your musical choices that illustrate them! Bravo and rated!
Nelly Trent
September 30, 2009 06:15 PM
Love that Phil Ochs song - hadn't heard that one before. He is awesome. In the beginning, isn't he alluding to the infamous Kitty Genovese case where this young woman was being violently attacked in broad daylight and passersby just ignored it? Great post altogether -- I agree with your sentiments and like your musical choices that illustrate them! Bravo and rated!
Nelly Trent
September 30, 2009 06:15 PM
oh, thank you, Nelly! i love you for this. i'm sorry i've missed some of your posts. i've been ill, emotionally and physically. wow, i'm so happy that you know Ochs too. and, yes, he's definitely talking about that horrifying Kitty Genovese case. i was trying to think of her name. that terrible incident had a huge impact on people at the time. i remember it vividly. love love lvoe and so much gratitude, sweetheart!
Theodora L'Engle Knight
September 30, 2009 06:37 PM
Theo -- you don't ever have to feel badly about missing any of my posts! I know you have a lot of other things going on, and I write for fun -- I love your visits and when you are able to do so they are a joy to read! Have a nice evening!
Nelly Trent
September 30, 2009 06:47 PM
Rated, Theo!-- stopping in on this stupid crappy keyboarded computer at the Care Home where I'm still hanging out with Mom. Love your words here! & have always always loved Richie Havens singing Freedom at Woodstock. It always gives me goosebumps. Thank you for sharing this! And you are now officially a genius for figuring out how to put this stuff on here!
suzie
October 01, 2009 03:14 AM
oh my Suzie!!!! i was just about to PM you and see if your poor mother had gone over to the other side yet. i love that you can find a computer to use at the Care Home where your mother is dying while other people i know can't find there way here -- only come when i don't PM them apparently -- and can't pass this on to others who would love these songs and the idea of an anthem. but fuck them all. i'm still praying for you to come back to us soonest. and, yes, richie havens is awesome. there are so many songs i want to share. love love lvoe and gratitude!!
Theodora L'Engle Knight
October 01, 2009 01:21 PM