Open letter to politicians: Please answer the Question: What is the purpose of a gun?

Dear Leader,

I desperately need your attention on a very serious and very difficult topic: Gun Violence.  I was struck so powerfully by a recent post on social media.  It reminded viewers that after only one instance of a shoe bomb, now at every United States airport we must all remove our shoes before boarding a plane.  It also reminded us that this shoe bomb attempt failed.  One failed attempt changed all airline travel, only one.

However let me remind you of the 2015 Roseburg, Oregon shooting where there were nine deaths, the 2015 Charleston, South Carolina shooting where there were nine deaths, the 2014 Isla Vista, California shooting where there were six deaths, the 2014 Fort Hood, Texas shooting where there were three deaths, the 2013 Washington, D.C. shooting where there were twelve deaths, the 2013 Santa Monica, California shooting where there were five deaths, the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut shooting where there were twenty-seven deaths, the 2012 Brookfield, Wisconsin shooting where there were three deaths, the 2012 Minneapolis, Wisconsin shooting where there were six deaths, the 2012 Oak Creek, Wisconsin shooting where there were six deaths, the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting where there were twelve deaths, the Oakland, California shooting where there were seven deaths, the 2011 Seal Beach, California shooting where there were eight deaths, the 2011 Tucson, Arizona shooting where there were six deaths, the 2010 Manchester, Connecticut shooting where there were eight deaths, the 2010 Huntsville, Alabama shooting where there were three deaths, the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas shooting where there were thirteen deaths, the 2009 Binghamton, New York shooting where there were thirteen deaths, the 2008 DeKalb, Illinois shooting where there were five deaths, the 2007 Omaha, Nebraska shooting where there were eight deaths, the 2007 Blacksburg, Virginia shooting where there were thirty-two deaths, the 2007 Salt Lake City, Utah shooting where there were five deaths, the 2007 Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania shooting where there were five deaths, the 2005 Red Lake Indiana Reservation shooting where there were nine deaths,  the 2003 Meridian, Mississippi shooting where there were five deaths and it just keeps on going and going and going.

One failed shoe bomb changes air travel but America still refuses to address gun violence.  I believe the reason for this is that America was able to recognize what the purpose of a bomb is.  A bomb is for killing; that is the purpose of a bomb.

What is the purpose of a gun?  You must answer this question.  As my government leader you must answer it.

I have been asking this question non-stop since the most recent slaughter of nine Americans in Oregon.  I receive three answers:

• Some people will inhale sharply, fearfully, and then they freeze.  They cannot speak.  They do not answer the question. 
•  Some people will answer, “Well it depends…” 
•  Some people will answer, that knives, ballpoint pens and chopsticks of all things have the ability to kill too.

The question is not whether a knife, ballpoint pen or chopsticks CAN kill, the question is: what is the purpose of a gun?  But that’s the problem, everyone wants to talk about the lethal power of chopsticks but nobody wants to actually admit that the purpose of a gun is to kill.  That is what it is for.  The people arguing about ballpoint pens actually know this because they use the word “too.”  Ballpoint pens can kill “too.”  That may be possible, but that is not the purpose of a ballpoint pen.  It is the purpose of a gun.  They know that.  The people who answer “Well it depends…” also know that guns kill because they usually proceed to discuss hunting.  If you intend to hunt, you intend to kill.  That is what hunting is for.  That is why guns are used for hunting.  However the “depends” people usually then begin to argue that they need guns for “protection.”  A gun however is not for “protection.”  Body armor is used for protection, it covers the major organs of the body.  You cannot put a gun in front of your chest and rely on it to stop a bullet.  A gun only “protects you” when you fire it at something that is trying to kill you.  If you don’t kill it though, it won’t protect you at all.  The people who won’t, or can’t answer also know that a gun is for killing.  They can’t answer because they can’t bear the thought of killing.

I also can’t bear the thought of another mass killing.  I am a mother.  I do not want my child to end up as another fatality.  I am also a police officer and I am waiting for the day I will have to respond to kind of nightmare.  I will have to unless you do something!

The second amendment gives Americans the “right to bear arms.”

I understand this amendment.  I hold it as sacred because I am one of those Americans bearing arms.  However the constitution was written by slave holding men and no women, because women did not have the authority to vote let alone hold a political office.  We Americans have grown since then.  We recognized the validity of women and the horror of slavery.  Can we not outgrow our obsession with guns?

It has been documented that the 2015 Oregon shooter was obsessed with guns.  He only talked about guns.  He posed with a gun on a dating site because he was obsessed with guns.  His mental health status is as irrelevant as his use of chopsticks or ballpoint pens, because what matters is that he was obsessed with guns!  The purpose of a gun is to kill.  It has no other purpose.  Therefore the Oregon shooter was obsessed with killing.  Yet everyone is surprised that he killed nine people.  Perhaps if people had been willing to recognize the purpose of guns they would have been more alarmed to hear and see this man obsess over them!  He killed those nine people with four weapons all legally owned.

America needs gun reforms and we need them now.  Anyone who owns a gun has the ability to kill.  Anyone who sells a gun is selling the ability to kill.  We need to start being frank about this fact.  No one person really needs to own more than one gun.  A person should have to specify the reason they are purchasing the gun.  “Deer Hunting,” is a reasonable answer but you do not need an assault rifle to fill your freezer with meat!  “My house was broken into and I’m afraid,” is probably a reasonable answer as long as the person passes a gun certification course much like the driving test given to people seeking the legal ability to operate a motor vehicle.  “I like guns,” is NOT an acceptable answer!  It is not an acceptable answer because a person who is obsessed with guns is a person obsessed with killing.  

I want gun reforms

• I want to see limits placed on the number of guns one individual may own 
•  I want to see licensing requirements increased.  All gun owners must pass both written and practical exams with enforced expiration dates just as we do with driver’s licenses. 
•  I want people to have to explain their reason for gun ownership. 
•  But I want most to see and hear people answer the question: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A GUN? With the actual answer:  A gun is for killing.

By allowing Americans the right to bear arms without acknowledging the consequences of that you are giving Americans the right to kill so many other Americans.  

You must answer the question.  You as a leader of this nation cannot remain silent.  It does not “depend” and surely you are above such childish antics of ballpoint pens and chopsticks.  You must answer the question: WHAT IS A THE PURPOSE OF A GUN?

It is for killing.  People need to know this and you must tell them.

Sincerely,

Amy Christensen

 

I have sent this letter to every politician I have access to from my neighborhood Alderman to Presidential Candidates.  Something must be said.  We can no longer remain silent.

Please answer the question: What is the purpose of a gun? 

The Fairy Princess Rants About Makeup

I love makeup. Maybe it was all of the theatre classes I took in college but the idea of turning a human face into an art canvas just brings me joy. My favorite way to waste time is makeup tutorials on youtube. Sometimes, I will see a technique I really want to experiment with; most recently I’m enamored with “strobing,” which is contouring except with highlight only. I have very chiseled features as it is, so this seemed like a fun technique to add some extra pop from time to time that wouldn’t be quite as extreme as contouring.

I mentioned that I love makeup. I also love research. So next was to pop on to the greater internet to look for that perfect highlighter. Now, I’m over forty. A little while back I was having some separating issues with my foundation and did a search for “Best foundations for women over 40.” I suspected the dryness of my skin might be the problem, coupled with the lipid reduction that happens to the over 40 crowd. My faithful computer steered me to Almay Smart Shade Anti-Aging liquid foundation and I couldn’t be happier! Unfortunately instead of a new romance with a new highlighter, my ire was flared when my search came back with the article “Top Ten Makeup Tips for Mom’s in Their Forties,” by Lindsay Ferrier and I made the mistake to reading it. I disagree with everything Ms. Ferrier had to say.

Tip number 1 told me that I have to spend more time on my face.

Really?

You’re right, I add a SPV 50 Sunscreen by Exuvience over my regular moisturizer. Not because I’m over forty, but because I’m super fair and I work outside and it’s just the smart thing to do.

Listen, if you’re a mom it doesn’t matter if you’re over forty or not, every second of time is precious. Sometimes my makeup is a quick touch of foundation to problem areas only, blush swept over my cheeks AND my eyelids, mascara and lip gloss. Sometimes, I don’t even bother with makeup.

Skin care is important that is true, but you don’t have to spend a lot of time on it. A good eye makeup remover, and reliable cleanser, a non-striping toner, a good hydrating moisturizer and a lip balm (morning and night) are really all you need. Sure eye creams can be helpful to reduce the appearance of fine lines, but you know what? Wrinkles are a fact of life, most of them were created by living! So honestly, relax.

Tip number 2 told me to stay away from dark, bright, shimmery eye colors. 

I’m just too damn old so stick to boring matte beige. This tip probably made me the angriest of them all. I should have stopped reading here but I held out hope Ms. Ferrier would redeem herself of her complete idiocy. I cannot tell you the number of times and ways random people want to tell me what things I must give up because a). I’m over 40 b). I’m a mom or c). All of the above. Makeup is fun! Have fun with it! That’s the point! Yes, as a mother you do have to make some compromises with your time, delay your gratification (because you’re the grownup) and plan your time. However a compromise is NOT synonymous with sacrifice. There are only a few rare situations where you made a baby by yourself. Have the contributing sperm donor pull some weight if you find you sacrifice your time all of the time and are in need of some fun for yourself.

What I like to do for fun is go to Renaissance Faires. Luckily my son adores them as much as I do. However, we have slightly different tastes. I like the music the most, my son, however is captivated by other sights at the faires. The solution? I go twice. Once with him, once by myself. That way I can enjoy every music event to my heart’s content! And I get the added bonus of enjoying one of my favorite things with one of my very favorite people (with a little music here and there).

I bring up the Renaissance Faire for yet another reason. I dress up in costume. My makeup usually includes bright green, orange and yellow eye shadow worn simultaneously. And seriously, one can never wear too much glitter at a Renaissance Faire in my opinion. I get stopped every year by uncountable people at the Faire. I have been told that I look “regal,” “ethereal,” “beautiful,” and “gorgeous.” I have been featured on a professional photographer’s website. That was a treat, however not as joyous as all of the random children who have their pictures taken with the “Fairy Princess.” I have made lifelong friends at the faires thanks to my glittering bright eye shadow. That blush I use over my eyelids on light makeup days? It has shimmer. For the days I’m spared more time on makeup? I adore the smoky eye look. I love it in dark brown and purple. Those are always the days (emphasis of DAY) I get the most compliments on my makeup.

At the Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin it is really hot. No matter how careful you are to drink water you are going to get dehydrated particularly if you’re going the whole day like I do. Dehydration means more prominent wrinkles. If no one cares that the Fairy Princess has wrinkles why I earth would I care if my wrinkles sparkle when I’m not going for the total fairy look?

News Flash: I’m over forty and I’ve got wrinkles. They might as well sparkle.

Tip number 3 says the arch of my eyebrow should be 2/3 of the way across my eye.

My advice has always been to follow the natural line of your eyebrow. Everyone is different; beauty is unique. On time crunch days my brows are what they are. I attempt to keep them groomed. I pluck out any stray hairs on the bridge of my nose and those most obviously above and below the most prominent eyebrow area.

Tip number 4 has my lips should be plump and I should line them first before lipstick.

Even when I was 20 my lips were thin. By the way I have a scar on my mouth where I took a nasty tumble in the sixth grade. I love my scar the way I love my wrinkles; they all show how much I have lived. Plump lips are not for me. Also, unless I’m wearing my black lipstick (only because I haven’t found a colorstay lip gloss in black) I don’t line my lips. Revlon Colorstay lip color really does stay ALL day without re-application. Why on earth would a busy mom wear anything else? Using a lip liner with this product negates the long lasting effect.

Tip number 5 told me I needed to use cream blush. 

I was really confused by what Ms. Ferrier’s goal was with this article. Are you trying to help us busy moms? But are you even acknowledging how busy we are?

Here’s the thing: a great powder blush blends quickly over the face and it can also be easily applied with a quick swipe with your same blush brush to your eyelids for a quick pop of matching color. Although, cream blushes do have great staying power. Another quick tip for all day makeup is once again Revlon Colorstay Lip Color. Apply a few dabs to your cheeks as well as your lips. Not only will your “blush” perfectly coordinate with your lipstick, it will continue to look fresh 18 hours later.

Really.

Tip 6 told me to switch to tinted moisturizers.

I’m not a fan, personally. But I do agree that those of us over forty don’t need a heavy hand with foundation. I use foundation on problem area only using Almay’s Smart Shade that blends into my own skin tone.

Tip number 7 was on highlighter which was probably the reason it showed up in my search for great highlighters.

I honestly didn’t understand tip number 8 which told me to put on my neck and chest what I put on my face.  But I thought Tip 6 was about backing off on coverage?

Okay good!  I’m doing what a good over forty mother would do! I put the glitter I had on my face on my exposed chest area! Whoo hoo!

Tip number 9 was actually the first smart thing Ms. Ferrier said in this hideous ageist, sexist article. Hydration is very important. Not because you’re old and wrinkly but because it’s the healthy thing to do.

Ms. Ferrier had a redeeming moment with hydration and then plummets back into stupidity with Tip number 10 of “Stay Current.” 

Stay current?

But DON’T wear color. DON’T have unlined lips. DON’T under ANY circumstances sparkle or shimmer! Heaven forbid you might draw attention to your OLD, UGLY, WRINKLY self! For crying out loud go hide yourself in the nursery where you belong!

In addition to Ms. Ferrier’s nightmare article was a host of other sites telling me that I need to cut off my long hair because it’s "just not appropriate for a woman my age."

I was thinking of getting a haircut, but only because my hair is now getting so long it’s covering my tattoo on my lower back.

I actually cannot wait until my hair finally turns completely white or silver. I have seen numerous older women with great long locks of silver and it was the most beautiful hair I have ever seen. Why on earth would you cut off something that beautiful!

I’m just so disappointed and tremendously angry that people feel that they have the right to dictate to me how I wear my hair and makeup because I am a woman over forty. All I have to say is that I have violated every one of Ms. Ferrier’s tips with amazing results. There is photographic evidence that I draw attention to myself. However that is really beside the point. I’m not interested in stealing the 20 something’s boyfriend, I don’t want a husband particularly if he is someone else’s husband, and I don’t particular care what Ms. Ferrier thinks of my makeup choices. The only person I’m out to please with my unruly waist reaching locks and sparkle eye shadow is myself.

I AM the Fairy Princess and I have wrinkles! They might as well sparkle.

Thoughts on Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story at Silk Road Rising

I did not even know who Sammy Lee was when I went to the staged Reading of Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story, and now I am ashamed that I didn’t know.  Sammy Lee is an American of Korean heritage who won international fame as an Olympic Gold Medalist in the 1948 Olympics.  He was also a decorated army soldier and acclaimed doctor and Olympic coach. Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story is written from the perspective of Sammy Lee; his character is the narrator of the story which takes place not in 1948, but shifts between Sammy’s childhood and 1992, when Sammy and his son watched the horror of the destruction of “Korea Town,” in the terrible Los Angeles riot.  

This play addresses racism from a new perspective, forcing the audience to realize racism goes beyond “Black” vs. “White.”  The truth is that people of other heritage are only mentioned as footnotes in racial struggles and this only adds to the pervasive and destructive problem of racism.  While that theme is important to this play, this piece is more focused on the dynamics of the father/son relationship.   The audience experiences Sammy’s struggle with his father as the two fight to claim Sammy’s future.  Sammy’s father is desperate to see Sammy enter medical school and earn the respect of America as a successful doctor.  Sammy himself wants to be an Olympic Champion.  And he is; but the audience participates in Sammy’s struggle to overcome his guilt when his father dies during his Diving Training and neither gets to see Sammy fulfill his Olympic Dream, nor his father’s wish that he become a doctor.  This guilt resurfaces in the story when Sammy’s son, Sammy Junior responds to the 1992 Los Angeles riots by announcing his desire to become a Los Angeles Police Officer.  Even though Sammy defied his own father to pursue his own dream to be an Olympic Athlete, as a father himself he cannot abide his son’s dream because it interferes with his desire as a father to protect his son and keep him safe.  With the help of his wife, Sammy is then able to see that his own father was trying to do the same for him. 

David Rhee, the writer consistently utilizes the Bible story of Jacob as a metaphor which runs throughout the piece.  It is Sammy Junior who points out to Sammy that the blessing of the father has a darker power.  It can be used as a device for control.  “Where does that leave us?” Sammy Junior says as he confronts his father.  “Broken and divided.”  Much like racism, which can leave a country broken and divided as demonstrated by 1992 riots in Los Angeles. 

Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story brings to the stage many important issues; but it is first and foremost a play with a universal theme of family dynamics.  This central theme I think would speak more to an adult audience.  While Sammy Lee is Christian and his faith is important to the character, the Jacob story is questioned with humor throughout the piece.  Should there be children included in the audience, parents with a conservative Christian background may feel the piece is inappropriate for younger audiences.  Also, the character of Coach Ryan, Sammy’s childhood coach, uses very strong language and racial slurs which would be difficult to alter for a younger audience as the character later explains to an older Sammy that he did so on purpose to better prepare Sammy for the racial discrimination he would have to face if he was to become an Olympic gold medalist. 

After the reading in a feedback session with the audience, the writer David Rhee admitted some concern he had for the time travel, and Bible Story fantasy pieces that were interspersed throughout the play.  Original drafts were given the criticism that it read more like a screen play.  A younger audience would appreciate the shifts in time perhaps more readily than an adult audience.  However one audience participant was adamant that Mr. Rhee keep the shifts, and have this piece remain designated for the stage.  “These [characters] are individual voices…it’s intimate,” she said.  Mr. Rhee absolutely accomplished an intimate piece.  The character of Sammy Lee and also his wife Roz directly engage the audience, including them in the journey of Sammy Lee’s Story.  That is often a device incorporated into theatre for younger audiences, but as an adult piece the audience is taken on Sammy’s journey with him.  The audience experiences Sammy’s perspective of racism and fatherhood in a uniquely intimate way. 

Daniel Rhee admitted that Penuel:  The Sammy Lee Story was his very first finished play.  He is continuing with his playwriting by attending New York University.  It his hope to continue to write plays with characters of Korean heritage.  I hope he will consider younger audiences in his works as he uses imaginative devices that younger audiences would love.  Penuel:  The Sammy Lee Story may not quite meet the limitations some parents need for their children.  However to consider that Penuel:  The Sammy Lee Story was his first work, prior to an advanced education on playwriting; Daniel Rhee is someone to watch, he has ideas that will appeal to audiences of all ages and all heritages.  I will await his next work rather impatiently.  I will say that I was moved by this play.  It stayed with me the next day.  It challenged me to think and was immensely entertaining.  I do not think I can sum up the power of Mr. Rhee’s work any better than actress Tanya Thai McBride who performed as Sammy's wife, Roz. “I’m hungry for this," she said; and so am I as are many others I think.

Penuel:  The Sammy Lee Story was presented by Silk Road Rising.  "Silk Road Rising creates live theatre and online videos that tell stories through primarily Asian American and Middle Eastern American lenses.  In representing communities that intersect and overlap, we advance a polycultural worldview."