That is so Queer...

New Blog!!!!

2011-06-07T15:02:00.001-07:00

Hi! If anyone is still checking in over here, I've started something new. Join me over at BluestockingFarm.

In case anyone is still out there...

2010-08-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

I'm not disappeared. I just don't have it in me to really blog right now.

I am, however working on a new project and it is taking up all of my time and energy. If you haven't already, please go look at my relatively new Etsy shop, Manon of Hollywood. It's all hats, all the time for now but I've been working on some other ideas this summer and hope that 2011 brings new ideas to the fore. Also, depending on how much energy I happen to have, I might do something for Hallowe'en this year. We'll see.

Love to all.
f.

Let the consumption begin!

2009-11-30T06:08:00.000-08:00

OK - as far as Black Friday is concerned, I am not about to line up with a bunch of crazy, exhausted people so tweaked out on adrenaline and Starbucks waiting for a $10 DVD player at 3:50 a.m.

Not my style.

However, cyber Monday is a shopping experience I can roll with from the privacy of my desk. Therefore, I have created a small list of fun things I am looking at this year for you and yours. Mostly books 'cause frankly, who doesn't like books? After all, they're awfully decorative!!!

Take a gander...

Kat Von D
Yeah, the show's got it's problems and I'm not into the drama but I've paged through the book and it's frankly worth every page for the heavily inked sister, friend or co-worker in your life. Each page is more gorgeous than the next and there is enough good writing and good art to make me drool. I've looked at lots of tattoo books. This one is awesome.

For your friend with an appreciation of mid-century modern anything, there's Atomic Ranch. Another drool-worthy book. I'm in love and spend nights dreaming of living in one of these Alexanders. I'm out on the patio, the full moon lighting up the night during a warm, breezy Palm Springs fall evening. I've got something fruity to drink and this book in hand as I sit on the lounge chair soaking in the gorgeous photos...

Got crafty folk on your list? This is something I'd be hesitant to buy for myself but it's a fun gift and it does, in fact have a ton of craftastic ideas. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts has what you're looking for. Floating candles for summer parties. Bottle cap pendants for gifts. Screenprinting for that brilliant idea you had to sell t-shirts on etsy. Pom pom animals for your next kid's party. It's all there. Love this one! It's a good thing.

OK - do you know a camp follower? I don't mean tents and flashlights here. For anyone fond of high camp, check out a selection of some favorites from the '40's. Start with The Women, a total gossip fest. Then add All About Eve, toss in some Now Voyager and end with Auntie Mame. It's a total package. You're maudlin and full of self-pity. You're magnificent!

Lastly, for the baker of the family, grab Hello, Cupcake!

It's a cute book with actually cute cupcakes! Also, it's cheap enough at under $10 that you could add a cupcake pan and a bunch of colored sprinkles and still come in under $20.

Alright kittens, that's all for cyber Monday. Have a great time shopping!

Hey Maine!!!

2009-11-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Leviticus 11:9-12 says:

⁹ These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
¹⁰ And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
¹¹ They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcasses in abomination.
¹² Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Deuteronomy 14:9-10 says:
⁹ These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
¹⁰ And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
Hey, just F to the YI and all. Your lobster industry...it's an abomination. Just like the homos. Same book. So...I'm waiting for the petitions to begin soon, right?

YAY South Carolina!!!

2009-10-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Following on the heels of scandal after scandal, another Republican South Carolinian politico was fired today. He was spotted parked in a cemetery with an 18 year old stripper, a bag of sex toys and Viagra.

While on his lunch break.

Unfortunately, when the police approached, Roland Corning sped off. He was on a one lane dirt road behind the cemetery when he was stopped. I'm going to assume that the 18 year old wasn't there for free.

Oh, South Carolina. How you amuse me. Who knew I would have a South Carolina tag!

Damn.

2009-10-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

(Photo courtesy of KTLA.com - tree destroys truck in Long Beach)

So, it was a little windy yesterday. 10,000 people in L.A. are still without power and that's about a quarter of what it was last night.

Most importantly, half of my Hallowe'en display ended up in the street! Thankfully, the husband was home to retrieve it all and once the winds die down, I'll reset the whole deal.

Thankfully, our power stayed up through the night (Thanks Burbank W&P!!!), so I was able to finish the majority of my gown and set my wig! Tonight, I'll be finishing the gown and doing some baking for our office potluck.

Lesson learned. Next year, I'm doing my gravestones in concrete.

Remiss - 5 DAYS 'TIL HALLOWE'EN!

2009-10-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

Remiss, I say!!! Unfortunately I have spent way too much time at the cemetery this Hallowe'en season as my grandma died last week. Therefore, despite massive preparations ongoing for the Hallowe'en season, I have had some problems with posting and getting photos.

Today, because I feel like I have to post something, I'll post links to some of the haunters I'm stalking around the intertubes these days. I've found them through the Countdown to Hallowe'en.

Shellhawk. I found her pretty late on in the month. Shit. She is powerful talented. Look at this gravestone she made. Now come ON! That's just freaking AWESOME! I wish I could apprentice with some of these people. Like Dave Lowe who not only builds his own props but also is an incredible artist. Here is one of my faves.
Then there's just the all around creepy like SpookyBlue who brings us this terror.
And one of my favorite things about all three of these haunters is that they are EXTREMELY generous and provide how to's for some of their projects. Awesome.

I will indeed be bringing photos of my haunting up to this site. In the meantime, check out some of these other sites.

Set up

2009-10-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly setting up the new and improved graveyard out front but this weekend is the big push. Today I dragged all of the Hallowe'en props and craft items out of my craft room and made some piles which consisted of:

Body parts
chain
flowers
paint
architectural details
spiders
tools
lighting
cages
fabric and patterns
kitchen, baking and party supplies

And sorted them in the living room.

Here's some photos.

Tomorrow I drag out the ladders and really get moving on the details.

Woah. Seriously Ralph?

2009-10-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Hallowe'en!

Love, Ralph

All hell has broken loose

2009-10-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

New York trip is cancelled. So, no new gravestone photos but more time to work on my yard display.

The Witch Next Door

2009-10-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is a 1965 copy of the book, the Witch Next Door. Norman Bridwell writes a sweet book with some very modern and wonderful morals that stand the test of time.

The first moral: Just because someone is different doesn't mean she is bad.

Second: Mean people suck but usually just need someone to be nice to them.

Third: You are wonderful just the way you are.

Pretty progressive for 1965!

Norman Bridwell also wrote How to Care for Your Monster, Witch's Vacation, Monster Holidays, Ghost Charlie, Witch's Catalog, Magic Matt and the Jack 'o Lantern and the entire Clifford the Dog series including a bunch of autumn and Hallowe'en titles! Mr. Bridwell is clearly a lover of all things Hallowe'enie as well!

Thanks Mr. Bridwell for this book. I loved it as a child and recently bought it to share with my niece.

L.A. Opera Costume Sale

2009-10-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the upcoming holiday (and I don't mean Simchat Torah), I am going to be attending the L.A. Opera Costume Sale this weekend. It's the first time the Opera has ever sold off any of its costumes and items will include capes, hats, full costumes, fans, gloves, shoes and more.

The sale begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 10 at 330 South Alameda and parking is at the Little Tokyo shopping center. They indicate that sizes range from "robust Wagnerian" to "Mozart's petites" and prices range from $10-5,000.

They are selling off pieces from Don Giovanni, Die Meistersinger, La Traviata, Carmen, Idomenio, Romeo et Juliette and many more.

See you there!

Zombieland

2009-10-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

No spoilers here, just F to the YI as long as you know there are zombies, people die and there is eating of flesh...

So, Michael and I had a perfect date last night and saw Zombieland at the AMC 16 in Burbank. There were 4 other people in the theater besides us! Mostly because we saw it at 3:40, not because it sucked.

The pros:

Funny. The RULES are brilliant and worked into the movie perfectly. Did not take itself seriously at all, if it had I would have been sorely disappointed. The zombie makeup on the closeup shots was pretty darn good and any bone crushing and eating of flesh was ookie enough to make Michael squirm (see "Squeamish?" for my squirm factor). Woody Harrelson is high-fucking-larious. Perfect, short and sweet explanation of the zombification...really, not what the movie was about and I'm glad they didn't spend any time on that. The digital effects around Los Angeles were great. Soundtrack was pretty sweet also.

The cons:

Slow at some moments. Makeup on lesser zombies was hastily done and not particularly "realistic" also, at one point you could totally tell the dead guy was a bag of fiberfill. Super cheap... Some of the digital effects looked like they belonged on Photoshop Disasters. Abigail Breslin did not get enough shooting in. Wanted to see more of that. Yeah, she's 12 but you're fighting for your brains here people.

Overall, a great, fun movie. Perfect for Hallowe'en laughs!

Do you have any Grey Poupon?

2009-10-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

I went to Joann's etc. today.

Y'know how the corner market has like two brands of soap and the crappy ass generic ketchup that tastes like corn syrup with some tomato flavoring in it and then you go to the Ralph's Fresh Fare or the cool-ass new Pavilions pavilion and there's like 18 different brands of hand molded soap with ylang-ylang and oatmeal flakes and gourmet ketchup from 5 different countries and two American tomato farms with fresh basil and chunks of garlic? There's just no comparison right?

Yeah, well that's the difference between the crappy ass Joann's on Riverside and the Joann's etc. superstore in Porter Ranch. The Joann's on Riverside had like 6 Hallowe'en fabrics and each one sucked more than the previous. Their Hallowe'en decoration selection was, at its best, pathetic. A couple of dented candles, some of last year's stock of plastic pumpkins, a bag of styrofoam bones, a couple of tangled bat garlands and some autumn leaves...

Joann's etc. gives the full Hallowe'en crafting experience. I bought 4 different kinds of fabrics. One just because it was super cheap and cute. I don't even have a project planned for it. They had AISLES of Hallowe'en fabric and as I was checking out, there was more!

The patterns for costumes were actually out of the files on racks so they would be really easy to find. What a concept. I also found the tights that I needed, the fabric for my cape, 18 different kinds of tacky glue and some letter embossers that are going to look AWESOME for my new gravestones!!! Really, including fabric, the Hallowe'en stash at the Joann's etc. would barely have fit into the Joann's on Riverside. Two full aisles of costumes, one entire aisle of folksy Hallowe'en stuff and then candelabras, ribbons, trim, buttons, foam projects, Wilton baking accessories, molds, candies, sprinkles, three (3!) different types of witches brooms and a minimum of 4 witches hats! There were some super cute decorations and some candles that I would have bought were I rich and flush with cash but such is life.

I'll try to make it in on November 1 and see what's left over that I can pick up at a 90% discount.

I promise photos are coming of all of this but in the meantime, check out this cute top and matching purse I made for my niece. Cute, huh? It's a tank top but it was actually cold at the game so mommy put a t-shirt underneath. She's a big Dodgers fan. She also turned 3 last month and started preschool and is the 3rd tallest in her class!

A quickie

2009-10-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

A quick post before I hit the proverbial hay - I got out today and scoured a couple of yard sales for prop pieces. Found a few and I have next weekend to finish up the majority of my shopping. Picked up a couple of really amazing deals. I love when things I'm actually looking for are going for 50 cents! This week after work will be a blur of spray paint and foam. Gravestones start going up on Tuesday.

I did have my first unfortunate mishap when our gardener thought the branches Michael had collected were waste and chopped them up into bitty twigs. So, I'm gonna have to get out the saw... Well, the peach tree needed pruning anyway.

In the meantime - check out Halloween Town on Magnolia in Burbank. All Hallowe'en, all year round!!!

Squeamish?

2009-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

I am not squeamish. I have often bragged that if I was out of a job and needed to change careers, crime scene cleanup could be an option. I have done phlebotomy and I have listened to far too many lectures on HIV-related gastrointestinal disorders during dinner lectures (with slides) to be grossed out by much.

The last few years, I have made some, in my opinion, fairly mild Hallowe'en treats. Unfortunately, my co-workers were/are not as robust as I seem to be.

Last year I made a meatloaf foot. Damn, I wish I had photos of that one. Toenails made of onion pieces and ketchup artfully smeared on the stump with a plastic bone pushed in just for fun. Totally easy. Also, easy to transport to work for the potluck!

I made witches fingers one year but these were not nearly as gross as I wanted them to be. They flattened a bit and therefore didn't have quite the look of actual fingers. But the greenish tinge was quite nice.

Two years ago was really the piece de resistance of freaking out my co-workers. I really didn't expect that practically no one would even try it. I mean, really. It was a lovely chocolate cake. It was made from scratch. No boxed mixes in this house!

I guess, perhaps it was a tad too realistic. C'est la vie!

This year I am planning a host of Hallowe'en treats. I'm not going to go for the gross out at work as I don't plan on wasting my time and money on something that won't even be eaten, but I am going to have a few items at home that will be a little stomach churning!

Bone appetit!

A nice place to lay your head

2009-10-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Last year I attended a friend's wedding in Pacific Grove, CA. I haven't been up to the Monterey area in many years and I had no idea where I would stay. As I looked through the list of hotels, one quaint scenic hotel after another, I checked on some travel review site and the review that caught my eye was this:

"But the main dislike was the fact that our room - and on that basis over half of the rooms - overlook a graveyard."

I took the plunge. I love old graveyards. I spent pretty much all of my free time in Boston taking photos of historic gravestones and will likely take some photos when I'm up in Rhinebeck in two weeks.

Despite the fact that I have no intention of being buried (cremation and remains tossed surreptitiously and without fanfare off the coast of Hawai'i near Kalapana) I have always appreciated the study of the symbology and ritual of memorialization.

Here are some of the photos I took in Boston and Pacific Grove (guess which are which!)

Happy October!

2009-10-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

And now it begins!

Last week when my husband called me at work to crow about the lovely city of Burbank trimming the trees in the neighborhood I yelled at him to run outside and grab a bunch of branches from the maws of the woodchopper. I'm sort of hoping for a windstorm between now and Hallowe'en to pick up some more. Depending on the weather this weekend, I'll start working on some spookified trees for the yard. Love free stuff. I might also go yard sale trolling for some props as well... Let's hope it's below 90 degrees this weekend!

In other news, we took my niece to Disneyland this week for her 3rd birthday and it just so happened that Hallowe'en had already begun at the Mouse House. I have to say that while they did spook up the place and the fireworks display was pretty awesome (and inspiring) the whole thing was a bit of a let down (just in the Hallowe'en department - Disneyland itself is never a letdown!).

Here's the scoop:

The official Disneyland map featured the hag witch from Snow White and all of the light post hangers featured both the evil witch and the hag which led me to believe that the traditional Disney villains would be featured heavily in the park. It was not to be. Unfortunately, other than some really great pumpkins, most of the park Hallowe'en decorations were weighted toward the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Don't get me wrong, I like Nightmare well enough, I'm just a traditionalist. I would have liked to see a lot more Malificent, Evil Queen, etc. While kids could get the autographs of Jafar, Jack and Sally, and Cruella deVil, they were located primarily in Fantasyland and seemed to mostly scare the crap out of the kids.

One more complaint, just in case anyone's listening...MORE HAUNTED MANSION MERCHANDISE!!! I looked and the only merch available from the Haunted Mansion was pins and a classic CD. That's it.

On the upside, the fireworks show was great. Lots of fireworks, big and dramatic including a big Jack projection that was really great and Zero flying over the crowd. Loved it.

Also, Space Mountain was SPOOKY! It was a total step away from the traditional Disney and featured really creepy skeletal projections jumping out on the turns. Nice touch!

I didn't get to the Hallowe'ened Big Thunder Mountain - after all, we did have to do some 3 year old stuff which included the Tea Cups twice, It's a Small World (which BTW was redone VERY tastefully and really stuck to the original), Peter Pan and the Merry Go Round. She also got to meet Tinkerbell at Pixie's Hollow, which I think was her favorite part as she loooooves Tink. Fun!

On the whole, Mia's first trip to Disneyland was a huge success and Hallowe'en starts with a big sparkly BANG!!!

Countdown to Halloween

2009-09-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

OK - there's only 39 days until Hallowe'en and I've joined the Countdown to Halloween group which means one posting EVERY DAY throughout the month of October.

During this time, I will be not only turning our home into the creepy and haunted Landsman Castle, I'll also be attending a writing retreat in Upstate New York where I expect the autumnal changing of the leaves will be occurring. Therefore, there's a lot to write about and I'm looking forward to the challenge. In the spirit of the holiday upcoming, I bring you some of my very favorite Hallowe'en blogs. Please feel free to add your own in comments as I LOVE a good source of inspiration!!!

X-Entertainment - home contests, reviews and all things Hallowe'en

Grim Visions - This guy is an amazing artist and an incredible inspiration. He makes the most amazing creepy and scary life sized ghouls, monsters and other freaks and is an Etsy seller!

Orange and Black - is a great blog written by a guy named All HallowSteve! Love him!

Skull-a-day is not necessarily about Halloween but he does have some great skulls. Check it out.

Dave Lowe Design also has some AWESOME inspiration. How much do I wish I was this talented.

Alright. Send me your links. Need more braaains. More braaaains!!!

The countdown begins...

2009-09-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Six weeks until Halloween!!!!
I'm not going to start the decorating until October 1st (but don't think I'm not tempted...)

Halloween Countdowngreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Mississipi's new motto

2009-09-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

"Thank God for South Carolina."

Could politics in this state be any more corrupt?

Working backwards:

9/9/2009 - Representative Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson (a trifecta of diseases!) (R-SC) yells out during a joint session of Congress "You Liar!" at President Barack Obama. Nancy Pelosi looks as if she's going to jump off the dais and hurt someone. Forced to apologize the next day as Republicans all take one giant scary step back from Wilson.

8/31/2009 - Republican Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer, who supports the rights of schools to use corporal punishment and opposes gay marriage, adoption and just generally gaity is outed as gay by Mike Rogers, who famously blew the whistles (not literally) on Mark Foley and Larry Craig.

8/31/2009 - Kristin Maguire, an South Carolinian fundamentalist Christian homeschooling mom and Governor Mark Sanford’s appointment to the S.C. Board of Education, which last year elected her its Chairwoman resigns from her post to deal with "family matters." Those matters may be that she is also Bridget Keeney, author of hardcore erotic fiction. Fiction which starts disappearing from internet sites once claims are made... What is really weird is that she promoted abstinence only education but wrote fiction which features a woman blowing a man while his pal wanks one off. I'm afraid to actually give a quote for fear of being labeled an X-rated blog.

7/29/2009 - South Carolina man arrested for the second time for having sex with a horse.

6/24/2009 - South Carolina governor Mark Sanford revealed that rather than hiking the Appalachian Trail, he was in fact using taxpayer funds to travel to Argentina to visit his mistress. He does not tell anyone, including his staff where the hell he is.

06/19/2007 - SC Republican State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel is indicted for distributing cocaine. He was Rudy Guiliani's SC State Chairman. Ravenel's father, in 2000, called the NAACP, the National Association for Retarded People. He recently said that he wasn't sorry for the remark, but apologized to any of the retarded who might have been offended.

2004 - Charles Sharpe, Republican Commissioner of Agriculture was sentenced to federal prison on charges related to cockfighting and corruption.

7/2003 Senator Jim DeMint, following the revelation that David Vitter was using the services of prostitutes reveals that: "All of us have to look at it and say that we could be next,” he said in answer to a Vitter question. “We all think that we’re not vulnerable to something like that happening, but the fact is this can be a very lonely and isolating place.” Also, compares Obama to Hitler in public.

12/2003 Joe Wilson calls Mrs. Essie May Washington Williams "unseemly" for discussing the fact that she is the daughter of racist Senator Strom Thurmond and the family's maid. TPM reports: "Of course, Williams' story was entirely true -- and never really in doubt. Thurmond was 22 and Williams' mother, a black maid working in his family home, was 16 when Williams was born in 1925. Thurmond supported Williams financially for decades." Wilson is forced to apologize.

1957 - SC Senator Strom Thurmond supported racial segregation with the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator, speaking for 24 hours and 18 minutes in an unsuccessful attempt to derail the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Cots were brought in from a nearby hotel for the legislators to sleep on while Thurmond rambled on about random things, including his grandmother's biscuit recipe.

So, the state of South Carolina huh. Wow. Y'all got a lot of stuff going on there. How about... legislating instead of, uh, I don't know, playing with yourselves.

K, thx.

Jewish Atheists/Agnostics/Secularists Wanted

2009-07-17T11:17:00.001-07:00

Over on Feministe and previously on her blog Dear Diaspora, Daisy Bond wanted to hear from:

"Diaspora Jews of my generation who, like me, are concerned with this task, but all responses are welcome. I would also very much like to hear from those Jews who are most at risk of being left out of the conversation: queer folks, Jews of color, Jews from “intermarried” families and those with only one Jewish parent, those who are themselves married to or in a relationship with a non-Jewish person, those who grew up secular or just not very observant, those who didn’t get a traditional Jewish education (Hebrew school, bar/bat mitzvah, etc). I want to hear from you! And I want you to know that Judaism is yours, that your have every right to it, that your voice and your concerns and are important and relevant and should (must!) be part of this discussion."

The conversation was regarding what we wanted in the future of Judaism and the conversation has been brisk and enlightening.

My particular interest is of those of us who are connected to Judaism but do not have a connection to a god or divine source. This includes people who have converted, those who feel left out of the larger Jewish community and anyone who has a connection to Judaism, the culture, but not the supernatural are welcome to this discussion.

As a bit of background, I grew up in a very traditionally reform synagogue and household. Lit Shabbat candles every Friday night, didn't eat shrimp or pork but didn't keep kosher either and kept separate dishes and did bedika chametz the night before Pesach, etc. As a young adult I went to HUC-JIR and had planned to become a rabbi until I realized that I was pretending to believe in God and it was incompatible, at least in my mind, with getting smicha. I promptly stopped practicing and yet, the culture, and yes, even some of the rituals, hold great meaning for me.

On this blog I have written about the Omer, Purim, tashlich, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, and mikveh. I have also written a screed about Jews and tattoos. I am pretty well drunk on the punch people but I go into even the most liberally-minded Jewish programs and the prayers turn me off.

So, my questions are:

What do you do to maintain your culture?
Have you found a community that welcomes you and makes you feel included?
Do you attend synagogue? If so, how do you deal with the God stuff?
What other questions need to be asked?

I look forward to hearing your answers and questions.

cliff list

2009-07-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

So, some of you have heard what I want done with my body upon the occasion of my demise. For those that haven't, I would like my ashes tossed off the same cliff on the big island of Hawai'i that we tossed Jeff's ashes.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Jeff's death, on July 1, 1999, I hear by present my Cliff List (in no particular order).

Some of the following I have already accomplished so those are crossed out, but it didn't seem like I should leave them out just because I've already done them...so here it is.

1. Get my book published
2. See the Taj Mahal with my niece
3. Go into the Grand Canyon on a mule
4. Make 100 beautiful things (more on this to come)
5. Take a frame-worthy photograph
6. Visit South Africa
7. Return to Israel for a visit with friends and float on the Dead Sea
8. Rent a motorscooter in Greece
9. Visit the Clinton Library
10. Travel around the U.S. in an RV
11. Visit Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial and ride through the Black Hills
12. Learn to fence
13. See the Northern Lights
14. See Chichen Itza
15. Cruise to Alaska
16. Learn to play poker
17. Learn to do metalwork
18. Learn woodworking and make something useful (or a treehouse!)
19. Get my master's degree
20. Mentor a student
21. Have high tea while sartorially appropriate
22. Have occasion to make and wear a renaissance style gown
23. See the grunion run
24. Spend a week at a writing retreat in New England in the fall
25. Write a children's book
26. Take a train to Canada with a sleeper car
27. See a meteor shower in the desert
28. Stay at the Shady Dell in Bisbee, AZ
29. Make a quilt for myself
30. Make a quilt for someone who is special to me
31. Take "that picture" with the Leaning Tower of Pisa
32. Visit Zion National Park
33. Visit Bryce Canyon National Park
34. Visit Yellowstone National Park
35. See Old Faithful erupt
36. Stand on the Great Wall of China
37. ~~Have my portrait painted.~~
38. Have a "drive in movie night" in my back yard
39. Fly in a helicopter (that isn't lifeflighting me to a hospital)
40. ~~Be in New Orleans on Mardi Gras~~
41. Write a cookbook
42. Design and build my perfect back yard
43. Have a spa environment in my bathroom
44. ~~Eat fire~~
45. Buy a needy stranger a meal
46. ~~Dive off a cliff~~
47. Learn to ride a motorcycle
48. Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef
49. ~~See an active volcano~~
50. Stay at a monastery or convent
51. Eat fresh lobster in Maine
52. Pick apples at a U-Pick farm and make applesauce
53. Grow a bunch of heirloom tomatoes and eat them with olive oil and mozzarella
54. Have a glass of Greek wine while watching the sunset off a balcony in Greece
55. Have the best Hallowe'en display on the block
56. ~~Make my own Hallowe'en costume~~
57. Have a reunion with my Israel classmates
58. ~~Go to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl with box seats~~
59. See a seriously campy movie at Cinespia
60. Go to Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach
61. Fix up an old car (preferably my 66 Ford Galaxie >photo) and join the Hell's Belles
62. Finish my tattoo
63. Get the rest of my body tattooed
64. ~~Grow a pumpkin~~
65. Visit the longest yard sale
66. Design and print my own fabric
67. Have a yearly themed party until I can't think of any more good themes
68. Build a firepit in my backyard and have a s'more roast
69. Make and can my own pickles
70. Start an Etsy site and sell my wares
71. Make my bedroom into a cozy retreat
72. Learn to sew well enough that I can make an item of clothing without hesitation
73. Have a massive Hallowe'en party
74. Have an article that I wrote printed in a major magazine
75. Go kayaking in Hawai'i again
76. Take a belly dance class
77. Ride in a hot air balloon
78. Successfully make spun sugar
79. Sleep on a houseboat
80. ~~own a home~~
81. ~~sit and read in front of my own fireplace~~
82. ~~learn to scuba dive~~
83. Get my SCUBA license
84. Go to the races
85. Make every recipe in one cookbook
86. Run a 5K
87. Have a full day of beauty at a spa and enjoy every moment
88. Leave a 100% tip for someone
89. Teach a University course
90. Fire a gun
91. ~~participate in an archeological dig and find a treasure~~
92. Skinny dip
93. Visit Pompeii
94. ~~Visit the Anne Frank house~~
95. Visit (or at least pee in) all 50 states
96. Take a pilates class
97. See the Milky Way from Joshua Tree
98. Open a store
99. Retire!
100. Ask a stranger in another country if I can take their picture in their native language
101. Have my photographic portrait taken
102. Build a snowman
103. ~~Visit the Louvre~~
104. ~~Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower~~
105. Take a swing dance class
106. Make a piece of art that I could hang on a wall and be proud of
107. Stop ending sentences in prepositions.

That last one was just for those of you who are still with me. I'm going to try to update this list to let you know how I'm doing. It's not a complete list. I'll probably add to it as I go.

I'm looking forward to checking things off the list!

I heart schadenfreude

2009-06-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

So, according to a Missouri newspaper a group of neo-Nazis decided to adopt part of a highway. This is what they reported:

The Springfield, Missouri, chapter of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi organization, thought it would be cute to adopt a section of highway along West Bypass between Sunshine and Farm Road 142. MoDOT allowed them to put up a sign along the road bearing the group's name, and members posed with it, Seig Heil-ing and whatnot (pictured). Afterward, they went home, put on their swastika-print jammies and drifted off to thumb-sucking sleep, secure in their white pride.

But then came the Jews of Kansas City.

Who went to the city council and got the very same stretch of highway named after Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose family was murdered during the Holocaust. Rabbi Heschel marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and appropriately wrote, "A Jew is asked to take a leap of action rather than a leap of thought." He also believed that racism was the gravest threat to humanity.

And now the Nazi Party of Springfield is responsible for cleaning the Abraham Joshua Heschel Memorial Highway.

Ha!

Murder in Kansas

2009-06-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

Dr. George Tiller was a physician providing abortion services in Wichita, Kansas up until yesterday when he was murdered at his church.

From 1989-1992, I helped women enter health clinics despite rows of protesters from Operation Rescue (OR) sitting in front of the doors.

I helped women over fences and through back doors. I learned to create a "toothpaste corridor" and was kicked and punched by old men and young women alike. I met some of the loveliest people in the world who awoke with me at 4 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings and staked out womens health clinics throughout the city waiting to learn which one would be "hit". I worked on Westmoreland and Figueroa, in Sherman Oaks, East L.A. and Tustin.

I learned what humiliation a woman would go through to see her doctor and what humiliation a group of people would resort to in order to prevent a woman from taking care of her health.

Dr. Tiller was a frequent target of anti-abortion violence throughout his career and yet, despite the risk to himself and his family, he continued to provide these essential health services in a place where those services were almost, if not absolutely, non-existent.

Bill O'Reilly has targeted Dr. Tiller for 4 years for providing abortion services. He deserves some of the fault in this murder. His campaign made Dr. Tiller a nationwide target warning of Dr. Tiller's "judgment day."

Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, said yesterday: "George Tiller was a mass-murderer. We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God. I am more concerned that the Obama Administration will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions."

Today I made a donation to Medical Students 4 Choice, whose mission is to make reproductive health including abortion services a part of standard medical education.

To Dr. Tiller's family and friends, I wish you peace. To anyone who would deny a woman the right to make her own decisions about her health, I hope you never have to make a choice, but if you do, I hope it is your choice to make.

Party like a ROCKSTAR?

2009-05-28T16:38:00.001-07:00

Or not.

When I was growing up we didn't have bottled water. No, seriously, no bottled water for sale. I know, it's crazy.

But the latest craze in bottled refreshment are those "energy drinks". I don't drink them but they're pretty pervasive. You see the cans, like a big ol' Colt littering the streets where young'uns hang out. I've heard they're just heavily caffeinated sugar water - like JOLT cola. Some of them have minor amounts of vitamins in them just so they can say they will help your focus or concentration or some shit like that.

Anyway, my point is that Rockstar is one of these energy drinks. You've seen the black can with the gold star on the front. Who knew that this kid friendly, rock star approved drink is actually made by a bunch of racist, anti-queer, anti-immigration douchenozzles?

The founders and owners of Rockstar69 (stay classy guys!) is none other than right-wing conservative radio shock-jock Michael (Weiner) Savage, his son, Russell and his wife Janet. That's right, the people who brought you Rockstar are the same people that founded the Paul Revere Society to:

1. Support Traditional Marriage
2. Close the Borders now.
3. Deport all illegal immigrants now.
4. Eliminate bilingual education in all states.
5. Require health tests for all recent foreign born
6. Make tax cuts permanent.
7. End Affirmative Action
8. Tort Reform - Stop Class Action Lawyers.

Fabulous.

Esquire describes Savage thusly:

If you thought Rush Limbaugh was bad, try Michael Savage, the talk-radio host whose racist, homophobic psychobabble isn't just fueling the car stereos of eight million Americans. It's fueling the priorities of the GOP.

Savage on autism:
"You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is," according to a copy of the broadcast captured on mediamatters.org. "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is."

On Muslims:
To "save the United States," lawmakers should institute "outright ban on Muslim immigration" and on "the construction of mosques"

On immigrants:
Savage on immigrant students' hunger strike: "[L]et them fast until they starve to death. ... Go make a bomb where you came from"

And on gays:
"You've got to explain to the children ... why God told people this was wrong. You have to explain this to them in this time of mental rape that's going on. The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia, that's my position. They're raping our children's minds."

And my personal favorite -- on the Nobel committee:
"90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies"

I, for one, would very much like to see these studies to which you refer. I have looked on the PubMed and LexisNexis and cannot find that of which you speak. Perhaps you have misspoke? /snark

You know what to do folks. Raise a teaspoon and boycott Rockstar.

My favorite photo

2009-05-26T13:49:00.001-07:00

From the Prop 8 protests outside of the Supreme Court building in San Francisco.

Via Towleroad taken by Brian and Brandon

Prop 8. What it's really about.

2009-05-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

The California Supreme Court, one year ago, affirmed the right of same sex couples to marry. We already know that our Supreme Court believes that this right is ours. I want to remind people of this before we get into gear for protests if need be. It's important that we always know who we're angry with and why we're angry. Barking at cars is not effective in advancing our political and personal agendas.

Today's decision is not about the right to marry technically - and in this case, technically is all that really matters.

Technically, this decision is about whether or not Proposition 8 on November's ballot was constitutional. Whether it was a revision or an amendment. If it was a revision, then the referendum process is not sufficient. This decision isn't about same sex marriage but about the referendum/initiative process in California - even though it is deciding the fates of millions of California couples.

Arguments made on both sides were not about whether marriage should be allowed but whether the people of the state of California get to decide on certain rights and how that should work -- whether by legislation or by referendum.

We'll know in about 2 hours what the Supreme Court decides. I hope people remain non-violent if the court does not decide to overturn the amendment. While anger is important and useful, violence never is.

The messages we send.

2009-05-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today, May 22 would have been Harvey Milk's 79th birthday. Happy birthday Harvey, and thanks for everything.

This same week that a sixth grade child at Mt. Woodson Elementary School in San Diego County was asked to give her report at lunch hour rather than during class. Students had to take home and have permission slips signed to listen to the report. Natalie Jones decided to do her report on the first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk.

The ACLU is charging that Natalie had her free speech rights violated. There is nothing in the life of Harvey Milk, from his upbringing to his life and political campaigning to his assassination that is inappropriate for a sixth grade classroom. Did the principal, who sent letters to parents giving them the option of not allowing their child to listen to the presentation, think that the 6th grader was going to discuss his sex life? Or was it just because this important and historical political figure might bring up more questions than the principal could handle.

Doubtless, a small but significant percentage of the children in Natalie's class are gay. They have received a message this week. A message that their lives are inappropriate.

They may receive another one on Tuesday. The California Supreme Court will rule to maintain or overturn Prop 8.

What message will they receive.

Prop 8 Decision Possibly Tomorrow

2009-05-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

I've written a post over at Shakesville.

Crossing my fingers.

ETA: 12:30 p.m. - the rulings will not come out tomorrow. They were supposed to however SF mayor Gavin Newsom asked the court this morning not to release the verdict as it coincided with the White Night Riots of 1979 in San Fran after Dan White was given the most lenient sentence following his murder of Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone.

Probably for the best but I think the rage would have been somehow cathartic.

ETA: 1:01 p.m.

Actually - I'm thinking now that Gavin Newsom is awfully paternalistic to be changing the date because the queers couldn't be trusted to behave themselves.

Some required fun

2009-05-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Good morning - I did a mini guest post on Shakesville this morning with the most adorable and biggest queer FUCK YOU in all of recorded history.

Click on over and enjoy!!! RIGHT NOW!!!

The cure for woo.

2009-05-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

While I have written about the issue of vaccines here and here, I don't know if I've ever specifically made clear my contempt for the pseudo-scientific ramblings and dangerous tracts of Jenny McCarthy and her boyfriend Jim Carrey about the whole vaccine issue.

Jenny McCarthy believes that her son, Evan's autism was caused by receiving childhood vaccines. There is no science to back this up.

In June 2007, McCarthy began promoting anti-vaccination rhetoric. She has appeared on several television shows and has published multiple books advising parents not to vaccinate their children. This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of vaccine preventable illnesses as well as an increase in the number of vaccine preventable deaths.

Now mainstream media has picked up on this movement of unscientific claims by people utterly unqualified to utter them.

The HUFFINGTON POST
Recently, the Huffington Post published an article by Jim Carrey on how children should not be vaccinated and then last week Arianna published an article by woo-meister herself, Marianne Williamson on how we should pray away swine flu and how all of our "bad thoughts" about Mexico's drug cartels caused the swine flu to occur.

The head. It wishes to explode.

OPRAH
Oprah, that monster of the media, in addition to promoting the Secret, in which you shouldn't look at fat people as it will make you fat and in which disease is caused by thinking bad thoughts (mmm, I always thought it was viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.) has now taken Jenny under her wing, inking a deal with HARPO productions and giving her a substantially wider audience to spread her misinformation.

I am furious with the spread of woo. Fine. Sell your product and make a mint off of people who are willing to believe that the universe will bring them a Mercedes. It's been done for millenia. But when you are blaming people for having diseases by not being cheerful enough, which causes them to smile and think good thoughts while avoiding any personal responsibility, not to mention shame for getting sick, not getting said Mercedes and encouraging people to ignore science and not get their children vaccinated, while putting other preschoolers at risk, I want to take some action.

Not one to rest too much on any laurels, I have started a new website. It's called "Is it Science?". I look forward to getting questions and when questions aren't coming in, I plan to have a few notes about things like the panic over the pandemic that wasn't and other problems with relying on mainstream media and "this guy I know" for news. ENJOY!

Also, if you want to do something about the Jenny/Oprah marriage made in hell, here's a suggestion from Skepchick, one of my favorite skeptical websites.

Since sending mail to Oprah herself has been futile in the past, at least in my experience, sending a letter to her target audience might be more effective so the following is their sample letter to your mom. Happy Mother's Day!!!

Dear Mom,

I know how much you enjoy Oprah, and I also know how much you enjoy children not dying. That’s why I’m sending you a quick heads-up that Oprah is about to make a big mistake by giving a lot of money and publicity to a terrible person: Jenny McCarthy, who is trying to convince people not to vaccinate their children because she mistakenly thinks vaccines are harmful. Her actions have directly led to injuries, deaths, and the spread of diseases like measles that were previously considered to be eradicated in the United States thanks to the vaccination program.

You may want to avoid McCarthy’s new ventures and maybe even let Oprah know how you feel about this.

Love,
Your loving daughter

I'll also be sending a letter to Oprah herself. Mostly because I'm a glutton for punishment. Or just a glutton.

Anyway, if you feel encouraged to do so, here's her address:

Oprah Winfrey
Harpo Productions
PO Box 909715
Chicago, IL 60690
USA

Craft Challenge

2009-05-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of being ALL THE FUCK OVER THE PLACE on this blog, I have a challenge for y'all.

I have old wooden spools. 17 of them in various sizes. They were my grandmother's. I just can't seem to get rid of them despite my willingness to get rid of just about everything else, and I'd love to make something fun with them.

Guidelines:

I'd rather not cover the advertising up as that makes them so special.
Project can include drilling and other power tools as I am very into my power tools.
Project must be something useful as well as decorative.

Submit your ideas by Friday, May 8th.

The winner (which I will pick based on my random tastes), will receive a yarn-a-licious gift. Mmmm. Yarny goodness.

All things large and small.

2009-04-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I have had a (now 21 year on and off) battle with bulimia.

"They" say it's not about food. They are right. It's not about food or weight or Vogue magazine or the portion sizes at Burger King. I'm not dismissing those things but that's not the root of this problem. At least not for me. For me the root of this problem is knowing myself.

I watched a show many, many years ago where a young woman was taken to an ice cream shop and asked what she wanted. Not what her sister would want, not what her mother thought she would want, not what she thought she should eat. What she wanted.

She did not know. And she cried.

At the time, I thought, "How could she not know her favorite kind of ice cream?". But at the time, I must have been swimming in a bucket of denial sauce because the thought of going into an ice cream shop and ordering a scoop of ice cream would have been ridiculous. What I wanted was utterly beside the point.

I still struggle with this concept of what I want. Every day. Almost every hour. Not just about food but about everything. What I want in life. What I want in my future. What I want to say, or not to say.

Michael asks me, because he knows about my ongoing battle, what I want. Sometimes I just take the easy road and choose something easy. Something that isn't going cause any attention to be paid to my answer.

This is not a way to live. At least not a good one.

Right now, I am trying, with some exceptions for financial stability, to remember to ask myself what I want. And actually do it.

I am only saying this today because it is what I know and it is what I want. It is a hard thing to say -- especially because I feel like it makes me terribly vulnerable. It also removes the mask of effortless perfection that I try desperately to hold up to everyone. I want to be the crusader against anti-intellectualism, the 24/7 smart chick who can build anything and answer any question. The woman who burdens no one. But that mask; it is killing me.

I am not nearly perfect, an IT girl, or a star. I am scared and tired and confused. But I want to be healthier. Both mentally and physically. I also want to write. I want to write books and articles and tomes.

So here I am, a little exposed. Writing it all down in the audacious hope of coming out on the other end better, healthier and more alive.

Los Angeles and Environs

2009-04-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about living in Los Angeles is the weather - and with year round temperate weather comes year round outdoor activities. This weekend there is just a crap-ton of stuff to do. I, for one, don't get out more and enjoy the variety of events in L.A. because I don't know about them until it's too late!

This weekend it's supposed to be solidly in the 80's and I will have planted my last raised bed (out of of 4!!!) so what is there to do but get out and see some of the fun, dance around a maypole, eat fresh off the vine strawberries, eat an aebelskiver, listen to taiko drumming (LOVE this) and watch some whales.

So take your antihistamines and get your ass outside!! Here are some events I highly recommend:

Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society Garden Party & Tour
Tanaka Farms Strawberry U-Pick
Oak Glen Apple Blossom Festival
Brewery Art Walk
Earth Day at Cabrillo Marine Museum
Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Festival
Southern California Medical Museum Open House
Pasadena Showcase House of Design
Scandinavian Festival (Thousand Oaks)
Malibu Whale Festival

Next weekend features my two favorite festivals -

1) the California Poppy Festival in Lancaster! JPL is always there with a great exhibit, as well as many other aerospace companies. Lots of great activities and crafts to participate in and there has always been one particular vendor with great Renaissance style clothing and accessories for your next trip to the Renaissance Faire.

2) the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA. 300 book vendors. 'Nuff said.

Have fun and don't forget your sunscreen.

PeTA

2009-03-26T11:18:00.001-07:00

This is a post I've been putting off for a long time. You see, the breadth of the discussion is so wide, it is hard to fathom, but fuck it, here goes.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a waste of your charitable dollars and does more harm to society than good. There.

1. PeTA exploits women. They call themselves a feminist organization but they treat women like a means to an end. PeTA asserts that "Animals are not ours to use for entertainment." Oh, the irony. This from the organization that holds protests involving young women wearing nothing but underwear and nipple tape in a cage with the sign "Chicks Agree: Boycott KFC".

I have no patience for people who call themselves progressive but parade nude women for shock value or as one commentator wrote their message is, "Hey look over here! Boobies! And by the way, battery farming is bad!" Total FAIL.

2. They are hypocrites. PeTA's president, Ingrid Newkirk, will take insulin (tested on animals) but insist that:

Even if animal tests produced a cure for AIDS, "We'd be against it." Vogue, September 1989

In addition, the following celebrities have been spokes persons for PETA despite their use or family members' use of medications that have been animal tested. Many of these celebs are also spokespersons for organizations that actively promote research on medications.

Gillian Anderson: Her brother suffers from Neurofibromatosis and she is Honorary Spokesperson Neurofibromatosis Association (U.K.). Gillian has also lobbied Congress for more research funding and education.

Pamela Anderson: Pamela has done charity work for Liver disease includes American Liver Foundation—Grand Marshal (10/27/02), S.O.S. ride aimed at combating hepatitis C, Canadian Liver Foundation—involved in ABC’s of Liver Disease: A National Conference on Viral Hepatitis

Christina Applegate: Christina has done charity work for Breast Cancer, including Lee National Denim Day—2003 Spokesperson (promotes breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment with Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation)

Rosanna Arquette: Rosanna has supported numerous causes including AIDS - Attended 2001 amFAR gala; Breast Cancer - Quilts of Inspiration—submitted quilt block for massive Komen Foundation quilt fundraiser

Alec Baldwin: Alec supports a number of charities for AIDS - More information; His mother is a survivor of Breast Cancer and Alec is Executive Vice President of Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund; He also attended gala for Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation to support Spinal Cord Injury charity work.

Jillian Barberie: Jillian supports AIDS research and care, attending “Karaoke Revolution” fundraiser for Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; For the City of Hope was the Moderator, The Real Deal: A Celebration of Your Favorite Out & Proud Reality Show Stars (12/11/03)

Kim Basinger: Kim is a supporter of a number of AIDS chairities

Kevin Eubanks: Kevin volunteers to fight Pediatric Diseases and Disorders at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles with weekly visits with hospitalized pediatric cancer patients; He also spoke at fundraiser benefiting Neil Bogart Memorial Fund, devoted to hands-on research for the treatment and cure of children with cancer, leukemia, and AIDS

Edie Falco: Edie is a breast cancer patient and has benefited from the research PeTA opposes. She also participated in “Curtain Call for Carolers” fundraiser Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in 2004 (a service organization for AIDS patients)

Carrie Fisher: As a person with bipolar disorder, Carrie has benefited from research opposed by PeTA. She has also supported charities fighting AIDS as an attendee at the Art for AIDS Charity Auction and fighting Pediatric Diabetes attending the Carousel of Hope Gala.

Joan Jett: Joan supported T.J. Martell and Libby Ross Foundations by covering the Beatles’ “The Word” to support awareness of Breast Cancer research.

Shirley Jones: Shirley contributed to charity auction for Discovery Fund for Eye Research

David LaChapelle: David contributed artwork to Village Care of New York’s Network of AIDS Services “Who Do You Love? Art Exhibit and Sale” and charity auction for Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. He was also was part of the Got Milk! campaign which contradicts his support for PeTA on so many other levels.

Bill Maher: Bill supports AIDS, Cystic Fibrosis & Cancer charities. He also attended “Rock & Soul to Erase MS” party; MORE

Rue McClanahan: As a breast cancer survivor and advocate, Rue has benefited from research which PeTA opposes.

John McEnroe: The John McEnroe Foundation has donated to Lenox Hill Hospital, Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Olivia Newton-John: Olivia has founded Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre (research & treatment) in Melbourne, Australia

Charlize Theron: Charlize supports Project Angel Food and AIDS charities in her native South Africa

3. Blackmail accusations were dismissed by PeTA president Ingrid Newkirk as "It doesn't matter" so long as "They are on board" (referring to PETA achieving its boycott goal).

4. PeTA's latest antics have included comparisons of the treatment of animals to slavery (12-panel display juxtaposing such images as noosed black men hanging from trees with photos of slaughtered cows) the KKK (dressing in full KKK garb outside the American Kennel Club) and the Holocaust (a display in Germany - banned this week - comparing slaughterhouse animals to concentration camp victims).

Their message has come across loud and clear but I don't think it's the message they wanted to send. They will do anything to cause you to feel guilt, which in turn will hopefully cause you to donate to their cause.

Notice, they are not actively asking you to give up your pets (part of the PeTA platform) nor are they asking the 20 year old men to give up manly meat and order tofu. That seems too much to ask and people might stop donating. And that's all that counts.

Vaccines do not Cause Autism humor

2009-03-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Love this -

From Overcompensa ting:

Faves of the week

2009-03-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

First - some news.

ShakesQuill is the artistic/creative affiliate of Shakesville - as Liss, the owner and founder of Shakesville writes:

Shakesville is a feminist blog, and a feminist's blog. It is a progressive blog. It is a safe space. It is a community. It is a blog whose contributors are resolved to endeavor always to be aware of our privilege, and, in moments of failure, remain open to criticisms and suggestions, think twice before responding defensively, and apologize when we fuck up. We expect the same of those who want membership in the community. No one is expected to be perfect; everyone is expected to be willing to self-examine and learn. Forward movement, progress, on cultural, political, and individual levels is woven into the fabric of Shakesville.

We blog about domestic politics, foreign policy, high culture, pop culture, books, film, telly, food, the patriarchy, oppression, repression, religion, philosophy, parenting, not parenting, marriage, cats, why women's trousers have so many buttons, and anything else that we feel like discussing. With photos. Many of them doctored for maximum hilarity.

All are invited. Whether you are welcome is up to you.

So, I am thoroughly honored and more than a little humbled to announce that I have been chosen as the new editor of ShakesQuill. I encourage you to submit your writing and creative endeavors.

And now on to the fun. It's Friday and I thought I'd put up some of my favorite things for the week of March 16 - 20. In my opinion, each and every one of these is worth clicking on. Really.

Here's 9 things just because I like 'em odd.

1. This t-shirt. It's funny cause it's true.

2. This movie. Can't.freakin.wait.

3. This project. So cute.

4. This gardening idea. Clever, clever!

5. This piece of technology. I'll never lose mine again!

6. This statement. I want a poster made for my craft room.

7. This website. Oh, the things I could make....

8. This abso*fucking*lute ridiculousness. Oh, come on. A master's in science? Really?

9. This made me laugh so hard I almost peed myself. And it's so, so wrong.

The honor of oppression

2009-03-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it is my degree in religious studies.

Perhaps it is my innate curiosity about the inner workings of other people's minds.

I am bewitched by stories of a good hard core extremist cult. I am fascinated by the FLDS, smitten with Satmar, dazzled by Opus Dei, and generally enraptured by various evangelist Christian sects. In which lies my new favorite sociological possession, the Quiverfull movement.

The Quiverfull movement refers to the part of Psalm 127 (NKJV):

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

And so they let that Lord plan their families for them, hence the extreme sized, yet quaint and celebrated Duggar family of "18 kids and counting" on the TLC network.

One of the tenets of the quiverfull movement is that women's bodies are as living sacrifices to the Lord. Their bodies are, most conspicuously, not their own.

If the Lord has seen to give one family more than another, it is only proof of how the woman has sacrificed herself to her savior. As a member of this movement, she not only sacrifices her body to a decades long series of pregnancies breastfeedings but her time and intellect to homeschooling the children with the movement's "curriculum" and her self determination to the practice of being a helpmeet in female submissiveness. Submitting first to her god and then to her husband.

As Kathryn Joyce writes in The Nation, "Women's attempts to control their own bodies--the Lord's temple--are a seizure of divine power." Joyce has a new book out about the movement, Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement which I am going to order eventually to add to my ever growing library of books on cults where women give themselves over to having multitudes of children, are essentially isolated from the greater society, tend to dress in anachronistic fashions and often completely eschew much of modern technology such as the internet, cell phones and television.

Part of my fascination with the women living in these sects is that when one hears an account from them, they often feel special and chosen. The entire culture of the sect is supposedly based on placing women on a pedestal for the submission to oppression. Their dress, especially, sets them apart from the rest of society. The burden they take on, whether of homeschooling their 10 children, of keeping the mitzvah of family purity, of being in a polygynous marriage and sharing their husband with upwards of 3 other women, is, they feel and are told, is a great honor.

I often have what some therapists call the "Heaven's Reward distortion". Sometimes I believe, when I am at my most distorted, that if I suffer now, good will come to me later (not in the afterlife, since I don't believe in one, but eventually, in this life). I live with a distorted value of asceticism, judgments of what is good and bad, not for others, but for myself.

I realize in reading the accounts of these women submitting to the "joy of suffering" that I relate more to these women who live in external manifestations of these issues, than I like. There is part of me that is envious of their situations, if only that I live with the internalization of the denial and cannot leave the cult that I have created in my own brain.

Prop 8 arguments

2009-03-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

9:27 a.m.

I'm listening to Prop 8 arguments live. It's really rough. I'm glad I'm not a lawyer. The justices are giving the lawyers a hell of a time. They are comparing the taking away of marriage rights to the restoration of the death penalty and how can the death penalty be reinstated by initiative, which is taking away the fundamental right to life, then why can't the right to marriage be taken away by initiative.

9:37 a.m.

Mr. Morocco - The argument right now is the difference between a revision and an amendment. They are basically asking this lawyer to define the difference within the context of the California constitution.

9:44 a.m.

"This is an initiative that altered fundamental rights." I wish I could see the justices. This female justice is certainly on our side. Anyone knows who it is? (btw - Justice Corrigan)

The court went beyond the immediate issue of marriage nomenclature during the marriage cases arguments last May in making gays and lesbians a protected class.

Now they are talking about civil unions vs. marriage (religious). His argument is, if the state is going to be in the marriage business, do it equally, if not equal, then get out of the marriage business and everyone in the state should have civil unions.

9:44 a.m.

My god. I thought the difference between revision and amendment was codified. Apparently not. Hmmm. Perhaps this should be....y'think?

9:51 a.m.

Arguments are around bussing (which I have an issue with in itself) but the lawyer is arguing that the bussing initiative was a remedy, which 8 was not a remedy. The lawyer is now arguing pre-Perez (miscegnation) which would argue that domestic partnerships between mixed race couples and marriage between same-race couples.

9:55 a.m.

Maude I love this lawyer. He's really clear and really confident.

9:57 a.m.

Interestingly, Justice Kennard is being really tough but she voted with the majority in Marriage Cases and Corrigan is being really complimentary but voted against.

10:01 a.m.

Stewart (lawyer) up.

10:04 a.m.

OK, now they are talking about the invalidation of existing marriages and the lawyer is arguing that this is vague and it needs to be unequivocably clear.

The argument is now that voters did not know that this amendment would invalidate previously granted marriages. I wonder if that, in itself, would invalidate or overturn prop 8.

10:13 a.m.

Currently they are recovering the issues of constitutional and governmental structure and how Prop 8 either changed the structure of government or not. It's a complicated argument - they are really talking case law right now.

Oh, and apparently there were 63 amicus briefs.

10:19 a.m.

Chris Kruger (asst. atty. gen. for Jerry Brown) is arguing that Prop 8 is unconstitutional but I believe he is disagreeing with the other anti-Prop 8 lawyers that it is not an amendment. Not sure. Yep. He is disagreeing with his own side but his argument is that it is unconstitutional. His argument is very confusing and he doesn't seem clear yet.

10:25 a.m.

He is arguing that under Marriage Cases, they made the rights of gay men and lesbians to marry as an inalienable right. And now the death penalty has come up again whether the right to life and the right against cruel and unusual punishment (which has been changed through the initiative process) is equal to the right to marry.

10:34 a.m.

He does not seem to know his own arguments. Grrrr. He is really unprepared!

10:35 a.m.

STOP SAYING "y'know"!!!!! Wow. One of the justices just withdrew her question because the atty. didn't get it. OMG he is not doing us any favors.

10:40 a.m.

OK - this is I think the main point which is: why can the court change the people's will? And the breadth of the power of the people is not under discussion at the court at this moment. (Kannard)

10:43 a.m.
Is this a one way street? Does the same standard apply -- could the right be expanded and rescinded by the same process?

How do we know what an inalienable right is? and would anything that could be framed as an inalienable right not be subject to the people's right to initiative?

10:50 a.m.

When is his time up??? Oh, thank Maude. His time is up.

10:53 a.m.

Kenneth Starr is up. He is now arguing that amending the constitution an inalienable right which the court agrees with. They are asking him to now explain why this is not a revision. Ken Starr's voice is creeping me out. He sounds a bit like Bobby Jindal with the sing-songyness.

11:02 a.m.
He is arguing that any inalienable right can be rescinded by an appropriately worded and fully informed amendment.

If the people decide to make a change that is "unwise" they have that right without review by another branch of government. So he's basically saying that the right to free speech and the right to oh, property, could be rescinded even if it was idiotic. Of course it would go to SCOTUS and be "dead on arrival" but they have the right to make bad laws.

11:11 a.m.

"Each of us is a minority of one." Starr. Oh, the privilege.

11:12 a.m.

"We are asking this court to stay the jurisprudential course."

11:15 a.m.

If flattery gets you any prizes, Ken Starr FTW.

11:19 a.m.

What is Marriage has now come up and was brought up by K.Starr. I'm a little surprised that he brought it up. I'm also a little surprised that he referred to the U.K. as "her majesty's kingdom".
He also mentions that the traditional definition crosses all time and place. Um. No.

11:24 a.m.

Interesting, Ken Starr does not believe that Prop 8 invalidates the marriages (18,000) but that those relationships become unrecognized by the state, however, for instance, MA would recognize those marriages. Hmmm.

11:28 a.m.

Wow!!! This was a good one. Ken Starr argued that there was "a swirl of uncertainty when those couples got married" however one of the justices then argued that the court validated marriage and should people now not trust the court when it makes a ruling?

11:35 a.m.

"why wasn't there an express retroactivity clause (in Prop 8)?" Justice believes it was political strategy!

11:37 a.m.

Could he possibly be more condescending? "Fair point."

11:46 a.m.

The court ran out of questions for Starr so now we're back to Shannon Minter for rebuttal.

11:48 a.m.

Prop 8 took away the label of marriage and it's applicability to gay and lesbian couples. It left intact the designation of special class according to Kennard. "Is it still your view that the sky has fallen in?" way to condescend!

11:50 a.m.

Gay and lesbian couples would have the burden of coming to the initiative process as constitutional outsiders. - Minter

11:53 a.m.

Morrocco is up. Gender is a suspect class according to this court. Hypothetical - females on the court are now commissioners. It's about nomenclature - passes. Would this pass muster? Kennard moves the discussion to retroactivity. I think he was going toward the argument of gender discrimination on the marriage contract when he was cut off by Kennard.

11:59 a.m.

Now up - Stewart. She's good. I think she's got a really good point here. She is arguing that Starr's premise is fundamentally flawed - that the proposition process should not allow discrimination.

12:08 p.m.
Eesh. It doesn't look like Justice Kennard is on our side for this one.

12:08 p.m.

Initiative process is a limited power and this court has always had the responsibility to determine where that line falls. - Stewart.

12:11 p.m.

She's really bringing it back around to the revision vs. amendment issue.

12:13 ADJOURNED.

Now we wait.

Douchenozzle of the Year - 2009

2009-02-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

So, it seems that research published in the February 1998 issue of The Lancet showing some link between the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism was manipulated and misreported.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the lead author of this study and his co-authors are now defending themselves to the General Medical Council of Britain (equivalent to the AMA) for serious professional misconduct, specifically in regard to conflict of interest and manipulating data.

Meanwhile, advocates of the link continue to encourage families to skip vaccination leading to a jump in outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases. Whereas previously there had been one outbreak a year, in 2008 there were 30 outbreaks between January and July. 131 individuals were infected prior to July 30th and of those cases, 63 were in children whose parents had refused vaccination. Thankfully, at least in these cases, none died though 11% were hospitalized. Andrew Wakefield and his followers are lucky in this regard.

The Sunday Times of London stated this week that the rates of vaccination fell from 92% (below measles herd immunity) to below 80% after the publication of Wakefield's study, and that confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales have risen from 56 in 1998 to 1348 in 2008, with two child fatalities.

As I have learned, over and over again working in research, anecdotal information is NOT science. Peer reviewed and repeatable data is science. Period.

H/T Hoyden About Town

On a personal note.

2009-02-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. - Robert Heinlein

February 6, 2000

To be loved in the difficult times -- To be comforted and listened to, enshrouded in security - it is the greatest gift I have ever received. Michael is my safety and comfort, my confidante and best friend, my cheerleader, fan and pep squad. He is inspirational and optimistic and gives me perspective when I lose my own. He is generous and kind beyond my wildest dreams.

Happy Anniversary babe. Here's to new challenges and new adventures.

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Flashback posting

2009-02-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

Because:

1) it's been in the 80's all week
2) I love L.A.
3) Liss at Shakesville asked as her Question of the Day about favorite seasons

I thought I'd do a repost from a November of 2006.

-----------------------------------
There is a season

Seriously? Do you really not have any short term memory whatsoever? 3 years ago today it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit downtown. This is not unusual. This is not freakish.

In fact, according to the National Weather Service, the highs in Los Angeles for November, December and January have always broken the high 80s. In fact, November 1, 1966 it hit 100 degrees.

It's warm in L.A.? yes
there is global warming? yes
this is a sign of the apocalypse? No. This is why you moved here.

Enough complaining. And, in my presence, I want to hear no complaining about seasons. Spend a week in Minnesota in February. Then complain about seasons.

Anyway, Los Angeles has seasons.

To start the year, we have awards season. Officially this lasts until the Oscars in March, though it can stretch on with the GLAAD Media Awards, the ALMA Awards, the MTV Movie Awards and the Daytime Emmys.

February to May is pilot season. Which is lucky because it overlaps with the rainy season, in which Cosentino's flower shop in Malibu makes its annual trip into the Pacific. In May and November, there is sweeps season.

Late August usually begins fire season which can last until December but usually ends in October and overlaps with Hiatus in August, both of which overlap with Bowl season which stretches from June to early October.

Then there's the Holiday season, which is really just high shopping season - Holiday season is evidenced by the lack of parking at the Grove and the Scientology snow day on Hollywood Blvd. To some extent shopping season never really ends, it just wanes slightly.

See. Seasons. Told ya.

They do WHAT?

2009-01-23T10:44:00.000-08:00

On Faux News, Dr. Terri Orbuch noted that:

"We also need to be affectionate—and you can see that with Barack and Michelle, as well. They do a lot of touching, kissing, even fisting with one another."

Come on now! You promote yourself as The Love Doctor propose to be a relationship/sex expert and you call this fisting?
I'll show you fisting!

Actually, no, I won't but I could....

I could.

But I won't.

Victory!

2009-01-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a crafty post in quite a while so, here is the latest news.

It's 80 degrees F and gorgeous in L.A. with no reports of a cool down. Must be time to start planting!!!

Despite my backyard being a total disaster (my fault entirely), I am, as part of this weekend's MLK National Weekend of Service, going to do my part in making this a healthier earth by planting my very own victory garden!

I have Mel Bartholomew's All New Square Foot Gardening
for a guide. He's quite a "character", that Mel. I think in the south, they'd call him touched. I'd call him a total nutbag, but he has some great tips for raised bed gardening.

This weekend involves building the beds. I won't be following Mel's advice exactly because my existing beds will make excellent bases. Then next weekend, I will be adding Mel's extra special fancy recipe for soil. Over the year I plan to plant:

Blackberries
Carrots
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Peppers
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Zucchini and whatever else seems fun at the moment.

In addition, I will be replanting some citrus trees that I have sadly neglected and thereby horribly murdered.

On February 1st, due to budgeting constraints this month, I will be purchasing this composter and making my own compost and compost tea!

Gardening appeals to me on a number of levels. I am crafty, but the crafts that appeal to me most are where something useful is created. Hence, my great love of knitting, crocheting and sewing hats, as all my Stitch n' Bitchers know.

I consider making fruits and vegetables grow out of the ground as supremely crafty. Not to mention, turning egg shells and coffee grounds into rich compost. That is some serious craft right there.

So, while I am still knitting, crocheting and sewing (btw - my serger is actually at the repair shop getting a spa mani/pedi and lube job!)

In addition to all of the love of having actual food growing in my back yard, the hard work of making it grow is something I have discovered in my two years in our new home. I really enjoy getting out into the dirt and the sun. I love getting into the shower afterward and watching rivers of dirt stream off me. Hard work on my land for such a great benefit is really quite fun and later in the spring I can have my niece and all of my other little faux nieces and nephews come over and help me pick the produce.

Forward, ho.

2009-01-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

So, looking forward, what am I doing with 2009?

Getting my health in order, 'cause right now, frankly, it's not. I've been ignoring a bunch of stuff that, were I my child or my wife, it would be unacceptable.

Getting my money in order. A number of years ago, I went debt-free, which is a wonderful feeling. Ever since then, I've been using my AmEx, so essentially, I live one month behind. I pay my AmEx at the end of every month. So I am always paying for January with February's paycheck. In this year, I'd like to start going backward a little more by trying to live a cash life. That will certainly involve at least 2 or 3 months of very strict budgeting but I know it is worth it. Despite being in pretty good shape fiscally, I still have anxiety about money. And really, who doesn't right now?

I need some intellectual challenge. It ain't coming from the Sunday crosswords and it's not happening at work. It's time to come up with a plan, and right now, that plan probably entails going back to school for a master's degree. I might have even found a program. And no GRE!* I'll keep y'all posted.

Those are the big ones for 2009. Of course I'd like to have all holiday presents hand made by November 15th and have the perfect desk by then as well but...we'll take one thing at a time.

Happy new year y'all.

(*The last time I took the GRE, I felt like my brain had been drained of all fluids afterward. It was unpleasant. I could barely remember how to drive a car. I'm not doing it again. I like an intellectual challenge but that was just plain stupid.)

Doin' it, elephant style

2009-01-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Here is your laugh of the day.

"We have to do it in the Facebook, with the Twittering, the different technology that young people are using today."—Republican National Committee incumbent chairman Mike Duncan, on how the GOP can appeal to younger generations.

Now I will fully admit to my age running right up against the onslaught of Twitter. I'm not entirely sure why anyone needs to Twitter unless they're in an ongoing situation of journalistic interest, but that's just me. Nope. Scratch that. I totally don't understand the attraction of Twitter. If anyone can explain it to me so that I might actually understand that attraction, I will send them a prize. I'm serious.

Nevertheless, researchers at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior are working on assessing the brain activity of older adults who are less exposed to new technologies and have found that our brains are "sensitive and can continue to learn as we get older."

Apparently this is not as true for actual leading members of the Grand Old Party. And they wonder why they are losing young people...

Read the whole article here.

via Shakesville.

The "So Queer" Year in Review

2009-01-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of resolutions. I believe that if I want to change something, I should do it NOW. Now, now, now. On the other hand, I think the end of a year, the passing of a milestone is a good time to look back and look forward. Today, we look back.

Back:

I rented a sod cutter and utterly failed motorcycle class. No seriously, I was actually asked to leave the class. Why, yes, it was humiliating! I also presented a couple of papers which fed my academic ego.

I did some amazing design and party planning work including the Oedipus Coronation, the Oedipus 50th anniversary and I spent the second half of the year designing a friend's mid-century modern condo in Palm Springs. It was an awesome experience and if, when growing up I hadn't decided that I needed to be all smart and academic and shit, I might have given myself an opportunity to do design....wev.

(BTW - please don't send that into Cake Wrecks, ok? That is our patch, it's a 16 in. round cake in two layers and it was a lot of work! and it tasted like a pound of Valrhona in cake form.)

Sometime in the summer the ban on queer marriage was overturned and in November, I had the great honor to perform Frank and his partner's wedding which was utterly fabulous! and then we had to get out the vote. While Obama did, unfortunately Prop 8 did too.

2008 was my 10th year in my book group. Unfreakinbelievable. We've read some good books, some great books and some books that if I couldn't get my money back for them, I'd have shredded them so no one else would have to suffer.

This was a year of some family health issues. Hasn't been a great year in that respect and the health problems, as they are wont to do, colored a lot of the year a fine shade of charcoal gray.

I interviewed but didn't get one really amazing job. It did, however, make me realize that there are jobs out there that use my skills without necessarily doing the same exact thing I'm doing now.

Also, in November, I became a full and voting member of Oedipus Motorcycle Club. I am the first female voting member in the 50 year history of the club and I was voted in unanimously. I am so proud to be a member and I look forward to all of the rides this year!

So that was 2008. To be followed, of course, by a look forward!

V1@grA and @fghan1stan

2008-12-30T06:31:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who is more than a little angry at the U.S. government/CIA handing out Viagra to warlords in Afghanistan for their cooperation against the Taliban?

In theory, I suppose I could come up with some arguments justifying this "strategy". Let's start with the fact that Viagra was invented to treat a legitimate medical problem. Even if it wasn't just for the ED issues, what's the harm in a man having a little fun with one of his wives? They all look so damn sweet in the commercials in that "show your wedding ring pre-coital" pose in the bathtub (can we talk about that double bathtub on the cliff thing? WTF?").

So let's get down to what is seriously pissing me off about this issue.

1. In Afghanistan it is estimated by human rights agencies that approximately 25% of women have been subject to sexual violence.

2. Rape, especially the rape of children, in the post-Taliban Afghanistan is becoming an epidemic.

3. Hundreds of women are serving terms in Afghani prisons for the crime of having sex outside of marriage. Whether that means she ran away from her husband she was married to at 7 years old or whether she was raped by soldiers. The interpretation of Sharia that they are using calls for a woman to be imprisoned for sex outside of marriage.

4. Now for their cooperation, let's give these men some boner-makers. Which I'm certain makes some very happy men and some rather terrified women.

For objectivity's sake, I can imagine a nice 60 year old warlord who is having trouble getting it up with his four consensually married wives and they are, all five of them, thrilled for the opportunity to have intimate marital relations once again with the old man.

I can also imagine the other extreme. And I'm having a really hard time believing that women are not being raped on a more regular basis thanks to our CIA.

A plea to Israel

2008-12-29T08:51:00.000-08:00

In this round of:

"I kill you!"
"You kill me? I kill you!" ad nauseum.

The Palestinians and Israelis are back at it. As an American Jew who only lived in Israel a short time, I know I have no entitlement to tell Israel how to run it's country (unlike a host of other Americans who think because they are Jewish, they have a say in this thing). I do, however, have an opinion and I'm going to share it.

Stop it already. I realize that the Palestinians have been lobbing rockets into S'derot and other border cities. I realize Israeli citizens have been killed and I understand that a government needs to protect it's citizens. But seriously. Stop it. There has to be another way. Bombing Palestinian cities has never worked before. What makes you think it is going to work this time? All it does is make children vow revenge for murdered parents and siblings raising yet another generation of warmongers.

Please stop it. I know Hamas does not want to sit down at a table with the Israeli government and I don't have a wise answer for this problem but I beg you and all of the philosophers and military strategists you have at your disposal to find another way.

On a personal note. I can barely watch these news reports. They actually hurt me. All of these people on both sides with so much potential, either dead or maimed or using all of their human potential to find a better/faster/more ingenious way to kill or injure people on the other side of the line. We are, all of us, better than this.

Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie SUCK redux

2008-12-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

I tried and tried. I love these two stores and yet ever since CEO Richard Hayne donated to Rick (gays = bestiality and pedophilia) Santorum, I can't shop there. Won't.

But honestly, I haven't convinced many people to follow. Despite them ripping off designs from indie designers.

Now, can I have your attention.

Urban Outfitters, home of Jesus is My Homeboy and Reefer Madness t-shirts has stopped selling the I Support Same Sex Marriage t-shirt. Hmmm. So, I guess to them, pot is cool but support for two guys or girls getting married is an unacceptable message.

So I ask you, once again, no matter how cute something is, could you please, please stop shopping at these stores?

Thanks!

In the land where money is no object

2008-12-02T10:25:00.001-08:00

Conspicuous consumerism in 5...4...3...

Despite having an interior home design that is greatly inspired by the Craftsman artists, I have a great love of mid-century modern (MCM) design. The sleek and atomic inspired design makes me ever so slightly giddy. When I designed Mick and Jim's condo in Palm Springs (to be completed December 21st - photos to follow and it's available for rental!!!). I picked through every thrift store in Riverside to find the perfect credenza, nightstands, coffee table, chairs and art.

The art is the best part. MCM art is often fabulously wild and offbeat. It ranges from chunky sculpture to tiki kitsch. The most famous of the art inspired by, but not original to mid-century, is by SHAG, who I have a big ol' art crush on. He has produced a new set of pieces in collaboration with Disney commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion. They are frankly, awesome. In the land where money is no object, I am at the opening cocktail party for the exhibit on August 8th, 2009 and I get myself one of these signed by the SHAG himself.

I have been dreaming about the land where money is no object a lot lately. In this land, I am tattooed from my collar bone to my ankles to my wrists. I also have a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible (my first car, which my brother wrapped around a light pole) in turquoise with a natural gas or biofuel converted engine. Of course, I would donate a ton of money to all kinds of great causes, but this is what I'd do for myself.

What is in your "land where money is no object"?

Thanksgiving follow up

2008-11-25T11:02:00.001-08:00

In this photo it is Thanksgiving day 1988. I am 17 years old. I am with the (now Rabbi) Larry Bach. We are massacring a pumpkin to boil, mash and turn into pumpkin pies.

We clearly have no idea what we're doing. But no one died from the pies, so pat on the back to us.

Thanks Michele!

Yom haTarnegol hodoo (Turkey Day!)

2008-11-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

Twenty years ago today, I was living on a kibbutz in Israel. I had been living there about 3 months at the time, just enough time to feel settled and comfortable in my surroundings.

On Tzora, I lived with 21 other American students in a little village, separated slightly from the kibbutzniks, though we occupied the same land and intermingled constantly both at work and at play.

Most of the kibbutzniks were born in Israel. Of those that were not Sabras, most were South African and there were a few Argentinians sprinkled in for flair.

There was no American celebration of Thanksgiving on Kibbutz Tzora.

There was, however, a turkey farm. 18,000 stinky, stinky turkeys.

Our living situation was not luxurious but apparently not one of us cared. Each of us shared a room with one other person. In each room there were 2 cots, 2 desks, 2 closets, 2 chairs, a sink, a hotplate and in the bathroom there was a toilet, a sink and a shower head sticking out of the wall.

Three rooms shared one refrigerator.

We all shared a meeting room where we met for some of our courses. In addition to the tables and chairs, there was a television and an oven. At that time, Israel had 3 TV channels. The only thing I remember about the TV was that on Pesach, the 10 Commandments with Charlton Heston showed 24 hours a day. Weird.

Anyway, we decided to make Thanksgiving dinner. I was 17, the youngest of the bunch. I think the eldest was a grand 23 years old. Not quite Kid Nation but a rag tag bunch we were. We all had food rations for the store and I'm sure we saved up our butter and sugar rations for the big meal.

With 10 hot plates, 1 oven and 22 crazy kids, we prepared Thanksgiving dinner the old-fashioned way. Someone killed a turkey, plucked and degizzarded it, and cooked it in one of the massive kibbutz ovens at the main kitchen. Someone got some pumpkins at the closest town which we chopped up into small pieces and boiled on the hotplates, and then made the closest thing to pumpkin pie that we could. We also made stuffing and maude only knows what else. We probably drank more wine than we should have. If I remember correctly, that was a theme of my tenure in Israel.

I wish I had more memories of that day, but that is another story for another time.

What I do know, is that at 17, I learned how incredibly capable I was with this group. I became a more independent, more outspoken, braver human being than I had ever been before and even though I haven't seen most of them in 19 years, I do really love each and every one of them.

Make 'em Laugh!

2008-11-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

Proposition 8 passage getting you down? Not finding any humor in it at all?

Lizard OC, a regular of the commentariat at Shakesville has put up a blog that has been making me giggle for the last couple of weeks. I thought (duh) I should share it with y'all. It's chock to the brimstone (he he) with comments from around these here internets by fundies who are making terrible (just TERRIBLE) arguments against same sex marriage followed by a bit of snarky commentary by Lizard. Here's a sample.

Diagnosis: Internalized vajayjay dentata

November 20, 2008

“I love my dog, my car, my children, and my jaw line. Because love is the bases for marriage then I should be able to marry all those items. In fact, I can recieve dental benefits because I am in love with my teeth and we are wed in California. I can wait till i get rectile benefits for my colonoscopy every week to diminish testing HIV positive: the disease of homosexuality.”

Can somebody call Shonda Rimes? Because I can see this as a terrific storyline for a Very Special Episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Man arrives at hospital with teeth and wedding ring hopelessly lodged in own genitalia; Izzie falls in love with him and steals another patient’s dentures to keep him alive and chewing; heartfelt pop music plays; Meredith realizes that her mother always loved her own jawline more than she loved her daughter; and many, many jokes are made about “rectile dysfunction.” Seriously.

Go get more at Fundamentally Flawed.

Transgender Day of Remembrance

2008-11-20T06:15:00.000-08:00

Today is the 10th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Since Prop 8 passed on the California ballot, two transgender women in the U.S. were murdered. Teish Cannon in Syracuse, New York was shot and killed and Duanna Johnson in Memphis, Tennessee was also shot and killed.

In the past year, since the last Day of Remembrance, 29 people have been murdered throughout the world for straying outside of the accepted gender norm.

The youngest of these was Lawrence King, 15 years old, who was shot in his classroom by a classmate because he wore traditionally women's clothing. But only 10 days later, Simmie Williams, Jr., 17 years old was shot and found wearing women's clothing as well.

Six months later, in July, we all heard about Angie Zapata, 18, who was beaten to death in her apartment in Colorado, but we didn't hear about Nakhia Williams in Louisville, Kentucky who was shot to death one month later.

Murderers often use the excuse that "they were tricked", they were "afraid" or they completely dehumanize the person as in the case of Angie Zapata. Giving, for one moment, the argument that being tricked or being afraid is real, the case for murder holds no water. A human being does not kill another for feeling "tricked."

In many of these cases, however, the dehumanization of a transgender or gender non-conforming person is the real "reason" they are murdered. Angie Zapata's killer said that he "killed it".

Destroying the other seems to be our "go-to" reaction lately. Whether it is raping and murdering women in the military, murdering people who don't conform to a gender norm or attempting to make Barack Obama into a terrorist Muslim, unpatriotic, scary black man that we "really don't know much about."

How about for one day, remembering that Duanna Johnson had a mother who loved her. That Angie was popular and fun, that Lawrence King had a life ahead of him to learn and grow and become whatever his heart desired. That all of these murdered people had friends and family (whether bio or chosen) that loved them and wept when they died.

See article by Queen Emily on How to Mourn.

Hope-y change....change-y hope?

2008-11-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

It's all about the change-y hope around here parts. Because of so many donations, I am heading over to the Jeff Griffith Youth Center on Friday! Fully 32 days before my deadline with two lawn and leaf bags full of underwear, socks, washcloths, bras, shower gel, soap, mouthwash, sweatshirts, socks, and all kinds of other stuff these kids need.

Frank at the Youth Center was super sweet and very grateful for y'alls help.

If anyone wants to bring stuff to Stitch n' Bitch, I will definitely be there this week. Here's the list of what is desperately needed:

Unused stuff
washcloths
towels
socks
underwear
bras
hotel-sized toiletries

Used OK
Pants (this is a big one! Men's and women's of any sizes)
Sweatshirts

Thanks everyone!!!

And now, a humorous intermission (possibly NSFW)

2008-11-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have a great love of all things tacky.

I cannot display my love of kitsch in my home, however, because our home is the "oasis of zen calm™" among my friends and family, so I'm told. Therefore, I cannot display my crocheted strawberry pie, the standee of Lisa Simpson or any other finds that have tickled my love of a good piece of trash. The only exception to this is my grove of pink flamingos in the back yard.

However, one of the greatest parts of the intertubes is that you can see other people's collections of stuff that they make, collect or find on the street.

Crochet is the art of kitsch. Some of the most hideous outfits ever put to advertising were crocheted. Just check out Stitchy McYarnpants for proof.

I have been crocheting since I was about 7 or 8 years old and though I'm not as fast as Ellen (Queen of crochet), I daresay, I'm pretty good. The greatest part of crochet is that you can make just about anything and you don't need a pattern. Crochet a little here, a little there and you have a taco, bacon, or severed fingers.

As I hopped around the web looking for fun this week, I found is What Not to Crochet.

and this.

Hellllllllllllllllllp!!!! FFS! What were they thinking?????????

Marriage vs. Civil Union

2008-11-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

I have received a couple of emails about the fight for marriage equality and the issue with civil unions. This is my attempt to address the issues.

There are two issues here. One is semantics and the other is rights. Rights is the easiest of them, honestly, so I'll deal with that first.

RIGHTS
When I want to make decisions on behalf of my husband with regard to medical care, I am his wife and I have rights. Because we went to Vegas, paid $70 bucks and had Pat the County Commissioner declare us husband and wife, no one has the right or the responsibility that I do for my husband and vice versa. Only I can pull the plug on Michael. Our parents, no matter how much they yell and fight and try to sue, can't.

Whatever it is called, everyone, throughout the entire U.S., needs to have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else. Until the Federal government passes completely non-negotiably equal marriage rights for everyone, this will continue to be a problem because if Jane and Jackie leave the state of Connecticut and drive to Maine and get into a car accident -- or Maude forbid, they get a job offer in another state, their rights do not extend. In addition, they do not have the federal tax advantages, or disadvantages that straight couples do.

SEMANTICS
As a religious studies scholar, it is very attractive to consider changing all secular "marriages" whether gay or straight, as civil unions as twinsetellen has suggested in a number of comments. Aside from all of the commentary that this is impossible given our society, etc., this "solution" leaves out the queers who are "joined" in a religious environment. Who gets to decide what consists of a religious marriage? Only fundamentalists get to define marriage? Does it mean that if Adam and Steve want to get married at All-Saints Episcopal and the officiating Reverend is more than happy to join them in holy matrimony, are they considered married? or just civilly unionized? If Rabbi Brian wants to join Tova and Elisheva as a married couple, will he be allowed or will only the Rabbinical Council be allowed to confer that title. If so, I know how that will turn out.

I am not religious, however, I would like to allow those couples who want to be joined in marriage to be so joined and while I like the idea of noting that, in fact all marriages that occurred in a non-religious environment are, civil unions, getting the federal government to change the wording to reflect that... well, I have too much to do to fight for the right to not be seen through this antiquated lens right now.

I have other fights to fight. As I mentioned a long time ago (2 1/2 years!!), I have to choose my battles. I recycle but I can't sleep in a park to save a tree. I do self-exams, but as yet I haven't walked 100 miles to raise money to fight cancer. I have to trust that someone else feels so strongly about these things that they will choose that issue, pick up their teaspoon and fight. I choose HIV, I choose rape and sexual assault, I choose marriage equality. If you feel strongly, trust that I am doing my part, pick up your own teaspoon and fight away!

To my Peeps in the AZ

2008-11-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

Here are Roland Spongberg's Arizona El Pollo Loco Locations!!! Keep it up!

El Pollo Loco #3566 5130 S. McClintock. Tempe, AZ 85282 (480) 557-5555

El Pollo Loco #3561 5810 W. Bell Road. Glendale, AZ 85308 (602) 268-6611

El Pollo Loco #3567 3781 W. Ina. Marana, AZ 85741 (520) 572-0010

El Pollo Loco #3573 820 N. 54th St. Chandler, AZ 85226 (480) 763-0400

Proposition 8 Allies

2008-11-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

So, in all fairness, I've been giving a lot of information about those who worked against equality and I'd like to remedy that a bit.

Here are some of the companies that we should be supporting with our equality-loving $$$$

Puma Springs Vineyard looks like my kind of place and I don't even drink! Barbara and Tony, the straight owners donated $35,500 to the NO on 8 campaign. I think I might just raise a glass to them!!! If you're planning a wine tour - I'd spend time with this lovely couple (BTW - they rent sheep to weed the vineyards!!!)

GreenDirt Landscape Design made a contribution of $11,500 - how did Mr. Wolk know I was looking for a landscape designer? The next time you are, have I got a guy for you!!!

Aanraku Glass Studios sells gorgeous materials for art lovers and stained glass artists alike. They donated $1001!

Dolby Laboratories - Ray and Dagmar Dolby have been allies from the way back. They donated $135,000 - yes. You read that right. Thanks Dolbys!!! I'm not sure how to support them but you can smile when you see that Dolby Surround logo!!!

You can also geek out to Star Wars as Mr. Lucas and LucasFilm donated $100,000.

Throw on your 501s as Levi Strauss - also a longtime supporter donated $25,000. And head to Circus Disco (!) where owner Eugene La Pietra donated $100,000! Hopefully the DJ be playing Fall Out Boy who donated $50,000! If not, you can put their new single on your Apple iPod as Apple donated $100,000 as well!

If you know of any other allies I should be noting - please leave in comments!

Stitch n' Bitch tonight/Prop 8 protest

2008-11-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

Hey my stitchers and bitchers at WeHo - just an F to the YI, there's going to be a ginormous protest outside of El Coyote on Beverly tonight.

Expect Beverly to be utterly unpassable starting at around 4 p.m. between La Brea and Fairfax.

Plan your route accordingly.

This has been your traffic report for the day.

Civil Rights and Boycotts

2008-11-13T08:47:00.001-08:00

I feel the need to make some points.

1. Free speech:

Free speech is our right in this country. The 52% of Californians who voted yes on 8 ~~had every right to do that~~ were within their rights to cast a vote given that the amendment was legally placed on the ballot. I don't deny that they have this right, nor do I wish for that right to be taken away from them. The legality of the amendment in itself is the issue here.

I also have the right to not economically participate in the economy that gave them the money to win that vote. In addition, their right to boycott any companies that spent money on the No on 8 side is free to them. In fact, here's a link. Feel free to boycott all Apple products, throw away your Levi's, all films by Brad Pitt. I am entirely serious. Our money is our vote as is yours.

Meanwhile, I will continue to boycott the two companies that affect me, El Pollo Loco (those owned by WKS Restaurant Corp.), the Manchester Hotels and HiTorque publications.

2. Separate but equal

From a comment on Eater L.A.

"Even Elton John stated and rightly so that you have the same rights under a civil union as you do under marriage. Perhaps there are some nuances-not a bid [sic] deal. Why do you want marriage so badly--why?? Why do you so badly need the approval of society[?]"

I've been reading a lot of this in comments on posts about Prop 8. Usually the comments involve references to recruiting children, assholes, limp wrists and purses. This comment did, I just chose to snip those parts out. I know I'm mostly preaching to a choir here, but I have to point out that the same rights are actually not granted under a civil union. Also, the approval of society is not important. If it was, marching in the streets wouldn't be the way to get it. Conforming would be -- and no one is doing that. What queers want is not to conform but to have EQUAL RIGHTS. No more. No less.

Here's what happens when we're not granted EQUALITY. Please read this first hand account.

Also, just because Elton says something, doesn't mean it is so. He's a song writer. He's great at raising money to fight HIV. He may not be the most politically savvy or best spokesperson for teh gayz.

Just sayin'.

Oh, no she didn't

2008-11-12T11:11:00.000-08:00

Long ago, when I frequented El Coyote (mid-90's), I used to say it was the only restaurant in L.A. that you could flip over your plate and all the food would stay put. I haven't been in about 10 years and so my boycott won't amount to much, but if you go...don't.

Marjorie Christoffersen, part owner and manager of El Coyote gave $100 to Yes on 8 group ProtectMarriage.com.

She now says she regrets her decision.

Ms. Christoffersen said on one blog advocating a boycott of El Coyote.

I love you guys, I would never do anything to hurt you, I wish I hadn't done it.
So do I. But now there is a call to boycott the restaurant, which has been owned by a branch of Marjorie's family since it opened in 1931. To try to make nice, Marjorie says that she's holding "an open breakfast Wednesday at 11am to speak to the community."

Brunch started about 15 minutes ago. Anyone there to make nice?

Via Huffington Post

An Eye for An Eye

2008-11-12T08:30:00.000-08:00

I believe strongly in Gandhi's quote, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." However, when Gandhi said that quote, he was talking about his practice of Satyagraha or nonviolent resistance which is specifically what this movement is practicing. We are, in fact, by boycotting, "achieving socio-political goals through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, and other methods, without using violence.

Do not lecture to me about Gandhi if you have no idea what he advocated.

BTW - it looks like WKS only owns Corner Bakeries in Arizona and coming to Utah (of course).

More to come about protests and boycotts. Of course.

By the way, there's a huge protest tonight at the Mormon Temple in NYC. If you're on that side of the country, get out there and hold a sign. In addition, there's another protest this afternoon at the Mormon Temple at Santa Monica and Selby.

What:           PROTEST & RALLY against the Mormon Temple (W. LA) Over the
              Church's Backing and Financial Support of Proposition #8
When:           Wednesday, November 12th
              5:00pm - 7:00pm
Where:          Mormon Temple (Los Angeles California Temple of the Mormon
              Church)
              10777 Santa Monica Blvd. @ Overland
              West Los Angeles, CA 90025
Who:            endH8now organizers, protesters and community leaders
CONTACT:        Michael Sanchez, endH8now
              310-940-6886
              axistalent@gmail.com


               www.endH8now.com

TNNA and Proposition 8

2008-11-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

This winter, The National NeedleArts Association will be holding its Winter 2009 Trade Show at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. I won't be attending and I'll be letting TNNA know the reason.

Developer Doug Manchester has given significant financial support to Proposition 8. Manchester’s $125,000 donation has prompted activists to boycott the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the Grand Del Mar and the Manchester-owned San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. So far, the San Diego County retirement board and the Association of American Law Schools have canceled events at the Manchester Hyatt.

Sorry, TNNA - I'm not spending one dime to support Doug Manchester.

If you want to send a message to TNNA - let them know why here:

Address: 1100-H Brandywine Blvd.
Zanesville, OH 43701
Phone: 800-889-8662
Fax: 740-452-2552
Email: TNNA.info@Offinger.com

(This man's money was used to rob us of our civil rights.)

El Pollo Loco/Proposition 8

2008-11-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

The franchise owner of the following El Pollo Locos in California donated money in support of Proposition 8. As one of my stand-by restaurants for any occasion, I will be boycotting the following locations owned by WKS Restaurant Corporation, owned by Roland Spongberg.

Also -- If anyone out there knows someone at either CSULA or CSULB, there are Pollo Locos on those campuses owned by WKS. The campus communities should be made aware.

(by Area Code)

(818)
El Pollo Loco #3525 16940 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91343-3526 (818) 895-1680
El Pollo Loco #3532 10651 Balboa Blvd. Granada Hills, CA 91344 phone: (818) 831-4044
El Pollo Loco #3467 4544 Saugus Ave. Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 (818) 990-7655

(323)
El Pollo Loco #3526 3925 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90029(323) 665-1333
El Pollo Loco #3504 5151 State University Dr. CSULA Golden Eagle Bldg. Los Angeles, CA 90032 (323) 343-6728
El Pollo Loco #3507 1360 W. Imperial Hwy. Los Angeles, CA 90029 (323) 757-8229
El Pollo Loco #3528 6929 Eastern Av. Bell Gardens, CA 90201

(310)
El Pollo Loco #3531 3008 Sepulveda Blvd. W. Los Angeles, CA 90034 (310) 444-0010
El Pollo Loco #3461 7639 Garvey Ave. Rosemead, CA 91770 (626) 307-4394

(562)
El Pollo Loco #3457 2727 Carson St. Lakewood, CA 90712 (562) 496-1664
El Pollo Loco #3455 1212 S. Bellflower Blvd. CSULB-Student Union Bldg. Long Beach, CA 90804 (562) 985-2361
El Pollo Loco #3448 16707 Pioneer Blvd. Artesia, CA 90701 (562) 924-6918
El Pollo Loco #3392 2200 Clark Ave. Long Beach, CA 90815 (562) 494-9691
El Pollo Loco #3322 3502 Cerritos Ave. Los Alamitos, CA 90720 (562) 626-8388
El Pollo Loco #3545 3425 E. Anaheim St. Long Beach, CA 90804 (562) 494-1343
El Pollo Loco #3488 11601 Carson St. Lakewood, CA 90712 (562) 924-2250

(951)
El Pollo Loco #3494 40468 Murrieta Hot Springs Rd. Murrieta, CA 92562 (951) 304-7082
El Pollo Loco #3521 32451 State Hwy 79. Temecula, CA 92592 (951)302-2611
El Pollo Loco #3495 117 W. Nuevo Road. Perris, CA 92571 (951) 943-4626
El Pollo Loco #3477 31550 Grape St. Lake Elsinore, CA 92532 (951) 245-1542

(949)
El Pollo Loco #3458 2232 S. Bristol St. Newport Beach, CA 92660 (949) 474-2120
El Pollo Loco #3490 21212 Bake Pkwy. Lake Forest, CA 92630 (949) 454-8312

(714)
El Pollo Loco #3453 120 No. Euclid. Fullerton, CA 92832

(661)
El Pollo Loco #3371 8200 Stockdale Hwy. Bakersfield, CA 93311 (661) 831-9443
El Pollo Loco #3476 2000 White Lane. Bakersfield, CA 93304 (661) 396-7639
El Pollo Loco #3475 3701 California Ave. Bakersfield, CA 93309 (661) 322-4887

(909)
El Pollo Loco #3506 1090 S. Mt. Vernon. Colton, CA 92324 (909) 777-0045

(858)
El Pollo Loco #3565 4330 Genessee Ave. San Diego, CA 92117 (858) 278-0355
El Pollo Loco #3564 8349 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92126 (858) 578-7553

(619)
El Pollo Loco #3563 3444 Midway Dr. San Diego, CA 92110 (619) 523-9904
El Pollo Loco #3562 494 Broadway. El Cajon, CA 92021 (619) 588-6034

And WKS owns this Denny's in Fontana
Denny's 17009 Valley Blvd. Fontana, CA 92335 (909) 822-8550

ETA: This is a complete list of all of the California El Pollo Locos and Dennys owned by WKS.
Also, you can verify that Roland Spongberg (or anyone else) has donated in support of (or against) Prop 8 here.

Laguna Beach Rally against Prop 8

2008-11-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

Outraged by the passage of Prop 8, our community and our allies are fighting back. As some of our best legal minds have filed three separate lawsuits with the California Supreme Court, tens of thousands of outraged residents are organizing throughout California with one purpose and resolve. We MUST show the world that we will not have our rights voted away by the forces of homophobia and bigotry! This injustice cannot stand!!

We call on all who believe in Equality for All to head for Laguna Beach Saturday evening, Nov 8, for a Rally and March. We will gather at 5:30pm at Laguna Beach City Hall, 505 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach CA 92651. From this location we will march to Main Beach where we will hold a Rally and Candlelight (or flashlight) Vigil before returning to City Hall.

We urge everyone to arrive early and park in the Act V Parking Lot @ 1900 Laguna Canyon Road (About 1 mile from PCH on Laguna Canyon Rd.) Shuttle busses will be running every 15 mins., beginning at 4:30pm until 10pm. After this lot fills up you can park on Laguna Canyon Rd. (bring quarters). No On Prop 8 and hand made signs, American, Rainbow and California flags, candles and whistles. Bring a flashlight, since it may be too windy for candles. DRESS for a cool evening.

Please forward this e-mail to your lists with requests to do the same!!

Audrey Prosser
Harvey Liss
Jeff LeTourneau
No On Prop 8 OC

We urgently need up to 25 volunteer monitors to help insure a safe and peaceful event. If you can volunteer, please respond to this e-mail and plan to arrive at 4:30 PM for training.

Hat tip to Lizard OC

The Boycotts Begin - Damnit!!!

2008-11-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

Roland Spongberg, Long Beach, CA
WKS Restaurant Group, President
$6,000 on 8/21/08

This one is the saddest for me as WKS Restaurant group owns a huge percentage of the El Pollo Loco franchises in So Cal. As many of you know, this is my favorite restaurant. I am working on the locations so I know which ones I can't go to anymore...

Terry Caster & Family, San Diego, CA
A-1 Self Storage–4607 Mission Gorge Place, San Diego, CA 92120 • Tel: 800.219.4854 • Web: www.a1storage.com and www.castergrp.com and www.servinghands.com
$693,000
The Caster Family owns A-1 Self Storage, with 40 locations throughout California. Terry Caster is quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune as saying “without solid marriage you are going to have a sick society.”

Robert Hurtt, Orange, CA
Container Supply Company–PO Box 5367, Garden Grove, CA 92846-0367 • Tel: 714.892.8321 • Web: www.containersupplycompany.com
$550,000
Robert Hurtt, President of Container Supply, gave: $25,000 on 4/18/08, $25,000 on 7/22/08 (from Container Supply), $250,000 on 9/5/08 and $250,000 on 10/17/08.

Robert Hoehn, Carlsbad, CA
Hoehn Motors–5475 Car Country Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92008 • Tel: 760.438.4454 • Web: www.hoehnmotors.com
$25,000
Robert Hoehn, President of Hoehn Motors in Carlsbad, CA gave: $25,000 on 2/8/08
Hoehn Motors has 6 large car dealerships located along the 5 freeway in Northern San Diego County: Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, Infiniti, Acura and Honda.

Roland Hinz, Valencia, CA
Hi-Torque Publications–25233 Anza Dr., Valencia, CA 91355 • Tel: 661.295.1910 • Web: www.hi-torque.com

$12,500
Roland Hinz, President of Hi-Torque Publications, gave: $12,500 on 4/7/08
Hi-Torque Publications is the world’s leading publisher of off-road, motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle magazines, with a readership of over 2 million per month. The magazines are:
Motocross Action, Mountain Bike Action, Dirt Bike, BMX Plus!, Dirtwheels, Road Bike Action, 4Wheel ATV Action and R/C Car

Amanda Crane, San Diego, CA
Larsen Golden Spoon, Owner
$10,000 on 8/8/08

Roland Spongberg, Long Beach, CA
WKS Restaurant Group, President
$6,000 on 8/21/08

This one is the saddest for me as WKS Restaurant group owns a huge percentage of the El Pollo Loco franchises in So Cal. As many of you know, this is my favorite restaurant. I am working on the locations so I know which ones I can't go to anymore...

Inspired to Change

2008-11-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

Good morning everyone! It is a new day here in America and I am feeling it. The photos and speeches have made me cry (ME!!! I know!!!) and I can't get enough of the hope.

In that vein, I know we're all going to have to do our part to help this country heal.

In honor of our President-Elect Barack Obama, I am starting a new project.

I would like, by my birthday, to have at least 2 black lawn bags worth of new packaged socks and men's and women's underwear of all sizes to donate to the Jeff Griffith Youth Services Center for homeless gay, lesbian, bi and transgender youth.

I will also be accepting any toiletries you happen to have as they offer showers for drop-ins. The next time you go to the market, pick up a 3 pack of socks. If it won't affect your bill in much of a discernible way or you are feeling generous or perhaps you'll get the magazine/grapes/case of Coke at your next shopping trip. If you are pinching pennies right now and just can't make the donation, I completely understand. It's rough out there and I don't want anyone to feel like I'm assuming their situation. If you can help, they need it. When the economy slows, many organizations start losing donors and gay and lesbian street youth can be some of the most disenfranchised of all.

Prop 8 update #2

2008-11-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles regretfully has started denying applications to same sex couples immediately as required
So, last night the queers were angry and took to the streets. 7 arrested in Hollywood, mostly peaceful everywhere else.
Protest today in front of the Mormon Temple on Santa Monica Blvd. at 2 p.m. Lorri Jean will be speaking.

WHAT: Leading supporters of marriage equality will hold a news conference in front of the Los Angeles Mormon Temple in response to the Mormon church’s leading role in the deceptive advertising campaign for Proposition 8. At the urging of church President Thomas Monson, Mormons contributed more than $15 million to fund the initiative which would repeal the right of same-sex couples to marry.
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 6, 2 p.m.
WHO: Speakers include: Lorri L. Jean, CEO, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Religious and community leaders
WHERE: Los Angeles Mormon Temple, Corner of Selby Ave. and Santa Monica Blvd. Westwood, California 90025

The Christian Right is monitoring blogs for violent comments. You are forewarned.
Per KLIV: Santa Clara County is joining the city of Los Angeles and San Francisco County in a legal challenge to Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban passed by voters Tuesday.

County Counsel Ann Ravel says the county is challenging Prop 8 because it would limit the rights of certain residents by not letting gay couples marry. Because the County Clerk is required to issue marriages, the County has an interest in making certain all its citizens are treated equally.

Ravel says there is only one legal way to amend the California Constitution to ban gay marriage. The legislature needs to pass a revision when a fundamental right is involved. That would then go to the public for a vote

5,387, 939 votes for Prop 8
4,883,460 votes against

difference of 504,479 votes 100% of precincts reporting.

I'm going to keep updating with everything I learn.

Prop 8 update

2008-11-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

What I know so far:

1. Nowhere in the amendment does it revoke the rights of those persons who have already been married (per Atty. General Jerry Brown).

2. Two lawsuits have already been filed challenging the constitutionality of this amendment.

3. Since the court ruling that led to this proposition found that marriage was a "fundamental right" under the state constitution, you cannot take that right away by simply amending the constitution; you would need to revise it. While an amendment only needs a simple majority vote, a revision requires a constitutional convention, which itself requires a two-thirds legislative vote -- something highly unlikely to happen in California.

4. As a commenter said on Shakesville:

The Prop 8 amendment simply banned gay marriage, without addressing that equal protection factor.

When the United States Constitution was amended to undo a provision of itself (prohibition), it specifically negated that provision---"The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. "

Prop 8's wording did no such thing, so what we have here is that the California State Constitution now says two different things. It says

"(a) A person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law or denied equal protection of the
laws; . . . (b) A citizen or class of citizens may not be granted privileges
or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens." (Article I, Section 7)

which the State Supreme Court has interpreted to include marriage rights, and now with Prop 8 passing it also says

"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California."

and I do not see anything to specify which legitimately outweighs the other; it's like two laws saying "cars must be red in color" and "cars must be green in color." There is no part of this new amendment saying "This repeals the right of equal protection under the law" or "nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to require otherwise," and thus it seems to me that the constitutional amendment is unconstitutional---and what on Earth gets done when that happens?

I think this is what the California Supreme Court is going to have to decide. And since they already decided against denial of rights, it is likely that they will do so again.

Good news for all. Now, about all you haters....

Proposition 8

2008-11-05T09:24:00.001-08:00

Hey all. I have a guest post on Proposition 8 over at Shakesville today.

Check it out.

Tick tock

2008-11-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

First polls close on the East coast in 30 27 hours!!!!

Polls close here in California in 35 32 hours!

Please don't forget to Vote NO on 8!!!

I'll be a poll captain for No on 8 in Sherman Oaks tomorrow morning from 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. If you're voting in Sherman Oaks, perhaps I'll see you there!

Write to Marry Day

2008-10-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hi folks. It's me, Faith. Here's the thing. Apparently, this Proposition 8 -- it looks like it's going to pass. If it doesn't, it'll be a big upset for the evangelicals and Catholics. I am taking the day off on Tuesday, election day, to spend the day in front of the polls helping people who may be confused on what Prop 8 means. I'll also be spending the morning on Sunday - my sacred time for coffee and the L.A. Times and all of the crosswords I can plow through, at the Village. Here I will be training for my day at the polls.

One part of the reason that I am doing this? Yesterday I met with Frank and his partner and Oliver, of course. On Saturday, I will be officiating at their marriage which is such an honor for me. They are a wonderful family. I'm not going to go on and on because I want to save most of that for their ceremony but they are everything a family should be. A safe place in this big world.

That is what a family is -- or should be anyway. A safe place and while I know all the arguments against, I am not able to find even one that should negate the fact that one man, who is legally able to consent to marry a woman, and another man, who is able to legally consent to marrying a woman, should not be allowed to marry one another. There is no slippery slope. Churches will never have to marry anyone they don't want to marry. Ever. I give them their intolerance wholeheartedly. In fact, the Catholic Church is so -- consistent -- they would not marry a man who was quadriplegic to a woman because they would not be able to conceive. So, go on with your consistency -- but marrying by a judge in a chamber or a deputy in an office or by a friend in your backyard is not a sacrament. It is a legal contract no matter how much you would like to keep it in the religious realm, it has not been an exclusively religious contract for many centuries, if ever. And it wasn't before it was.

I hope this makes sense. I don't know how else to say it.

Please Vote No on 8.

Bak Obama!

2008-10-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

My niece is an Obama fan - She walks around saying "BakObama, BakObama." It's damn adorable.

Here's an demo - and because I don't have Quicktime Pro, I can't rotate it (either that or I'm a complete idiot -- either one is entirely possible).

Mortified

2008-10-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

The other day I went out on my front porch to find Michael having a discussion with our next door neighbor. It seems that he is a Republican (which I did not know) and he is having a hard time voting for McCain.

I joined the discussion (duh.).

"Why," he asked me, "are you voting for Obama?"

Among about a billion other reasons, I am voting for Obama, I said, "because I am tired of the anti-intellectualism being fostered in this country and especially by the Republican party. I want someone as President who is smarter than I am."

He replied incredulously, "And you think Obama is smarter than you?"

My response:
"Yes. Barack Obama was president of Harvard Law Review.

I could not be President of the Harvard Law Review. In fact, I couldn't get into Harvard. I couldn't get into Brown. Believe me, I tried."

"Hmm. I hadn't thought of that." he said.

No. You hadn't, because you're too busy eating up all of the bullshit put out into the world about Obama raising your taxes and being Muslim.

W. couldn't have been president of Harvard Law Review and I believe I am correct in saying that he was legacied into Yale. Unfortunately, as the first woman in my family to graduate from college, I wasn't about to get legacied in anywhere except perhaps L.A. Valley College and I don't think they do those sorts of things.

I am genuinely mortified. I do not know what is wrong with people. This election has brought out the absolute worst of our society. The amount of clear, unfiltered racism is repulsive (not that filtered, shadowy racism isn't). I just didn't think I'd see so much of it.

Shakesville has a Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch that is up to #97. And #97 is quite a doozy.

The worst part is that the creator of this caricature denies she had intended to be racist in any way.

Jeebus, woman. If you're going to surround Obama with fried chicken, watermelon, ribs and Kool-Aid, own it. You've got yourself a little racism.

I wish there was a vaccine for that.

Hallowe'en Haunts

2008-10-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am a tad on the morbid side. Jeff used to call me a death junkie, but honestly, I always had a little taste for the macabre. I suspect it's from all those times as a kid that I turned a lovely shade of gray and almost died. Love me some coping mechanisms. Even my tattoos are mementos mori. Which was the theme of my senior thesis.

Anyway, I love this stuff!!!
There is some serious WANT going on in this post.

via frightcatalog.com

via CrimeSceneProducts

And these wall hooks. They are just the end all, be all.

Oh, how I wish we weren't having an economic meltdown and I was less responsible because daaaamn...I would have these on my kitchen wall year 'round. Via A+R Store

Also, in case you weren't aware, the L.A. County Coroner's Office has it's very own Gift Shop which carries some seriously fun stuff.

Happy Hallowe'en y'all!!!!!

October!!!!!!

2008-10-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

It is officially my favorite time of year.

When my neighborhood starts the annual guessing game of who works at the best prop house, which neighbor is a sound engineer and which is an executive that has someone come from the studio to do all the decorations. (I'm telling you, the competition in my neighborhood is freaking fierce.)
When I can eat all the pomegranates I can stomach
When putting a hot pot of chili on the stove doesn't make me want to yak.
When x-entertainment is having their Whatever-O'Lantern contest.
When children run bawling in the aisles of Target because dad thought it would be awesome to scare the living shit out of his 4 year old. While mom has on her best, "What are you? A freakin' 12 year old?!" look. (saw it happen twice this weekend!)
When it's time to start getting out saws and wood and carving tools to learn how to create a custom coffin because I can't find one cheap on Craigslist.

Hi honey! It'll be fun! Really! And then I'll have woodworking skills!

By the way:

This is a coffin = hexagonal

And this is a casket

Just in case you were wondering what the difference was.

I'm going to continue with my favorite Hallowe'en finds for the rest of the month because it just makes me giddy.

BINGO!!!!

2008-10-02T14:05:00.001-07:00

I don't know about y'all but I'll be playing this tonight.

The Great Schnurriscation

2008-10-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know about y'all, but tomorrow at about 5 p.m. Pacific, I will be sitting on my couch with my husband and I will be holding a pillow right below my eyes to begin the cringefest that in my household is commonly referred to as The Great Schnurriscation*.

While it is awfully tempting to dip my toe in the schadenfreude here (and maybe roll around naked too), that is not really the way I wish to be perceived. While the Republicans are well known for dancing on the political graves of distinguished Democrats such as Harold Ford, Max Cleland and Paul Wellstone, I just don't see the point of serving it up to them. Many have suggested that the downfall of the Democrats is their lack of willingness to "play nasty" but some ethic regarding the betterment of society as a whole has always been (at least the narrative) what the Democrats are about and I appreciate that (even if it is just rhetoric).

Back to Thursday night: While 99.9999999% of my brain believes that Joe Biden is going to steamroll his opponent, there is .0000001% that is so suspicious of the Republican party that I have this flea of fear hurtling about my skull ruminating on the crap they might pull before Gwen Ifill poses her first question.

Will there be a family emergency that requires the Alaskan governor to fly back to Anchorage at the last minute?

Will Vince Foster come back from the dead at the St. Louis Arch and the media will rush to the scene?

Will Dick Cheney have his 5th (known) heart attack and the news will be conveniently overshadowed?

I could think of far worse things that L'Rove & Co. could come up with but I hate to write them down for fear I might actually get one right.

The point, however, is that barring any of those things happening, you'll know where I'll be. Curled up in a fetal position, blood pressure cuff around my arm and all objects known to cause damage to a flat screen TV relocated to a place out of arm's reach.

*1892, from Yiddish, "beggar," from Ger. slang schnurrer, from schnurren "to go begging" (slang), perhaps ult. imitative of the sound of pleading or whining (e.g. sneer, snorkel, snarl).
In this definition, the act of leaving one's political opponent begging for mercy.

Lessons of Yom Kippur

2008-09-29T09:37:00.001-07:00

I went to synagogue starting in about the 3rd or 4th grade and we always attended services for Yom Kippur, both evening and all day. (in addition to Shabbat, Rosh Hashana, Purim, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and others...)

I don't remember much about the rest of the holidays (though I loved Simchat Torah) Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, was, for me, a great lesson in ethics.

First, the language of the prayers for forgiveness of chet (sin), are all in the plural.

As I recited the Vidui (confessions) as a child, I wondered how I could have committed the "alphabet of sin" from Aleph to Tav (A-Z). I tried to remember everything I had done wrong over the past year. Eventually I realized that the reason for the plural (al chet shechatanu) was that no one single person has committed all of these chet, but rather we, as a community, are collectively responsible for all of the chet committed. We said every year,

"For the sin we have sinned by failing to work for peace."

As a 12 year old, how could I work for peace? How could I have sinned like this? And I realized, even as a 12 year old, that I could, in fact, work for peace. Perhaps not like Jimmy Carter did, but peace within my own circle. Peace between classmates. Peace as a noble virtue. (is it any wonder I was voted most likely to join the Peace Corps?)

In praying in the plural I also learned that being arrogant, while not equal to, for instance embezzling millions, it did not give me the right to be arrogant just because other people had done worse than I.

We said every year,

"For the sin we have sinned by our narrow-mindedness."

And I took this to heart. I tried very hard to look at both sides of a situation early on. I wanted to know exactly where I was being narrow-minded. I also knew I would have to answer for it again next year and I wanted desperately to say, no, I had not been narrow-minded.

In Judaism, we recount the chet of taking credit that we didn't earn. That was never something that was taught to me specifically but I remember reading it in synagogue and thinking how unethical that would be. I try to always give credit where credit is due. Acknowledging the contributions of others to a project is something I see as inherently ethical.

Another chet we confessed to was of giving in to despair. I could feel despair, I learned, but I could not give in to it. I could not give up. Even today, I carry that with me. I may be frustrated and may feel helpless but I still will not give up on working for change.

Tzom kal to everyone who is fasting today and may none of us give in to despair.

L'shana tova tikatevu

2008-09-29T08:33:00.000-07:00

It is the last day of the month of Elul and tonight begins the first day of the new year, the month of Tishrei 5768.

Tomorrow afternoon is tashlich. The time for "casting off". Generally, this is known as the casting off of sins.

Sins, in Judaism, are a slightly different concept than the sins we know of Christianity. I wrote about this last year.

On Yom Kippur we recounted our sins together as a synagogue, as a family. Intended to collectively acknowledge that not one of us was perfect, the recounting mistakes I made was a good annual reminder of how to lead an ethical life. Some of the things I learned during the recounting of sins stick with me to this day.

This afternoon, between work and Rosh Hashanah with my family, I plan to have a little time to prepare for tashlich (casting off). It is not a ritual of hocus pocus (throw some crumbs into the water and you are cleared of any wrong doing). Rather it is intended to provide some time and meditation on the past year. The things I have done better, and the areas of my life in which I can do better still. And the parts in which I am still not living up to my potential, places where I have fallen down on the job. I plan to cast off some of that baggage into the water and try for a new start. Michael has gone to visit his parents for the night and sometime tomorrow morning, around dawn, I plan to visit a body of water to do a little tashlich.

Shana tova, y'all!

Some photos from the event!!!

2008-09-26T10:12:00.001-07:00

This photo is from the set up. Look how hard all the bikers are working... no really, everyone worked very hard.

You can see in this photo the table runners - hand sewn black denim (by me) and the steel centerpieces done as a collaborative process with my brother. The banners you see in the background are from other clubs in the Los Angeles area, both past and present. (by the way, I have a lot of black denim in 18 x 1.5 foot strips. Ideas?)

This is, of course, me and my lovely husband.

These images are during the dinner portion of the event. These are a few of the members of the club. The bandanna as napkin idea was mine and executed by one of the other club members. The program at each place setting was designed by Michael.

Michael was the emcee of the entertainment portion of the event. Here he is on stage surrounded by floral arrangements from two other clubs, the Satyrs and Avatar.

More photos to come!

Success!!!

2008-09-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

After 4 months of planning.....
One month of sewing....
4 weekends of oxy-acetylene torching....
and 4 days of baking non-stop.....

The 50th Anniversary gala of the Oedipus Motorcycle club is over and it was a huge success!

We had a lot of fun - lots of misty-eyed old men getting nostalgic about the early days. Hundreds of cupcakes consumed. A little bit of dancing a lot of reminiscing.

I'll post pics as soon as I upload them.

Phew!!!!

I now return to my regularly scheduled life where I return emails and such...

She's a Wonder

2008-09-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

From Lynda Carter's interview in Philadelphia Magazine (hi Allison! Call you after the 20th!):

Q: I'm sure you've seen all the comparisons in the media and among Republicans of Sarah Palin to Wonder Woman. How do you feel about that?

A: Don’t get me started. She’s the anti-Wonder Woman. She’s judgmental and dictatorial, telling people how they’ve got to live their lives. And a superior religious self-righteousness ... that’s just not what Wonder Woman is about. Hillary Clinton is a lot more like Wonder Woman than Mrs. Palin. She did it all, didn’t she?

No one has the right to dictate, particularly in this country, to force your own personal views upon the populace — religious views. I think that is suppressive, oppressive, and anti-American. We are the loyal opposition. That’s the whole point of this country: freedom of speech, personal rights, personal freedom. Nor would Wonder Woman be the person to tell people how to live their lives. Worry about your own life! Worry about your own family! Don't be telling me what I want to do with mine.

I like John McCain. But this woman — it's anathema to me what she stands for. I think America should be very afraid. Very afraid. Separation of church and state is the one thing the creators of the Constitution did agree on — that it wasn’t to be a religious government. People should feel free to speak their minds about religion but not dictate it or put it into law.

What I don’t understand, honestly, is how anyone can even begin to say they know the mind of God. Who do they think they are? I think that’s ridiculous. I know what God is in my life. Now I am sure that she’s not all just that. But it’s enough to me. It’s enough for me to have a visceral reaction. And it makes me mad.

People need to speak up. Doesn’t mean that I’m godless. Doesn’t mean that I am a murderer. What I hate is this demonization of everybody but one position. You’re un-American because you’re against the war. It’s such bullshit. Fear. It’s really such a finite way of thinking about God to think that your measley little mind can know the mind of God. It’s a very little God that way. I think that God’s bigger. I don’t presume to know his mind. Or her mind.

Daaaamn. I knew there was a reason I have a WonderWoman pin on my car visor.

H/T Joe My God

2 years old!!!!

2008-09-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already been two years!!! Mia is turning two this weekend - we're having a little party in the park for her and I bought her something super fun from my and my sister's childhood that mom, dad, Mia, Abby Fay (what Mia calls me) will all love (don't tell!). I wish I had time to post more but here's a recent photo with the new Tough Cookies tutu.

Happy birthday Mimi! I love you!!!!

Current mantra: After September 20th, after September 20th, after September 20th.....

Hypothesis:

2008-09-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Karl Rove schemed the whole thing...

Sarah Palin was chosen as McCain's VP effectively stealing the thunder of Obama's nomination speech.
Issues surrounding Palin's daughter's pregnancy, ties to Abramoff, earmarks scandal and AIP affiliation are found (as Karl Rove knew they would be).
Sarah Palin gets chewed by media and Democrats - both making themselves look like assholes - Dems for ad hominem attacks and media for putting the daughter of a candidate on display.
Palin, due to the scandals, pulls her name from the ticket so as not to "drag the campaign down" and becomes a martyr to the Republican machine.
McCain "chooses" another Repub (Mitt Romney perhaps?) knowing that the "Mormon thing" won't be scrutinized nearly as much now that the dogs have been fed raw meat...

Just my theory...watch for the outcome!!!

Blow my horn

2008-08-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

I have been an intermittent reporter for Frontiers Magazine and have an article in this issue on the 50th anniversary of the Oedipus Motorcycle Club called, One Wild Mother (pdf. pg. 43) or for the online edition.

Go check it out.

Yes, they've misspelled my name.

The article is in advance of the 50th Anniversary Gala on September 20th at Friendship Auditorium in Griffith Park. It is going to be a night of leather, pageantry, history and fun (not to mention steak and cupcakes). If you're interested in attending the event, go to the Oedipus website to purchase tickets. It'll be a night to remember!

Um, a little overwhelmed

2008-08-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, I've been reminded by everyone and my husband that I haven't been posting regularly.

I'm really fucking busy, people!!!

Writing

I just finished two writing classes which, on the whole weren't all that satisfying but definitely piqued my interest in taking more
I am trying to be a halfway decent writing partner (at which I am failing MISERABLY)
I am attempting to start my 4th rewrite on the book that will not die
Wrote an article for Frontiers Magazine (pub. 8/14, I think)
Currently the International AIDS Conference is occurring in Mexico City and I wanted to cover it but I only have so much brain/time

Designing

I am decorating a two bedroom condo in Palm Springs (about which I am so excited I want to pop) which involves actually spending time in Palm Springs
I have about 30 or so unfinished objects (UFOs) in my craft room that must be dealt with
Ideally, over the summer I would have redesigned my website and moved it over to Wordpress but that didn't really work out

Biker stuff
I am working on the 50th anniversary gala of the Oedipus Motorcycle Club which includes:

designing an art piece to be used as centerpieces
learning to use an oxy-acetylene torch
creating platters out of motorcycle parts
baking and decorating 400 cupcakes
designing and creating a leather flag
creating 32 table runners
trying to get gay men to sit down and keep on topic during a meeting

Wifely duties (HA!)

We had some health and home issues last month. TGIAugust.
Keeping up my end of the bargain

Work

I have a full time job which I would love to keep
I have interviewed 3 times for a job that I would love to have

So there. That is what I've been doing.

I am NOT complaining. Everything that I am doing I signed up for and I'm really quite excited about. I only wish I didn't have a full time job so that I could work on all of this fun stuff full time, but that's not the way it works in Casa Queer. Unfortunately, being a good blogger sorta got thrown under the bus too, even if I really, really, really want to be writing on here every day. Which I do. Swear to FSM.

PEPFAR, authorized.

2008-07-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

So Big Belt Buckle Bush signed the PEPFAR reauthorization which, among other things, lifted the travel restrictions against people with HIV.

Essentially, those people who were not allowed in the country were classes of aliens ineligible for visas or admission based on health-related grounds. The health-related grounds include those aliens who have a communicable disease of public health significance, who fail to present documentation of having received vaccination against vaccine-preventable diseases, who have or have had a physical or mental disorder with associated harmful behavior, and who are drug abusers or addicts (see Boy George and Amy Winehouse).

So, for the first time since 1990, before protease inhibitors and cocktail therapies, when everyone was dying of things like PCP and PML, we can once again allow people with HIV to visit us in the U.S. Not that they haven't been coming here all along, geniuses, they've just not been telling you about it. Welcome to the 21st century on this one. Glad to have you here.

ON THE OTHER HAND!!!!!
Congress and the president's failure to rectify serious flaws regarding PEPFAR’s prevention policies will have harmful implications for the health and rights of women and girls worldwide. These serious issues include funding directives for abstinence and be-faithful programs, the inclusion of the anti-prostitution loyalty oath, and the failure to integrate HIV prevention services with family planning services.

So yay. And boo. Again.

It's all up to the Bushinator now...

2008-07-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

The House on Thursday voted 303-115 to approve a HR 5501 which would reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The legislation allocates a total of $50 billion -- $48 billion of which would go to PEPFAR and $2 billion of which would go to American Indian issues.

Two major changes have been made with this year's reauthorization. I thank members of Congress for including both of them and despite conservative pressure to reject these changes, passage of the bill.

1) The first change includes a provision that would ease U.S. HIV/AIDS travel restrictions .

2) The second overturns an existing law that requires one-third of prevention funds be spent on abstinence and fidelity programs, instead requiring a report to Congress if countries do not spend half of prevention money on such programs. It ain't perfect but at least it allows countries, cultures and demographics where abstinence education is beside the point (e.g., sex workers) to have an out. Of course the legislation continues to contains an existing requirement that organizations receiving PEPFAR aid have a policy that opposes commercial sex work. Which I've written about before.

Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), not a friend of anything that involves critical thinking noted, "We have big hearts, but we need to use our brains," Rep. Dana said, adding, "We cannot afford $50 billion of generosity to foreigners." O Rly? 'Cause we seem to be spending that money in other places you've seen fit to give that generosity...Dana.

Bush is expected to sign the legislation next week. He'd better because frankly, we just don't need another round of this.

Best.Blog.EVER

2008-07-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

I saw this blog a couple of days ago and I thought I'd share it with all y'all but oh my FSM, how glad am I that I waited.

The blog is called Cake Wrecks.

First, you have to understand that growing up, my mom decorated cakes from home for a living. I learned to make perfect icing roses when I was about 12 or so. Mom made everything from wedding cakes to cakes that were entirely big boobs that said, "Now you can have your cake and eat it too!" (that's class, I tell you what).

Anyway, I have seen well decorated cakes and poorly decorated cakes but never have I seen cakes like those seen at Cake Wrecks.

Let me show you.

This cake, the cake that started the blog, was decorated by one literal minded person.

This beauty is for your girlfriend/boyfriend. I'm sure it will make her/him feel much better.

And this online ordering form needs some serious code revisions.

But this cake... well, it takes the cake. It's censored on the Cake Wrecks site, but you can see it in all of it's original glory at this site.

Wow. Really. Just wow. I don't know that I'd want that at my baby shower. Or any baby shower of anyone I knew. It just doesn't seem that...appetizing.

H/T Joe.My.God

Elizabeth Dole should be ashamed of herself

2008-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote about the legislation on the senate floor, officially titled the "Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2008".

Elizabeth Dole has introduced an amendment to that bill which would add Jesse Helms name to the title.

From Joe.My.God

Jesse Helms, the man who in 1987 described AIDS prevention literature as "so obscene, so revolting, I may throw up."
Jesse Helms, the man who in 1988 vigorously opposed the Kennedy-Hatch AIDS research bill, saying, "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."

Jesse Helms, the man who in 1995 said (in opposition to refunding the Ryan White Act) that the government should spend less on people with AIDS because they got sick due to their "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."

Jesse Helms, the man who in 2002 announced that he'd changed his mind about AIDS funding for Africa, but not for American gays, because homosexuality "is the primary cause of the doubling and redoubling of AIDS cases in the United States."
Many people hold Ronald Reagan responsible for adding to the early AIDS death toll by his inaction on the pandemic, but it was Helms' actions in thwarting early research that inarguably hastened the demise of many thousands of Americans. How many of my friends, of your friends, would be alive today if the life-saving medications had arrived just one fucking year earlier?

Fuck YOU, Senator Dole. Fuck you with something hard and sandpapery.

I don't really have much to add except that the HIV infected blood of millions of people is on the hands of Jesse Helms.

Elizabeth Dole may be rewriting history for herself as well. With her husband running for President, Ms. Dole, as President of the American Red Cross had the organization rewrite an HIV prevention manual to cater to Christian right sentiments about homosexuality, premarital sex and condom use.

I have spent 18 years attempting to undo the damage that Helms and Dole and their cronies did.
Their blood is on your hands too, Elizabeth.

All the news that's unfit

2008-07-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Damn, there's a lot of news out there today but I'm just going to pick up one issue at a time (actually 2 because I can't help myself).

Today I'll spend a moment in the HIV mines and then a brief moment with J.Mac.

1. Knowing a country by the company it keeps

What do the following countries have in common?

Armenia
Colombia
Qatar
Russia
Iraq
Oman
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Solomon Islands
Sudan
United States
Yemen

Any guesses? All of these countries prevent people with HIV from entry. Period. No exceptions.

This means that your friend with HIV visiting from the UK best not have his meds on him. It also means that the U.S. has not hosted the International AIDS Conference since the Act went into effect in 1987. This means that before every other scientific conference on HIV, numerous scientists, officials and community activists are effectively sneaking into this country.

The European Commissioner for Justice, Jacques Barrot, has raised the issue of people with HIV being banned from entry with Michael Chertoff, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, asking for the reason people with HIV remain barred from entry after all these years.

As HIV remains the only disease in the Immigration and Nationality Act that makes it inadmissible for entry in the United States we are far behind any sort of scientific rationale and we are still making laws based on fear, judgment and knee jerk reactionism.

Progressive-minded senators on both sides of the aisle have added a provision to repeal the ban to Senate legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Section 305 of the Tom Lantos & Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 2731) will repeal that ban.

To support the repeal, please email your senator to support this act.

It is ridiculous that my colleagues with HIV cannot come to this country to work. Not to mention, Andrew Sullivan may have to go back from whence he came, which frankly, sucks on so many levels. Mostly it sucks that I have to support Andrew Sullivan.

2. John McCain needs to think and then rethink. And then maybe think again.
John. Seriously? You don't believe in gay adoption? That's what you said. Here's the transcript from the New York Times (07/13/08):

Q: President Bush believes that gay couples should not be permitted to adopt children. Do you agree with that?
Mr. McCain: I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.

Q: Even if the alternative is the kid staying in an orphanage, or not having parents.

Mr. McCain: I encourage adoption and I encourage the opportunities for people to adopt children I encourage the process being less complicated so they can adopt as quickly as possible. And Cindy and I are proud of being adoptive parents.

So here, let me parse this out for a moment. You and Cindy are adoptive parents. You believe that that girl, who was in need of medical treatment when you adopted her from Bangladesh 17 years ago would have been better off in that orphanage than with same gender parents. I would like for you to explain this.

Today, while news media is reporting that McCain is "backing off his previous statement," what he actually said (through his communications director) was that it is a "state issue." Which actually isn't a position at all. It's a cop out.

Semantics/Semiotics/Propaganda

2008-07-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

The way we speak, how we refer to certain things affects the way we behave.

AIDS/HIV
18 years ago, when I started working in the HIV field, I was amazed at how the media ignored the science to go with the vernacular - for instance, "AIDS victim" and "AIDS virus". A person who has HIV is a person with HIV, not an AIDS victim and it's HIV, a virus that may cause AIDS. The first is an unbelievably sensationalist term and the second prevents effective education about HIV transmission, prevention and treatment. I spent years undoing the damage that was done around that term.

I won't go into all of the media misuse of scientific terms because it could be an entire textbook.

SEX/RAPE
Recently, Liss at Shakesville has been championing the cause against the defiant misuse of "sex" when the word that should be used is "rape". When a man has forced sexual intercourse with his daughter while keeping her in a basement, it is rape and should be considered as such by the media. I imagine it is search engines looking for the word "sex" that makes CNN continue using the "forced her to engage in sex acts" when the more concise term would be "raped her".

ABUSE/LOVE
What brings up all of this rumination on semantics is this survey, commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc., which polled 1,043 "tweens" ages 11 to 14; 523 parents of tweens; and 626 teens ages 15 to 18.

The article, published by Reuters was entitled, "Young love often marred by abuse."

In the survey, among youths who reported sex by age 14, 33 percent said they had been hit, choked or punched, while 58 percent had been verbally abused. In comparison, about 10 percent of all 15- to 18-year-olds reported physical abuse by a partner, and 29 percent reported verbal abuse.

I don't know if author, Julie Steenhuysen, wrote this headline or not but what is described in this survey is not young love. When a teen hits another teen while in a relationship, it is violence. When the abuser apologizes and promises never to do it again, it is the beginning of a long road which often leads to someone being seriously injured or killed and too rarely results in the abuser going to jail. Romanticizing it as "young love" serves no further purpose than sensationalism.

Los Angeles, love it, or bitch about it...

2008-07-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

The question on AskMeFi yesterday was:

Okay LA folk... time to tell me... what are your favorite things about/in Los Angeles? Especially your favorite hidden secret stuff that maybe only locals know of. Or super good deals or scenes that make you happy. Stuff that actually makes you stop for a second and think, "Man, I love this place" whether you want to or not.

My answer is below although I thought y'all would get something out of looking at what everyone else had to offer.

First and foremost, the fact that L.A. is the city that never works. Any hour of any day the bookstores and coffeehouses are filled with people reading, loafing, listening to their iPods talking on their cells. I have always lived here and I recognize this as unique about our city.

On to more:
the L.A. Arboretum
Abuelitas on Topanga Canyon
Angeles Crest Highway on motorcycle
Newcomb's Ranch on Angeles Crest Highway
H.D. Buttercup
Surfas
Hiking the Santa Susana pass and the fabulous rocks up there
Dinah's Family Restaurant
The palm trees lining Sherman Way
Watching flights come in from the limo lot at LAX
Watching flights take off from Dockweiler Beach around a campfire
Lack of traffic on Jewish holidays
Michael Levine's (and the rest of the garment district)
Hollywood Farmer's Market
Studio City Farmer's market
Bob's Big Boy on Riverside
Chandler bike path
The L.A. County Fair (and the hilarious commercials)
The Lotus Festival
The Dragon Parade at the Lunar new year

I could keep going forever, and I guess I just wanted this list to exist so that I could keep referring to it. I'm going to add more. Add yours in comments!

Blogger vs. Wordpress

2008-06-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

As it is my 3 year bloggiversary today, I am taking this opportunity to let you know that I am thinking of a little change. I am seriously considering moving to WordPress. I love WordPress and have been using it for another project I'm working on but I've not moved a blog from one to the other.

Any comments? Suggestions? Horror stories? I'd love to hear them.

By the way, xo y'all for sticking with me!

Consistency watch 2008

2008-06-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

In my hypothetical list of turn-ons and turn-offs, such as they are, hypocrisy is a major turn-off. Also, proof = MAJOR turn-on.

I like to know things. I like to fact check. I like research. (Duh.)

I like when rules are consistent (family dynamics for the win!) even when they are rules I don't agree with.

For instance, the right claims that gay marriage is wrong because:

marriage is for procreation
same-sex couples can't reproduce on their own
Therefore marriage is not for people who cannot reproduce

Fine. I'll agree to disagree on that one.

Though I disagree, I require that the logical extension of the argument include anyone who is infertile, post-menopausal, vasectomized, or just doesn't want children.

One who believes that marriage is the sole purpose for marriage should ostensibly be arguing for a signature on documents that Party A and Party B promise to reproduce at some future point. However no one on the right seemed to be calling for these measures which kind of pissed me off because at least if you're going to have an idiotic argument, don' t leave it so full of holes!

While it may seem like reductio ad absurdum, I point you to the Catholic church which seems to have at least one of it's proverbial ducks in its own special row.

ROME - An Italian bishop has told a young paraplegic he cannot have a church wedding because he is impotent, despite his fiancée being aware of the problem. Salvatore de Ciuco, spokesman for Bishop Lorenzo Chiarinelli of Viterbo in central Italy, explained that: "No bishop, no priest can celebrate a wedding when he knows of admitted impotence as it is a motive for annulment" of the marriage. The 26-year-old groom, who took part in a civil marriage ceremony Saturday in Viterbo, has been paraplegic since he was involved in a car accident. The curate of the parish who was banned from marrying the couple was present at the ceremony. Their pastor, having been refused permission to witness the union in a Catholic ceremony, attended the civil event.

Canon 1084.1 of the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church states that "antecedent and perpetual impotence to have sexual intercourse, whether on the part of the man or on that of the woman, whether absolute or relative, by its very nature invalidates marriage."

Now that is some awesome consistency. I'd like to see the evangelicals match this one.

Rape as a weapon of war

2008-06-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

Major General Patrick Cammart, Former Division Commander of MONUC:

"It had, therefore, probably become more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in an armed conflict."

Rape is being used as a weapon of war. It is not new and it is always disgusting. And it has exploded. The UN Security Council today demanded an end to persistent sexual violence during armed conflict, calling it a war crime and a component of genocide.

Approved by all 15 members, Council Resolution 1820 "demands the immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians with immediate effect."

It also urged that "all parties to armed conflict immediately take appropriate measures to protect civilians, including women and girls, from all forms of sexual violence."

Rape is used to instill terror in the civilian population, humiliate and degrade them, destroy group bonds and further agendas of cultural and ethnic destruction. Children of rape survivors often are abandoned and shunned by their families.

This isn't just occurring in one or two places. It is happening in:

Sudan,
the Democratic Republic of Congo, where, of the 15,000 survivors of sexual violence treated at Panzi Hospital since 1999, one-third are children
Colombia,
Sri Lanka,
Haiti,
Rwanda,
Myanmar,
Algeria,
Cambodia,
Sierra Leone,
Iraq,
Afghanistan,
Peru,
Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia
El Salvador
Uganda
Chad
Liberia

I wish I could name every country in which a woman was subjected to rape as a weapon of war. I wish I could type each of their names so they wouldn't be forgotten.

No one is doing enough though. Except Stephen Lewis (who is my hero). According to the New York Times, every day, 10 new women and girls who have been raped show up at Panzi hospital. Many have been so sadistically attacked from the inside out, butchered by bayonets and assaulted with chunks of wood, that their reproductive and digestive systems are beyond repair.

This is a direct quote from CNN.com

With U.N. officials calling for more female officers to better educate women against rape and women saying they won't feel safe until the under-equipped and undermanned United Nations force is strong enough to protect them, the situation shows little sign of improving.

I want to know, how, exactly, women are supposed to be educated against rape. I tend to respect Nic Robertson's reporting but this may have been the stupidest statement I have ever heard. This is Robertson repeating a press release, not reporting!

I haven't read the U.N. resolution (~~I can't find it on the internet and if someone can - please email me I'm reading it now~~ I haven't found anything yet...), but if they actually say something about educating women against rape when armed gunmen hunt them down while collecting firewood or escaping their burning homes I have little hope.

Honorata Barinjibanwa, 18, said she was kidnapped from a village during a raid in April and kept as a sex slave until August. Most of that time she was tied to a tree, and she still has rope marks ringing her neck. Her kidnappers would untie her for a few hours each day to gang-rape her. Here is one face. One face of thousands.

She was being treated at Panzi Hospital, which has 350 beds, and though a new ward is being built specifically for rape survivors, the hospital sends women back to their villages before they have fully recovered because it needs space for the never-ending stream of new arrivals.

Eve Ensler, founder of the V Day Project and author of the Vagina Monologues is building a center for survivors who have been left without family, community or the capacity to have children in collaboration with UNICEF and Panzi Hospital. City of Joy will give them a safe place to live while providing an education, leadership training and a chance to earn income. To donate or learn more, go to V-Day.

I close with another quote from Major General Patrick Cammart. Putting the responsibility in the hands of the UN, he testified that:

"You [the United Nations] have the responsibility to protect them
and to take real and effective measures to put an end to this."