VOTE

I am urging everyone to go out and 

VOTE 

tomorrow.  

I don't care which candidates you are supporting 

or what issues are important to you - 

just get out to the polls tomorrow 

and let your voice be heard.

Great Article

I read this article online today and thought I would share.  It was an editorial from The Christian Science Montior.

My wife made me canvass for Obama; 

here's what I learned

By Jonathan Curley

Charlotte, N.C. – There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization.

I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again.

I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the South and I'm definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.

I am the dreaded swing voter.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

At the Obama headquarters, we stood in a group to receive our instructions. I wasn't the oldest, but close, and the youngest was maybe in high school. I watched a campaign organizer match up a young black man who looked to be college age with a white guy about my age to canvas together. It should not have been a big thing, but the beauty of the image did not escape me.

Instead of walking the tree-lined streets near our home, my wife and I were instructed to canvass a housing project. A middle-aged white couple with clipboards could not look more out of place in this predominantly black neighborhood.

We knocked on doors and voices from behind carefully locked doors shouted, "Who is it?"

"We're from the Obama campaign," we'd answer. And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.

Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.

Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted.

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day's work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."

It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.

I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hopeand the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.

Wilderness Way Take 2

Recently Kristin and I celebrated our 5^th anniversary by heading back to our favorite camping/cabin spot – Wilderness Way.  It didn’t actually start as an anniversary celebration trip, it was just a ‘one last trip before the snow falls’ with Michele, Heather, and Jehn.  So, we headed to Wisconsin the weekend of MEA (which also happened to be our anniversary weekend) for some fall relaxation.

Kristin, Jehn, and I left Friday around noon.  The drive took much longer than usual as we seemed to stop in every town  and at every store for something.  I was happy when we finally arrived.  This time we got a bigger cabin closer to the lake, and I loved it!  It was so beautiful and the cabin was a little nicer than the last one we were in.  We settled in, unpacked our $130 worth of groceries (stopped at a VERY overpriced grocery store along the way) and enjoyed the scenery.  We started a fire that evening and were excited when Michele and Heather finally arrived.

The next day was fairly low key.  We were going to go to a meat raffle at the Golden Chipmunk, but missed it after some misunderstandings.  Oh well.  There’s always next time, right?  :)  We basically just relaxed all day and then headed over to the Golden Chipmunk for dinner. 

We ended the night by joining some other lesbians at the fire pit – Michele especially seemed excited to meet and converse with them.  The weather was beautiful, so Kristin and I decided to go for a walk.  We went down by the lake, and I was struck by the number of stars in the sky!  I remember sleeping outside when I was little and trying to count the stars.  My parents live out in the middle of nowhere, so I could always see millions of stars at night.  I had kind of forgotten what that was like – but there they were – all still there!

We had lots of fun adventures with animals there as well – a flying squirrel (yes, they do exist), chipmunks (unfortunately ours didn’t sing, Alvin….Alvin….ALVIN!), spiders, loons, and more.

The next morning Michele cooked us all a great breakfast and we packed to leave.  Last time we stayed for one night and I found myself wishing we could have stayed longer.  This trip we stayed for 2 nights and once again I was wishing we could stay for another night or two.  It is so peaceful there!!

I’m thinking of ringing in my 30^th year there in December.  Not sure how it would be if it’s really cold and possibly snowy, but I really can’t think of any place I’d rather spend my birthday!

2nd Annual LSC Bonfire

The beginning of October we had a bonfire at Como Park fire rings!  Kristin and I showed up a few hours before the event was going to start thinking that would be plenty early.  But when we arrived all of the rings were taken.  We then spent the next 2 hours on the phone with Heather and driving all over Saint Paul trying to find other available rings.  

After about 1 ½ hours we realized that all of the rings had been removed – seems the Parks Department removes all of the fire pits in September.  Which makes no sense to me.  October typically is the perfect month for bonfires – so why they remove the pits in September is beyond me.

Anyway, so after 2 hours of driving to all sorts of different parks (I was frustrated by the end, but the drive was so beautiful, I didn’t mind too much!) we decided to head back to Como and hope that a fire ring opened up.  We were able to get a grill near the rings, so we cooked up our hot dogs and waited.  Eventually we basically built a fire in the grill (totally illegal) so we could make s’ mores.  Then someone noticed that some people were packing up to leave.  

Heather and Michele, being the brave souls that they are, headed over to ask if we could have their ring.  They said yes, and we pounced! 

It was great because the fire was already going and we were able to just sit and enjoy.  At some point we commenced the annual meeting of the LSC.  I agreed to induct all bonfire attendees (Heather, Michele, Emily, Lara, Kristin, and Jehn ), and we agreed that the annual meeting should be held around a bonfire. 

That was about it.  Oh, there were lots of s’ mores and a slight confrontation with some guys (which Kristin handled like a super star) but otherwise it was just a nice, relaxing evening under the stars!  I keep thinking maybe we could squeeze one more in before it gets too cold, but not sure that will happen!  Oh well, I guess there’s always next year!

Pictoral Proof

Pictoral proof that SA actually does have Obama cookies.  Now the question is just what is the ratio and why are the Obama ones so hard to come by???

School Update!

The trimester is over half-way done.  For some reason the amount of work is crazy this week and then it seems like it will kind of die off a little again after that.  I have a presentation and journals on Friday and a presentation and booklet due on Saturday.  That doesn’t sound like a lot, but trust me, it is.

I am still really enjoying Philosophy.  I don’t get some of the stuff we read, but I love the teacher and the discussions.  My fieldwork class is also going well.  It’s a little frustrating because it’s only 2 hours long and I feel like all we do is spend 1.75 hours “checking in” and then the last 15 minutes saying goodbye.  I wish we would spend more time discussing our placements and assignments and less time just talking…but it is what it is, I suppose.  I’m liking my Human Behavior class a lot more than I was before, but it’s still relatively boring and repetitive.  I think I’ll like it a whole lot more once this presentation on Saturday is done. 

Overall it’s been a good trimester.  I’ve definitely enjoyed not having Spanish and am looking forward to next trimester when I will only have classes every other weekend instead of having one ever week (I currently have Philosophy every week). 

Speaking of next trimester,  I register for classes tomorrow – will be in another fieldwork class, a research class (this will be my area for complaint next trimester!), and an interviewing/communications class (beginning therapy class, basically).  I will have class on Friday nights and then all day on Saturdays which will kind of suck, but I’ll survive :).  I’m definitely looking forward to a little break over Christmas!

4th file, 4th picture

Appropriate that the photo would be a picture of Dory, my deep-thinking, fat, fabulously smart cat.

Who is Barack Obama?

A touching look behind the scenes of the Democratic National Convention.

Prop 8

Proposition 8 is an issue that will be voted on in November in California. I wasn’t going to talk about it, but I am disturbed by the news I have been hearing about it lately.

Proposition 8 would basically turn over a decision made by the voter-elected judges of the California Supreme Court which ruled that according to the Constitution marriage is a basic human right to all people.

Why am I upset? A couple of reasons – both extremely personal for me.

The first is that I’m a lesbian. The decision that is made in November will affect my life. Yes, it’s in California and I’m not, but it could continue a precedent of ignorance and discrimination. As most gay people go, I’m fairly laid back about this issue. I don’t care if anyone calls what Kristin and I had last year a commitment ceremony, a union, or a marriage. I know what it was, and that is what is important to me.

I do care, however, that we don’t share any of the same rights that heterosexual couples share. I am just as committed to Kristin as any straight person is to his or her spouse. We were married (or committed or unionized or whatever) last year. We live together. I do the dishes, she scoops the cat poop. We sleep in on Sundays and write silly love notes to each other. Our paychecks are deposited into a shared account. We plan to buy a house, raise a family (which will include children, if we are so blessed), and grow old together. We have the same hopes and dreams for our lives and future as any straight couple has. We are just people. Just plain, ordinary people. This proposition is basically saying it doesn’t matter. Because I don’t fit into this certain mold, I am not worthy of being treated as an equal – and that disturbs me.

The second reason this is so disturbing to me is the Mormon Church and its active role in getting this proposition passed. I know they are not accepting of me and others like me. I have known that my whole life. What disturbs me is that they can use millions of members’ tithe dollars to support this, still be tax exempt (seriously?!?), and threaten members' memberships if they question the Church's involvement.

What is it about me that scares the Mormon Church? What is it about me that is so bad, wrong, and defiled that they feel they need to step in and defend an entire state from me?

The Church has always preached loving acceptance of your neighbor, but all that their support of this proposition does is show discrimination and hate. It flies in the face of everything I ever learned sitting within the hallowed walls of the building I worshipped in week after week growing up. They are preaching love and acceptance of those, and only those, who are willing to follow their rules and live by their laws.

I have thought, perhaps naively, that somehow the Church would change. That over time they would come to see and understand that homosexuals are not out to ruin families or destroy communities. But today I realized this change won’t be coming. I don’t think they will ever understand that I’m okay just the way I am and that I am a person worthy of all of the rights and privileges they enjoy.

One last thing I would add: How quickly they forget.

How quickly they forget about the persecution their ancestors endured a mere 150 years ago. How quickly they forget how early Mormons were driven out of their homes and denied their own basic rights. How quickly they forget that all those early members wanted was to be left in peace to live their lives in the way they saw fit. How quickly they have gone from being the persecuted to the persecutor.

I have done nothing to them. The marriage to my wife has absolutely no effect on the Church, its leaders, or its members. I am not here to recruit their children, break up their marriages, or ruin their economy. I am simply trying to be left in peace and to live my life in the way I see fit.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10662315

http://tinyurl.com/4zcpvb

Spiders

So we have this issue in our house with a spider which has taken up residence between our screen and glass door leading to our deck.  I hate bugs, especially spiders, but we’re not talking about any kind of spider.  As Kristin would say, this spider was big enough to have facial expressions.  Think of a large bee and that’s the size of this thing’s body.  Gross.  

So basically it had built its web between the two doors and when I tried to slide the screen door the web held and just stretched, the spider was running around like crazy, and I quickly returned the screen door to its open position and ran inside.

Now that it’s cooling off we would like to open up the windows and the screen door and get some fresh air circulating so we can turn the A/C off.  The problem with that is the spider  If we were to just open up the glass door and have the screen door exposed, the spider would have free access to our apartment.  Totally not going to happen.

So the other day I noticed the spider minding its business in the middle of her web.  I decided I had had enough and grabbed a can of ant Raid from under our sink.  I went outside and started spraying the crap out of the screen and the spider’s hiding area.  As I sprayed, more large spiders came crawling out trying to escape my tirade.  Me, being the inhumane person that I am, kept spraying the things until nothing was moving.  In total I found 5 large dead spiders. 

So yay me.  The only problem is that they still freak me out because they’re so big (even if they are dead) so the screen door remains open, the glass door remains closed, and the spiders remain stuck in the spot where my ant Raid reached them and cut off their ability to breathe.