Pre-Election RANT... UPDATED

Every time a friend on FB "likes" Mitt Romney, I have to resist the exceedingly strong urge to DE-Fucking-Friend... and I have to sit on my hands not to write an expletive-laced response

I have a lot to say about Obama and why I think he is the right leader for the country, but in this moment, I'm not in a pro-Obama space or even an anti-Mitt space as much as I'm in a How do you stay close to people who claim to like or love you, but vote against your basic human rights?!?

I agree with Doug Wright:
"I wish my moderate Republican friends would simply be honest. They all say they're voting for Romney because of his economic policies (tenuous and ill-formed as they are), and that they disagree with him on gay rights. Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a level clear voice, and say, 'My taxes and take-home pay mean more than your fundamental civil rights, the sanctity of your marriage, your right to visit an ailing spouse in the hospital, your dignity as a citizen of this country, your healthcare, your right to inherit, the mental welfare and emotional well-being of your youth, and your very personhood.' It's like voting for George Wallace during the Civil Rights movements, and apologizing for his racism. You're still complicit. You're still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don't get to walk away clean, because you say you "disagree" with your candidate on these issues."

I would only add:
It's not close. It's not even close. These candidates are no where near each other on how they intend to treat my family if elected. It isn't abstract. It's very personal to me. With the brush of a pen, he could* reverse the incredible protections Obama has put into place for families like ours. (*Not only COULD but has promised to). Vote for Mitt if you need to, but while you are doing it, remember you are casting a sure vote against Katy and me. Whether it's for your pocketbook, your contempt of unions or environmentalists, your "pro-business" stance, your belief that the deficit will be reduced faster or the employment rate will improve quicker, or that you think we will somehow be viewed as
Stronger throughout the world... There is NO DOUBT that gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans are better off (by a COUNTRY MILE) than they were four years ago. So, it's true, I do sort of wish my "fair minded" Republican friends would read up on this issue and just be honest: "Look, I know this guy wants to fuck with you and your newly won civil-rights, but I don't really care about that. I doubt very much you'll stop being friends with me just because I cast votes for people that vow to De-legitimize your family and legal marriage; it's frankly a risk I'm willing to take."

UPDATED RANT:  I went 9 rounds with a dude on a FB thread after one of my friends re-posted my above rant...  Each time I responded, I said to myself: "That is all, I'm not going to respond again." But I couldn't help myself. And in the end, I decided I just couldn't let him have the last word...
It's a little immature, but yeah, that's the space I was in. Enjoy!

I'm not going to have to join Tumblr now, am I?!?

I don't really know WTF Tumblr is except it is a different platform for posting info...

Sort of like a cross between Blogger and Twitter, but I came across this and it made me cry... I read it several times and several times I just couldn't help but squeeze out a few tears.

Go Ahead, I dare you not to weep a little at the obviousness of these parental instincts and the "Well sure- it is about time" rarity of something written so simply, so honestly...

[CLICK ON ABOVE] to visit the page...

A few additional thoughts...

1) This is what is good about the Internet- there are so many options for creation and beauty. You can't focus on the debauchery without acknowledging the space (enormous space) that exists as it never has before to CREATE...

2) This was this mom's FIRST Tumblr posting. She likely told a few friends and within 2 days 37,500 people had commented on the post (that does not include the heaven-knows-how-many of us read it without comment)

3) This type of "going viral" is sort of appealing to me... it's like a "gold rush" for the "twenty-tens". You never know what shit is going to take off.

iPhone4 vs HTC Evo

I watched this video on my iPhone. Laughing to tears while leaning oddly near the window and pointing the device awkwardly toward the the one corner of my office that allows me to stream a little video if it's not too rainy and it's not too sunny outside.

22222

Some time in the last 24 hours, our blog counter recorded our twenty-second thousand, two hundred and twenty-second hit. Katy and I really like the number "22".

It is likely that two-thirds of those hits are just me checking in on posts I've written to re-read, edit, and view comments, but still that is pretty awesome. That means on average, for every day this blog has existed, it has been visited over 15 times a day...

Cool.

UPDATE: In honor of this historic event (and to give my wife a smile- she's sick of the dark color scheme) I'm giving the blog a face-lift!!!

blog post - telegram style

So much to write...

Too tired to write.

Been up too late all week.

There's drama at our day care.

JB's getting 2 more molars, but we are still worried about his ears.

He is talking a ton now and has been wearing underwear for 2 days now (except at night) with no accidents today.

ML is Mr. Mellow. We like to rock him to sleep. (we were harder on his brother at this age) but tonight, we wrapped him and let him fall asleep on his own... He did it no problem-o. This kid could win an Olympic award for sleeping thru the night (knock on wood). If he didn't sleep this good, I might be suicidal...

Christmas cards more than 1/2 done.

No Christmas decs up yet.

Snow expected tomorrow.

I stacked a whole bunch of shit miles high to fit our 2 cars into the garage.

It might be worth the extra hundred grand in a mortgage if we don't have to scrape this winter...

I dare you not to smile at this:



:)

nite.night.

Just because time is flying by...

I'm too tired at night to blog about all the things that I think about during the day.

But so much has happened in the world lately:

1. Sonia Sotomayor - nominated for to be justice of the SCOTUS
2. Prop 8 upheld by the California Supreme Court
3. The gays have taken to the streets as a result
4. Dick Cheney has taken to the airwaves (This guy hid in a secret location and wouldn't confirm or comment on even his own name for 8 years, now he seeks the spotlight like an Elvis impersonator in Vegas.)
5. Dr. George Tiller (a Kansas doctor that spent the better part of his adult life a target of violence; having been shot in both arms in 1993 and attacked when his clinic was bombed) was gunned down in his church last Sunday. He was one of only 3 abortion providers in the US who was trained and able to perform an abortion beyond 21 weeks gestation.
6. New Hampshire just joined Maine, Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts to become the 7th state to enact marriage equality for Gays and lesbians. (California was the 2nd, but the advancement was reversed when a slim majority passed proposition 8 last November, adding a constitutional amendment that defined "Marriage" as only between "one man and one woman".)
7. Miss California's 15 minutes of fame seems to finally be up.
8. Newsweek Magazine has totally fucked up its entire format and where it used to be my little weekly news candy, is now exceedingly distasteful to me, like a fungus that has grown on my big toe
9. Nine houses have sold in a 1.5 mile radius of our property in the last 4 weeks
10. Our house is not one of them.
11. Softball season has begun.
    

I have a lot of feelings about most of the above items. I would like to write a post on each; but I will likely not get to it (You're saved.)

I have a lot to write about how much JB and katy are changing. He with stronger language skills and a higher capacity for cognitive analysis of the world around him... She with the belly and "bean v2.0".

I will find the time to write about that, but not tonight.

I leave you with 3 of the funniest Internet snippets I have seen in a while.

One about a slippery slope:



And one about understanding the religious history that has brought us to the place where that slippery slope is a constant fear for some in our society.



And one is for geeks everywhere:



Think about it!

I dare you not to smile...

I'm off from work today... I've got a lot of plans but promised myself that it's okay to fall short on all of them. First on the "low pressure day off" is checking all my favorite blogs, and JMG had this:



Improv everywhere is a group that sets up little skits in public places, actors are volunteers. They usually are just attempting to get smiles out of innocent bystanders.

Hat tip: JMG

Healthy living

I'm up way too late.

The house ain't clean, straightened, or ready for what the next 8 days is about to bring upon us.

I spent about an hour talking to my ICU comrade/best bud/roommate. She got some crazy-assed news at the cardiologist today. Life is strange. When did we get old enough to face all this "reality" K's mom in Chemo, L's FIL gravely ill, Adam learning how to scratch his nose again...

I am seriously in love with Facebook b/c even though it is ridiculous and a total time suck, if it didn't' exist there are about 25 people who I would have had zero contact with in the last 30 days that I have had important, meaningful exchanges with and/or have been privy to significant details in their lives that they likely would have not called or emailed to update me on.

Modern day conundrum: I don't want to be the type of mom and wife who is a slave to the computer and social technology, but I don't also want to be the type of friend that is totally out of the loop when major shit is slapping into the fan.

There was a story on the news tonight about a 14 year old girl who sent 14,000 text messages in a month. She's a self-reported "texting addict. " I saw this story from the treadmill where i spent over an hour tonight. Occasionally I watch "the biggest loser" while eating ice cream. But this week I drank water and wondered if I could handle a bunch of sprints like they do.

I've put 8 miles on our treadmill so far this week; which is more than any other week since we've owned the monster. The worst part about exercising for me is the time spent away from my lady and my baby. Lame as it might sound to a more "driven" individual, I'd rather be on the couch next to her than just about anywhere else in the world. I always walk away (or limp away) feeling better about myself and I am always a much more productive member of the family after a little (or a long) workout. But in this crazy-busy life wrought with hardship and illness and problems, it does seem like a self-indulgent use of time.

Did i tell you we're going to the inauguration?
Well there will definitely be more on that later...

More olympics and other tales of huge teeth

To bring up some other of my Olympic concerns:

1) Dara Torres - also a swimmer I would love to just love and not mock. BUT, I am not strong enough. Though, I am not worthy to carry the 41 year old's shammy cloth around in terms of her strength, fitness, over-all greatness, and champion stature, mock her I will. Oh, I will... even if I am short of breath from walking up one flight of stairs while carrying a milkshake to read about her new world record on "the intrenets". Thing is:
You can come out of the closest, Dara...
And people will still like you.
Look at Ellen and Portia!
It is 2008!
Go win your 3700th gold medal, or whatever, and then go get yourself a Lady-friend. Someone as strong on land as you are in the pool- who won't let you stay closeted. Together, you can raise the daughter you worked so hard with that "reproductive endocrinologist" partner of yours to create.

2) Synchronized diving. That's it. I don't have much else to say except W.T.F.
This sport is obviously very difficult, but it cannot be as difficult to compete as it is to watch. Just awful. Boring and weird and bizarre. And will that female commentator just please just shut her annoying #@%$ pie-hole. How did she get this job? Why is this so painful to watch? Let's be honest, it is mostly because of her inconsistent, nasally, inaccurate, allegedly-expert, banter. It looks like others agree.

I'm sure there will be more, but I will leave you with some personal updates: This week, JB had these enormous 2 top teeth finally poke through. They are about 1/2 the size of his head. No wonder he's been a little "not himself".

We are still kind of "stinky" and I think we have decided to throw away both the rug that is in our basement and the one in the garage (it was kind of weird to keep that rug in the garage anyway, but it was a nice touch for last year's Kate-a-palooza*). We thought all the wet-vaccing and some heavy duty cleaners would work to decrease the stink, but because of the timing and our lack of Olympic-sized commitment to the pursuit of wet-vaccing 5 days a week post storm, this is likely the most effective path.

We are going on vacation. I don't know the computer situation. I hope there is access, but blog posts will probably not be that frequent.

*The party-title "Kate-a-palooza" was just a cheep knock off of "Bill-a-palooza"... Even though that event was a cheep knock off of "Mitch-a-palooza", my sister keeps insisting on a foot note.

Cake Wrecks

This is hilarious, and will be added to "Blogs we like ITRO" immediately!!!
Especially read the post entitled: The creepiness continues.

Hat tip: Joe

Where do you find the time?

We watched a DVR'd episode of wipeout yesterday.

I know 99.99% of you have not seen this show, but when I set the DVR I just felt like, "I have got to see this insanity at least once." It is on A.B.C. and is followed by a show called, "I survived a Japanese game show."

Summer tv is a freaking horror show.

I didn't expect wipeout to be anything other than what it was. (Honestly, though, I wasn't expecting the 30,000 times an announcer found a way to work the word "balls" into the commentary.)

So even though, I couldn't look away from the travesty, that's about 33 minutes of my life (ff'ing through commercials and other lame parts) that I'll never get back...

So what. After watching that show, my brain is mushier, my body is flabbier. But it reminds me of one of the reasons I blog. Namely, because I have the time.

My parents are 2 of the people that (though they have always encouraged me to write more) whenever the blog is mentioned say, "I don't know where you find the time..." It's ironic coming from my mother who last week alone, made several homemade bibs out of hand towels, while caring for 2-3 infants and toddlers around the clock.

Then there's my dad who will spend 45 minutes picking dandelion fuzz off the blades of grass on a certain section of his lawn; even after I've driven an adorable grand-baby 30 minutes to see him. Also, he's been known to play the fife for 7 to 22 hours on any given week in the summer. But he's baffled by my ability to find 20 to 60 minutes every few days to write about myself (or about them.)

To be fair, my parents haven't said this in a while, but a lot of people who spend a little time at the GSO are apt to remark: "I don't know where you find the time..."

I'm gonna say this: it doesn't take that much time.
I blog AND I still have time to watch an occasional episode of wipeout. That's just how I roll.

I have friends that do all kinds of things I don't do: exercise, clean house, apply makeup, blow-dry their hair...

I myself have list of items that go un-checked-off:
Returning the phone calls of people i care about and haven't seen, writing thank you notes for gifts given several months ago, getting my car to pass emissions, returning baby clothes that don't fit, laundering piles of underwear stored on the bedroom floor, dusting the treadmill that never gets used, etc.

My sister and i have a pet peeve about people who say, "I'm sorry I didn't XXX, I have just been so busy." I hate this statement b/c frankly it feels like pressure to be more wound up; an invitation into some kind of nauseating contest called, "I'm busier than you..." I think Web hates it because it would be a joke for someone to try to compete with her in this insane contest. She's been known to fly over 10,000 miles a week for work, put in the hours of a DA prosecuting OJ Simpson, host a pampered chef party, take my mother and grandmother out for pedicures, bake a batch of lollipop chocolate chip cookies for an ailing co-worker and still have the time to tease her older sister for showing up late to watch papa pick the dandelion fuzz off his lawn.

It's not that I am not busy. I assure you, we are as over-booked as the next group of lunatics. It is that no matter how "busy" someone is, there are always decisions involved about how an individual will use his/her time. Everyone gets the same number of hours in the day, right? Some people sleep more than others. Some people cope better than others. We all set our priorities, and the blog is a little gift I give myself; my way to produce media and not merely consume some trash that someone else produces. (wipeout.)

This guy, Clay Shirky plucks all the right notes in this tune if you ask me. (hat tip, Adam)

Wow.

This might be the most interesting and informative site I have ever visited.

For all of you out there that might think this information is boring or superfluous, I don't even know what to say... except um... YOU HAVE NO BALLS BOOBS!

The internet is truly miraculous!
One time, I fixed our AC by googling "puddle of water on floor in basement" and "central air conditioning," literally saving us HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS in equipment and the butt-crack fees of a visiting repair-person.

Today i googled, "bra straps falling down" and learned more about bra sizing and support than I have been able to glean in my 16 plus years of big-bustedness.

Thanks, God.

There might be an essay idea brewing about how the internet is everything we've come to believe about God: Invisible, Omnipresent, Seemingly all-knowing, You can't see him/her/it but you know s/he/it's there, Sometimes you ask a question or start out looking to find one thing and are surprised at the answers you get or come upon something completely new or unexpected... I could go on and on with this analogy.