May 2009 Archives

It was disappointing, but not unexpected about the California Supreme Court upholding Proposition 8. Thankfully, they didn’t invalidate the existing 18,000 marriages.

I got a call from WJET TV 24, who wanted to do a story. I had guessed that it was likely that local news would want some reaction. I thought that they did a fairly good story, which you can read here (and which includes video.)

They asked about other people to speak to, and I went through the lists. The camera guy mentioned about his former neighbor, and I asked who it was. He said it was Janice Hanusik, and I mentally slapped myself for not having thought of Janice before. I gave her a call, and she was up for it. Yay! I am glad that they led in the story with her. I think that she made some great points, and it is really important for people to hear from people who are in relationships and denied equality. I obviously disagree with the minister that they had speaking, but he was at least respectful.

I am mentally kicking myself for not having brought up the point that clergy/churches would not be required to perform marriage ceremonies. This is EXACTLY what the case is today. If a nice Catholic guy wanted to marry a nice Jewish girl at a Methodist church, the church is perfectly free to refuse, but they are not allowed to prevent the couple from having a civil ceremony. Many people confuse civil marriage with a religious ceremony. It’s not. Heterosexual couples that are Atheist, Agnostic or not tied to a particular religious tradition can get married today. Equal marriage rights for same sex couple would be the same thing.

Oddly enough, when I was driving back to work, I went by just as Janice was letting out the reporter and camera guy after the interview.

I was going to go down to Vertigo in Butler this past Friday. They have just moved into a new location. I got on I-79 and was heading south. Then the car started making an intermittent jerky motion, which got me distinctly nervous. At the Saegertown exit, I decided to turn back. Drat! I think it got better on the way back and I don’t think that I observed it to happen more than once. I went out to the 2 bars and no car problems.

Saturday was scheduled to be a trip to a housewarming for a couple I know in Buffalo. I decided to try going and figured I could turn back if it was a problem. I discovered that the problem with the car only seems to happen when I go above 70 MPH, so I just used the cruise control (which was a first) and things seemed okay.

I used the GPS receiver to find the place, and that made me much less apprehensive about finding the place. However, when I got there, I discovered that I had entered the wrong address! Dummy me had picked the wrong street when spelling it out. Fortunately, it wasn’t that far away, so I got there without too much problem.

The party was fun, and there was a nice mix of folks I know and folks that I hadn’t met before. I hadn’t meant to stay too late, but it went okay.

I got twisted around slightly when I meant to get off at the rest stop near Eden/Angola and got off at the regular exit. I figured I would make a U turn and get back on I-90, but then discovered that I had instead turned back and was headed in the opposite direction. (So, as pertains to the GPS – artificial intelligence doesn’t work without some of the real variety.)

Sunday was a trip down to the Pittsburgh Pride Picnic and my friend James came along. I discovered that the GPS receiver hadn’t charged from the night before, but I also figured that I didn’t really need it until we got to Pittsburgh, so we were able to save on batter power. (The charger that goes in the car isn’t terribly reliable. Groan.) We took my car and just kept the speed to 65, and things seemed okay.

The event itself was very nice! James took some photos, we danced and chatted a bit. There were a fair number of Erie area folks there.

So, tomorrow is back to work and call to make an appointment to have the car looked at. Sigh!

I was saddened to read of the passing of Rosalie Struble. From when I was 13 to when I was about 20, I was a news carrier for the Erie Times News, and for the first several years, Rosalie was the person that I would go to on Saturdays to settle up after having collected on my paper route. She was terrifically kind and a very thoughtful person. She had 4 kids. Her daughter Jewel baby sat us when my parents were both working over the summer, and her other daughter Lydia was friends with my sister.

A few years back, I had been in the news for GLBT stuff, and I got a call from her. It was wonderful catching up and she was so kind and supportive.

My condolences to her family. She was a truly good human being.

The guy in the next cubicle was calling in an order for lunch. I am not sure where he was calling, but he requested an entree that made me guffaw.

I feel deep gratitude that my work vocabulary need never include (even in its most remote periphery) the phrase "Cluckmeister"

That is all. I take my joys where I can find them.

I must admit that reading this headline got a giggle. ("Okay, not THAT Madonna and not THAT Jesus, even though the respective ages aren't far off.") And Jesus converted from Catholicism to something vaguely Jewish. Hmm, didn't it go rather the other direction with the more well known Jesus? I must admit that the jokes pretty much seem to write themselves here. Are they registered at Tiffany's for the gold? Did some wags bring that, plus maybe frankincense and myrrh as a wedding/commitment ceremony gift? I imagine that asking if the groom had any piercings would lead to a VERY awkward silence. ("If the groom will now give me the ring... oh, it fell through your hand. Bad luck, that.") Would this also mean that the wedding night was also simultaneously one-on-one and also a foursome?

Can we just agree that if you are known as Madonna and you are involved with someone named Jesus that at least one of you needs a name change before going through with a public ceremony?

Madonna and lover Jesus to swap vows in Kabbalah service

EXCLUSIVE by Kate Mansey 10/05/2009

Madonna and her toyboy lover Jesus are planning a “commitment ceremony” in New York.

The queen of pop and Brazilian model Jesus Luz will take part in a service in front of a rabbi at the Kabbalah Centre in Manhattan.

Friends said Madonna, 50, and the 22-year-old model decided they wanted to take a new step in their relationship after her bid to adopt a Malawi orphan failed.

Jesus has already converted from Catholicism to the Kabbalah religion as a mark of his commitment to the singer.

...

Madonna and lover Jesus to swap vows in Kabbalah service - mirror.co.uk

I took the dogs over to Mom’s and we had a very nice day together. The 4 dogs (my two and Mom’s two) had a wonderful time running around.

We also went over to visit Grandma and her husband, which was okay. We left the dogs in the yard while we were over there, as Grandma is most decidedly NOT a pet person, and the dogs are rather rambunctious.

After that, we came back and made dinner. Mom also had some problems launching Google Earth, which my brother Steve had installed for her. I got it working and we played with it for a bit. I was able to zoom in and see the front of my house, which was kind of fun and freaky.

It was a really quiet and nice day. I am so lucky to have such a great mom!

Okay, this caught my eye. I must admit to being disappointed to read that Einstein’s number was 2807. It really should have been 3622, so it could have spelled out EMC2 (E=MC²) on a modern phone. Oh well.

I also must admit to thinking of what would have been Eva Braun’s online handle; SwaztikaGrrl? HitlersChick? BraunShirtBabe?

Calling all geniuses: Einstein's 1930 phone number posted on genealogy Web site

By Associated Press
2:17 PM PDT, May 8, 2009

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — If you had a question about the special theory of relativity back in 1930, you could call up the guy who proposed it.
Ancestry.com has posted copies of German telephone books from 1915 to 1981 — including Albert Einstein's phone number while he was a university professor in Berlin.

Back then, just asking for 2807 got you a direct line to the physics genius.
The genealogy Web site got Einstein's number when it scanned dusty phone books kept at the German National Library.
Adolf Hitler's longtime companion, Eva Braun, also shows up in the 1937 Munich directory.

Yeah. Pretty geeky, but fun. I just noticed the eyes tend to follow the mouse cursor.

I had a fairly nice time today at the World Belly Dance Day at Presque Isle Gallery & Coffeehouse. Both of the dancers who were there when I arrived were very good. I saw my friend Sharon and her mom and a belly dancing friend of Sharon’s, so I sat with them and had a lovely time chatting in between performances. Sharon’s mom was friends with my mom when I was little, so she said to say hi when I see Mom, which will be tomorrow.

I went up to Brushwood this past Saturday to celebrate Beltane, which tends to draw a fair number of folks. James rode along with me, since he had never been there before. Thanks the Gods for GPS receivers! (I have been there, but I get confused/lost.) It turns out that it was James' first ever Maypole!

It was a really nice and friendly collection of people. The ritual went well, and folks did fairly well with dancing with the ribbons around the Maypole. At the end, someone looked up and said "Wow! We wrapped that pole pretty well!" I pointed out that this was we because we practice safe hex. ;)

When I walked into work today, the receptions said that she had seen me on TV. At first I thought she was mistaken, until I recalled that there had indeed been camera crews at the candidate forum that the Lake Erie Alliance for Democracy had on Monday, so I probably was in a crowd shot.

The forum went relatively okay. I got there a little late, so I missed some of the school board info. it also ran long, so I left after the introductions of Erie City Council candidates.

What kind of mixed message is this? "Joe the Plumber" (note, his real name is not Joe, and last I heard, he was not an officially licensed plumber) says that he has gay friends (who must have really low self-esteem, apparently), but that he won't allow openly gay people anywhere near his children. He then claims that he isn't using the word "queer" as a slur, and then mentions the word "honky" as being a slur. (I.e. apparently things only count if they are said by other people by him.)

He also says later in the interview that he is waiting for a sign from God before running for elected office. If Joe/Sam DOES get a sign, it's my guess that God is a Democrat, and She really wants his opponent to win. Or maybe She just has a wonderfully perverse sense of humor.

This man's 15 minutes of fame were up a LONG time ago.

Joe The Plumber Slurs Gay People: I Would Never Let "Queers" Near My Children

Joe the Plumber, aka Samuel Wurzelbacher, sat down for an lengthy interview with Christianity Today to discuss his views on the future of the Republican party. Wurzelbacher took the opportunity to speak out against gay marriage, which he says is wrong. The unlikely conservative spokesman went so far as to say he doesn't allow openly gay people "anywhere near" his children.

The word "queer," Wurzelbacher noted, "means strange and unusual."

Joe The Plumber Slurs Gay People: I Would Never Let "Queers" Near My Children

OMG! I have joked for years about deep fried lard as an example of culinary excess. Who knew that someone would actually come up with something. Deep frying? Butter + cream cheeses + egg? Why not just inject Crisco into your veins and cut to the chase. I can feel my arteries congealing just thinking about this.

Paula's Fried Butter Balls

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Show: Paula's PartyEpisode: Everything's Better With Butter

• Times:

Prep

20 min

Inactive Prep

2 hr 0 min

Cook

5 min

Total:

2 hr 25 min

Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• Peanut oil, for frying

Paula's Fried Butter Balls Recipe : Paula Deen : Food Network

Cool! I watched M*A*S*H fairly regularly, and somehow missed that David Ogden Stiers was gay. (Although thinking about it, he has played some rather fey characters.)

GOSSIP BOY EXCLUSIVE! TELEVISION ICON DAVID OGDEN STIERS OFFICIALLY COMES OUT

March 11, 2009

By Wayne Fuller

DAVID OGDEN STIERS

BACKSTORY: DAVID OGDEN STIERS

Few would believe that the stodgy appearing actor David Ogden Stiers (DOS to many friends) is a flower child at heart. From his work and general appearance most would describe him as uptight, humorless, conservative, religious, cold, and judgmental.

Now replace those adjectives with their opposite and you have the real DOS – fun loving, witty, liberal, atheistic, warm and accepting.

(See the rest of the story here)