Wednesday, September 30, 2009

25 things about me... as if I'm not already self-absorbed enough...

1. I used to slice head cheese for a guy tied to the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.

2. I've been told that I do a reasonably good Marlene Dietrich impression.

3. During the Cold War, my fifth-grade teacher picked my essay to read for the school assembly on patriotism. But the principal wouldn't let me go on. My subject: Communism is just another form of government, so everybody should relax already.

4. I used to be a Camp Fire Girl. And I spent one glorious week at Camp Wamatochik.

5. I was the Virgin Mary in the kindergarten Christmas play.

6. I had ... Uh, nope. Not telling you that one.

7. Hmmm... Not that one either.

8. I like to read the dictionary.

9. According to my ex-husband, I'm "a bottomless pit of need." And I often worry that he's right.

11. It took me 11 years to get pregnant and it was so worth the wait!

12. Eventually, after an aggressive desensitization regimen imposed by my young daughter, I grew to like Barney the purple dinosaur.

13. I like my coffee strong enough for the spoon to stand up by itself.

14. I don't like sweet tea, okra, greens, or any veggies that taste like bacon grease. But I do like black-eyed peas.

15. I'm occasionally mistaken for Latina or Native American, but I'm really half Greek, a quarter Welsh, and a quarter who-knows-what.

16. I'm pretty good in a crisis as long as it's somebody else's.

17. Before I go see a movie I want to know if it's a happy ending or not. And if a main character is gonna die I want to know who.

18. I like snakes. I'm not afraid of them at all unless they're poisonous or big enough to kill me. In fact, I really like holding them.

19. I can't kill anything that crunches when you squish it. Which is fine, because I don't like to kill stuff anyway.

21. As far as I know, I've never had any of the usual childhood illnesses, and I've never broken any bones. But I did staple myself once.

22. I brake for turtles.

23. I had a knife held to my throat when I was about 10, after I pissed off the wrong person.

24. I love long, exhausting, dirty, sticky-floored, multi-day, around-the-clock trips via Greyhound, where the only time you get off the bus is for meal stops and when they need to clean the bus at three in the morning. It's my version of camping. My longest stretch: six days up the west coast and across southern Canada. Although...

25. A nun had to rescue me from a creepy guy who was trying to follow me on said Greyhound bus.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Here comes the war on Christmas again... from, uh, who?

It's that time of year -- you know, mid-September -- when the holiday shopping season begins. And with it comes the inevitable war on Christmas (read "war on Christians"). Here's a great example of anti-Christmas sentiment:
Santa Claus Will Take You to Hell

... Don't leave your kids with this red fright
Just like the priests, he'll rape 'em at night
Oh, Santa Claus will take you to hell....

Well. Isn't that cheery! Even I have to admit that somebody has definitely declared war here. But who is writing this stuff? Jews? Atheists? The Dalai Lama?

No, no, you silly thing. It's the Westboro Baptist Church. You know, God-Hates-Fags-dot-com. Self-proclaimed Christians are waging war on Christmas.

These days, it's hard to see WBC as anything but pathetic. Or at least, it would be if they weren't working so hard at hurting people and being generally obnoxious. You know, protesting at funerals of American soldiers killed in action. And protesting "fag-infested" theaters that put on The Laramie Project. Yeah. Thank goodness somebody has these depravities covered!

Ever taken a look around the WBC site? Scary stuff. And it's not just us LGBTQ folks they hate, either. They're not too crazy about Catholics and Jews, either. Especially Jews.

Even without the Santa poem, these guys are waging full-on war against Christianity.

You know, at times like this it kinda sucks that I don't believe in hell.

Reminiscing...

When I lived in Chicago, long long long ago, two of my favorite acoustic performers were Steve Goodman and John Prine. They were fast friends and often performed together. Here's one of Prine's best songs, Souvenirs. Following that is another song performed by Goodman.

Sadly, Steve Goodman died in 1984 from leukemia. What I didn't know is that he was diagnosed in 1969 -- which means that he was aware of the diagnosis even as he was building a (very successful) career.

Enjoy.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Just a little rain...

In case there's anyone out there who thinks we Georgians are silly for closing schools on account of rain, here's a site that might explain things for you: http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/metro/flood-aerials-092209/.

Oh, my Lord... Did I just say "we Georgians?" I was born in New Jersey, for God's sake!

Anyway, I'm glad better weather has arrived. And my prayers go out to the victims.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Rain, rain...

For a while it was interesting and perhaps a little fun. So what's the big deal about a little water?

But now, not so much. Six dead. Up to 20 inches of rain in the last three days. 12,000 people without power. Nearly all schools closed. Now, we're all just weary.

I'm one of the fortunate ones: no roof leaks, no flooding, just a lot of rain. But along with giving thanks for that happy coincidence, I must also acknowledge that I have done nothing to deserve my good luck.

Here's to sunshine. Soon.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Oooooo....Technology!

Well, this is kind of cool. I can now post a blog entry via SMS or email. This will make it much, much easier since I don't have much computer access for personal use.
Hmmmm. Let's see if it goes through without a picture...

testing, testing again

Damn. I can post by sending an email!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Deranged Wingnuts v. U.S.

Thank you, thank you, Judge Land. Reason and sanity have prevailed! For the whole opinion (well worth the read!) click here.

"Plaintiff, a Captain in the United States Army, seeks a
temporary restraining order to prevent the Army from deploying her to
Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Plaintiff alleges that
her deployment orders are unconstitutional and unenforceable because
President Barack Obama is not constitutionally eligible to act as
Commander in Chief of the United States armed forces. After
conducting a hearing on Plaintiff’s motion, the Court finds that
Plaintiff’s claims are frivolous. Accordingly, her application for
a temporary restraining order is denied, and her Complaint
is dismissed in its entirety. Furthermore, Plaintiff’s counsel is
hereby notified that the filing of any future actions in this Court,
which are similarly frivolous, shall subject counsel to sanctions.
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(c)."

Boy. And they say gay people have an agenda!

It's not quite over, though. DWs (see the title of this entry) have filed for a rehearing. I wonder if they'll get sanctioned for that...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Harassment at the Eagle?

A local gay leather club, the Eagle, was raided Thursday night by Atlanta police. No need to rehash the details, which you can find here and here and here. The raid was allegedly prompted by one or more neighborhood complaints of criminal activity.

Comparisons to Stonewall are plentiful and, unfortunately, probably justified. During the raid, patrons and employees were forced to lie on the ground while being frisked and questioned (and in many cases handcuffed). Some witnesses have reported anti-gay and racist slurs by police. As a result of the raid, eight employees were arrested for minor licensing violations. No drugs were found. To get the other side of the story, you can read the APD’s press statement here – but it probably won’t make you feel much better.

A community protest rally will be held Sunday from 5 to 8 pm at the Eagle. Here’s to a big turnout.

Friday, September 11, 2009

There are other things I must never forget.

Today on Facebook, many of my friends wrote: “Never forget.” They were, of course, referring to the devastating attacks we all experienced eight years ago. Flags flew at half mast today. Memorial candles burned in churches, office lobbies, and even hotels. Lists of the victims’ names -- so many of them! – re-revealed the tragedy’s scope not only through statistics (3,000+ deaths and 6,200+ injuries), but by reminding us of each individual light that was extinguished on that day.

Once again, we are in mourning. That is just as it should be.

However, along with these gentle and somber reminders, I have also received more than the usual amount of anti-Muslim propaganda: an expose of how Muslim law treats women… the old (and false) story about how Budweiser refused to sell to a convenience store after the owner cheered the victory of Al-Qaeda. The emails I have received tend to color all Muslims in the same shade of hatred, as if this diverse group is significantly more homogenous than Christians or Jews or Buddhists or women or homosexuals or African Americans.

The fact is, hate and bigotry can be found on the fringes of every religion, ethnicity, and cultural identity. Orthodox Jewish services separate men from women. Fundamentalist Christians believe non-Christians (as they define that term) are doomed to suffer an eternity in hell. If you think that Muslims have a monopoly on radicalism and hatred, you might want to check out the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate group site. Or, if you have a really strong stomach, you can look here or here or here. I could go on, but you get the idea.

That’s why I, too, will never forget. Not just about the plane crashes and the burning Twin Towers. Those images aren’t going anywhere. They’ll be with me forever.

But there are other things – very important things – I’m all too likely to forget when I wrap myself in the comforting cloak of our collective grief and anger. These are the things I must fight to remember:

I must never forget that in our fear and anger, we allowed our President and Vice President to highjack our national principles, freedoms, and rights.

I must never forget that our leaders took the unprecedented step of invading a foreign country that was not an immediate threat.

I must never forget that our creation of an immoral war has led to the deaths of over 4,300 American soldiers and more than 100,000 civilians so far (with credible estimates well in excess of 655,000 as of 2006), as well as scores of people from other nations.

I must never forget that 9/11 led to the remarkable conclusion, at the highest levels of government, that torture is a valid investigative strategy.

Finally, I must never forget that we have lived this nightmare before, in a thousand different forms both large and small: in the near-complete genocide of indigenous peoples around the world; in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II; in the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge; in the Holocaust; in attempts to “cure” homosexuals; in our ostracizing people with HIV/AIDS… I must never forget that our species has an almost pathological need to destroy those who frighten or anger us.

Most importantly, I must never forget that I am just as prone to this pathology as everyone else on the planet. For that reason, I must be forever vigilant, and I must be willing to protect our principles even when my own judgment lapses. In short, I must remain teachable.

Please, God, let me never forget. Please, let me remain teachable.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Thursday: In which the Subversive Librarian attempts to face her writer's block head-on.

So. Can a fourth-rate hack writer with serious creative blockage find happiness and fulfillment typing furiously with only her thumbnails on a tiny cellphone keyboard (I mean, I'm hauling ass at 7 wpm) while watching traffic from her 23rd-floor office window and wasting what little is left of her lunch hour? Well, who the fuck knows. But I've got to do something with all this pissy angst.

Uh, let's see... Depending on how you define "swearing," I got somewhere between one and three swear words into that paragraph. And yes, that did make me feel a little better. Except "pissy" doesn't quite work there, and my use of "fuck" is a transparently cheap attempt to shock the reader, and...

Oh, shit. Lunch is over.

This is soooo not going to work.