Last night Caleb Schaber - aka Shady, Stabber, Shooter...etc - shot and killed himself.

He was an asshole, a shit disturber, a danger whore...it was his art. He's probably the only person I ever enjoyed having piss me off, in that I doubt I'm alone.

He will be missed.

Fuck you Shooter.

Rest in Peace.

There are some people who, without seeming to try very hard at all, manage to enrich the lives of those around them. Who inspire the rest of us to work harder than we would have on our own, to share more of ourselves, be more generous with our energy. Dave Ponkey is one of those people. Many people know him only as the Storyteller.

Yesterday, he ended his battle with cancer. To say that he will be missed is so inadequate, saying it is a little ridiculous. But Dave was pretty ridiculous, so that's okay.

Whew, there are a lot of people out there making statements about this bill without reading the full text. Out of context, certain sections do make it appear that some serious big brother shit is going on. You have to read and assimilate the WHOLE THING.

It is not going to be verboten to grow your own food or to give away food you grow. It will be more complicated, and potentially more expensive, to sell homegrown produce, slaughtered animals or animal products and seafood. It is not going to infringe upon your right to practice your religion. It will make it virtually impossible for a peanut processing plant to intentionally ignore salmonella contamination.

Read the full text, decide what is most important to you, then let your representatives know.


As always:
Your Survival May Depend Upon Your Reading Comprehension

This started out as a reply to a very valid question posted by kid_lit_fan here, but it got long and I thought that she might not be the only one asking, so...

There are some people to whom no argument will ever appeal. There are still enough parents who disown their queer kids, or believe that sexual orientation is a choice, or think that homosexual sex is just to yucky to be legal, or think that we should legislate their bible, or who find it threatening, or don't/can't/won't understand the difference between homosexuality and pedophelia

There are a lot of people who will not listen to reason or logic if it is counter to their presently held beliefs and who think that faith is more important than thought. This video is not for them.

This video is for the people who don't already get that homosexual marriages (and families) are exactly like heterosexual marriages and that discrimination doesn't just hurt the couples. It's to bring to people who don't quite get it on their own that it is abominable to divorce people against their will. It's also putting the language out there.

Millions of people are under the impression that this is a semantic argument, that "marriage" is for straights and "civil unions" are for gays but that all the same rights are granted (and that "civil unions" actually exist on some kind of reasonable scale). A marriage between two living partners ends in DIVORCE which most of the population easily associates with pain and expense and turmoil and shame. A civil union is dissolved or invalidated, words which are more likely to be associated with cleaning products and paperwork errors. I'd rather my marriage didn't sound like something that can be washed away.



"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Also, I have a real live interview with a genuine business. I'd be (will be?...please?) the scheduler for a home care agency.

Please everyone think really good thoughts at me. I, for my part, will not fall down at their feet and beg them to take me on but instead will act personable, savvy and exquisitely hireable.

Self cleaning ovens are magical. It made about a half a cup of solidly baked on turkey grease disappear. I take back every thought I've ever had that I'd prefer a gas oven/stove over electric.

Completely magic.

Now for something educational

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.



If you would like to add your name to a letter to the Supreme Court asking that they overturn Prop 8 you can do so here: http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce.

To see more of the photo project, the slideshow is here: http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/content/dontdivorce some of the pictures are really good.

If you would like to send in a photo with your sign, you can email it to pleasedontdivorce@couragecampaign.org.

So what do you do about a woman who, every 15 minutes or so gets up from her workstation, goes into the public bathroom and wails as loud and as hard as she can for about ten minutes? When I go in to check on her she hides in a stall and pretends not to be there, at first I was afraid she was having a seizure or slitting her wrists, but eventually she comes out looking right as rain and goes back to her workstation.

Bid for attention? Social science experiment?

Weird.

Phooey on all the naysayers.

I love our new President.

I am positively giddy that our President is more intelligent and better spoken than I am.

I get chills of awe that we have someone in the Oval Office who has a clue what uncertainty and hardship and discrimination are about.

I roll my eyes at all the silly, silly predictions of doom over ending the war and redistribution of wealth and healthcare for all. Fools I say, the people who are frothing to pick over any nuance to find something not to like.

Think about it for a minute. I bet you don't even like every single little thing you yourself do.

I have hope. I believe in positive changes to come.

For perhaps the first time in my life I understand what people are talking about when they say they are Proud to be an American.

So go take a piss in your own Cheerios ye bitter conservatives, mine are inviolable.

So, absinthe. Lovely green drink which tastes of anise and fairy dust.

This year, at Dickens' Fair, I am not only pushing your standard legal intoxicants, I am pushing absinthe.

Absinthe? you say, real absinthe? But isn't that illegal? Won't it make me hallucinate, get addicted, write tortured poetry and die?

Yes it is real and legal, but since we are not engaging in the semi-traditional addition of laudanum those pesky 19th century side effects fall under the heading of 'Not Christmassy Enough' and are therefore banished. What is real however is the wormwood and the 10ppm of thujone it adds to the mix. What this means for you, my pushees, is that the sluggish is taken out of your drunk.

And that's what makes it so sparkly.

So come on down and tell your friends, you'll find us in the darkest corner next to Mad Sal's Bar, glowing green.

I am getting a little numb to hearing about more people being laid-off. Part of me says, "well at least it's not just me," and the rest of me says "fuck, more competition."

I got a phone interview for a job today (yesterday now). Yet another office that laid off 6 people and wants one person to replace them all. At least I didn't have to get dressed up for it.

Oh please, ye employed, point out to your bosses, your HR departments, your office managers, that you can not hire one person to do bookeeping, reception, sales, marketing, IT and administration. This goes double if you have more than about 15 employees or any kind of call volume whatsoever. Also, as a general rule, salespeople are not bookkeepers and IT people don't do marketing. At least, if you are going to overload one desperate individual, consolidate jobs which make sense together.

With luck, I will soon have a job where I don't have to do payroll and change diapers, or manage shipping and do tarot readings, or do cold calls and collections call. I don't want to have to do the boss's laundry or take their kids to the orthodontist. I do want fair pay and dignity. I don't want that to be too much to ask for.

So, I'm putting it out there. Dear Universe, Dear Santa, Dear Hannukah Fairy, I'm wishing for a job by New Years.

New LJ styles. New userpic too.

You know what else is shiny? Christmas.

Especially when you add absinthe.

Which is what you can get shortly at Dickens' Christmas Fair.

http://dickensfair.com/

First weekend I can get you in free, after that I can get you in cheap.

First Buttered Rum is on me.

Hopefully not literally (again).

Legal Papers Claim Initiative Procedure Cannot Be Used To Undermine the Constitution's Core Commitment To Equality For Everyone

SAN FRANCISCO – The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a writ petition before the California Supreme Court today urging the court to invalidate Proposition 8 if it passes. The petition charges that Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution's core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians. Proposition 8 also improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities. According to the California Constitution, such radical changes to the organizing principles of state government cannot be made by simple majority vote through the initiative process, but instead must, at a minimum, go through the state legislature first.

The California Constitution itself sets out two ways to alter the document that sets the most basic rules about how state government works. Through the initiative process, voters can make relatively small changes to the constitution. But any measure that would change the underlying principles of the constitution must first be approved by the legislature before being submitted to the voters. That didn't happen with Proposition 8, and that's why it's invalid.

"If the voters approved an initiative that took the right to free speech away from women, but not from men, everyone would agree that such a measure conflicts with the basic ideals of equality enshrined in our constitution. Proposition 8 suffers from the same flaw – it removes a protected constitutional right – here, the right to marry – not from all Californians, but just from one group of us," said Jenny Pizer, a staff attorney with Lambda Legal. "That's too big a change in the principles of our constitution to be made just by a bare majority of voters."

"A major purpose of the constitution is to protect minorities from majorities. Because changing that principle is a fundamental change to the organizing principles of the constitution itself, only the legislature can initiate such revisions to the constitution," added Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.

The groups filed the lawsuit today in the California Supreme Court on behalf of Equality California and 6 same-sex couples who did not marry before Tuesday's election but would like to be able to marry now.

The groups filed a writ petition in the California Supreme Court before the elections presenting similar arguments because they believed the initiative should not have appeared on the ballot, but the court dismissed that petition without addressing its merits. That earlier order is not precedent here.

"Historically, courts are reluctant to get involved in disputes if they can avoid doing so," said Shannon Minter, Legal Director of NCLR. "It is not uncommon for the court to wait to see what happens at the polls before considering these legal arguments. However, now that Proposition 8 may pass, the courts will have to weigh in and we believe they will agree that Proposition 8 should never have been on the ballot in the first place."

This would not be the first time the court has struck down an improper voter initiative. In 1990, the court stuck down an initiative that would have added a provision to the California Constitution stating that the "Constitution shall not be construed by the courts to afford greater rights to criminal defendants than those afforded by the Constitution of the United States." That measure was invalid because it improperly attempted to strip California's courts of their role as independent interpreters of the state's constitution.

In a statement issued earlier today, the groups stated their conviction, which is shared by the California Attorney General, that the state must continue to honor the marriages of the 18,000 lesbian and gay couples who have already married in California.

A copy of the statement is available at: www.aclu.org/lgbt/relationships/37701prs20081105.html.

A copy of the writ petition filed today is available at: www.aclu.org/lgbt/relationships/37709lgl20081105.html.

In addition to the ACLU, Lambda Legal and NCLR, the legal team bringing the writ also includes the Law Office of David C. Codell; Munger Tolles & Olson, LLP; and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP.

Taking a quick break from the polls for lunch and to go vote.

At least 90% of people driving by are supportive.

Getting flipped off by little old ladies is hilarious. 3 so far.

Been called faggit 4 times. I also find this extremely funny. I don't know why.

If you have the time I recommend getting out there and showing support for whatever you believe in.

If you do decide to go out and voice your support for or against any political issue, bring a friend. Some of these issues are really bringing out the worst in people, so safety in numbers, just in case.

Remember that the law now requires your headlights to be on when your wipers are.

Be extra careful if you are on two wheels when it's wet (better yet, take a car or public transit). On Saturday Kaellie, Martin and I witnessed a scooter wipe out on the Muni tracks. He probably only bruised his ribs and scraped up his knee, thanks to the fact that he was wearing a full face helmet. If it had been a 1/2 or 3/4 helmet the right half of his face would have been scraped off and his jaw broken or dislocated (if he had been wearing no helmet he would have fractured his orbital socket too). He should have been wearing an armored jacket, pants and boots, he would have saved himself from the road rash. Sure it's expensive, but so is reconstructive surgery.

Take care of yourselves.

If you want to retain the existing rights for homosexuals to marry Vote NO

If you want to eliminate rights of homosexuals to marry vote yes.

The misinformation is being intentionally spread by some in the anti-gay marriage camp, causing wrong way voting.

Please tell everyone you know to vote NO on discrimination. It is unfair and wrong to eliminate fundamental rights.

I'll be working outside the polls in Sonoma County to help make sure that voters are aware. If you have any free time on Tuesday, the No on 8 campaign could still use help.

Go here http://www.noonprop8.com/action/field-offices to get in touch with the field office nearest you. They also have lots of No on 8 lawn and window signs for free if you'd like to show your support that way.

I'm going around today posting signs wherever I can do so legally. If you know anyone in Sonoma County who might want a sign but has not been able to get one, let me know and I will deliver.

It's late and I can't sleep and I just finished re-reading Nigger - the autobiography of Dick Gregory - and it occurs to me...maybe this is the first time a group is fighting for expanded rights and segregation.

I'm making my case for the right not to marry someone of the opposite gender and still enjoy the benefits of marriage.

* * * * *

I wonder about the kids born in the 2000's who will have always lived in a world where somewhere in the country gay marriage was legal. And where the internet provides everyone the chance to hear new ideas. And where, for as long as they can remember, any Christian really can run for President. And maybe before 2025 they'll look around and say, "Isn't it weird that gay people can't be married everywhere in the country?" And with them outnumbering the old folks who still think that their hetero marriage is diminished if homos can have one too, the constitutions are rewritten for inclusivity. And their kids will grow up and say "Isn't it weird that we care more about someone's religion than their integrity?" And then they will outnumber...

And pedophilia will still be illegal.

Kaellie and I are legally married.

My great-uncle has a new kidney.

Life is pretty good.

Last week Anna and Jen came by and planted a No on 8 sign in my yard.

Yesterday someone stole it in broad daylight (I did expect it to be stolen, but at night when our many very nosy neighbors were off guard).

Kaellie replaced it with a sign that reads:

Notice:
Due to the Unlawful, Un-Christian, and Un-American
Vandalism/ Theft of our private property
(the No on Prop 8 Sign that was posted here)
we are no longer celebrating Halloween 2008.
You may thank your close-minded, bigoted neighbors.
(Hopefully they have candy for you.)
VOTE NO ON PROP 8

I think tomorrow I'm going to post a bunch more...Hate is not a Family Value...Thou Shalt Not Steal...and all the relavent rebuttals for the Yes on 8 campain lies about teaching the homosexual lifestyle in school and churches losing tax exempt status.

If you have anything clever to add, please do.

We've spent the last many years doing it up big for the neighborhood on Halloween, so we're sort of out of the events loop. How is Castro for Halloween? I had stopped going after the spectators got a little too rough. I finally have a Wednesday Addams dress, and I think it oughtn't go to waste. I also made a Marie Antoinette doll that I'm rather proud of.

9 days till we get our marriage licence, 13 days until we are married.

Egad!

The reception is going to be at Paradise Beach Park in Tiburon on October 25th, if you'd like to come, but haven't received the Evite, it's because I don't have your email. It's going to be very casual, BBQ and whatnot, no gifts. Food or beverage additions admired and not required.

On a related note...if you are not yet registered to vote DO IT NOW! Make sure that you are registered for your own address so that you can make it to your local poling place.

Why is this relevant?

No on Prop 8, that's why.

Because I would like to stay legally married, thank you.

Also, you must be registered to vote against McCain/Palin. Seriously. McCain is not very healthy and Palin is evil, stupid and crazy. If you don't know why then I will gladly tell you at length, but rather than getting all bothered about it at my college library (where I am typing this currently) I will leave you with this link to one of Kaellie's entries http://sexualjesus.livejournal.com/118048.html. If you missed the VP debate this will cover it for you. I wish that Tina Fey's portrayal on SNL were an exaggeration.