sometimes i don't know why i bother

and that's the short short short version to cover today the last week life as i know it.

dear chris: put the fear of god into my dad

i'm not sure if this is for real, but it's freaking hilarious:

kids' christmas letters to christopher walken

get your fresh, hot, almost-equal rights

on january first, AB205 goes into effect for all of california's registered domestic partners. this new law gives us most but not all of the state rights as hetero couples in CA, and still none of the federal rights, but dammit it's one step closer, so give a baby whoopNholler!

you can read a coherent, clickable breakdown of the rights/responsibilities here.

Calling all lgbtqii folks

That was the subject line on a message that just came through for a list I'm on. All I have to say is, WTF?!?

I know it starts off with Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, then i guess Queer (as if for some reason that didn't incorporate the former), but...ii ?? introverted idiots? innovative ideologists?

i think this is taking diversity a teeeeensy bit too far.

that old black magic called family

i admit it. i'm a sucker for a glimmer of family bliss. that's why i'm shelling out for my parents to come visit me at christmas, even though there is likely to be Drama, although likely nowhere near the likes of this last turkey day. they're poor, they're in horrible health, and with each holiday i wonder if this could be the Last Chance to see them. especially my dad.

the thing is, i used to have an amazing relationship with my parents. they were seriously my best friends for many years. moving around more than a jitterbug in a warp core will do that to you. then when i came out to them, my sister was suddenly the Good Sheep. it's taken a few years, but they've gotten to know min and i think love her, and accept who i am, too. there was lots of Drama for other reasons that i don't want to get into today, but most of those have been worked out, it seems, and we are mostly on the road to Happyville as a family.

but that's the thing. it's not constant, and during any visit, something will pop up to remind someone of The Reason You Keep Pissing Me Off/Make Me Want To Avoid You Like The Plague. maybe this is just the human condition. you make me mad, you apologize, we move on. at least that's what we tell ourselves, until the next fuckup. and there's always another fuckup because we are human.

well, here's one for hoping this visit goes better than all the previous ones. i actually do have good hopes for it. then again, i always start out that way.

happy holidays!

today is our group's holiday potluck/white elephant exchange, and i'm feeling festive. so get your chris' on !!

stay tuned for more pics...christmas or otherwise. :-)

maimed for love

i was recently maimed for love as part of cheese-slicing incident. i was trying to hack a gigantic block of cheese (for my baby and the kitties - that's the love part) when the knife slipped and sliced off part of my finger. i didn't go get stitches because it sliced sideways ... nothing to stitch up. luckily (i guess) because of my stupid skin condition we had plenty of gauze and tape so my baby wrapped it up reel gud. i've actually graduated to a gigantic bandaid today. hopefully that's where i can stay because the uber-finger was awfully cumbersome.

but still, it's fun to say i was maimed for love. oh and boy did i have fun secretly flipping people off yesterday. ;-)

extra props to liz for speedy sidekick action.

religion rears its lovely head

my friend liz has been going through family angst because of a recent decision to pursue lesbian parenthood. i ranted a bit about what love REALLY is, but it got me thinking:

i don't know about anyone else, but as for me, being queer has made me stick to those traits i was taught about even closer than in my blindly hetero days. why? because i, too, feel the constant lens of judgement peering down at my life by all the straight, christian members of my family. i don't dare fuck up my relationship or act in any way unethical and jeopardize my life because that would mean i'm a godless lesbian heathen who gets what she deserves. call that internalized homophobia if you want, but i think living a life built around love ain't so shoddy.

and yes, i DO try to live that way just because i think it happens to be the right thing to do and that makes me happy, too. the societal influence is just that - an influence.

ok that's enough for now. i feel awfully worked up for someone who's supposed to be loving. :-) time to work.

firefox rules

so i don't slip into complete narcissism, let me take a moment to say firefox rules! i love the tabbing feature and popup blocking (no extra software required) specifically -- not to mention its stronger adherence to W3C standards.

i heart firefox.

who needs new year's?

i've just made the following resolutions:

• don't be honest about your emotions, because people will always throw it back in your face at the worst moment
  
• don't give money to family members unless they are literally near death, because otherwise they are going to suck you dry
  

like most people, i'm sure i'll ignore these resolutions and go back to Life As Usual tomorrow, but ... today sucks.

thanksgiving + family = headache

not a new formula, i know, but one i'm feeling full on today. i'm coordinating an impending visit from my family down in phoenix, and let's just say that it involves several hundred dollars, an additional 250 miles of travelling and involvement from an unexpected extended family member.

oh, and a bunch of tylenol i just swiped from the first aid kit.

when i get back from thanksgiving break, i'll post about the things i'm thankful for. right now i'm thankful that the work day is 2/3 over.

howdy

this is a test of queen heather's blogging system. this is only a test. unfortunately it's a live test, so it's the same as the real deal. and like most things, it fails to fully deliver and leaves us wanting.

so it goes.