Wrong side of history

A slim majority of Californians voted last night to take away the right of gay and lesbian people to marry in our golden state.  The millions of Pro-8 voters were driven by fear, mis-information, a belief that their religious views must be imposed on others, as well as a frightful belief that rights are to be whimsically bestowed and taken away from minorities with less thought than is shown towards livestock.  Bigger coops for chickens?  Yea!  Marriage for gays? Nay!

Their hate is a blight on the lives and families of gays and lesbians everywhere.  Under the guise of "protecting marriage", they have stigmatizatized gays and lesbians and our children.  They have asserted that discriminating against lesbians and gays is acceptable and they have ordered that inequality be written into law.

Let's hope that they are on the wrong side of history.  Let's hope that these narrow minds--clearly not thinking rationally, if at all, about how their disconnected actions in the ballot box damage real women, men and children in so many painful ways--will not prevail.

California Constitution

ARTICLE 1  DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

SECTION 1.  All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights.  Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.

Top 10 Ways Gay Marriage Hurts Straight Marriage

Top 10 Ways Gay Marriage hurts Straight Marriage

10.  Gay marriages have raised the bar for having fun, creative and fabulous weddings.

9.   All the good venues have already been booked by gay couples.

8.  Your friends can't come to your straight wedding because it conflicts with their other friends' gay wedding.

7.  The lines at the county clerk and city hall are much longer with all the gay couples getting married.

6.  Only the people who really want to be there go to a gay wedding, so the straight weddings get all the people who you wish wouldn't come.

5.  All the offspring of gay marriages will be gay (just like all the offspring of straight marriages are straight) leading to a world wide population implosion.

4.  The pressure will increase on straight married couples to have even more children as a result of #5.

3.  Straight married couples will divorce in increasing numbers as a result of all this increased pressure and stress on them to reproduce.

2.  Straight couples will have no money to retire on because they have too many children and alimony payments from previous straight marriages.

1. Straight marriage will completely disintegrate and be viewed as an impossible dream  because of #s 2-10.

Katie's Alarm Clock

Now that she's a big kindergartener, Emily set Katie's alarm clock to go off in the AM to help her wake up before Mamma goes to work, thus avoiding meltdowns and tears at the start of the day. The first day of this new regime, Emily went up to find Katie on the floor staring at her alarm clock (music playing). Asked how she liked it, Katie replied, "I like it, but it waked me up before I was finished sleeping".

Not a day over 65

Conversation overheard at the YMCA today:

Woman 1: Oh, hi, how are you? We never see each other any more.
Woman 2: I'm good, and you? Yea, we don't.
Woman 1: What classes are you taking these days?
Woman 2: Well, I've dropped Sunday mornings, so I'm mostly coming in to do my own workouts--and I'm also taking a Pilates class at Elephant Pharmacy. It's free and it's nice.
Woman 1: Oh, I'm taking a Pilates class too, it is nice.
Woman 2: Well, you look good.
Woman 1: So do you!
Woman 2: Thank you. We gotta work hard.
Woman 1: Tell me about it, we're old broads, we gotta work hard.
Woman 2: Don't remind me, I have a birthday coming up next week.
Woman 1: Which one is it? Is it the same as mine?
Woman 2: No, you're younger than me.
Woman 1: So how old are you going to be? I'm 72.
Woman 2: 71. But we're children, children!
Woman 1: [laughs]
Woman 2: I'm in better shape than some of my kindergarteners [proceeds to bend over and touch her toes].
Woman 1: You're kidding, that's terrible!
Woman 2: Yes, I know, I feel so bad for some of these kids.

Get out your handkerchiefs

Today is Katie's last day of pre-school.  She's been going since she was 2 years and 9 months old, and she's 5 years and 7 months now. We will be attending her "graduation" ceremony this afternoon, and yes, I will be bringing a supply of tissues.  As well as the camera and video cam.  Emily and I are taking turns fighting the urge to choke up--how could this all be happening so fast?  Looking back, it all seems like a blur, and now Erin is getting ready to go to pre-school and Katie to Kindergarten.  Thankfully they both are more forward looking and eager than their parents who are sentimental saps.  Pictures and video to be posted later. 

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland. Or, rather, I went to the American Library Association conference, which happened to be in Anaheim CA, and brought my family + Grandma (Emily's mom) to Disneyland. So I went to some ALA programs (which were dull compared to Disneyland's offerings), and also went to Disneyland. Hadn't been there since I was 18. My high school graduating class went there after we graduated. This time was more fun, though also interrupted by my obligation to attend ALA.

Hits:

Watching fireworks from our room at the Disneyland Hotel (now Erin thinks that all Hotel rooms must provide fireworks).
Seeing Katie meet the various princesses which are currently part of her imaginary world.
Seeing Erin meet Minnie Mouse--true love at first sight!
The Disneyland Hotel Pool.

Misses:

Taking a five year old on "Space Mountain when A. I don't even really like roller coasters, and B. What was I thinking?!!!

If you have some time to kill, you can check out our Disneyland photos.

Erin in thought

Erin in thought
Originally uploaded by leapinglemur

Erin with one of her favorite tools--a pen. In addition to writing on paper, she also enjoys writing on walls, clothes (especially new clothes), furniture, skin as well as sucking on the ink end.