So that blog title should generate some weird google search results. But let me explain.
So on Wednesday I had all new windows put into my condo. My old windows are crappy, either wouldn't open, or wouldn't stay open. So my association did some research and worked a deal where owners could buy new windows, get a decent discount, and get the tax deduction. Bingo, I'm in. So Wednesday was the day the two guys came to replace the windows. I think they were Russian. Cute I guess, but a little bit smelly. And they were late of course. But they did get the job done. The problem was that Wednesday was one of the hottest, most humid, days we've had so far. So having no windows to keep the heat out was not a good thing. I sat there and tried to do work while they were working and kept looking at the temperature gage go up, and up, and up. I think it got to about 84 degrees in my condo. And I'm a cold person. I like it cold. Without air conditioning it got super hot in the condo, but that's not the worst part. I also got a nice little swarm of flies in my condo now. Lovely. The good news is that I'm getting good at using the Time magazine with Sarah Palin on the cover to kill the flies. I think there's only one of those little buggers left. I know Sarah will get him!
Speaking of Sarah, I went to do a Youtube search for a song I heard on BPM and found this. Just too funny. And not entirely safe for work.
So around a month ago or so, Lawyer X and I were at Nordstroms and we both liked the same shirt. I tried it on and I like it. He tried it on and he liked it. And we had a short discussion about which of us should buy it. And I was like, look, we both like it, so we should both buy it. It's not like we're going to wear it at the same time. And then a couple of weeks ago we were in Georgetown running an errand and we decided to hit the Lacoste store since they were having a sale. And we both found these distressed Lacoste shirts. Mine olive green, his a royal blue. And we had the discussion again. And I was like, they are different colors and we just won't wear them at the same time. And then last week, we got up in the AM to go to the gym and I realized that we were wearing the EXACT SAME Navy t-shirt. Oh well. We tried to avoid the whole Ken & Ken thing, but sometimes it happens. Yesterday, LawyerX picked me up so we could head to Bmore for a wedding. Just as I was about to hop in his car, I was like, "Umm, what color is your sportscoats." "Sort of yellow/gold with a black/brown pattern in it." Crap. We had to stop right there and check out the jackets. While they were similar, they weren't that exactly the same. But it was kind of funny!
Work has sucked my will to live lately which is one of the reasons that I haven't blogged much lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't kept up with the blogosphere. Especially as it relates to the Episcopal Church's General Convention. Held ever three years, the GC is where the Episcopal Church defines itself in rules, policies, budgets, and all of the other minutia of a large organization. But it was the policies that held my interest. The policies on same sex blessings as well as the policy of electing to ordained ministry GLBT clergy to the level of Bishop (or any level really). After the horrible decision that was made in 2006 on a moratorium on electing GLBT clergy to be Bishops, and the unceasing attacks on the Episcopal Church by those who would like to see the church turn it's back on its GLBT, the Episcopal Church, in a very American democratic way, finally removed any type of discrimination from the discernment process so that anyone who is called to the clergy may do so. In addition, the groundwork was laid for the creation of same sex blessing in those dioceses where state law allows same sex blessing. So very good news indeed and I'm very proud to be an Episcopalian these days. I'm sure the schismatics will use these decisions to foment misunderstanding and discontent, but atleast we're being honest and trying to live the Gospels as best we can.
One of the more interesting things I discovered while hop scotching across the Episcopal blogosphere was that Mathew Sheppard was an Episcopalian. Bishop Caldwell gave a very moving speech at a luncheon at General Convention. It's a little over 6 minutes long, but please watch:
So in general I don't mind going off to conferences. It's kind of a necessary evil in the DoD & IT world. But for the love of God, if you're going to put 100+ IT professionals in a room, can you please allow laptops and/or some sort of wireless access? Coming back to the hotel room (which is fab BTW) and downloading 200+ emails and trying to deal with all of the sh!t that happened in the office while I'm gone is just depressing. And using my crackberry during the meeting won't solve the problem, but it will help me triage the situation and figure how long I'll be working at night.
Boston. I'm so close to Ptown, and yet so far. Lawyer X has some stupid "ethics" training on Saturday, so my dream of skipping off to Ptown for a little fun weekend was dashed. In theory I could go to Ptown without him. In theory. But this is one of those things about being in a relationship. You just don't do that. Sadly, this will the first time in 8 years that I haven't been to Ptown in the summer. But I really can't complain. We've got the sailing trip in August. The cruise to Egypt, Greece, and then the Amalfi Coast. Kylie in Vegas. And then the food and wine festival in Disney World. On second thought, I can't afford to go to Ptown anyways with all of the trips we've got planned!
So I'm staying at one of the new trendy Aloft hotels in the Starwood chain. And I must say it is fabulous. It's like a Virgin America Hotel. Very hip, trendy. Cool little bar. Some soft techo playing in the elevator. The room is great. Huge shower stall. Ginornmous flat screen mounted to the wall opposite the king size bed. Just very, very, nice. And it's like a mile from the conference I'm at this week.
"I don't agree with the characterization of gay relationships in the DOMA brief submitted by the DOJ and I regret that my administration used such language." That's all Obama had to say. He gave a 20 minute speech to member of the GLBT community on the anniversary of Stonewall and if he had said those 26 words, I would have probably still been a bit upset, but would still support him. But he didn't say that. And he hasn't said that. And Robert Gibbs continues to say that Obama stands by the brief. And then you've got Gates talking about a more "humane" implementation of DADT and Mullen says he's advised the president "to move in a measured way" on overturning DADT. So there's a lot of talk. Bad talk. And no action. So while I really want to support Obama, he needs to support me as well. It's called loyalty up and down the chain of command. And yes I know he's got his hands full with the multiple disasters left over from the previous regime. But it really doesn't take much to issue a stop loss order or for him to not file a brief supporting DOMA, while Congress gets their act together to repeal DADT and DOMA.
I still think that Obama's trying to do the right thing on Iraq, torture, the economy, etc. And I wish him the best of luck. Our country definitely needs help turning around and getting on the right track. But I'm not going to give a single penny to any Democratic candidate or organization until I've got equal rights as a citizen of this country.
This is going to every democratic organization email address I can find:
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you to let you know that President Obama’s and Congress’ recent failure of leadership on LGBT issues compels me to withdraw my support for the Democratic Party at every level.
I was an early and vocal Obama supporter. During the campaign I not only phone banked for President Obama, but I gave money to him and other Democratic candidates and organizations around the country. While I wasn’t particularly thrilled with his stance on gay marriage, repealing DOMA, DADT, passing ENDA, Hate Crimes, etc would be good enough for me.
However, apparently the “fierce urgency of now” doesn’t apply to LGBT Americans. President Obama’s claim to be a fierce advocate in the White House ring hollow since he won’t actually use the inherent authority of Commander in Chief to issue a stop loss order on LGBT Americans who are currently serving in our military and only want the opportunity to serve honestly. As a veteran and US Naval Academy graduate, I find this lack of integrity extremely disappointing.
But it wasn’t his failure of lead on the DADT issue that caused me to write this letter. It was the DOMA brief. While many have argued that the Justice Department had to respond (and there’s a lot of people who disagree with that), it was the language in the brief that made me lose hope in the President and the Democratic Party. Comparing gay marriage to incest and pedophilia, the brief sounded like it came from the typical Republican hate filled playbook. And then President Obama, and several prominent Democrats, stood by the brief. They supported the most hateful, biased, ugly legal arguments against gay marriage and I felt like I had been sucker punched. While I don’t expect a lot of support for LGBT issues from the Democratic Party, atleast it isn’t actively working to take my rights away, to make me a second class citizen like the Republicans usually do. Or so I thought. The Obama DOMA brief proved me wrong.
While I appreciate President Obama’s recognition of the 40thanniversary of Stonewall, I think the more relevant event that night was the gay bashing by Ft Worth Police that left a young gay American in the hospital with a significant brain injury fighting for his life. The separate body of laws for LGBT Americans (DADT, DOMA, etc) continues to create an environment where LGBT Americans are less than equal, less deserving of support, less deserving of respect and so discrimination, harassment, and violence against LGBT Americans is okay, acceptable, commonplace. President Obama and the Democratic Party's failure to address these issues only perpetuates that environment. And that has to stop.
Until President Obama and the Democratic Party provide significant leadership in repealing DADT & DOMA, in passing ENDA and Hate Crimes legislation, I will not provide any support for the President or the Democratic Party at any level. Please immediately remove me from all mail lists, phone rosters, and email lists.
Respectfully, Me
*Feel free to copy and send your own version. Here are the email addresses I've found so far: White House: info@barackobama.com Democratic National Committee: Democraticparty@democrats.org Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: info@dccc.org Democratic Senate Campaign Committee: info@dscc.org Democratic Governors Association: info@dga.net Democratic Party of Virginia: info@vademocrats.org Speaker Pelosi: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov HRC: hrc@hrc.org
