I think this is important enough to share.

A video that I think we should all watch and think on. Things like this affect more people than you might imagine. My son, for example. And my daughter, when she is old enough to choose the person that she wants to spend her life with.


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

There is a petition, until February 14th. The link is HERE. Do something about this, please go and sign the petition, then call your governors office. The US is so far behind the UK in terms of equal rights for LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning) persons. The US is even further behind the vast majority of Europe. Every family deserves an opportunity to have the same rights, and when enough people stand up and defend the equality of ALL people, then change will come.

Blog, Beards, and Barak...

Blog

It used to be that my blog posts were interesting. I spoke of politics, and thoughtful insights, and other such things. I sounded young and vibrant and intelligent. I don't know if time has mellowed me or if I am just being too careful about not being offensive. But now, I think I might be boring to read.

Granted, this blog is not really the place for me to go all soap-boxy. However, if I had wanted to play it ultra-safe I wouldn't have made this blog public.

I am not really sure what I'm saying. Perhaps I think about being more risqué, but I worry about what family will think if I am too risqué. I think about stating my position and going all activist, but I can imagine how many people might get annoyed. Possibly this is not yet something that I have thought through enough to decide what I want to do.

Beards

The cold weather is upon us, and the dark of winter is here. (Even though technically it is not yet winter.) I can now say that there is a pattern: Stephen likes a beard when it gets cold. It is not yet as long as it was when he shaved it last year, but I am delighting in it.

I was pondering why it is that I like his beard so much. I know it is a little unusual: I haven't even met anyone that I can think of that enjoys the idea of their partner having facial hair. I know that partly it is a feeling safe thing. My daddy had a beard, and part of it is the feeling of being little and loving daddy. Part of it goes hand in hand with my idea of what an intelligent man looks like.

Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci.

Last but not least, a huge part of it goes hand in hand with my love of hippie culture. All hippie men, at least in my mind's eye, have beards, and I just find it extremely attractive. Yes, I suppose that means I have a 'thing' for hippie men. No, Stephen is not one. But he floats my boat when he rubs my cheek with his beard.

John Lennon, Jerry Garcia, Jim Morrison.

Part of me doesn't like to admit that I have such levels of fascination and identification with hippie culture. It feels somewhat silly, in today's modern age. But I look at my life thus far and it seems pretty obvious that it has always been that way. My mother told me, when I was a teenager and borrowing my daddy's shirts because I liked them far better than I did girl clothes, that I was her polar opposite. She spent the 60's and early 70's resisting and fighting against everything that being a hippie stood for, while I spent the 80's and 90's trying desperately to be one.

(One of my absolute favourite shirts is one I stole from my daddy way back when. It is blue, long sleeves, with mother of pearl snaps at the wrists and a pocket on the chest. I call it my "70's National Geographic photographer" shirt. It looks just like you imagine. Google Image it, too. Someone is wearing one.)

Since being an adult I have struggled to try to find the commune of my dreams. Reading about The Farm in Tennessee made me desperately want to go and live there. I always had a house full of people, and living with Dar and George was pretty much a happy commune situation. Sometimes I miss so many people around.

Barak

This election has been quite an interesting one for me. I thought it best explained when I responded to a friend's blog.

Hear, hear, and Huzzah!

I find it particularly interesting that so many people that I personally know feel profoundly affected by not only the physical act of voting, but also the results of said election. I have no previous memories of people crying for sheer exhilaration and joy, but that is what I see and hear happening. And, truth be told, I am feeling it too. I don't think it is Obama per say, at least for me it is not, but more the possibility of coming out of what has been seen as a very dark time. The glimmer of light in the tunnel ahead effect, I suppose.

While I have always been proud to be an American, the last year of living in a foreign country and seeing what the world thinks of us has been quite an eye opener. We made a huge difference this election. It might even make it so Americans don't have to hide their heads when leaving the country.

What I am saying is that I'm right there with you, my friend.

While I chose not to use the blog as a place to push my own personal politics, I am going to say that I am really quite happy with who won the election. Stephen stayed up late the night of. He let me sleep until it got exciting, then woke me up. We cuddled in bed and watched until the BBC called the election for Obama.

The next day, Tristan asked me while I was on the phone with him who I voted for. When I told him, he told me that it was a good thing I voted the way I did, because if I hadn't he would have been angry with me. Silly boy.

Religion and Politics

By the way, Amy said yesterday (she actually spoke these words within hearing distance of me, so don't scan down the page thinking you missed her 'blogging this comment) that a 'blog shouldn't contain views on religion or politics, as she didn't want readers offended. (Amy says: I actually had three things on my list. Politics, religion, and sex. Thank goodness he only talked about the first two, I suppose!)

Do you know how sorely tempted I am to now post about religion or politics? Especially as I have such strong views that will no doubt offend the majority of readers!!

Of course, that would take my valuable time, and require me to actually post to the 'blog, which is something you all know I don't do.

So, do me a favour.

Delve into your deepest beliefs about religion and politics...

... take a moment to clarify in your mind the exact nature of your beliefs and opinions...

... add them all together into a single entity that uniquely defines you...

Now, (to be fair, probably all of you) realise you are totally wrong. Your beliefs are ridiculous. Your opinions laughable and self-contradictory. There are fundamental facts and clear irrefutable evidence that prove that what you think is right, is actually wrong. The very core of your life up to this point that has been influenced by these thoughts should be carefully gathered up, taken out back, and humanely put down like an old blind sheepdog. You need to reassess your beliefs or opinions, and this could well take you the rest of your short life to do so. Even then you might never get it right.

But, I'm a caring person. I don't want the rest of your life to be the waste that your life up to this point has been. You've done me a favour, saved me the time by gathering up your own beliefs and destroying them to save me the effort, so I am going to save you time also. You don't have to spend the rest of your life fighting to work out the truth. I'm going to let you share my thoughts and beliefs instead. If anyone asks your opinion, just say you agree with Stephen.

There you go, don't you feel better now, knowing you're finally right?

In Which Amy Takes a Stand... (Read this...) (Myspace Blog)

I know this post will be controversial. I know you may not agree with me at all. And that is ok. I love the fact that you and I can have separate opinions and share them... and agree to disagree. I also love the fact that I finally get an opportunity to show hija, and all the other children to whom I have said 'Back your shit up', exactly what it looks like to do so. (Note: some link names have been shortened... so if you copy the address, make sure you follow the link and copy the actual address)

A very big thing has happened in this world of ours... a turning of a page, perhaps. Saddam Hussein. Hanged. And the world watched it on YouTube... and laughed.

I have to preempt any sort of speculation right away - I am adamantly in disagreement with the Death Penalty. I do not agree with Capital Punishment. I do not believe that we have any more right to take away a life than anyone else does. I actually think the Death Penalty is barbaric... and inhumane. I accept that there are many who disagree with me... I am not seeking someone to change my mind, nor am I trying to change yours.

This particular execution is extremely chilling to me. There are so many reasons why. First, because of the facts that point to an injust trial: including only 4 days between loss of appeal and execution, that there was another, ongoing trial for crimes of far more sevarity, and the many flaws in the trial in which Hussein was sentenced to die.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36028
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/12/30/iraq14950.htm
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1885354,00050004.htm

Second, because this potential misuse of the budding Iraqi judicial system was APPLAUDED by our government's highest representative as a "fair trial", even while other government officials questioned the speed at which the sentence was carried out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/world

Third, for the fact that Saddam Hussein was hanged, which has the potential to be a very inhumane way to be executed if done improperly. To be fair, part of this is based on the fact that I do not, in any circumstance, support the death penalty. I believe that it is inhumane in its inherence.

http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/c/about/methods/hanging.htm

Fourth, and I think this may be the most chilling to me, for the truth of the human response to this act. It is so chilling to me, that I cannot even find words to express it. The facts speak for themselves.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000743.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/world/middleeast/
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-woiraq0101,0,3647273.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

We live in a country which glorifies violence in response to violence, even while condemning it. It is the way. However, there is a worldwide movement expressing concern over the Death Penalty... and I agree. Governments, nor people, have the right, ever, to take the life of a person in response to their crimes.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3346225,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/world/europe/30cnd-react.html

I strongly believe in the sanctity of human rights, to which I add the banishment of the Death Penalty. I feel that I must end this blog post with the UN recognized "Universal Statement of Human Rights". Granted, it does not speak out against Capital Punishment... but I believe that it should.

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

In Which Amy Notices Perspective... (Myspace Blog)

The last time I made my ex-husband angry, he called me the most awful, horrible name that he could think of... socialist. Never mind that it is truth, I AM a socialist. To him, it was the epitomy of Anti-American; the absolute bottom of the barrel, the most heinously awful thing he could possible imagine being. At first, I was offended. But, given time, I realized that the American perspective supported his conclusion. Socialists are considered the bane of American politics, a wonderful throw-back idea from the Cold War. Of course we are anti-American, we want to tyrannize and control and dictate. None of this is actually true; I have yet to meet a fellow socialist that is not painfully aware of the possibilities of tyranny and actively working against it. Neither are we so quick to get rid of America... just like any other player in the political field, we would like to see change. It turns out that I make my ex-husband angry all too often. Possibly, he felt dismay at the fact that I didn't seem to mind too much when he called me socialist, so he changed tactics. This time, he called me an extremist, and he did so to our daughter. I'll set up the scenario for you: He dropped her off after a week + of visitation. He expressed a desire to make sure that he had her during the time that his father was visiting for the holidays. I said, "Maybe we should just celebrate Yule instead of Christmas," seeing as how both of the 'other parents' celebrate Christmas, and it is very unimportant to me... it might be nice for everyone's needs to be met, and I was willing to be the one to give in. So he walks my daughter outside, and tells her that this proves his point that I am an extremist. Does anyone else see the problem? He chose to have a detailed conversation with a young, impressionable girl in regards to things HE sees as negative things about her mother... I am not a religious extremist... sometimes I feel like I do a pretty bad job at being religious at all, and I am ok with that. I don't believe in 'religion' anyway. And I am not a political extremist... many have told me that I do not do enough in the political realm. I am ok with that, too. I do what I can. My kids are free to make their own choices in each of these areas, and most of the time, I share my political views with them only when asked. (Unlike others, who are quick to be judgemental of any opposing political view, and are pushy about shoving thier ideals into conversations and email in-boxes.) The fact that this was told to the teenager about her mother bothers me the most. I do not believe that any person should hear negative things about one parent from the other. I work very diligently to make sure that I do not talk about him in any manner that might be considered negative. I /want/ her to love him. I think that we shall see whose plan was more effective as she gets older. I just hope it does not end up biting ANYONE in the ass.