just an ordinary goddess…

…currently happening:

Marriage Equality USA has a list of actions for folks to participate in around the country today and tomorrow.  If it’s not too late in the day, check them out!

xkcd has discovered the awful truth of CuteFilmNerd and myself:

We do have obnoxiously cute nicknames for each other, even though I’m not much of a nickname person. He started it! Though, oddly enough, I don’t mind all that much.

However, I don’t think there would be any blood on the body of anyone unfortunate enough to overhear us. Because they’d die from a diabetic coma first. Which would be inconvenient, because body burying? Is damned hard work.

Not that I know from personal experience…

H/T to Joe Reid

*swoon*

Now if only I can get Jon to use the phrase “anti-abortion” instead of “pro-life.” I’m still working on CuteFilmNerd on that one (he’s just used to a certain phrase, which is why it’s a little difficult).

Today is International Human Rights Day. If you believe in human and civil rights for ALL people, do what you can to invalidate Prop. 8. Or else talented folks are going to keep making fun of you:

Also today:

It’s an interesting concept, and I see what the organizers are trying to accomplish, but after reading bstewart’s take on Day Without A Gay, I opted to go into work today, because I happen to agree with him. I will still not purchase anything today, and I am researching volunteer work for this weekend (my lack of car is a bit of a detriment for volunteering anywhere in the city in the evenings).  I will also be participating in Light Up the Night for Equality on December 20th.

Also, I’m wearing my white marriage equality bracelet (which I wear nearly every day as it is) and I’ve put together a little poster for work (which is easily seen by anyone who walks by my cubicle):

As you can see, CuteFilmNerd thinks it’s important for people to see my display.  Because we are both ardent believers in equality for ALL humans.

Yep, this was me on Saturday!

I joined the impact – did you?

I went by myself, as CuteFilmNerd had work to do. I haven’t been to a protest alone since my very first anti-war protest, in the weeks leading up to the invasion of Iraq. I was a little sad and lonely, and was running really late, but I was determined to add my body to the ranks of those supporting equality for all of California’s citizens. While going downtown on the subway I met a couple of ladies – we bonded over a somewhat functioning crazy lady sitting near us. They were also headed to the rally and march, so I hung out with them and the brother of one of them during the march.

As is my wont, I took a bunch of photos. Here are some of my favorites:

I ran into this family on the subway going home – they were at the rally as well, but unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the sign they had.  If it were up to “the will of the people,” the parents wouldn’t be legally together now:

And this is what it’s all about:

More of my photos from Saturday can be found at Repeal Prop. 8 Rally.  Ignore the time stamp on the photos – I forgot to reset it.

Though I sometimes wonder about Edison…

However, if they succeed..

…day of sadness.

My eyes having been brimming with tears nearly all day. I’m absurdly, over-the-moon happy about Barack Obama being the President-Elect for the United States of America. He was never my main candidate, but he’s always been far preferred over John McCain and I know that he will do well sitting in the Oval Office.

The country still has an extremely tough road ahead of it. We’re at a very low point right now. Perhaps not the lowest in history, but it’s still a daunting task that lies ahead for the 44th President. He’s got expectations of him that no single human could ever hope to meet, not even a brilliant, charismatic young man who has risen from very humble beginnings and apparently insurmountable obstacles to become the first African-American president. The next four years are going to be rocky and Obama and the Democratically-led Congress will feel the pressure to perform miracles, else the Dems may be voted out of office come 2010 and Obama may face the same thing Clinton faced in 1994: a Republican-led Congress that will fight their legally elected president every step of the way.

But.

I think Obama can do it.

He has no illusions, as testified by his acceptance speech. He’s very pragmatic. He’s a survivor of Chicago politics, which are some of the toughest politics in the country. But he knows how to inspire people, to bring them to their better selves. And he knows how to reach out to the other side of the aisle and work to get things done.

Last night (after I spent the day poll watching) CuteFilmNerd and I were at a local Democratic headquarters. The premises had once been a car dealership – easily the largest Dem HQ I had ever been at. All around us – both inside and outside the building – were faithful Democrats and Obama supporters, the majority of which were African-American. As we stood amongst our fellow political travelers, watching MSNBC, the seconds counted down to the closing of the polls, the electoral count flipped to 284 for Obama, and the most excited, heart-felt crowd cheer I had ever heard erupted, ricocheting off the walls of the huge room filled with hopeful Californians. I cheered along with them, still not believing what had happened but happy nonetheless.

Later CFN and I stood outside the building in the chilly, windy evening. Another big screen TV played Obama’s acceptance speech as CFN and I held hands, surrounded by even more joyful folks. Silence alternated with cheers. Cars driving by honked and people walking the streets of Culver City screamed with excitement and – dare I say it? Hope. Hope was in the air. Something so many Americans had almost gotten existed.

CFN and I went to sleep last night, silly grins on our faces that just would not go away.

Until this morning, when we read and heard of the likely passage of Proposition 8. Gone were the smiles and feelings of hope. In their place invaded anger and sadness. Tears rimmed my eyes again. I despaired for my fellow Californians who had their rights ripped away from them.

Still, there are more votes are still to be counted. In Debra Bowen, California has a Secretary of State who will not allow those votes to sit in a room uncounted. I have faith in that much, at least. My gut says that Prop H8 will still pass, but I live in hope that it won’t. And know what my future holds if it does: fighting for the civil rights of Americans who have been told that they are second class citizens.

The fight lies ahead, gentle readers. The fight for restoring our country. The fight for civil liberties. Neither fight will be easy.

But I have hope. Because these are fights we can win.

Yes, we can.

H/T to Eric.

I was at the  polling  place at  6:45am and  the line was already  long.  It took me  30 minutes, but I was happy to do it.

My cats had various reactions:

Matisse looked unimpressed, but I knew he was excited.

Edison and BJ thought voting was nom-tastic!

I’m off to do a bit of poll watching, so I’ll catch y’all later!

For the rest of the California balllot, I agree with SoCal Grassroots.  Then again, I am a member of the Endorsement Committee, so I was part of the group looking over the props.

Everyone, I implore you: get out and vote.  It’s the best thing you can do this year.

(Aside from feeding the homeless and saving puppies and kitties from fires.)

…vote no on ripping away human rights and codifying hate and bigotry into the California State Constitution.

It’s just that simple.

Here’s the thing: when it comes down to it, Proposition 8 is bigotry. Maybe John Scalzi is right and those who support Prop. 8 don’t realize they’re being bigots. But at the end of the day it means that these people didn’t really read the proposition and are instead allowing themselves to be swayed by the deceitful ads primarily funded by out-of-state religious interests.

Yep, that’s right. Of the top twelve contributors to the Yes on 8 hatefest, eight donors are from other states, contributing approximately $5,764,778 to rip away fundamental human rights.

Truth is, I damned near lose my mind whenever I see a “Yes on 8″ yard sign or bumper sticker. Because the thought that people are so stupid that they would believe that this would force schools to teach same-sex marriage astounds me. (The only thing that comes close to this assertion is in California Education Code, Section 51933, which addresses comprehensive sex education in schools, wherein it states, “Instruction and materials shall teach respect for marriage and committed relationships.” It says nothing about teaching children about different kinds of marriage, nor is such sex education even mandatory in all schools. And the majority of sex education is geared towards abstinence, not same-sex marriage.)

Nor are churches in danger of losing their tax-exempt status if they refuse to preform same-sex marriages, because they can refuse to perform any marriage ceremony as it is, even with opposite-sex marriages.

And when people trot out the tired, “Activist judges overturned the will of the people,” I want to smack those people with a clue-by-four and remind them that it took “activist judges” to strike down segregation, because the majority of American voters seemed to be okay with racial discrimination. Polarbeast speaks to this better than I can.

Personally, I think that if straight couples feel that their marriages are threatened by gay and lesbian people who want to have the same legal rights as I would, were I to ever marry – well, those couples have other issues with their marriages.

BTW, there have been over 10,000 same-sex marriages in California since the state’s Supreme Court struck down California’s existing statutes limiting marriage as unconstitutional. Over 10,000 gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts have married since 2004. And opposite-sex marriages are still happening all over the country, many of which are producing children. Every straight married couple I know is still together. Funny how that happens.

There are so many more arguments that I could make against Proposition 8, but my blood pressure – usually on the low side of normal – is already hovering in dangerous numbers and I have no desire to have an aneurysm. So I’ll just leave you with links to some far more eloquent folks than myself. And hope that California will do the right thing:

Vote No on Proposition 8.

Polarbeast

Janiece Murphy

John Scalzi

Wil Wheaton

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year.  So here’s a couple of trailers from horror films starring Clu Gulager, whom I’ve gotten to know since dating CuteFilmNerd:

I saw them both at a recent Clu Gulager Film Festival and had a bunch of fun.

And now the trailer for a movie that’s being release a week from today that I am CRAVING:

I am completely and totally in love with this page.  Aaawww…

…but I’m glad they are:

This is both one of the saddest and most hopeful videos I’ve ever seen.

(H/t to bstewart)

…just a remarkable simulacrum.  Which would explain all the folks milling around me with stakes and garlic and the like.  I need to point out the fact that, though it may be Halloween week, I am out and about in the daylight.

I’ve actually been percolating all sorts of thoughts in my cranium that would lead to a blog entry or two, but today is not the day for that.  I’m tired and weary and sore after serving as photographer last night for a screening that CuteFilmNerd put together.  I haven’t moved like that in years. Well, at least not in public.

But I’m breaking my blog silence to take advantage of bragging rights I’ve been awarded by the lovely Janiece, Hot Chick Extraordinaire, who has named me winner of the Comment of the Week.

Back later in the week to issue my own words of wisdom re: next week’s election, especially in regards to Proposition 8 in California.

Do not doubt it, mortals, for behold!

Marvel-Create Your Own Superhero

And yes, that is exactly how I look in real life while at JPL – primary colors and everything.

Ahem…

As a rule, I don’t spend the night at CuteFilmNerd’s place during the week.  Mainly because, in my carless state, getting back to my place in time to take care of kitties, change my clothes (I shower at his place) and catch the bus to work is pretty much a pain in the ass and means I have to wake up way too early.  And the times when CuteFilmNerd has driven me home so that I wouldn’t have to wake up so early and take the bus?  Haven’t worked out well timewise anyway.

(We’re both people who have difficulty getting up in the morning – which means, when together, our morning drag time is double what it would be if we were alone.)

However, last night I ended up at his place.  I foresaw a little bit of a hassle in the morning, but I was in the mood to deal with it (sometimes I’m not).  Turns out it was a good thing that I did stay at his place.

At approximately 1:45am I woke from a sound sleep.  I wasn’t sure why, but recently I’ve been going through one of my insomnia phases, so I thought that might be it.  I started to roll over when I realized the ancient box window fan was sounding funnier than usual and there was a strange burning smell in the air.

My reflexes kicked in and before I really knew what was happening I leapt out of bed and rushed to the fan, which was luckily on my side of the bed.  CuteFilmNerd’s voice drowsily drifted from the bed.  “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s burning!” I replied as I followed the electrical cord to the cool plug (which sparked slightly, but not dangerously) and pulled it from the power strip.

That woke him up quick enough as he too leapt out of bed.  “What’s burning?”

“The fan, but it’s off now.”

Our hearts started to slow down as we realized the building was not in danger of burning down.  I padded off to the bathroom and when I returned CuteFilmNerd was sitting at his desk, looking a little stunned, from what I could see sans glasses.  He thanked me several times as we settled back into bed.

I think what happened was that the motor that turned the blades on the fan broke, but there was still something moving within the motor, so there was friction happening that created the burning smell.  To my sleepy nose, the smell reminded me of ozone, but with a burnt edge to it.  I haven’t looked at the fan since, nor do I think CuteFilmNerd has (he was more or less asleep when I left this morning), but I would be interested in inspecting it, just to see what happened.

Still, it’s a good thing I was there this morning, as CuteFilmNerd tends to sleep more deeply than I do.  It’s also a good thing that I’m going through my insomniac period right now, because if I weren’t, even I might not have awakened in time.

Whew.

A snapshot of my iTunes at work:

The name “Colin” is obviously the biggest, but not just due to my love of Colin Hay. I have a friend who is an an incredible musician, so there is a veritable plethora of Colin music residing on my work computer. I’ll have to try this with my laptop and see what it unveils.

And if you’d like your very own iTunes Wordle, follow these steps:

1) In iTunes, select View Options under the View menu.
2) Turn off everything but “Artist.”
3) Select all and copy into a spreadsheet.
4) Delete the column with the music title.
5) Paste the results into the Wordle.net Create page.

(H/T to Tania, Janiece and Jeri)