MooseGrrrl

2008-12-31T23:55:00.000-08:00

Michelle Rediker @ KRice's house in NH

Paris for Prez!!!

2008-08-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

OMG!!! I never thought I'd ever appreciate ANYTHING Paris Hilton did. I thought she was simply a vaccuum, a waste of air and other valuable resources. But this is downright funny, and I love that she's bitch-slappin' McCain! I hate stupidity in politics, and the Obama/Hilton ad was right up there. And, like, Dude, she almost sounds like she knows what she's talkin' about. Maybe she'd make an ok actress. And you know where ACTING can take you!

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Adfunny videosFunnyOrDie.com

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Bush Tours America to Survey Damage Caused by His Disastrous Presidency

2008-07-08T09:38:00.001-07:00

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Our Trip to the Big City Part I

2008-07-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Val~

I will expound upon the details of the first part of our trip for you.

Yankee Stadium: We came up out of the subway and there it was. Yankee Stadium in all it’s glory. We took some pics, some with Sue in the foreground. Then it dawned on me. The tide of pedestrians was running perpendicular to the stadium. Hmmm. What we thought was YS was actually the NEW Yankee Stadium, not quite complete!

We went in to the current YS and walked around a bit. We only stayed along the 3rd base side though. Either construction or the crowds made it seem like we couldn't get all the way around. Maybe the heat and humidity just made us lethargic and killed our curiosity. We couldn’t get into the memorial park as they close it at so many minutes before the game. We did find a food court that beat the pants off Fenway, and I’d even venture Petco. I had sushi, yes, sushi @ Yankee Stadium. Sue had Chinese food.

The seats, although at the top of the world were fairly good. We had a good view of the base lines, but not foul territory where some action did occur. Too bad! We did get a fantastic view of Johnny Damon’s collision with the outfield fence, though. That was BRILLIANT!

There was a woman behind us in Sox garb who engaged with Yankee fans. Everytime she left her seat, she was pelted with peanuts. None hit us, but they did people along the aisles. And they pelted a woman in Sox garb who I don’t think did engage. Luckily, we were not wearing our Sox garb. I was wearing my patriotic and entirely too big Rosie the Riveter shirt with the American flag backdrop. Sue wore a Life Is Good shirt. This is why I hate moronic sports fans. You should not be afraid for your safety when visiting another team's playground. Period.

It rained off and on, but it felt good. It was quite warm, but not too hot, but very steamy. Then the rain began in earnest. I had brought my LLBean raincoat, and Sue had a sweatshirt, so we left our seats and went in. They called the rain delay. We walked around a bit more. We found seats behind the left field just to the side of the Sox bullpen and got comfy. The score was close, yet it seems like Yankee nation left. The stadium was mostly Sox fans. When it looked like they were going to resume, they were playing fight music and inspirational movie clips to try to pump the Yankees up for a comeback. There was some idiot, up in the rafters, along 1st base line, dancing up and down row of seats. I was thinking, "Man, it’s STEEP up there. And NARROW. That idiot is gonna fall..." and he did, and he rolled/slid/fell about 10 rows!!! I swear to god I thought we were going to watch him fall to his death once he got to the bottom of his section. But at last, he stopped. It was frightening, but funny. Man, I would LOVE to see THAT on video!

The game resumed. We saw Coco make that catch, and to us it certainly looked like he caught it. I texted my cousin’s son who was watching with my Dad at my uncle’s to find out why Coco was so mad. We had no doubt he caught it.

The Sox won. Yeah! Good trip. We got some souvenirs that are... appropriate. ;) You’ll have to see when you come over.

We went to the apt of my old co-worker-turned-housemate Julie and her gf, Jessie. Jessie has a dog, Sparky, that I would take care of occasionally. Sue would get Sparky all hyped up running around the apt, and jumping up on my bed. I adored that little dog. She’s beige, ears look like a Papillion. She’s just a cute little moffet. We haven’t seen her since about July 2001. She went NUTS! BERZERK! We are sure she remembers us. Amazing. So, we had a nice reunion with Sparky, and Julie & Jessie, and met their new dog, who is an adorable little rescue dog.

It was about 9 p.m. by this time (thanks to the rain delay). We went out for dinner at a BBQ place around the corner from their place. It was fantastic. It had started to rain again, and then we realized, duh! We were missing the fireworks! But they were on tv. I don’t really feel like I missed anything because I didn't think we'd be able to see much thru the rain. We went back to J&J’s, chitchatted, then took a cab across the park back to our hotel. It was a fairly inexpensive ride, which was nice. Yeah!

Our trip to the Big City, Part II

2008-07-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hey J&J~

Was gonna e you guys today to tell you we had a fantastic time in NYC. On Sat, we did just wander. We went to Brooklyn, Dumbo, and found Superfine restaurant. It was closed for lunch, but we thought it looked, well, super cool!

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Our timing was impecable. The minute we stepped foot in Manhatten, it started to rain. So we hopped on a train and went to the East Village for a late lunch, around 2-ish. We ate at Counter, (you probably well-versed in these places) which was awesome. Despite the late hour, Sue had some brunch meal. I had a flight of wine that was yummi and a walnut lentil panini that was outstanding with handcut fries. Sue had a white Sangria, which neither of us had had before. Quite good. Oh, and the waitress was adorable.

We went back to the hotel, napped, showered and went back to Brooklyn to Superfine. Ummmm. I don't know what was going on, but man. We were treated like we were Madonna and Guy Ritchie. I don't think I have ever been fawned over like that before. I must have been having a really good hair day. When we left, the hostess even chased us out to make sure we knew how to get back to Manhatten. Superfine was Super Friendly, and we will DEF go back. We ate at these little stools above the bar, overlooking the whole restaurant. It was HIGHLY entertaining, and this way, the bartenders talked to us the whole time we were there. One was Lola, as in LolaRockNRolla, independent filmmaker. She described her work as "campy, John Waters-y type stuff." She was a riot, and now I'm really intrigued by her work. You know me and movies. This looks like stuff I would TOTALLY get a kick out of. Oh, and we bought Superfine tshirts. They have a blonde dreamily leaning out the driver's side window of a '80's Chevy Monte Carlo... VERY much like the one I grew up with!! Of course I had to have one (t).

Oh, and the food.... I have to say... we LOVED it. We split a warm endive salad with grilled calmari (YUM!!!). Sue had a grilled pizza with sage, coat cheese (I think) and proscuitto. I had the grilled pork chop (to DIE for) with garlic mashed and cole slaw. Unfortuneately for those arouind me, I live for garlic. :)

Then we went to Henrietta Hudson's. It wasn't as fun as usual. Seemed like no one was there at first, then it suddenly got really crowed, and it took a long time for people to start dancing. That happened at about the time we had to leave, as we had to get up early for....

SUPER SHUTTLE!!! Wow. After that ride, we're no longer afraid of the Fung Wah. OMG. We were the 2nd pick up out of 4. Do you remember me once commenting on having been on a simulator ride somewhere, of F-1 racecars? I said I'd been on more hair-raising cab rides thru Somerville? This was unbelievable. Speeding thru the city, cornering and not rolling over... it was unbelieveable. Flying out, well, in terms of speed, to the airport. We were in the wayback, in the seat that can accommodate 3. The seat to the far right, however, was completely crunched down. At one point, we were zipping along, BOUNCING BOUNCING BOUNCING, and I got the giggles. I said to Sue, "You know, this reminds me, it's been FOREVER since I've been horseback riding." She replied, "Well, at least we know now what happened to this seat," looking at the one to her right. I think there were several points where I was afraid for my life. Who knew we'd get a thrill ride in NYC, too, without having to venture to Cony Island!

It was fun.

We did want to kick ourselves, or Sue wanted to kick me, after we left and realized I didn't get any pics of you two and the pups!!! Duh. She even suggested we show up unannounced on Sat just to have a photo session. ;)

Next time. Really. I think we need to go back in the winter sometime so that I can do the museums then. For some reason, I can't get myself inside when the temp is above 70. Even if it's raining, but like I said, our timing was impecable!

And... we owe you!!! Sometime when you come to Boston... maybe we'll force you to a Sox game next summer. ;)

~m

2008-05-13T13:13:00.001-07:00

Another family vacation memory...

2008-04-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

All 8 members of Team Rediker exited the My Fair Lady Dining Room aboard Enchantment of the Seas, led by Nikki. The seas were quite rough that evening, somewhere in the Caribbean. A rogue wave hit our vessel, and it lurched to the side from the force.

Nikki had been coming up on the heals of the proverbial sweet little old lady, who was assisted by a wheeled walker that can also function as a seat. As the boat lurched, Nik was thrown sideways into the wall, knocking a wall-phone off the hook. She looked like she was replaying a skit from the 3 Stooges or something, trying to catch the reciever, but it acted out the part of a slippery bar of soap. She finally caught it, and exhibiting great exasperation, hung the phone back up the hook. She sighed, turned and saw the other 7 members of Team Rediker and the members of the little old lady's (know from here on as LOL) party staring at her.

Nikki is one of the funniest people I know.

Feigning great frustration, she turned to the LOL, literally about half her height, I'm not even sure she could have REACHED the phone, and said, "How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not going to keep walking behind you if you're going to keep throwing things on the floor!"

The LOL looked a Nik, and burst into laughter. Both parties of people burst into laughter. Nikki kept going. "I don't know how you all keep up with her..." Then Nikki made the "international hand sign" for "bottle," and tipped it up, and gestured at the LOL with her elbow, complete with wiggling eyebrows. Her friends were beside themselves with laughter. We were beside themselves with laughter. I mean, we didn't know these people AT ALL!

We "ran into them" a couple more times that evening, and they'd always point at Nikki, clasp their hands together, point at her and laugh.

Guess you just had to be there.

The Howler Monkey

2008-04-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe the video's not as big a deal as I've been making of it. First, the video is super short. Next, and more importantly, I am a HUGE proponent of letting wild animals be wild and not interfering, but... it was a Howler Monkey! How often can you say you had the opportunity to have a howler monkey climb you? This is a prime example of hearing my Mom's voice in my head. "Do as I say, not as I do!"

In the clip, my sister is holding him first. Then he got antsy and wanted down, but thought I'd be a good climb.

He was very soft. Loved having his tail wrapped around my neck.

Another Belizian memory

2008-03-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Keep telling everyone this story, so it should be on the blog, too!

After doing the zip line at the Jaguar Paw resort area, I needed to use the facilities and was delighted to find what looked like a swanky outhouse (electricity!), actually contained flush toilets! Onesies, not stalls!

I went in, did my business. When I went to pull my drawers back up, I looked down, and noticed not far from my left foot were two, stationary, very LARGE, hearty black spiders. My pants came up so quick I'm lucky I didn't get road rash on my bum, and that I got everything closed up before I shot out of the unit like a rocket.

I should mention that, you know, having spent, and LOVING, my summers at Girl Scout camp (Natarswi), I'm not squimish around spiders or insects for the most part. These ones I could have saddled and rode back to the coast, I think.

Once outside for about 10 seconds, I had several thoughts. The first was, "Dummy! You should have taken a photo! That'd be great for the ofoto!" Unfortunately, someone went in right after me so the opportunity was missed.

The next thought was this, "Michelle... you're in the middle of the rainforest. Why are you surprised that there were giant black spiders in the loo?!" The Mountain House at Natarswi always seemed like Mecca to a wide array of insects.

Cruise vacation abbreviated diary...

2008-03-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

Vacation was AWESOME! Have to say, I am disappointed with my pics. Things were happening so fast, I often couldn’t get my camera in time. But so many stories... where to start?

Formal night, Sue & I wore our tuxes and were quite smashing. Around dessert, Steve surprised Nikki by having a small butter "dish" delivered to the table that had an engagement ring in it. He had her stand, asked if she would make him extremely happy, got down on 1 knee, and asked her to marry him. Although reeling in shock, she said yes of course; we all cheered. The dining room had cleared out a bit by then, but there were still many people there. A huge throng came over to congratulate them. I have a funny photo of Nik showing a cloth napkin with an impression of her face on it. (Mascara.)

Belize City, a lot smaller than I expected. No tall buildings really. Reminded me of the Central American equivalent of Presque Isle, ME. Zip line: Mom & Dad did it! Quite the feat! After the zip line, we dined at the "resort's" restaurant. (Resort: Think swanky cabins deep in the Maine woods, not like... some huge, palatial Club Med). We found the owner’s semi-domesticated howler monkey. Cynthia pulled the branches apart for us to get a better look, and he crawled out on her. She put him down. Nik reached down to pet him and he crawled up in her arms. Then I reached out, and he crawled up my arm, over my lap, up on my shoulder and wrapped his super-soft tail around my neck. Yeah, we know better. We’re lucky to have come back with our faces.

We were unable to do the cave tubing due to hi water. Sue was crushed, as you might guess. Our tour guides Nacho & Cynthia offered to take us to the Belize Zoo, but the parents were hankering to get back to the boat (where Mom was hit with a migraine and spent the night in bed). We "kids" spent some time at a flea market, practicing our haggling skills that Nacho explained to us. We quickly got overwhelmed by the "come look at my stuff!!!"

Cozumel: Sue spent the afternoon with my parents while Nik, Steve & I went snuba diving. We had a blast! I was disappointed by the shallowness of a snuba dive, but we still saw some beautiful coral and some amazing fish. Our guide handed us a sea cucumber. That's an odd being. I think Nik is hooked on underwater adventures now, too. Steve had problems with his jaw and couldn’t descend. (10 – 20 years ago, he had his jaw... rebuilt, so clenching on the regulator was too painful for him.) Next time, Nik & I will do a serious scuba dive.

In Cozumel, we had a very nice lunch in an authentic Mexican restaurant. Tiny, hole-in-the-wall place. Fantastic food, they spoke little Eng, we little Spanish. Luckily the menu had pictures and we recognized the names of certain items. The place came highly recommended to us by a pal of Nik’s and was fantastic. A great experience.

Cozumel, by the way, reminded me a lot of Bar Harbor. I really enjoyed it.

As an aside, those 5 Spanish lessons I had about a year ago didn’t help much. Steve’s parents are French Canadians, so on-board I was picking up bits of their conversations, and speaking phrases I remembered. Then on land, I got out of a cab and said, "Merci," followed up by a "Doh! Gracias!" Also, when I was asking for change, I said "Deux" and didn’t realize until I was on the boat I should have said "Dos." Duh.

Key West: Hot, hot, hot. (Well, the whole cruise was, but it bothered me most in KW. I guess the fact that I found the water in Cozumel refreshing says a lot.) We wandered around, went to Hog's Breath Saloon. Walked along Duval, rented an electric car so we could get to the Southern-most Point and back without dying from heat exhaustion. We also went to Mile 0 of Rt 1, as the other end is about 45 mins from Mom & Dad’s house. Unfort, I took a pic of the mile marker on the wrong side of the street so it says "End" instead of "Begin." Saw one of KW’s famous sunsets.

I didn’t get seasick, but our boat did do some serious rocking, and we hit some pretty rough surf. Sue used anti-nausea patches, and suffered some unique side-effects. Basically, she couldn’t see well enough to read. Got a swell pic of her in my Dad’s glasses. I would cruise again, and thought Royal Caribbean was swell enough, even though it wasn’t Olivia. The fam, though, is leaning more towards renting one of my friend’s condos in Vieques instead, if we can swing something like this again.

Sue & I had a hard time getting back due to the weather. We got to the airport WAY early (dumb ~ should have done an airboat excursion to kill time), and tons of flights were delayed so the terminal was full-to-bursting.

I didn’t want to come home... and am missing my afternoon totties. Pina colada, anyone?? Virgin or otherwise?

That, my friends, is the concise version of our vacation. Can you believe I’m capable of it? Wait til you see the ofoto. Lots of pics, but I need to scoop up some of Steve’s. He got some much better shots, but, well, he is a professional (video) photographer, after all.

Joke of the Day

2008-02-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

"The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for democracy," he said. "Eventually, this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections -- and I mean free, and I mean fair -- not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as true democracy." George W. Bush

State of the Union

2008-01-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

WHAT was Nancy Pelosi reading?? It looked like Tuesdays with Morri. Was that a commentary about his Shrub's presidency? "Your days are numbered?"

Until we find out the answer to the burning question... what was Nancy reading... check out this clip from LAST year's SOTU speach. CRACKED... ME... UP.

Blink Off!!!

Starting Off on the Right Foot

2008-01-11T16:05:00.000-08:00

I'm starting the New Year off on the right foot. Literally.

Yes, walking across a flat, dry, surface when you are completely sober is very tricky indeed! Don't try this trick at home, kids!

On Monday night, I got off the exercise bike and walked toward the Fitlinx machine. Then forgot the data I wanted to plug in, so I spun around and stepped back, checked the numbers. I spiraled on my left foot, and planted my right. I think it was too far to the left, across the plane of balance.

I heard a familiar snap, and felt nothing beneath me as I went sailing to the ground.

"Hmmm. I think my right foot might end up pinned beneath my chest. How interesting." I don't know HOW I didn't sprain my ass.

I did land with my leg crossed under my body, but not before my left shoulder rammed into the Fitlinx machine and my head smashed into the water vending machine. Oh, the calamity! The noise! How embarrassing! At least it was fairly late so the gym was quite empty. The trainer, who was training someone, stepped around the corner to see what was making such a racket, and did a double take when she saw me on the floor.

I picked myself up and dusted myself off. She was very nice, asking if I was ok, did I need help. I barked no in pain and embarrassment, I'm afraid. After she wandered away, I entered my data into the Fitlinx. Then I promptly sat at the desk where I had to put my head between my knees for 5 minutes or so to keep from passing out. I can vagal at the drop of a hat. Extreme pain ususally does it.

Because I am a repeat sprainer, I had everything I needed at home to self-treat. Ice pack, ibuprophen, an air cast and crutches. No, I'm not making it up. There's a reason they come with me every time I move and they don't get purged.

All week I've had a lovely, enormous purple/black foot. I went in today for an x-ray. Ok, I caved. I've had 2 stress fractures and a hairline fracture in my lifetime, and there's a lot of osteoperosis in my family, so I wanted to BE SURE. No news is good news, so far!

I've switched from cardio and weights back to the pool. Luckily, swimming feels good on it, even if I'm barely kicking. I can drag my ass up and down the pool with my arms to get my exercise in, and still enjoy it. Although, I will miss my reading time.

Yes, I'm called Bumble for many reasons. I'm tall and can put a star atop the tree alright, but I'm also as graceful as the name implies.

I'm telling folks it's the result of a ballroom dancing catastrophy. :)

Put a nail in it

2008-01-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Is it over? Is 2007 over? Let's recap why it sucked.

Between Sue & me, we've had 4 deaths in the family:

Sue's Aunt Millie
My Uncle Darrel
Sue's Aunt Jenny
My Aunt Alyce

Uncle Darrel's lymphoma was caused by undiagnosed and therefore untreated Celiac disease. With his illness, our family went under the scope, sometimes literally, and we found a staggering amount of Celiac among the rest of us, including my sister, Nik. Thanks to Uncle Darrel, the rest of the family can live a gluten-free life to keep healthy. He saved us, in my opinion.

I got so sick the night we flew home for Darrel's funeral, I couldn't even go! Sue had to stand in for me. My consolation prize, a nice visit to the ER and LOVELY IV. Yum.

In August, we went on out traditional vacation to P'town, and this year, it was calamity after calamity, and I got sick AGAIN. This time because the place was NOT pet free, as advertised.

We get home from vaca, and Sue's "surviving" Aunt Wanda fell and broke her hip. As Millie and Wanda lived their whole lives together, she now only has Sue & Bev. It was a struggle to care for her, and between Sue, Bev, Denise and me, we did what we could to make sure she had a visitor every week night and a couple each weekend day. Since then, Auntie has taken a nosedive into dementia. She's obstinate and stubborn and is refusing care, making everyone's life miserable. Getting her off the road was at least a 3 month struggle! It was awful. In the middle of all that, she got the shingles in early November. How awful for her!

In Oct, we waited for Aunt Alyce to pass. We were unsure if we would make it to a friend's wedding, then usure if we'd leave the wedding to go back to Maine. She survived until the middle of the following week. I wrapped up my part of a big project and left Boston around 3:30 p.m on Thursday. I drove to NH to pick up my cousin Bob's son Brandon, adding 2 hours to my trip, but very good company. He and I drove to Bangor and picked up my sister. Then we continued to the County. We made it home around 1:30 a.m. My travel was much easier than my cousin Lisa's however. She arrived at a Maryland-area airport on Wed a.m., and landed in Presque Isle either late Friday night or early Sunday morning! You wouldn't expect that in October!

I left the County on Sunday a.m., drove Brandon back to college and got home around 7 p.m. I worked for 2 hours to finish the project that was now back in my court. Then Sue & I were up at 5 to get to Newton Wellesley for her hysterectomy. She had fibroids and had been taking Lupron for months to shrink them. It's a med that's supposed to turn you into a hormonal wench, but I think she was so overwhelmed by her aunt, that didn't happen.

Surgery went well, but long. She had many more fibroids and a MUCH larger uterus than expected. When I got in the post-op, she was in a nice leather-like barcolounger. I got to sit in a wooden captain's chair. That didn't stop me from sleeping. Several times the nurses walked by and woke me up laughing. One said, "Yes, Sue, you were snoozing off and on, but YOU! You were out cold!" I slept the afternoon in that hard chair.

Thankfully, I was able to take a week sick-time to care for my recovering partner, then work from home a little longer (thank you UUA!). I needed the time to recover, myself!

Now, '08 begins. Already, there's been a stroke, and I have a cousin that will be in town next week for very serious surgery.

Things to look forward to:
Cruise in March with the family. We didn't exchange presents. No malls. No crowds. Less stress. No wrapping. No cleanup. Instead, we'll all get to spend time together doing really fun things in exotic places. Nice.

Jenny McNulty would NOT be happy...

2007-12-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

Sue has this little collection of mini football helmets from when she was a kid. She has them all lined up on the entertainment center right below the big screen. She lines them up, helmet to helmet, according to who is playing whom for EACH game every weekend. The other day, she asked me who the opponent was against a certain team, because she couldn't remember the weekend's full lineup. I found the helmet she was talking about then picked up the opponents helmet.

"Who is it?"

I studied the helmet. Keep in mind these are now ancient artifacts, she got them when she was a kid. They saw a lot of action then, probably similar to what she's doing now.

"Hmmm. The Detroit Unicorns."

"Unicorns?! There are no Unicorns in FOOTBALL!!!" she exclaimed, a-la Tom Hanks' cry that there's no crying in baseball.

Jenny McNulty would not be happy with me. Maligning the sports prowess of her hometown team for her FAVORITE sport like that. Well, how do you think poor unicorns feel?! I don’t think they even LIKE sports!!! I’m not sure even sure how Unicorns would feel about Detroit. Turns out, it was the Denver Broncos. It had a big "D" on it, and I swear it looked like a unicorn, not a horse.

To March, verb...

2007-11-29T20:26:00.000-08:00

To March: Some time before T-giving, but after Sue's surgery, she wanted to cook for some get-together. She has this compulsion to buy a new 3-pack of aluminum pans with lids before every such event. We now have a nice collection of the remaining 2 pans she never used.

I saw it on the list, and I chided her. To save $ and the environment, please use what we've got! She went shopping and bought new ones anyway. Out of spite? Laziness, too lazy to stand on a chair and get the others down?

On Thanksgiving, we were telling Bev & Denise the story. Sue said, "Then she MARCHED across the kitchen and fished them out of the rafters."

"MARCHED? I don't MARCH."

"Yes, you did. You marched across the kitchen and got them. Hup, two, three, four."

"I do not march."

"Yes you do. You were even in a marching band once!"

She got me there. I laughed. Ok, so it was much funnier when it was happening. But the 4 of us went on this riff about marching. Why is that always a choice verb used by arguing couples??

2007-09-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

2007-09-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

May it be our "Worst Vacation Ever"

2007-08-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

We were in ptown last week for our vaca, Saturday to Saturday. We’re hoping it’s the worst one we ever have.

Within an hour of getting into our condo, we locked ourselves out. (File under: "Do you have the key?" and "You're not listening to me!!!") We decided the fastest solution to our little problem was to break in. Basically, with very little effort, I pushed the livingroom screen into the house. I got down on all-fours in the bushes and Sue stepped on my back, sat "in the window," and scooched her way backward onto a table under the window. This was all done from the vantage point of the front lawn, so we showed everyone in the neighborhood how easy it is to break into this unit.

Because I wasn’t sure if what I was crouching in was poisonous or not, I showered in the icky shower. (It could have benefited from some bleach or at least a little elbow grease.) When I got out, I walked across the rug and put my foot up on the sink to dry my leg. I noticed my foot was covered in fur… in our “pet free” condo. We found the lease for the week 2 weeks prior to our stay on the table that outlined an additional $100 fee for a dog to reside there. I am not at all convinced this was dog fur, but cat fur. Maybe they'll slyly brought a cat with them. Or at the very least, a VERY fluffy dog. Either way, we’re both quite allergic to cats, and somewhat allergic to dogs.

While I was showering, Sue was on an Easter egg hunt of sorts, searching our tiny little condo and unplugging about 8 different air-fresheners. We’re highly allergic to airfresheners, too.

Within a few hours, I was feeling wheezy and congested.

By Monday, I had an itchy throat.

By Wednesday, I had bronchitis. Thursday and Friday I was downright miserable. I slept on the beach. Oh, yeah, let’s not forget that I had nightmares everynight:

Saturday: My childhood home was washed away in a big flood because the Army Corps of Engineers were dredging the river and didn’t have a clue what they were doing

Sunday: A friend of mine was in a bad car accident and shattered both legs

Monday: I was living by myself in my old apt bldg in Somerville. I was getting ready for work so I was ½ naked> A man broke into my apt, got a knife and was chasing me around while I tried to hold him at bay with a chair. I kept yelling for someone to call the cops, but as my work hours are later than everyone else’s, no one was there to help me. Sue woke me up because I was shaking & whimpering.

Tueday: I ran into the family of a former co-worker who killed himself (for real). I knew it was his family because his brother looked exactly like him in my dream and it was very odd and uncomfortable.

Ok, that’s not everynight, but close enough. Sue discovered that the lot near our condo with the demolished remains of an old house on it was on the haunted house tour. She thinks that’s why I had bad dreams, that an evil spirit influenced my state of mind in my dreams, but I don’t believe in ghosts.

Let's return to the beginning of our stay. On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast & went to the gym. We left our plates, on which we had had muffins, in the sink with a few stray crumbs. When we returned, the entire sideboard was swarming with ants.

Some time during the week, Sue lost the holster for her cell phone. Before leaving, we searched the condo again, high and low, and never found it. We did, however, find a gigantic tumbleweed of (cat ~ I insist!) fur behind the bureau in the bedroom. I could have knit 6 cats from the fur!!!

Oh, and the air conditioner! There were plenty of windows in the unit, but only 3 had screens. Only the small, octagonal window in the kitchen had a screen that fit well. The other 2 fit poorly, bowing out away from the windows, and were riddled with holes (and were very easy to remove to break in, as established above). Because Sue didn’t want to get chewed alive by mosquitoes, we generally opted for the air-conditioner. As the week progressed, we figured out that I did better, was able to breath better, with natural air vs. the a/c. Upon further examination, the intake filter was… stuffed with fur, dust, and crap and needed to be cleaned. I tried but be I’ll be damned I couldn’t get the front off, and was too sick to fight with it or figure it out. The output vents looked like they were coated with mold & mildew. (My old job/office, all over again!) No wonder I got so sick!!!

I forgot to mention this, too! The week BEFORE vacation, Sue had sprained her ankle . On our first night in Ptown, Lynette Molnar, the owner of the Pied, was kind enough to let us in for free. Most likely because she’s seen us there so very often. We’ve paid our share of covers, and I generally dance my butt off. We protested getting in for free, but she smiled and said, “Just dance.” (It’s good for business you know… a busy dance floor). So we danced a lot… as much as Sue could take. The rest of the week, her ankle was the size of a watermelon! Ok, maybe a grapefruit, but she’s got nicely-toned legs, so it looked HUGE.

Good things about vaca:

I read “Water for Elephants” in a day and a half. EXCELLENT book.

Drag Bingo & the parade (as always, but I was beat).

Good food & drink.

Campfire (except the smoke exacerbated my cold)

We taught our couch monkey, Monkey, some new phrases. (You don't have a couch monkey??) Amanda and Cindy, our British pals, will enjoy these: “Provincetown. Fleabag. Sick!!!!” Ok, they weren’t in a fleabag, but they did get sick in Ptown. Upon their return to Brighton, Monkey comforted Cindy as she recuperated on the couch.

Now that we’re home and in fur-free quarters, I am recovering much faster than I do from my usual colds. Thank Monkey!

Remedial Purses

2007-07-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

At the annual GLAD Summer Party, I saw something that was just... too beautiful to pass up. It simply CALLED to me like a siren from across the crowded lawn. It was love at first sight. I had to have it.

It was a hot pink (fuchsia even?), feathered Moo Roo purse with small accent stones across the top. It was SO me!

I've told everyone for years that I am very much in touch with my inner drag queen.

Kristin, my former co-worker, has offered me some help to get me up to speed on proper purse utilization:

From: Clark, Kristin
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 12:53 PM
To: Michelle Rediker
Subject: RE: Dinner

So where’s a pic of your new purse? Will you be needing lessons on how to carry the purse and what goes in it??

From: Michelle Rediker
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 12:55 PM
To: Clark, Kristin
Subject: RE: Dinner

I don’t have any pics yet, but have been told to take it to the Theatre with me on Wed when we go see Mr. Marmalade @ the BCA. The Theatre is a purse-type of event, no?

It won’t fit much in it. It’s just a wee purse. As soon as I get some of the pics… ;)

From: Clark, Kristin
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 2:25 PM
To: Michelle Rediker
Subject: RE: Dinner

Any event is a purse event! Here’s a list for contents, hope it helps:

Girly-girl	Lesbian equivalent
Lipgloss	chapstick
Money & id	wallet (try to thin it out)
Cell phone	cell phone (yes, take it off your belt)

From: Michelle Rediker
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 3:34 PM
To: Clark, Kristin
Subject: RE: Dinner

Perfect!!! Yeah, the wallet’s a bit bulky. Maybe I’ll just take my id and a credit card, as there’s a wee zipper compartment. And I’ve even got a much smaller thing of chapstick now, the size of a bullet!

Ok, Ok, I’ll take the ph off my belt. I’ll even reset the ringer so it’s not the theme song to “This Old House.”

From: Clark, Kristin
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 3:37 PM
To: Michelle Rediker
Subject: RE: Dinner

Glad I could help.. Pls tell me your kidding about your ringer…

A moment in history missed...

2007-04-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

This exchange with our pal Richard in ptown was so funny, I had to share it.

To: Sue, Michelle
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007
From: Richard
Subject: Sox

Gee, too bad the game sucked last night!! :-))) You guys are SO LUCKY you got to see it IN PERSON!!! I hope you had a great time.

Richard

To: Richard, Sue
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007
From: Michelle
Subject: Sox

Ohhhh, but you are going to love THIS!!! She DIDN'T!!! I chose not to go to the game, so she took Bev instead. (I went to see Hot Fuzz. Good movie, very funny.)

Sue & Bev were down in the bowels of Fenway getting chowda... they could hear the cheers, and then a minute or so later they would see what happened on tv! They missed ALL 4 HRS!

Ohhhh, the travesty of it all. ;)

~m

To: Michelle
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007
From: Richard
Subject: Sox

That is SO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She must have wanted to cut her wrists! I am laughing out loud! I told my friend, Liz, just now and she couldn't believe it. She is a HUGE Sox fan.

Thank you so much for this info. It made my day!

Richard

To: Sue, Michelle
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007
From: Richard
Subject: MIA

People are on the edge of their seats. TRUE Red Sox fans are holding their breaths as history is in the making. Then, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG. Those lucky enough to have tickets, see something few have ever see. For the FIRST TIME in Red Sox history and only the Fifth time ever, 4 homers in a row are hit. And WHERE IS SUE?????

IN THE BOWELS OF THE STADIUM EATING CHOWDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT WAS SHE THINKING???? God alone knows.

Oh, well. There's always next time (yeah, right).

Sue, seriously, I feel bad for you BUT, I must admit, I've been laughing my ass off.

XXOO

Richard

Hello... anyone out there? Or have the poppies overwhelmed us?

2007-03-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

Does this one make anyone's hair stand on end?? "We'll cover Viagra, but not birth control pills." Yeah, they think every woman should be barefoot and pregnant. That's PART of their health plan!!

The Prevention First Act sounds like a good plan. Keep an eye out for it.

~m

[My pal ARo says: "And... if you don't have enough hair to stand on end, they'll cover the Rogaine for you! Strange world!"

8th Circuit Court: Health Care Plan Exclusion of Birth Control is OK
Feminist Daily News Wire
March 16, 2007

The 8th Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that Union Pacific Railroad's exclusion of birth control from its health plan does not constitute discrimination against women under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In a 2-1 ruling, the majority wrote that "Union Pacific's health plans do not cover any contraception used by women such as birth control, sponges, diaphragms, intrauterine devices or tubal ligations or any contraception used by men such as condoms and vasectomies* Therefore, the coverage provided to women is not less favorable than that provided to men.

"US Judge Kermit Bye, the lone dissenter, objected to this logic because Union Pacific's contraception policy only affects preventative care for women. Because men cannot become pregnant, it makes sense that the health care plan does not cover pregnancy prevention for men. Therefore, Judge Bye found that while the policy might be "officially gender neutral," it is still discriminatory, according to the Associated Press.

Furthermore, Union Pacific offers coverage for preventative medications used only by men, in addition to Rogaine for hair loss and Viagra for erectile disfunction.

"Todays' ruling is an outrageous step backwards for women's health. Birth control is basic health care, and health insurance should cover it," Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. She urged members of Congress to support the Prevention First Act, which would, among other things, require health plans to cover birth control.

Media Resources:
Planned Parenthood release 3/15/07; AP 3/15/07

Right Turn, Clyde

2007-03-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

So, did anyone feel a hard swing to the right???

There's the kidnapping of the illegal immigrants in New Bedford by the Feds. I have to admit to visions of the SS moving into the ghettos. Not that I begrudge anyone doing their job, or even believing that they are protecting us from these very scary people (a woman on chemo, single moms, nursing mothers, primary caretakers, families fleeing poverty and persecution or chasing hope for a better life in a New England sweat shop) while at their job, but this mission was soooo badly bungled. (How about holding the sweatshop owners without bail? Or CLOSING DOWN THE FACILITY for violating human rights?) Was this the handiwork and planning of Alberto Gonzalez? How long before they start doing round-ups of legal immigrants (oh, wait, I think that DID happen in New Bedford) or other citizens at the whim of the right wing, shipping them off and incarcerating them (us) without a trial or access to legal representation? Basically, what happened to civil liberties? To "freedom" as we like to call it?

Then there's Peter Pace who apparently has a flag pole up his butt. ("Gays shouldn't be in the military because homosexual acts are immoral, just like adultery." Hmmm. Is a homosexual act MORE or LESS immoral than attacking a country and letting it spin into civil war in an arrogant attempt to grab a spiffy piece of real estate and create B I G business for the VP's former company?? MORE or LESS immoral than providing the folks you lied to and sent off to do that dirty bit of business with crappy-to-no health care and paralyzing beaurocracy when they get home? More or less immoral than letting a poor nation, without any oil reserves or anything "good," carry out genocide while we obsess about Anna Nicole's death, who gets her daughter and watch American Idol? Really, I'm just wondering, on the scale of immorality, where DO homosexual acts fall?? Personally, I don't view loving someone as an immoral act. Persecuting those for expressing their humanity, however, is a different story.)

Finally, we get this. Think my "lock 'em up" scenario was far fetched?? I think this goes even further.

Furor Over Baptist's Gay-Baby Article
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
3 hours ago

NEW YORK - The president of the leading Southern Baptist seminary has incurred sharp attacks from both the left and right by suggesting that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven, and that prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.

The Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., one of the country's pre-eminent evangelical leaders, acknowledged that he irked many fellow conservatives with an article earlier this month saying scientific research "points to some level of biological causation" for homosexuality.

Proof of a biological basis would challenge the belief of many conservative Christians that homosexuality _ which they view as sinful _ is a matter of choice that can be overcome through prayer and counseling.

However, Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was assailed even more harshly by gay-rights supporters. They were upset by his assertion that homosexuality would remain a sin even if it were biologically based, and by his support for possible medical treatment that could switch an unborn gay baby's sexual orientation to heterosexual.

"He's willing to play God," said Harry Knox, a spokesman on religious issues for the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group. "He's more than willing to let homophobia take over and be the determinant of how he responds to this issue, in spite of everything else he believes about not tinkering with the unborn."

Mohler said he was aware of the invective being directed at him on gay-rights blogs, where some participants have likened him to Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor notorious for death-camp experimentation.

"I wonder if people actually read what I wrote," Mohler said in a telephone interview. "But I wrote the article intending to start a conversation, and I think I've been successful at that."

The article, published March 2 on Mohler's personal Web site, carried a long but intriguing title: "Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It?"

Mohler began by summarizing some recent research into sexual orientation, and advising his Christian readership that they should brace for the possibility that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven.

Mohler wrote that such proof would not alter the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality, but said the discovery would be "of great pastoral significance, allowing for a greater understanding of why certain persons struggle with these particular sexual temptations."

He also referred to a recent article in the pop-culture magazine Radar, which explored the possibility that sexual orientation could be detected in unborn babies and raised the question of whether parents _ even liberals who support gay rights _ might be open to trying future prenatal techniques that would reverse homosexuality.

Mohler said he would strongly oppose any move to encourage abortion or genetic manipulation of fetuses on grounds of sexual orientation, but he would endorse prenatal hormonal treatment _ if such a technology were developed _ to reverse homosexuality. He said this would no different, in moral terms, to using technology that would restore vision to a blind fetus.

"I realize this sounds very offensive to homosexuals, but it's the only way a Christian can look at it," Mohler said. "We should have no more problem with that than treating any medical problem."

Mohler's argument was endorsed by a prominent Roman Catholic thinker, the Rev. Joseph Fessio, provost of Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla., and editor of Ignatius Press, Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. publisher.

"Same-sex activity is considered disordered," Fessio said. "If there are ways of detecting diseases or disorders of children in the womb, and a way of treating them that respected the dignity of the child and mother, it would be a wonderful advancement of science."

Such logic dismayed Jennifer Chrisler of Family Pride, a group that supports gay and lesbian families.

"What bothers me is the hypocrisy," she said. "In one breath, they say the sanctity of an unborn life is unconditional, and in the next breath, it's OK to perform medical treatments on them because of their own moral convictions, not because there's anything wrong with the child."

Paul Myers, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota-Morris, wrote a detailed critique of Mohler's column, contending that there could be many genes contributing to sexual orientation and that medical attempts to alter it could be risky.

"If there are such genes, they will also contribute to other aspects of social and sexual interactions," Myers wrote. "Disentangling the nuances of preference from the whole damn problem of loving people might well be impossible."

Not all reaction to Mohler's article has been negative.

Dr. Jack Drescher, a New York City psychiatrist critical of those who consider homosexuality a disorder, commended Mohler's openness to the prospect that it is biologically based.

"This represents a major shift," Drescher said. "This is a man who actually has an open mind, who is struggling to reconcile his religious beliefs with facts that contradict it."

___
On the Net:
Mohler's column: http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id891

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Mom's Surprise 60th Birthday Party Weekend

2007-03-06T21:26:00.000-08:00

We pulled off the surprises for Mom's party just fine! It was quite fun. The weekend (3/2-5) started with the hour and a half flight home, Friday noonish. As you may remember, the Northeast was getting another whitewash, and a # of airports were closing. We were lucky, our flight got the green light.

When we were going down the escalator to our departure gate, Sue said, "Hey, isn't that your friend?!" And I'll be damned, it was. No big surprise I guess. It was Tommy Hanson, who was a year behind me in high school. He and I were 2 of the 3 bass clarinetists in band. "2 out of 3 bass clarinetists are queer." He's a flight attendant for United, but used to work for US Air. US Air is the airline that flies into PQI (Presque Isle International's call letters). He was behind their counter, checking people in for his former co-workers. Because he still lives in FF, and works for United, he has to fly this US Air route to commute to work a lot. (I'm not sure if United services Maine at all, but they sure don't service PQI!) When Tom's not attending flights, he's a sub teacher in the FF school system! I was still riding the escalator and started yelling, "Tommy! Tommy Hanson! Take me home big boy!" I owe him some embarrassment... VAST amounts of embarrassment. He came to visit me at GLAD on a couple of occasions. That's all I'm sayin'. He's a handsome devil... and yes, very devilish. But a very good man.

We were on a Saab 340B. 2 seats on the right wing, 1 on the left. Tom sat a few rows behind us with another off-duty flight attendant and the relief pilot who was supposed to fly the plane back to Boston on the return trip. There were more... "airline professionals" on the flight as there were "civilians." After about an hour, the excitement wore off. I peeled my nose from the window 'cause I hadn't been able to see anything thru the snow for a very long time, except ice forming on the wings, and that was getting boring.

I had JUST fallen asleep when I hear this "B* A * M !" I'm coming to, thinking, "Ok, where was I last?" My heart is racing a little, then I remember, "Oh yeah, I was on a PLANE..." that got my heart racing BIG TIME! I thought I had seen a burst of light off to the right, too. I looked up. The flight attendant who was on duty, Kelly, had taken a window seat a few rows ahead of us and turns to look at the relief pilot, Tom and the other guy, all sitting behind us. She looked a little bemused. There was ice forming on the props and it was coming off and slamming into the body of the plane. The first, ohhhh, 4 or 5 times were the worst. It was LOUD. Sounded like someone was standing on the wing and hitting the body with a baseball bat. But then, maybe it was even LOUDER than that! Think about it. A chunk of ice hitting the body at 700+ mph. It was a little unnerving, but I was pretty sure we'd be fine. Call me a confident flyer, I knew we weren't "going down." It did continue at random for the next 15 - 20 mins. The pilot had to descend to get into a warmer air mass, and it stopped not long before we got to PQI. When we landed the pilot told us that was a "good" sound because it meant the systems were working the way they should. The return flight, however, was cancelled due to "mechanical issues." We found out the next night at the party. My cousin had a co-worker who was supposed to fly out on that one. Didn't happen. The poor relief pilot. He'd just been notified that a.m. he was getting switched to the PI flight. He lives in S. Illinois, had never been to PI, then got stuck there and didn't know anyone ~ in a place where there's... absolutely nothing. Oh well. Tom did point out later that yeah, it's not uncommon for ice batter the aircraft, but still, it's not so good for something to be slapping the plane that hard.

Mom had suspected something was up. She'd caught Dad, Cora and Carl (M&D's best friends) whispering a few times. When Nik walked in, she looked psyched, and it took a second or 2 for it to register that we were with her. We'd all been guessing what her response would be. Something along the lines of "Oh you guys!" or "Oh, for heaven's sake." We did not expect, "Awwww! Don't hug me, I'm sick!"

OH NO. We were all thinking "There goes the party!" Luckily, she'd been taking zinc, and we fixed her some Emergen-C's. By the next a.m., she was 1000% better.

Steve and 2 of his 3 kids arrived Sat a.m. He had a headache, so he napped and Nik & I took the kids sliding. Sue was quite happy to curl up in the rocker by the gas fireplace. It was the first time she hadn't had to wear her turtle fur or winter hat INSIDE in a long time. Heating our place is wicked expensive, and I don't let her turn the heat up. We often run around very bundled. I go to bed to watch tv as early as possible so I can get under my down comforter. :) So she enjoyed the fire. Nik, the kids and I enjoyed the hills. The hill behind our house, the one I lost my tooth on... that seems so "bunny" now. We abandoned that for the one behind the Catholic cemetary, which is a part of the state's snowmobile trail system. Now THAT'S a hill! We did get Steve & Sue to join us the next a.m. It was a blast! I hold the record for speed and distance, and scaring the crap out of Sue on our joint venture. Really, I didn't need the help steering, and we WOULD have made it to the bottom if she hadn't helped. Instead we would up in a snowbank that had tons of burdocks protruding. Ahhhhh, good times. The weather was awesome! We lucked out. It was in the 40's both days! I even shed some layers. (And then when we came back to Boston, the temp plunged and I wore my skipants to work everyday. Hey, you never know HOW long you're gonna be out there waiting for the bus. At least I didn't freeze my bootie off! Freeze, freeze, freeze, then this week, it was 70 degrees, and today, a Nor'Easter.)

The party. Ahhh, what a riot! The "how are we gonna get her there" plan changed a lot right up until we got in the car. But we devised a plan to drive out to that side of town, 'cause really, the Lion's Club is in the middle of nowhere. We approached it and Dad was like, "Hmmm, looks like something's going on here tonight... Let's take a look." The driveway was filled with cars, and the windows were all dark. This killed us! There were 85 people from about 4 towns sitting in there in the dark for a good 15-20 minutes waiting for us! Nik's friend Nat said, "It sure was different. It was definately dark." OMG, we laughed til we cried about that later! We told them we'd be there @ 6, and for once, we were VERY punctual. The Redikers have a habit of being late. Gay standard time or something. But this was in MY neurotic hands. I told everyone we'd be there at 6, so we were there @ 6. (When everyone started mobilizing EARLY for once, and I jumped in the shower, thinking, "How can I slow this down? I've only got so much hair to wash!" Luckily, Nik and Steph helped out in the shop by "getting pretty.")

Driving in we got the standard response of surprised, "Oh you fellers!" She was surprised 'cause she thought Sue & I were the only surprise. She had a GREAT time. It was a lot of fun. WAY too much food (pot luck), and then everybody left kinda early. Old folks, what can we say?

Mom & Dad left for Bangor early on Mon a.m. to make their flight to FL. Sue & I were going to take Dad's truck to the PI airport and give the keys to the guy behind the counter, who is Carl's son. Where else but a small town could you just give the keys to the guy behind the counter at the airline check-in? Carl would pick it up later the next time they went to PI, but as we were just putting our coats on, Carl walked in and said, "If you're ready, I can just take you over now!" Great! Small towns can be good.

Boston Bombs & Billboards

2007-02-01T07:56:00.001-08:00

Off with their heads, I say!

All involved, from the guys who placed them to the suits that came up with the idea, showed REAL artistic beauty in sheer idiocy. A device that could be mistaken for a bomb is NOT a "billboard."

If you were asked to describe what a bomb looks like, what would you say? My description? Let's see. How about: Black casing. Might look like a laptop, but things are so small these days, maybe an iPod. But then, if you want to take down a bridge, a laptop would be better. Wires protruding. Maybe some batteries. Maybe not Duracell or Energizer, but maybe the kind used in cell phones or pc's. Yeah, and some LCD lights; blinking beacons. You know, when the bomb squad goes in to defuse bombs on tv, right before they cut the blue or yellow wire, they're always showing such lights, then the sweaty upper lip of the guy who drew the short straw and is hoping his buddies will all buy him a beer that night, then the shot of the wire cutters *snip* and the lights all stop blinking and stay lit. Then phew, it's all over. Or, bummer dude, you're all over.

Add a little creature giving the bird, it's downright poetic, man.

From the photos I've seen, I would have had doubts about the device's intentions. Not in an Al Qaeda kind of way, but maybe in a Timothy McVey kind of way. I don't think Al Qaeda is at all interested in the "artistic brillance" of their work. A little lite-brite man giving us the finger? What better msg right before blasting someone to bits.

Full prosecutions for the idiots that placed them. Pursue full criminal charges/fines against the companies that conceived, planned, authorized and carried out the plan, along with sending them the BILL for everything yesterday. Then, for the commuters whose lives they messed up? My sister-in-law, and MD had at least 1 patient unable to get to her appointment. I just booked mine. It's the Friday before Memorail Day Weekend! How long did Bev's patient have to wait to get an appointment with her? Or what about the person who missed an interview for their dream job? How do you say "I'm sorry?"

For starters: Do something NICE for the city. How about paying for free tolls for a day? Free subway rides for a day? Free Dunkin Donuts coffee for anyone whose commute was bungled. Pay for the July 4th Pops celebration. Build some homeless shelters or stock some soup kitchens in Boston. Make amends, dude.

Howie's Angels

2006-12-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

Our downstairs neighbor, Howie, loves us. When he's not feeling well, we take his trash out. When he thought he was having a heart attack @ 9:30 @ night, we stayed with him until the ambulance came (even though LOST was on!) Now he calls us his Angels. We've started calling ourselves "Howie's Angels." We told him we've been running around singing the theme song, so the other night when he called and left a vm, he hummed it and then said, "Hello Angels!" Pretty funny.

Charlie's Angels was my fav tv show as a kid. We had Charlie's Angels EVERYTHING. The dolls, the walkie-talkies (that WORKED!), the lunchboxes, the trading cards. I even had a pink model van that Dad and I put together. I had all the posters I could find, except the Farrah poster(s). I wasn't into blondes then. Kate Jackson was my goddess. Only... when we played CA's, I didn't want to be Sabrina. I knew, even then, that I wanted to be WITH Sabrina. So I created my own character. I even would insert my own dialog when watching the show. I was Sabrina's younger sister, Sandy. Yup. You got it. Sandy Duncan.

Cheneys: You reap what you sow...

2006-12-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

Dont get me wrong, I wish them all the luck in the world. But if I were Ms. Poe... I'd move to Mass, get married, get a 2nd parent adoption and whatever else I could to establish a legal relationship. With inlaws like those....

Hmmm. I wonder how Romney WOULD feel if the Vice President & his family came here for their daughter's wedding.... Would he go if he were invited? Now THERE'S a conundrum! HA!

~m

Groups Mixed on Mary Cheney's Pregnancy
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

Wed Dec 6, 9:09 PM UPDATED 16 HOURS 3 MINUTES AGO

NEW YORK - Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples.

Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are expecting a baby in late spring, said Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for the vice president.

"The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation" to the arrival of their sixth grandchild, McBride said.

Mary Cheney was an aide to her father during the 2004 campaign, and now is vice president for consumer advocacy at AOL. She and Poe moved from Colorado to Virginia a year ago to be closer to the Cheney family.

Family Pride, which advocates on behalf of gay and lesbian families, noted that Virginia last month became one of 27 states with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

"Unless they move to a handful of less restrictive states, Heather will never be able to have a legal relationship with her child," said Family Pride executive director Jennifer Chrisler.

The couple "will quickly face the reality that no matter how loved their child will be. ... he or she will never have the same protections that other children born to heterosexual couples enjoy," Chrisler said. "Grandfather Cheney will no doubt face a lifetime of sleepless nights as he reflects on the irreparable harm he and his administration have done to the millions of American gay and lesbian parents and their children."

For years, Mary Cheney's openness about her sexual orientation had posed a dilemma for conservative activists who admire Dick Cheney's stance on many issues but consider homosexuality a sin.

Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America described the pregnancy as "unconscionable."
"It's very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father," said Crouse, a senior fellow at the group's think tank. "They are encouraging people who don't have the advantages they have."

Crouse said there was no doubt that the news would, in conservatives' eyes, be damaging to the Bush administration, which already has been chided by some leaders on the right for what they felt was halfhearted commitment to anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights causes in this year's general election.

Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, expressed empathy for the Cheney family but depicted the newly announced pregnancy as unwise.

"Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn't mean it's a good idea," said. "Love can't replace a mother and a father."

The vice president's office declined to elaborate on the circumstances of Mary Cheney's pregnancy.

The news was welcomed by the president of the largest national gay-rights group, Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign.

"Mary and Heather's decision to have a child is an example that families in America come in all different shapes and sizes," he said. "The bottom line is that a family is made up of love and commitment."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

You can call me Moose, you can Bumble, but don't call me....

2006-12-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Usually, it's Rediker people get wrong. The best was at GLAD when Anna the office manager buzzed in to tell me, "Miss... Misssss.... bwah wahh wahh wahh... Miss RICEPICKER, you have a call on line 1!"

This one takes the cake. An e from my Mom today:

YOU RECEIVED MAIL FROM CAMP NATARSWI. WAS GOING TO FORWARD IT TO YOU, BUT REALIZED I DID NOT HAVE YOUR NEW ADDRESS. IT WAS ADDRESSED TO NIRUPPA REDIKER, DON'T KNOW HOW THAT MISHAP OCCURED. LOVE MOM

I can assure you, I have NOT adopted a new camp name. I am still Moose, Misha, Bumble or even Shroomy.... Hmmmm. Doesn't Niruppa have a nice ring to it, though??

~m

(P.S. For Marion's sake: I moved in August. My Mom is about as up-to-date with her address book as I am. I did tell her I moved. Heck, she's even been to visit us in the new place! And ARo wins the prize for saying, "Combine 'em!! Nirrupa Ricepicker is PERFECT!!!" )

8 Faces of Jane documentary

2006-11-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have heard me talk about the documentary my Mom & I might be in, visit this link:

www.8facesofJane.com

The documentary is about a lesbian playwright my Mom knew. Through an act of fate, I saw one of her plays in January of 1988, just after I came out. I'd kept the program & laminated the ticket, I was so impressed with it! I only found out in the fall of 2005 that my Mom KNEW the playwright! And that, itself, is quite a story!

I'll keep you all posted on the documentary!

A Celiac funny.

2006-11-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

In researching symptoms (again, 'cause the symptoms are so MY LIFE, and there's so much of it in my family), I found this :

-And my favorite quote, "There is currently no research on how often someone with celiac disease passes gas." Hmm...any volunteer test subjects?

here:

http://www.celiacchicks.com/

Had to share. Too funny. Although, what is NOT too funny is that my sister has now been diagnosed with Celiac, too. :(

~m

For Taylor, Brave & Compassionate

2006-10-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

Celiac Disease has been discovered lurking in my family.

About 10 years ago, my cousin Mark & his wife Maryann had their first kid, Kirstin. She was diagnosed as an infant with this "weird new Gluten (wheat) allergy." Poor kid, she's got to abide by a strict diet for the rest of her life.

Earlier this year, my Uncle Darrel, who's suffered for a while with stomach pain was hospitalized and they finally figured out what the problem was. Celiac! Because he'd gone undiagnosed and untreated for so long, his turned into peripheral T cell lymphoma. Keeping in mind the family medical history, bells and whistles started going off. First there was Kirstin. And oh, my grandfather's brother has celiac, too. My great-grandfather died from "cancer of the blood," and my grandfather from Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was recommended that ALL of my grandfather's descendents get tested, and soon, for Celiac.

My uncle was the only one in his generation to have it.

On my level, my "twin cousin" Maryanne (not to be confused with Mark’s wife Maryann) and cousin Kelly (Mark’s sister) have it.

On the next generation down, there's Kirstin, of course, but now there's also Mikaela and Trevor (Maryanne’s niece and nephew). I've heard that Mikaela is adapting to the new diet like a trooper.

But some results have been "fuzzier" than others. My cousin Sam's son, Taylor's results, via blood test, were borderline. He's a kid about 10. He got sent to Portland for an endoscopy. His Mom said he came through the test with flying colors and she was very proud of how well he did. His doc thought it would pretty much be a waste of time, because he was so borderline. But, voila, he does indeed have Celiac.

Then there’s my sister, Nik. She was in the same situation as Taylor. She had borderline results that didn’t make much sense to her doc. She certainly seems to have a lot of Celiac’s symptoms. She and her doc decided it would be a good idea if she did the endoscopy, too.

As a kid, Nik was never too good with medical tests. The thought of an endoscopy wouldn’t thrill me either. But then I got an email from Mom & Dad, telling me Taylor called Nik to tell her not to worry. I thought that was so darned sweet, I had to thank Taylor.

From: (Michelle)
To: (Sam)
Subject: For Taylor
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:18:44 +0000

Hey Sam~ Please share this with Taylor.

Dear Taylor~

I got an email from my Mom & Dad today. They told me you called Nikki last night to tell her that the endoscopy test she had to have done was nothing to be concerned about. Thank you for doing that! I'm sure it made a huge difference for her. You know I love my little sister a lot, so I'm glad you were able to help her.

Nikki will probably kill me for sharing this story but it's pretty funny. When we kids, we had to have some blood test done. I can't remember how old we were. I was probably about 11, and Nik about 8. When it came time for Nikki to have hers done, she wouldn't do it. She turned to run out of the room, and I grabbed her coat and she started wailing on me. I was laughing hard, I thought she was just kidding, but she didn't have any intention of letting them take one drop of blood. She ran out of the lab, out of the hospital and across the bridge home! I don't know if you know where the hospital is in Fort Fairfield, it's not really a hospital anymore, but luckily for her, it wasn't TOO much of a long run. It was only about a mile! ;) I doubt she gets THAT SCARED anymore, especially for a little blood test. I know I would be pretty freaked out about having an endoscopy, though. Knowing how brave you were (your Mom told me you were FANTASTIC and how proud of you she was) I'm sure Nik tucked some of your courage in her pocket to pull her through.

Keep that in mind, dude. We're all very proud of you, and I'm so glad you could support Nik through that. I wished her well, but I don't know what I'm talking about, having never had the test. You, you DO know what you're talking about. Your support today was a big help to her! So, thank you; I'm proud of you (for both your bravery and your compassion in supporting Nik), and keep in mind that I'm here to support you, too, as much as I can down here, when you all need it. This Celiac thing... it's becoming the Page Family Diet, huh? Well, we'll eat together and stick together! :)

Love~ your cousin Shell

From: (Sam)
To: (Michelle)
Subject: RE: For Taylor
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2006 8:06:22 AM

Shell, What a sweet letter, I have printed it and I will share this with Taylor as soon as I get home. Thank you again that was so sweet. He is an amazing kid and he makes me so proud when he is as caring and brave as he is.

Love you~ Sam

From: (Sam)
To: (Linda)
Subject: FW: For Taylor

Mom, I wanted to share this sweet letter that Shelly wrote to Taylor. How sweet, huh?

Also, Nikki did great yesterday. Her procedure only took 20 minutes or so and the doctors said everything looked good. Keep in mind that is what the doctors said about Taylor. I talked to Nikki last night and she sounded great just sleepy.

Love you~ Samantha

From: (Nik)
To: (Michelle)
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2006, 8:57 a.m.

I barely remember talking to you last night. Sam just told me I talked to her but I don’t remember that at all. What a weird experience. I remember just after the procedure that took about 5 minutes I was with it for about an hour or two and the rest of the night is gone. No pain, I was out cold, ate like a horse after. I’m still a little foggy. Not eating didn’t bother me but no water was hard. My veins were dehydrated so they had a hard time with the IV. That was the only tricky part.

Liberty Sunday

2006-10-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 15th had the feel of Halloween in Boston. The Rightest of the Right came to the Tremont Street Baptist Church for "Liberty Sunday" to broadcast their national call to action against same-sex marriage, for it is here that those dang "activist judges" began the erosion of the cornerstone of civilized society: marriage.

I'd just had an exhausting, wild, fun-filled weekend with my family; Mom & Dad, Nik & Steve, Sue and I went to ptown for Women's Weekend. But we got back to Boston early enough so that I could go join "the vigil"/those protesting the vortex of evil that swirled into the Tremont Street Baptist Church. As the family still had an 8 hour minimum drive ahead of them, they trucked on home.

When I arrived, I was heartbroken by the size of the small crowd, as I thought I was late. I was there no more than 10 minutes, however, when the troops arrived and we had nearly 100 people there. ("Dozens" according to the Globe. There was at least a dozen from "our side" in FRONT of the church marching with signs... brushing elbows with those entering the church. That must have given them the heebegeebees, especially the guy carrying his toddler.)

I really just wanted to come home from Ptown and crawl in bed, watch tv and relax. I wanted to be refreshed for my week ahead. Instead, I went to protect my family and community from people who see my existance, my desire to be treated equally under the law, as a threat. I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to the broadcast. Our nefarious governor, Mitt Romney was there, I've read, pounding the pulpit like an Evangelist. He was introduced by his wife. Seems to me that they have nothing but contempt for the state that elected him governor. Kinda like people from Mass are just the gunk on the bottom of his shoe soles that he's trying to wipe off before he enters the (White) house (he hopes) . Seems to me he's lied his way to where he is, and I hope he's not successful in lying, cheating and stealing his way to the top, although, how would that be so different from what we've got now?

I'm keeping all fingers crossed for the upcoming Constitutional Convention. I'll be there, watching. Look me in the eye and tell me I'm undeserving of equal treatment under the law.

Wild Weekend with the Family, Ptown, Women's Week 2006

2006-10-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

The family arrived on Fri afternoon, after having battled traffic on 128. Their first stop was our new condo where they got to take an unguided tour of the house. Hope everything that needed to be was hidden. You know, Sue's French Maid outfit, my Dominatrix costume. (Yeah, right.)

The next course of business was to trek into Boston via Storrow Drive. I don't know how they mistook the "Turn right onto Sturrow" for their actual turn left onto Fresh Pond Parkway. It was interesting trying to get them headed back in the right direction. Luckily they called before they even realized they were lost! Shesh!

When they arrived in Boston, I took them on a tour my new office. They got to see the grand lobby, the historical chapel, and my office that I share with Nick, complete with its MAGNIFICIENT view of Boston's business district.

After driving them back home myself, we met up with Sue at the house. (Ok there was the detour to pick up some ice and milk~ the fact that we live without such things baffles them. "How do you make mixed drinks?" "What do you mean 'Silk?' I don't care if it's 'vanilla flavored' or not!")

Sue and I always take the best of care of our guests. We took them out to some of the best dining there is to be had in the greater Boston area: yes, the basement of the Greek church in Newton for their Greek food festival. They LOVED it, just as we do. It's like the best of home-made Greek food. Awesome, awesome stuff. The kabobs were incredibly tender; they raved about them non-stop. Nik discovered she LIKES eggplant, and savored the BEST baclava she's ever had!

After stuffing ourselves silly, we took them back to the house. We said our goodnights, and left them their on their own. (They stayed at our house on Friday night, and at a time-share in Brewster on Saturday night.) Sue and I drove to ptown in hopes of meeting up with our pals. Alas ~ I think they all turned into pumpkins (or old women) as none of them could be found. At least Sue and I got a good walk out of it. Bechemele. Baclava. That's all I'm saying.

The family arrived around noon on Saturday. We rushed them over to Big Daddy's Burritos for lunch. They all needed a phatty. I needed a skinny (Sabrina salad with orange dressing, lite sunflower seeds, black olives and grilled chicken. Ok, ok, and a side of chips and salsa. I *love* Big Daddy's!)

We hustled on down to the School House Gallery for the main even, the reason for the trip: a benefit supporting the production of a documentary film about a "famous lesbian playwright." The benefit was a play, written by the playwright, Jane Chambers. My Mom had known Jane Chambers, and I had serendipitously seen one of her plays, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, just after I came out. Then it took 18 years for me to discover that my Mom KNEW the playwrite. But that's all a different story.

The benefit play, Quintessential Image, was REALLY good, but hardly anyone there! I'm hoping they made some money. It was good that the 6 of us made a big showing.

Mom & I were interviewed by the filmmaker, Alison McMahon about our connections to Jane. Mom was cool as a cuke. Me, I was a nervous wreck! I'm more of a "behind the camera" type of person, I guess. Besides, I like to tell the story as I know it. Being interviewed, I'm not in control, I guess, so the story didn't come out well. It didn't flow. I keep telling myself, though, that the documentary wasn't about the story as I know it, but I still think it's... cool. Relevant. We'll probably wind up on the cutting room floor, but it was fun to see the process.

After being interviewed, Mom & I met up with Dad, Sue, Nik & Steve. We went to the Crown & Anchor for drinks, and stayed for dinner. It was a lovely afternoon, and it was just fun to hang with the family and drink (2 wines... woo woo) and laugh.

After dinner, we went to see my pal Amy Boyd and her pal Zoe Lewis do a show. Amy is a comedian, and Zoe is a musician who is pretty damned funny and so very creative!! My opinion, Amy is PHENOMENAL. Am I biased? I think not. This was the best I'd seen her, too. She really knocked my socks off. I could have hurt myself laughing. She did a half hour, then Zoe Lewis did a half. Zoe was phenomenal, too. The family really liked the show. They love comedy & music, so it was a perfect blend. Kind of like 2 shows for the price of one.

After the show, I only had about 10 mins to chat with Amy. Since she lives in CA and I rarely get to see her. I was a little bummed we couldn't spend more time together, and I didn't get to meet her new girl. It was hard to connect with the family there, though, and we were having such a good time together. So, I'm content. I got to say chat in person with my pal. What more can you ask for?

Amy had hoped to meet up with us at the Gov Bradford. She'd heard stories about Dad's LAST performance there. Who could miss it? Sadly, she didn't get to join us, but just as well. We had to wait forever before "Paul" was called to the stage.

When he was, he walked across the room, and Dana, the drag queen who hosts karaoke night, squealed, "Oh, my, I think it's Paul BUNYUN!" She put Dad's music on and turned to arrange the line-up for singers-to-come. He did Willie Nelson's "Always on my mind." He does a good Willie, damned good. When he belted out the 1st line, Dana just stopped, snapped to, turned and ran over to Dad to join in. It became a duet of sorts, with Dad singing to Dana. I took 1 still picture and decided, "Screw this. This needs to be on video!" Too funny. Alas, the video on my camera is very small, so the quality is not that great. But still, I have it. It's a fun momento. Guess it just means that someday I will have to invest in a video camera, and he'll have to sing to Dana yet again!

After that, the 6 of us piled into Steve's little car, and he drove up Commercial Street on the way to our little condo. The poor little car must have been riding on it's wheel wells. They dropped us off near mid-night, and then took off for Brewster. They had to head back to Maine on the early side the next morning. The goodnight hugs in front of our condo ended the Rediker Family Outting to P'town for Women's Week, October 2006.

For those interested in knowing more about the documentary about Jane Chambers noted above, visit:

www.8facesofJane.com

Chavez named the Devil

2006-09-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

I agree with Chavez. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, the whole pack of them ~ they are evil.

Don't know dick about Chavez, maybe he IS a crackpot, but I know that the religious fanatics in THIS country want to assassinate him, so he can't be all that bad. And when he gave the speech @ the UN where he called Bush the devil, some of the reps of countries we are ALLIED with clapped. That's how poorly America is regarded in the world now. Our ALLIES aren't so fond of us or our leader.

And one of our strongest allies, Great Britian, is pretty much firing their PM for supporting Bush's little war. I'll point out that the populace of GB is more informed about global matters, like, wow, they watch the NEWS, they READ the news, they don't fill their brains with SHIT infotainment (ET, Inside Edition, Exta!) thinking THAT is really news.

I don't care that Chavez's comments in bad taste. I applaud him for calling a spade a spade. Wake up America! Someone had to smack you in the face, get your attention. Bush is an evil man, waging evil policy. War for profit, screw the Gulf Coast. Too bad our Democrats don't have the balls to concur with Chavez, no matter how distatefully said his comments were.

How about "It's nice to see he's making USE of the First Amendment while he's here in the good ole US of A.?" Gov Baldacci, so, like, you're gonna penalize the poor in your state because you find his comments distasteful? Even if they're dead on? Don't be an idiot! Ignore the comment, and thank him for his kindness, generosity on behalf of your people. Just make sure he's not expecting anything more than gratitude.

Personally, I agree with him. Hmmm. I wonder if I could put a "Chavez for President" sign on my lawn. See if my city councilor Jerry McDermott takes notice. That idiot wanted to drape the Boston's famous Citgo sign in American flags (barf). McDermott, do you realize that some of your constituents strongly agree with how Chavez characterized Bush? Right now, ACROSS the US, Bush's favorability is in the toilet?

Dropping all else we know about Chavez... I think we can agree on his characterization of Bush. Just agree on that. Bush is the devil. Don't demonize Chavez for one right-on comment.

Democrats, Republicans criticize Chavez
By Ian James, Associated Press Writer September 22, 2006

NEW YORK --Democrats are joining Republicans in condemning Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's speech at the United Nations in which he called President Bush "the devil."

"I want President Chavez to please understand that even though many people in the United States are critical of our president that we resent the fact that he would come to the United States and criticize President Bush," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson met with Chavez Thursday night, saying he was concerned by the name-calling and believed both sides should tone down their rhetoric.

"Of course he feels that the U.S. government is part of trying to pull a coup on him. ... But my appeal to him is get beyond the anger," Jackson said.

"I think that he should not be calling President Bush 'devil.' President Bush should not be calling him 'evil' or calling him 'tyrant,'" Jackson said. "We must cease these hostilities."

House majority leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, called Chavez a "power-hungry autocrat" and said his U.N. speech on Wednesday was "an embarrassment and an insult to the American people."

The New York Daily News Page 1 headline on Friday told Chavez to "ZIP IT!", and the New York Post called him a "JERK!" and the "Caracas Crackpot."

Chavez stood by his comment.

"Sometimes the devil takes the form of people," Chavez told hundreds of supporters in a church in Harlem on Thursday. He called the war in Iraq criminal and said Bush is a "sick man."

Chavez accused the U.S. of keeping his doctors and his security chief from coming to New York by not granting them visas.

"Some people would like for me not to come, but I come. I come to say what I think must be said," Chavez said.

The Venezuelan has said he did not prepare a script for his U.N. speech, but went in with ideas and spoke spontaneously.

Chavez described himself as a friend of the American people, and announced Venezuela would more than double sales of discounted heating oil to poor Americans. But there were signs the effort might face some new obstacles.

Maine's Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, who approved an agreement last winter to buy discounted oil, said Thursday he had no plans to seek a similar arrangement this winter, and called Chavez's words "unnecessary and offensive."

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., whose state also participates in the program, called the comments "destructive to the United Nations as an institution" and said Chavez should face a rebuke.

Rangel called the heating oil program very effective and said he expects that next year his district will be getting an even larger amount of oil.

"But you don't come into my country, you don't come into my congressional district and you don't condemn my president," Rangel said.

Alex Baker, the chief executive of retail developer AIG Baker Shopping Center Properties, said Thursday that his company will no longer use Citgo gas products in its vehicles in response to Chavez's remarks. Citgo is the U.S.-based refining arm of Venezuela's state-run oil company.
Baker, in remarks to the Hoover, Ala., Chamber of Commerce, said he is also asking all contractors and vendors who do business with his company in the 36 states where it operates to boycott Citgo products.

Chavez said he has the highest respect for the United States but insisted, "we're enemies of imperialism."

He also used the word "devil" to refer to examples of barbarism in the world, mentioning nuclear weapons, the Iraq war and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At the mention of Sept. 11, a man in the audience blurted out, "The devil," and Chavez replied, "Yes, friend, the devil. That's barbarism."

But Chavez did not mention an idea he voiced earlier this month, when he suggested theories of U.S. government links to the attacks are "not absurd" and bear examination. He said at the time that such theories were plausible in part because the Bush administration needed to justify its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

In New York, Chavez urged Americans to conserve energy and recited the words of Americans like Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln. He also mused he would have liked to be a fighter with the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa nearly a century ago when he led his men in a raid into U.S. territory.

Chavez repeated his warning that he would halt oil shipments if the U.S. tries to oust him. He added he would like to see a U.S. president "who you could talk with."

On Friday, Chavez was said to be returning to Caracas, where he had afternoon events scheduled, although Venezuelan officials declined to comment on his travel schedule for security reasons.

Insults have flown between Caracas and Washington since 2002, when the U.S. swiftly recognized leaders who briefly ousted Chavez, only to have their coup cut short when Chavez returned to power, strengthened by huge street protests.

U.S. officials regularly call Chavez a destabilizing force, and Bush has said he sees him as a threat to democracy. Chavez has called Bush a "devil" in other speeches.

The U.S. government has sought to block Venezuela's bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council, arguing it would be a disruptive force and backing Guatemala instead. Chavez says the Bush government has a twisted view of democracy, and Venezuela would be "the voice of the Third World" if chosen in a U.N. vote next month.

Chavez is practicing a sort of "diplomacy for show" that thrives on confrontation, said Milos Alcalay, who was Chavez's U.N. ambassador until he resigned in 2004 amid differences with the government. He said a race for a rotating Security Council seat "has never been so politicized."

Some who turned out to hear Chavez speak said they share the views behind his message, even if they might choose different words.

"He likes to set fires, to do good or just to get people riled up," said Natalia Munoz, a 25-year-old public health coordinator who attended a speech. "He gets a lot of people thinking."

© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Celery

2006-08-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

My former co-worker Kristin, believe it or not, disliked the smell of celery. Who knew celery had a smell?! Whenever Ron ate celery in his office down the hall and then came to chat with her, she could smell it on him! An even bigger "who knew"... who knew the smell could linger and stick to you. "I'm wearing au de celery today." We were always astonished when she would accuse him of having just eaten it, and she was always right.

One year, just before April Fool's Day, I'd been driving through Conn, and stopped at Rein's Deli. They had Dr. Brown's soda, in every flavor Dr. Brown makes, I guess. One flavor was celery. As I could not purchase just 1 can, I bought a 6 pack. On April Fool's Day, when Kristin was away at a meeting, I snuck out the can I had brought to work, popped the top and set it beside her pc, hiding it behind the paper stand used for holding papers while you type. (Does that thing have a name?) It was just poking out. You couldn't see it right away, but if you looked for it, you could see the green can. When Kristin returned from her meeting, her nose immediately began to twitch.

"Mish-SHELL!"

How did she know I was the culprit. Why not Ron? He's the big celery consumer!

Celery. I don't get it. When I eat it, I heap the condiment, be it peanutbutter, ranch dip, nacho cheese, whatever, upon it. To me, there is no taste, let alone smell. So why then would one make a celery flavored soda, or better yet, drink one? Why not make a "Door-nob flavored soda?" It seemed to me like seltzered water with a vague taste that could not be identified, unless your name is Kristin and you have a Super Sniffer.

I have the new tag line for the celery marketing campaign: "Celery. It just is."

Did you hear the one...

2006-08-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

True story!!! (What happened on my solo weekend in P'town.)

Saturday night, August 5th, 11:30 p.m.

I raced into the "disco" at the Pied looking for someone, ANYONE I knew. I saw Shelly Cullen and some other women I recognized standing by the sliding glass doors by the deck. I raced up to her.

“Did you see the woman who came in here with the ka…”

Immediately, a smile crept across my face. I realized how absolutely STUPID I was about to sound.

“The woman with the ka…” Uncontrolable giggles burst forth. I doubled over laughing, and took a deep breath to regain my composure.

“Did you see the woman who came in here with the kangaroo?!!”

“Are you DRUNK?!”

“No! I am TOTALLY serious!!!”

“Is this some sort of a pick up line?” She, and her friends, were all looking at me like I was completely delerious.

“No! There’s a woman in here with a kangaroo!”

5 minutes earlier…

I was paying the cover charge to get into the Pied. There were 2 cashiers and a woman standing beside them. The third woman appeared to be pondering whether or not she wanted to pay the cover charge. She had a small sack, from which a small face was looking at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought it was a small dog, a min pin or something. Then, being a dog-lover, I turned and looked at it.

“That is NOT a dog,” I thought. “It looks like… a kangaroo.”

“Is that a…” I screwed my face up…”a kangaroo??”

“Yes.”

“Ohmygod! Can I pet it?” (How many people can say they got to pet a kangaroo in a lesbian bar? Sounds like some sort of perverted euphemism, doesn’t it?) As I pet the animal, I asked what it’s name was.

“Kiwi.”

“What a great name!” Then a thought occurred to me. “Is it legal to own them in the US?”

“We’re from Canada. My partner is a breeder.”

We went inside. As I was coming from the Crown & Anchor and needed a wee break, I went to the loo. I was thinking how freakin’ weird what I just experienced really was. Then another question occurred to me. Everybody would want one when they saw how cute they are. How BIG do they get?

Thus, after the loo break, I went running out into the bar area and found Shelly. She wasn’t fully committed to believing me at that point so I went back to the check-in to ask those gals. They said she was still inside. As I turned to go back in, the woman was leaving, without her kangaroo! She said her partner still had it inside.

I went in search of it and found the woman. She corrected me. It was not a kangaroo but a wallaby. They get to be about 30 lbs and about hip high. She showed me it’s pouch. I took 2 pics with my cell phone, and if I figure out how, I will send the pics or post them somehow.

I found Shelly and she finally got to see and pet it too. We were both excited about seeing and getting to pet it. She kept saying it was the softest thing she’d ever touched.

Later the breeder was on the floor dancing, the wallaby in its bag. It’s used to that… the bouncing very close to normal, except for the pounding music, and the poor thing had very big ears. But I saw it roll into a ball while we were on the deck, which hid the ears quite well.

It leaves me thinking it sounds like a big joke. “Did you hear the one about the kangaroo that went into a dyke bar?” I’m still trying to think of a punch line… but I think most people will think I’m it!

My sister's letter to "our" parish priest

2006-06-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

May 30, 2006

Fr. Jean-Paul Labrie, Pastor
St. Denis Catholic Church
143 Main Street
Fort Fairfield ME 04742

I am usually a firm believer of talking in person but I decided it would be best if I wrote to you instead. My parents, Paul & Jeanette Rediker left the Catholic Church last Sunday in tears. My sister is gay and has faced discrimination all of her life. Despite that and maybe because of the love and support my parents have shown her, she has grown up to be a loving, kind and decent human being. I am so blessed to have parents who would not turn their back on or disown a child because of who she is. Believe me when I tell you, this is who she is – not a lifestyle choice.

Yesterday they were met at the door by strangers as well as their neighbors with letters that were to be sent to our representatives to ban gay marriage. I cannot explain how hurt they were. My father has been a part of the church for 61 years. You have asked your community to discriminate openly against his daughter. I know that unless you are close to someone who is gay it’s hard to put a face to the person you are attacking. You may not realize the pain you are causing every person in that person’s life.

In my life the best lesson I have learned is to see if my actions are helping meet my goals. I want you to rethink your goals and realize that one of those outcomes is hurting the people in your community. I know that we are not the only people that were hurt by this. We are not the only members of the Catholic community who loves someone who is gay. I can see the love and dedication of marriage in same-sex couples and it is a beautiful thing. I only hope that you will open your mind and heart to realize that your gender does not determine your ability to fulfill someone’s life. God wants us to love our neighbors and accept everyone. Not just the ones we feel are adequate. My faith in the church is tested every time there is an anti-gay initiative passed down from Christians. I am so confused that the same people who tell us to love each other try to spread hate and intolerance. I don’t understand and it hurts every single time.

My parents will not be going to the Catholic Church anymore and neither will I and I feel their loss. I do not want you to have any contact with them regarding this decision. Any explanations that you have for choosing to allow this campaign to happen at St. Denis can only hurt them more. My parent’s hearts have been broken by this.

Nicole Rediker

The Incident at St Denis

2006-06-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

I got the warning last week.

It came in the form of an e-mail from my mother, carrying an attachment. A heterosexual couple, parents of 8 children, had written a letter to the editor of the Bangor Daily News. They were upset that the Catholic Church was sending representatives to each church in the state to coerce parishoners into signing postcards urging their congressional representatives to support a proposed Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Mom called our house yesterday and left a message. She sounded upset. She said she thought she should talk to me about what had been going on up there all week. This is the best I can recall of the story from our conversation.

In the week leading up to "Postcard Sunday," my parents called the woman who serves as the Pastoral Assistant at my parent's parish. They asked her to not allow the postcarding at our church, saying it would be a bad idea. I'm not so sure she had a choice. I believe this initiative was conceived by the Knights of Columbus and endorsed by the Bishop. Or, it could have been the other way around.... Either way, I'm not sure the woman had much say in whether or not this activity could take place.

As I understand it, my parents arrived at church at different times. I know this to frequently be the case as Dad sings in the choir. The choir sometimes practices prior to mass, so Mom usually arrives after Dad. But in their rapid-fire narrative, it sounded as though Mom was there earlier this time. Perfect strangers shipped in to do the nefarious deed greeted Mom at the door of her church, and she carried through with her plan.

"I ripped it up and handed it back to the person. I could have been vindictive and ripped it into a thousand tiny pieces and thrown it on the floor, but I was nice about it." She then went to her pew and began her prayers. From there, I believe, she heard the ruckus.

It gets even fuzzier here. They were both talking at once; my head was spinning.

Dad, too, was greeted by the strangers at the door. I believe his words were that there "was some shoving going on"* and that he thinks "they're regretting that now." He also said "a lot of words were exchanged. A lot of very LOUD words." I'm wondering how appropriate those words were for church.

I am assuming that it was a bit early, well before the mass, and being a holiday weekend the church was probably not packed. Greedily, I wish it had been packed. I wonder how many of my parent's neighbors would rethink their feelings on the issue after witnessing such a commotion and the very real pain the church and other backward thinkers put upon my parents, whether the issue is marriage or the non-discrimination law that took so damn long to pass. My parents are well-liked and respected in the church. Many of these people know me, and genuinely seem happy to see me when I go home. Certainly they should now I am not the enemy!

Dad yelled out into the sanctuary, "Come on Jan, I guess we're done here!" She got up out of her pew and they left.

They said they were pretty much done with the Catholic Church.

My feelings are so very mixed. I knew from a young age ~ I am a non believer, and I don't at all associate that with my struggles against the world's attitudes about my sexual orientation. I just don't believe in a supreme being. I do believe in human kindness, compassion and social justice. That is the core of my faith. I believe in nature, the woods, the air, the life force of water. Although my views sometimes cross paths with Catholicism, opposing the death penalty, war, famine, poverty, supporting immigrant's rights, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I feel a bit irritated when I find myself in agreement with the pope. I knew early on that Catholicism was simply contrary to my faith. I know my soul to be imperfect, but I struggle to be a compassionate being. My sexual orientation is a gift FROM ... well, I just said I don't believe in a supreme being. It's a gift from the cosmic universe, a wonderful, delightful part of my me-ness. I am a pro-choice lesbian feminist. I do not believe that one person has a closer relationship with a higher power than another, because, well, I don't belive in a higher power. Catholicism & I... we just don't mix.

The most heated arguments I remember having with my parents as a teen surrounded my anger and frustration at having to attend mass and CCD classes. Why did I have to go? Although I never blurted out, "But I'm a lesbian!" I do do recall yelling, "I'm not Catholic!" at my father once. Like most kids, however, I lived with the "while you're under my roof" rules, and my parent's faith and religion were very important to them, and it was important to them that their faith, their rock, be instilled in me.

I am very sad for THEM, and find myself thinking, "I wish it were easier for them." Those are thoughts we take turns having, I'm sure. In this instance, while their faith has not been damaged, they have said adieu to their religion. As Dad said, he feels like he's "gone up a rung" in his Christianity. This has caused them great pain, though, and I'm surprised at my own reaction of "I guess we're ALL not Catholic anymore." It's like I've been sitting in a chair and someone suddenly breaks off a leg. Part of my historical identity has been tampered with.

St Denis Catholic Church was established in Fort Fairfield in 1842. As the Redikers were the 6th family to land in town, according to "the book" ("A History of Fort Fairfield" or something like that), I'm sure my family has been tied to that parish for a very long time. Included in that history, I know my parents were married there; my sister and I were baptised, had our first communions and were confirmed there; my father and I sang in the choir together; I offered readings at mass; my family was involved in delivering gift baskets at Christmas; my Gram and Uncle Phil's funerals were there. I remember my Mom's confirmation, as she converted well after my parents married. I have a wonderful memory of a Halloween Party there when I was VERY young, and many of the St. Patrick's Day Fairs at the KC Hall. I'm fairly sure that there were hundreds of other such sacraments received and events attended by my family, as the Redikers were quite... prodigious. I know my parents are God Parents and have served as Confirmation Sponsors. (Poor Brandon. What do you do when your God Parents abandon the Church?) As much as I resent the Catholic Church, I do feel a rootedness about St Denis, and a momentary melencholy about chopping it off. But given my parents' faith and history with the Church, I'm sure their pain is even greater. Something that meant so much to them, offered them such support, was now attacking one of their children, slandering my identity and attempting to make my life more difficult and burdensome by prohibiting me from enjoying the 1000+ rights and responsibilities that come with legal marriage.

My parents are going away on their annual anniversary vacation to Bar Harbor. They need a break. When they get back, they're going to think about their options. Forego church? Forgive the Church? Research other churches and faiths? They raved when the Episopaleans installed Bishop Gene Robinson. Perhaps they'll give them a chance. They have many friends that attend that Church. They don't think there's a UU up there.

Since "Postcard Sunday," my sister has written a FANTASTIC letter to Fr. Labrie. She forwarded it to the Bishop and the head of the Knights of Columbus. I wouldn't expect to get anywhere with them. At Christmas mass, they look downright creepy/scary in their black suits with red lined capes, black Napoleanic hats trimmed in white... what is it, feather boa?? I mean, these are the guys who pissed me off and made me want to send "Catholics for Choice" a several $K donation (if I had such chump change to throw around) when they installed a tombstone on the front lawn of St Denis to memorialize aborted fetuses. Nik said she's going to send it to all the priests and Knights of Columbus groups in ME. Shall we take up a collection for her supplies and postage??

My aunt and Godmother Lorna wrote Letter to the Editor of the Bangor Daily News herself after The Incident. Get out of the way, the Redikers pissed, and they're warming up.

It all just reinforces for me the realization of how lucky I am. I haven't had to endure a life-threatening illness or other grave personal misfortune to know how lucky I am. I know my family "has my back." In the 90's, my family was out there fighting the anti-gay referendas. They were proud of their church then for not endorsing bigotry. But now, they've left their church for its attempts to burden my life, deprive my partner and me of rights, responsibilities, joy and comfort.

Whoever tried to hand my Dad that postcard probably didn't anticipate any resistence from a 61-year-old man entering a Catholic church. Indeed, if they were, let's say rather enthusiastic about making sure my Dad did his Catholic duty and forced one upon him, they found him to be rather SOLID and DETERMINED 61-year-old man. I know his strength and determination. There is no safer place than in my Dad’s arms, close to his heart, knowing he, my Mom, my whole family "have my back."

*I've had some clairification on that now. Dad had said "push" as in he was "pushed too far." There was no actual physical pushing.

Mitt's a Twit

2006-03-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

You know it really burns my butt when the Bishops think I shouldn't be able to adopt and TRY to get a religious exemption. It burns my butt big time, but I'm ok with the thought that they'd try. I am NOT ok with having a Governor who has to stop and think about it. It should be an absolute no brainer. Sexual orientation should NEVER EVER enter the equation. If a person or 2 people are fit to be parents, than they are fit to be parents.

Good for Ropes & Gray dropping the Bishops. My memory is they had a reasonable sized pool of queer attorneys, like all the other Boston firms, and supported GLAD's work. Don't know if that has changed in recent years, but doubt it, so maybe there was an internal revolt??

Now, do you think people are going wake up and be sufficiently pissed off to do something? I feel like the progress of the 90's lulled folks to sleep. Now we've got a war, South Dakota has passed legislation to outlaw ALL abortion except when the mother's life is in danger (and that does not include when she's being battered by a spouse/partner... now she won't even have the "luxury" of having to get the batterer's approval to get an abortion ~ she just plain won't be able to get one), and the state that passed gay marriage may now start limiting how we expand our families by denying kids in dire need a potentially fantastic home.

Mitt's gotta go. I want that bumpersticker that says "Mitt's a Twit."

Royally pissed off this a.m.~
m

Romney shifts on adoption by gays
To weigh exemption for Catholic agency

By Patricia Wen and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff March 1, 2006

Governor Mitt Romney signaled new openness yesterday to considering a request by Catholic bishops to ban gay couples from adopting children from Catholic social service agencies, a shift from earlier comments in which he said he had no authority in the matter.

''We respect and honor the free practice of religion, and we look forward to meeting with representatives from the Catholic Church to discuss this issue," Romney said through a spokesman.

The governor's shift occurred on the same day that three members of the board of Catholic Charities of Boston resigned over the bishops' decision to seek the exemption from the state antidiscrimination policy, according to a board member. The 42-member board, which is dominated by lay people, has gone on record unanimously in favor of continuing to allow gays to adopt. The member declined to name the three members who resigned.

The state's four bishops released a statement yesterday saying they face ''a serious problem in which our religious freedom is challenged" because of the state requirement that they consider gays as adoptive parents. The Vatican has called such adoptions ''gravely immoral."

''Because of the Church's teaching, Catholic agencies may not provide adoptions to same-sex couples," the statement said. ''Hence we intend to seek relief from the regulatory requirements of the Commonwealth on this issue. We do this in the hope that we will be able to continue focusing our attention on serving children in need of adoption."

Edward Saunders -- executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the group that represents the bishops -- said he could not say yet how the bishops will proceed, other than that there are ''several routes to pursue relief." Previously, the bishops have been described as considering three options: asking Romney directly for an executive order exempting them from the state antidiscrimination policy; seeking passage of legislation allowing religious organizations to opt out of gay adoptions; or fighting the case in court, on grounds of freedom of religion.

After a three-hour special meeting of the Catholic Charities board yesterday, board members leaving the session declined to comment on the discussions.

The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, president of Catholic Charities of Boston and a nonvoting board member, also declined to comment. The chairman of the board, Jeffrey Kaneb, issued a statement through a spokeswoman saying simply that ''the board recognizes the need for further discussion with the archbishop" about the plan to prohibit gays from adopting.

Romney's statement yesterday followed a meeting last week of Saunders and the governor's staff and is strikingly more receptive than his initial reaction to the bishops' plan. On Feb. 16, the governor said he did not think such an exemption could be given. He said that he understood ''any exemption would require legislation and would not be something I would be authorized to do on a personal basis."

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom would not elaborate on the governor's statement yesterday. Romney, who has been a strong opponent of gay marriage, has not expressed his personal views on the subject.

In the past two decades, Catholic Charities in Boston placed 13 children with same-sex couples, a tiny fraction of the 720 children placed by the agency during that time. All were foster children who were considered hard to place, either because they had special needs or were older.

State officials have said that Catholic Charities, like all other adoption agencies, must have a state license to do the work and is prohibited by law from discriminating against gay couples. If Catholic Charities does not find a way to exempt itself from the requirement, it will have to allow gay couples to adopt or risk losing its license altogether and stop handling any adoptions.

In another development yesterday, a major Boston law firm, Ropes & Gray, said it will no longer be doing legal work to assist the bishops in their effort to halt the gay adoptions, a representative of the firm said.

Ropes & Gray had been hired to look into how Catholic Charities agencies could find a legal exemption from a state law requiring them to handle gay adoptions. Their work had focused on the legal options, but it was never clear they would actually be in charge of political or legal efforts to secure an exemption.

But yesterday, the law firm representative, who asked to remain anonymous because the firm does not generally talk about clients' cases, said Ropes & Gray will no longer be doing any more legal work on the gay adoption issue.

Patricia Wen can be reached at wen@globe.com.

Advocate Poll on Brokeback Mountain

2006-02-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

Q: Would you recommend Brokeback Mountain as a film for your mother to see?

My answer (as posted):

"Yes. And not only did I recommend it to my mother, but my Dad, too. They drove from their small town in Northern Maine to Grand Falls, New Brunswick to see it.

Mom's review via e-mail: "I can't say it was the best movie I ever saw but I am glad I got to see it. It is great to see the story being told. Quite moving really when you think of it that way. love mom"

I guess it was worth the 40 minutes each way and the pesky border crossing. "

Truth be told, before Christmas, I vaguely wanted to see the movie. I love movies, period. Gay movies, usually that much more. This one was raising a lot of dander. I thought that because it was such a "mainstream" movie, and getting so my hype, it would be tepid, so so. If it was making so many people recoil and feel uncomfortable, though, than yeah, I had to see it. I am happy to report it surpassed my subterranean expectations. I thought it was a sweet, tender, sad "forbidden love" story. Not the greatest movie I've ever seen, but definitely one of the best of the year.

I was glad that Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal got Oscar nominations, but Phillip Seymour Hoffman, in my mind, should walk away with it justly in hand. Don't get me wrong, I really like Heath's work, but sometimes I can't understand what the hell he's grunting and mumbling. That was probably part and parcel for the character, but I believe I seen him play that one before... in interviews FOR the movie for instance! How about a little more annunciation, please! Just for those of us with hearing problems, anyway?

Another thing that lowered my expectations for the movie prior to seeing it were the choruses of how "brave" the actors were to take these parts. Brave my ass! I *hate* hearing that! My feeling is that this particular melody is studio hype, infused with all of the controversy about the film, which again, I'm betting the studio encouraged and contributed to, to stimulate the movie's box-office returns.

But Christmas day, there was my Dad, joining the chorus. He was talking about how impressed he was by the actors and Hollywood. My Dad brought up the subject. My Dad was looking forward to seeing the movie. I'm sure that because nothing blew up and there were no battle scenes, it wasn't his favorite movie either, but I love that both of my parents were so open to seeing it. That's the thing about my parents. They're open to love.

Now... the real question is, would they be as open to seeing TransAmerica? :)

Wacky Headline

2006-02-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

"Vietnam bans alcohol in karaoke bars"

(February 17, 2006 - Boston.com - Odds & Ends)

Because THAT'S just an accident waiting to happen!!!

~m

4 presidents join mourners at King funeral

2006-02-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

While there was no way Bush could not Not be there... I wonder if he presence was at all offensive to her family. Too bad the wisdom of the speakers and the legacy of Mrs. King couldn't penetrate the hearts and ... er, well, the hearts of Bushes I & II. Could you imagine? "What happened then, well in Whoville they say, that The Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day." But, well, this is real life.

We shall miss this classy woman with fiery intelligence and compassionate soul.

~m

4 presidents join mourners at King funeral

By Errin Haines, Associated Press Writer February 7, 2006

LITHONIA, Ga. --Four U.S. presidents joined more than 10,000 mourners Tuesday in saying goodbye to Coretta Scott King, praised by President Bush as "one of the most admired Americans of our time."

"I've come today to offer the sympathy of our entire nation at the passing of a woman who worked to make our nation whole," President Bush told King's four children and the crowd that filled New Birth Missionary Baptist Church for the funeral of the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Coretta Scott King not only secured her husband's legacy, she built her own," Bush said.

"Having loved a leader, she became a leader, and when she spoke, Americans listened closely."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin stressed that King spoke out, not just against racism, but about "the senselessness of war and the solutions for poverty."

"She sang for liberation, she sang for those who had no earthly reason to sing a song," with a voice that was heard "from the tintop roofs of Soweto to the bomb shelters of Baghdad," Franklin said.

Former President Carter echoed that theme of a peaceful struggle for justice in a service that grew increasing political as other leaders questioned what the Bush administration was doing to continue the Kings' dream.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr., spoke directly to the current administration's foreign and domestic policies.

"Our marvelous presidents and governors come to mourn and praise ... but in the morning will words become deeds that meet need?" Lowery asked.

"For war, billions more, but no more for the poor," he said, in a take-off of a lyric from Stevie Wonder's song "A Time to Love," which drew a roaring standing ovation. The comments drew head shakes from Bush and his father as they sat behind the pulpit.

Coretta Scott King, who carried on her husband's dream of equality for nearly 40 years after his death, died Jan. 30 at the age of 78 after battling ovarian cancer and the effects of a stroke.

The Kings' youngest child, Bernice, a minister at the megachurch, was to give the eulogy. She was 5 when her father was assassinated in 1968 and is perhaps best remembered for the photographs of her lying in her black-veiled mother's lap during her father's funeral.

Former Presidents Clinton and Bush, poet Maya Angelou and the Kings' children were also among the more than three dozen speakers during the funeral.

"I don't want us to forget that there's a woman in there, not a symbol," Clinton said, standing behind King's flower-covered casket. "A real woman who lived and breathed and got angry and got hurt and had dreams and disappointments."

Angelou spoke of King as a sister with whom she shared her pain and laughter.

"Those of us who have gathered here, ... we owe something from this minute on, so this gathering is not just another footnote on the pages of history," Angelou said.

"I mean to say I want to see a better world. I mean to say I want to see some peace somewhere," she said to roaring applause.

Outside the suburban church Tuesday morning, the lines to get into the funeral and to attend the final viewing of King's body started forming before 3 a.m.

"There's one word to describe going to go see Coretta -- historic. It's good to finally see her at peace," said Robert Jackson, a 34-year-old financial consultant from Atlanta whose 10-year-old daughter, Ebony, persuaded him to take her to the church.

More than 160,000 mourners had waited in long lines to pay their respects at public viewings since King's body was returned to Georgia -- on Monday at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her husband preached in the 1960s, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on Tuesday morning, and during the weekend at the Georgia Capitol, where King became the first woman and the first black person to lie in honor there.

"She made many great sacrifices," said Sean Washington, 38, who drove from Tampa, Fla., with his wife and children from a disability center, to attend the King's funeral. "To be in her presence once more is something that I would definitely cherish, no matter what."

The funeral followed a day of tributes at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Gladys Knight performed and television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, former Atlanta mayor and King lieutenant Andrew Young and others shared their memories of King.

"For me, she embodied royalty. She was the queen. ... You knew she was a force," Winfrey told an audience of 1,700 at the musical celebration in King's honor.

"She leaves us all a better America than the America of her childhood," Winfrey said.

At a service Monday night, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton galvanized the crowd with fiery speeches that blasted the government and public figures for trying to make the King legacy their own while doing nothing for world peace or poor black Americans.

"We can't let them take her from us and reduce her to their trophy and not our freedom fighter," Jackson said.

After the funeral, King's body will be placed in a crypt near her husband's tomb at the King Center, which she built to promote his memory.

Between the tombs is the eternal flame that was placed there years ago in Martin Luther King Jr.'s honor. On the crypt, inscribed in black, is the Bible passage First Corinthians 13:13, which reads: "And now abide Faith, Hope, Love, These Three; but the greatest of these is Love."

Mohammed is not a funny man

2006-02-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

I just read this on Boston.com:

"Iran daily holds contest for Holocaust cartoons

Iran's best-selling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many European countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad."

When I was a teen, I remember seeing and believing some wacky little infotainment flicks about Nostradamus. Aren't we now living in the time frame that he estimated would be the beginning of WW3? Are we about to head off into Armageddon over a freakin' CARTOON?!

Now, being a self-centered American, I'll admit I don't know that much about the rest of the world. I had to stop and think for a moment. Is Denmark really a country with a large Jewish population? I mean, why else would the Iranian papers target Jews over something the Danes started? So I did a little poking around and this is what I found:

Denmark's Ethnic groups:
Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali
Denmark's Religions:
Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, Muslims 2%

Denmark has a larger Muslim population that Jewish! Do the countries that have been reprinting the cartoon comprise a large Jewish population? Are the papers themselves owned or edited by Jews? There is no logic I can follow in the competition sponsored by the Iranian newspapers. Just a big "Huh? Ok, so your point is, you really want to piss people off, regardless of who is responsible?"

When AIDS Activists protested in St. Patrick's Cathedral in December 1989 and the Eucharist was thrown to the floor by a former Catholic, could we not by the same logic blame Muslims? Both seem blatantly unrelated. Surely I must be missing something. But then again, I know what it's like dealing with the Religious Right & other fanatics in this country. Rationale doesn't matter. (See Pat Robertson re: Venezuela for instance.)

I just hate the idea of these cartoons fanning the flames of hatred that exist in this world. It's already bad enough.

Since I know very little about Islam, all I can conclude is that Mohammed is not a funny man and cartoons are not his venue. He's one pissed-off Prophet. Being an atheist, I hate making the comparison, but it's the best I can reach for... he wouldn't turn the other cheek when cultural gaffes are made by non-believers, regardless of whether or not the intention was malicious. From what I've read, the intent of the cartoon was NOT malicious, but their exercise in free speech vs. self censorship was disrespectful. I could have saved them the time and the world the tension by telling them, "Yes, you can find people willing to engage in tactless, distasteful, hurtful things for very little reason just about anywhere without exerting too much energy in your search. I'll admit, sadly, that I easily fall in this category from time to time. It's human nature. Just ask Pat Robertson or any of his buddies. (OMG, did I just compare myself to Pat Robertson?)

Thinking back to Nostradamus and the infotainment's interpretations of his predictions, I remember him saying something to the effect of "Beware the man in the blue turban." So, um... were the Danish cartoons printed in color?

Coretta Scott King

2006-02-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

With the passing of Coretta Scott King, a connection to history has been lost, a chapter closed. Mrs. King, a proud and dignified woman, one of amazing strength and brilliance has moved on to a place of peace.

In 1990, according to the census, the State of Maine was 98.4% white. I'm willing to bet that when I was a student at the William H. Jenkins Elementary School in Fort Fairfield, Maine in the 1970's, the state was a lot LESS diverse. When I was in first grade, I remember crossing the school yard of my rural, economically disadvantaged town and entering the library in the Hacker School basement. There I found a children's biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Some "devine intervention" must have placed that book there.

The book was shocking. I could not believe what I read. If I remember right, this was the simple story of Martin going shoe shopping with his family, and having to use a different door and shop quietly in the back of the store. In all of my 7-year-old wisdom and my Sesame Street values, I was horrified. I could not believe that there was a time when white people made Black people use different water fountains, different doors, shop in the back of the store. This, of course, led to the even more disturbing discovery that there was also a time when white people abducted, held captive, tortured and enslaved other human beings. That book founded my passion for civil rights.

My image of Mrs. King, who I met ever-so-briefly in 2000, is one of a woman of poise, grace, intelligence. I believe in and have faith in her and her work. I cannot say the same for anyone living or working in the U.S. government. Perhaps they are there, but I don't know who they are. In my heart and mind, I know that the perserverence of the Kings did more for this country than any of our modern day elected "leaders." I see politicians as greedy, power-hungry cowards, especially ones with names like Bush or Cheney.

As a memorial to Coretta Scott King and her late husband, every act of community service I perform, any call for peace or any social justice action I participate in, I will do in their memory. I'm not sure now yet how I will make larger contributions in those areas, I just hope that when the opportunity presents itself, I'll be able to commit myself to it.

[Post Script: January 15, 2007 ~ "The King Holiday" The opportunity presented itself in a great way. Last summer I accepted the post of Data Production Specialist at the Unitarian Universalist Assocation. I'm back in the arena I love, using my skills (which I think would bore the average person to death but I love) working every day on social justice issues. How'd I get so lucky?]

The Downside...

2006-01-26T14:57:00.000-08:00

of getting your parents their own pc is that you become available for 2 things:

1) frequent tech support
2) long-distance, guilt-inducing nagging

LOVE IT when they both happen in the same day.

The Parking Job I Couldn't Believe.

2006-01-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

As is sometimes the case, this a.m., Sue drove my truck to the gym because I was parked in back. When I managed to get my butt out of bed later, I took hers, and the switch to the appropriate vehicles took place there. Below is an e-mail to her describing what happened when I finished up at the gym.

Ok, so I have a question. You did not park my truck next to a white Toyota, a carolla I think, at the gym, did you? I sure as hell don't see HOW you could have parked it like that. I think it would have been impossible.

Basically, the person backed into the spot on my driver's side. S/He didn't really back in all the way either, so their FRONT bumper was not only nearly BLOCKING me at my BACK bumper, it wasn't too far from actually TOUCHING my bumper. I had to squish myself between the 2 cars to get to my driver door. Then I could barely open it. As s/he was parked at an angle, my door was at the "wider" end of the car-triangle, and had more room for the door to open. I had to do a "multi-point turn" to back out. Luckily, no one was on my passenger side. If there had been, I think I would have had to have gone into the gym to get the driver.

Now, the bizarre part... when I came out, the parking lot was NEARLY empty. When I arrived, there were plenty of parking spaces nearby, so WHY did they feel the need to park so close to me?! To nearly block me in? Was that their intent? If I were not as confident behind the wheel as I am, I would not have made it out of there. I would have had to have had them move their car or hit it. ("I'm older and have more insurance" kept ringing in my head.)

I left a nice little note on their car and took pics of their parking job with my cell phone... 'cause you just won't believe me, I'm sure! The note said something like, "Congratulations! You are the record holder for the worst parking job I have ever seen! What ever compelled you to park so close to my car and nearly block me in, especially when the whole rest of the freakin' parking lot is nearly empty? Luckily, after a multi-point turn I was able to get out, because there was not an IDIOT parked on my other side."

Asshole. I put the note around their door latch, sticking it to the latch with the moisture from the rain. Hopefully the water tension will hold it even though it's super windy today, so they won't miss it.

For CHARRRRTY!!!

2005-11-11T23:58:00.000-08:00

(Harvesting old material)
Scene: Provincetown, MA
Date: Women’s Weekend 2004

I’d put in a long hard week at work. My beloved partner, Sue, and her best friend Ellen had managed to get out of work and went to P’town ahead of me on Thursday night.

I’m not as young as I used to be. Driving down alone after 6 p.m. is not as easy as it used to be either. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been daylight, or not raining like the day of Noah’s going-away party. But upon my arrival in P’town, I was a good sport! I got all dolled up, and accompanied my gals to the Crown, getting there just in time for the wet t-shirt contest!

The contest was a benefit for HOW (Helping Our Women). The fabulous crooner Suede and yuckster Vickie Shaw played emcees. They were a riot! A group of our pals were there, most of whom had made their way down earlier that day and were therefore well-rested and in complete control of their minds. Instead of competeing themselves, they kept encouraging me, STRONGLY, to compete. Vickie Shaw was no help. She kept purring in her southern drawl as thick as gravy, “It’s for CHARRRRTY!” Everyone KNOWS how I feel about CHARRRRTY. I am SUCH a SUCKER for a good cause. ;)

It clearly must have been the exhaustion from working all day and driving down “late,” as we old ladies like to say, because for a minute I actually thought I could do it! Of course, I was thinking was that as a contestant, you only had to stand there wearing a wet t-shirt. Yes, I have seen these before, so what the hell was I thinkin’?! Luckily, wiser heads prevailed (my partner's), and I remained a spectator.

Watching the event CLEARLY proved I could not have participated. Surely, some medical malady would have befallen me. For, after each gal was introduced, complete with an exotic new stage name bestowed upon them by Suede, Vickie Shaw approached the gal with a pitcher of ICE WATER. Let me describe that to you. It was a big cold pitcher filled with ice cold water and many large cubes of ice. Everyone knows how I constantly complain about being cold. It’s more than "being whiney." Extreme cold meeting certain body parts… causes… EXCRUCIATING… pain. ‘Nuff said.

Ms. Shaw slowly poured the contents of the pitchers, liquid and very cold solids, ON the t-shirts, IN the t-shirts, ALL over a wee, targeted little area of the t-shirts. Then, as if there were any possibility that they weren’t, Vickie… made sure… that... the gals… were… appropriately… watered. (No, I just will not type what your thinking.) Watching the ice cubes clunking down the insides of their t-shirts was enough to drain the blood from my face. It’s OCTOBER. In New England. The back door, right behind the stage was OPEN. I was crossing my arms mightly across my chest in sympathy pains. I would have freakin’ PASSED OUT if I had participated! And then there’s the whole part of… well… getting felt up by Vickie Shaw. Even more embarrassing, getting felt up by Vickie Shaw in front of a crowd of several hundred women. I’m sure she’s a lovely lady. I just don’t know her or the several hundred other women in the room that well.

My pals were coming to the conclusion that maybe being a comedian ain’t such a bad gig. More than likely though, they were just full of hot air! I’m not so sure that would be a duty… I… could… fulfill. Egads! Maybe, Lord forbid, I’m a bit more parochial that I thought!

Saying Goodbye

2005-04-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight I said goodbye to Joe, hopefully for the last time.

I went into his bedroom, and stood in the dark beside his hospital bed. I picked up his cold hand and held it in one of mine while I stroked it with my other.

The last time I said goodbye, I made the mistake of saying, "See you later." Then, I stressed about it the whole way home and for several days afterward. I wanted him to feel free to die. I didn't want him to think he had to wait for me to come back before he could slip away.

He continued to snore while I held his hand.

"Joe, it's Michelle. I'm leaving now. But before I say goodbye, I want you to know that it's been an honor for me to help take care of you; that you and the family trusted me enough to let me participate in caring for you. I have so much respect for you and your family. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it, and for taking me in. I love you. I'll back in a few days to take care of your girls... when you're gone. It's ok to go. Goodbye, Joe."

More on Jan... by the Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie

2005-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

I received this email from my friend Paul...

Hi Michelle,
Kim C Harvie gave a sermon about Jan and Carol's wedding. Thought you might be interested in reading. I was touched by it.

Hope you and Sue are doing well. This is a short email, but I'll be touch again.

Cheers,
xo
p
http://www.ascboston.org/worship/text/050313.html

Joe update

2005-04-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

Was a hard wkend. Joe continues to decline. It's amazing to see someone can actually live at this level of deterioration. We thought for SURE he certainly would have to die this week, but Sue just called, and the hospice nurse thinks he *might* make it to the beginning of next week! No way! It's... freakin' amazing! Yet awful. How could he??!

He still wanted to move from him bed to his recliner both days. They had gotten a wheelchair from Hospice, but, surprise, surprise, we discovered it can't do the turn from the bedroom to the hall. It seemed like it would be much more work to wheel him to the door, stand him up and around the corner, then sit him back down. Down is hard, too, 'cause he resists. I think he thinks he's falling. Then we'd just have a short distance down the to end of the hall to do the whole up & down process again. We chose to "walk" him, instead, down the hall to the living room, to the loo, or back to bed. We were carrying him, in reality. His hands were on my shoulders, like we were dancing, and I was holding him up under his pits (THANK GOD FOR MY WORKOUT CLASSES AT WORK! I needed my upper body & thighs a lot! It was a WORKOUT walking him and holding him up.... )

After last night, though, I REALLY didn't think he'd be getting back up. He didn't have the power to suck water thru a straw! We were droppering it in his mouth. We did try a much shorter straw and that worked briefly, but still, that even was getting too hard. We were so certain he'd pass this week. Jeez, we really wish he would! Both Sue & Bev have visited their Mom's grave to tell her to come get him, and had conversations with him saying it's ok for him to go now. It's so hard for them to watch.

I'm doing ok. I think having seen what my Gram went thru with Altzheimer's, then my Uncle Phil, and my friend Michael when he was dying of AIDS, combined with what I see at work everyday, I'm not... shocked by how much he's deteriorated. I just feel like... I can deal with it. I can do it. I just want to help him, and them, to make it as easy as possible all the way around. I only get emotional when THEY get emotional. Otherwise, with him, I'm just... caregiving... taking care of him, being natural. Does that make sense?? I'm ok "witnessing" and helping Joe with his "process."

I was SOOO happy the weather was so glorious this wkend! I was outside every moment I could. For most of the time, I felt like a grounded 10 year old. I couldn't leave the back yard. ;) I occupied my time by shooting hoops. Now that was a hoot. I was surprised to find I may actually be a better shot now than I was in high school. Perhaps it's because my body has stopped growning and I'm SLIGHTLY more graceful and have a wee bit more control over it than I did then. But then again... At least Mrs. Peters wasn't there telling everyone that I trip over the lines painted on the floor. After I grew tired of basketball, I practiced juggling for about an hour. That was fun, but I don't feel I've improved. I'm sure there will be more time this weekend.

Sue & I took an hour long + walk yesterday and it was HOT, sunny & very nice.

Sue cooked up a storm all weekend. It's how she relaxes; it soothes her and fulfills her need to keep busy. That's not out of character for her. We ate some fabulous food as you would imagine. My fav was the creole bread pudding with bananas. Hot, bready, bananas, a nip or 2 of burbon for flavor and TONS OF CARAMEL SAUCE. I got Haagen Daz light dulce de leche to go on top. OOOOOH! OOOOOOOOOH.... I did the "rolling your eyes" with a deep moan added on, in front of the very scary catholic aunties. THAT was very embarrassing. A very private moment. It was also a little frightening~ I thought a ruler would be snapped in my direction & I'd be sent to confession immediately! Those moments should be reserved for only your loved one to see.

That's where we're at. That's us right now.

Speed III

2005-03-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

My first experience on the elyptical at the gym was a humorous one. The machine kept going faster and faster, so I kept going faster and faster. Finally, it got to the point where I pictured myself getting thrown from the machine like it were a mechanical bull at Mickey Gilly's. The kind of visual you would expect from Ellen DeGeneres or... well, one of my other favorite comedians, Amy Boyd, who is also well-known for her physical comedy (If you don't know her, you should! Look her up at www.amyboyd.com). Yes, it was very... Buster Keaton. Except... well, I wasn't doing it to be funny. Which made it that much more funny. You see, I didn't realize that the reason the machine kept going faster was because I kept going faster. And I kept going faster because the MACHINE kept going faster. It was a big, ugly, vicious circle.

I was telling this story to my pals at work, Ron, a fellow programmer and one of the most decent people I've ever met, and Lisa the Phunny Pharmacist. We came up with this movie idea:

Speed III: Michelle is in the in-house gym on an elyptical. She has to maintain a certain speed level or the Center will blow up. If she goes below a certain speed, the Center will blow up. If she trys to get off or let someone take her place, the Center will blow up.

If we could get Sandra Bullock to ride the stationary bike beside me, and for the finale land in a tangled mess on the exercise mats, I'd be all for giving filming a shot. :)

Ok, so maybe we need to lay off the Dove dark chocolates, but it was pretty funny when we were going off on it!

"How I got evicted," by M.A. Rediker

2005-03-18T22:27:00.000-08:00

We all know that recycling is important to lesbians. It is how we worship. We tend to the earth.

On Sunday, when I leaving Sue in Dudley to head back to our home in Boston, we loaded up the back of my truck with recycling from the Wedda house, as Dudley doesn't have a recycling program. I drove all the plastic and aluminum back to Brighton and carried it all into the house, where it sat blocking the cupboards all week.

On Wednesday night, after having gathered all the trash and our own recycling from our OWN house, I sat on the kitchen floor for about ½ an hour SORTING it all into various paper bags.

Thursday morning, before going to the gym, I was taking it all out to the curb when Crazy Lady (our landlord and upstairs neighbor, Mary) decided to come out and do hers, too. She was going to be away for the day, to the senior center. She didn't want me putting the barrel or the recycling bin out because she wouldn't be home to rush outside and put them back in the garage the minute each receptacle was emptied. She took all her trash out of the barrel and put it in 1 big bag to take to the curb, and I carried all my trash and each recycling bag to the curb with no barrel or bin.

Just seeing or talking to Crazy Lady most days is enough to drive us mad.

She has an amazing gift for sensing when I'm freshly out of the shower and buck nekkid. When my nekkid aura is in the air, that is usually the precise moment she will ring the doorbell. I was lucky this particular morning, though. She called instead. She asked if I would come right down to the basement so she could show me something.

Twice. Twice in 1 day I've got to deal with her.

I told her I'd just gotten out of the shower and would need a few minutes to get dressed. She was messing up my routine! I had to decide quickly what I was going to wear. As it was St. Pat's... I had to find something GREEN which, well, limited my wardrobe tremendously. Not to mention I like to take my time, lollygag around when deciding what to wear.

Finally dressed, I went downstairs, thinking that she'd found something ELSE we'd managed to hide from her in the basement and wanted to fuss about. The basement is spotless and empty, other than, say the washer & dryer, and a metal shelf for our detergent and a few boxes she allowed us to put on a table top. No, wasn't that she'd found something else I'd hidden, like it was the previous week. It was just that there were a small number of tiny, brown rust spots on a white sheet she'd just washed. She was angry because now she'd have to throw it away. She thought the city had turned the water off and then back on, so she wanted to warn us, before we did a load of whites ourselves. I'm thinking "You called me down here for that? You couldn't have just TOLD me on the phone???"

I sat down to eat my breakfast. The spoonful of oatmeal was just about to enter my mouth when the doorbell rang. "What in fuck's name...?!" I ran to the back door, and she wasn't there. I ran to the front door, which is a pain in my ass. It's a very old door, and it's not a tight seal. There's a good storm door, but with the cracks in the main door, it doesn't make much difference. It's MIGHTY drafty. I was RIPSHIT last year when she replaced our tiny mail slot with an ENORMOUS one. She was worried about the mailman placing our magazines and junk flyers between the storm and main doors because they didn't fit thru the smaller slot. Maybe somebody would STEAL our junk mail. Egads! So this new, enormous slot, that's an increase in MY oil bill, after all. I was pissed when I was unsuccessful in my attempt to persuade her to NOT make the change. To deal with the draft, I have a towel on the floor lining the door, and Sue's beanbag blockading it for extra insulation. Yes, I know. Suzy Safety (my GS alter ego... "Safety first, Rebellion second," right Skip?) has been trumped by my miserly side. I threw the bean bag aside, pulled the towel away from the cracks and opened the door. She's standing there with Sue's Sunday Boston Globe, which had... not been missed at all during the course of the week and sat on the stoop. Crazy Lady had taken a pillow out to the curb to throw away (Crazy Lady throws more pillows away than... I don't know! Does she get a new one every 2 weeks???) and saw the paper on the front stoop. Apparently, she felt I needed the week's old news immediately!

I looked at the paper. I looked at her. I looked at the recycle pile on the curb. I questioned aloud if I should just go put it in the recycles. It's old news now. It's not like I'm gonna read it. I dismally thanked her and took the paper inside and put it in the basket for next week's recycling, annoyed that she AGAIN disrupted my morning for something completely unimportant, irrelevant. Would the world come to an end if the paper sat untouched on my doorstep until Saturday or Sunday? Or better, why didn't she just take it down to the basement and put it on our dryer, which she normally does when we're away? She must have felt I'd want to READ it straight away! That had to be it!

I was finally ready for work. I put my coat on and went into the office to put something away. I saw the garbage truck backing up to our curb. Crazy Lady came FLYING down the stairs and ran to meet the garbage crew.

"This should be good," I thought. She's had feuds going on for YEARS now with the garbage and recycling crews.

She stood there talking to the man. She pointed at the trash. Then she pointed at the recycles.

"No she DID-ENT!" I thought!

Yes, she DI-ID.

I WAS HORRIFIED AND ABSOLUTELY LIVID when he picked up my recycling bags and threw them in the garbage truck. I wanted to smash out the windows, throw myself out through gaping holes of glass and grab them from his hands. I ran to the front door and was hampered by the difficult lock, the bean bag and towel that I had so carefully replaced after receiving the Sunday Globe from Crazy Lady.

I slung my briefcase over my shoulder and went running through the house to go to the back door. Entering the bedroom, the briefcase hit the doorjamb and fell off my arm. Following the laws of physics, it maintained it's velocity and forward trajectory while submitting to gravity. It made contact with my broken wooden filing cabinet that serves as Sue's bedside table.

When I bought the thing in the early 90's from KMart, it was broken. I bought it in Bangor on my way back to Boston after xmas, so it was just EASIER to keep it than return it. It was functional, after all, even if the top front "plate," which keeps the sides of the cabinet "pulled together" was broken. It sometimes made the top drawer sag a little, but worked. Sort of.

The briefcase flew into the top front plate and shattered it. As I ran thru the kitchen, I heard the smashing, splintering sounds of the wood and the tumbling of the drawers.

My fury was just building.

I ran across the back porch and met her at the bottom of the steps.

I lit into her. I couldn't help it. I did. I yelled and yelled at my landlady.

"WHY did you do that?!" I demanded to know. "Recycling is very important to us!" I yelled that I'd spent a LOT of time working on it that week. Then, horrified as what I was doing sunk in, I yelled an apology at her, saying that I was sorry, I was taking all my anger out on her. She wanted to know what I was angry at.

"Sue's Dad is dying!" I yelled.

Then she yelled back at me about her own health issues (she had a procedure done the previous week that Sue's sister, an MD, said was not a serious) and about her poor son's dog Buddy, who had 2 toes amputated last week. She was stressed about those things. (You're comparing a dog toes to Sue's Dad's dying?!)

I just wheeled and kept yelling over my shoulder that I was late for work and had to go back inside to get my stuff. She angrily yelled "Have a nice day!" and I yelled, "You, too."

OK, I've always thought I had the patience of Job.... (Mom always said that....) We always thought Sue, being the Scorpio, would be the one to lose it with Crazy Lady and light into her. I have to admit, although I'm STILL furious at Crazy Lady, it felt INCREDIBLY satisfying to vent it at her. She's been driving us crazy since the moment we moved in!

On my way to work, I called Sue. I thought she'd relish the story, want to live the satisfaction vicariously. After all, after Crazy Lady discovered a rug I'd rolled, wrapped in garbage bags and hidden in the basement BEHIND a closet 2 weeks ago (24 hours after I put it there), Sue's response back to me, via cell phone text message, was "Tell her to stick the rug up her ass."

Sue was NOT amused by the story. (And I STILL am amused by it, despite the fact that I'm still pissed at Crazy Lady because she had no right to do throw our recycling away.)

We GOT this apt because "something happened" and Crazy Lady was suddenly afraid of her previous tenants and refused to renew their lease. They lasted just 1 year. I'm sure I know what happened. Crazy Lady drove her tenants bonkers. Like me, one of them snapped. That we've been in this apt, what, coming up on 4 years... her son keeps telling me he & his sister want to give us xmas bonuses. I know that is why the rent has not gone up. She could be getting at least $4-500 more for our apt than what we're paying.

Sue's response was not what I expected.

"Oh my god! This is the LAST thing I need to think about right now," she told me from her cell phone at her Dad's house. "Crazy Lady is now going to be afraid of US and not renew OUR lease! I'm not going to be in the mood to be looking for a new apartment this September." Then she paused and said, "Well, we'll just move to Dudley." She & Bev are inheriting her Dad's house and it will take at least a year for them to go thru all the crap before they can sell it. "We can live in Dudley for a year."

"I am NOT living in Dudley," I thought angrily.

Sue called me back a little later in the morning, much more rational and supportive. She said she was joking about living in Dudley. Maybe she was getting over the angst of my having yelled at Crazy Lady. Maybe she was finally hitting the vicarious thrill of it all.

Jan has passed away...

2005-03-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

Jan, my former boss at GLAD died on Tueday.

I just got my Bay Windows email. There was a wonderful story about her life and work.

http://www.baywindows.com/news/896461.html?mkey=740433

I'm glad she's at peace.

~m

Time with Jan: A TRULY rewarding experience

2005-03-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I got a call from Barb, who was on GLAD's board way back when I first started working there. Barb told me that Jan, the ED who hired me in '93, has multiple myeloma and her time left is being measured "in weeks not months."

FUCK. I've had enough of fucking cancer. This very weekend, my partner Sue is away at her father's caring for him as he is dying from pancreatic cancer, and one of my favorite aunts in Maine, the woman who named me, is battling lung cancer. Sue lost her mother about 2 or 3 years before we met to breast cancer. Even my "surrogate dog," my co-worker's 4 year bull mastiff, Mackenzie, has cancer and is undergoing chemo and radiation! I Enough already! Please!

I knew that Jan had battled cancer before. Barb said Jan underwent a stem cell transplant last November that was a pretty rigourous thing to go thru on it's own, but beyond that, it failed. Jan is experiencing a tremendous amount of pain.

They were chatting "old times" and Jan asked Barb to get in touch with me, to tell me what's going on.

I have a profound amount of respect and admiration for Jan. She and I reveled in our shared sarcasm. I had a black coffee cup that I drank from during our time together at GLAD. It had a big, grumpy yellow cat that said, "I'd whistle while I work, but all I know are happy songs." GLAD was going thru some rough times back then, both as an organization and personally, so working there was often excruciating, but still VERY rewarding. When she left GLAD, she gave me a rubber stamp that says, "A lack of planning on your part does not necessarily constitute an emergency on my part," and a toy that looks like a beeper. It has 3 buttons that produce different sounds. One is a "Missle Launcher," one a "Tommy Gun" and finally, a "Death Ray." I know, an odd toy for someone who aspires to a pacifist, but sometimes when you hang up the phone after an especially difficult call, nothing is more satisfying than "annilating" your phone. I keep these toys on my pc at work my current job. (Another GLAD souvenir is a set of chattering teeth that hopped on feet until they broke from over-use. But that was a gift from Jacob Smith Yang~ the AIDS Law Proj Advocate. It was a treasure he got from Delta Dental when he spoke at a conference about how dentists cannot deny treatment to HIV+ people. Anyway, I digress.) We liked to play at GLAD.

Jan was a good leader, and a good friend. I admired her, and my other fellow co-workers at GLAD, for doing the right things, for doing so much actually. I feel honored that Jan wanted Barb to get in touch with me. I guess it's just that at GLAD I worked with such extraordinary people, they inspired the best in me. I have never worked harder, never given my all for anything more than I did GLAD.

Today, I called her to see if she was up for a visitor. Her partner Carol answered and said Jan was sleeping, but to come in to see her anyway.

I arrived sometime around 2:30 or 3. I was expecting to stay ½ an hour or so, sure she would tire easily. I was in my best Sunday schlubby clothes: jeans, long-sleeved t-shirt, my favorite, big, thick blue polar fleece that a certain sports fan in my life (my Tweetie Bird) gave me as a gift. What I didn't expect was that this would be one of the most memorable afternoons of my life!

I couldn't go in to Jan's room right away, because she was dressing. I went to the sitting room and found Carol on the pc. She was searching for a way to contact the Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie of the Arlington Street Church. Carol and Jan had talked to Kim about marrying them, and today was the day! Carol needed to call The Rev to confirm the ceremony and was having a hard time finding her phone number. I took over for her at the pc and let her go out to get some air and run some errands.

By the time I had found the Rev and left her a message to confirm that she was going to come perform the ceremony, Jan was ready for visitors. I went into her room and found her in her bed in a beautiful silky green blouse, accessorised by a nicely embroidered hat. For a dying woman, she did look marvelous! She informed me that today was her wedding day and that she would be so happy if I could be one of the very few who could attend this special function. Again, I felt deeply honored.

As I visited with Jan, she told me about Carol's proposal, the rapidly approaching wedding, and the wedding celebration that is to take place on April 2nd at one of my favorite restaurants, Clem & Ursie's, in p'town. She told me about her family coming to visit and reminded me how monumental that was for them as, like many families, they've had their difficulties.

My cell phone gave me a jump. Julie Netherland, our fellow former co-worker at GLAD had received the message I'd left her this a.m. and was returning my call. I put Jan on the phone with Julie and listened as Jan filled her in on what she'd just told me, and as they reminisced about GLAD, good times and the tough motherfuckers. [We lost one co-worker to suicide... outside my office window, and THAT is a completely different, harrowing story for another day.]

Other friends trickled in... Woody & Wendy, then a lesbian couple, already I'm blanking on their names. Then the Rev arrived. We allowed the 3 of them a few moments to talk privately to prepare for the service. Then the 5 of us were summonsed back to the room. A couple nurses joined us, and The Reverend Kim performed the ceremony.

I held it together at the wedding, just getting my usually misty/sniffly/sappy during the reading of a portion of the decision from GLAD's Goodridge case, which has been read at each gay wedding I've attended. Every time I hear it, it does bring tears to my eyes. This time, I had a very difficult time keeping these ones from turning into a river.

This is why I had done it. All those years... stuffing millions of envelopes, phonebanking, helping with appeals, planning fundraising events even though I lack the "fabulous gene," proofreading, designing, printing, copying, fixing antiquated pc's and aging photocopiers. Kissing asses that deserved to have a boot driven up them about knee deep. Staying so very late night after night, working so many weekends, sacrificing time with my partner or our own families, missing weddings and other important events. I did it to help protect and expand the legal rights of the GLBT community. To help GLBT families secure the rights to protect themselves, in good times and bad, in good health AND IN SICKNESS. That whole time, I'm picturing folks who need GLAD's help in situations EXACTLY like that one. Never thought I'd witness one; never thought IF I DID, it'd be for someone I respect and care about like this. A woman who HERSELF put so much into it and helped make such things possible! To see it go full circle... it was one of the most electrifying and memorable experiences of my life! It connected all the dots... full circle!

Standing at the bed of my terminally ill friend, I witnessed the fruition of our work together, the sanctity of legal marriage bestowed upon two women who had loved one another for years, so that they could now take care of one another when they needed to the most. The ability to take part in such an important human activity has been a legal option for women like us for little more than 9 months.

I had gone to the hospital, yes, dreading it some, knowing it would be difficult. Thinking I would visit for just a half hour or so. Who knew it would be one of the most memorable days in my life. Ok, you could say that I've been watching too much of the Hallmark or Lifetime channels, but I'm not a big tv watcher these days. But I do realize what a gift today was!

I'm beat. Off to bed I go. Best wishes to Jan and Carol!

2005-03-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

Carol & Jan on their wedding day at the Beth Israel in Boston. (I took this photo with Carol's camera.)

2005-03-06T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie, Carol & Jan moments after the ceremony. (Again, me with Carol's camera.)

2005-03-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

The guests, The Rev, & the brides. (Photo taken by on of Jan's nurses with Carol's camera.)

Battling the snowblower

2005-02-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

Sue & I spent the weekend of the big storm in Hudson dogsitting for Sue's sister Bev & her wife, Denise. Sent the following funny story to my pal Amy in California.

Ok... more Monumental Acts of Stupidity. You know the text message I sent you today? About the snowblower???

[I had sent her a txt msg that said, "If I ever meet the guy that invented the electric snowblower ... ... I'm gonna kick him in the nuts. Power cord. That's all I'm saying."]

WEEEELLLLLLL... when we were in the truck on the drive home, B&D called, and I was telling them about our experience using their blower. We've wanted one for a long time, but the Crazy Lady (our land lady Mary) originally didn't want us to get one. She doesn't want ANYTHING in the basement or garage. She's since changed her mind, but Sue still thinks she doesn't want us to get one. As Sue doesn't like (actually HATES) talking to her, she's really not taking my word for it that Mary's changed her tune.

I was telling Denise that I HATED the power cord. Friggin' thing... it kept coming unplugged, and then when you backed up, you had to move the cord all around so you wouldn't run over it... sever it in the auger and get electricuted, whatever, and it kept getting wrapped around the wheel. I'm like, "We are NEVER getting an electric."

Denise asked, "You left it PLUGGED IN?! It only needs to be plugged in to START! After that, you unplug it!!!"

DOH!

Ok, I come from a long line of plowers. My people plow. We don't blow. We buy big trucks, rig them with fancy blinking beacons and rotating lights. Kick ass rides. We don't blow! How was I supposed to know?! Ok, they left me the manual, but I didn't have time to read it. We wanted to blow the Michelle's-knee-deep snow out of the drive to make our escape, because we knew we were gonna have to come home and shovel the Crazy Lady's drive. We did their whole drive. Ok, other than my stupidity, the blower was REAL sweet!

We called Crazy Lady from the car, and she said she paid this guy (our lease says we have to pay 1/2 of whatever she pays for snow removal) to shovel and she WHAT a HORRIBLE job he did. She paid him $125, and it was a terrible job! We're like, "We have to pay 1/2 of $125?!"

On the news, they were saying yesterday that this was going to be a Top 10 worst of storms. Then this a.m., they changed it to a "once or twice in a lifetime" storm. The likes of '78 or '96. (Ok, so '05 is thrice in a life, no??) It's not that bad. Come on! It's all media hype. I understand that some of it is public safety scare tactics to keep yahoos in off the roads. But that's Darwinism. You get a bunch of videos and stay in. End of story. Not that bad. It's snow, not forest fires, locusts or plagues. Then on the way home, they're saying, "Boston schools are cancelled for Mon & Tues." I'm like, is there something I don't know about running schools that they'd need to cancel as far out as Tues?

We get to Boston, and I was like, "oh." I forget. In Boston, they can plow, but there's no place to put it. Once we got on to the smaller roads closer to home, it was pretty much 1 lane. Foster St was pretty tight, and once we got to Rose Garden, there was a pickup plowing it. It was barely passable, even with the 4WD. Crazy Lady was out yelling at the guy in the plow telling him how to do his job. People seem to LOVE that.

We made it up the hill, and turned into the drive, looking like a Nissan commercial, I'm sure. Weeeeee! She was right, the guys did a TERRIBLE job. They shoveled out 1 car path right up to her car. Our side of the drive was now under it's original snow, plus the snow from HER side of the drive!!! At least we were able to drive in and unload. Then we had to go out and shovel our side of the drive. I am not going to the gym in the a.m. If I can walk, it shall be a miracle. I hope my trainer Dawn "Killer" Keller takes it easy on us in my lunchtime exercise class tomorrow.

Thus is the end of my snow story. I've been cracking myself up all day, though, thinking of me going up and down the driveway trailing the powercord, and the neighbors laughing their asses off at me as they look out their picture windows.

;)
~m

Driving, skillfully & gracefully

2004-12-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

I made my return trip to Boston from my family's in "The County" in Maine, yesterday (Mon, 12/27). It was snowing quite a bit. The roads didn't seem so bad, visibility seemed to be more of an issue.

When I drive through the town of Mars Hill, I always put my cruise control on so that I stay below 25 mph. I have a bad habit of speeding so I use the cruise quite often as a tool to force myself to obey the law.

Turning onto Main St, the street was suddenly packed with snow. (??) What, they're plowing the highways but not the main streets anymore?! I started fishtailing. "Ride it out... don't put the break on!" I kept thinking. You know... braking'll make it worse. I tried not to, but because the wheels were at a constant speed, I couldn't ride it out. It got worse. I was doing the automotive version of the Triple Lutz down the middle of Main Street Mars Hill at 9:30 a.m.

I finally had to tap 'em, and stuck my landing with a 180 in front of the fire station. It was quite lovely. I'd give myself an 8.9.

Luckily, even tho it was broad daylight on a weekday morning in the middle of the town, there was only 1 witness. He was bumped off shorthly afterward. ;)

My Mini Extreme Makeover

2004-08-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

This story starts when I was 8, so brace yourself.

My neighbor, Kenny Kokoszka, "inherited" his Dad's 2 aluminum flying saucers. On a bright, starry winter night, we decided to test them out.

Behind my house was the perfect sledding hill. Kenny & I each took a sled. I sat, folding my legs Indian-style. With my hands balled up into fists inside my homemade mittens, I pushed off, bouncing several feet until the sled began to slowly creep down the incline on its own. Within moments, the sled, true to its name, was flying down the hillside in the dark. I wrapped my hands tightly in the olive-green canvas handles that were bolted to the saucer. Somewhere near the middle of the hill, the saucer began to spin in circles and I closed my eyes. I wasn't sure if the joy I was experiencing escaped my body in howling laughter or if sheer speed and wind stole my breath and any ability to make any sound.

At the bottom of the hill, the sled shot out across a field rutted by ski-doo tracks and frozen boot prints. The spinning stopped and hitting one last bump, I was dumped face forward into the snow. I lay laughing, rocking back and forth to free my arm that was pinned below me. My legs were still folded with the saucer resting against my rear. I must have looked like a chianti bottle on it's side.

"I'm gonna stay like this to show Kenny how I landed," I thought to myself, still laughing and blinking the snow out of my eyes. Within seconds, I heard Kenny's sled approach from the rear. His sled followed my path exactly.

The impact was startling. The sleds made a sickening sound as they collided. As his hit mine, mine was sent flying forward yet again, but my body wooly garments were stuck velcro to the hard, dry snow. My sled flew forward and hit me before I could wipe the smile off my face. That was a bizarre blessing, I'm sure. It protected my lips and face from damaging scars. But the clang; there was a dead-on hit.

We managed to untangle ourselves and I sat upright, stunned. I felt my face. It felt fine. My lips; there was no blood, no swelling. And yet there was an odd sensation I could not identify. I ran my tongue across my teeth. Something was wrong with them. I did it again. My left front tooth was fine. My right front tooth... was now suddenly very sharp and sloped at an odd angle from the bottom left side up to the right.

It was then that I started crying. For years, my Mom had stressed how important it was to take good care of your adult teeth because you can't get more, no second chances. As a pre-teen, she'd had Maine's substandard dental care and had her 4 top front teeth removed and had been given a partial plate. (She'd kill me to know I'm revealing this.) She lamented the loss of her teeth and that she'd been given no choice.

I got on all fours, took my mittens off and started running my hand over the snow. I had to find it. When I explained to Kenny what had happened, he did the same. Trying to find part of a tooth on a snow-covered field on even a starry night in Maine is still like trying to find a specific blade of grass on a golf course. It ain't happenin'.

We gave up and trudged up the hill, dejected. I wasn't so much in pain, but I cried hysterically because I had to explain this to my parents. I was going to be ugly for the rest of my life.

My mother loves to tell this part of the story. We walked into the kitchen door, and when asked what happened, I cried out, "We was practicin' the agony of defeat and I lost my tooth!" ABC Wide World of Sports was pretty big at the time, and all I could picture was the skier wiping out and careening down a moutainside on his back.

That night, Dr. Cassidy (who my Grandmother often erred and referred to as Dr. Cavity) opened his dental office and went to work. The immediate option wasn't great. He filed the tooth down so that it was no longer pointy or sloping. It was, however, definitely not as long as the other front tooth. For the next 3 or 4 years, my school pictures show me with a big smile, and one tooth obviously shorter than the other. A little warrior, I was not self-concious about my battle injury from the hill and aluminum sleds. I don't recall ever using those particular sleds again, but I was not defeated by the hill.

When I was 12, Dr. Cassidy finished fixing my tooth. He was a truly gifted dentist who had returned to his hometown after his schooling to open his practice . We had been waiting for my teeth to finish growing, and then he used a new procedure where he applied a large amount of bonding to my tooth and carefully shaped it to match its twin. I remember watching the blue light that sets the bonding enter my mouth and wishing I could watch the rest of the procedure, too.

For nearly a good 20 years, Dr. Cassidy's handiwork stood the test of time. It has only slowly worn down. With age, it has also started to yellow. Now, as an adult, I am self concious about my smile. The little warrior has retired. The little warrior has been replaced.

I hesitate to call it vanity. You need to understand the path my life has taken. From about the time I felt like the little warrior onward, I struggled with my weight. In high school, I joined Weight Watchers 3 times. Twice I was very successful. Once I went away to college, I ballooned. I was enormous. I have my excuses, good ones, but we needn't go into them now. On through my 20's my weight rose and fell within a 15 lb range. But when you weigh approximately 230, that doesn't make much difference.

When I hit age 31, my doctor sent me back to Weight Watchers. The older, obese members of my family were all developing Diabetes, and I was told I had to quit fooling around with it, or I would likely get it.

I did the work. A year and a half later, I felt like I had stolen Wonder Woman's body. Not that I am a ravish beauty, but I was suddenly ABLE to move and be active in ways that would have left me wheezing on the curb before. I hit a euphoric high and had an enormous amount of energy. I have stuck with it. Weight Watchers is a WAY OF LIFE, a lifestyle, not a diet. People ask me if I'm still doing Weight Watchers. The answer is: Yes. Of course. It wasn't a program that had a beginning and an end. It is taking good care of me! And the secret is, it's hard work to stay within the 5-8 lbs that I bobble in. But it's wicked easy staying below a weight that I don't want to be.

I have this new body that I love. I feel like I've been given a gift of having experienced life in 2 different bodies. Although the new and improved one is by no means perfect, it feels like a tremendous gift. Maybe it's that I suddenly feel so "close to perfect," I want my teeth to look natural. I feel like my teeth are glaringly wrong. Am I being vane? God, I hope not. I hate vane people. But I'm becoming more self-concious in pictures. I think I look like Mr. Ed, like my right lip is curling upward into a snort when it's not. It's just the bond has worn down. Now I feel like I LOOK like I'm from Maine! Let's hear it for the "who has the teeth" jokes.

I'm to be married next June. I'm cringing at the thoughts of the pictures from my wedding day. "And this is the bride, Mr. Ed ."

At my dental appointment here in Boston last week, I inquired about my choices. Unfortuneately, my dental insurance does not cover for veneers. The veneers would cost me $4,800. I'll tell you up front, I'm not that vain.

Once, on the Today show, I saw a story on a young woman who had racked up an enormous credit card debt on frivilous things, like shoes. She started a website or a blog where she asked for people to give her money to help her get rid of her debt. Apparently, she thought because she was a nice person that others would help her with her debt. You know what? I'll be damned but they did! Suppose I could do that? "Hey, everyone! I'm a good person. I've done the hard work. I'm physically fit. I'm nice. I've sacrificed so much to make legal marriage an option for me and my community. I want my mini-extreme makeover! Help me get rid of my Mr. Ed teeth and be beautiful for my wedding day." Ok, maybe "beautiful" is nothing I've ever strived for. How about sexy? "The bride wishes to be sexy on her wedding day!" Or maybe not even sexy, but not like Mr. Ed's twin sister.

Sue & I had some pals down to ptown with us for the weekend. Sue has been telling me for the longest time that I 'm fine, that I don't need to have the touch up done. But being my partner, her opinion on that matter... well, it just doesn't count. She's supposed to say that! Our pal Denise, on the other hand, is not required to humor or lie to me. She was completely opposed to me altering my smile. She said if I got the veneers, they wouldn't look natural or right. My smile suddenly would not be mine, it wouldn't be special. You gotta love Denise. She's got a way with words.

I may break down and do the much more affordable option of having the bonding built up again to see if I have more luck than last time. A 2nd application of bonding about 6 or 7 years ago lasted only several days before crumbling off. I was terrified it was going to crumble Dr. Cassidy's fine work, too, but luckily it didn't. But I'm definitely passing on the veneers, keeping in mind the wise words of Halle Berry:

"Before you go alter body, do some research and find out how many women have major life-threatening complications from nose jobs. Ask about how many nose jobs gone terribly wrong, and if you thought your face was wrong before, look what happens after. The more we start augmenting our bodies, the more and more we start to look alike, then nobody is special anymore. " Halle Berry

Ok, it's not a nose job, but the sentiment is the same!

Define "middle-aged"

2004-07-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

It appears I have offended Ellen. In my profile, you might have noticed that I describe myself as "middle-aged." I'm 35, and Ellen is a few months older than me. She has stated that 35 is clearly not "middle aged." Well, maybe I'm off in my logic, but if you know... you kick off at age 70, then 35 is middle aged. Ok, I'll admit, I hope to live into my late 80's and maybe my 90's... goddess willing my health is good until those decades. So, yeah, I see middle aged as being a span that starts at aged 35 and extends until age 50. Any thoughts out there on this topic??

~m

Bishop Gene Robinson & parish rift...

2004-07-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Interesting article. I have a lot of respect for Robinson. He almost made me want to go to his church... but then there's my whole lack of faith thing. ;)

For someone who claims to agnostic, I spend a lot of time thinking about religions and faith. Perhaps it's because I feel compelled to explain and defend myself a lot.

I'm really not a believer in most stuff. I believe in myself, and I believe in nature, life, death, good and bad. I believe that human beings should be nice to one another and help each other out. Don't know if there's a god, don't care. God is irrelevant to me. If there is a good, s/he will understand how I have come to my resolution of faith. God, who I'm not saying doesn't exist, might be pleased that I didn't buy any story hook, line and sinker but followed my own truth, one of kindness and service.

I do not believe that if there is a god, he or she suffers from a near pyschotic need to be worshiped. In other words, god would have no ego problem. I do not believe in a god that acts like a spoiled childs and throws temper tantrums about those who don't believe or follow according to any prescribed plan (like faith is those little footprint charts where you learn the foxtrot). I do not believe in Jesus as Terminator, as described in those "Left Behind" books. That's just sick.

But that's not to say that I don't have tremendous respect for someone's personal faith. My co-worker Ron is a deeply faithful person, and one of the most decent human beings I can think of. I have a lot of respect for him. For people like my Mom. Faith is a gift in their life, and they don't use it subjugate. It's just personally, I don't feel it. Nor do I feel a need for it. What will be will be. I can't change fate, just accept it.

All that for atupid little article!

~m

Church of the Redeemer getting back on its feet
By Associated Press, 7/29/2004 13:18
ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) Less than a month after much of the congregation left an Episcopal church over the election of the first openly gay bishop to head a diocese, members are getting the church back on its feet again.
''Were really looking at this opportunity as a church startup. Its a new day for a new church. A new life,'' said the Rev. Canon Tim Rich of the Diocese of New Hampshire.
Church of the Redeemer members met this week with the bishop, V. Gene Robinson, to discuss its future.
''We drove away from that meeting so very, very hopeful and very, very pleased. There is a great sense of trust between the members of this congregation and the bishop,'' Rich said.
The church, first organized in 1902, has been in the unofficial process of rebuilding since the congregation voted 36-3 last month to leave after Robinson refused to grant complete pastoral oversight to a more conservative bishop. The majority of the parishioners left because they didn't agree with Robinsons offer to retain minimal leadership over the church, as required by canon law.
Since then, the three remaining parishioners and a larger group of new and returning members which now numbers about 23 have continued to attend weekly services.
Members of a newly created ''administrative team'' will have oversight over one or two ministry areas, Rich said.
The church has been reclassified from a parish to a mission. The team requested that Robinson make the change because it will allow the Diocese of New Hampshire to provide the church more specific and frequent support than an up-and-running parish.
Priests from three area clergies will conduct weekly Sunday services through Labor Day. From there, an interim priest-in-charge will be selected to preach for three months. The position could become permanent.
Information from: Foster's Daily Democrat, http://www.fosters.com

Woo Hoo!!!

2004-07-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

Today I finally paid off my Discover Card bill... the last of my balance from the Olivia trip Sue and I took back in May of '03. Guess that means I can start planning my next one, right?? Now... where did I put that catalogue?

Just kidding! Trip to London first, this fall, to see our pal Amanda, so that she'll come to our wedding next year.

The next Olivia trip will be the honeymoon... and we're inviting ALL of our pals!

Ray & Cheryl's wedding

2004-07-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

The following communication regarding Rachel & Cheryl's wedding got so many laughs thought I'd share them with those not fortuneate enough to have been invited to the wedding. (Sorry, it was a "small" wedding, I'm not trying to rub it in that you weren't invited. ;) )

From: Michelle
Re: Ray & Cheryl's Wedding...

Hey Gang~
Our poor Ray-Ray is a wreck, so I thought I'd clarify.
1. We all have been invited to Ray & Cheryl's wedding reception, not the wedding. The wedding is being held in a highly secret location with the 2 of them, their JP, and each has a witness. I have assured them that I will not be lurking in the bushes with my camera, so there will be no ofoto album mocking their intimate ceremony, nor will I divulge the location of said ceremony to prevent others from doing the same.
2. The reception: This is NOT, repeat NOT your typical lesbian potluck/BBQ. Ray-Ray, as much as she loves it, will NOT be standing behind the grill wowwing us with her skills. This IS a catered affair, complete with a tent, rented chairs and a caterer. It is casual, but not THAT casual. Sue is making me wear my fancy shorts if it is scortchingly hot. And I was thinking my black camisole w/spaghetti strings and white linen shirt, ironed. Cut offs and tanks will be pooh poohed.
3. As it is not a potluck and is a catered affair, we should resist our lesbian/bi women inclinations to bring food. They've shelled out a pretty penny to make sure everyone can enjoy the day and not worry about whether our salads have enough or too much dressing, etc. There will also be a bar present, so no, we don't need to bring a bottle.
4. There will be a dj... so we can make fools of ourselves. Maybe even Karen Blake herself, but we won't know until we get there.
The reason I'm sending this is Cheryl's received inquiries & Ray's a nervous wreck. I'm trying to preserve the state of the union so that it makes it to the union part peacefully and comfortably. We gotta cover our girlie's backs.
Ray & Cheryl, if I have any info wrong, feel free to chip in, but I hope I have you covered.
~m

From: Marion

just so you know.....
1. i WILL be lurking in the bushes along with the folks from People magazine, the national enquirer, star and E television- all of whom i have notified. the paparazzi will be there en masse. hey - even streisand and that guy from marcus welby couldn't avoid it. and ANOTHER thing - the folks at glad have worked long and hard to ensure that i will actually, at long last --- weep at a wedding ceremony and NOT because my panty hose is riding up. which brings me to another point:

2. since acknowledging my lesbianism, i have realized that i don't HAVE to wear panty hose anymore, so i WILL wear naked legs, birkenstocks and an old indigo girls concert t-shirt to this lesbian wedding. still not sure about a bra. i'll let you know later.

3. i have EVERY intention of bringing a bowl of hummus and a pot of vegan chili.

4. there is no need for a d.j., as i will bring my guitar so that we can all sing old holly near and chris williamson songs with a little kumbaya thrown in for good measure.

looking forward to a fine afternoon.
marion
p.s. bring your frisbees.

From: Pat

Michelle,
Is this a joke? If not the guest list must be a DIVERSE LuLu of the washed, the unwashed and the uncertain. I wonder which category I'm in? All I can say is that I have only been a spectacle at one wedding reception (not wedding.) That was at my nephew's wedding (conservative nephew, conservative in-laws), where I danced with Martha while wearing a very nice (read expensive) suit and tie (Martha picked them out.) So to all of the "couth" and uncouth, beware, I may shock the assemblage with one of my radical queer costumes - not to mention a pot of my black beans.

Looking forward to the parade of fashionable frocks, skin revealing tops, Hawaiian shirts, Bermuda shorts, peddle pushers (oh! I mean Capris), linen suits, and other fine attire featured in the new magazine, Queer Women Dress-up In Style.
Pat

From: Michelle

Ha! No, it was no joke. Poor Ray sounded near heart-attack with both Sue and me separately yesterday!

I'm sure you looked spiffy in your suit and tie, and I would expect nothing less of you than to cut the rug with Martha! And I would eat anything you offered.

Now.... where do I get a subscription to said magazine? Sounds like a
MUST HAVE.
~m

Surviving the Evil Uncle Wayne @ the FFMPBF

2004-07-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

This has been excerpted and (heavily) edited from an email I sent a fine pal. (Hope you don't mind, but it summed it up so well....)

We survived potato land. Phew. Yes, I took many a photo, but they, to me... well, just aren’t as fun as last year's. (Did you see those?) The most obvious reason was that there was a problem getting the insurance certificate for the Mashed Potato Wrestling, so there was none this year. I felt so gypped! Uh! I drove 11 hours and there was no Mashed Potato Wrestling! Ug! What made up for the lack of spud wrasslin' for Sue was having our pic taken with the newly crowned Miss Budada Head, I mean the new Maine Potato Blossom Queen.

(She's a fabulous kid, I'm sure she'll go far! A rising star in the Maine Democratic Party, if you ask me.)

(About marriage activism:)
The best part is what I did while we were potatoing. At the parade, my Dad & my Uncle Bob put their pickups tailgate to tailgate to make a mini reviewing stand for a small, small percentage of my family to sit in. Dad held a "NO DISCRIMINATION IN THE COSTITUTION – MassEquality" sign that I had in the truck while Sue, Nikki and I held aloft BRIGHT YELLOW posterboards I’d taken a black marker to. Mine said, "Sens. Snowe & Collins..." Sue’s read, "Thank you!" and Nik’s said, "No FMA!" Snowe & Collins are both republicans and voted with us! Mom & Dad had called them a long time ago, when the Mass ConCon was happening, and received postive comments from them. Not that they favor same-sex marriage, but they believe the amendment is unnecessary and dangerous.

I'll send them a letter w/the photo later to clear it up if they didn't know what the "FMA" was, but I'm sure she (Snowe... I think Collins was a no-show for the 1st time) knew. Dad's sign should have been a clue, too. It was obvious that we were there, and queer and supported by a huge chunk of family.

Actually, I forgot to put my sign down, so the repubs kept pestering us, thinking my blue collar family was "one of them." Before I finally figured out I needed to put my sign down, the Bush people came over and were trying to give us stuff; they were loving us. So then Nik & Sue pretty much jumped ‘em, and we were all yelling something about if he won’t support our right to marry, no way jose. Of course, he’d have to have a whole brain transplant... er... donation before I’d ever vote for him. Transplant implies he had one before, right? All of this to the great discomfort of the "Evil Uncle Wayne who I don’t care if I ever see alive again....."

The Evil Uncle Wayne... man... has he mellowed! A year and a half ago, he had a heart attack and found god. Sue was talking to him about it, I guess he’s Baptist now. Before we got home I told Sue we could play 2 games. We could wait to see how long it took him to say "the 'N' word" (not to be confused with the 'L Word' which is a good thing and I would LOVE to see more than the original episode) or how many times he said it during the wkend. Can you believe he didn’t use it at all?!!! I was **SO** shocked. Someone at his new church must have told him it wasn’t becoming of a Christian. The most racist comment out of him all wkend was calling Nomar Garciaparra Nomar Garciapiano. And he told one misogynist story, but... small steps. I think he’s working hard on love the sinner thing. He kept the proselytizing to a minimum. I did find out in talking with his wife Iva that they’re into the "Left Behind" books. I happened to catch 60 Mins one night this winter, so I knew what it was. Freakin’ scary shit, man. Let’s see if I can sum it up quickly and right: The authors were sick of all these depictions of Jesus as a kind and forgiving man, and I think they even went so far as to imply that that perception made Jesus look pretty pansy-like. (Maybe not the exact words, but definately the implication.) They wanted to see the Jesus of anger and retribution. Jesus as Terminator. Terminating... you know... us. Homos and baby killers and feminazis and people who think for themselves. The Evil Uncle Wayne and Iva have been sharing the books with my aunt Alyce and Dad, but they just think it’s just interesting fiction. No worries on flipping either of them... I’m lucky that they love me to much to... get brainwashed. (Hope this doesn't sound like me proselytizing... I'm not. I'm agnostic/atheist, and Sue keeps letting it slip to people I'm related to and getting me in trouble! Sue's still... well, al la carte catholic or something. UU-ish.)

Now Sue... Sue had an intesting take on Iva. Iva, who married Wayne and who I think is just the lovely. And Sue, who I think of as the most gulliable. She’d think the big bad wolf in little red riding hood’s clothes was a nice guy if he was nice to her. She has always seemed to me to be lacking her suspicion bone and doesn’t get good gut reactions (in my humble opinion, and that's not a bad thing, she looks for the good in everyone). I think I have a damned good gut reactions ... GLAD utilized this in interviewing prospective employees a lot. ;) But Sue didn’t really care for Iva either. I really found that surprising! She said Iva really didn’t make any attempt to talk to or get to know her at all. It may have been that there were just too many damned Redikers around, but I’ll have to ask Nik what her new bfriend Steve thought... if Iva reached out to him at all. Interesting.

Of course... another part of this has been my perception since my early teens of how Wayne views women. For instance, his son... walks on water. His daughter... he could take her or leave her. I'm so GLAD this man is NOT my father! Don't know. Will have to see how much they were interested in Steve... as it was the 1st time for both Steve & Sue to meet the Texans. Make sense??

Off for the night!

Potato Blossom Festival

2004-07-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Wish us luck. Sue & I leave tomorrow for Fort Fairfield, host of the Maine Potato Blossom Festival. Sue will get to meet my "Evil Uncle Wayne from Houston who I don't care if I ever see alive again~ he's probably going to be the next Grand Dragon of Texas" for the 1st time. I love his wife. She's lovely. He's an ass.

Usually we love going to the Fest. It's a lot of fun. The only time the town isn't dead.

We'll also get to meet my sister's new beaux. She may have trapped herself a nice man.

I also want to get my very large, Irish-catholic family (most likely excluding Uncle Wayne) to hold up signs thanking Sens. Olympia Snow & Susan Collins, both Republicans, for voting AGAINST the Federal Marriage Amendment. I want them to see out lesbians in rural America this will effect. We may live in Mass, and intend to marry there, but my roots are as deeply entrenched in FF as those of the spuds I picked growing up!

My very first blog...

2004-07-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hey All~

Thought since I torture everyone so frequently with lengthy emails that I should instead try blogging. Lighten the load on everyone while still giving myself a written outlet for the many thoughts that steamroll their way around my head.

I'm sure there will be more to come, but for how long?