Oh, bama!

Okay - so I admit, I get really excited about people running for office - especially when they are saying the things that I feel in my heart, seem to be honest and trust-worthy, refuse to run campaigns because 'it's the way you have to do it to win', and when I get goose-bumps listening to them speak (because they know how to form a complete sentence). This will be my fourth presidential election that I have been allowed to participate in - and the first one where one of these candidates are at least on the primary ballot. I have been enthralled by Obama since his key-note speach at the Democratic national Convention almost 4 years ago. He came when I really needed him. I believe so strongly in America - the America founded on equal rights, the American founded as an escape from religious persecution, the America that has flourished because of it's welcomed diversity. I learned about this place all through my early education and books and songs and poetry and stories and fell in love . . . have not really lived there yet. Barack Obama was saying that he would bring that back. That equality was his mission, that love was his navigator. I jumped on that bandwagon. I registered for all the groups - I participated in discussion boards - I didn't miss a stump speech - I gave money and asked my friends to do the same - I joined the campaign. I learned as much as I could about this man, with each peice of information, every audio clip, the articles, the interviews . . . with each one, I was more enthralled. And then I heard his stance on gay marriage. And his argument for equality was broken over my head and shattered into peices. He believes in full civil unions - in giving same-sex couples all the rights that are denied to them today by the federal government (all 111 of them) - he believes that we should treat all citizens equally . . . but that we should let churches decide if they should call it a marriage or not. It's still a civil union - unless recognized as a 'marriage' by the church, but it would be recognized as such only by that church - not the federal government - and the heterosexual couples still get to be 'married' no matter if they are married in a United Church of Christ or in a renovated Taco Bell by an Elvis impersonator with a 10-day temporary license. I'm sorry - doesn't seem so equal to me.
I received a bulk email through one of my list serves from the campaign asking me to celebrate equality with Michelle, Barack's wife, as she did something or other for women's rights. I wrote back and let him know that I can't celebrate equality with a man who only celebrates it for some . . . the campaign team sent me this back:


Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting Senator Barack Obama and Obama for America with your
thoughts on LGBT rights. We appreciate hearing from you.

Senator Obama supports economic, social, and legal rights for gays and lesbians.
He supports full civil unions, expanding hate crimes statutes, fighting
discrimination at work and in housing and other places of public accommodation,
and wants to increase adoption rights. He opposes any Constitutional ban on gay
marriage, opposes the Defense of Marriage Act, and opposes the current “Don’t
ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military, which weakens us in a time of
global challenges.

Barack is a global leader in the fight against AIDS. He traveled to Kenya and
took a public HIV test to encourage testing and reduce the stigma of the
disease. In late 2006, Barack Obama worked to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE
Act, one of the largest sources of federal funds for primary health care and
support services for patients with HIV/AIDS.

Senator Obama has consistently supported LGBT rights, and will continue to work
for an open, tolerant society where people of all sexual orientations are
protected and their contributions are valued. Thank you again for writing.


Sincerely,

Obama for America



I'm just glad Kucinich is still in the race . . . I will have someone to vote for that sees equality as a foundational principle - not just for his campaign - but for his life and his persuit of a better America and a better world.

Urban Art

Okay - so for one of my classes we had to say what urban meant to us by telling a movie, tv show, book or song that described how we felt about 'urban.' (That was a really bad sentence, but I'm tired and don't feel like fixing it.) My answers were "You Suck: A Love Story" by Christopher Moore - because when you've been turned into a vampire and you're trying to go unnoticed while searching out a cure in the city, you realize how many people abound and how involved in other peoples' lives you really are. My second choice was "Honey" with Jessica Alba - a dance teacher at an inner city community center making it big and bringing it back to her peeps - Urban Extreme!! My final choice was "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega - it always made me think of the big city when I would hear it growing up . . . you couldn't really observe things happening outside a diner in suburbia - it would just be a lot of people walking in from the parking lot.

So yeah, what movie, book, television show or song defines your outlook of the urban?

Lazy blogging?

This semester sucks. Won't have too much time to blog (I know, I know - what will the three of you do?) - maybe I'll just post all the f-ing papers I have to write over the course of 16 weeks. My classes are all very interesting - Environmental Justice, The Economics of Race, Class and Gender, Urban Environmental Policy and Urban Redevelopment. You think they'd notice if I just did the same papers and projects for all the classes? =) I'm getting a new camera which will be much easier to load pictures onto my lap top - so maybe I'll just keep putting up pictures of my kid - will that keep you around? And I promise at least one pick up line a week. So don't leave me, okay? This isn't a break UP - just a break. And after the LSAT, we will have much to discuss. Like my perfect score. And my vivid imagination. K . . . gotta go.

Why, oh why?

So yeah - had a great time at my second blogger meetup . . . even though I missed Happy Hour!! I mean, not that that stopped me from drinking too much beer, but still . . . could have saved more money for pork sandwiches. I realized that not only am I loud and annoying when I drink - I'm mean, too. Not really, but beer brings out my inner bully. It's kind of liberating . . . and kind of Mel Gibson-y as well. But had a blast - and even though XO didn't save me any booty, I did filch some good items from other bloggers who were drunk enough to either forget their items, bequest them upon me freely, or naively believe I would wear a NASA get up to the next meet up! AS IF!! (Just joking, emaw, it will be fabulous!)

But what sucks is that I didn't meet a lot of the people that were there - as soon as I walked in, I found beer and parked my ass. I'm not a good mingler . . . always feel like I'm interrupting or eavesdropping or something. And I feel bad because I dont know a lot of these peoples' blogs - not because they dont rock, but because I spend too much time stalking the few I like and don't need more obsessions, really - and hate the awkward, "oh, yeah, nice to meet you . . . " I'm really socially inept. But I really enjoyed meeting janet and File Girl and Erin - especially Erin, the hottest pickle in KC - and hanging with old friends The D, emaw, Spyder and Dan. I felt like a porn star last night with eveyone eyeing my boobs (well, boob) and commenting on the size of my tongue. Objectified Blogger, party of one.

Then, after all you lame-o's left - see, mean (and I'm not even drunk!) - I went down to Sharp's and had a fine conversation with a wasted mortgage banker and decided I wasn't ready for the night to end! Went and sang some classic karaoke at Missie B's. All in all, a good night. However, NOT a good night's rest. I'm going to nap. . .

Knock Knock . . . Who's there? . . . Elle . . . Elle who? . . . Elementary School.

Elle turned 5 today . . . I still can't believe it. She starts kindergarten on Thursday. 5 years ago today - actually right now - I got my epidural and I told the anesthesiologist that 'this is the beginning of the end' as he stuck a huge needle that only belongs in nightmares and movies about nightmares in my lower back - and I thanked him!! I meant the whole labor thing, but in truth it was the beginning of the end of my life as I knew it. I have spent my life doing whatever pleases me and whatever I want to do, but now I make decisions with someone else at the helm of my ship. And boy, has it been a lovely ride. I absolutely love kids and they crack me up and amaze me every day - but every morning I wake up and look at my little girl and think, "wow, I created that." She gets so annoyed with me because I laugh at every single thing she does and repeat every single thing she says. I have already cried like 15 times today and she keeps telling me to stop staring at her, but I really can't help it. I love her more than I ever thought possible and she gives me new reasons every day. It has been a great year and I totally look forward to seeing what crazy things she comes up with for this upcoming one . . . I can't wait to meet her friends and watch her interests grow and see all the wonderful things she will learn and I will absolutely miss knowing what she is doing every second of every day and being the coolest person she knows.

Courtesy of Emaw . . .

So, you wanna go to the library and go over these briefs . . . then we'll go back to my place and you can go under mine.

Law School Pick Up Line

Checked my statcounter this morning - haven't really done that since I set it up frankly because I dont understand it and it's a lot of numbers that don't make sense to me, but I had so much fun . . . I have so many hits from people that google stupid shit like . . . how to pick up law school chicks, law school high five, pick up lines for lawyers . . . none of these dumbasses make it past my incredibly-thought-invoking banter to comment or even come back, really, but I'm on the first page for all these searches. So for all you freaks out there who find my page because you want to bang a lawyer - I am here to help you out! "Thanks, Sponge." "That was great, Sponge." "You're the best, Sponge." "My love for you is like diarhhea, Sponge . . . I can't hold it in."

Here goes:


"So, you must have learned a lot in law school - because I got off just by looking at you."

(I'll have to turn all my pickup lines into lawyerly ones so that I keep getting these hits.)

Reason with me, now, will you . . .

1. KC Sponge: 'The Law School Admissions Test, the purpose of which is to gauge a prospective law student's grasp of logic and reasoning and argumentative skill, will be taken in September now that I have registered for it on the LSAC. It will take many hours of study and preparation to achieve a score that would justify my 4 year journey of craziness. A cold beer sits in my refridgerator waiting to fulfill its own destiny as a quencher of thirst and celebration. On one of these last days of leisure before a semester of stress begins, it would be responsible and selfless of me to quench my thirst and celebrate this next step while completing the mission of another's bottled venture. Preparation can wait.'


The sponge’s argument assumes which one of the following?

(A) The sparkling spirits will make the process of preparation much more tolerable and cool and anyway - took the ACT after her first drinking binge in high school and still got a 32, obviously alcohol kills off the disruptive cells in HER brain.

(B) The liberating libations will not grow warm as she is riddled with guilt over this decision and would therefore fall short of the expectations of the barley malt, wheat, water, hops and yeast that have dedicated their existence to provide her this escape from the enormous pressure to be utterly brilliant.

(C) The LSAT literature makes no specific mention of disallowing alcoholic beverages in the testing centers.

(D) The bubbly goodness that breaks up the grease in pizza will also break up the cobwebs in her brain and will therefore not only NOT be a distraction from her studying but a new-found aid in attentive learning.

(E) The time it takes to write a blog post about an asinine decision will not supercede the time it takes for the entire alcohol content of a 12 ounce beer to be sweat out of her system in an 84 degree house, and therefore she will be completely sober and without excuses and ready to study anyway. great.

Remember - there can be more than one correct answer, please choose the MOST correct and provide supporting argument. . . the bestest answerer will be awarded the rest of the beers in my 6 pack - assuming they're not gone before you decide to freakin comment! =)

School starts next week

UUUGGHHH! I hate summer - it always goes by too fast. And this is the longest I've actually been in Kansas City for Hell Season, so you'd think I'd want it to be over as soon as possible, but no . . . I could use a couple more weeks. Thanks.

So, I've been at band camp (yeah, don't ask) the last two weeks in this amazing weather - on black asphalt, nonetheless. I never knew I could sweat so much - and I teach camp outside in South Florida for the summer! - but I'm so glad that it's over. We went and saw DCI Semi-Finals live at the movie theatre after our last day on Thursday and for the first time ever I thought they could turn down the AC in the place. Ewww. But yeah . . .

We drove out to Chicago last weekend to meet my mom for a cousin's wedding we were going to in Madison. It was my daughter's first trip there and OF COURSE we had to go to American Girl to get her a doll for her 5th birthday. I have to admit - I loved it. I grew up being the girliest of the 3 girls in my house and loved dolls and would dress them up and pretend they were my friends and cry when one of my sisters would "hurt" them by throwing them across the room or using them for target practice. I think I did it, too, to have a special 'in' with my grandmother. Ever the suck up . . . But yeah, this place was amazing - while at the same time nauseating. But I'll just write to the amazing part - because at all times I like to hide my hypocrisy.

I was glad that she chose one of the Historic girls and not just the stylin' reproductions of the spoiled kids that will be taking them home. She picked Elizabeth, a girl from 1775 who is mischievous and aspires to be independant and funny at all times. Of course, Elle picked here because of her beautful pink dress and the fact that she was the only doll with earrings. But maybe the books will give her an added interest in Colonial America . . . we'll see.



We also went and saw "Wicked" - or as Elle likes to call it, "Wicked of OZ". It was a fabulous show - the woman who played Elpheba was amazing. I expected more from the choreography and Galinda was kind of annoying (even more so than she ought to be I believe) - and the $8 plastic cup of the absolute worst chardonnay ever left a bad taste in my mouth. But the Ford Theatre there in Chicago is breathtaking and we had the most incredible seats - hopefully Wicked's not there for too much longer so that I can see another show in that space soon. But I hope it's there long enough for you to get your butt down there and see it - but bring your own wine. =) Would have loved to see The Color Purple - playing at the Cadillac Theatre right next to my favorite hotel ever - the Hotel Allegra - tickets were sold out the whole time we were there. And the happy hour I love to crash at Allegra (because I can no longer afford to stay there seeing as how I have sent so much business their way and they have hiked up the price 300%!) was not going on because of some convention. Goodness people - give me a break! But Lollapalooza was in Grant Park and I finally got to enjoy the LED fountains with a kid that was actually little enough to not get stares, I enjoyed my first chocolate-covered strawberry, had my fix of H&M, got a lot of paperwork to send to City Hall to show them how to market their parks department, and didn't even go to a museum and still felt fulfilled as we drove away to Madison for the wedding. That is, until we realized it was 4:30. Bad move.

Oh well - there's about 16 more pages I could write about the last 2 weeks - and maybe I will in the future, but for right now, just thought I'd say it's good to be home. And inside.