SSDD

Hi, I forgot I had a blog!

Dear Diary,

So lots of things have happened since I last wrote to you. Summer ended, fall came, and I am happy to report that the District of Columbia continues to churn out commuters full of ennui, politicians full of shit, and tourists in fanny packs and white socks. On the other hand, I am also happy to report that one can drop a diamond ring on the mall and come back 1.5 hours later and a passerby will pick it up and return it to you (see: My sister, Saturday during peak Tea Bagging protest/tourist wandering). So dreams do come true, Timmy, you just gotta have faith!

What else? As witnessed by my tweets, I attended a football game in Baltimore which was awesome hello even if you don't like football you would have liked to have been tailgating with our "crew" as we had a decent place to eat/drink/hang out/walk to game/watch game/return to car/eat/hang out while one crew member was That Girl Who Throws Up. All in all, a good time. That Girl and I will also be attending the Chiefs/Redskins game in Oct and we have collectively decided that cherry jello shots will not be a part of that event. Lesson learned.

Other things: I will be traveling for the next 1.5 weeks, first to Chicago (which holla I love) and second to California (which I am sort of meh about, but whatever). Both are work trips but I shall be incorporating some 'me time' into the agenda and since I will be in CA for a week, I will attempt to get to the beach this time. This is all presuming that place doesn't burn up or fall off, we are good.

Aside: I had to interview people all day for jobs and here is my advice to the youth of this country: Practice talking in front of a mirror prior to interview and pinch yourself every time you say "um", "like", "you know", and give yourself a double dose when you end a statement with a question mark? Because people who want to take you seriously as a professional? And maybe give you a chance are kind of turned off by that? Because it's annoying? Ah well, we're all trying to get along in this gdamn world so I understand that it's hard out there for a pee eye em pee but you know, this city is ruthless and you gotta convince people you know what you're talking about even when you don't. That is how 3/4 of all fed workers got their jobs, trust.

Alright, diary, I am done with you except to finally say that we both mourn our high school innocence with the passing of Patrick Swayze given that some of us went to see Dirty Dancing like, um five times in a row? Because, you know, all your friends wanted to go and watch the log scene again? Ah youth..

Take me to the riot

Holla. So let's see, Christmas happened. And then the New Year came/went. I made a resolution to bitch less and as a result, I have nothing to left to say! Heh. Actually, things are ok, I am staying positive, all is well etc etc.

I will say, though, that I am getting a little concerned by what are in essence dire warnings from the DC peeps about THE HUGE CROWDS EXPECTED and how public transportation will be AT CRUSHING LEVELS and the city will be in virtual GRIDLOCK ROADS CLOSED TRAINS PACKED and how people should expect to STAND FOR 8 HOURS SHOULDER TO SHOULDER with other people. ps. TAINTED MILK! And so on, along those lines. Every day the papers/radio/internets around here have inauguration updates and planning tips (e.g., "Uh, yeah, you probably don't want to leave your house, sorry" - DC Metro).

ETA: For those that think I'm exaggerating about TAINTED MILK!, here is a link to download the 9 page press release entitled: 2009 Presidential Inaugural Law Enforcement and Public Safety Public Affairs Subcommittee Announces Joint Transportation Plan which details road closures and warnings about taking your babies or grandmas to the event.

Having never been in this city for such an event, I am already prepared for the worst. The good thing is that they are giving us Inaug day off, which hello, if people actually had to commute into work you might as well forget it. So my particular plan is to lay in about four days worth of provisions next Friday and hunker down. Thus, as much as I love people and being in huge crowds and jammed on trains and forced to touch strangers, I will be passing on attending any of these historic events. Sorry, you will not be receiving any Twits from me on the frontlines reporting on Sasha's pigtails or Joe B's facelift.

As an aside, yesterday, WTOP online reported on the girls' first day of school and this was an actual sentence in the news: "Sasha was carrying a pink Trans backpack by Jansport and wore a brown coat and her hair in pigtails". Now those kids are dang cute, but wha?? If this town is so giddy and in love with the Obamas, why don't they marry them? Ah, it's ok, after 8 years of hell, even a pink Jansport looks a little like heaven. It's kind of cute the way people are here, they almost seem..dare I say, happy? I have even heard laughter on the Metro of late. Actual human sounds signaling happiness. No one makes a peep on those trains usually. Yeah, it's weird. Oh well, it's a New Year and people are allowed to hope/change/be happy. I know I have signed up for that myself.

So yes, aside from work and attempting to engage in life a bit more, that's what's been going on here. Good times, good times..

Oh and one more thing, I am clearly more in touch with my feelings than normal because this video makes me want to shed a wee tear and find my own elephant:



Goodnight!

Live long and prosper

This morning on the plane, I sat right behind this man:



(No, the one on the right)

His eyebrows gave him away. But unfortunately, I could only discreetly capture the below image of your hero:



You can rest easy now, America. The hair is indeed his own.

Why does she get to have all the fun?

Well hello there, abuelitas. What up?

I have not too much to report in general, but will summarize a few key points regarding my life, this planet, and everything else of late:

1. I just got off the phone with my dad in Indiana. Among the many things we discussed (e.g., the lake being dredged, painting the bathroom, bedding down the flowers for winter, my cuckcoo clock (that he bought me), donating items for the new historical society depot, what are my plans for thanksgiving (I am going back home for a few days and he has signed me up for a $50 Texas Hold'Em buy-in game on Sat already), visiting the VFW in my old small town, and his plans to go to one of those new fangled flu shot drive-through windows he saw advertised), we talked about politics a bit. Personally, I can hardly believe IN is deadlocked at the moment and even more so, I am amazed that my dad plans to vote for Obama. Amazed for many many reasons having to do with my dad and his age and Indiana and various and sundry other issues (read: racism), but there you go. His main argument though is that he doesn't think that an old guy like McCain can clean up the mess that the damn Republicans put us in and that it's going to require a young guy. Whatever works, I say.

2. I have a cold which I am pretending not to have and which made me hunker down in my apt last night. But here is the great thing about last night in my apartment: Not a single trick or treater! You know how I feel about Halloween so was thrilled with the fact that I did not have to leave my place of residence to avoid the hobgoblins.

3. On Thurs, I sat through a government agency awards ceremony for which Robotech received one such award. I came away with the impression that there exists an Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Assistant Commissioner of the Office of the Assistant Deputy Director of the Secretary of a Cabinet Level Agency. Yay, bureaucracy!

4. My friends back home have not forgotten me. They texted me all last night telling of the adventures of a small cardboard cutout of me that they made by gluing a picture of my face on it and have placed me upon a stick. They made several of these and they pull out Cardboard Me at various/sundry events and take pictures of me doing (often naughty) things with people, animals, and objects. Aww, isn't that sweet? Apparently, they lost the one of me in blond wig one winter night last year while out drinking - she was the Jezebel whore of the bunch so god knows what she's doing with some stranger as we speak.

When I was back there in Sept for a wedding, my strai friend A (who keeps CB me in a potted plant or a cup full of pens most of the time) insisted that I take pictures with myself, one of which was very very wrong on many levels. Placing my tongue upon my own cardboard breasts = kinky! Good times, good times..

ETA: Here I am holding myself which is weird to say:



ETA2: My friend sent me a picture from Fri night where I apparently was enjoying a little beer with my chili -- I assume things got steamer as the night wore on. I was probably tucked into the bosom of a hooker or the asscrack of a go-go boy by night's end.




5. FYI - still in love with a hockey-loving eh-saying dark sexy soft Canadian drummer!

That is all, good day to you and don't forget to vote for the young guy on Tues!

8 = my favorite number FYI

So I just got back from the state of California, such a lovely place...

Much like other states in this country, I feel like it's a very nice place to visit though I am not entirely sold on living there. I say the same about DC. However, I like the idea of it being perpetually spring/summer/fall for the most part and honestly, the Pacific is nothing one can complain about. So all in all, CA is OK with me. And hello, LL Cool J = mmm, I don't think so.

So soon enough, there are elections and whatnots going on. I am preaching to the choir of course, but if I were to marry anything (which I probably would not in general, but hey, I do not begrudge others), it would be:

1. my Blackberry
2. a field in KS or
3. possibly one of my two favor-ite blogger galfriends, Ms. Dorothy Snarker - Euchre player and fellow hoosier and Win - my favorite late night poet.

The other 6 girls I am sure are cool too, so support a good cause and check out the below. Seriously - smoke 'em if you got 'em, marry 'em if you want.

President of Dumb City

Hey, remember when I went to the White House for bunch and whatnot? Well the pictures finally arrived of me and your favorite cartoon character. Apparently it takes about 2 months of planning for the WH to devise an exit strategy for digital publicity glad-handing photos.

Unfortunately, I had to take a pix of a pix with my blurry blackberry camera b/c I lost the connector to my camera in the Great Cord Loss of 08. Anyway, you get the picture (get it?):



Oh, and here is a picture taken sometime on Saturday of this weekend when I pulled a marathon session at the B.Porter building. It's a blurry view of DC from downstairs right after a pretty awesome thunderstorm had moved through. I only happened to notice that there was actually weather that day because I took a minute to go buy caffeine to get me through something very tedious with someone very annoying.But enough bawlbabying, it ain't no big thang, I'm still slow-walking on the Metro and breathing deep. Yeah, that's how I roll.

Memorial day

So, briefly, I have an invite to the WH tomorrow to attend the goings on with my stepmom. She's in town from Indiana for the whole wreath laying thing and I will be going with her if for no other reason than to see the inside of the WH (and of course, honor those who died). I personally sacrificed my mental health braving the monuments and the crowds with her today so in some small way, I feel like I've paid a price too.

He Who Must Not Be Named will be there since I guess technically he's still semi-relevant for such things. I trust that he will not actually talk to me given that any response I would have would get me tossed out. I'll certainly report back on the details if they prove interesting enough. I'm not going to pass up this kind of opportunity just b/c I'm not happy (understatement) with the current tenant. I mean hello, I gotta scout out my office for when Hills makes her improbable comeback.

I can feel your jealousy from here. Do not deny such things.

ETA: So here are a few pix I took with my phone from this morning. Frankly, I was kind of suspicious that the invite was even legit when my stepmom told me about it so once we made it past the east gate on to the grounds of the WH, I was like ok, roll with it, you know? And then there was this huge spread for breakfast in the dining room, it was quite surreal. I had some fresh berries and cream under that pix of Abe. Crazy. Like who does that except the visiting head of state of Whereverland.

(Aside: All the rooms were decorated in a style I like to call Tacky Old Splendor. In the dining room, there were crushed gold velvet curtains that, in a pinch, one could fashion into Scarlet O'Hara/Carol Burnett. Lots of old pictures and knick knacks, none of which were small enough to fit in my pocket, not that I would ever consider pilfering of course hello)

And then, we all stood in line (there were about 100 or so various/sundry guests) and each had our picture taken with GWB. I know, I know, but it was hard to turn down the chance. Dance with the devil, I say. My stepmom asked if he was going to have a long day (b/c you know, he barely runs the country anymore so what does he do) and he jokingly said to ask him that at 9pm tonight and I said 'yeah, I read that was your bedtime' and he laughed. If he weren't a potential war criminal, he'd be a kinda fun guy maybe.

We all then got escorted out to Arlington Cem and sat in the sun for the ceremony to honor those who have died fighting. It was hard to be there listening to him talk while feeling that he is responsible for 4000+ of them in Iraq. Lots of ambivalence this morning to be sure.

Anyway, here are a few pix:

This one is looking out the window of the WH towards Constitution Ave, where if you were a tourist, you'd look through the gates up at the house. You can see the curve and columns of the front:



Bill was hanging out in an entry way near the orange juice and coffee:



Hill, on the other hand, was downstairs in a hallway right near the women's restroom, hmmm:



Laura was at the ceremony, sitting on the far right. Her face never moved, I kept checking:



He Who Shall Not Be Named:



We got an official proclamation souvenir and I got an unofficial souvenir - a White House restroom paper hand drying towel. Yes, it came to that, I have no shame:



When we are mailed our copies of photos with GWB, I shall share that with you - that's really the money shot, is it not?

So there you go, a run down of my morning. I didn't take as many pix as I could have but you know, gotta live in the moment. Hopefully next time I'm in the WH, we'll all be more excited about the occupant, yes?

HRC

FYI, last night I had a dream where I was campaigning for Hillary and I was kind of in an advisory role. As I am wont to do. She was awesome. She also hit on me. As she is probably wont to do. So I called her a scalawag. Yes, I actually called Hillary Clinton a scalawag...for trying to get me in bed in my dream. She just gave me a rogue-ish grin and said she had to go win Ohio or this was all over. I wished her luck and told her win one for the ladies. The end.

ps. I'd so totally hit that, btw.

outer loop closed, inner loop open

Well, I braved the ominous ICE STORM WARNING to vote for Hillary tonight after work. It most definitely is bad out and apparently, people have been stuck on some highways not moving for hours. I'm going to assess tomorrow whether I will "work from home". It didn't take me that long to get home (unlike the great 3 Hour Commute of 07) and I am not one to bitch too much about the weather. I reserve my wrath for people who can't deal with it. In fact, I am a long time Weather Channel geek and it's been awhile since I posted a radar picture. Consider it done.



And with that, I am going to make a vodka tonic and shake off this long day off. Way way too much "negotiating the impossible" going on this week. By the end of it, I may be reduced to but a shell, wrung of all ability to empathize and/or communicate with other human beings. I'm already practicing my new piece of advice: You are on your own, tiny dancer, shine on or fade out.

The Summer of Our Discontent

Man, this whole work thing is putting a cramp in my blogga.

Some quick housekeeping: My 20th high school reunion was, in two words, scary and fascinating. Only one perm spotted and a mullet thrown in for good measure. Speaking of the Metro (which I wasn't but will now for my one allotted Metro-bitch a week), I have found that the ragtime sounds of Squirrel Nut Zipper melt away the misery of the afternoon commute. Try it next time you are crammed into a red line car between Metro Center and Gallery Place with 300 of your closest friends in the summertime heat. Additionally, I thought I saw Chamique Holdsclaw riding the green line. For many reasons, I quickly decided that this was highly unlikely. Speaking of the WNBA, I will be attending the All-Star game in a couple of weeks because you know, Sue and LJ requested I be there (they always play better when I'm in the stands, what can I say). Finally, I cannot wait for the fucking weekend.

Now, a couple of you know this next bit, but really, what's the point in having a blog if you can't tell the whole world (ok, those 3 people from Iran, Nebraska, and Sri Lanka who regularly read this thing)? So as you may know, I moved out here with The Agent because she took a transfer. Remember how much I bitched? Yeah. Well, you know, sometimes when you have a big life change, things change big. For a variety of reasons that were present before and after this whole move, The Agent and I have separated. But of course, like good lesbians, we're still friends. So now we start the process of dividing all that shit that we moved out here. Good times! It's going to take a bit, I'll be looking for a place closer to this new job, etc etc. See, if you're going to break up with someone, wait until you've moved across country with them because it's so much more fun/easy. And then you can hear your friends/acquaintances/strangers say variations on a theme of why did you move in the first place/why didn't you break up before now/I knew this would happen/what are you going to do now. That's almost as fun. It could be worse though, I know. We're lucky in that this has been amicable.

So what am I going to do now? Well, I'm going to stay for a while and work and try to enjoy living here for a bit. Despite my reservations about this whole place, it's good to challenge oneself a bit and see how it goes. I know I won't be staying here forever, too many people and too much concrete, but while I'm here and have a good (if not my dream) job, I'm going to suck it up and be a good soldier. There are lots of great things here to do/see and when Hillary is president, she'll probably want to call on my services. I'm kind of her go-to gal, so you know, that's how we roll. Holla.

Secretary of Oh Who Gives a Shit

Aye. So I'm just going to do a brain-dump, it's been a day.

1. I saw Bette Porter yesterday in my building. There's an atrium-y lobby area and there she was, all power-suit and high heels. Actually, I've seen a bunch of Bette Porters out and about. This is not a bad thing.

2. I have sadly started recognizing fellow Metro commuters. Today, I saw Tall Asian Guy Who Cinches His iPod Headphones All Up Tight Under His Neck again on one leg of my commute. One other Metro thing: I have never been one of those germ people who get all freaked out about touching stuff in public places. I have now become one of those germ people who get all freaked out about touching stuff in public places and who now carries anti-bacterial hand sanitizer in her purse.

3. I saw my first political person of note here. We had a meeting downtown at one of those concrete buildings. One of GWB's Cabinet members was leaving with his Secret Service guy so we passed by each other in the lobby. What is sad is that this Secretary of X was so unrecognizable, I would not have even noticed if I hadn't seen the security guy and been in the building with his picture on the wall. Now, if it had been Clinton's Secretary of X, I would have been all excited b/c I liked that person. Instead, I'm all like, oh, what's his name again? p.s. I don't know if this is true in all buildings and was done in previous admins, but Cheney's sneering mug is up on the wall too with the pres. I will also note that his eyes followed me like a preternaturally evil creature of the night.

4. I was looking forward to coming home to mow the grass tonight so I could pretend I was somewhere else where grass grows and millions of other people do not exist, but alas, it rained. So instead, I am opening a beer. I had some friends in town the last two nights and didn't get back home until late both times and so I am worn. This whole working business is hard. Glad to have a job of course, not complaining, just saying. Plus also I have a pinched nerve/huge knot in my shoulder/neck that is making me cranky and sore and therefore less tolerant of the bullshit traffic on 95 and crammed metro cars. Oh man, I hope this blog doesn't turn into me bitching about the Metro all the time, how boring/unoriginal would that be? I resolve to keep my Metro-bitch down to a dull roar and/or once per week.

5. Back to IN this weekend for a quick trip and that whole reunion thing. It will either be entertaining and/or scary and/or sad. If anyone still has their 80's perm, I will report back with pictures.

6. It is June. And the solstice. So a long long day in a long long month.

7. The sky tonight, around 6ish, looked really cool with the storm clouds moving in. Did you get a chance to see it?

That's all I think. Have a good one...

Irony Still Lives

It occurred to me that if Jerry Falwell were alive to discuss the circumstances of his death on the Sunday morning talk show circuit, he'd inevitably blame us lesbians and feminists and Tinky Winky for killing him.

B + S

I would like to remark upon the absurdity of last night. While flipping through the channels, I stopped on 20/20 to see Perez Hilton whining about Nicole Richie and celebrities and gossip blah blah and just as he was going to tell a story about Nicole berating him in a coffee shop, Elizabeth Vargas comes in to tell us that the puppet gov in Iraq has hanged Saddam and Jim, can you tell us who might have pulled the actual lever and I understand it was videotaped, Elizabeth, but no word on whether it will be broadcast. I shall ask a simple and judiciously chosen rhetorical question: What kind of crazy fucked up world are we living in when in one breath the public discourse is on how often Britney Spears' cooch is exposed for all the world to see and in the next, we are discussing whether it will be possible to watch a human being (albeit one of "evil axis" status) as he is being hanged and dies?

I mean, literally, what the fuck?? I just...the mind, it boggles.

They do

Tomorrow (Sat) I am going to a very casual commitment/marriage ceremony for two young lesbian friends of mine. They're doing a simple exchange of vow type thing tomorrow and then having a blow-out party on New Years Eve. M is the cutest little pastry chef ever and makes the most delicious pumpkin cheesecake - she is quite funny and we laugh and laugh. Her gf is very cool and laid back. They work well together so it's nice to see. Of course, since this is the Ruby Red State, there is no legal recognition, but no reason for that to stop anyone, I say. They plan to have it at a park downtown where they shared their first joint together. Awwww, how sweet! Those crazy kids! I'm really happy for them.

Also, one of my ex-gfs is getting married married in Mass next March. Of the legal variety. We laughed at the fact that they had even hired an actual wedding planner. I met her gf when I visited them this past May and loved her. Both of them are doctors who met in med school and are living this crazy busy life in this tiny apartment in Boston but man, are they happy. Yay for them! We're definitely going and I'm excited.

So all these gay weddings. And the whole gay marriage thing. You know, I definitely think it should be universally legal in every state. I want that as an option and I want all the rights and benefits that other people are able to have. Simple equality and all that business. We all know the politics involved etc etc. But you know what? I want marriage as an option, but I don't think I would ever get married. Personally, it just would not be something I would do. I don't know. I understand the whole 'we don't need a piece of paper' excuse people make - I've used it myself -but sometimes, I think that's just a cop out. Am I leery of that kind of legal entanglement? Yes. Afraid of making such a big commitment? Maybe. Child of divorce? You bet! I say if you've got commitment issues, you buck up and admit them. But hello, that's what therapy is for, and after you get your shit together, you should damn well have the option to follow through and fly or fail at that whole marriage thing, gay or straight.

You know, it's really only a matter of time, you can't stop progress. I mean, come on, if New Jersey has the right idea, how far can the rest of us be behind? Hoboken or bust, baby!

He stopped loving her today

Randomly found out on the Internets

Like grass growing

Am I the only dork watching the returns tonight?

I am cautiously optimistic, but then again, I was the same way in 1994. And 1996. And 2000. We shall see, I hate to get all upbeat and then be beaten down by the public's tolerance for bullshit and hypocrisy.

So I voted in our new place today since we moved recently and are now out in what they call a township and that means we voted in the break room of a volunteer fire department located on N 1100 Rd. And by break room, I am being generous. It was..quaint. And the 3 little old ladies were right in the middle of lunch and were happy to have company. I was the 278th person to vote and they said they were doing brisk business.

Prior to voting, however, I was being given a tour of my friend's family goat farm. Yes, civic duty and goat shit go well together. My friend J and I went camping on her family's property last night (it was an awesome night to go, warmish temps and fullish moon and then fog rolling in) and on the way home, we stopped at the barn to admire her dad's new money making crop. I found out that a Wither goat is a little male goat who has had his set of "hanging chads" banded and that said chads eventually "wither" away and fall off. I didn't ask there were any withered bits amid the goat shit, I didn't want to know. Did you know that the way to tell which goats have been impregnated by the Billy is by having the Billy wear a harness on his chest that contains colored powder? Then all you need to do is look at the Nannies and see which ones got lucky by whether they're marked on their back end. It's like a Rural Rainbow Party! Good times, good times...

That's all I got except they just predicted the Dems to win the House. Maybe all those damn Withers in Congress will grow a set back and do some actual checking and balancing. Too bad it's too little too late.

Do I make you horny?

I couldn't resist, it's so wrong, it's right! From monagrrl's blog, Lively Writhing:



and finally, this Foley-page video re-enactment is HI-larious*!


*note: Pedophilia is never a laughing matter, what is wrong with you people?? But Republican scandals? Always funny!

Habeus Corpus

p.s. I forgot to mention that I had a wacky dream last night where I was hanging out with the Supreme Court justices and I was talking to Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It went something like this: "Your honor, how does it feel not having another woman on the court, didn't you hang with Justice O'Connor? I can't imagine having to spend time with Scalia, how do you do it?" Unfortunately, I don't recall her answers before we all had to hike up this steep narrow hill at the top of which was a very small hatch door going up into some room. Very claustrophobic. The end.

Gay = happy!

This is how it rolls out here in Kansas. Tell me you're jealous, how much you wish you lived here...


Rainbow flag draws protests in Meade

MEADE, Kan. (AP) - A 12-year-old's gift to his parents -- a brightly colored flag that he said reminded him of Kansas and the Wizard of Oz -- has spawned one of the biggest controversies to hit this town of 1,600 people in a long time.


On Sunday, Police Chief Loren Borger, his colleagues and 16 troopers from the Kansas Highway Patrol kept an eye on protests over the rainbow-colored nylon banner that J.R. and Robin Knight decided to fly on the flagpole in front of their business, the Lakeway Hotel.


Townspeople gathered on downtown corners with their video cameras Sunday morning to watch as members of a Topeka-based church _ whose protests of funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq spawned restrictive legislation in a number of states _ picketed the hotel because of the flag and five local churches for not doing enough to keep it from flying in their town.


While the flag reminded the Knights' young son of Dorothy and Toto, it's also recognized as a symbol of gay pride. Robin Knight said she and her husband didn't put the flag up to make a political statement, but rather because "it has pretty colors, it's bright, it's summery."


Soon after the flag went up, the local newspaper ran a picture of the banner on its front page, noting its significance in the gay community. Afterward, someone threw two bricks at the bed and breakfast, one of which broke through a window and destroyed two neon signs.


When someone cut the flag down, the Knights ordered two more and said they'll buy even more if they have to.


On Sunday, as the daughter of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps protested with 10 of her 11 children, three brothers and two sisters, onlookers shook their heads at the spectacle.


"It's just not right," said Suzan Seybert, a 30-year resident of the southwest Kansas community, as she watched Shirley Phelps-Roper's children chanting about homosexuals burning in hell. "I think it's despicable to start to teach your children at such a young age the word 'hate'. It's just the worst thing you can do."


Mike Thompson, who teaches a class at Colby Community College on the sociology of discrimination, brought some of his students to see the protests. Among them was Kati Near, who grew up in Meade.


"I think a lot of people think we're all just a bunch of bigots," she said, adding that she was embarrassed by what was going on in her hometown.


From the balcony off the honeymoon suite of his bed and breakfast, J.R. Knight blared music such as Starship's "Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now." Nearby, in the Lakeway's parking lot, a car's bumper sticker read, "Kansas: As bigoted as you think," which is a play on the state's "As big as you think" motto.


Robin Knight said earlier this month that the anger spawned by the colorful flag has strengthened the family's resolve to keep the banner flying, noting that caving in to the pressure would send the wrong message to her son.


"It's our business," she said. "It shouldn't be dictated by other people.

Viva la Revolution!

Here is a picture my French friend sent to me of the marches that are occuring in her city (and in which she is participating). When she was staying with me several years ago, we took her to a peace rally here (it was right before the war in Iraq) and on the same day, there was a smaller rally at the statehouse to decriminalize same-sex sex (of course, we were eventually helped with the Supreme Court ruling shortly thereafter). Anyway, my French friend on one of her first days in the country was in a picture on the front page of our local newpaper marching with us. Apparently, the current protests over there are quite larger than is reported; she hasn't worked for 3 weeks en solidarite'. She's my little Revolutionary resistance fighter and I couldn't be more proud.