Got to see two of my three sisters and their kids.  Oddly since I came out of the closet I think I’m more in contact with family than before.  Though from Jeffrey’s point of view I’m still barely on speaking terms.  He talks to various members of his family on a weekly basis at least, while my family sends the occasional email or text message.  We’ve always been pretty loose knit I guess.  I think some of that is because when we grew up long-distance calls were expensive and a call to grandparents was timed and mom was hovering nearby to make sure the conversation moved along.  Sending a letter through the mail was the typical way of spreading news.  Most of Jeffrey’s family live in California and are still there, so he grew up seeing everyone face to face on a regular basis and most probably a local phone call away.

Jeffrey has mandated we are visiting my family at least twice a year.  I know we’ll be going out in August for a niece’s wedding, so that’s the two visits for this year.  :)  Jeffrey loved seeing South Dakota and thought we should think about moving there.  While it is a wonderful place, I don’t think he realizes just how little there is to do.  I tried explaining there is a reason even the smallest town has at least one bar and a town like Madison probably has a dozen bars.  I don’t think he’d be happy very long, but it might be worth a try someday.

I’d like to take him out the Badlands and Black Hills for his birthday this year which I think he’d really enjoy.

I don’t think anyone would deny that laws against sexual predators are a bad thing, but in Uganda’s situation they are singling out gays.  What are their laws for sexual predators that prey on the opposite sex?  There are a lot more predators that hunt members of the opposite sex than same sex.  Also in a country like Uganda where corruption is rampant, a law that encourages people to turn in gays and penalizes someone for giving comfort to a gay is ripe for abuse.  Have neighbor you don’t like?  Accuse them of being gay, helping a gay or sexually abusing a kid.

No one can make the people of countries like Uganda like gays and no one is trying really.  I just don’t want them executing someone for being gay.

On a lighter note we watched ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ with Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving.’  This is a fun movie, a bit different than what I usually watch, ie no explosions.  I’m no clothes horse by any stretch of the imagination, if it’s black and comfortable it’s probably good enough to wear.  But after watching the movie I wonder about black sequins sometimes now and maybe dressing a tad more fabulously, still in black though.  :-)

Generally I know better than to buy based on price.  When I buy something I usually go for quality and pay more because it’s really cheaper that way.  A pair of Red Wing boots for $80 I purchased back in the 1980′s still are in good shape.  I just get them resoled periodically.  That’s how rich people stay rich, they buy shoes that last a lifetime and just resole them every few years.

While the story is about the journey the father and son are making to someplace hopefully warmer, really it the backdrop of a world without life that is important.  No sunlight means no plant-life which means no animal life and eventually no human life.

It would be interesting to jump ahead to when the ash has settled and the sun is shining again and the seeds that are dormant in the ground have started to sprout to see what happens to the Earth then.

The kitchen is starting to be a lot more functional, though we really need more shelf space.  It’s very nice having a meal ready when I get home from work.  I think I’ve eaten more vegetables in the last two weeks than in the whole rest of year and I’m in serious danger of destabilizing my body’s internal chemistry.   I’ll enjoy it though while I can.  Once he’s working full-time it’ll probably be back to Grape Nuts for dinner.

There is a lot to do this weekend of course and being back to work full-time has really cut into my free-time for projects.  At least now Jeffrey and I can work together on stuff and get more done than I could alone.  Definitely no regrets here about having someone to share life with.

On the down side I had to go to the ER last Saturday because I though I was having a stroke.  The left side of my face quit working, though fortunately it turned out to Bell’s Palsy and not a stroke, but it was scary though.  I am still symptomatic and probably will be for a few more weeks and I am adjusting.   I can’t blink or completely close my left eye and because there is little muscle tension in the left side of my face chewing is annoying because food tends to accumulate in my cheek.  I guess it can last for several weeks so I’m just being patient.

Kalamazoo Michigan did vote to expand gay rights by a wide margin.  Not marriage of course but I still congratulate and thank them for what they did.

Washington state’s referendum 71 looks like it passed giving gays there everything but marriage.  Narrowly and we won’t know for sure for a few more days but again thank you to the citizens of Washington.  What was passed in Washington is exactly what I’d want from the state government.  All the rights that a state can confer to it citizens in a committed relationship.  This law was for gay and straight couples.

A number of GLBT people were elected to various political offices.  Yay!  Even in Texas the new mayor of Houston might be a lesbian.  She is in a runoff vote since no one got the majority.  In Texas even making it that far is amazing.

Sigh back to Maine.  According to the polls it should have been a lot closer, but people probably lied to the pollsters about how they would vote.  When talking to a real person on the phone they are ashamed to be voting against gay marriage because they know that it means they are bigots, but since the ballot is secret they can be as discriminatory as they want without worrying about anyone knowing.  That sort of hypocrisy really bothers me.  Another thing that really bothers me is the total dead silence from the Federal government.  Not a word of support to either side before the vote and total indifference to the results.  Obama in particular has said over and over that he would be a strong advocate for gays.  At least with Bush we knew he hated us and would not support anything that improved the lives of gays and he never lied about his stance.  Obama on the other hand I have to say has lied to the gay community every time he has talked to us.  Obama certainly has not been an advocate for us.  Scott Fish, a spokesman for Stand for Marriage Maine, said the campaign had never been anti-gay.  Mr. Fish there is no other way to spin it.  Repealing the gay marriage law was anti-gay.  You and everyone who voted ‘Yes’ is anti-gay.  There is no other interpretation.  Period.

I wonder if Obama would sign into law Federal recognition of gay marriage?  I would bet every penny I pay in taxes that he wouldn’t.

It’s going to be very very close and I have my fingers crossed.