Support UAFA

More on the gay marriage front. Pro prop-8 people are trying to counter the grass-roots, knock-on-doors program that gay marriage supporters have been running. They could use some extra money to combat haters all over the country. Donate here, if you can.

**An aside: Major prop 8 proponent, Doug Manchester, files for divorce.

Major immigration reform bill getting ready. Please send an email to your Congress-person to allow bi-national same-sex couples the same immigration benefits as straight people.

Shopping

Wow. Lots of shopping this weekend. Picked up this couch this weekend.




Also bought a mattress, platform bedframe that I am hoping I don't kill my shin on, and a tv stand thingie that weighs a thousand pounds. All these things are getting delivered tomorrow, as well as pilots getting lit for the water heater, which I mistakenly assumed would be easy to light. A burned finger later, screw that, gas people come and do it for me.

Accomplished: cleaned house, turned on water and garbage

Still to do: assemble furniture (tomorrow evening). Find a TV that I like (and buy it). Build extra closet rod. Get rid of more stuff.

All in all, house moving is coming into place, and I should be 95% done by Friday. Yay.

Obama on DOMA

Obama filed a defense of DOMA brief today (and what a great anniversary present for Loving v. Virginia). I'm no lawyer, so I don't really know what the hell is going on, but the gist I'm getting is this:

Gay people don't have the same rights as straight people because there's no constitutional right to be gay.

What do you do in a two-party system where neither candidate is appealing to you? I suppose you vote for the least noxious of the two. I have to admit being, thus far, pretty disappointed with Obama. Actually, really disappointed. Surprisingly, I have been really stoked about our Secretary of State.

I suppose I will have to vote for Obama again next election cycle, but I won't take any of his platforms seriously - and I'll just hope that he's better than any Republican candidate going up against him. Maybe I'll have to cast my vote Libertarian.

Bad Day at Work: Installment #1

Yesterday was my first *truly* bad day at work. It started out well enough, was interrupted by an appointment at the doc, and then got *really* bad. One of the teams that I work with frequently has a tendency to ask our group for things on *really* short notice (like, can we have x right now), which disrupts a) our current work in progress and b) our release schedule. They pulled one of these yesterday, but based on feedback from myself and another one of the other teammates in my department, we asked for an executive call from our boss.

Our boss told us to hold off until he could talk to the manager of the group (left him a voicemail on his phone) and then went to a meeting. About 15 minutes later, the manager of the group came into our office and declared something along the lines of: "I don't care what said, I want this out now. I don't want to talk about it anymore with anyone. Just do it." And then he left.

1. This guy has no authority *whatsoever* to issue this type of dictate to the people in our group
2. I've had run-ins with this guy previously, but have *really* been accommodating, polite, and respectful to him
3. Who the fuck does he think he is?

As a compromise between us and the product manager for this group (who I have a good working relationship with), I put the changes up in our staging environment so their QA could start testing while we waited for the big dogs to fight it out. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed.

When my boss got back, I spoke to him (quietly), related what had happened, and told him that if that pompous motherfucker ever talked to me like that again, I would punch him in the fucking mouth. Then I packed up my stuff and went home.

I turned off my phone, killed my email, and had a blissful entire night of non-work. I realized, on the drive home, that I probably should have censored myself a bit before talking to my boss, but I'm pretty sure I hit the point home.

This morning, an apology email was in my inbox. Wonder of wonders. Don't let me wax poetic about *most* graduates of a certain university that seems to pump assholes like this every goddamn day. I swear, they have a required course study for all graduates in Asshole.

Rachel Maddow on Dr. Tiller

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Rachel Maddow. You rule.

Uniting American Families Act

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held their first ever hearings on the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) that will amend existing immigration laws to grant same-sex partners of US citizens the same immigration rights as heterosexual couples.

There were two dissenting opinions shared in the hearing. One was just a knee-jerk "America has too many immigrants" response that I *knew* would surface, and the other was actually thought-provoking, arguing instead that this legislation was superfluous, if DOMA is repealed (this is true). That being said, a potential repeal of DOMA must also be coupled with individual states granting same-sex marriages in order for bi-national couples to stay together. It also said that the potential for abuse of the system was much higher, because of the non-standardization of same-sex recognition across the country (also true, but no fault of same-sex couples). I was particularly disturbed that the testimony of this particular person referenced a bi-national marriage gone wrong, as a reason NOT to allow same-sex immigration benefits. I couldn't see the logic in that.

Doubtful that this will be passed this time around, but it's always good to hope.

Musings on the CA Supreme Court Ruling

So, a setback from the CA Supreme Court. It wasn't ever likely that they would overturn prop 8 - there wasn't a legal precedent to do it, and that's where the crux of the matter was. Am I surprised? No. Disappointed, slightly, but I had always assumed that this matter would be decided at the ballot box, which has a whole other set of issues regarding my freedom (or lack thereof) to decide my marital status with a consenting adult of either sex.

I expect serious movement on the marriage issue - I expect to see it at the ballot box next year during our election cycle. I *hope* public opinion on this issue will shift, given the *remarkably* different strategies the pro-gay marriage teams are utilizing, particularly the geographic shift of campaigning away from major urban areas (LA, SF) and the positive outreach to the faith communities.

That being said, and given my current situation, if the as-of-yet nonexisting ballot pro doesn't materialize, or loses at the ballot box *and* DOMA gets repealed, I have to say that I will HEAVILY consider moving out of state. Probably more than heavily consider. If that is my only option, I will almost certainly move out of CA to another state that allows gay marriage. (This is also assuming that UAFA *doesn't* make it through the legislative gauntlet in that time period, which it almost certainly will not.)

2010. Just a year away.

Update on Hundred Pushup Challenge

Firstly, it's a minor miracle that I haven't torn a rotator cuff. If you're planning on doing this, you really, really need to listen to your body while you're doing it, and if your rotator cuff hurts, stop, and give your body a rest.

I had to take a week off because of a bad strep case, and I basically lost two weeks and one column off of my performance. I couldn't make it through today's set list in one go - and split it up by about an hour. Still, I made it through all 9 sets, and got the last set out with hardly any problem at all.

Set 1 AND 2: 20
Set 3 AND 4: 23
Set 5 AND 6: 20
Set 7 AND 8: 18
Set 9: 53

Total: 215

Holy crapwits, Batman!

Hundred Pushup Challenge Update

2nd day, week 5.

Set 1&2: 19

Set 3&4: 22

Set 5&6: 18

Set 4: 22

Set 5: 45

The last set was hard, and pushed me to the edge of exhaustion.  I collapsed on the floor and lay panting for a good minute.  It hurts to type.

Edit:

I screwed this up.  I was supposed to do two sets each in what was previously set 1, 2, and 3.  I went back and re-did them, for a total of 185.  There was NO WAY that I was going to be able to do the last set, if I had done this correctly.  NO.  WAY.  Even with the Rocky theme song playing in the background.  (Which it does, every day we do this.)

Hundred Pushup Challenge

Shortly after I started my new job, my boss accepted the hundred pushup challenge against another department.  We are currently on Week 3, but my initial test pushed me (for week 1) to the Week 3.  So although we are only in our third participating week, I'm on the proscriped Week 5 regimen.  Today, the workout consisted of:

Set 1: 36 

Set 2: 40

Set 3: 30

Set 4: 24

Set 5: 40

I took another status test on Saturday.  The initial test (before Week 1), I maxed out at 21.  On Saturday, I maxed at 50.  Looks like I'll be on track to 100 consecutive pushups by our sixth participating week, no problem.  I need to be on track to increase by 25 pushups by the end of the week, even though there are no status tests until two weeks hence.

My shirts are starting not to fit.  It's insane.

Dear Mr. President,

I know there are a lot of things that Obama has to deal with right now.  I know that gay rights issues are probably not the top on his list.  But it's bubbled up there because of a recent court ruling regarding insurance benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees.

Sign here and support the rights of same-sex couples.  

FU Ken Star

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to listen to much of the arguments this morning, but will listen to it sometime this week.

That being said, a big F*** YOU to Ken Starr, you f****** a**wipe.

"The people are sovereign?"  If the people were sovereign, anti-miscegenation laws would still be in place.  

Let me remind you- when the people were sovereign, Japanese-Americans were imprisoned for simply being Japanese during WWII.  When the people were sovereign, slavery was legal in the US.  When the people *are* sovereign, the majority very often oppresses the minority.

Why is this such a big deal?  How does two gay people getting married jeopardize the marriage or religious freedom of heterosexual couples?  

Bleargh.  I don't have the emotional capacity to deal with my rage on this issue right now.  

Big Changes

I start a new job tomorrow.  Project management position for the operations team, under the purview of the Finance Department.  Looks to be challenging, but manageable.  Lunch and dinners are catered by two on-staff chefs.  There is beer in the fridges, and my new macbook pro will be waiting for me when I get there tomorrow.

I'm also in the process of exiting my relationship with D.  I'm moving to my godmom's house, temporarily, for a couple of pragmatic/financial reasons, and dealing with a more permanent move to my own place after I settle into this new job.

Packing is a daunting task, even if I feel like I don't have that much stuff.  

Jobby Job

After four months, and five rounds of interviews, I have secured gainful employment, starting on February 16, 2009.  On Thursday, I leave for a last hurrah surf trip to Baja.  Unfortunately, I won't be making it as far south as I'd like, but that's okay.  There are a lot of places for me to check out.  Looks like the weather won't be great, but hopefully, it won't be too bad.

I'm strangely excited to start working again.  I think it will be a great job - the environment is great.  And catered lunch and dinners.  The company is growing at a great clip, and they atmosphere seems great.  Updates will follow.

Jobby Job

Interviewing for the FIFTH time at a company that went on a hiring freeze almost immediately after interviewing me last quarter.  I don't even know what job I'm interviewing for (again).  I suppose it's the same one.  I'm sort of torn.  I know I need the job, but I'm kind of not interested in getting back into the workforce.  Of course, I will be totally pragmatic and take the job if it's offered to me.

Good luck to me.

Ode to Small Factory

I've recently resurrected an old iTunes library off of a couple of dead PCs whose hard-drives were still in perfect shape.  The result, a heap of old music that I haven't been able to listen to in a long time.  I have a bad habit of taking CDs into a car, and then losing them from there.  A lot of music that I've collected over the years has been completely lost.  My Motown box set among them.

Back to the point.

When I was in college, one of my favorite bands (thanks to Barrelled) was Small Factory, a small Providence trio.  Their drummer was a cute, CUTE (rocking) chick named Phoebe Summersquash.  Seriously.  Dave Auchenbach on bass, and Alex Kemp on guitar.  This band convinced me that I liked the mix of male and female vocals that were lacking in so many of this era's indie/twee bands (see Tiger Trap, Tuscadero, etc.).    Another major difference was that the kids in Small Factory could actually play.  Like, really play.  In that era, a lot of indie bands couldn't, and while it lent a lot of credence to the "cuteness" factor of the band, there was a depth of musical integrity that was lacking, for me.

Today, I couldn't tell you which of the albums came out first, but I have three in my collection:

I Do Not Love You (1993)

For If You Cannot Fly (1994)

The Industrial Evolution (1996) - a compilations of singles and b-sides

All three were in extremely heavy rotation.  The production values are great, for an three-piece indie band in the early 90s.  Hell, the production values are great, no disclaimers.  I mean, they aren't Phil Spector levels, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Who can deny the strange pathos in Sensible (For If You Cannot Fly) - /It's getting harder to be sensible/it's getting harder to keep it straight/and all your friend wound up bitter and cynical/and you just say that's great.  Phoebe's layered vocal track(s) in the end are fantastic, and her unassuming, yet un-irritating harmonies offset the deep tenor of Alex's voice here, and the outcome is simply spectacular.  Even the simple 2-measure guitar solo adds a level of melancholy.  Every note, every track, every pause adds to this song.  Chalk this up as one of my all-time Small Factory favorites.

How about Bright Side (For If You Cannot Fly) - a love song to that particular kind of friend that everyone has, or wants to have.  I'm lucky - I have one (more than one, actually).  At the point in my life when I was listening to this, the one in particular helped me home on my 21st birthday, made sure I didn't die, and helped me dial my girlfriend.  What more could I ask for?  (If you start to cry/I'll be the one who'll wipe those tears from your eyes)

And the cover of Valentine (I Do Not Love You)?  You can't *not* fall in love with Phoebe on this one.  Period.  If you can resist, you probably eat babies.

Let's not forget If You Hurt Me (The Industrial Evolution).  Devolves into some awesome noise at the end.  /If you hurt me/I'll be angry and I'll grow up way too fast/And if you break my heart/I'll smash up your car/.  Miniboss does *not* condone violence, but I'll admit that I've felt like this with one of my breakups.  Not particularly because they broke my heart, but because they were assholes.

Small Factory disbanded after the release (or maybe even before) of The Industrial Evolution.  Alex and Phoebe started a new band called The Godrays - and while they were great, I missed the third that wasn't replaced.  Sadly, The Godrays also broke up a few short years later.

Pass da aloha, bra.

(Edited again to post a better pic.)

Img from AP, as Obama's high school marching band passed by during the inaugural parade.

I can't tell you how proud I am to be an American today.  I think we all felt like patriots on 9/11, and on the days and months immediately thereafter, but we were united in our suffering. Today is different.  Today, hope swells in my chest with every breath, and I believe that change is really possible.  

I'm realistic - Obama has problems that no president has had to deal with in over half a century, but I believe that he has what it takes to unite us; as a country, as citizens, as neighbors.  

Obama, I hope the aloha spirit lives on in you.  (Even though you did go to Punahou.)

In Rememberance

Today, I remember Marie.  She died four years ago today, around 10pm, after a nearly two year struggle with leukemia.  I can't remember hardly anything about what I was doing, career-wise.  I can't remember much of anything, actually, except for Marie.  I spent a lot of time at hospitals, and a lot of time vomiting in the bushes outside the hospital.  I don't think I ever got over the vomit-first impulse that my body has when it gets near a hospital.

There were good times and bad times.  The good times were great.  I got a lot of pleasure out of seeing Marie's attachment to a teddy bear (from Godiva) that she hilariously named Hershey (that we gave her).  To tell you the truth, I thought her short hair was really punk rock, and I didn't miss her long hair at all!  I remember us going to see the baby great white shark at the Monterey aquarium with my brother.  The jellyfish tank RULED, and that section of the aquarium got a lot of explanations from Marie, whose primary research was in invertebrates.

I remember a horrifying ICU visit that will probably haunt me until I die.  I remember her lamenting that she would never kiss another boy again.  And I remember crying myself to sleep on many an occasion, wondering why people so young have to die?  It is *never* easy to watch someone die.  Even less so, a person in the prime of their lives.  I remain forever indebted to the friends who stood by me in my need.

But today, I think of Marie.  I miss you.  We all do.

Graduating from Linda Mar to Mavericks

Just kidding.  I went surfing yesterday at Pacifica.  I admit - it was probably the *flattest* day I've *ever* seen there.  I went in dry, and came out with anything above my waist still dry.  However, I do not consider it a successful surf session.

The Mavericks contest was hoping that a typhoon swell originating in Japan (and which hit Oahu's North Shore yesterday with 20+ Hawaiian measurement) would form today.  It didn't, so the contest is off.  Rumor has it that a lot of the pro dudes who have already shown up with surf out there anyway, so it might be worth the drive down to check it out.

I got back into my daily swim when I got back from Mexico, but strangely, I found it to be a LOT less calming than usual.  Thank goodness Pacifica looked good - even though the surf was pathetically small, I felt very tranquil, and thought of nothing but the waves, the freezing cold water that made my hands look like lobster claws, the birds, the ocean and the sun.  Very meditative.

Since Mavericks is off for today (and the weekend), I think I will make another trip out to Pacifica for surfing.  Wish me luck.

Ensenada

I got back from Ensenada yesterday. I went to visit a friend (and old coworker) of mine and had a wonderful town. Ensenada wasn't the sleepy beach town that I expected, but it will definitely warrant a subsequent visit, even if the visit is just a pit stop on my way to the Surfing spot that will remain nameless.

What did I do?
I ate a lot of raw seafood at a street cart near the fish market.
I ate a lot of fried fish tacos.
I walked on the beach *every* day.
I went for a hike up to a cross on the top of one of the mountains on the right side of the major valley.

Ensenada's beach looks slightly like Santa Monica on a not-so-good day - close shorebreak, closed out. Probably not a good choice for anything but a beginning surfer who just wants to ride a wave into the sand. San Miguel didn't look as good as the internet sites say - and looks like a really fast right. I don't think i could make the section(s) on a longboard, but maybe an egg or fish. I did a little bit of research and am actually *totally* stoked to drive back down there for a weekend trip, maybe in February, and hit one or two surf spots (k38 in particular) on my way down to Ensenada.

It was great to be out of the country, which I haven't been since my last trip to the Philippines in May 2007. It was great to be "on vacation", and hanging out with my friend. I remembered that I love playing music with people who also like to play music.

I had time to reflect on my life while I was there, and am still struggling with a few of the conclusions that I've come to.

I also read an awesome book - easily the best book that I've read in the last 12 months: Playing With the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made A Nation. It was about the 1995 World Cup (Rugby) that was held in South Africa, just shortly after Mandela was elected president. I'm not an overly emotional person (except for my temper), but I found myself either in tears, or near tears, once every chapter. If this was made into the movie, it would probably be better than Rudy, or The Natural, in the genre of *great* sports movies. It was an inspiring read about how peaceful revolution can be achieved if the compassion in the human spirit can triumph over other, more destructive emotions. Definitely recommended.

Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque is in heavy rotation - and I'm unclear how this slipped past my radar all this time. Also, Chris Bell has been on my mind a lot, but I know where that road leads - to excessive drinking and depression. His You and Your Sister, in particular, have played in my head incessantly for the past day or so - and its actually a pretty trivial song to learn, but can anyone really replicate the angst in Chris' voice? Look Up, well - that one nearly killed me 10 years ago. I Am the Cosmos nearly did, too. I actually got a phone call from a friend in Texas then, whose first question to me was, "What are you listening to?" I replied, "Chris Bell." To which he replied, "You gotta stop doing that." It was good advice.

Chris Bell is a nearly Brian Wilson-esque figure to me - except that Chris Bell is dead, and Brian Wilson is not. (For more info, please see my Brian Wilson tribute.) I can't explain why - I don't listen to him *nearly* as often as other bands in regular rotation, but there's just something about his music. There's a reason why Big Star's #1 Record is the first and foremost of the Big Star records.

I'm also currently fixed on Okkervil River, which an old college buddy of mine plays in. I have to admit that I didn't really *get* Black Sheep Boy, which won critical acclaim from nearly every music critic on earth - but I really like their The Stage Names album. Isn't their drummer cute?

That is all.

Why Scotch is great.

Because it is.

My current (but soon to be not current) bottle is:


This bottle can be had at BevMo for about $50. Highly recommended, and replaces my Macallan 12.