Sorry. No Meringues Today.

Inauguration day 2017.

Doesn't seem like a day to be talking about frothy egg whites and sugar shells.

I'll post my findings about the other recipe next Friday.

Thanks for understanding.

How to Get Me Riled Up

There are very few things that I won't just let roll off my back. I can deal with pretty much any topic of conversation by simply ignoring it, chalking it up to the ignorance of the speaker, or figuring I should just take a breath and respond to it later.

In the past couple of days, though, I've found two things that have really gotten my goat.

The first happened at work. One of the contractors that works for our company sent a message to me - not really knowing it was to me, more just sending it to the company in general - which was so snarky and disrespectful it just made me seethe. I spent the next 20 minutes writing and rewriting my response until - eventually - it was nice and polite and only readers who know me very well would have realized how pissed I was.

Thinking about it, today, I'm still just massively annoyed by the lack of respect in the message I received. I've been at my company for years - years longer than the contractor - and I probably know her job better than she does. So to be completely dismissed as if I didn't know anything... not cool.

Which, I guess, leads me to the second instance. This one was courtesy of the blessing and curse which is social media. Yes, I know that you never know what people are going to say online, and you never know for sure whether it's being said sarcastically or not. But there are some things that you read and just think "WTF?"

With all of the news about states enacting "religious freedom" laws, lately, that's been showing up online a lot. And usually I ignore the rhetoric, because it's from people whom I may or may not know, and I don't want to get into a shouting match across the Internet - I'd rather have an in-person discussion. But tonight I was basically told that my concern for what is going on in this country - and my praise for companies standing up against it - was misplaced because things just aren't as bad as I'm making them out to be.

Apparently, the fact that in some states I could very soon be denied service pretty much anywhere, including hospitals, hotels, restaurants, emergency rooms, etc. - not to mention that in those same states Christopher and I could be denied access to each other if something happened and one of us went to a hospital where a nurse didn't want to see us together because it was against her religious beliefs - apparently that is just an exaggeration. The statistics about the number of people who are killed or beaten during hate crimes - which often have defense arguments along the lines of "he was flaunting his gayness, it was self-defense" - basically makes it seem in many states that gay men and lesbians are already second-class citizens. How much worse would it be if a policeman, or a judge, decided that there was nothing to do because the victim was gay - and that was against some religious belief, anyway?

So... Yeah... I commented back and made my case for the other side of the argument. I even took my time and made sure that my response was grammatically correct and fairly snark-free.

Twice in two days. I'm on a roll.

Is It Over, Yet? (part two)

I may have to stop watching TV for the next week. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. It's just that I can't deal with the political ads any more. It's getting to the point where even the candidates I like are annoying me so much that I don't want to vote for them.

Maybe that's the whole plot - to annoy enough of the voting public that they simply don't go to the polls and hope that those who do go vote in your favor. You know... that seems almost stupid enough that a lot of politicians might try it.

All I know is that - and I know Christopher will be shaking his head as he reads this - I am so glad that we have a DVR and are able to skip watching most of our favorite shows live. After all, this way we can skip 90% of the commercials. (We could skip 100% if we were better with the remote, but no matter what we always seem to end up with one or two commercials that we give up and watch after bouncing back and forth around it.)

At this point, the main thing I know for sure is that I will be voting next Tuesday. And, yes, I have some people already in mind, but there is still room for them to totally annoy the crap out of me in the next week and lose my vote.

Aftermath(s)

Seriously. What a week it has been. I mean, along with everything else, I even missed posting on here last night. Let me see if I can give you the Aftermathical bullet points:

Last Tuesday - The election. Emotional chaos on the day. Aftermath: Quite good, actually. Although all of the calls to secede are kind of stupidly extreme. I mean... Really? We all survived 8 years of Republicans in the White House, and I'm sure we'll all survive 8 years of Democrats in the White House. And, you know, if some of these states actually do secede, we might have a lot more years of Democrats in the White House.

Last Weekend - The filming. Seriously bizarre to be out of the house for most of two days knowing that about 20 people are doing Godknowswhat to the house and you can't know exactly what until later. Aftermath: Lots of good stories to tell. Nothing but positive tales and experiences. Not sure we'd jump at the chance to do it again (although we might), but we'd definitely work with/hang out with that group again.

Last Wednesday - The movie. Christopher got sneak preview tickets to see "Skyfall" last Wednesday, and in the midst of the week's tumult, we went and had a rather marvelous mid-week date night with a really good movie. Aftermath: We've been telling stories about going to the movie almost as much as telling stories about having the film crew around last weekend. If you're looking for a good fun action movie, definitely go to it. If you like Bond movies, that will help even more.

Last Tuesday and Last Weekend - The funeral. I'm not really sure I'm ready to talk about this in specific terms, yet. I will say it was a close - not immediate, but close, in HR-ish terms - family member, and my emotional state for the week was definitely altered by it. Aftermath: I've been looking at some things differently, lately. Looking at "ordinary" objects around the house with a different eye, as well as re-contemplating what I'm doing with my life. In mainly good, though not necessarily easy, ways.

The Barrowman Sighting I mentioned a while ago - It was great, but it was also right before the election. So the Aftermath of that - including pictures - is still on its way. Sorry. I hope to upload photos from that and some photos of our house as a film set as soon as I get a moment with me, my computer, my camera, and the right number of charged batteries and cables.

Hopefully we'll all make it through the aftermaths, and come out ahead.

Oh, and watch this space tomorrow - I might have a little something extra cool to share...

What Can I Say?

I went to bed last night unsure what all was going on in the various elections.

I was mentally exhausted from the months of all of the campaigning.

I was physically exhausted because I had gotten up to see Christopher off to the polls (at 5:30) and then stayed up until he got home (at 11:30). (But... no... not even remotely as exhausted as Christopher was.)

I was hoping for the best and preparing myself for the worst.

I got up this morning and didn't really want to turn on the TV or the computer.

And then I saw it on the bottom of the screen. The news that Minnesota voters had defeated the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (We'd also defeated the Voter ID amendment.)

I stared at the screen for probably 10 minutes, waiting for it to sink in.

The "Vote No" folks had a narrow margin, but it was a win nonetheless.

All I could think to do was say Thank You.

And thank you to all of you for reading my posts along the way and still coming back.

Here's to returning to life as "normal" sometime soon.

(Although... there will be a John Barrowman post in the near future. And that's not all that normal...)

Okay. Deep Breath, Everyone.

Twenty-four hours from now - or, well, maybe about thirty-six hours from now, since we have to factor in Hawaii, too - the voting will be pretty much done.

The 2012 election will be all over except for the counting. The godforsaken political hate ads will finally be off the air.

Regardless of who wins or loses; regardless of what happens with state amendments and statutes; regardless of what we want to have had happen, we're going to have to live with ourselves and each other after beginning on Wednesday.

We'll have to go back to actually speaking to each other. Civilly.

We'll have to try to rebuild some of the bridges we've burned during the past few months.

And, yes, we'll have to live with whatever decisions we've made in the voting booths.

With all of that in mind, and with the firm conviction that the most important thing about tomorrow is simply that we all go out and vote - regardless of who we're voting for - I offer you a few final thoughts on the subjects at hand:

It's hugely important to me that I ask people to vote in favor of love, civil rights, human rights, and voter rights. Because of that, I'm urging people to vote NO on both of the amendments on the MN State ballot tomorrow. If you're not sure how you want to vote on those, leave it blank. That will count as a "NO" vote, and it will mean that even if you're not completely sure about it all, you don't want to institutionalize hatred or discrimination. (Or - and I think I have these all right, but you'll want to verify if any of them applies to you - if you're in Maryland, vote Yes on 6; or Yes on 74 in Washington; or Yes on Question 1 in Maine.)

And remember when I wrote about wanting to be able to visit Christopher if he ever ends up in the hospital? Well, one of the presidential candidates is in favor of all kinds of families, and wants to celebrate diversity. While the Republicans have openly stated that they think my ability to visit Christopher in the hospital (or vice-versa - I just realized that I keep putting Christopher in the hospital in these discussions) is a "privilege," I'll be voting for Obama and Biden, who think that a right is a right - regardless of who is exercising it.

But, again, as much as I would love it if you voted the same way I plan to, my main hope is that we all take advantage of the inalienable right to simply vote.

And breathe. Breathing is also very important if we want to see what the outcome is on the other side of the election.

The Friendly Chat

Whatever happened to the friendly chat? (You know, as I was writing that, I realized that "The Friendly Chat" sounds like something out of either Dr. Suess or Edward Gorey.)

All over social media, as we get closer to next week's election, people have stopped chatting. No one is really even being social. There's no good-natured back-and-forth debate about the issues. There's really just a lot of "Either you agree with me or you have to leave" going on.

And when I say "chat" I'm not talking about Instant Messaging. I'm talking about having short, congenial, dialogues on a variety of subjects.

On TV and the radio (yes, I actually still listen to the radio), it seems that all of the pre-election ads are focused on attacks. No one wants to debate, they just want to sling mud and then pretend to be completely clean.

Don't get me wrong - this is happening on both sides of the political aisle. I'm getting to the point where I am ready to vote for whichever candidate does not have any ads on between now and next Tuesday.

But I digress.

Yesterday, I had dinner out with a friend of mine, and then came home and had a long phone conversation with another. And it was great.

Dinner seemed to be going really quickly - within about half an hour of being seated, we'd already pretty much finished - and then we started talking. Really talking. And the next time I looked at my watch another hour had passed.

The same kind of thing happened on the phone call. We started out kind of covering the small details, but soon we were talking about anything and everything, and over half an hour had passed.

In each situation we talked about family. We talked about work. We talked about Halloween. We even talked about politics. But we were friendly, and respectful of each other's opinions, and it was great.

Wouldn't it be nice if more people focused on discussion, instead of argument? Maybe then we could all talk, converse, debate, and - yes - even chat, again.

Urgent Care Urgency - A Gay Marriage Topic

Christopher has been sidelined with a nasty case of stomach flu the past few days. Not "The Flu," mind you, just average, run-of-the-mill aches and chills and stomach ick.

When his fever broke yesterday morning, we figured we were in the clear, so I left him home to sleep all day and headed for work. But when I got home last night, he was still exhausted (after sleeping most of the day), and just not feeling as much better as we'd hoped. He said he'd go to Urgent Care in the morning if he wasn't feeling better. I, however, decided that an evening trip to Urgent Care was in order. And since he was feeling weak, he didn't protest for long.

So, there we were waiting at Urgent Care and watching the families and couples come in. And there was never any hesitation for the staff to speak to either the husband or wife. There was an assumption that they could both speak on behalf of what was going on, and that they'd both be going back to the exam rooms.

And, when Christopher got called to go into the triage room, and then into the exam room, I went along. I didn't think anything about it. I just figured it was the right thing to do. And the nurses - and the doctor - didn't really bat an eye. When I answered questions on Christopher's behalf it was fine.

But here's the thing: They didn't have to.

According to the law - and various medical ethics kinds of things - they didn't have to let me in. I'm not a blood relative. I'm not a spouse. Even though we've been together for more than seven years, I'm not - technically - family. So, legally, they could have kept me out.

And, sitting there with Christopher, I couldn't think of anywhere else I would have wanted to be. But I also had the fleeting thought that I could be kicked out at any minute. Which, frankly, I ignored last night.

Today, however, when I had some time to think about it all, I realized that that fleeting thought scares the hell out of me. What if they had told me to leave? That I wasn't able to be there for Christopher - or vice-versa? What could I have done?

When people ask me why I think gay marriage is so important, sometimes it's hard for me to put it into words. I mean... Christopher and I aren't champing at the bit to walk down the aisle, even though we're committed to each other for the long run. And I don't know enough about tax laws to know how much we're losing each year because we can't file jointly.

But I don't want anyone telling me that just because we're not a heterosexual couple that we have to say good-bye at the door to the hospital, right when we need each other the most. I don't want to be told, when I've been rushed to the hospital on my deathbed, that I can't see the person I love because some idiot decided we don't deserve equal (visitation) rights under the law.

Luckily, a lot of healthcare institutions are aware that the world is changing and that families come in all different shapes and sizes. Now if only all of those "I deserve more rights than you do" right-wing politicians and religious fanatics would realize that, too. (Preferably before the upcoming elections...)

World Weary Wednesday

I fully admit that I am *not* currently watching the presidential debate.

I know that I really ought to be. I ought to be listening to them each speak and seeing how it goes. I ought to be getting a feel for how each of them really addresses the issues.

But I'm so tired of all of the political talk this year already - and we're still a month away from the election - that I just couldn't watch.

And, of course, in this electronic age, I'm sure I'll see a gazillion news clips in the next few days. They'll be on TV. They'll be online. They'll be all over social media sites.

So, for tonight, I'm going to assume that they both were well-rehearsed. There were no surprises. And they wouldn't have changed my decision on who to vote for in November.

And, instead, the TV is off and a book will be in hand as soon as I'm done with this post. I suspect that would be a great way to make it through the next month, as well.

Signs and Signs

Remember how I talked about the "Vote NO" signs a little while ago? (If not, you can refresh your memory here.)

Well, a friend came over for dinner a week or so ago and commented how cool it was that so many Vote NO signs are on our block. I believe that we're up to 5 out of 6 houses in a row on our side of the street, one on the other side of the street, and two on the other side of the block (we live on a corner, so those two on the other side of the street are our "contiguous" neighbors).

It's amazing how many of those signs have popped up over the past few months. People seem to really be understanding that the Anti-Gay Marriage amendment is more than just another run-of-the-mill amendment to the state constitution. More and more people seem to be understanding that this is a hateful amendment (and - for the record, I got into some trouble for calling it "hate" the last time I wrote about it, but I stand by the word) and doesn't have a place in the state constitution.

And the support for people like me... well... that's a really nice feeling. It's good to walk around the block and see all of the signs. It reassures me that this is a great neighborhood and we have great neighbors.

Did I mention, yet, that we have a new neighbor? She moved in next door (the one house out of 6 without a Vote NO sign, because... well... she just moved in), and she told us that she wasn't sure about the neighborhood when her realtor suggested it. But when she came around the corner and saw all of the signs, she knew she was in an okay place.

So... Anyway... There is one "Vote YES" sign that we pass when we're out for our walks. And another that I pass on the drive home from work. With all of the positive energy from the bright orange Vote NO signs, it's amazing how those two solitary signs can be such a shock to the system.

On the other hand, I guess it's good to know where people stand on issues. I think I'd rather know that there are bigots living in the neighborhood so I can try to avoid them, instead of being surprised by them when I'm not expecting it.

I can only hope that, as more people become visible and vocal about standing up for basic rights (you know, like the right to equal protection under the law, or equal taxation under the law, or simply equality in the eyes of society regardless of who you love), maybe we'll see more Vote NO signs out there, and fewer and fewer Vote YESes.

And even if people are afraid of putting up a Vote NO sign in the lawn for the world to see (after all, there has been vandalism of some signs by hate groups), hopefully, in the privacy of the polling booths in November, they'll vote for love, instead of hate. And, in the future, they'll be able to hold their heads high and say "See that leap forward toward equality? I helped do that."

(For your own lawn sign, or to donate money to the cause, please visit MNUnited.org .)

Newsworthy

When faced with the kind of news that has been circling around this week, it makes it hard for me to come up with a decent blog posting.

The juxtaposition of the North Carolina vote to ban gay marriage (which, at the base, will also affect the lives of unmarried straight couples who will also now be given second class status), along with President Obama stepping forward to say that he is in favor of the equal right for all people to marry - that's kind of a lot to swallow.

Here in Minnesota, at the same time that Obama will be trying for a second term in office (most likely against Mitt Romney - who was apparently for gay rights until he found out that the party he was in didn't like that idea), we'll also be voting on an actual state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Apparently it's not enough that gay marriage is already illegal in the state - now it also needs to be in the state constitution. . .? (Nope. I don't understand that, either.)

I find myself almost as depressed by the news as I do excited by it. I'm thrilled that the Commander in Chief had the guts to actually take a stand. But I'm also still worried about the thousands of people who voted against that same stand in North Carolina.

It's strange to walk through my own friendly, nurturing neighborhood feeling like there is not a single person around here who wouldn't help me out if something happened to me or Christopher or the pooch, and yet wonder how many of these same people will vote against my personal, private rights.

Hopefully, someday, this will all just be a blip in the historical timeline of equality. Until then, well, I guess the support of one man for the equal rights of millions is probably most positive if it stays newsworthy.

Yeah. What She Said.

I don't think I get up on my soapbox too often on here. And, sometimes, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

But I saw this posted online, today, and felt like I could share it and soapbox just a little simply by quoting something from the news, and not something that I said on my own:

"Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. And whether we know it, or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a western invention. It is a human reality."

So you're probably wondering what gay activist said that. Or looking for the twist, where I say that it was from Oscar Wilde. Or that it's from a Hollywood type just trying to get air time.

You'd be wrong.

It's a quote from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A woman with almost nothing to gain - and a whole lot to lose - from givng a soundbite like that to the national and international press. But she stood up for what she believes in and put it out into the ether for all eternity.

One voice, speaking out for equality in a world that often advocates war over the discussion of ideals.

You know... I think that the more I hear from her, the more I like her.

Media Morals

So, have you tried out the new ABC Sunday night snow "GCB," yet? (I talked about it last Sunday, here.)

It's a blend of soap opera and comedy and camp, and it's got a bunch of good looking sexually charged people.

And, during the last week, I saw some political pundit complaining about it, saying that it's an assault on Christianity and Christians.

My first thought on this was "Dude, it's a TV show." My second thought was "Obviously, you've never seen the show."

Then I realized that, just possibly, the show is hitting too close to home for his comfort. You see, the show's main characters spend an awfully lot of time in church, and quoting Bible verses, all while casting a whole lot of stones and aspersions.

Basically, the show is making fun of people who spend all their time saying that their Christians, while acting like anything but.

Perhaps if the politicos who are complaining took the time to watch the show, they'd realize that. Or, perhaps, they've already spent time looking at it and realized that they want the show to go away before too many more people realize which side of that coin they fall on.

Chickens vs. People at Target

I was out shopping, today, and one of the things on my list while at SuperTarget (the kind of Target store which also has a full grocery store) was eggs.

I had seen an article on the news this morning about Target pulling some of their eggs they had because of possible bad chicken-raising techniques from the main corporate farm where they come from.

When I got to the store, there were some "high-end" eggs on the bottom shelf of the case, but a stock clerk was hurriedly filling the rest of the shelves with other chilled items - mainly lots and lots of butter (which, obviously, could stack easily in any space).

I didn't think much about it, really. I mean it's kind of funny that one video shot by a biased videographer (someone who, admittedly, went into the report already planning/hoping to say that the chicken farm was doing unthinkable things to its chickens) has prompted Target - and McDonald's - to stop using these eggs. After all, the farm - Sparboe Farms out of Iowa - has NEVER had a confirmed case of salmonella, and - up until these charges came out in the news - had never had a single federal inspection which raised major red flags.

So, what we've got is one video - shot by someone biased - which has resulted in Target pulling them as a supplier within just DAYS of the report coming out.

On my way home from Target - which I admit I stopped shopping at for a time prior to the 2010 MN gubernatorial election due to their iffy political standings (that's written up, here) - I started thinking about this.

It seems that, when you've got one video of a bunch of chickens which may or may not be getting mistreated, Target is quick to pull all support from the supplier, demand they change their practices, and go somewhere else.

But, if you've got a political candidate who actively opposes granting basic human rights to large segments of society, you simply apologize it away, say you'll look into it, and then gradually back out of your promises to make things right.

Yes. It's partially my fault. After all, once the election was over (and the money they had spent was negated), I went back to doing a large chunk of my shopping there. And I can see how a viral video would scare customers and make a company wary.

But - forgive me if I repeat myself - why is it that one video about mistreatment of chickens is more important to a company's policy than thousands of emails over the course of months about someone's blatant mistreatment of people?

I don't think I'll ever really understand that.

Movie Monday - Ides of March

I'd like to start by saying that I really hope Ryan Gosling gets a good light-hearted comedy, or even a light-hearted action movie, or something just not quite so intense, sometime soon.

Remember how I said that I thought "Drive" was a really good movie in large part because of him? (I said it here, in September.) And remember how I said that "Blue Valentine" was just heart-wrenchingly emotional, again because of him? (That was back in January, here.) Well, I'm about to say the same thing about "Ides of March."

The movie, overall, isn't really a political thriller. And it's not espionage, because there aren't any real spies. It is kind of a suspense movie, because you're never quite sure what's going on. But, mainly, it's a movie about the public and not-so-public sides of running a major political campaign.

The candidate whose campaign Gosling's character is on is played by George Clooney, in some of his most charming and creepy style. There are opposing - yet equally slimy - campaign managers played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti (two actors I genuinely don't enjoy watching on screen - and didn't care to watch in this, either). And, there is Marisa Tomei as a veteran political reporter who, frankly, is looking as stunning as ever - even though her character isn't really supposed to be "pretty."

I wish I had more to say about the plot. But... well... the movie is so much about the characters that there isn't really any reason to get into much of it. It's about the machinations of trying to win a presidential election. That's really about it. And, in the same way that "Contagion" would freak out any germophobe, "Ides of March" will set off warning signs with anyone who feels that politics is a corrupt business.

One extra bonus in the movie (aside from the fact that it was pretty darned good): the campaigning is centered around Cincinnati. And they filmed on a bunch of college campuses in Ohio. So you kind of get a virtual campus tour of Miami University, Kent State, and Xavier, as well as some interesting (read "not so pleasant") views of Cincy, itself.

Overall rating: A. I think it pretty much delivered what it promised and, although it didn't leave me feeling good about myself, I did leave feeling good about the choice of movie we'd gone to.

Signs of the Times

Driving home from dinner at Christopher's parents' house, tonight, I noticed two roadside signs that kind of point out the world around here at the moment.

One of them was a Lottery sign which usually lists how big the MegaMillions and Powerball lottery jackpots are. The slogan on it is something like "What would you do...?" (Honestly, I see it every time we drive that way and I have no idea what it says.) But, this week, since the MN State Lottery offices are closed as part of the shutdown, there are no numbers on the sign. It's just a big black space. Basically, the sign is telling us that there's no money. How ironic is that?

The other sign is a little weirder for me. It's a sign for the "Be The Match" marrow donor registry. It's a non-profit group which is trying to establish a marrow donor database in an attempt to match up people with blood diseases who might need transplants. I think they're an amazing group. I would sign up in a heartbeat. Heck. I've even looked into applying for work there.

But here's the thing: Because I'm a gay man, they won't take a donor application from me. They base this on the fact that the Red Cross won't take blood donations from gay men. Why? Because of an out-moded fear that all gay men have blood-borne illnesses.

Do they test every single sample of blood that comes through to make sure none of the blood is tainted? Yes. Would this catch just as many illnesses in gay men's blood as in anyone else's? Yes. Do they stop all African-American men from donating because they are the second-highest carrier group for some of the same diseases? No. Does this make any sense? No. Basically, it's just one more area of bigotry that refuses to go away.*

So, there you have them - within about a mile of each other - two signs of the times.

Here's hoping that - some day soon - those signs they will be a-changin'.

*I may not be thrilled with the business practices at BeTheMatch.org, but I do believe in what they are doing. If you're able to sign up to be a part of the registry, I think it would be a great thing to do. Tell them a gay man who would donate if they'd let him sent you.

Stand Up or Shut Down?

Let's say that you're in high school and there's a bully who steals your lunch money and threatens to beat you up every day after school. So you avoid the bully and do your best to go on with your life, protecting yourself from the bully as best you can.

Let's say, at the same time, that there's a cafe owned by family friends who take you in when you need something. They offer to help you out. They help you believe that bullies never win and that you can feel safe and protected because they're on your side.

One day, you find out that the owners of the cafe have been inviting your bully over for free meals. You've been terrorized by this bully and his cronies for ages, and suddenly you find that your friends are supporting the bully who has made your life so difficult.

Do you ignore it and pretend the world is safe and secure and not worth worrying about? Do you stop being friends with your friends? Do you find a new cafe to go to to call your own? Do you talk about it with your friends and hope that they'll see your point and stop helping out the bully?

In the past few weeks - as the news has come out that usually very gay-friendly Target Corp and Best Buy (and a few others) have been donating money to a Political Action Committee (PAC) which backs a candidate who aligns himself with people who have gone on record as wanting to "kill all the gays" - I've had to try to figure out what to do about the bully.

On the one hand, Target and Best Buy sponsor a lot of GLBT events and donate to a lot of causes. They're incredibly vocal about their openness in hiring and offering benefits to same-sex partners. And, honestly, they employ a decent number of my friends. They say that they were simply donating to the PAC because it is in favor of programs to help businesses in the state of Minnesota to get ahead. And that they didn't realize that the PAC's favorite candidate was so vehemently anti-gay.

But I have a hard time believing that. Especially when the CEO of Target is a vocal (and fiscal) supporter of some massively right-wing politicians, himself. Politicians who fit right in with the bully-du-jour.

I don't profess to know all of what is going on in this situation, but I do know that a corporation really ought to know what its donations are going to fund. And that no one should be able to say one thing and do the opposite without being called out for it.

So I've posted my complaint on one of Target's message boards (I'd post something at Best Buy, but, honestly, I never shop there, anyway), and I'm going to stay out of their stores for a while, hoping that if enough of us take our money elsewhere they might get the point. And, hopefully, the bully in question will be defeated in the primaries in a couple of weeks and all of this will simply slide away as a lesson learned for Target. And I'll be able to go back to shopping among friends, again.

Otherwise, until I hear a really good apology, I guess I'll be spending a lot of time and money in non-Target establishments.

**For a starting point on reading up on this issue, if you're so inclined, you might start here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/28/tom-emmer-anti-gay-pol-ge_n_662535.html

Sorry... I Was Watching the Inauguration

I fully admit that, although I was within arms' reach of my computer for most of yesterday, I had not thoughts at all of writing a post. Instead I spent most of yesterday's daylight hours watching the inaugural activities on TV. 

You've all seen as much coverage as you want by now, I'm sure, so I won't go into much of it here. But there are a few things I wanted to mention...

1) I loved that we once again had an Inaugural Poem. I'm hoping to get my hands on it and read it on my own sometime soon.

2) I was thrilled by the amount of music included, and how important it was. Although I'm afraid of how overplayed "At Last" is going to be in the next few months.

3) I think it's amazing that there were no reported arrests related to the inauguration--even though there were close to 2 million people there. I think it's even more amazing considering there was only one porta-potty for every 400 people.

I'm also very glad that by the evening many of the channels on my TV were no longer doing coverage. Even I was over the pomp and circumstance by then and looking forward to seeing what happens next. 

At Least I Apologized

It has been a long, strange Election Day. Christopher got up a little after 4 this morning so that he could be out the door and to his polling place by 5:45am (so they could finish setting up and be open by 7). I had every intention of seeing him off and then going back to bed, but... well... I was up long enough to be wide awake. 

Because Christopher took my car today (his is having its rear brake rotors looked at), I've been sticking close to home most of the day. Luckily, our voting location is just a block away from home. I walked over around 11 this morning and was in line for just under an hour before becoming voter number 895 in our precinct. It's been a really warm few days, so we were all enjoying standing outside in the 70-degree sunshine, chatting and watching the kids play while we waited to get our "I Voted" stickers. Oh. Yeah. And to vote, too.

Unfortunately, without the car, I was unable to take my sticker to Ben & Jerry's for my free scoop, but I have to say that I was happy to have voted, even so. Although... maybe I can blame that for my crankiness this afternoon when ONE MORE person stopped by to knock on the door and ask if everyone in the household had voted. The very polite young man then asked if he could put a paper hanger on our front door. I said no, until he explained that, without it, more people would probably come by and ask later on. At that point I agreed, saying "Okay. Fine. Sorry. I just [expletive-ing] want it all to be [expletive-ing] over." Luckily, he took my expletive-laden apology with a grain of salt and glanced at his watch saying "We just have to make it through six more hours!" 

So now it's about 7:30pm. The local polls close at 8. I'm hanging out and have just turned on the TV to check out some of the returns. Christopher's "official" day won't be over for at least another hour, and there's a very good chance that he won't be done with everything and able to make it home until at least 10 or so tonight. Since he's the one who has been working the phenomenally long hours today, I'm going to try my best to stay up until he's home. (Wish me luck!)

I hope you all made it out to vote (again... as I said yesterday... assuming that you were eligible and all that). Just think--no matter who wins we'll be making history. How cool is that?

Helping Out the Electoral Process (sorta)

Christopher and I just got back from setting up the room he'll be working in during the election tomorrow. I had never known anyone who did that kind of thing before Christopher. I mean... I knew people worked at polling places during the day, but I didn't know anyone who gave their entire day to sitting in the voting room making sure that everything goes smoothly. And, yet, that is what Christopher will be doing tomorrow for a thoroughly mind-numbing 16 hours! 

To make the start of the day go a little smoother, tonight we went over to the school where Christopher will be working and got the bare bones of the room set up. It's a multipurpose/cafeteria room in an elementary school, so I spent my time moving some tables and chairs and setting up the "voting booths" (which are, honestly, fairly spindly plastic desks with three partition walls around them). Then I spent some time taping Spanish, Russian, Hmong, Vietnamese and Somali voting instructions on the wall--covering over the lunchroom monitor schedules. Christopher spent his evening making sure everything he needs for tomorrow was in the right places, and trying to figure out the proper layout of the room so that the "Automark" machine (really a rather cool gadget) and the Ballot Counting machine were properly spaced away from other things. 

Tomorrow morning Christopher will head for the school so that he can be there around 5:45--yes in the morning. He'll have a few volunteers meet up with him around 6, so that they can open the doors to voters at 7am. From that point until 8pm, he'll be in charge of a roomful of volunteers making sure that anyone who wants to vote can have that opportunity. And... well... for anyone who isn't eligible, he'll have to deal with that, too. If all goes well, he'll get home around 9:30 or 10 tomorrow night. 

Alright, so, here's the deal:

1) We've all sat through months of political posturing and ads and mudslinging--and that was from the newscasters.

2) We've had to deal with people phoning us at odd hours to tell us what they want us to think, as well as the constant visual barrage along the roadways.

3) The rooms are set. The ballots are ready. And Christopher--and everyone like him who is going to be overseeing the elections--is waiting.

Which leaves me with only one question: What are you waiting for? Go vote. 

(Well... if you're reading this on Tuesday, November 4th, at least... and if you live in the States... otherwise--yeah--I guess you're fairly exempt...)