View from the Tower: 02/01/2004

USATODAY survey on the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Vote!

Topic du Jour - Gay Marriage
One of these days I'll switch to a blogging tool that lets me do comments easily but also is as easy to use as Blogger. One of these days. Meanwhile, email me if you need to comment.

I'm for any kind of marriage that lets people who love one another affirm that relationship (and that provides legal protection for committed relationships). The current furor has me wondering things like:

* If they pass the amendment, are they going to require medical tests to prove gender?

* The anti-arguments seem nightmarishly familiar -- seems to me there were a lot of laws preventing ruining the insitutution of marriage and the purity of the white race not too long ago.

* So many of the proponents of the banning of gay marriage focus on marriage as for the production of children. Does that mean that they'll forbid heterosexual couples who wish to remain childless from marrying? Will they revoke licenses for heterosexual couples who can't produce children? Is Margaret Atwood listening and either snickering or swooning?

(Of course they won't - they just are trying to pretty up their real agenda, which is to keep those horrible perverts from pretending they're decent people; to keep them from having anything that might be a normal life.)

* I have a sense of being witness to history; the San Francisco city hall may be the Stonewall of this generation. The place and time where Things Changed. Maybe for the worse, but the change is under way now, and no power in the 'verse can stop it. I think that someday we will look back on this as a pivot point, just as Stonewall was.

Packratism and Past Passions
Last night, headed over to a friend's for an evening of video and girl-bonding, I was casting about for something to do with my hands. I used to do a lot of counted cross stitch, but had to quit when I had severe shoulder problems long ago. As in ten or so years ago (or more).

I thought -- what the heck, my shoulder has been better for years. Maybe I could try it again. I opened the front closet, where I'd deposited my work bag lo those many years ago, grabbed it and set off.

Dear heavens... I have 4 or 5 projects in various states of completion, boxes of neatly spooled and labeled thread, scissors, rulers, needles, instructions -- within about 15 minutes I was working away at a project I'd put down countless years ago.

Maybe my packratism isn't such a bad thing after all!

While I'm still determined to clear away the unneeded clutter in my home and get it down to essentials, I think that I shall keep this in mind as well and only throw out what I really don't think I'll ever need again.

Where's Jae?
Last week was busy, as I ran 3 rounds and played one for an upcoming convention, and then devoted Saturday to CARP and then to my friend's home campaign set in Daggerford. (Note to self - either update the blinkin' blog or delete it, Jae!)

I think I've gotten out of the habit of being busy, so I didn't get much else accomplished. In addition, my knees were getting gradually worse, till I was back to limping without my cane.

I saw the Knee Surgeon (blessings upon his kindly head) again yesterday, though, and he provided more Vioxx samples. Voila! Knees still hurt some, but already the limp has receeded. We are both hopeful that mere medication will help me stave off surgery (or even more injection therapy) for some time.

Technology Marches On
Hand-held e-book readers to hit market soon. I find this of more than passing interest, as 1) I'm a tech hound and 2) I already have no less than 3 books on my PDA at any given time. I think I'd be a tad happier with it t'were it the size of a paperback, instead of a coffee-table book.

And another... how do they know me so well?

Your Superhero Persona by couplandesque
Your Name
Superhero Name	Caffeine Girl
Super Power	Invisibility
Enemy	Martha Stewart
Mode Of Transportation	Scooter
Weapon	Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Created with quill18's MemeGen 2.0!

Your Years at Hogwarts by nevermindless
Name:
The Sorting Hat places you in:	Gryffindor (Red and Gold)
Subject you are naturally best at:	Transfiguration
Your favorite book:	The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts
Pet you bring to school:	Crested Owl
You are most known for:	Your beauty.

Created with quill18's MemeGen 2.0!

Today is the 100th anniversary of Madame Butterfly. I don't much care for opera, but even I am moved by the beauty and lushness of the music.

No Comment, None Needed
McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Quotes from Either President of the United States George W. Bush or Senator/Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars Movies

The new gig is filled with lots of work, and no chance to get out to update my weblog during the day. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

The following gleaned from Livejournal, where I keep a gaming related blog.


Marriage is love.

So Far, So Good...
Good news from Office Services -- They have a gig for me (same ol', same ol' - data entry) that might be good for as much as 3 months. Always a relief to know I'm going to be employed.

From the same site, with a career emphasis. I really need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up...
Test Results:

Extroverted (E) 87.1% Introverted (I) 12.9%
Imaginative (N) 60% Realistic (S) 40%
Emotional (F) 72.22% Intellectual (T) 27.78%
Easygoing (P) 67.65% Organized (J) 32.35%

Your type is: ENFP

You are an Inspirer, possible professions include - conference planner, speech pathologist, HR development trainer, ombudsman, clergy, journalist, newscaster, career counselor, housing director, character actor, marketing consultant, musician/composer, artist, information-graphics designer, human resource manager, merchandise planner, advertising account manager, dietitian/nutritionist, speech pathologist, massage therapist, editor/art director.

Take Free Career Inventory Personality Test

ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population.

Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test

Breakdown:
Extroverted (E) 81.25% Introverted (I) 18.75%
Intuitive (N) 57.14% Sensing (S) 42.86%
Feeling (F) 70.27% Thinking (T) 29.73%
Perceiving (P) 62.16% Judging (J) 37.84%

Lookit Me!

It's the little things that brighten one's day. I finally got my home page to do a random quote routine. :: chortle ::

Guess who's slacking today? Librarians (and fans of same) need to read Ask Nettie Day, the weblog of a student librarian.

Life Lessons at the Sith Academy, Part III Darth Maul gets a pet... and go read the rest of 'em yourself. Not even remotely work safe, unless they expect you to be snorting your beverage out of your nose.

Safety Is a Jedi's First Responsibility - the Comic!
No comment, none needed. :: snork ::

More "must read" advice for writers, magnificently put. Ah, well, the guy is a great writer, after all! Neil Gaiman (It's the entry for Feb 3, 2004)

Hah!

Would you survive a horror movie? Find out @ She's Crafty

No psycho slayer is going to get between you and your right to life. You're an ass-kicker, a charge taker, and if need be, a monster masher. You're level-headed in sticky situations, you trust yout instincts, and you're not afraid to get a little dirty while getting the job done. Simply put, you rock! But don't get carried away. Even though your little brother might act like a creep sometimes, you definately shouldn't be driving stakes through his heart!