I’m sure this has been covered by everyone and his brother, but I couldn’t help being amused by this study suggesting that conservatives are happier than liberals. But before any conservatives start gloating, there’s another thing to consider.
Being happy is a cinch, if you can rationalize not giving a shit about injustice and inequality.
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This is a note to Hillary Clinton’s gay friends. (And she’s talked about you guys, so I know you’re out there.) It may be a bit stereotypical, but as gay men we have a special duty to our female friends, to sit them down from time to time and — gently — tell them the truth for their own good. It may be something as trivial as the wrong dress, or an outdated hairstyle. Or it may be something as serious as the need to get out of an unfortunate entanglement with a boyfriend who should be an ex>-boyfriend.
Well, guys, from the sound of things you haven’t done your job, or haven’t done it very effectively. So, here’s what needs to happen.
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I was halfway through writing the previous post when I came across something that made me realize this would be a two-part deal. That’s when I cut the post short and wrote:
The last time we visited Parker’s pre-school, one of teachers said she remembered when we came there with Parker as an infant. She remarked about how well Parker has grown up, and was happy to see that we are raising Dylan too. I think I know what she sees when she looks at our family now. She sees a family with two devoted parents, and two thriving children.
What other people see, I can only imagine. And I can only wish I didn’t have to care.
But it’s obvious that I do have to care.
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I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of Rap. Yes, I have a playlist on my iPod, but it’s mostly the “old” stuff, starting with the Sugarhill Gang and proceeding chronologically through most of the stuff I grew up with. But most of what’s out today as far as rap is concerned, I can’t say I’ve listened to most of it. Maybe I come across the occasional Kanye West video on YouTube, but that’s it.
But there’s one exception. An L.L. Cool J video will stop me dead in my tracks. Every. Time. So, I was amused to read via Rod that evidently men have a hard time admitting they like L.L.
LL: You know, you have certain guys that are uncomfortable admitting they like LL ’cause they feel like it’s some type of ego issue with LL. “I can’t say that, you know? That’s for you: I can’t.” You know, all that frontin’ and all that.
S2S: Men can’t say that another man looks good or something like that?
LL: Only the real playas.
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Short of yodeling, I’ve been doing my best Switzerland impersonation during the primaries. When it came my turn to vote in the primaries I voted my hopes, knowing I’d support whomever we got in the Democratic nominee. (Let’s face it. My values would never let me vote for a John McCain.)
Well, it’s pretty clear now what we’re going to get in a Democratic nominee, and I agree it’s time to move on. This has been a passionate race so far. One that has enlivened the progressive base, and the "maybe-kinda-sorta progressive" base, and the "we-just-want-to-win" base. Now that it’s rounding the bend (though only on the last lap of the qualifying round, mind you), there are bound to be people who are as disappointed as they were passionate about their candidate. I understand and respect that, and I’d say the same no matter who was all-but-the-nominee right now.
That said, it’s time to remember why so many of us were so passionate about one candidate or the other: We all want to see this country change course from the disastrous path we’ve been dragged along for the past seven-plus years. We all know that we can’t afford even four more years of the same. Not our for country, not for our communities, and not for our families.
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I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole yesterday. During a (rare) quiet moment, I took some time to catch up on my news/blog reading. And I finally started reading a collection of news stories that I’d quietly tucked away until I could actually bring myself to read them. I thought that would be a long time, because they were the kind of stories that I usually put out of my mind, because I can’t bear to think about them.
What started me was Katharine’s comment, which linked to Scott’s post about something Felix Fritzl said upon seeing the moon for the first time.
“Is that God up there?” - Felix Fritzl, 5, sees the moon for the first time since leaving the cellar.
And so it began.
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Wow. I remember the Friday night in June 2005 when I first read about Zach’s story. It shook me up so much that I had to post about it. (When I got up on Saturday morning it was still with me. I emailed around, trying to get some of the more highly trafficked blogs to pick up on it. (At least one declined because of fear that Zach might not even exist, but Amanda Marcotte and Lindsey Beyerstein were among the first to pick up the story and share it with their readers.)
I remember posting it to all the places I was blogging at the time. (my Daily Kos diary, the Gay Spirituality Blog, HomoMojo, etc.). Then I stepped back and took a look at what was happening. I realized that there were a number of other “long tail blogers” coving the story, and creating something of a blog storm. Several of those bloggers, myself included, were interviewed for a podcast about how the story grew in the blogosphere.
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I wasn’t expecting the traffic. In fact, it was the last thing from my mind when, late last week, I read the news that Deborah Jeane-Palfrey — a/k/a “The D.C. Madam” — committed suicide. I shouted the news to my husband, over the din of Dylan’s babbling and Parker “watching” a Tivo’d television show while playing with his race cars, and then I just thought what damn shame it was.
And how I wish she hadn’t done it. I realized that some part of me was rooting for her; wanting her to come out on top, even if only after serving a few years in prison. I remember thinking, not that anyone else in particular should have been one of the two (at least) casualties in this story, but about the significance of who was on that casualty list, and whose career’s weren’t.
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I’m still trying to figure out the best way to handle digest posts, so that the content gets pulled from my shared items in Google reader. I still haven’t found an ideal solution, but I think I’ve found a work around for the time being, that generates the HTML for me and at least some of the links go back to the original pieces and not to the Feedburner feeds. (It’s not perfect yet.) I have one or two more ideas in ming to try out.
What’s working right now goes something like this:
- Burn Google shared items to Feedburner.
- Activate BrowserFriendly and SmartCast on the Optimize tab. (May be optional.)
- Activate BuzzBoost on the Publicize tab. Choose the following settings. (Anything not mentioned is optional, meaning you can do whatever you want.)
- Check “Display item author name (if available)”
- Check “Display full item content”
- Choose “Full HTML” from the Item Content Fomrat menu.
- Check Display item publication date
- Copy javascript and paste into a (previously prepared) blank HTML page between the <body> and </body> tags.
- Open page in browser.
- Using the mouse, the menu, or keyboard commands, choose “select all.”
- Right click, and chose “View Selection Source.”
- Copy and paste into the editor of your choice.
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Well, maybe not, but I’m betting that some of his so-called followers are hating Google Ads right about now. If they’re paying attention. My boss showed me this site. Actually, it was more like I heard him laughing and wondered over to see what was so funny.
Well, it was pretty damn funny.
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Picking up where a previous post left off, the hubby told me about the conversation he and Parker had in the car yesterday morning, on the way to Parker’s pre-school.
I’m not sure why it is that Parker and his Papa talk politics on their drives to and from home. But Parker made a rather touching leap from the political to the personal in the course of this brief chat.
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Forget green cards. A growing number of Americans are getting hitched to get health insurance.
Some people marry for love, some for companionship, and others for status or money. Now comes another reason to get hitched: health insurance.
In a poll released today, 7% of Americans said they or someone in their household decided to marry in the last year so they could get healthcare benefits via their spouse.
“It’s a small number but a powerful result, because it shows how paying for healthcare is reflected not only in family budgets but in life decisions,” said Drew E. Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which commissioned the survey as part of its regular polling on healthcare.
…What surprised researchers was that such costs had become a factor in marriage decisions. “We should have asked about divorce,” said Altman, joking.
Those who cited health insurance as a factor in deciding to marry tended to have modest incomes. About 6 in 10 were in households making less than $50,000 a year, said Mollyann Brodie, who directs Kaiser’s opinion research. They also were younger, with 4 in 10 between 18 and 34.
Maybe they should have asked about divorce. They’d have found that at least some people stay married for the sake of health insurance.
Whether people get married or stay married for the sake of health insurance, who can blame them?
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