being away from home i actually get so much more done than my normal daily life

i mean, i'm behind in my daily activities and i'm behind in work and other rituals of my life, but i'm caught up on other things i always put aside til 'later'

i'm nearing completion of my christmas cards (which i never do, or when i do they become martin luther king, jr. day cards) and i've also gotten so much reading done lately. on the train trip this week i actually finished a book i had only started briefly before. it was a wonderful examination of how republicans have been able to capture so many lower-income voters (even though it's bad for them economically and they are the party of the rich) through marketing themselves via 'moral issues' or abortion issues. all the meanwhile they're screwing themselves into further poverty and financial/societal/global breakdowns. the other great part of reading this book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" is that so much of it was written about the time when I was working in my hometown of Kansas City and on Kansas political and legislative matters in the very early '90's. so i was personally remembering people and names and events, rather than trying to get them from the abstract. it was a fascinating read.

now, i'm reading another great book, "Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry", which I picked up before coming to this conference, but which I was also able to attend a workshop by the author and discuss the issues related therein. Additionally, as he sat next to me while we attended another workshop, he kindly autographed my copy of the book. He's an important hero to the movement, especially via his work back in the early 90's in starting the marriage work in Hawaii, when no one else thought it was even possible to discuss. And, regardless of the recent electoral losses, we have come so far (remember when no one had ever heard of 'civil unions' and were opposed to even that idea just a few years ago?) and we have so much further to go. i feel a part of the surge of the movement once again. and i'm getting things done. now to get back home to sf , begin again, and keep on keepin' on...