Reese's World: 01/01/2007

"In times of war, the instinct is to trust dad more than mom, and the Republicans have benefited from that,'' said James Pinkerton, a former aide to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and a fellow at the nonpartisan New America Foundation. "But if dad keeps wrecking the car, then there may be reason to change.''

new column:

Cancer’s killing the Queen

KKK in the Castro
Can’t keep claiming it’s clean
KKK in the Castro
Cancer’s killing the Queen

Cabals in our courts
Concealed colored khakis
Castro’s claiming crap
Country’s killing Iraqis
Karma Karma Chameleon
Can’t come and crow
Cabaret can’t camouflage
Cuz cracks can disclose

KKK in the Castro
Can’t keep claiming it’s clean
KKK in the Castro
Cancer’s killing the Queen

Can’t call it a comeback
Cuz it’s continued for years
Can’t claim common crap
Cuz its facts, my queers
Can’t declare an accident
Cuz it cuts to the core
Can’t stick to neglecting
Castro’s corps gots a chore

KKK in the Castro
Can’t keep claiming it’s clean
KKK in the Castro
Cancer’s killing the Queen
KKK in the Castro
Cancer’s killing the Queen
KKK in the Castro

Cancer’s killing the Queen

...perhaps the election results served to check [Bush]’s use of dangerous wedge politics since he chose not to lobby for a federal constitutional amendment to ban marriage rights for same-sex couples. Even the congressional co-sponsors of the amendment announced the demise of the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment. While this is positive news, it hardly erases the last six years of legislative and policy attacks our community has suffered under this administration. We look forward to working with the new, more fair-minded Congress to repair the hurt created by ...Bush’s disastrous domestic and international policies and to restore our nation’s reputation as a society in which dignity, equality and justice are available for all.

Mama: it's time to visit again for the orchid festival.

80s rock never dies

TV critics have no trouble speaking truth to power:

When Danny DeVito showed up for his session with "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," someone was quick to note his notorious tosspot performance on "The View" and asked, "Are you drunk right now?"

And a producer of the CW's reality series about the Pussycat Dolls (searching for the new Doll!) said that the show was not only "third-wave feminism" but was "aspirational" for young women. Question from a critic: "Why would young girls aspire to dress up like skanks?"

If only the White House press corps was that fearless.
Yes, if only...

City hall tour- board of supervisors room

City hall tour

Tour of city hall

Grandma turned 80 today...

A series of headshots

great series of articles this week on the big business of selling water in bottles and how it ain't no real difference from the water falling through the tap. in essence, we've been conned into buying something that's free, at extreme prices.

"Spin the (water) bottle; With $11 billion in U.S. sales, the beverage's marketers have become clear winners"

"How water bottlers tap into all sorts of sources"

"L.A. business tries to make Fiji Water a star"

Life's so hard now, it takes all your energy just to focus on your own trouble. The people around here are good people, but they're just trying to make the rent, keep the lights on. Then something like this happens, and you can't say you noticed a thing.

another new article on sfist about last week's big election with a few nice pictures of the day there

Mommy and baby

Phil and Isabella

Susan, me, and the baby Isabella

When you're here, you're family

Working for the weekend, 80s rock continues

joan jett rocks back in the days of sweet love, and the 80s

i'm good enough, i'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me

yes, it's true, al franken, aka his character of 'stuart smalley' quoted above, may just run for senate in minnesota

and all joking aside, i actually think he'd be terrific and should do it. he's very smart, knowledgeable, liberal, and doggone it, people like him

so everything went well yesterday
as i mentioned in the last post, i was the convener for this big to-do-political event here in the city
and it took over my last two weeks
lots of work
lots of drama
and lots of loss of sleep
now i'm fighting a cold of course
but at least it went well, the program and event went according to my convening plans, and was successful all around

here's an article that explains some of the high-stakes political drama behind the scenes that was playing into the whole factor of actually just convening the meeting itself

been incredibly busy with work since i returned from missouri. crazy busy. i'm the "convenor" of a major democratic party event today. it's expected that many hundreds of people will attend. this being san francisco, that's to be expected with interest in politics high. other areas of the state where these things happen usually have anywhere from 20-50 people. it's a different political world here. and somehow i'm the one who's heading up this important meeting today. for some background on the meetings, click here for the official description and activities (i'm listed under assembly district #13), and for some internal political background, you can see this piece (scroll down to the section entitled 'conventioneering'). it's going to be quite a day and sometime tonight it will all be over and i can sleep all day tomorrow...

It may be freezing, but its still a gorgeous day in san francisco

i'm sorry i haven't written in a while. so much work. it's been incredibly crazy here ever since i returned from vacation. that said, i still have a lot of work to do, but below is my new column and here is the latest newsletter:

"Taking the Long Way Home"

Every Christmas, I spend the holidays with my family back home in Missouri. This year things were different, as my parents had purchased a new home further out in the suburbs of Kansas City than our usual suburban home. As strange as that seemed for me before I got there, it still felt like home even without being in our old one where we was raised. The family being together made it home indeed.

And instead of rushing off to the airport to catch a quick flight back home to our City by the Bay, I decided to enjoy myself and relax with a train ride across the country. You see, the thing about trains is that they get you where you want to go, even all the way across a continent, and there ain’t no pressure to rush anywhere. You get there when you get there.

And I love that about trains. They’re slow and ol-fashioned and that is just alright with me. Because oftentimes, the trip itself is the point. And what a trip it’s been. This particular train ride takes you right through the heart of the Rocky Mountains, where one side is a valley down below the track, t’other side is a rocky cliff above, and many a tunnel is traveled through.

There were a few delays here and there, due to snow and ice on the tracks, and a stop now and then for people to get off and on. And the train does indeed move quite slow. My schedule isn’t on the time we thought it might be. But we’ll get there when we get there. And in the meantime I’m writing this here column and reading a good book and drinking bottomless cups of coffee. Oh, and did I mention the lovely views outside my window? Yeah, the trip itself is the point, not just trying to get to my destination all quicklike. The trip is actually a trip, not just a means to get somewhere.

Life is a lot like a trainride. We all try and plan to get somewhere as quick as possible—whether it’s to grow up cuz we don’t want to be a kid no more, or at least turn 21 so we can play outside, or maybe it’s to get done with school so we can start living our life, and maybe it’s just to keep on going to the next destination we’ve set up for ourself—more school, a better career, a different job, a person to settled down with, a shot at an award of some sort, what have you. And we’s always in a big hurry to get to that destination we’ve put in our own head.

Yet, there are delays and obstacles and troubles along the way, when all we really want is to get there now and that’ll make us happy, surely, that’ll make us happy when we get there. But it would seem that everytime we get to a destination of our choosing, the joy is fleeting and we’re more than likely ready for a new and exciting destination that we can’t wait to get to. Such is life in the fastlane.

So sometimes, it’s good to slow things down and recognize that life itself isn’t necessarily about getting to somewhere, but actually enjoying and finding comfort in the trip itself. That don’t mean that getting to that location ain’t gonna do us no good. It’s just to say that life is full of destinations and hopes and dreams. It’s also full of trials and tribulations and travels that make those destinations all the more sweet and joyous upon arrival.

When we in the LGBT community fight for the day that we are truly free and equal and accepted as we are, without reservations or concerns, we want to obviously get to that day as quickly as possible because we cannot wait til that day comes. And that’s alright. But if that’s all we live for, without finding the joy in the day we are in now, then we may never find joy and we may be breaking ourselves down with what-could-have-beens and what-might-bes. It’s not to say that we won’t get to that day, and it’s not to say that we shouldn’t fight for that day; it’s to say that there’s a long way to get there with many trials and tribulations and joys and dreams and hopes and love, lotsa love, along the way. And if we stop to recognize that all of that, all of those things along the way, are part of the joy we can enjoy now and feel now and be now, then the trip itself ain’t so bad afterall. The trip itself is what life is, with a destination before us and a past behind us that shaped us and molded us and gave us the strength to get where we are now and where we’re going to be soon.

It’s like the trainride. There may be delays and obstacles, no doubt. But we will get to the destination. Oh yes, we will get to the destination we’ve set up for ourselves. Because the tracks are laid out in front, the train’s not going back, and even if it takes a little while longer to get there, it’s gonna get there, no doubt. So, even though we like things rushed and quick and easy, part of life is recognizing that getting there isn’t just to get there itself, but finding the joys in the trip itself and knowing that the destination will be eventually reached—those are what make life full and the destination itself all the more fulfilling.