Sigh

Gay Marriage Begins in Connecticut as it Ends in California

In the City Clerk's office, Barbara and Robin Levine-Ritterman became the first of the plaintiff couples to get their marriage license. The couple's civil union "just did not compute" for their twin 11-year-old sons, Carlos and Fernando, said Barbara Levine-Ritterman. "Now they can say our moms are married," she said.

Jeffrey Busch and Stephen Davis, another of the plaintiff couples, wore pink "I do" buttons on their lapels as they emerged from city offices with their new marriage license.

"This feels like the beginning of a long married life together," said Busch with a wide grin as he stood with his partner of more than 16 years.

The recent vote in California to ban same-sex marriage with an amendment to that state's constitution dulled the glow of today's victory. "It's very sad," Davis said. "It does somewhat diminish our joy."

But Davis said he and his fiancée aren't worried about a similar ban ever taking affect in Connecticut because, "it is the safest place in the country for gays and lesbians." (Boston Globe)

Obama Gets Prop 8 Passed

Okay, lets talk about some of the statistics in this election that nobody wants to talk about. The numbers reveal deep divides in this country. Obama took 95% of the Black vote. He lost the White vote by a slim margin.

A perhaps unintended consequence of Obama's wildly successful get-out-the-black-vote effort meant that there were enough black voters, who overwhelmingly supported the marriage ban, to push the ban through 52% to 48% in California. Obama win means gay rights lost

This is a country in serious trouble, because there is an elephant in the room, and nobody will admit it.

blacks back ban
Obama lost the White vote in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia

The US media were afraid to talk about this story, but police felt the need to prepare for race riots in the event of an Obama election loss. Jong threatened blood in the streets.

Justice Roberts Thinks Sex is Shocking

While the nation votes for its next president, the Supreme Court today is hearing the FCCs case against broadcasters who air foul language.

"Why does the F-word have shock value? Because it's associated with sexual activity. That's what gives it its force," Roberts said, defending the FCC's policy as reasonable and not arbitrary. LA Times

Keep in Touch, Randomly

I know I haven't blogged much lately, but I'm still around so if you've been following this blog and want to know what you've been missing, speak up...

Anyway, things have been good. And like Brianna said, "The happier you are, the harder it is to blog." I've been living and working in New Jersey, playing and relaxing in New York. I've met lots of interesting and wonderful people, gotten angry at politicians for foolish things they say and do, lost little things like ipods and wallets, found some of them where I left them...

I still try to keep abreast of the news, though its so hard to trust... especially when it comes to the election campaign.

I still think cute boys are one of the most compelling reasons to live.

Ehud Olmert is still the PM of Israel. Ha, some things never change.

Oh the Poignancy: Selichot begins... but not everybody's listening

The scene: A gay club in the city, late at night, the music is pumping, lights flashing - dark, sleazy, the air dense with the mingled scents of booze and body, lots of young flesh pulsating to the beat, strobes and lasers, dancers, sex...

Cut to scene: A synagogue, late the same night, a group of Jews gathered for the Selichot (Repentance) prayers. The atmosphere is serious, the cantor's voice melodic, slow, steady, powerful, beautiful, intones the Hebrew words, "At the close of the Sabbath, as we stand here trembling, turn Your ear from the heavens, You who are eternally exalted, to listen to our song and to our prayers." The congregation, still wearing their Sabbath clothes, suits, hats, begins to murmur the words of the prayer, soulfully introspective...

Cut to scene: On the street, outside a college dorm in the city. A group of teens and twenty-somethings hanging out, some making out, some smoking, some just spacing, a boy emerges inebriated from the 24 hour food mart and complains to his friends that they wouldn't sell him any beer. Some rule about not selling booze after 3:00AM? They agree to go find some in the dorm...

Cut to scene: Back at the synagogue, the prayers continue, "Listen to our voices, Adonai, our God, spare us and have mercy upon us, and accept our prayers." The congregation shouts out the words, repeating after him, and then the cantor continues, "Return us to Your service, for we want to return. Renew the days of old." The people repeat after him, each verse. And he continues, standing and swaying before the people, and they respond in turn, "Be attentive to our speech, do not cast us out from before You, and do not remove Your Holy Spirit from within us."

Meanwhile: Someone has turned the music on in the dorm room, blasting Katy Perry, "Cuz your HOT and you're COLD, you're YES and you're NO, you're IN and you're OUT, you're UP and you're DOWN." Three guys are in the dorm room. Two are naked. One has shoved his dick in another's mouth, the third, his lips on the dick of the one being mouth-fucked. Everyone's moving, reaching, trying to get more of the other, feel him more, kiss him more  touch him there...

By this time: The prayers have concluded, the congregants are in their homes, most are probably asleep...

Cut to: A subway train, handful of late night travelers, one guy sprawled out across three seats, fast asleep.


P.S. if you want to hear this prayer, you can find a recording on the virtualcantor site (its called b'motzaei m'nucha). I'd include a link, except that the recording there doesn't at all do justice to the beauty of the way I've heard it sung - so to include the link would just distort your perception of the whole thing.

The Latest

Wow what a weekend! Thursday night I... went to sleep on time! Exciting, no? Then Friday I... went to work... haha but wait, it gets better. Saturday night I partied in Chelsea till like 4:30 AM, at the end it was just me and a bunch of go go boys left in the club. I think it was open late just for them, I dunno why they even let me stay. Maybe one of the gogos had his eyes on me? Or am I dreaming...

Sunday I went to a comedy show, then started walking over to Hells Kitchen and this really hot but seemingly straight guy offered to buy me a drink. And then he took off his shirt and started doing chin ups on the scaffolding for me... I don't get it, but I'll take it... Then I met another cute guy (this one was gay, I'm sure of it...) in a club there and we were up pretty late. And now back at work... Unreal.

Race in Sports and Politics. A Homograph

I ran the NIKE+ Human Race 10K New York in under 57 minutes! Then at the All-American Rejects concert, I somehow ended up right next to this really cute guy and he seemed interested in me. Was I imagining things? He was really nice; I dropped something and it was dark, he bent with his cell phone light to help me look for it. We spoke a little, but it was loud and not suited for conversation there. I had hoped to ask him to join me for a drink or something after the show (if my courage would allow such a thing) but he left before the end and I didn't see him after that. Maybe I'll try missed connections lol. I didn't want to tell him I think he's cute or make any gay references during the show because if I was wrong that would make standing there the whole rest of the concert too awkward...

Afterward, I wandered through the city making stops at several bars and clubs, met some new people, some old people (as in people I knew - I actually didn't met any old people, unless you count the tourist family whose dad asked me about my t-shirt). And when I thought the night was over (and the doorman of the club did insist it was over) I met this great guy going into the subway. We shared a train ride and a moment and our numbers...

Now the weather's been awesome, and it's officially September, and everybody's saying "Back-to-School" and "Hannah Montana" and "Gossip Girl" and it all means nothing to me... it's just work as usual... which is good and bad...

My gym is closing. I don't know what I'll do. I can't live without it. I may have to buy a car just so I can drive to a farther gym...

I'm trying to invest some money. I've thought about stocks, funds, securtized debt... haha the whole world is crying about the collapse of the debt markets and the credit crunch and I want to open a bank. But ya know what? Banks make money. So there. Oh, who knows? All I know is that with significant inflation, I need to do something so my buying power doesn't erode in a savings account.

SEX-wanted ads in Denver spike with DNC

Yeah, except I think you mean that correlation does not imply causation. Correlation certainly does imply correlation!

btw, what do you think is a good gift to give along with Shakespeare's Sonnet 29?

Balancing Cardio and Resistance Training

Yeah, well the new job is in Jersey, so there is the commute issue. But I got a place to stay just minutes from the office and I've been going home just for the weekends. It's only for the summer for now, but anything can happen. I signed up at the local gym. I like the idea of stopping off in the city to go clubbing during my weekly commute. If I'm not sounding coherent, well these 12 hour workdays and late night workouts are not giving me much chance to sleep and I'm trying to get an update posted and get back to work quickly. Ahhh.

Anyway, my phone cracked last week. Thank god for Facebook, I could at least let my friends know why I'm not answering their calls.

My birthday's coming up. Tomorrow, actually. I'm gonna postpone it a few weeks. I really only meant to push it off a few days to a week like usual, but the scheduling has become complicated with a full time job.

Not familiar with the system of flexible birthdays? In the Jewish calendar, the 9th day of the month of Av, on which I was born, is a day of national mourning. So its never been a day for celebrating birthdays. And if I'm gonna change the date anyway, why not stay young a little longer. lol
. . .

I just finished listening to my boss reminisce about the days he worked till 3:00AM. He once billed a client for 24 hours in one day. Yikes! Btw, if you use the ellipse feature in your word processor, make sure people know if you want spaces between the dots. Or don't. Up to you.

Oh yeah, the title. You know me, the titles don't always quite fit. But for the sticklers, make sure you know your primary goals. Make sure you get the right nutrition. There's differences of opinion, but in general you should have sufficient carbs to fuel you cardio and sufficient protein to recover from weight sessions and the key word is balance and don't overdo it.

P.S. Disregard the last thing about the relevance to the title. That advice is silly, get some real advice elsewhere. But if you want to sign up for personal training, let me know. haha

More Later

Haven't updated in awhile. Partly because I didn't have email access when the internet filtering software staged a ferocious coup on my system. My father has graciously tamed that savage beast and made email safe again. Nothing much has happened and yet so much has happened. If you've been reading my blog you may understand. I think I got a better understanding in therapy. I realized that I thought nothing happened if nothing sensational and objectively interesting happened. But I'm trying to see my inner life and thoughts as having some importance of their own, if only because they are important to me. It's hard to believe it because I think this stuff would be boring. Someone else's sh1t would be boring to me. Unless they were important to me (read: cute). But that made me realize that if you like someone their nonsense becomes genuinely important. So I have to think about this. btw, if anyone reading this does appreciate hearing what I have to say, it would help if you told me. More later.

Stonewall 2 on Pride Weekend

The NYPD rolled up in force to club Splash last night in New York City in response to a violent incident involving several of the club's bouncers. At least 6 police vehicles converged on W. 17th St. in Manhattan at 2:44am this morning, some of them remaining on the scene for much of the remainder of the night. Partygoers report that they were largely unaffected by the police presence and praised the better handling of the situation than the debacle of Stonewall 40 years ago.

I Have an Inversion to Life (sic)

So I'm running the 5 Mile tomorrow in Central Park. I went to pick up my number today. The Road Runner's office is right by Museum Mile, which had the street festival today, so I got to go check out a bunch of museums for free. Went to the National Design Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt, the Jewish Museum, and the Met. The line was too long for the Guggenheim, so I had to pass. Then I walked/jogged/ran 80 blocks downtown to meet someone for dinner. I enjoyed it; hope he did too. Then I went to a bar, alone, feeling kinda down. I just needed the restroom, but then I stayed a little for the entertainment - it was karaoke night. I didn't drink anything. Then left, took the subway home.

Walked again from the subway station home. Thinking about how I did so much for so little money but what did I have from it? What was it worth? And even considering how much I was able to do free or very low-cost, I still ended up spending about $35. So this money has to come from somewhere and I need a job. And how much life sucks. And how I thought my life could be different; hoped I could somehow rise above the suckiness, the drama, the pettiness, the roller-coasters. But no, I guess I can't. And it was foolish to think I can.

And I'd better get some sleep if I intend to run tomorrow.

Pretty boy endorses Obama

Pretty boy Senator and former Presidential candidate John Edwards has given his endorsement to Barack Obama. Not the John Edwards gay lover of Francis Bacon, artist, whose painting recently set a record at Sotheby's by selling for over $86 million. That was a different John Edwards. And incidentally, that Francis Bacon wasn't the same as 17th Century philosopher Sir Francis Bacon. Though it seems he was gay too.

Oh, and when a rocket landed a few miles from President George Bush during his visit to Israel and injured 14 people, and Bush criticized Iran, Obama attacked Bush for speaking out against his willingness to negotiate with terrorists. It's all too much.

If You Want to Tell a Story, Tell the Whole Thing. Honestly.

You are going to look like such an ass when (if) this story comes out. The full story, minus your pro-Jewish-mafia redactions.

"At approximately 3:00PM, an NYPD Traffic Agent was writing tickets on 13th Avenue near 53rd Street, and people felt that certain summonses were unjustified. A crowd gathered around the agent, and unfortunately, a Boro Park Shomrim unit was detained by the police. He was taken by a patrol car to the 66th PCT, where various Askonim arrived to offer their assistance."

People felt the summonses were unjustified, a crowd gathered, and "unfortunately" the Shomrim thug just happened to be escorted to the station, huh? Maybe because he attacked a police officer or was found to be obstructing justice? Whatever the case, I doubt the detention was "accidental". Usually these thing happen because you are misbehaving. Own up and obey the law. Shomrim.

Really, this sounds exactly like when I used to fight with my little brother.

Brother: (crying)
Mother: Teddy, what happened here?
Me: Well, he was teasing me and I told him to stop and then he kept doing it and now he started crying.
Mother: What did you do after you told him to stop that made him start crying?

Mr. Shomrim guy, what did you do that made the cops arrest you?

Have We Delivered Up the Youth on the Altar of Education?

I wasn't going to write this article, nor do I necessarily believe that the answer is Yes, or even that this is a sacrifice we should not indeed be making. However, when I searched for the term on Google I found that the terminology of "sacrifice" on the "altar of education" was not even in the vernacular of debate. I thought it was language worth reviewing.

Many young people currently facing the end of Spring Break see their lives as coming to an effective halt, as if someone pressed the Pause button on their existence and sent their "true" selves into another long hibernation until summer. I am the first to recognize the value of education, but I can't help but wonder if there isn't some way to alleviate the real burden these children face. Can the experience be improved? Is accepting the necessity of schooling equal to accepting the necessity of a sacrifice of the value of freedom?

The Biofuels Debacle

"In order for you to put biofuel in your Prius and feel good about yourself for no reason, real actual people in faraway places have to starve to death." ~Mark Steyn on worldwide food shortages in The New York Sun, April 28, 2008.

Side by Side, Issue 3

"I swear—by my life and my love of it—that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
~Rand, A. (1957). Atlas Shrugged.

"Naked to the waist, his body a little green, like that of a dead man, the bachelor was lying on an unmade bed. The disorder of sheets and blankets attested to a long death agony. I smiled, thinking about M. Fasquelle. But he wasn't alone; his daughter was taking care of him. On the canvas, the maid, his mistress, her features marked by vice, had already opened a bureau drawer and was counting the money. An open door disclosed a man in a cap, a cigarette stuck to his lower lip, waiting in the shadows. Near the wall a cat lapped milk indifferently. This man had lived only for himself. By a harsh and well-deserved punishment, no one had come to his bedside to close his eyes."
~Sartre, J. (1938; 1st published in U.S., 1959). Nausea.

Out of Context, Issue 8

And it was true, I had always realized it; I hadn't the right to exist. I had appeared by chance, I existed like a stone, a plant or a microbe. My life put out feelers toward small pleasures in every direction. Sometimes it sent out vague signals, at other times I felt nothing more than a harmless buzzing.

Nausea. Sartre, Jean-Paul. New Directions Publishing.

NRA's Newest Recruit

I've never had much interest in guns. Kinda supported gun control. Though I'm distrustful of Big Government controls on personal freedom, I do approve of some measure of restriction in the interest of safety. When Barack Obama said the bitter poor cling to God and guns, I didn't see myself as being within his line of criticism.

Then I held a gun in my hands. Felt the weight of the cold metal, the power. Aimed and fired, heard the pop, felt the recoil and the pure speed of the bullet, watched the shot hit the target, and was changed forever. Guns and knives are beautiful. I tried the rifles and handguns, admired the AK-47 and the M-16, the Barrettas and the Smith & Wessons and Uzis and Glocks. Took note of the differences in aiming and kickback, thought about which would serve best on the battlefield or on the street. I can't really condone illegalizing this form of innocent pleasure. We have to get out of the mindset of, "I don't like it so you can't either."

My freckles are coming out. Not that that's a bad thing. It's cute. But my face just looks dirty from all the hair from not shaving during sefira. And my instructor at the firing range, this Marine, was a major cutie. Maybe that even had something to do with this change of opinion on the gun issue. Yup, just like how my bf convinced me that we have a moral responsibility to go green. Lol. My so-called beliefs are so wishy-washy. Show me a sexy guy and I'm putty. Should I be ashamed of that? I could say I'm just being open-minded and willing to hear new evidence. I'll think about this and get back to you.

Mandala

What can I say? It is insignificant in the great scope of the cosmos, yet there is nothing sublime as the creative act. Fashioning for a thought, a moment, sustainable form, the artist grants permanence to the tenuous, endurance to the ethereal state of the smallest mind.

Is the poet's purpose to entertain? To provoke? To honor? To learn? To preserve?

What if art, too, where unattainable as reality? A creation, that yields no created. A work that, should one attempt to digest it, simply ceases to be. The food of the starving. The food of the sated. The ultimate rendering of that which cannot be rendered, lest it be rendered a rendition.

In other words, art conveys a message of some sort, the conception of which took place in this world of corporeal reality. However, by giving the message form in some artistic medium the artist necessarily dilutes the message by confusing it with its vessel. To truly represent the idea, you would have to reduce it to what it was before it was represented. Whatever that is.

Of course, this very difficulty suggests the richness of art and its power. Accuracy of depiction falls thoroughly silent beside preservation and dissemination of the very soul of Man.

I don't think I was the first one to discuss these ideas. Please tell me if you know who said it.

A word about this post. I've been almost silent lately. My soul has been dormant. Life has been beautiful. Light workload, hot boyfriend, lots of fun and enjoyment. We've even had a spate of gorgeous weather. Living it up, travel, leisure. There is no push to produce; passionate creativity is born of adversity.

My shrink has 45 minute sessions. I asked why he chose that length and if he ever considered the differential effectiveness of alternative session lengths. He said he hadn't, but we could discuss it during our regular therapy session - on the clock. Does this seem right? It seemed funny to me that to address a question of best practices, a question of whether provision of services is being geared toward maximum effectiveness should be billed as therapy. What do you think, maybe I'm wrong.

Why are my sentences so full of ridiculously big words? Why is my writing so cluttered? Talk to me...

Happy Passover

Come November, it looks like I may find myself voting write-in. I've just lost faith in all of the candidates. Here's the latest blow: these guys are debating who's the biggest loser and who's more bitter instead of talking about the issues.

Passover? Fattening as usual. Back to the gym tomorrow. La Fille was pretty good. Natalie Dessay was spectacular as usual. The "humor" was for the most part not funny and just served to incite the people behind me to laugh too loudly. Juan Diego Florez was delicious, though his voice seemed a bit underpowered for the huge Met stage. The round guy playing Sulpice was annoying, but I guess there are those who would find his character humorous and affecting. The production was grand and the story moved quickly to its joyous Salut a la France. And the Duke of Krakenthorp is an Olympic Bobsledder. Get it? HAhaha. That was supposed to be funny. Why aren't you laughing? Bobsledder, get it? Well, neither do I. But I love you anyway.

JK Rowling is an ass to her fans

JK sues her biggest fan for loving her books, vows to waste her time screwing up a good series.

Overheard in New York

Girl 1, on bus: Someone bought dishwashing soap for the apartment. It made me so happy, we had been using hand soap on the dishes.
Girl 2: Ewww gross.
Girl 1: Oh, the hand soap wasn't a problem, it just doesn't cut grease as well as dish soap...

Bush Makes 'Free Trade' National Security Issue, Clinton Lays off Another

I'm becoming uncomfortable with Hillary Clinton. Her reaction (she essentially fired him) to former strategist Mark Penn's meetings with Colombian government officials was unfortunate. In fact, her reaction to any controversial move by any of her staff seems to lead to a high profile firing (i.e. Geraldine Ferraro). Such an attitude fosters a group-think environment which is a proven recipe for poor decision-making (a la the Bay of Pigs invasion).

This is all besides the fact that Mrs. Clinton's stand on the issue at stake in the Penn debacle is incorrect. No, free trade is not a matter of opinion. To oppose free trade is to oppose progress and a dynamic economy. For once, Bush is right. Bush is funny, though. Describing the plan, he said, "While we will continue to work closely with Congress, the need for this agreement is too urgent, the stakes for our national security are too high, to allow this year to end without a vote (Reuters)." Since when did free trade become a national security issue? (Bush Makes 'Free Trade' National Security Issue)

And congestion pricing fails. Go, go, go, go Silver. Why is the usually cool and composed Mayor Bloomberg throwing such a hissy fit over this thing, anyway?

Yeah, more of the same

Why oh why was I condemned to this? So stupid. I didn't go out last night because I thought I could get some sleep after a little while on the internet, but no. No privacy for a minute ALL NIGHT. And no sleep. Should've just gone out. I give up on this stupid house. People coming and going constantly.

Continued

I think I'm having a heart attack. Well, good. I didn't need this fuck-up of a life anyway. Was my dad just waiting for my bros to come back before he leaves?! Why can't they all just get the hell away! I know I sound silly ranting like this.What can I do?

I'm Going to Bore You

Somebody commiserate with me. My life is being destroyed in real time. All I want is a few hours to myself and all I get is backache from sitting and waiting while people keep walking around like this is a train station.

More of My Rant

Oh when will I fucking just give up! I keep getting moments when they'll leave me alone and then someone comes back around and I just have enough time to pull my pants up - or not. It makes my blood pressure go up so high, I'm really in danger.

Idiot Me

DAMN I'm fucking jumping out of my skin!! At 6:00, my brothers finalllly left the house and just five minutes later, my dad comes downstairs again! Not a bleeeping moment of privacy! And I gave up a whole night of sleep for it, too. I give my days to all you people. Keep the days, but at least gie me the nights. Aww, he's so sweet, to. I can't stay mad at my dad. He's going to the bagel store, he just offered to pick me up what I want. He doesn't mean any harm. Brrr.

The City that Never Sleeps? You bet!

It's 1:15am when my dad begins to think about going to bed, but two bros have about another hour of energy left. Then things quiet down about 2:30, but another bro walks in just after 4:00am with five friends in no way ready to sleep. My mom usually wakes up at 5:00, so it's kinda happening non-stop round the clock. Although it's pretty cool sometimes, it often pains me - not because I'm kept up - but because I like the quiet times when I can be alone. God, I can't believe what's going on now. 6 spring breakers stumble in for a pit stop on their way to the the airport for their flight to LA.

P.S. I enjoyed hulu for a couple of days before the evil internet filter began to block it. As it was with Joost before it.

Jetlag

Got back from my West Coast trip. For the details about what I've been up to, check out some of my reviews at Yelp. I walked, bussed, street-car-ed, cable car-ed, trained, subway-ed, swam, danced, and cabbed my way about the bay area. Took in the sights and sounds and smells and semen of the city by the bay. Well, except the part about the semen. My boy's here in New York. P.S. If any of the above seems inappropriate or something, realize I'm running on very little sleep and overlook it, ok? And now for a list of names. In no particular order and of no particular meaning. Alex, Tabby, Nick, Kyle, David, Ammen, John, Andy, Jonathan, Eric, Eva, Yoni

Jewish Life in the Gay Area, err, Bay Area

Shul Announcer: Chabad will be holding a hachnosas sefer torah on Sunday, they usually have fire at these things. . .

Congregant: Will there be sword swallowers?

SA: If you're into that sort of thing. . .

The community is great. Very warm, accepting, open to respecting different ways of living and not insistent on putting everyone into little boxes. . .

Dancing With the Stars

The dancing is kind of cool, but the show is way way overproduced. I mean, six 30 second dance clips do not justify the 2 hour special that was playing throughout my workout this evening.

Hillary Clinton "misspoke" when she implied having landed in Bosnia under fire. Grrr. Stop drudging up the past. I don't care where Hillary was in 1996 as much as I care about where she will be in 2009 and what her plans are for this country. Let's focus the campaign on the issues, please. Ok?

Too Much Privacy for Public Officials?

Senator Obama is "deeply disturbed" that a junior State Department official looked at his travel records. McCain was also upset, calling for "corrective action". Two employees were fired over the breach. Senator Clinton'sWhite House records were finally released, sort of. They contained thousands of redactions that left out more information than they revealed.

What are the candidates for our nation's highest office being so damned secretive about?! Can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen. You want to be President, well, we want to know what the President is up to! The public has a right to know. You are a public official, hired by the People to do a full time job for us. We are your Board of Directors, you our CEO.

It is also frustrating to hear that the candidates, all current-term Senators, have been missing Senate votes left and right because they are TOO BUSY CAMPAIGNING TO DO THEIR JOB. Why should we trust these people? It makes me sick.

Out of Context: Issue 6

"My candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action." - Barack Obama, A More Perfect Union speech, 18/3/08

Obama describes his church:

"Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter
and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America." Ibid.

Obama not stirring up the race card:

"Race is an issue. . . so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow."

Obama not reciting the history of racial injustice:

"We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. . . Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them. . . inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.

"Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments - meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.

"A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us."

To be fair, of course, you have to read the whole speech in-context. But when you do, don't ignore the words. A speech is made out of words. They have meaning. They were put there for a reason. What is it?

Mindf*@%

It gets better. Peter frees a cow from a slaughterhouse, the cow goes public denouncing meat-eaters, and then again the Burger King ad. They must love the irony. But what does it say when a show's message seemingly says one thing and its commercials send the diametric opposite? I guess it says that the show's true message is not what it seems. The true point of the episode, which I now humbly admit must have been immediately obvious to everyone else but which I cleverly deduced after 20 minutes of TV watching detective work, must have been to poke fun at animal rights campaigns, poke fun at stroke victims, and reinforce the status quo.

Haha, Or On the Nature of the State of Advertising

One cool thing about watching TV on the internet is being able to blog about it in real time. The same commercial just played again at the next break. Peter decides to sue the fast food joint for causing his stroke - and they advertise fast food. But what I noticed this time is that it didn't mention Wendy's at all. It was for Subway or Burger King.

Ad Placement Bloopers

On Family Guy, Peter has a stroke after eating too many free McBurgertown burgers. Then a commercial comes on for Wendy's burgers!

Got any more?

P.S. Enjoyed the party. Hot crowd. Good vibe - relaxed, fun, energized and sexy. Question: What if you want to just dance with someone, but don't want it to be taken as a sign you want to, say, sleep with them. Is there a way to do this properly? Without sending the wrong messages or insulting people?

Picks of the Week

Go to Hulu.com. Now.

Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Give up iTunes TV downloads (except that they do get LOST before anyone else does), Joost is for losers (ok, they do have some old-school stuff and freaky cable picks you won't find elsewhere). Hulu finally got it right. The best of the old TV marries the best of the internet, and you get free ad-supported content with bonuses like fast-forward, rewind, download to your library, etc. You don't need to download crappy software, you don't need to register and sign up. You don't need to pay for content. Just turn it on and watch. On demand. 30 Rock, The Simpsons, House, Heroes, that creepy show that's like the Simpsons but more crude - you know what I mean, I don't need to name that filth - it's got a guy Peter in it?, New Amsterdam, The Office, SNL, and a whole lot more.

JuicyCampus is also worth a look, but only a cursory one. Promising, but ultimately unsuccessful.

Live in New York? Want to see the city outside the walls of your home? You need TONY. Ah, there may be others (nymag.com) but this was good today. What have you done for me lately?

Tripadvisor.com was kinda helpful too. The coolest feature is the option to simultaneously get automatic rate quotes from expedia, priceline, orbitz and a bunch of other sites for the hotel dates you want.

P.S. If you are wondering why this post says it was written at 6:30 AM, that is because it was. If you think it odd that I would wake up this early on a Sunday morning, you are right. I didn't wake up. That would be odd indeed. I haven't gone to sleep. Last night I couldn't sleep, then I finally fell asleep and overslept. Then I woke up, went out, met some friends, had a few drinks, ate a brunch and went back to sleep. Then I woke up, did some reading, ate some more, showered, and proceeded to waste the rest of the night consuming audio-visual entertainment media with a brief break to explain to my boyfriend* why he wouldn't be seeing me tonight (and a bit of what could have been phone-text-sex if we'd kept it up a bit longer).

Could've Just Said It

Yeshiva World News reports "Governor Eliot Spitzer has just informed his most senior administration officials that he had been involved in an 'immoral, indecent business-ring'". Gee, I wonder if that has something to do with the prostitution charge reported by the rest of the media. Yah, immoral, indecent business-ring must be like jew-slang for prostitution ring.

Lipa Caves

Former Beatles star to back Lipa's Big Event? As Jewish religious leaders geared up last week to snuff a planned concert by one of the most popular figures in the world of hasidic music, Lipa Schmetzer, this headline ran in UK newspaper The Liverpool Echo: Sir Paul McCartney to Play for Lipa!

Imagine the world's most popular singer in history signing on to Lipa's event! Alas, they didn't mean our Lipa, and the Hasidic singing star scrapped his Madison Square Garden concert plans in response to pressure by leading Rabbis and published advertisements in leading Jewish newspapers banning attendance at the event.

Alalalalalum, or Becoming Who We Are

Been away from blogging for a while. Here's what's up. I took a semester off from school, started a new workout program, am participating in two internships (one in genetics research, one in the legal field), met a wonderful guy, attended at least 6 friends' weddings in the last 4 weeks (I'm losing track, but it seems just about everyone's getting hitched), drank some coffee, got some responses from grad schools (3 interview offers, 3 rejections, and 4 still up in the air), watched TV (Babylon 5, Weeds, Lost, Gossip Girl, The Rookies, etc.) mostly on Joost but then on iTunes when the net filter began blocking Joost (more expensive, but better choice of shows), waited for free tickets in the rain (watched them run out before my turn but had fun anyway), did I mention I'm still/again doing that therapy thing? Mostly it seems a silly waste of time, but I'm still hopeful there will come from it some good. There will come from it some good? Total Yiddishism. Isn't English wonderful how you can play around with the order of words and form sentence structures that will make hair turn green? Never mind.

Being neither student nor full-time job holder, my health insurance costs are astronomical - over $500 a month! WTH?! While we're on the topic, just imagine HillaryCare or ObamaHealth forced everyone to buy health insurance. The self-employed guy struggling to get a business off the ground, the waitress surviving on tips at the local food joint, and the other millions not covered by a company policy - where will the extra $6000 a year come from? From food money? Or will they have to live on the streets because they now cannot afford decent housing? The answer from campaign headquarters: At least they will have health care, eh? Now stop bashing my plan, like you have a better idea?

It snowed about 7 inches today. It smelled like a snow day when I walked outside this morning. You know that - maybe not a smell per se, but a feeling most similar - snowness.

Books I just can't seem to finish: Captains Courageous (Kipling (what if his name were Kilping the way I first accidentally typed it?) maybe all that sailor's dialect slows it down; Robinson Crusoe (Defoe) slow pace and funky stylized way of moving from narration to diary to tell the story from what theoretically are supposed to be different angles I guess, but seem actually to be the same repeated - maybe that is the point - the lonely stranded man must live inside his own head and create from his experience cognitive stimulation; Atlas Shrugged (Rand) an amazing book but very, very long; The Trial (Kafka) is a poignant and incisive look at the essence of what it is to be a man in civilization (are you sure about that, TD?) - I can't seem to finish it because I lost the book.

Books I'm eating up: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith), Nausea (Sartre), Rashomon (Akutagawa).

Miuccia's Men in Milan

To Bryanboy: Hey, you know I still can't comment on your site because for some reason the bot-blocker letters don't show up on my screen ( Trackback).

What a sending-off party Miuccia threw for her men's line with the winter show in Milan! The worst-reviewed showing by a major fashion house in recent memory, the whole thing seemed like a bad joke. "Ms. Prada has some complex sexual issues to work through," said the New York Times. FWD's Chic Report disparagingly called the show "medieval night at the disco". Backwards shirts and ruffled skirts, skintight nude-beige sweaters on skeletal models, and cardigans tucked into slacks? Hello.

I did like that Matt Damon look-alike in the b/w striped shirt and sunglasses (though whoever did his hair needs his head examined). He was the only model that looked alive, not that the extra collar strangling his neck did anything to promote that. One thing everyone is complaining about - the no fly pants - I think was a nice thing to show because it makes people question, makes you stop and think. Which is part of what these shows try to do. Of course, I would never wear it and would picket if it caught on, but the idea is there that it shows you why the fly is there in the first place (in case ya didn't know). Same goes for that purple metallic-looking thing. It's awful, but it accentuates form in an interesting way.

The whole cummerbund thing, that general theme of splitting off the upper body from the lower body and using that "space" in the middle for a whole new element, is nothing more than a nuisance. It wasn't particularly attractive on the runway models, but it will be hideous on the average Joe. I've said it, and I'll say it again. Men's clothing comes in three basic parts: top, bottom, footwear (the rest is accessories). There is no top, middle, bottom, footwear. That middle part is just part of the top or bottom. It does not separate and become its own entity. Clothing at some level should be anatomically justified.

ps victoria beckham in that marc jacobs ad looks like an accident at the tanning salon, but at least she's proud of hubby's big dick

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Out of Context Issue 5, Romney on Gay Marriage

From day one, I've opposed the move for same-sex marriage and
its equivalent, civil unions . . . . If the question is: Do you support
gay marriage or civil unions? I'd say neither. If they say
you have to have one or the other . . . then I'd rather have civil
unions than gay marriage. But I'd rather have neither.

from Steve LeBlanc, Romney Says He's Always Been Opposed to Gay Marriage and Civil Unions, Boston Globe, Feb. 23, 2005, as cited by Goutam U. Jois, Marital Status as Property: Toward a New Jurisprudence for Gay Rights, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Review

Out of Context, Issue 4

I made my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat;
But the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world's eye
As though they'd wrought it.
Song, let them take it
For there's more enterprise
In walking naked.

A Coat, William Butler Yeats, 1914

Doodle to Bush: Chill With Us

Dear Mr. Bush,

I have never met doodlehead, but have cyberknown him for some time and I think you'd enjoy staying with him. Won't you please honor his gracious invitation.

Respectfully yours,

TD