tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:01:15 +0000Corgis Yoshi and Trek have their very own training diary (See the links section). This is for everything else.http://www.frap.org/Blog/nondogblog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)Blogger262125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-1594035209516569112Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:51:00 +00002009-01-05T12:01:15.154-08:00I've been wondering for a while now if we're past being shocked by music anymore. In the 60's the Rolling Stones singing Why Do We Live Together created a huge stir. This continued with all the inuendo of 70's disco. Then the 80's and the door pretty much came down Though the 80's was when i was paying by far the most attention so my perspective may be skewed: - Violent Femmes Add it Up where http://www.frap.org/Blog/2009/01/are-we-musically-unshockable-now.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-7499556180544483415Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:41:00 +00002009-01-01T22:59:33.599-08:00I just saw Milk, which is a Gus Van Sant film about Harvey Milk. I hope both Sean Penn (wow he's come a very long way over the years) and Gus Van Sant get Oscars for it as this is such an awesome film, and they took pains to nail the details. And everything felt so Deja Vu when they were talking about the Brigg's amendment. Milk talking about the importance of coming out and making sure every http://www.frap.org/Blog/2009/01/dear-harvey-we-need-you-now.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-3985664707664587274Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:46:00 +00002009-01-01T13:06:43.603-08:00I watched a lot of new year's celebrations here on TV (feeling lazy and didn't want to go out, so instead cuddled with Terri and the dogs - we do these inadvertent sofa puppy piles to see how little horizontal space we all can take up). Everyone interviewed on TV was saying 2008 good riddance and were hoping for a better 2009. While I completely understand, I feel gratefully way out of step http://www.frap.org/Blog/2009/01/i-had-great-1008-and-wow-i-feel-guilty.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-3699003663095967898Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:47:00 +00002008-12-29T10:48:09.551-08:00Fradulent housing refi offers have disappeared from my mailbox and I just have to do something to fill the void, and I need to avoid shooting off my mouth about Israel honing the art of over-reaction as I don't know enough about that very deeply tangled situation. (Few do.) Terri has been listening a lot to Air America and other liberal radio networks which is on AM radio on Green 960 (used to http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/12/maybe-gold-isnt-perfect-investment.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-7534422309013302508Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:09:00 +00002008-12-21T16:16:54.859-08:00I with the media would talk more about this. I'm no expert, but even I know that in the Arab world, having someone throw a shoe at you means you have been royally insulted. According to this reference, the sole of your foot is the dirtest part about you and flinging something associated with that at someone else is a grave personal attack. The fact that no one publicly filled the president in http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/12/social-significance-of-shoe-throwing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-2754878468662428199Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:55:00 +00002008-12-20T00:07:50.543-08:00Jerry Brown, doing what I didn't think it was within his power to do, filed a lengthy brief with the court asking them to invalidate Prop 8. He doesn't even go in the historically losing direction of arguing that it's a revision and not an amendment to the constitution, but flat out says that it's not consistent with the rest of the constitution (Ref.) which is what Ive been hoping the judges http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/12/jerry-brown-my-hero.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-3047771639943763827Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:57:00 +00002008-12-18T21:11:05.827-08:00So Obama has chosen Rick Warren to do the inaugural opening and Joseph Lowery to do the benediction. The LGBT community is angry at the choice of Warren since Warren has compared gay people to pedophiles and opposes abortion. Lowery is much more liberal and opposed Prop 8 (Ref.) It will be interesting what Lowery has to say. Obama swears he fiercely defends LGBT rights, but that he thought ithttp://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/12/obamas-inugaural-religious-bookends.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-6349349221609570397Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:23:00 +00002008-12-04T19:54:25.856-08:00The American Automakers that is. For years I've been saying American cars suck, but it's one thing to whinge about them and quite another to torpedo the entire economy just because you thing they deserve it. This has been a series of hard lessons all the way around. First and foremost is that what people say they want and what they need are two different things. Hinging all your marketing http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/12/enough-already-just-loan-them-money.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-7674996910672214909Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:36:00 +00002008-12-04T16:54:40.104-08:00I've been dealing with muscle weakness and fatigue these past few days. To the point of having to sleep off a couple of afternoons. It's really discouraging and I can't figure out if it's a weird virus or an MS attack. It kind of doesn't matter as I'm maxed out on MS treatment (until they come up with something better), unless I wanted to switch to Copaxone, but I've been doing so well on http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/12/dealing-with-muscle-weakness-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-3334857933789998157Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:43:00 +00002008-12-04T16:00:29.268-08:00I'm a little bored of Prop 8 coverage but people are coming up with some very brilliant ways of addressing the issue. I saw this first on the front page of SFGate: A community college in Sacramento (allegedly) managed to convince some very famous people to participate in a Prop 8 "musical" and made a short video of it. It is just stellar and it's fun picking out all the famous faces. You can http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/12/prop-8-musical.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-6889009840314598241Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:11:00 +00002008-11-22T20:23:36.060-08:00At a No on Prop 8 Rally on Nov 9, '08 that Terri and I attended, I brought a video camera. The area around the main speakers was too crowded to get very close to, but there was a ton of other things going on. Then I noticed the amazing array of home made signs and the real story started to emerge for me. This was much more than a carefully scripted event, this was a whole group of people who http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/no-on-8-rally-video-montage.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-5255439395673172858Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:31:00 +00002008-11-20T23:25:56.962-08:00(Enough of Prop 8 - let's talk about something else) Also known as Mt. Tallac: Not Even Close So today I drove over to Lake Tahoe in hopes of climbing Mt Tallac (local vernacular calls it Ta-LOC') Now Terri and I have been to this trailhead a couple of winters ago, but do I remember anything about it? Of course not. Do I remember that the turn off is marked prominently? Nope. So I proceed tohttp://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/beware-of-this-way-is-shorter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-8646328575517209546Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:59:00 +00002008-11-20T22:06:15.637-08:00Funny how these moments catch you sometimes. The advantage of getting married in the backyard is that it's really easy to revisit it in a very surpisingly viseral way. I found myself standing in the same place as where I said my wedding vows to Terri and as the moment sank in I realized that no matter what happens, they can't take that away from us. Regardless of its legal status, we are http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/i-am-married-and-they-cant-take-that.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-1551070499175108527Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:11:00 +00002008-11-20T20:37:54.148-08:00Well what we hoped would happen is going to happen. The Supreme Court is going to review Prop 8. This also means that our own marriage will hang in the balance for 4 to 6 months which is a very odd feeling though I trust the supreme court a heck of a lot more than the electorate at this point. Marriage is one of the most intensely personal decisions you will make in your life. And I'm having http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/supreme-court-to-review-prop-8.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-3460387309247110594Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:01:00 +00002008-11-16T11:17:18.407-08:00The Prop 8 folks have whacked a hornet's nest. Anti Prop 8 protests happened all over the country Saturday. San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Fairfield (you go!), and even little Alameda, and many more throughout the state. But this SF Chron article here (and an earlier one here) and accompanying CBS5 video on the same page, say that there were protests in Boston (where same-sex http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/whacking-nest-of-hornets-nationwide.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-461585619475841231Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:24:00 +00002008-11-15T16:40:01.112-08:00What I missed yesterday is which minority groups were filing against Prop 8. Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund Asian Pacific American Legal Center and in a move that should go a long way towards healing: The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (and two other groups that this article didn't name.) And tomorrow should see the start of several nationwide rallies against Prop 8. Details are http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/naacp-joins-fight-against-prop-8-also.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-3032775054668139701Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:20:00 +00002008-11-14T07:41:33.752-08:00I went to see The Laramie Project at Alameda High School mostly to support the students (since a friend's daughter is involved in it.) What I hadn't planned on is that I learned a lot from the play. It starts with the attack and moves forward from there through the trials. The play is a summary of 100's of interviews that the playwrights made with the people of Laramie. While I find the http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/laramie-project-great-play.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-2838494105256009559Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:53:00 +00002008-11-14T07:16:40.912-08:00After no word for a couple of days, I hear a heartbeat out of the courts. They have asked Attorney General Jerry Brown's office to reply to the lawsuits filed against Prop 8. Apparently that means that they are taking things seriously (well, duh) as opposed to refusing the case and making a lower court review it first. What they want to know from Brown is whether his office considers the caseshttp://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/justices-ask-attoney-general-to-respond.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-6959605471738984009Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:40:00 +00002008-11-13T10:54:36.520-08:00Alameda is a relatively small city in the Bay Area. After some growing pains, Alameda has become very progressive and supportive of LGBT concerns to the point that they deputized the mayor (I'm sure it was her idea) and most of the city council to do same-sex weddings at city hall. That said, we're not really used to being in the limelight (ok the original anti-gay growing pains got us nationalhttp://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/evil-phelps-group-threatens-to-picket.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-5703091665225349094Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:08:00 +00002008-11-13T10:40:20.062-08:00My neighbor told me that her daughter is participating in Alameda High School's production of The Laramie Project. That is so extraordinary, that my brain simply didn't put it together at first. The Laramie Project is the story of Matthew Shepherd, his brutal murder (left to die on a fence in Wyo. simply because he was gay - he died after 22 hours), and the aftermath. My neighbor's daughter, http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/alameda-high-puts-on-larame-project.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-2457536073937049540Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:38:00 +00002008-11-13T08:37:31.017-08:00I am going to take a Prop 8 hiatus but will readdress it from time to time. This just in Connecticut. just ok'd same sex marriage. Hooray! (Ref. Ref2) People from Calif. are already talking about getting married there and coming back here to ask for it to be recognized. And while I don't have a reference handy for it I just heard on KFOG news that some Asian rights groups are joining in the http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/more-prop-8-followup.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-1315560550917991672Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:11:00 +00002008-11-11T12:20:31.580-08:00This is likely to be a series of posts. The legal experts are already starting to weigh in on Prop 8. One third of the Calif legislators have files a friend of the court brief asking that 8 be overturned; http://www.examiner.com/a-1683846~Lawmakers_join_call_to_overturn_Prop__8.html And long time judge LaDoris H. Cordell has stated categorically that 8 will be overturned and also is of the http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/legal-eagles-continue-to-weigh-in-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-8943012208507713698Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:20:00 +00002008-11-11T00:22:52.339-08:00This deserves its own blog entry. Keith Olbermann speaks out on Prop 8 His passion and eloquence are unmatchable. I am in tears. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27650743/http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/keith-olbermann-on-prop-8.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-3897806986861887033Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:49:00 +00002008-11-10T17:07:14.518-08:00We went to a very encouraging, fun, raucous, noisy, peaceful anti-Prop 8 rally in Sacramento, which gave me hope that there are a lot of really pissed off people who are more that willing to fight this through. I took a lot of video of the very creative signs, which I will make a montage of. I was in particular thrilled to see Caesar Chavez's granddaughter speak as some of us were beginning to http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/law-of-unintended-consequences.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6035513.post-4809559046832363012Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:53:00 +00002008-11-07T11:09:48.488-08:00While every lgbt person is a victim of Prop 8's passage, most of us will fight on and will be ok. Last night, it occurred to me that the real victims are young lgbt people who live in the Central Valley and other homophobic Calif places. They are currently trapped, and I'm really feeling for them. What about the kid who was just about to come out to their parents when this mob mentality hit? http://www.frap.org/Blog/2008/11/prop-8s-real-victims.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ellen)1