Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum from the Washington Post on Thurs. (I know I'm a bit behind).

Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.

"If the city requires this, we can't do it," Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."

Several D.C. Council members said the Catholic Church is trying to erode the city's long-standing laws protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination.

Well, maybe we'll have to go back to separation of church and state and stop giving the church money.

The church's influence seems limited. In separate interviews Wednesday, council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) referred to the church as "somewhat childish." Another council member, David A. Catania (I-At Large), said he would rather end the city's relationship with the church than give in to its demands.

I hope they pass the bill next week.

• 19:14 I am officially In A Funk. #

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I know I haven't been around here much - and please keep in mind that my absence is both read/write; that is, i haven't been reading LJ either.

However, if you have any burning questions for me, particularly since I've been absent, go ahead and comment them and I'll try to address them over the coming week.

I claim the right to get bored and stop answering questions at any time. Nor will I neglect other responsibilities to answer questions.

I figured some of you might have real questions about me, my life, my health, etc. So here's your chance.

[x-posted to fatshionista]

( Fall essentials behind the cut! )

1. Gay Pimp or Hard Gay, and why?

Gay Pimp hands down. Because he's actually gay, and sexy, and dirty, and hilarious. And I want his outfit. With rhinestones.

2. What was the first job you ever held?

Where I had a W-2 and everything? Working in a hunting and fishing warehouse pulling orders and packing them up for the delivery trucks. Very glamorous.

3. What would you never do, even for a million dollars?

Defile an animal (eating the dead doesn't count nom, nom), child, or dead person.

4. If you could have me bake anything for you, what would it be?

Oh my god, your scones! The rose tea one's!

5. Leather or sequins?

Sequins, hands down.

• 10:10 Best Freudian slip ever during a webcast in today's virtual show: "I would like to spank--er, spank?--thank the sponsors...." #

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My eyebrows are growing back! I had attributed their (recent) thinness to old age. But I can see new hairs sprouting! Also my scalp doesn't feel as naked as it did.

My doc insisted that it wasn't Wellbutrin-induced (as I predicted) but she also said sometimes this happens when the grow/shed cycle crisscrossed with hormones or something and that it would grow back. Whatev. Told her I was dropping the W. anyhow and she was cool w/ that and said if I got depressed, I could just call her. Meanwhile I went to a lab the next day and gave bodily fluids for tests; no word back on that yet.

I am hungrier and less focused than I was on the W., but not depressed. I miss the lack of hunger and the focus. Maybe I just need ritalin. I totally have the ADD or the ADHD or whatever but that's another story, really.

• 14:50 It would seem that blackface is the new black. #

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For the holidays, I love to decorate our house with cards exchanged with faraway friends. We are making homemade cards this year so if you'd like one, please reply to this post with your snail mail address. Replies will be hidden for your privacy, of course.

Here's our address

Drinkwater Family
3824 Cedar Springs Blvd.
Suite 555
Dallas, Texas 75219

I have two sites I am currently working on for new clients, and trying to finish TribeQueer in the next few weeks. The timing could not have been worse for all the re-organizing and endless projects that go along with moving and creating a new nest, but I am so grateful for this amazing house. We love it.

I worked on everything in the new house except my office, so all the clutter has made me feel chaotic anxious all month. Yesterday, I finally put curtains up in my office, and for some reason, that simple action kicked in my vision for completing this final space, the most important room to me. babygirl doesn't get that I am trying to create some sort of tangible force field within these four walls, but I have felt kinda disconnected from my creative tools and the things that inspire me for longest time. I want wires tacked down, unfinished projects out of sight, books organized, a place for my camera and paints. I need to feel peaceful and cozy in my office, and I want the only distraction to be IDEAS.

Got the pea gravel for the hot tub and the landlord's maintenance man is gonna wire it for me. That way, if it gets weird, he can fix it too. We have a chain link fence, so I am gonna keep my eye out for discarded fence panels to make that little area private and really sweet for us. I hope the hot tub doesn't need repairs, but I've wrangled it for nearly for free so...delivery slated for tomorrow.

My back is still fucked. Stabbing pain when my biggo belly shifts or I move my arms. Just grunt through it cuz I got work to do!!!

Big love to all my friends....

• 15:57 A neat tool to explore how not everyone has felt the recession equally: The Jobless Rate for People Like You - bit.ly/1C9YKp #
• 21:20 Just when I thought I couldn't find a reason to hate EQCA more, they sink to a new low: firing a woman of color with cancer. #

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On Sunday, I attended a martial arts demo and fundraising event at Mills College to celebrate Fukuda Sensei, the highest-ranking female judo master in the world, and to help raise money for the documentary being made about her. At 96, she still teaches classes in San Francisco. Here's a clip of the film.



ETA: You can donate here, the site of the filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer: http://flyingcarp.net/.

hi guys,

just a simple question.

WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THE REST OF MY LIFE?

1. i cant keep answering phones and processing data
2. i cant live in a tiny ass apt and continue to rent
3. i cant be without a kid for ever, cause i love babies.

I need meaning and substance and OMG, i dunno what to doooooooooooooooooooooooooo

ATTENTION: GENDERQUEERS! Have you written something on your own blog, in online forum, or a gender studies class that  you thought was pretty good? Call for entries for the 'zine content of TribeQueer.com, the new "Facebook"-like site for Butches/Femmes/Genderqueers to be released in the next few weeks. The article could be any thought-provoking commentary that could benefit others if it were showcased to right audience.

Hit me up here on livejournal if you have an article to share with the masses, or write me at daddyrhon at gmail dot com. 

• 00:21 I could watch capoeiristas play forever. #

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A church is picketing schools to protest their clubs that support gay rights. Many UUs are supporting Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in response (recommending a dollar amount for every hour they picket - see schedule below). It would be nice if all people who support love instead of hate do the same.

They started today. Here are articles about today's picketing: Westboro Baptist Church Pickets Obama Girls And Blue Collar Comedy Tour’s Ron White and Westboro Baptist Church Pickets Obama Girls And Blue Collar Comedy Tour’s Ron White. I don't see any major news media reporting on this, but that's probably a good thing, because they don't deserve the attention.

Their schedule was/is:

( Read more... )