Hit 50,000 Words Today!!!

I’ve been writing like crazy and just before midnight on Sunday (going into Monday) I hit the required 50,000 words so I successfully WON the National Novel Writing Month.  But there is still a week to go, and my story is NOWHERE near being complete, so write, write, write I’m going to do so that maybe I can actually complete it this year too!

Middle of November

I’m so glad that I can see the end of November coming.  I’m about to hit 40,000 words with the National Novel Writing Month.  (and the novel is actually not as bad as it was about a week ago)  Thanksgiving is coming up soon, and I LOVE turkey.  I’ve found out that a couple of different friends of mine are at different stages of pregnancy. And the Boston Bruins hockey team is on a major winning streak.  So all in all life is not so bad!

Go Keith Olbermann!!!

Last night Keith Olbermann talked about life, liberty and most of all love.   He was referring to the passing of Proposition 8 In California, which denies the chance to gay and lesbian people in California to get legally married.  Keith Olbermann talks with such caring and compassion about the rights of ALL people.  I began to cry about halfway through this commentary.  Because I have friends in California who got married on October 18th, 2008 and now the state of California is saying that their marriage might not be valid, simply because both of them were born with XY chromosomes, making them both male.  I don’t understand how wanting to be equal under the law is a bad thing, especially since, if you’re going to get Biblical with me, Jesus said the next greatest law (after loving God) is loving your neighbor.

Living in Massachusetts, I have had the privilege to attend the wedding, the legal wedding, of a lesbian couple that I absolutely adore.  I helped out with decorating the venue and with the centerpieces on the tables (which were picnic baskets filled with goodies.)  To me, this was exactly what I had done so many times before for heterosexual couples weddings that I was involved in, that I didn’t see any difference between the weddings.  And I still don’t.   I cried at the end of the wedding, just like I did before, and just like I have since.  To me, it really was just another wedding.  Even though I do know that there was something very special about it.

To me, it’s all about love.  We need more of it today.  So to Jason and Chris, as I said before, no matter what proposition 8 says, you’ll always be married in my eyes!  I love you guys!  

This post is dedicated to all of my friends who are fighting in the struggle for equality for people of all gender identities.  Straight, gay, bisexual, trans-gender, it’s the process that’s important, and we all need to keep on fighting until everyone gets the same rights.   For those of us who are straight, I leave you with the thought that I have on a button that I wear “Straight, but not narrow”

(Thanks to Krista for showing me the video in the first place!)

WordPress spelling error

Every time I write the words “Barack Obama” here in the postings on my blog, the spell check from WordPress says that the words are spelled wrong.  I finally got fed up and sent the powers that be a note stating that the 44th President of the United States name should be in the dictionary.  We’ll see how long it takes to be added!

A note to America on “Yes We Can”

Due to the generosity of some people I know, I am now the proud owner of a Barack Obama for President long sleeved shirt.  I have been wearing it all week, getting positive comments along the way.  But I got a reaction on Thursday afternoon, that I never could have expected.  I have been getting goosebumps every time I tell the story, and I’m getting goosebumps now as I type.

I had an appointment on Thursday afternoon with my oral surgeon.  (I have TMJ, which is also called lock jaw, and I’m being treated for it.)  Since it was my first visit with this particular doctor, I was sent to the waiting room to fill out the hundred pages of medical information.  And I took my seat and began to fill out the paperwork.  All of a sudden, I hear “Yes we can… Yes we did!…”  I look up to see where the voice was coming from.  There was a man of color (probably in his 50’s) sitting across from me, who had a big smile on his face.  He pointed to my shirt and just nodded in agreement.  I smiled back and said that I had been wearing the shirt with pride all week, and thank goodness for washing machines.  He laughed and simply said again “Yes we did, yes we did.”  He was called to see the doctor at that moment, so I didn’t have a chance to talk with him.

But at that moment, I KNEW truly what it meant to have Barack Obama be elected to be our next president.  If nothing else, it means that the conversation between the generations, between the races, between the genders, between people of different abilities and so on (as Barack Obama said in his speech in Chicago Tuesday night), now takes on a whole different meaning.  I don’t know if this gentleman and I would have talked before this election, not because we are of different races, but because I was doing the heavy paperwork.  But this election opened up something in each of us.  It has given us the freedom to communicate at a different level.  A deeper level.  And I for one am grateful for that.

And so to the gentleman at the doctor’s office.  Thank you for connecting with me, and “Yes we did…”

Today is that day

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.   I have a dream today!”

-Martin Luther King Jr. – delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Today is that day!

(For full text AND video of this wonderful speech click here)

 

The Muppets Return!

I was with Addie yesterday.  We were watching the Disney channel and all of a sudden the Muppets appeared on the television.  It was so cool!  I loved the Muppet Show as a kid.  It seems that Disney has a new show for this generation starring the Muppets and the new, hot teen favorites (actors from Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, etc.)  The new show is called Studio DC Almost Live.  Yesterday’s episode featured an actress from Camp Rock, singing one of the songs from the movie.  The funny part was that the song is a duet (sung with this female singer, Demi Lavato, and Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers), and one of the Muppets had to sing Joe Jonas’s part.  They ended up having Beaker do the duet.  For those of you who don’t remember who Beaker is, he works with the scientist Dr. Honeydew, and only talks in high squeeks with the word “Meep.”  So his part of the song is done in “meep, meep, meep”  I have to say that I liked Beeker’s version much more than the real duet!.  Check out Beeker and the Muppets here: Muppets And here’s the Camp Rock version: Camp Rock Hope you enjoy all of this!  (and thanks to the blogger for correcting Beaker’s speech for me )

Election Day!!

I voted this afternoon, and it took me a couple of minutes after I filled out my ballot, before I could place it in the machine, not because there was a line, but because I wanted to take the time to breathe and realize the history of this vote.  (There were police there making sure no riots broke out in this little town I live in that has 2 stop lights, so I didn’t want to take a picture of my ballot and get arrested!)  So I just stood there looking at my ballot and thinking about how I would remember this moment and this day. 

I’m now watching the news to see who is going to become our next President.  I am so hopeful that Barack Obama is going to win.  I’m also so proud of all of the kids that I’ve had the privilege of mentoring, babysitting, being their teacher, etc.  that are now able to vote, that registered and then VOTED.  This makes me so proud!! 

It has also been really neat to hear the stories of the people who worked in the civil rights movement in the 60’s, who are both white and people of color, who are so excited that this time in America’s history has come.   Not because we could have a man of color as our president, but because the issue of race in America is something that America is finally tackling.  We’re making progress, slowly, but progress.  Next, I hope we can begin the conversation on the equality for women!

NaNoWriMo 2008

My writing is going well this November.  I’ve really been serious about blocking out time to write, and then blocking out time for the rest of my life.  So this is making me very happy!