A Haiku

Kathleen and I have been drinking and have decided to write a haiku . . .

now we are fighting about the traditional haiku structure (like Kathleen is fucking japanese or something)
[kathleen: fuck you john]

It is extremely difficult to count to five when intoxicated. I feel we may injure ourselves if we try to go to seven.

OK so haikus are hard, very hard. Even though, apparently, Kathleen is an expert on haiku we are unable to write one in our current condition. [Kathleen: whatever john]

1935 Revisited

I don’t want to scare you but I, apparently, am a very dangerous person. I am a nefarious demonic person. I aim to destroy the very fabric of the Commonwealth of Virginia. By the desire, the abhorrent desire to form a legal partnership with the person I love I am ripping away the sanctity of marriage in Virginia. By wanting my loved one to be able to legally inherit my property after death I am destroying the concept of family in Virginia. If my partner and I want to adopt a child that doesn’t have parents we are destabilizing the concept of family in Virginia.

Having problems believing this? Didn’t know that your friend John was so evil? Well neither did I until our General Assembly here in Virginia brought it to my attention. See this year the House Of Delegates (HJ586) and the State Senate (SJ337) both passed amendments to the Constitution barring marriage between anyone but a man and a woman. The two amendments now have to be merged into one document and pass another General Assembly before it can be sent to the voters so we won’t see it at the polls before 2006. The House also passed a bill (hb2868) that barred gays from adopting children. Even though there are thousands of children who don’t get adopted because they are black, latino or asian or over 5 years old and the straight couples want white infants. But better for the children to spend the rest of their childhood in an institution than in a loving home with same sex parents.

This is so ridiculous. If they really wanted to protect the sanctity of marriage wouldn’t they be outlawing divorce? Isn’t that a bigger threat to marriage? What about Neil Bush and his divorce case? What about Rush Limbaugh’s three marriages? How many adulterous affairs have politicians had? How many marriages end because of infidelity? What is the divorce rate in America today? There is no sanctity of marriage except what sanctity the two members bring into it. The government can’t cram any meaning into the institution. It has to be created by the two participants.

Virginia is preparing to pass a set of Nuremburg Laws. I feel like I should start sewing pink triangles onto my clothes. It really isn’t that great a leap from saying we can’t marry or adopt children to saying we can’t own property? To saying we have to live in a certain area in the cities? It is only a matter of time my friends. The other thing that pisses me off is the argument that gay rights organizations trot out in this campaign. They bring out the couples that have been together for 25 years, 50 years etc. We shouldn’t have to do that! We shouldn’t have to prove how “normal” we are! We shouldn’t have to prove what good parents we are. We are people just like the politician assholes who are taking our rights away. No matter if we have been dating our significant other for 15 years or 15 minutes, we should be able to marry them and adopt kids! Politicians shouldn't be able to deny a percentage of the population certain rights just to win more votes. No one group of people should be able to deny rights to another group just because they don't like them.

"ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS"
~Animal Farm by George Orwell

Oh, Foolish Fay

Oh, foolish fay,
Think you, because
His brave array
My bosom thaws,
I'd disobey
Our fairy laws?
Because I fly
In realms above,
In tendency
To fall in love,
Resemble I
The amorous dove?
Oh, amorous dove!
Type of Ovidius Naso!
This heart of mine
Is soft as thine,
Although I dare not say so
~Iolanthe

My favorite section of the Creeper Trail

2Miles
Originally uploaded by Johnxiv.

At this point on the trail you can believe you are miles from civilization. Even on a rainy Monday it was quite beautiful.

Things I Have Been (Self) Diagnosed With This Week

Dehydration. Pulmonary Embolism. Low Blood Pressure. High Blood Pressure. Low Blood Sugar. High Blood Sugar. Constipation. Kidney Stones. Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Arrythmia. Assholism. Obssessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. Depression. Mania. Excema. Rosacea. Vitamin Deficiency. Pink Eye. Strep. Thrush. Myocardial Infarction. Hypnophobia. Somniphobia.

Damn you WebMD!

A Letter

Dear A**hole,

Is it working? The whole lying to yourself thing? Because you are driving the few people who actually like you away. Because you aren’t being honest with yourself you have to shut other people out. To cover your isolation you are forced develop the narcissistic philosophy that others aren’t worthy of you. You spend every minute of your day building and reinforcing the walls around yourself to keep others out, to keep them from knowing the truth. Unfortunately your isolation doesn’t fool anyone. You hate yourself and everyone knows, because when someone hates them self as much as you do it shows like the Mark of Cain .

In spite this I wanted to be your friend. I actually thought you could have benefited from having friends. From spending time with people who actually like who they are. The problem with trying to be your friend was I never knew how you were going to react. Sometimes my overtures of friendship were greeted warmly and other times you reacted as if I attempted to rape you. No more. It stops here. I won’t participate in your sickness any longer.

I want you to find happiness but no one but yourself can help you. You have to make the choice to be happy. The beauty of the situation is that it will be so easy. Just stop lying. It’s that simple. You will be amazed at how free you feel.

Best,
j

What I'm Reading

This whole world of blogs is so amazing. I feel so connected to these people whose lives I read about but I have never met most of them. I started off in the world of political blogs but quickly began to read personal ones as well. In no particular order here are my top 10 blogs:

Blah-ditty-blah my friend Erika, intelligent and humorous reflections on her adventures

Wasted Birth Control An incredibly intelligent writer sharing her journey through life

Here Be Hippogriffs Julia's life, including but not limited to trying to get pregnant and cooking (not at the same time). I love they way she writes.

Go Fug Yourself Hands down, the funniest blog on the internet (I love it when I write like Larry King)

Chance>Change My friend Evalyn, her adventures moving back to NYC

Onan Online Sort of an online crush for me

Today 4 U Tomorrow 4 Me Another Barter friend, Brian. He just started this blog but he is so funny he should have a one-man show

Eschaton An incredibly intelligent political blog written by an economist

Daily Kos A incredibly intelligent political blog, this one by a team

Glitter For Brains Just started reading this one but it kept me cracking up in music rehearsal

Life at this moment

Not much going on. Rehearsals have been very light since the Director and Choreographer are out of town. Went to see Betrayal by Pinter last night. An odd experience, it really isn't the type of show you enjoy. The characters are basically despicable humans you just want to spit on. But a lovely production, especially the set and lighting design. A lovely production.
It is such a beautiful day today! It's one of those days that makes you excited for the arrival of spring. I am sure that it will snow three feet tomorrow but today is beautiful. I can't wait to get out on the trail and walk. Since I have had a cold this week I haven't exercised at all and I have missed it so much.
For the last week or so I have gotten several hang ups from an 866 number. Since they never leave a message I finally got annoyed enough to call them. They are a capitol hill group that handles calls for PAC and lobbying organizations. Since I belong to a thousand of those groups (HRC, DFA, AI, ACLU, etc) I figured my membership is just up for renewel. Since I called they have now started to leave messages, they are automated but at least they are leaving messages. The odd thing is the message is " Hello! May I please speak with the lady of the house?" Is this the 1950's? "The lady of the house" what the hell is that? Also if this is a call about some group I belong to, which of those would ask for the lady of the house? I truly hope that I am home when they call the next time so when they ask to speak to the lady of the house I can tell them that they already are!

Why . . .

Do passive-aggressive people think others don't notice? Do they think they have some super secret power to get others to do their bidding? Do they not realize the transparency of their actions? Why do they do it? What motivates them? Do they have no self esteem? Do they think that is the only way they can get things done? Also, what type of manager manages that way? Do they think that treating others like children will make those people respect them? What drives a passive-aggressive person? And why do I work with so many of them?