*

Don't forget today is the National Day of Silence.

Peace to Larry King and all the rest.

psa

Friday, April 25th is the National Day of Silence.

Now, I trust LesbianDad will do some amazing post on this (if she doesn't you can just go back through her archives and read pretty much anything), so I'll keep it short.

I'll make note of the day in my class. Treating everyone with kindness and compassion and respect is at the base of the whole Montessori philosophy and, even in my class of 2 year olds, we'll take a moment to be silent and then talk briefly about being kind to everyone, about listening and about just how important those 2 things are. My kids are two - I'm not going to ask them to be silent all day, nor am I interested in introducing them to some of the horrible things people can do to each other, and maybe creating silence in our classroom for a few moments will mean something only to me. But I cannot let the pain of other folks pass me by with out taking note: you gay kids who've suffered bullying and fights and even death, I see you. I see you.

What are you going to do?

queer revolution, travel and other weekend goodies

Let's get the business out of the way first - I think my insems were too early. Although I did have ovulation twinges this afternoon, so who the hell knows. Oh, well. While this was Teh Last of Teh Last, it was also the Throw Away Insem, the one that probably wouldn't work. But whatever, I'll take my prometrium like a good girl and we'll see what happens.

Last night, I went out. Woo! Out! The Athens Boys Choir and Katastrophe were playing a free (free!) show just down the road from me and as I love, love, love Katz, I was all over it. It seems they did a Trans 101 workshop (also free!) that afternoon. Yay. I missed it, but yay. Both these kids are cute as buttons and said all the right things and had a gaggle, yes, a gaggle, of little femme girls right up in front of the stage squealing over them (it was kind of like Elvis only these bois are cuter). By said all the right things, I mean that their songs and poems spoke true and clear and funny and sad and all the things you might feel in your life. Katz spoke briefly about the horrifying statistics on hate-crimes against queers in general and trans folks in particular and again, he said all the right things. That is, he didn't say much, he simply named some of the people, some of the kids, who've been killed recently and told us, instructed us, to remember them, to say their names. He had a poem about them, "Queer Revolution," a litany of sorts, with slides - pictures and names, lest we forget. There's not space enough for me to list all the names, nor, sadly, do I even know them all, but you can go here to remember, to have names to speak so that we will not forget them. And then, on a lighter note, he finished up with my all time fave, "Tranny Got Pack." Well, maybe my fave is the Waffle House one..... sooooo hard to decide. (That's a music link, so watch your volume if you're at work or worried about loudness.)

So Katz was great and he's really what drew me to the show, but the bonus prize was Rocco (he introduced himself to me when I bought a CD from him - sqeee! (Lord.)). So um, yeah, I spent the whole show thinking how familiar he looked and how I knew the name Katastrophe from *somewhere*..... and then after I got home and read the liner notes with the CD (10 pages!) I remembered. Michelle Tea's partner. Yeah. I am behind the times. Anyway, he was great. So great that my friend D, who's a nice gayboy, said, as he climbed up next to me on one of the pillars for a better view, "oh my god! I have the hots for a tranny!" We speculated that he'd have to fight off the gaggle of femme girls to get to his new crush. In honor of the show, D wore his Lesbian Clothes - a tie and a zip-up hoodie. Adorable. He looked just like a lesbian. Good job, D.

Nothing like some hot trans men talking about social justice and peace and feminism to make you remember what it's all about. MySpace links here and here. And, yes, I have a little celebrity crush. *sigh* But honest, y'all, they're so good.

Also, I got a new, big girl couch this weekend, thanks to the KP. This meant, among other things, that my roommate and I had to quite literally break the frame of the futon I had been using as a couch so we could get it up stairs so she could use it as a bed. In retrospect, this is funny. Moving furniture sucks. But woo! Big girl couch!

In other news, I booked tickets to go to New York for a smidge during spring break. I was ambivalent about going - I want to see my friends up there really bad, but it's sort of expensive, I'm not sure how to deal with cat care now that one of the cats is deaf and another still has some - ah - bowel issues, and the usual - I kind of love to be at home more than anything. But then I was looking for some old emails I'd written about school and I came across one I'd sent to Z the Ex from back in 2004 when I must have been up there for some Montessori related thing and then I totally wanted to go.

Yesterday I saw a magician. I was on the train, going from Ian's back to
Williamsburg, and I was tired and feeling weird (what's new) and I'd finished
my book so there was nothing to do but sit there. As we were whizzing along under
the river, a magician came clanging in from the next car. He had a little
folding metal stand with big loud metal bells on it and a black case that he
pushed in front of him and a nice black top hat. He was mumbling loudly in
Spanish and so, in spite of my heritage, I understood nothing. He set up shop
right in the middle of the train, swinging the black case up onto the metal
stand and arranging all sorts of implements on it. He tried to get this one guy
to hold his magic wand for him, it was pink lucite, I think, but he refused.
Then all the other people he tried shook their heads, too. It was so sad. But
then this guy sitting across from me agreed to hold the magic wand and tap on
the special magic box and so the show could begin. I got to open the magic drawer
in the special magic box and a small furry animal popped out and I jumped. Then
he did all sorts of other tricks, like making soap bubbles turn into giant
marbles and then popping the marbles or making a girl's purple lacy panties drop
to the floor and then trying to give them to the guy across from me. In
addition to finding the small furry animal (maybe it was a mink?), I got to
hold the magic wand and tap on a small metal dish that was upside-down and then a
dove flew out from under it. Amazing. And then he was done. He collected
some money and packed up his case and rattled on to the next car, all in the space
of 2 stops, before we got to Graham Ave.
I walked home and stopped by the liquor store, feeling much better.

You know you wanted to relive that 10 minutes on the L train with me. So I'll be in New York for a smidge in April. Who's around?

does 2 in 1 night make up for it?

Remember when I hit you up for pictures of your kids? Yes, you do. Well, here's the result. If you want to know how the lobbying went down, Chicory has her usual dead-on take up for your perusal. There's some folks over in Utah who are busting their collective asses to make things right for their kids. For all of our kids. See, even in February, you can hang onto some hope.

(Click the picture in Keri's blog to enlarge and see if you can find kids you know. Sophie's in there, sticking her tongue out, right under the W.)

do unto others

For Cali:


moar funny pictures


And for Chicory:

Check out this and this and then send in your cutest pictures of your kids. What's not to love about this deal? Show off your kid anonymously, help change stupid, stupid laws. Ideal.
(You can send pics to me - starrhillgirl@gmail.com - if you'd rather.)

oh, the agony....

My L-word dealer is out of town. No fix for me this week. Ack. I've been distracting myself with this. Warning - spoilers and sooooo NSW (nudity *and* guns).

Did anybody make dinner this week? I forgot. But next Sunday, I'm all over it. Tell me what you're bringing so I can menu plan.


Oh, god. You're all watching it right now! I'm dying.....

where have i been?

Funny you should ask.....
I've been:
*at work
*in bed with the worst head ache of the year (for me, that is)
*in the car with Sophie (the kid's got a lot of shit going on)
*in Free Union, watching the L-word.

There's all sorts of things I might ought to fill you in on (heheh, 2 prepositions in a row is funny), like my deaf cat, my desire to be on vacation all the time, the recent warm weather and how it makes me want summer, my car situation, my views on the election, my lack of a roommate, but blah, blah, blah.

But what's really important? The L-word. Yes, it was everything it's cracked up to be: hot girls, outrageous plot lines and more hot girls. My friend who tivos it for me had us all set up: she'd recorded the last episode from the last season, too - as a refresher. We let her baby stay up to watch it with us (we covered her eyes during the sex, don't worry) and then put her to be and broke out the chocolate cookies and hunkered down with the premiere.

Oh, my program.... as my grandma would say - so good and yet, so, really, not good. And yes, I am about to sit down with my dinner sized bowl of popcorn and re-watch it. What's it to you?


ETA:
(Warning! Possible spoilers! Jay, Vee - beware!)

The "Our Chart" (what-the-fuck-ever) version on line is edited within an inch of its life. The hot scene with Tasha and Alice at the end was totally cut all to shit.

"Oh-nine-hundred-o'clock in the morning" = best line of the show.

The "you love me but you're not in love with me" conversation between Shane (*sigh*) and what's her name? I've had that exact conversation. Only I didn't run out and commit arson afterwards. This is why my life is not on Showtime. (I did hang on to a certain dutch oven and, more recently a very nice sweater - but I'll be returning them both! I swear! But, F your I, break my heart and leave your shit at my house then it becomes part of the landscape and then I wear it and cook with it. Until I mail it back.)

Who the hell takes care of that baby all the time? And the pre-school interview scene made me ill. Ill. Please tell me that shit doesn't really happen. Also, why was it weird for Angelica to sign something? Baby signs are painfully hip these days. (I mean in no way to bash baby signing - it's great - but still, totally the baby fad for the new millennium)

Helena's cell mate is hot.

in case you don't read the comments

(from Darren, of course)

also for remembering...

Somehow I missed the news of Jane Rule's death. There's a good obit here, by way of Alison Bechtel.

All us queer kids now stand on the shoulders of those folks who came out when coming out wasn't cool, as the saying goes, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

i want to sleep with her, not *be* her

(with all due credit for the title to my 18 year old cousin, who said to her mom, "Mommy, I don't want to *be* Barbie, I just want to play with her!" in response to a "talk" about lack of reality in Barbie's proportions)


Which Dyke to Watch Out For Are You?
created with QuizFarm.comYou scored as Lois

You are Lois, the ladykiller who's mellowed into an awesome, loyal girlfriend. Give yourself permission to read the newest Harry Potter at Camp Trans.

Lois		80%
Stuart		70%
Sparrow		60%
Mo		50%
Toni		50%
Sydney		45%
Clarice		40%

i has

a fire.

Just a small one. Just for me. Or for you! If you want to stop by.... There's whiskey. You know you miss it - the fire and the whiskey. No? You're too far away? Why?

Well, then I'll just sit here with the newspaper and Hope For The Best™.

That's the M.O. these days - there are no more arguments to be made, links to be sent. There is only Teh Hope.

And the everlasting gratitude. Y'all know who you are.

Oh! And Happy Coming Out Day! Lesbian Dad says it all, as usual.

must see

This is so great. Entertaining and sweet and full of girls.
(with all credit to Alison Bechdel for posting it first)