the ongoing saga of my job 1 Comment

Anywhere But Here

My day job doesn’t suck. In fact, my day job is really quite cushy. Eight-to-five, sitting at a desk, fixing people’s loans.

Still, this is the last place I want to be right now.

First off, I have about a zillion creative ideas running around in my head, and more keep popping up as the day goes on. I have to get the laundry done tonight, since I’ll be gone out of town with LSM this weekend, and I also have to practice my mellophone in preparation for that. There are also some other chores around the house that I’d wanted to tackle (mainly as a gesture of goodwill toward my loving husband who usually does all the housework).

I really can’t get excited about being here today. Not that anyone is ever really *excited* about their day job… but some days go faster than others. Today is just dragging like a mofo.

I don’t have much time left before I meet the carpool tomorrow to head out to DeKalb. I have so much to do.

memories

Lachesis

One afternoon in early September 1999, shortly after we moved back into Kohl Hall for our third year as roommates, Amy and I discovered this interloper living just outside our window. We named her Lachesis, after one of the Fates (Clotho, the weaver; Lachesis, who measured the cloth; and Atropos, who cut the thread — rightfully, she should have been Clotho, but Lachesis just sounded cooler).

We and Lachesis lived in harmony for at least a week, until one morning she and her web had vanished. Amy and I maintain that she must have been power-washed off of our windowsill.

memories 3 Comments

College Weirdness

As I was rifling through a box of old papers the other day, I came across some amusing documentation of college that hadn’t yet made it into a scrapbook: the never-completed Amy & Diana FAQ, circa 1997, for all those fluffies in the dorm who wondered aloud outside our dorm room door what the fuck we were all about; The Rules of Life, also circa 1997, recorded as necessary on a piece of notebook paper just inside our dorm room door; and All The Rooms In Hell, recorded on a piece of notebook paper next to The Rules of Life.

These snippets of my bizarre college life I will now share with you.
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gardening

Gardening Update

Well, it’s been over a month since I planted my first batch of garden goodness from Michigan Bulb. I wouldn’t have bought any more this year, but Scott ended up getting the Fall catalog in the mail, replete (resplendent?) in its fantastic coupon-bearing glory.

So, before the new arrivals arrive, I thought this would be a good time to recap on this season’s gardening progress. Read on for photos and descriptions of my cute baby plants and not-so-cute weed gardens.
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politics 1 Comment

Gay… Madrid?

First, Canada:

OTTAWA, Ontario (Reuters) — Canada’s Parliament Tuesday approved legislation to allow same sex-marriages across the country, despite fierce opposition from conservative politicians and religious groups.

Legislators voted by 158-133 to support the bill, which makes Canada only the third country in the world after Belgium and the Netherlands to permit gay marriages.

Most Canadian provinces already allow same-sex marriages, and Canada has become a popular destination for gay and lesbian couples from countries where these unions are banned.

The minority Liberal government said it had to draw up the legislation after courts in eight of the country’s 10 provinces ruled that a ban same-sex marriages was unconstitutional because it violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Next, Spain:

MADRID, Spain (AP) — Parliament legalized gay marriage Thursday, defying conservatives and clergy who opposed making traditionally Roman Catholic Spain the third country in the world to officially recognize same-sex unions. Gay rights activists cheered lawmakers and blew them kisses.

The measure passed the 350-seat Congress of Deputies by a vote of 187-147 with four abstentions. The bill, part of the ruling Socialists’ aggressive agenda for social reform, also lets gay couples adopt children and inherit each others’ property.

The bill is now law. The Senate, where conservatives hold the largest number of seats, rejected the bill last week, but the Senate is an advisory body and final say on legislation rested with the Congress of Deputies.

Gay couples will be allowed to marry as soon as the law is published in the official government registry, the Boletin Oficial del Estado. This could come as early as Friday or within two weeks at the latest, the parliament’s press office said.

The Netherlands and Belgium were already up in this whole gay marriage thing. The U.S.? Well, it’s no secret that Dubya supports an amendment to ban gay marriage.

My question is, where in this whole “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” thing does it say that… oh, forget it. I’m so annoyed with the general intolerance of the right wing that I can’t even formulate a proper argument.

I just hope that lots of gay American couples have at least one partner who meets the Employment Requirements of Canadian Immigration and Citizenship.