Where's Obama

I love that I stumbled across both of these on the same day.

From JoeMyGod:




And from Mission Mission:



And from JoemyGod:

The Laramie Project - 10 Years Later

Last night, Tom and I attended 'The Laramie Project - 10 Years Later' at the University of Arizona, the sequel to the groundbreaking documentary/play about Laramie, Wyoming, in the months following the 1998 murder there of gay college student Matthew Shepard. The project was created by the Tectonic Theater Project.

Last year, as the tenth anniversary of the brutal crime approached, members of Tectonic decided to return to Laramie to see what had changed. Last night, on the 11th anniversary of Shepard’s death, the new piece would be premiered near-simultaneously in more than 150 cities across the globe. Actors in all 50 states (including Laramie) and 14 countries performed the play at the same time, and the performance was followed by a live video feed from New York where the playwrights, along with Judy Shepard, answered questions.

It was disheartening to hear the revisionist history being created regarding the facts of the case. A widely discredited 20/20 story in 2004 has provided cover to those who don't want to look too closely at the murder. They say that it was robbery and a drug deal gone bad as opposed to a hate crime. I can understand the desire to move past such a horrific event, but to do so at the expense of the truth is shameful, and no matter how many 'stories' get created, the trial exposed the truth, and we need to remind folks of that.

It was a great performance and I was very moved. If you haven't seen The Laramie Project, I strongly urge you to do so.

And here's the link to the Laramie Project Forum

Til death do us part...especially if you're gay

This article in the Boston Globe is an excellent take on the impact of DOMA and leaving states to define marriage

'As Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry says, “the irony is that the antigay forces are so opposed to gay relationships they won’t even let us out of them."'

It would be laughable if it wasn't so hurtful.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

I know it's long, but everyone should watch this. I want to want to eat less sugar (Ha - that was for you Niki!), but it's so hard. But this explains so much about why I can't turn off the need to eat all the time. But I want to not eat so much, and that's the first step, right?

Comfort Books

So in the spirit of banned book week, here's another post inspired by author Neil Gaiman. I guess Neil isn't feeling so well this week, and today he Tweeted about 'comfort books', those books you turn to again and again to make you feel better. There are several for me that seem to do the trick.

I have read 'The Gospel According to Biff' by Christopher Moore at least 10 times, and it cracks me up every time I read it. It's the story of Christ told by the lost apostle, Biff, who was Jesus' life long friend. Very irreverent and very much fun. I have given this book out as a gift several times. All of Moore's books are clever and funny, but I think this is my favorite - though if it's around the holidays, 'The Stupedist Angel' does the trick just fine too.

Another favorite is 'The Eyre Affair' by Jasper Fforde. Set in England in 1985, this delightful fantasy series about a criminal mastermind who is altering great literary texts by kidnapping and even killing off characters and the literary detective charged with stopping him is very clever. Very inventive and hilarious.

In a more serious vein, I have always loved 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker. Alice Walker is an amazing writer, and the book is much better than the movie, though I love Whoopi Goldberg anyway.

When I was a kid, I used to love 'Watership Down' by Richard Adams. The not so cute and furry bunny story was very complex, with freedom, choice, and survival positioned front and center.

And I not ashamed to say that the Harry Potter series is another favorite when I'm not feeling well, and even when I'm feeling good. As I've said before, as usual, the books are much better than the movies. And out of respect for the man who inspired this post, 'The Graveyard Book' has been one of my favorite books of the last year. This story of Nobody Owens being taken in and raised by a group of graveyard ghosts is very entertaining. There's a reason it has won the Newbury Medal.

What are your favorite comfort books?

The Cost of not being able to Marry

This NY Times article was very enlightening. It projects the extra costs gay couples have to pay because the federal government doesn't recognize gay marriage. It's really a great itemized account of the very real costs we have to pay that married couples don't have to worry about. I'd gladly pay that 'marriage penalty' to avoid all of the precautions that Tom and I have had to put in place to take care of each other.