Before yesterday, North Carolina was the last Southern state without a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Before today, I also believed North Carolina was the last Southern state to secede from the Union. I just google-checked my memory and discovered that Tennessee actually seceded a week after my home state did. There goes a youthful assurance, a little piece of why I've always loved home. (Google: killing dreams since 1998.)
The truth of the matter, though, is that what matters more than when. North Carolina did secede from the Union. North Carolina now does have a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Last night was a deja vu moment for me. I saw myself driving my high school car (a hand-me down from my grandmother), with its "Jesse Helms Doesn't Speak For Me" bumper sticker on the back. I'd found it at a little bookstore in Chapel Hill that offered a discount if you could name a historical event that happened on the year they pulled out of a hat. Any nerd like me knows that the French Revolution began in 1789, so my bumper sticker cost me practically nothing. It wasn't the only lefty bumper sticker in my high school parking lot, either. We were in the Triangle of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill after all, a dynamic region for research, universities, and industry. (The marriage amendment lost 4-to-1 in the Triangle last night, for perspective.) But back then in the 1990s, gun racks still outnumbered peace sign decals. We liked to show our stripes.
Those stripes are everywhere, if you're looking for them. The problem with making assumptions about any "red" state is that it ignores not only the pockets of blue, but the legions of people working hard to change the tide in their surroundings. There's a particular kind of state pride among those who love their state despite their state, who have a seasoned respect that's deeper and more honest than sheer boosterism. Making blanket statements about regions does so at the expense of the folks working hard there to make a difference, and it's something I take personally. Change is slow, and it starts small. Bumper stickers matter. But more than that, so do conversations on front porches, at the neighborhood park, in churches, in the checkout line. This small, steady change is happening all over the South. It's why some of my favorite people are progressive women from Texas. It's why North Carolina voted for Obama in 2008. It's why my teenage cousin half my age just went to her junior prom in NC with her girlfriend, and no one raised an eyebrow.
That same cousin's Facebook status yesterday was "And we keep fighting... and we keep going," said with all the assurance of a seasoned community organizer. She knows that time is on her side. We all do. While headlines are made about irrational amendments being passed, my family and friends at home, some of whom are gay, are trying to go about their lives just as they did yesterday. They're talking with their neighbors, raising families, and adding value to their communities. Their hearts are hurting, but they know the clock is ticking. The bravery in their hearts is the best thing I know. The second-best is the dedication of those on the ground already trying to peel this thing back, already laying the groundwork for how progress will reassert itself.
Tick tock, North Carolina. The march of progress has never left you behind completely, and it won't now, either. You're too beautiful to be shadowed by hate, too smart to be labeled something you're not. Time will tell.
Showing posts with label Political Intrigue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Political Intrigue. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday I'm in Love
Yesterday I fell flat on my face while walking. I was crossing a park to meet T at our neighborhood Metro station, and a slightly uneven brick hit my foot in just the right way, and... splat. Kind thanks to the homeless men who hurriedly rushed to my assistance. Oh my. So today, my knee is the size of a softball and the opposite foot is unable to bear weight. I'm feeling pretty graceful heading into the weekend... how about you?
SIGH.
Let's hurry up and make it 5 p.m., okay? Here are three things that made me smile this week (I've missed you, Friday I'm in Love!):
Have a great (and graceful) weekend, folks!
*Megan Fox excluded (obvs)
SIGH.
Let's hurry up and make it 5 p.m., okay? Here are three things that made me smile this week (I've missed you, Friday I'm in Love!):
The Partisans: Birth Control Hearings (Redux)
This is the best response I can possibly imagine to the brain-exploding lunacy that is a bunch of men on Capitol Hill talking about birth control. Thank you, Andy Cobb and Second City, thank you...
U.S. Interstates as a Subway Map
Subway art will always be my favorite, but I'll give a nod here to the Interstate System as well... even if its existence is responsible for the sprawling of America. (getting off my soapbox now...)
Friends with Kids
You know those movie previews you see and in the first five seconds it's completely obvious that you will watch said movie and love it, due mostly to the fact that you love everyone* on screen? This movie is that [latest] movie for me.
Have a great (and graceful) weekend, folks!
*Megan Fox excluded (obvs)
Friday, February 4, 2011
Friday I'm in Love
Okay then! That was therapeutic.
We're off to Connecticut to party down with the in-laws, take in a little college hockey, and forget our troubles. On that note, here are my three finds for the week. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Founding Fathers: "Super-freaked out by cars"
We're off to Connecticut to party down with the in-laws, take in a little college hockey, and forget our troubles. On that note, here are my three finds for the week. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Zach Wahls, Model Citizen, Making his Mommas Proud
Watch this video of Eagle Scout engineering student Zach Wahl proudly telling the Iowa State Legislature about his two mothers, and just try not to tear up or cheer. Just try. Found here.
Cat-Scratch Sofa, Yours for $6,500
There's so much that I love about Anthropologie. One peek into my closet proves that through and through. But this sofa? This sofa is everything that can go wrong, oh so very wrong, over at Anthro. If I wanted to spend $6,500 on a sofa, I can assure you it would not look like it had been trapped with a herd of hungry, wild cats. Further, if there is anyone out there who would choose this sofa out of all the sofas in the world that cost $6,500, I would like to meet that person. And then shake that person silly.
Founding Fathers: "Super-freaked out by cars"
I have little patience for self-righteous proclamations of what the founding fathers would have wanted. Particularly because the application is typically something so modern that the presumption is impossible. Seth Meyers nails that sentiment here. And for the record? I'll sign on to his musket gun law any day. Found here.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday I'm in Love
Whew! Busy, busy, busy week. Let's get right to it, then.
Giddy Planner Alert
I do work for communities all over the country, but the work that means the most to me is when I get the chance to make a difference where I live. This week, I rolled up my sleeves and begin working with a DC community, as we kicked off a planning process for a project that's intriguing on a number of levels. Even though I'm far away in the news photo above, you can easily see that I have a big 'ol grin on my face, due largely to the totally delightful group that I was facilitating. Getting to know communities and helping them forge plans that best capture their vision is what I do best, and having the opportunity to do that in my new city makes my heart smile. (Nerdy community planner group hug!)
Rescued Baby Bats
I feel terrible for the flooding that's ravaging Australia, but how do I feel upon discovering the extreme cuteness that is rescued baby bats wrapped in blankets? Fantastic!
Healing after Tucson
The president, telling the crowd that Gabby Giffords had just opened her eyes. The crowd, cheering on the brave men and women who helped at the scene. The message, about how words matter, and about why love is stronger than hate. The good people we lost last weekend. The little girl inspired by democracy, with her entire life ahead of her. "She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism, vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted. I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it." All this, on my mind all week long.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Random.
Here we go, folks. There is no rhyme or reason right now - just a lot of meandering:
Flowers and Books
I've been obsessing over this big arrangement of bright lilies all week, and this morning when I was watering, I spotted a very similar arrangement over in our neighbor's living room (no I wasn't spying - the rather awkward layout of our building means that their living room looks directly onto our patio, and vice versa). 3/$12 at Whole Foods this week: get 'em while they're hot!
Remember a week ago today, when I was beating myself up for being a bad reader? True to form, I've read three books since that post. The first .... meh. But the second! Has anyone else out there read the Josephine Bonaparte series by Sandra Gulland? I borrowed the first book last weekend in Connecticut on the trail of my mother-in-law, who borrowed it from my sister-in-law, both of whom raved about it. Sure enough, I found myself furtively reading it all weekend and finishing it on the train, and am now absolutely antsy for M to bring me #2. Composed entirely of diary entries and letters, this work of "historical fiction" is insanely readable, and makes me hungry to fact-check everything when I'm done with the whole series.
The second book pictured here was borrowed from my friend Allie, who proudly has her grandmother's copy of the novel. Sure enough, there's her signature right inside the cover of "A Woman of Independent Means," the "splendid national bestseller" published in 1978. This novel was immensely enjoyable, particularly on the heels of Josephine B., as it's comprised entirely of letters and telegrams. (What I've learned the last week is that any novel composed in short letter form is crack to my brain that I can't put down until three in the morning.) The heroine Bess Steed is a turn-of-the-century woman who is in turns bossy, full of presumption, and privileged. Yet she is also remarkably self-sufficient, adventurous, headstrong, and surprising. I would have liked to be her friend. Bonus points for being set largely in Dallas - I always love seeing familiar street names and the like. I also loved coming across the many gems from Bess included in her letters to friends and family. Had this been my copy of the book, I would have underlined this sentence from her 1932 letter to her daughter: "The best dowry a woman can bring to a marriage is a set of memories she acquired alone." Now... to Netflix the 1995 television miniseries starring Sally Field!
Paper Love
Check out my kick-ass blog calling cards designed by pixelimpress. I highly recommend her if you're in the market for fun, reasonably priced paper goodness.
I have a couple of blogging-oriented events coming up, and it occurred to me that calling cards would be helpful. I like these so much I'm getting standard calling cards made, too - phone number and real e-mail address and the like. You know, for the many and varied networking events I attend outside of working from home all day. Ummm...
Girlfight
I'm in a fight with one of our cats right now. Switters is our needy and emotional gentlecat of leisure, while Fanny is our hell-kitten in need of Ritalin who makes "A Woman of Independent Needs" look like a charity case. The cat is obsessed with being outside, obsessed with jumping onto precarious landings, and obsessed with doing things that increase the likelihood of her scrawny, fluffy self flying over the rail and splattering onto 14th St. All week when I've been watering, I've had to repeatedly yell at her to get off the places she knows she's not allowed to be outside. Here's the thing: do I really want to be the crazy cat lady watering her plants at 7:30 in the morning, pre-coffee, bleary-eyed, and wearing some sort of outfit I threw together in the dark, loudly yelling "FANNY!" I think not.
So dammit, why does she have to be so cute when takes a nap on a fresh pile of laundry? I mean, her tiny tongue sticking out? Not fair, Fanny. Not fair at all.
Local Politics
I'm seriously stressed out about who to vote for in the DC mayoral election. That is all.
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig...
So I'm heading back to NC this evening for a long weekend of Preggo Police activity. My sister is due October 19, but her little one has decided that we're way too cool for him to wait another seven weeks to meet (or is it just his 14-month-old big brother he wants to hang out with? no, probably us.). I mean, I can't really blame him, except that it's really so much better for him if he takes the next seven weeks to chill out and get strong, ya know? So with my sister about a second away from doctor-ordered bedrest and my parents leaving for vacation Saturday, it's up to a rag-tag bunch of volunteers like me to make sure that A) Little Liam has someone to run after him, B) Stubborn Lisa stays in timeout when we're forcing her to get off her feet, and C) The doc has no chance to tell her game over, it's bedrest time. T's joining me this weekend and I'm looking forward to a lot of chilling out and laughing, while one person in the group just happens to be seated the whole time. Depending on Hurricane Earl, we might have a houseful of OBXers with us, too (which I selfishly wouldn't mind one bit).
Happy holiday weekend, folks. So excited for some crispness in the air. I mean really, any time now.
Flowers and Books
I've been obsessing over this big arrangement of bright lilies all week, and this morning when I was watering, I spotted a very similar arrangement over in our neighbor's living room (no I wasn't spying - the rather awkward layout of our building means that their living room looks directly onto our patio, and vice versa). 3/$12 at Whole Foods this week: get 'em while they're hot!
Remember a week ago today, when I was beating myself up for being a bad reader? True to form, I've read three books since that post. The first .... meh. But the second! Has anyone else out there read the Josephine Bonaparte series by Sandra Gulland? I borrowed the first book last weekend in Connecticut on the trail of my mother-in-law, who borrowed it from my sister-in-law, both of whom raved about it. Sure enough, I found myself furtively reading it all weekend and finishing it on the train, and am now absolutely antsy for M to bring me #2. Composed entirely of diary entries and letters, this work of "historical fiction" is insanely readable, and makes me hungry to fact-check everything when I'm done with the whole series.
The second book pictured here was borrowed from my friend Allie, who proudly has her grandmother's copy of the novel. Sure enough, there's her signature right inside the cover of "A Woman of Independent Means," the "splendid national bestseller" published in 1978. This novel was immensely enjoyable, particularly on the heels of Josephine B., as it's comprised entirely of letters and telegrams. (What I've learned the last week is that any novel composed in short letter form is crack to my brain that I can't put down until three in the morning.) The heroine Bess Steed is a turn-of-the-century woman who is in turns bossy, full of presumption, and privileged. Yet she is also remarkably self-sufficient, adventurous, headstrong, and surprising. I would have liked to be her friend. Bonus points for being set largely in Dallas - I always love seeing familiar street names and the like. I also loved coming across the many gems from Bess included in her letters to friends and family. Had this been my copy of the book, I would have underlined this sentence from her 1932 letter to her daughter: "The best dowry a woman can bring to a marriage is a set of memories she acquired alone." Now... to Netflix the 1995 television miniseries starring Sally Field!
Paper Love
Check out my kick-ass blog calling cards designed by pixelimpress. I highly recommend her if you're in the market for fun, reasonably priced paper goodness.
I have a couple of blogging-oriented events coming up, and it occurred to me that calling cards would be helpful. I like these so much I'm getting standard calling cards made, too - phone number and real e-mail address and the like. You know, for the many and varied networking events I attend outside of working from home all day. Ummm...
Girlfight
I'm in a fight with one of our cats right now. Switters is our needy and emotional gentlecat of leisure, while Fanny is our hell-kitten in need of Ritalin who makes "A Woman of Independent Needs" look like a charity case. The cat is obsessed with being outside, obsessed with jumping onto precarious landings, and obsessed with doing things that increase the likelihood of her scrawny, fluffy self flying over the rail and splattering onto 14th St. All week when I've been watering, I've had to repeatedly yell at her to get off the places she knows she's not allowed to be outside. Here's the thing: do I really want to be the crazy cat lady watering her plants at 7:30 in the morning, pre-coffee, bleary-eyed, and wearing some sort of outfit I threw together in the dark, loudly yelling "FANNY!" I think not.
So dammit, why does she have to be so cute when takes a nap on a fresh pile of laundry? I mean, her tiny tongue sticking out? Not fair, Fanny. Not fair at all.
Local Politics
I'm seriously stressed out about who to vote for in the DC mayoral election. That is all.
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig...
So I'm heading back to NC this evening for a long weekend of Preggo Police activity. My sister is due October 19, but her little one has decided that we're way too cool for him to wait another seven weeks to meet (or is it just his 14-month-old big brother he wants to hang out with? no, probably us.). I mean, I can't really blame him, except that it's really so much better for him if he takes the next seven weeks to chill out and get strong, ya know? So with my sister about a second away from doctor-ordered bedrest and my parents leaving for vacation Saturday, it's up to a rag-tag bunch of volunteers like me to make sure that A) Little Liam has someone to run after him, B) Stubborn Lisa stays in timeout when we're forcing her to get off her feet, and C) The doc has no chance to tell her game over, it's bedrest time. T's joining me this weekend and I'm looking forward to a lot of chilling out and laughing, while one person in the group just happens to be seated the whole time. Depending on Hurricane Earl, we might have a houseful of OBXers with us, too (which I selfishly wouldn't mind one bit).
Happy holiday weekend, folks. So excited for some crispness in the air. I mean really, any time now.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Friday I'm in Love
Oh, Friday I'm Love, how I've missed you! Although my folders are bursting with fun finds, I wanted to do videos today due to my short attention span. See, I'm busy - my parents are driving up later today to spend the weekend with us. DRIVING UP! This has not happened... ever. I've always lived an airplane ride away. I can't wait to see them and kick some apartment ass around this place. But the fun doesn't end there: on Sunday, my pal Richard is staying with us, too. Check in over on Twitter on Sunday, where I'll surely be Oscar-tweeting to my heart's content while Richard makes me giggle-snort with snark. But enough intro... on to the fun videos!
We are huge Community fans. Here's just a taste of why. Go watch the show, seriously. And yes, that is Joel McHale wearing tiny gym shorts on the front page of the website. You might want to check out the full episode from last night...
SNL President Reunion
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
Nope, this isn't new. But I'm still obsessed with it. We play this commercial all the time around here. Just amazing. Amazing, I tell you!
Community
We are huge Community fans. Here's just a taste of why. Go watch the show, seriously. And yes, that is Joel McHale wearing tiny gym shorts on the front page of the website. You might want to check out the full episode from last night...
SNL President Reunion
I love seeing the SNL presidents in one room together. Will Ferrell and Darrell Hammond are perfect here, and how about Jim Carrey and Chevy Chase making an appearance? The best line, though, goes to Dana Carvey as #41, to his son: "Yeah, that second term of yours was a real victory lap, wasn't it, Dubbers?" I spit out my coffee.
Have a fantastic weekend, everyone - I know I will!
Friday, October 9, 2009
The table I'm not sitting at
I miss my old stomping grounds. Fall in New Mexico, the smell of chile roasting in the air, front porches with friends and vino, politics on the brain... sigh. It's been too long, Land of Enchantment. Besides making my green chile stew and chatting with the friends I left behind, I also do things like watch Albuquerque talk shows to fill my void. But not just any Albuquerque talk show... the one hosted by my dear friend (and our wedding officiant!) Gene. This particular episode of inFocus begins with a reporters' roundtable that also features one of my favorite women on the planet (an m!), Marjorie. Marjorie and Gene's post-election talk is the stuff of our dinner parties at the Forrester house, or nights at the brewpub, or... sorry, I'm reminiscing again. (Can't Help Myself Memory: Marjorie and Gene's speech the night before our wedding was one of my favorite moments of the entire weekend. Marjorie spoke about my commitment to social justice, and then Gene reenacted me "kicking Albuquerque in the balls" during my tenure there. Now those are some great friends.)
For the second half of the show, Gene's regular panel comes in, and there's my pal Sophie, too. It's like a "Maggie's life, 2002-2007" flashback, in one 50-minute segment.
Can you tell I miss engagement in local politics? Hi friends!
For the second half of the show, Gene's regular panel comes in, and there's my pal Sophie, too. It's like a "Maggie's life, 2002-2007" flashback, in one 50-minute segment.
Can you tell I miss engagement in local politics? Hi friends!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Love and Politics (and Most Beautiful)
Many years ago in graduate school, I teamed up with a nice guy named Martin for a semester-long project. Smart guy with a dry sense of humor, family-focused, outdoorsy... "I'm running for City Council next year," he told me. And so he did, and he became a progressive voice on an Albuquerque Council that dealt with housing policy, community-based planning measures, living wage matters, and the like. We kept in touch over the years through local politics, and Martin (by that time Councilor Martin Heinrich) became a key ally of mine on a transit project I was working on in Albuquerque.
Fast-forward to one dark and stormy (not really... but felt that way) night in the spring of 2006, when I met a cute guy who was working on the congressional campaign of then-NM Attorney General Patricia Madrid, who was trying to unseat the wretched Heather Wilson (a nightmare of an elected official who'd held New Mexico's 1st District for far too long). That cute guy and I dated for months, through a tiring campaign for him and a lot of Big Life Questions for me. The election ended badly - a mind-numbing (weeeeeks long) recount that ended up naming incumbent Heather Wilson the winner by 879 votes. On the bright side, I eventually married the cute campaign worker, so there's that. ;-)
Fast-forward two more years to 2008: Guess who decided to run for the very same congressional seat that we so narrowly lost in 2006? You got it: my former classmate Martin, who by that time was Council President. By 2008, I was living in Dallas, but I helped out with Martin's campaign when I could, including flying back to Albuquerque to co-host a fundraiser (really an excuse to eat lots of green chile, but hey, 'twas for a good cause!). We eventually decided to spend Election Day 2008 in a place close to our hearts (sorry, Texas) and spent the day getting out the vote for Martin and Obama in Albuquerque's South Valley. That night was amazing - surrounded by people I love, seeing this absolutely historic presidential win, and cheering on a bright, young, dedicated progressive that I just happened to know as he was elected to Congress.
Had a Democrat won that seat in 2006, who knows what might have changed for Trevor and me... But she didn't win, and the loss was heartbreaking, and we moved to Dallas instead of DC, and a friend of mine won the seat in the very next election cycle instead. Funny, huh?
This is all backstory to introduce U.S. Representative Martin Heinrich (D-NM). He was elected president of the 111th Congress' freshman Dems this year; he's been fighting the good fight since his arrival and making his New Mexico district (and me) proud. But guess why I'm chuckling about good 'ol Martin today? Because this just happened:
Ha ha ha... oh yes. That's "our" (I know I'm not in the NM-01 district anymore, but I consider myself honorary at this point) congressman, my former classmate, who was just named The Most Beautiful Person on Capitol Hill.
That, folks, is a happy ending* for everyone. ;-)
* just the beginning of Martin's fight for progressive values in Congress, mark my words... but "ending" for the sake of blog post closure and all
Fast-forward to one dark and stormy (not really... but felt that way) night in the spring of 2006, when I met a cute guy who was working on the congressional campaign of then-NM Attorney General Patricia Madrid, who was trying to unseat the wretched Heather Wilson (a nightmare of an elected official who'd held New Mexico's 1st District for far too long). That cute guy and I dated for months, through a tiring campaign for him and a lot of Big Life Questions for me. The election ended badly - a mind-numbing (weeeeeks long) recount that ended up naming incumbent Heather Wilson the winner by 879 votes. On the bright side, I eventually married the cute campaign worker, so there's that. ;-)
Fast-forward two more years to 2008: Guess who decided to run for the very same congressional seat that we so narrowly lost in 2006? You got it: my former classmate Martin, who by that time was Council President. By 2008, I was living in Dallas, but I helped out with Martin's campaign when I could, including flying back to Albuquerque to co-host a fundraiser (really an excuse to eat lots of green chile, but hey, 'twas for a good cause!). We eventually decided to spend Election Day 2008 in a place close to our hearts (sorry, Texas) and spent the day getting out the vote for Martin and Obama in Albuquerque's South Valley. That night was amazing - surrounded by people I love, seeing this absolutely historic presidential win, and cheering on a bright, young, dedicated progressive that I just happened to know as he was elected to Congress.
Had a Democrat won that seat in 2006, who knows what might have changed for Trevor and me... But she didn't win, and the loss was heartbreaking, and we moved to Dallas instead of DC, and a friend of mine won the seat in the very next election cycle instead. Funny, huh?
This is all backstory to introduce U.S. Representative Martin Heinrich (D-NM). He was elected president of the 111th Congress' freshman Dems this year; he's been fighting the good fight since his arrival and making his New Mexico district (and me) proud. But guess why I'm chuckling about good 'ol Martin today? Because this just happened:
Ha ha ha... oh yes. That's "our" (I know I'm not in the NM-01 district anymore, but I consider myself honorary at this point) congressman, my former classmate, who was just named The Most Beautiful Person on Capitol Hill.
That, folks, is a happy ending* for everyone. ;-)
* just the beginning of Martin's fight for progressive values in Congress, mark my words... but "ending" for the sake of blog post closure and all
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