Saturday, May 31, 2003

The lady in front of my has a baby in a stroller. I don't know how old the baby is - I'd guess under six months - but she's in a sit-up stroller as opposed to a pram. The baby is clutching a stuffed animal under her arm.

The stuffed animals falls to the ground. I look at the baby to see what her reaction might be. She looks on the verge of tears and her mother is otherwise distracted, so I pick up the toy and offer it to the baby like I would to an adult. She looks at me wide-eyed, but makes no move to take it from my hand. I figure okay, she can't do that yet. So I hold it out to her in such a way that the toy's arm is in her hand, and all she has to do is grip in the way that even newborn babies do. She still doesn't react. I don't know what she's thinking - is she tired of the toy? Is she afraid of me? Is she playing mind games? So I kind of sat the toy next to her in the stroller, propping it up against her. The mother finishes what she's doing and thanks me for picking up the toy, but before she even finishes it's on the floor again. Silly babies.
So Cancer Ward is a very important book, it was important that I read it and I learned a lot from it. But it was not fun to read. It brought up a lot of unpleasant facts and ideas, and the way sexuality was portrayed made me uncomfortable (can't quite articulate why yet).

Plus it brought up the whole issue of mortality. It made me think about what I would do if I were dying, and I was faced with the distressing fact that I have no idea. I mean, I know I'd get married and put my affairs in order, but what would I do with my time? I've had the last month off with no obligations, and I've been reading, gaming, cooking, etc. If I were dying I'd probably have more sit-down restaurant meals and more wine, but I still don't know what I'd do with my time. Most of my normal past-times just seem like ways of eating away your time. I don't particularly like to travel, and though I'd love to see Paris and Venice I'd only want to spend a couple of days in each place. Would I read? Very selectively. Would I watch TV? The thing preventing me from doing so now is the price of a decent cable service, but while money is no object when you're dying, watching TV tends to be a bit of a timewaster (although I'd certainly find a way to see the last episode of MASH). Would I work out? Why bother? Would I game? A nice way to relax sure, but it also eats up time. I really can't think of what I'd do!

Friday, May 30, 2003

I'm so sore and grumpy today. I wore my old flat sandals shopping yesterday, and they gave me blisters for some reason, even though I've been wearing them for years. Then on the way home I got on a bus that was supposed to go to Yonge, but it only went as far as Bathurst, so I had to walk home from Bathurst. (What's the point of a bus that goes from Dufferin to Bathurst?) On the positive side, I did get a couple of tops, a really cute skirt (yes, cute.), and a couple of library books, so I think for today I'll just plunge into a nice fat library book and nurse my aches and pains. I wish I had a heating pad, but I don't feel like walking all the way to Shoppers (two whole blocks!) to buy one. Especially since I don't know what they cost or if my Shoppers even has one.
Would you like to see me graduate?

Step 1: Go here to find the date and time of my ceremony. (If you can't figure out which ceremony I'm in from the information presented on this page, this message isn't directed at you anyway.)

Step 2: At the date and time of my ceremony, go here and watch it streamed live.

Thursday, May 29, 2003

Americans will probably want to read this analysis of current fiscal policy
�����Por qu� no puedo dormir???? (Is this the right way to do �ber-exclamation-marks in Spanish?)

I had a drink with dinner and had a cup of SleepTime tea (Tranquilith�! Best translation pun ever!) before bed. I did my dishes and threw out my garbage and read my comics and signed off just after 1:00. I put on my comfy sweats and sat in bed and worked through a couple more chapters of Cancer Ward until sleep seemed more appealing than reading. I sorted the pillows out (taking our favourite pillow for myself since James isn't here tonight) and arranged my stuffed animals and curled up on my side of the bed and tried to think happy thoughts. I thought of snuggling and merlot and quidditch and impending financial security and that time I had a really big painful zit and I squeezed it and it popped in a most satisfying manner without leaving any evidence behind. In my head I wrote letters to the editor and love letters and my MA thesis. I planned my outgoing voicemail message for my office and pondered what outfit to wear on the first day of training when I don't know if we're dressing for the office or for the classroom and tried to calculate how much longer until the peels finally grow out of all my nails.

Still can't sleep.

Now I'm sitting up in the dark drinking milk and blogging even though I should be reading Cancer Ward because I have to return the book this week, and then I've got 2 other books due on June 3 that I can't renew.

This is not good. I had planned to wake up at 9 so I could go to Yorkdale and browse all the stores for office clothing that appeals to me and be home (or at least on the bus heading home) before the high schools let out and the mall and buses are flooded with high school kids. But I doubt that's going to happen, and so it's another day of waking at noon and feeling like a failure.

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Finally, thanks to a dear friend's fascination with beauty pageants of all things, I've found an acceptable French word for "boyfriend": "un ami de coeur." Much better than "petit ami" or "chum", no?
I think I had/have Asperger's Syndrome. The symptoms listed there are an exact description of me as a child. I still have problems with eye contact, body language, repetitive movements, coordination, and rituals.

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

I wonder if, early in human history, when humans first harnessed the power of fire, there was some sect who disapproved of the use of fire and ran around wringing their hands saying "Humans aren't meant to have fire! You're playing god here!"
The square outside the mall is swarming with canvasers of some sort. As I stride towards the nearest mall doors, one of them approaches me. Suddenly I feel a burst of pain shoot through my foot. Cursing the new shoes I'm breaking in, I grab my leg and quickly sit down on the abstract concrete structure I'm passing. As I adjust my shoe, I notice the canvaser who had been approaching me had stopped and chosen a new victim to give me a moment to recover my dignity. I finish fixing my shoe, and duck into the drugstore without being stopped.

Looks like I've found a new way to avoid canvasers.
They told us so much bullshit when we were teenagers.
"These are the best years of your life." WTF? Who made this up, and what kind of hellish life were they living? And why do grownups keep repeating this when everyone knows it isn't true?

"Schools and employers are looking for extracurricular activities on your resume, so you'd better have at least one athletic, at least one non-athletic, and at least one outside." Scholarship recruiters are certainly looking for this as a way to distinguish among the most excellent, but for the rest of the world it doesn't matter one iota. Do what is fun or interesting to you.

"You have to decide on your career path NOW! The decisions you make now will last the rest of your life!" Um, no! So you take the wrong courses? No problem, take a couple of intro courses as electives in post-secondary and then switch your major. You don't get into university? No problem, work a couple of years, take adult education courses at your local college, and apply for university once you've reached mature student age.

The truth that they never told us is that nothing that happens in high school matters. Instead of all this bullshit, they should tell you at the end of grade 5 "Kids, the next 5-10 years of your life are going to range from confusing and frustrating to utter hell. Some of your classmates are going to turn into people you don't recognize, you're going to find yourselves saddled with the body of an adult, the rights of a child, and people constantly trying to push adult responsibilities on you without adult privileges. So take it easy, do your best, have fun when you can, ask for help when you need it, and spend some time alone in a dark room crying when you need to. Then one day you'll turn 20, and nothing that happens between now and then will matter any more."

Monday, May 26, 2003

The verdict on Harry Potter: SO FUCKING GOOD!!!! Harry Potter is the Star Wards of children's books! I read each book straight through, I could not put them down, and now there's starting to be magic in my dreams. I can't believe some people think these are inappropriate for children! Why? Because there's magic in them? Um, look at any fairy tale...

Parents with kids who can read but don't like to should read a couple of chapters of the first Harry Potter to their kids, stop at the first cliffhanger, and leave the book in the kid's room. Within a week the kid will be begging for the next book. These books are on part with Pippi Longstocking, Narnia, and Roald Dahl. Even adults will enjoy them! They are a bit fluffy for adults, but while they are a touch formulaic the ending is always a surprise!

They do have instances of spiders in them, there's at least one instance in every book, although some have more. Ditto for snakes. I found it was manageable if I started skimming as soon as I recognized what was going on and picked up after the danger had passed, and I did find I could avoid visualing here (I couldn't in LOTR). If you are as phobic as me, skip the chapter entitled Aragog in Chamber of Secrets. Otherwise, enjoy!
There a sort of hole in the wall in the hallway by the elevators. It's not quite a hole - more of a cubbyhole about the size of a shoebox standing on end. A couple of cables that the maintenance people need to access run through the hole, but otherwise it's empty. Usually it has a little door on the front that is locked, but the door has been gone for quite a while.

I want to find a small garden gnome stand it in the hole, watching people come and go from the elevators. Just to see what happens.

Sunday, May 25, 2003

In Ontario, minimum wage is $6.85 per hour. That works out to $12,500 per year. The poverty line in Ontario for a single adult is around $18,000 per year. Minimum wage has been constant since 1995, the same year that rents jumped 19%. For some families with children, welfare provides more financial stability than a minimum wage job.

Phone and urge Brad Clark, Ontario minister of labour, 416-326-7600, to raise the minimum wage to $10. After all, that just meets the poverty line.

And phone or e-mail Justice for Workers (416-531-2411, ext. 246 or justice_for_workers@yahoo.ca) if you want to help the Ontario Needs a Raise campaign to distribute leaflets around the city and the province on May 31 and June 5.
Since Baty's book sucks, I thought I'd post what I remember from some different streetproofing tips I got in 2nd year. These are meant to be used in addition to the standard common-sense tips you read everywhere. Some are kind of morbid because they deal with maximizing the chances of your being remembered by passers-by if you turn up missing on the news, but they are good food for thought. YMMV.

  • Use your cell phone judiciously: Many streetproofing tips say not to talk on your cell because you look distracted. However, if you can remain alert to your surroundings, a fake phone call might deter would be attackers. Pretend to dial, wait long enough for 2 rings, then loudly announce "Hi honey, it's me, I'm at [your current location] so I should be home in a couple of minutes." Say you'll be home in a couple of minutes even if you aren't that close to home. Some would-be attackers might be deterred by the fact that someone knows exactly where you are and will notice your absence in under 10 minutes.

  • Always be prepared to take a cab home: Think about the place in the city your normally frequent that is furthest from your home. How much would it cost to take a taxi home from there? Keep double that amount in cash somewhere in your home. If you find yourself stuck somewhere, even if you lose your wallet, you can just hop in a cab and get home safely.

  • Make eye contact and small talk with safe people: Smile at your bus driver, say hi, ask for a transfer, and comment on the weather (if it doesn't hold up the line). Chat with the clerk while they ring up your purchases. Frequent businesses closest to your home, be nice to the employees, and they'll remember you and look out for you.

  • Look like your picture: Think for a moment about the worst-case scenerio: you vanish, and your picture is all over the newspapers and TV. What picture of you would they likely use? What do you look like in this picture? How is your hair done? Are you wearing glasses? Are you wearing makeup? If you are in a higher-risk situation, like making your own way home late at night, try to look like that picture. If you normally wear glasses but take them off for photographs, take them off when you do your eye contact and small talk with people you meet. If you are making any radical changes to your appearrance (a vastly different hair colour, for example) mention it to your next of kin so the police aren't questioning people about a brunette girl when you're now blonde.

Saturday, May 24, 2003

So I've been reading A Girl's Gotta Do What a Girl's Gotta Do by Kathleen Baty, and I'm not too impressed. The vast majority of the book is stuff I already know, and some of it is utterly ridiculous. Remember that email that was circulating around the internet a couple of years ago that said women wearing overalls are most likely to be raped? Well, she put that little factoid in her book - that women wearing overalls are likely to be attacked because the attacker could quickly snip the straps of the overalls. Has she ever tried cutting 2 or more layers of denim? Not quick and easy. Besides, in what world do overalls fall right off if the straps are cut? Most women have hips, and hips tend to keep pants from falling off. Remember about 14 years ago when the fashion was to undo the straps of your overalls, pull down the bib, and loop the straps under your crotch? And were overalls falling off left and right then? No! That one false factoid destroyed the credibility of the whole book for me.

But overalls aside, a lot of this book reeks of paranoia without thought. For example, she says that when you are travelling, you should only carry a purse that can be worn diagonally across your body. Question: why is your normal purse and method of carrying your purse suddenly DANGEROUS when travelling? If my purse serves me well in the major city I currently live in, why would it not be suitable in any other major city? She also advises travellers to dress inconspicuously and avoid "flashy" clothing and jewellery. I'd imagine dressing in a "flashy" manner would attract unwanted attention at home too, so why would someone need to be told this? Or are there people who actually think "I would never wear this ridiculously short skirt at home because it attracts too much negative attention, but I'll be perfectly fine wearing it to walk alone through the streets of New York City." And if people do dress in an attention-getting manner at home, they'd doubtless be used to the kind of attention they're going to get, no?

She tells you to look out for suspicious or unusual happenings and individuals when leaving your building. So I walk out to my front doors, looking left I see Crazy Homeless Guy with that device around his head to keep it from falling off, looking right I see Creepy Old Man who always walks around in shorts and is very free with his gaseous emissions. You know what? This is normal. But I'd be more worried about being raped by some former frat boy in khakis.

Overall, this book is not for me. The fact that she talks about being on the subway as a New And Different Experience, and the fact that she has to explicitly tell the reader to fight back against a rapist makes me think that her target reader is more sheltered and cowed. If you aren't nervous walking home from the bus stop at 10 pm, don't bother with this book.
I bought 8L of pop, put it in my backpack, and carried it home. And it was HEAVY! But 8L is 8kg, and 8 kg can't be much more than 20 pounds, definitely less than 25 pounds. Twenty-five pounds isn't heavy! I certainly carried more than that around on a daily basis when I was in high school, and you don't just lose your lugging on your back muscles! So why did it feel so heavy?

Friday, May 23, 2003

I'm pondering whether it would be an effective political statement to list myself on my municipal assessment as Catholic by religion, but as a supporter of the public school board. Do they keep stats that would show the number of Catholics voting public? I do have the right to identify as Catholic since I was baptized, but I'd rather not do so unless it would be an effective political statement.
So I've been doing a bit of math. Ernie Eves wants to give tax refunds on mortgage interest, to a maximum of $500 per year.

Okay, this might concern me, since I'm looking at taking on ownership within the next 10 years. Let's see - I make paying off debts a high priority, I'll probably be in a 2 income situation when I start owning, so we'd probably get the mortgage paid off within 10 years. 10 * 500 = 5000. So I'd have an overall savings of $5000.

But, you know, these tories have also made my life quite a bit more expensive. For example, university tuition went way up on their watch. If they had continued to fund universities properly and regulate tuition, I would have saved at least $1000 a year, or $4000.

And I would be saving $1000-$3000 per year if they hadn't nuked all the rent controls. Even if I rented for just one year, that and the tuition already obliterate any savings on mortgage interest.

But wait - the tories also cut funding to public transit, pushing fares way up! The cost of a metropass has gone up $15 per month since I moved to Toronto, and there were 4 years of tory rule before that! And they haven't increased minimum wage to account for inflation, and I had 5 years where my pay was minimum wage or based on minimum wage! If they had increased minimum wage for inflation, a full-time minimum wage earner would be making $3500 more per year now than in 1995! (I, personally, would have earned about $5000 more over the last 5 years). Now if I had all this money back in my pocket, I could save up a down payment faster and/or come into ownership with a larger down payment, which would do far more to reduce my overall interest payments than a measly $500 per year.

The moral of the story? Use your calculator before you let the tories bribe you.
Just past midnight last night, and I have to go to the bathroom. I go, do my business, and push down on the lever that flushes the toilet. The toilet begins flushing, the water flowing down and carrying the contents of the toilet with it. As I'm washing my hands, it fills back up just like it always does. As I'm about to leave the bathroom, I notice the toilet hasn't stopped making toilet noises. I look, and the water is swirling back down again? WTF? As I open up the toilet tank to see what's going on , it fills back up again. Then it starts swirling down again, flushing for a third time. Inside the toilet tank everything looks fine. The water level is a bit low because it just flushed, but the thingy that lets the water flow out of the tank is closed like normal and the tank is filling back up like it should be. As the toilet fills up for a third time, I start panicking. How do I make it stop? Should I call my parents or my supers? It's late at night for grownups - is this enough of an emergency to wake people up?

Then the toilet stops and sits there normally like nothing ever happened.

I back away slowly and hide under the covers.

Thursday, May 22, 2003

Toronto police are taking DNA samples from everyone in the target demographic who lives in Holly Jones' neighbourhood. This doesn't strike me as good police work. To me, it give the impression that they have no leads whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, I have no objection to any action that results in the capture of a pedophile rapist murderer, but it does seem rather haphazard for your strategy to be "Okay, we'll test EVERYONE!."

Meanwhile, Time magazine is asking if anyone would notice if Canada disappeared. (This isn't a link to the Time article, but rather to an article in the Star refuting it. I'll get to this in a moment.) First of all, I hope that no one would notice if Canada disappeared. I see no shame in not being a major player on the global scene, and I would much rather be a minor player. Look what happens to superpower: they get enemies. Meanwhile, can you think of anyone who would declare war on Canada, other than the US?

Which brings me to my second point: as mentioned in the Star article, Canada will never be invisible as long as we don't blindly follow the US, because the US will always notice what they perceive as dissent. Some might say that we should toe the American line because we require them as defensive allies.

But think for a moment about if Canada was attacked. Canada has a lot of land mass, more land mass than most countries can conceptualize. Who could conceivably conquer Canada and keep the entire country under control? Russia, China, and the US. And I would find it very hard to believe that the US would welcome Russia or China as their new neighbour. And it is certainly to the US's advantage not to have to actively defend their borders, so making a military enemy of Canada would be stupid (which, judging from the current administration isn't to say it wouldn't happen).

But I digress. My point is that it is to Canada's advantage not to be perceived as a global player (because look what happened to the US), but if anyone is feeling particularly emasculated by the idea of not being noticed, the best way to be noticed is to continue with policies that are slightly at odds with what the US would like.

However, it looks bad for the Star to refute this issue in print. It would be so much classier for the nation to just collectively shrug and say "Globally irrelevant? So?" and continue decriminalizing marijuana and controlling firearms and providing universal medicare while pretending not to notice the US jumping around like Yosemite Sam.

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Seen on the curb outside an apartment building: An old couch, ugly as hell, broken, rotting, water-damaged, missing its legs, with "DON'T THROW OUT!" written on it.

Seen outside the mall: a wheelchair chained to a bike rack.

Seen on the cover of Cosmo: "99 sexy ways to touch him." (Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the appropriate context isn't any kind of touching sexy?)

Meanwhile, I've (temporarily) abandoned Cancer Ward for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. So much for this "intellectual" thing.
I am so good at creating angst where there is no reason to be any. I should have no angst whatsoever right now, and yet I still find a reason to angst. And it's such a stupid reason that you'd smack me if I were in the same room as you.

For example: I need to travel for my job. The travel arrangements are all made, I have an allowance, all I need to do is pack and go. On the train they serve a meal. So I'm angsting that I have to call and ask for a vegetarian meal. Why? Because I feel like it's only a 4 hour trip, so I shouldn't NEED a meal, and by requesting a special meal I'm acting as though I'm entitled to one. Even though it would be wasting good food for me not to get a veggie meal, because then I'd have this meal I can't eat.

Quelle brat suis-je.

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

I'm walking down the street, and this old babushka-like lady stops me and starts talking to me in Russian. I protest slowly and clearly in English that I don't speak Russian, but she continues to talk and talk in Russian!

WTF? I know I do have a bit of the dark slavic look (as opposed to the blonde slavic look), but I wasn't making any effort to look ethnic today - I was dressed like a teenager in oversized jeans and an undersized t-shirt, with my hair long and tangled. I can maybe see how someone could make that mistake, but you'd think once I replied in confused English that I didn't understand (and surely most immigrants and tourists know how to say "I don't understand" in the local lingua franca) she'd get that I don't understand. Weird. Maybe she had alzheimer's or something
Le Chateau has a collection of clothing from the movie Down With Love

I want it all! I would so wear one of those retro suits to work every once in a while, with ridiculously high heels, an elaborate-looking updo, and my old cats-eye glasses.

Then the next day I'd wear my flowered tiered skirt, a scoop-necked t-shirt, platform sandals, and curl my hair like Jackie from That 70s Show.

Not that I should be going to work in costumes...
If anyone is reading this, has anyone out there every used Look digital cable? Good, bad, any feedback? I'm considering it because I can get my favourite channels for cheaper than with Rogers, but I don't know anyone who has actually tried it.

Monday, May 19, 2003

An advantage to living on the 14th floor: I am currently watching six or seven fireworks displays simultaneously, while sitting on a relatively comfy chair, without having to swat a single mosquito, and being able to attend to nature's call whenever necessary.

(My digestive system wasn't like this before I started university - a good thing, since public school schedules and classroom rules do not seem to consider the possibility that a person may need to eliminate several times a day. Luckily this came about in uni, where I could slip out of the classroom whenever necessary, and then I walke dright into a job where no one will notice if I slip out of the office a few times a day. I don't even consider it a problem - I rather enjoy the "ahhhhh" experience of a really good dump)

Anyway, TMI aside, why am I not out enjoying the fireworks? I certainly could be - it looks like the nearest one is but a block away - but it seems more appropriate to watch from my window. For some reason, Victoria Day has always been a holiday for other people. Other people go to cottages and drink beer, other people have barbeques with all their friends, other people go to fireworks or set off fireworks. My whole life I've been on the sidelines of this holiday. For the first half of my life I always had to go to bed before the fireworks even started, then came many years of not being allowed to go to the fireworks without my parents, and now that I can do whatever I want it didn't occur to me to engage in celebratory activities until I saw this plethora of fireworks outside my window.

I wonder where everyone else is right now...
There is a huge difference between reading Solzhenitsyn lying on the narrow lumpy bed in my large, cold, not-quite-bright-enough room in my parents' house and reading Solzhenitsyn lying in the soft comfy conjugal bed in my tiny, sunset-flooded apartment.

Either way it is educational. I am learning things I wish I didn't know but I should know.

I've also been sad lately. First it was something Solzhenitsyn said, then it was my upgefukt TV. But I was sad today too and I don't know why. Hopefully mi cielito can make me feel better.

Sunday, May 18, 2003

My TV doesn't work! The fugly cable hanging into my living room didn't provide me with cable, and the antenna doesn't pick up an channels well enough for me to see them! I am not happy!

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

The woman on the subway is about my age. She is talking about a child. After a while, I realize she is talking about her own child. My first thought is "She doesn't look like a mother!"

Then I realize that I tend to assume by default that people aren't parents unless I know for certain that they are. This doesn't just apply to young people. I met my future co-workers yesterday. They range in age from my age to my parents' age, and I found myself assuming that everyone is childfree except for those whom I already know have children.

This makes me wonder if people who do have children assume everyone has children. Are there people seeing me on the subway in passing, especially when I'm all dressed up like a grownup, thinking I might be going home to a small child of some sort?

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

I had a dream where I was going to visit my parents, and they were driving me home from the GO station (but for some reason we were actually driving west along Main St. TOWARDS the GO station - probably for plot purposes.)

Then they decided to go visit their old house. So we went to their old house in Westdale, where they lived before they had kids, walked in, sat down in the basement, and watched TV. I was like "Why are we here? You don't own this house, do you? And other people live here now, right?" They said "Yeah, other people do live here, but we owned it first!"
Okay, here's the plan for getting same-sex marriage legalized. As anyone whom this affects knows, Jack Layton is the new leader of the NDP, making for an NDP that, on paper at least, is much more appealing to the urban left than the party's previous incarnations of this party have been. We also know that the federal Liberals are going to win the next election as a lame duck, and if we are very lucky we will have an NDP opposition but the opposition is really up for grabs. However, this new, vital, urban NDP could pull voters away from the Liberals by being more proactive on the most important left-wing issues of the day, namely the legalization of same-sex marriage.

So here's how to use this to our advantage:

  1. Write to your Liberal MP stating that you will not vote Liberal until same-sex marriage is legalized. If you don't have a Liberal MP, write to Mr. Chr�tien and to all the Liberal leadership candidates you can think of.


  2. Include additional helpful information. For example:
    • If you have voted Liberal in the past, be sure to mention that. If you frequently or always vote Liberal, be sure to make this clear.

    • If you have made donations to the Liberal party, be sure to mention this (and mention that you will no longer be donating time or money until the legislation is passed).

    • If you are a member of a demographic group that might be more likely to move towards the right, be sure to mention this because it would be very helpful to give the impression that even the rightmost Liberal voters want same-sex marriage legalized.

    • If you are a member of a demographic group that is more likely to skew left, don't mention your demographic. Subtly giving the impression that you might be further right is helpful. For example, when writing my letter I didn't mention my demos at all, but I did channel an grumpy British matron writing a letter of complaint, so perhaps they might read me as middle-aged.

    • If you are queer, it would be more effective not to mention your queerness. Why? Because those who have been blocking this legislation obviously don't care about their queer consitutents, so it is likely that they would just dismiss you as another queer. Also, since these people are more closed-minded, they are more likely to assume that someone is straight unless otherwise specified, so not mentioning sexual orientation would give the impression of more straights wanting same-sex marriage, which legislators would be more likely to pay attention to.


  3. Inform anyone who might be interested of this plan.


Please, no form letters for people to fill in the blanks of. We want intelligent letters, written in the voters' own words. If enough of these get sent, we may have legal same-sex marriage by the next election.

Monday, May 12, 2003

I just realized I never see the moon any more. I don't know if it's because I face directly west, or if there are buildings in the way, or if it's because of all the lights or what, but I never see it. It's weird not knowing what phase the moon is in. The view isn't all bad - I can watch thunderstorms and clouds and I see every warm or cold front that comes in - but I miss my moon.
Okay, so it's a bit off, but it's good enough.
So this is me trying extrapolate comment code from old source code
Blogging will commence shortly after I've gotten my shit together. Need to track down and import various elements from my old template, but first I need to finish the paperwork for my EI claim and then go visit my mommy for a few days.

I'm looking for a particular blog template and I can't find it. In this template, the text is on a white or off-white background, and behind that is a coloured background. The cool thing it the coloured background changes colours all by itself - as you're reading it morphs through the whole rainbow. Any ideas?

If you know where to find this but I don't have the comments back up yet, contact me by email or ICQ. My new email address is firstnamelastname at ontario's largest DSL provider. If this is too oblique, it's also in my ICQ profile.