Scratching Post

Minnesota votes in favor of the Freedom to Marry Act.

Bill gets signed tomorrow, goes into effect August 1st.

Part of me thinks this is very cool and very past time in coming. Part of me has unpopular opinion feelings that include phrases like "separation of church and state" and "marriage should be whatever your religion allows while civil unions are a government matter" and "why the fuck was this ever an issue anyway?" Then again, I also have friends at work going through painful divorces right now, and my "work husband" has been married three times and tells me takes of woe of how fucking sucky the divorce process is and to carefully consider the tax benefits versus the tax costs.

My view? I don't know if wolfie74 and I will ever get married, to be completely and totally honest. She's a little too punk and I'm a little too grunge to completely want to follow what the government allows. Then again, that's the beauty of the freedom to marry, you also have the freedom not to.

We have been in a committed relationship for thirteen years now and have raised two wonderful if occasionally aggravating kids together. Though some did not initially do so and fell by the wayside over the years, our friends and family support us and have for the greater part of a decade. Are there times I still get nervous in public, expecting someone to throw the non-proverbial stone? Yes. Are there times where I am shocked that doctors and nurses have simply shrugged at the word "partner" and granted us access? Yes. Are there times that I want something in writing and legal that sorts out all the medical, financial, and death issues that come with being a long term couple? Yes. Do I think this will help with this? Well, as much as anything can given the state of laws and governance.

So, congratulations to everyone who fought long and hard for a right that should have been theirs from the get go. I know wolfie74 is excited, and part of me is as well. Part of me is also unsure and maybe a little scared as it has been reinforced all my life that this is something I would never have and I made my peace with that and moved on because I had to. That, and I totally suck at change.

Will we sign a little piece of paper to "legitimize" what we've thought was right for years? Maybe. Will I demand both "brides" get to wear white Doc Martins, or maybe those cool floral ones? Hell yeah. Will I celebrate the unions of any of my GLBT friends that want to go down that road together? Yeah, sure, you betcha!

We has snow! Lots of it! It finally looks like a proper MN winter!

Yes, my arms and back are still sore from shoveling, and not all of the side streets are plowed yet which makes the driving interesting, and there are idiots out there who singlehandedly cause more accidents, but it is still damn pretty and reminds me why we live here.

Plus, you know, built in excuse to drink as much hot chocolate as you want, augmented with something stronger or not.

We have snow! For realz! Like a full-fledged blizzard even! This may be a Minnesotan thing to be so excited about this! Especially after a snowless winter!

In truth, many of the people I know were beginning to become concerned about the lack of snow. It's not just the whole iconography of a snow-filled Minnesotan winter. There was talk of droughts and possible forest fires without the moisture the snow gives us for everything around here. Not that one night can cure it all, but at least it is a start?

In other news... SNOW!

So, like many people, I have been watching and reading about the total devastation in Japan. Like several people on my f-list, I would like to do something to help. Also, like several people on my f-list, I was not 100% comfortable about some of the pictures being used to urge people to donate to the different charities.

I could not look at the houses on fire or flooded with water and not think, "Someone lives there. That's someone's home." So I made something that I hope would not be quite so triggering for people who have friends and loved ones actually living through the disaster right now. If it is still too much, please let me know and I will take it down.

So, yeah, needless to say, there's about a 99.9% chance I will be offering something up at the help_japan/help_japan auction going on. In the interim, I have made both the icon you see above and the banner below for anyone and everyone to use if they so desire. My only request is no hotlinking as I have no idea what LJ would do about that.



and the icon:

So I'm pretty sure a lot of people know about this already, but I figured I would mention it here anyway.

Do people remember the story of a little girl getting teased and bullied for bringing a Star Wars water bottle to school? And how pretty much every geek who heard about the whole thing wanted to support her?

Well, tomorrow, December 10th, has been deemed a day to show your geek pride and wear something Star Wars related. To one up that, the little girl's parents have requested that people gift something either Star Wars or Sci-Fi related to a child in need. I'm personally hoping Toys for Tots gets an Ewok overload, but maybe that's just me.

Here's an article about the whole thing.

There are enough geeks in the world that we should be able to make a good showing, don't you think?

We haz it! On only one side of the building, but whatever!

As a friend of mine pointed out via Twitter this morning, when you factor in the windchill, it is currently 100 degrees colder in MN today versus AZ where he lives.

There really is nothing else to say about that. :)

A cat was found duct taped in PA.

Hope someone adopts the poor thing. Hope whoever did it is found.

Spoilers for potential SGU stuff.

( Can they have a moment of clarity and change their minds, please? )

Edit: Here is afterellen.com's take on the situation, the recent apology, and whether the fail is still there and, if so, for which of the many different situations that have been raised.

In other news, sorry I fell behind on feedback and feedback responses. Long story short: Something came up in RL. I’ll try to catch up shortly.

No, not drug induced, though we did just watch Fringe so you know that's at the top of the mind.

Damage found to the heat shield on the Atlantis space shuttle currently in orbit. This time they have a second shuttle ( the Endeavor) standing by in case a rescue is needed/things look too dangerous and they decide to abandon it. It'd be a shame to lose one, but it would be worse to lose the people.