Ellen's Wedding is Still News to Me

Okay, I know it's been a while since Ellen got married, but I haven't really had a chance to talk about the amazing singer that she had come perform, or what a grand romantic gesture it was. I am quite interested in grand romantic gestures, so obviously when combines with pretty lesbians and glorious music, it's got me.

Okay, first, you must watch this:



Yeah, I know. If you didn't cry just now, you have no soul.

Also, though, I just want to point out the singer in the background. He's Joshua Radin, and he just fucking rules. Best part, though, is that he's Portia's favorite and Ellen brought him as a surprise. Yeah, how's that for grand gesture! I tried to find the video of him actually playing at the wedding, but didn't see it anywhere (although I know it exists because I've seen it before).

Good times.

I Need to be a Clean Person

I've been trying really hard to keep my apartment clean these days. I am not a necessarily a neat person, but I really want to be, so GF and I decided that we should just do it as opposed to always complaining that our house is messy. So while watching the most adorable niece ever today, I did some of our laundry and planned a delicious dinner of meat loaf, squash and fresh green beans to have tonight. I figure it will be pretty awesome, if only for the fact that it has little to compare itself to.

I don't know why keeping my house neat is so difficult for me, considering my level of neuroses about other things. It's like, when it comes to the way I organize school stuff or outline or whatever, it has to be just so but when it comes to my apartment, it's totally fine to just have laundry all over the floor. Like I said, it's something that I'm changing because I'm annoying myself.

Law school finals studying is starting for real now, which is one-half awesome, one-half panic inducing. Whatever, though, I know I just have to get it done. Plus, then I will be halfway done with my J.D., which is sort of totally awesome.

Yeah, Sundays either.

This weekend blogging is too hard for me, and I feel like I'm cheating because these aren't really blogs so much as placeholders so I don't get kicked out of NaBloPoMo.

Finals season has begun, so I'm going to have even less time than usual to blog. I'll try, dammit.

I'm no good on Saturdays

Ug. For some reason I can't bring myself to blog on Saturdays. It's not that I'm busy so much as I always forget.

Debate Judging on a Friday Night

So I'm judging debate this weekend with my sister, which is actually way more fun than it sounds because it involves mostly listening to hilarious ninth graders go back and forth about environmental policy and playing with Kiernan, my adorable and hilarious niece. It went kind of late last night, and I was crabby, but really I don't mind being here, especially considering I get paid for it.

In other news, there's only about three weeks until finals and that means I better start getting on the ball if I think I'm going to have any semblance of success this time around. I'm so ready to be done with school that it clouds my judgment into being lazy and playing nintendo too much, but I'm confident I'll figure it out.

Okay, yeah, this one has to be short because it's too late.

Could the neighbors downstairs please shut up?

So I live in an apartment building with 5 other units in it. Until recently, we have had lovely neighbors who are considerate of the community. We would open doors for each other, occasionally take out each other's trash if we encountered it waiting in the hall, and just generally treat each other with respect. However, one of our best neighbors recently moved out, and we got new people in the apartment directly below me.

It has been more than a week now, and they have been pretty much yelling non-stop since they moved in. Maybe not yelling as much as just talking super loud ALL THE TIME and never going to sleep until at least midnight. Now, I know that I have a loud voice and I know that not everyone should have to conform their schedule to my grandma-esque 10 o'clock bedtime. However, this has gotten out of effing control. It's like, these kids NEVER SLEEP! They're constantly slamming doors and coming inside and outside and propping the door open. Not to mention the overwhelming smell that comes out of their apartment. Again, I'm not one to judge anyone else's behavior, but OH MY GOD it's like Cheech and Chong moved in downstairs. It's madness.

I've already called the building manager once, but they're still totally intolerable. GF and I talk every night about how we should just hook up our ovaries and go downstairs and ask them nicely to shut the fuck up, but for some reason we can never bring ourselves to actually go. I mean, actual confrontation and resolution of the problem? Too much!

What should I do? I mean, I can't just let this annoyingness continue for however long we continue to live at the apartment. I know I should just go down there and talk to them, but isn't there any other way?

Law school isn't good for blogging

I totally almost forgot to post today. That would have really pissed me off, considering I've made it this far with NaBloPoMo. Ug, blogging everyday is WAYYYYYYY harder than it seems.

Also harder than it seems? Law school. First semester of my second year has been going well, but I came to the realization today that I better get my ass in gear if I think that I'm going to be successful. I like the classes that are graded pass/fail way more than I like any of my other classes, so that provides little incentive to, you know, study for classes that I'm just not that into. I mean, Wills and Trusts is actually pretty interesting, but compared to the orders I get to write for the Judge? Just can't compete.

So yeah, hopefully I can finish this month long blogathon, but I didn't really realize that it would be running right into good old law school studying. Barf.

Keith Olbermann Says Just What I've Been Waiting to Hear

A lot of people that I really like to read have written about this already today, but it's poignant enough that I'm gonna write too. I've put links to other people's thoughts on the subject at the end of this so you can check them out, too.

When I was a kid, I used to watch Sportscenter on ESPN religiously. As soon as I got a TV in my room, and even before that, I watched Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick recap the days athletic happenings every single night, mostly because these guys were hilarious and they made sports about so much more than box scores.

Eventually, Olbermann left ESPN to get a "real" news job, and I have watched his show on MSNBC sporadically for years, mostly because he's an unapologetic ultra-liberal badass and while sometimes he says stuff I don't agree with, you can always tell that he genuinely believes in what he's saying.

So, when all the blogs this morning started popping up with "Can you believe what Keith Olbermann said last night?!" I knew that it was going to be good. However, I had no idea it would be this powerful, this right on. I beg you to watch the whole thing, as it is exactly what the gay rights movement has been trying to figure out how to say for years.



Allies always ask me how they can be more involved, how they can make this issue one that they have ownership of. Well, Mr. Olbermann has just explained why it matters to everyone, and that every person is important in the campaign to increase understanding and acceptance.

Here are some other people's thoughts:

Information Access Avenger
Bitch, Ph.D.
Jezebel

Well if Melissa Etheridge Isn't Paying Taxes, Does that Mean None of Us Have To?

Election week provides far more blog-fodder than regular old Mondays, and I'm having trouble thinking of good things to write about. Actually, I don't have trouble thinking of ideas, I have trouble remembering ideas. I used to carry around a little composition book that I would write all sorts of things in. Perhaps I'll have to bring back that practice.

In other news, Melissa Etheridge has decided to stop paying her taxes until she's allowed to get married in California. I appreciate her tenacity, really I do, but is that really the best way to solve things? Not to mention, at the risk of getting all lawyer-y on you, it's not a legally supportable action, so really all that would happen is she'd end up in court for tax evasion, wasting even more tax payer money for a lawsuit that she knew full well wouldn't enact the ends she was looking for.

I realize that taxes are like our favorite thing as citizens of the United States to complain about, but I, for one, am happy to pay my taxes as long as I trust the person who's writing the checks. And, because that person has switched to someone who is presumably at least equally interested in social programs as he is with the wars we've created, I feel pretty good about the 15% tax that I will pay this year. I'll feel even better about the 35% I will pay if and when I start making $357,700 a year. I don't mean this to sound all liberally and holier-than-thou (although I'm aware of my propensity to come across that way), I just believe that sometimes people do have enough money and while the conservatives can scream from the rooftops about how this "redistribution" is code for socialism, I don't really care because it's gotta be better than what we've got now.

I'm a strong believer in the progressive tax system because I believe that the people at the top have a moral and legal responsibility to look after and provide for the people at the bottom. It has worked historically, and although there have obviously been major problems with some social services, the general idea that FDR set forth in his New Deals is one that continues to thrive, regardless of what the right tries to tell you.

While they'll try to tell you that welfare just allows for lazy people to milk the system (or they just come right out and say what they mean, like this asswipe) the reality is that the vast majority of the people on welfare are just normal citizens who are down on their luck and need temporary support to get back on their feet. Does that mean that nobody is out to fuck over the welfare system? Of course not, but there's criminals in every system, and the obsession with demonizing anyone who asks for help has gotten wildly out of control.

They'll try to tell you that national healthcare is a bad thing because it takes the power away from individuals. However, Obama's healthcare plan doesn't change anything for those who are happy with their healthcare, it just provides it affordably for those who can't access it now. It's this twisting of information that's got everything all fucked up, and I'm excited for the opportunity for someone to finally set the country straight.

I realize that Melissa Etheridge probably didn't mean that she didn't care about poor people or children or anyone else who receives governmental funding (like, you know, EVERYONE) but not paying your taxes is not the way to fix things. Paying your taxes, funding your government so that it can function the way it's supposed to, is what will really help to change things.

I agree that things need to change, I'm just certain that there's a better way to do it.

Sundays are for playing video games

This weekend posting is the hardest to get used to so far. I guess you can tell my level of productivity by the amount of times that I looked at my computer, which was a big ZERO. Good thing I've got the Blackberry, I guess.

I downloaded Mario 3 and Tetris to my Wii, so I don't know how successful this coming week is going to be in terms of anything productive. Mario 3 is by far the best of all the Marios, so you understand my difficulty.

This coming week should be much more optimistic compared to last week's pessi-fest. Law school is heating up, too, so it should be an exercise in time management and focus, two things I'm not very good at.