June 2005 Archives

   I just got back from an abbreviated camping trip about an hour ago. We went down to Mohican State Park and camped for the night. I think our first mistake was that we didn't prepare all our equipment very well. An hour before we were getting ready to leave, we discovered that much of our stuff was not in the camping tote. I think we just needed more time to prepare. Then we drove way south of where we needed to be, and had to back track to the park. Lovely scenery though...
   Once we got to the park all was well. We got our campsite all set up and were relaxing in no time. The coolest thing about camping is being able to relax - we had nothing we had to do, and no idea what time it was, nor did we care to. We actually got our campfire going without too much trouble (lighter fluid makes it so much easier!). It was so nice and quiet there, except for the church group across the way who spontaneously burst into song - "I've got Jesus in my H-E-A-R-T!" We walked around by the river for awhile, and then went back to our campsite where we sat by the fire and ate way too many Lays Dill potato chips. The temperature cooled down over night, so it was pretty good sleeping weather. I actually slept in a little this morning which I don't usually do when camping. I even slept through a bunch of kids screaming like they were beating each other senseless.
   After we got packed back up (so short a trip) we drove around the park and took in the sights. Mohican is a beautiful state park. There are some incredible views of Clear Fork Gorge. I even caught a cool picture of a large bird flying by us. It was one of those moments where usually you wish you had your camera ready, but I actually did. If it hadn't been so hot and sticky out, we would have done the hike to the waterfalls. Next time...
   We also decided that we want to get a pop-up trailer or something that one could tow with a car. It would make it so much easier to just hook it up and go camping on a Friday night instead of having to get all the tent-camping equipment together...
   And... we were listening to my iPod Shuffle on the way down there, and noticed that some of my songs have this odd clipping effect and the volume is screwy. Turns out that all of the songs I've ripped off of my CDs lately have been normalized, which I'm told is a bad thing. Now I'm going to have to re-rip them all. Fun..

   I was going to write a lot about work this evening, but I just can't relive it. All I have to sum up is 3 words: poop, spit, and discharge.

A: It's your freedoms burning in a bonfire...
   Once again we're looking at a flag burning amendment to the Constitution. The house passed the amendment today, and now it's off to the Senate apparently. The current government is really bothering me. They claim to be for smaller government and personal freedom, but they want to legislate morality. This flag burning amendment is nothing more than a political tactic, but it is one that would restrict Americans' freedom of expression.
   What's next? It will be illegal to use God's name in vain? The whole damn thing makes me want to go burn a flag!
(source: House Approves Flag-Burning Amendment)

   I was just watching a piece on Discovery about how Arab people view America. It occurs to me that if good people who simply want to live their lives in peace and prosperity could bypass their governments, things would be better for everyone. If we didn't have to have Bush to represent us, if people like Saddam had never come to power... Get rid of the corrupt, all-powerful leaders, and work with the collective goodness that exists in the general public. How far fetched is that?
   Really, when people communicate on a one to one basis, as two human beings with the same kinds of needs, things seem to work better. Two people can talk about themselves in a way that leaders cannot. Leaders aren't as affected by what they do as the people they represent. Leaders have more complicated needs regarding money and power. Average people do not have absolute power, and therefore would be less likely to corrupt. So if people could all just sit down and collectively talk, how amazing would it be for the whole world to get along at once?
   Now I'm way out there. Since there simply is no way for this to be feasible, it's as good as Sci-Fi. But it's not wrong to dream...

   Cleveland Pride started as a stressful day for me. I was taking a group from the Center up to Cleveland to march in the parade and to have a booth at the festival, but I wasn't entirely sure who was going. Some people had backed out the day before, and I was worried that we wouldn't have enough people. Contrary to my worries, everything turned out wonderfully!    More people showed up in the morning than I thought would, and we headed on up to Cleveland. We checked into the festival and got our booth set up. A call from my mom brought us heading down to the march starting point where my mom happily joined the few of us that were marching. I had thought that since there weren't a lot of us that perhaps we shouldn't march. But I was determined to have Akron represented in the march. The coolest thing was that as we walked along, people would come out of the crowd exclaiming that they were so glad to see people from Akron that they wanted to come march with us. By the time we got to the end of the march, 4 people had turned into 20! Very cool... Next year we need to bring candy to throw.    The festival was very good as well. I spent some time trying to get back to the booth, as they wouldn't let my mom through the beer garden without her ID. Once we got there, everything was already running so I hung out with my mom for awhile. We ate hot dogs and fried veggies, and shopped the (extremely) crowded walkways for rainbow stuff. How cool is it that my mom came and marched in the parade and hung out with me at the festival? How lucky am I? After she left I went back to the booth and helped out there for the rest of the day. We had a lot of people stop by asking questions and wanting to know more about the Center. I very much enjoyed talking with everyone, and also getting to hang out with fellow volunteers from the Center.    Save for the craziness at the beer garden, I had a very positive experience this year at Pride. I know people say that Pride celebrations are often a distraction for the LGBT rights movement, but they serve a purpose. They bring the community together, help disperse information to everyone, and hey, it's a big party.

   I've been listening to the best morning show almost every day for the past 2 weeks. The Rachel Maddow Show is on Air America from 5-6am weekdays. I know that's very early, but I've been downloading it to my iPod each day, and listening on the way to work. I've not heard another show on Air America that so concisely summarizes the important news of the day. And Rachel is funny too, which makes listening to some of the bad news a little easier. Rachel's front page is news that seems to really matter, even if the mainstream media pretends it doesn't exist. Her show is a quick, entertaining way to get the news that you won't always hear everywhere else.

   Jon and I celebrated our 5th anniversary last night by going to see Dave Matthews Band at Blossom Music Center. What a great show! DMB sounds even better in person - the musicians are absolutely amazing! He played a lot of new stuff, along with some of the good old stuff. Even the rain wasn't enough to put a damper on the evening, although we did get pretty wet. I remember when I was in college living with my roommate, and we'd sit around at night drinking Zima, smoking cigars, talking and listening to Dave Matthews. I've never smoked pot, but I'm sure that would be the time to do it - such cool, mellow music. Of course there was a rather sweet breeze blowing through Blossom last night...
   And to the woman who was drunkedly dancing in her shawl about to spill her beer on me, the dancing grandma look just doesn't suit you.

One of those WTF moments when reading the news... This was about a guy that US Customs let in to the country across the Candian border while toting a bloody chainsaw. The next day it was discovered that he had removed someone's head. I'm going to think of this the next time I hear Bush talk about how much more secure we are. I know what the person being interviewed is trying to say, but it just doesn't come out so well.

Anthony conceded it "sounds stupid" that a man wielding what appeared to be a bloody chain saw could not be detained. But he added: "Our people don't have a crime lab up there. They can't look at a chain saw and decide if it's blood or rust or red paint."

It takes a crime lab to determine if it's paint or blood?

(source: Man With Stained Chain Saw Let in to U.S.)

The GM job cut announcement was the biggest in the United States since Kmart unveiled plans to cut 37,000 jobs in January 2003, according to John Challenger of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc.

"This may not be the last major job cut announcement we see this year as other companies, including other American automakers, struggle to make a profit amid escalating health-care costs, not to mention the cost of providing ongoing health benefits to growing ranks of retirees," Challenger said in a statement.

GM expects to spend $5.6 billion on employee and retiree health care this year, and cited that burden when it recently withdrew its earnings guidance for 2005.

- from Reuters

   This makes me think about why we as a nation are not persuing some type of universal health care solution. Would it not make our workers more attractive if companies didn't have to pay all of their health care costs? I think many companies are just greedy, but when they can pay someone in another country a fraction of what they do here, what is their motivation for keeping the jobs in the US? I know, I know - higher taxes for universal health care. But which is worse? Higher taxes now, or no jobs later?
(source: GM to slash 25,000 jobs)

   I heard about a report that was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry that quantifies mental illness among the general public today, and now it all makes sense. All those people that made me think I'm crazy - no, no, no... It's really them. Or is it? The report said that about 25% of people reported experiencing a form of mental illness within the past year, and that almost 50% had an experience at some point in their lives. So next time someone goes nuts on you, there's a study out there to confirm your beliefs...
(source: Mental Illness Can Start in Childhood)

   Folks, June is National Fruit and Vegetable Month! In honor of that fact, I'd like to introduce you to something that tastes like a cherry, peach and cucumber at the same time. It's a caped gooseberry. I've never had one, but I read that they're tasty. It's also Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. Go figure...

   The past few days have been intensely draining. Yesterday started out with getting run off the highway by a speeding landscaper. It's like 7:15am and I'm on my way to work, and this red truck swings over from the far left lane. He seemed to be moving into the middle lane, but then he continued to move over into my lane. I had to swerve off the road and slam on my brakes to avoid being hit. My bag that was in the front seat emptied itself onto my dashboard as I laid on the horn. Nice way to start the day. After work I spent the entire rest of the day being the Chair and a friend to someone who needed one.
   Today I spent my entire day volunteering for an event that the Center sponsored. It was a fine art show, and it took a number of people all working together to pull it off. It was a ton of work, but it was also extremely sucessful. The sad part of it was when a friend took me aside to confide that he just discovered last week that he's HIV+. All I could do was listen and offer my support. I have friends who are HIV+, but finding out that another one is just tears my heart out.
   Too often we forget that HIV is still out there, and we need to protect each other. Be safe my friends...