Blog Archives

Ready or not, the Christmas decor appeared in Starbucks this morning, and I jumped in with both feet–I bought my first gingerbread latte of the season. Normally, I resist for a couple of weeks, because I’m stubborn and feel like “its too early for Christmas”. Well, not this year. This mind-altering-drug in a cup is just what the doctor ordered to perk up my mood.

My first sip brought a smile to my face. Yum.

I would never survive in politics, because deep down I’m an idealist. I trust people. I want to like everybody. And I see the world in black and white…good and evil. So, I would just be depressed in politics, where a sliver of hope is spun into glorious victory.

Take the email I received this morning from the Human Rights Campaign, touting the headline “Election 2006 – We did it!”, citing Democrat victories and the rejection of an anti-gay marriage amendment in Arizona. Well, for kicks, I checked out a “family values” website, which was crowing with the headline “Marriage Amendments Seven for Eight on Election Day 2006: Majority of States Now Define Marriage as One Man, One Woman”. Further, the good people of Colorado decided to vote FOR an amendment to ban gay marriage AND defeated a law to allow for domestic partnerships.

So, I’m having a hard time being a “glass is half full” guy, even though I do see that the world is becoming more tolerant. In politics, you really do have to treasure those two steps forward, in spite of the steps backwards.

I will close with a request to the crusaders for the sanctity of marriage. Please get your own house in order before lashing out at others. I found it ironic that on the same news pages noting the new marriage amendments were the early reports of Britney Spears’ divorce–her second after her first 55-hour marriage. It was only the first divorce for Britney’s husband…who met Britney while his girlfriend at the time was pregnant with his child.

I’m not anti-marriage. I just think its not as exclusive as we might be told. Marriage is what you make of the relationship, not how its codified in the Constitution.

Really…I’m off my soapbox…again.

A common feature in many SF homes is a lightwell. Ours is wonderfully situated, and brings light into our main bathroom, the guest room, and (via a stained glass window) the stairway.

Nevertheless, the previous owners neglected our lightwell, and we just finished re-painting it and filling its floor with peaceful river rocks. The final step will be to find an appropriate stainless steel planter.

We had a simple but yummy dinner last night. Jeff had a hankerin’ for a Dijon-style pork chop on the grill. I paired that with Jeff’s favorite vegetable-asparagus–that I also grilled. They both turned our very nicely.

Buster (pictured) and Dobie seem to have a sixth sense for open doors. They can be sleeping peacefully downstairs, Jeff or I can quietly open the door to the upstairs balcony, and inevitably they are outside within two minutes.

Same with the basement and garden doors. This afternoon, Jeff and I were carrying bags of river rocks from the basement to our upstairs lightwell (more on that project tomorrow). On one trip up, we left the doors open for no longer than 2-3 minutes. Sure enough, Buster quickly made his way to the backyard…all the way to the back wall.

In this photo, he innocently looks back at me, as if to say “Oh, hi. I was just waiting for you. How did I get all the way out here? Please assist me back to the house. You’re my hero. I almost missed my afternoon nap.”

Oh, Old Crooked Head. I can’t stay upset…he’s too damn sweet…and sleeping next to me now as I type this update 🙂