Marriage's lineage a bit convoluted: "Many would be surprised to know that as recently as 1967 in many states it was illegal for a mixed race couple to be granted a marriage license. An even bigger surprise, given current debate over same sex marriages, is that when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of interracial marriage, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that the 'freedom to marry or not marry a person of another race resides in that individual.'' Note that Warren wrote 'person,' and refers to 'persons' -- not man or woman -- throughout the opinion."

more photos from City Hall!

Margaret Cho wrote letters to the gov and Jesse Jackson; she also put up a little tune for W. to sing, to the tune of "Trouble," by Cat Stevens.
oh, just go over there already.

Lance Arthur links to a story I hadn't seen yet:
How (and Why) Mayor Newsom Did It.

and those 826 Valencia/Pirate Store folks are starting up a branch in Brooklyn! (only I think without the pirate store, which is a crying shame.)

You know, in the last few weeks it's been all about the homeopathic non-smoking stuff from NatraBio.
Who the hell knows if it works, or if it's just been a nice, comforting placebo. You're only supposed to take it for twenty days- as if you could be cured so fast! I plan to buy a lifetime supply of the stuff. I mean, can you see me in Paris in a month, avec le vin rouge, but sans cigarette? hoo boy. It's going to be the challenge of a lifetime, kids.

Time Magazine: Between The Sexes

riots and dead people and same-sex marriage, oh my!

in other news, our fearless state leader Ahnold comes up with a beauty of a quote that just makes my morning:

'The governor told Tim Russert, the host of "Meet the Press," that when he was in San Francisco on Friday, "all of a sudden we see riots and we see protests and we see people clashing. The next thing we know is there's injured or there's dead people."
The San Francisco police have reported no violence related to the same-sex marriage certificates. Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for Bill Lockyer, the California attorney general, suggested that Mr. Schwarzenegger might have confused his visit to San Francisco with "part of his next movie."'

we love the LRB personals, part 27:

"My ideal woman is a man. Sorry, mother. Box no. 04/08"

and:

"Too much sex, not enough Vitamin B12. Vegan love-god on the brink of mental and physical collapse (M., 26) seeks pallid, calcium-deficient F. for nights of apathy, depression and headaches whilst touring the moral high-ground. It's all faux-fur, acrylics and Protoveg chilli-non-carne at box no. 03/09."

Not to get too California about it, but this week has been a pretty huge lesson on how you can't ever get what you want unless go out and get it, or at least ask for it...

Anyway, I'm going on a dream vacation soon, in three weeks (!) to be precise.

I'll be jetting first to Berlin to visit Constanze and Ulrich and Josephine; then via train to Paris to hang with Erika for four days or so, and from there the two of us will find some sort of glamorous high-speed train to take us to Bonn, where we'll hang out with our parents for a few days.
I'm still sort of in shock about the whole idea. It's been far too long since I've gone on any kind of vacation at all, and this new plan is just too crazy. whee!

I'll steal an idea from Neille:
if you want a postcard, email me your mailing address, and I'll see what I can do.

"bonus points if you're german!"

my favorite Lulu Eightball ever!
"who did you wake up as?"

a huge smooch and congratulations to Katrina and Sherilyn and everyone else who got hitched this weekend at City Hall!

main photo page at shooter.net.

FABA DABA ZAP

yes, there's an awful lot of "awww" going on at my house, but it's a damned good song, and as Eli points out, there's a tipsy five year old in all of us.
et l'homme écrasé fait flit flok foomp

and many thanks also for the link to the priceless Don Martin Sound Effects Dictionary, which brings back many a fond memory of sneaking off with my brother's copies of Mad...

my favorite entry from the dictionary must be this one:

SHIF-SHAF SHABAMP MAMP SHOMPAH-BOMBAH DIMPAH MIMPAH FOMP-DABOMP!
GADIFF-GADIFF GADAFF GADAFF GASMITCH GASMATCH
KABOFF FAPADDA DAPADDA SWIPADDA DIPADDA FAP SPMAP GAMOP
-pair of dancing shoes at a theatrical shop

ride fast, live slow

my brother, the model.

the rest of the site isn't up yet, but we only care about my bro's cute head, anyway.

if you click on the link to RiderX, there's another picture of Chris- he's at the top of the index page, right in the middle- yellow MZ, number 212, in all his leathers.

and-
a happy winter to you, too!

geek test!

frightening.

Howard Dean

STR: 11
INT: 13
WIS: 9
DEX: 10
CON: 12
CHR: 13

yikes!

The weirdest thing about quitting smoking is that you dream about smoking, and then you wake up and immediately feel an enormous wave of guilt and confusion. The guilt slowly grows dim, and is replaced by relief, when you realize that you didn't actually smoke a cigarette. This relief is quickly followed by regret, when you realize that you didn't get to smoke, and this is followed by shame, when you remember that you're not supposed to want to smoke.
The worst part of the whole process is that the carrot at the end of the string, the one you've used to reward yourself with these many years, has been removed from the equation.
Yes, this makes me feel vaguely pathetic.
No, ice cream doesn't work.
These toothpicks are very nice, very helpful, but- just a tip- they make beer taste awful. (and mine are always stained with lipstick. so attractive.)

Smooching, I must admit, is the best cure I've found to date...

Thirty years ago psychiatry was rocked by the revelation that nine sane volunteers had faked hearing voices and fooled thier way on to locked wards. Has diagnosis improved since? Psychologist Lauren Slater repeats the experiment

Into the cuckoo's nest

"I do my preparations. I don't shower or shave for five days. I call a friend with a renegade streak and ask if I can use her name in lieu of my own, which might be recognised. The plan is to use her name and then have her, later, with her licence, get the records so that I can see just what has been said. This friend, Lucy, says yes. She should probably be locked up. "This is so funny," she says.

I spend a considerable portion of time practising in front of my mirror. "Thud," I say, and crack up, no pun intended. "I'm, I'm here ..." - and now I feign a worried expression, crinkled crow's-feet at my eyes - "I'm here because I'm hearing a voice and it's saying thud", and then, each time, standing in front of this full-length mirror, smelly and wearing a floppy black velvet hat, I start to laugh. If I laugh, I'll obviously blow my cover. Then again, if I don't laugh, and if I tell the whole truth about my history save for this one little symptom, as Rosenhan and company did in the original experiment, well, then I might really go the way of the ward. There is one significant difference in my re-test setup. None of Rosenhan's folks had any psychiatric history. I, however, have a formidable psychiatric history that includes lots of lock-ups, although, really, I'm fine now.

I kiss the baby goodbye. I kiss my husband goodbye. I haven't showered for five days. My teeth are smeary. I am wearing paint-splattered black leggings and a T-shirt that says, "I hate my generation."'

hey!
get the complete set of Black Death and Ebola for only ten dollars!

cover your ears

you may wish to skip this if you're feeling prudish today.

here we have a very interesting photo series, called "Cum Shots," as well as an interview with the photographer.
my favorite q/a:
"When can we expect the female ejaculation gallery?"
"I'll have one when the fucking boyfriends have more balls to take it up the face. I had three females who ejaculate, ready to model. To see female ejaculation and how much it looks like sperm, how it flies like sperm... but my friend's fuckin' wimp boyfriend wouldn't let me photograph him with her ejaculate on his face. And the two lesbian couples bailed out for reasons I was not able to get out of them, whether it was anxiety or fear of not being able to come. It was very hard for me not to have female ejaculation."