Perhaps the Governor would like to reconsider not purchasing that "super scooper" airplane now

Photo from whatimseeing.com

Enjoy the view while you can; by the time you read this, it will all be smoldering ashes. As I listened to the news, the number of fires statewide grew from 800 to a thousand to 1,200.


Last night, the historic Henry Miller Library in Big Sur was threatened, as firefighters closed more of Pacific Coast Highway.

photo by Craig Wolf

It's a great place to stick an atheist for a few minutes, then ask them if they might consider that God exists. Of course, now one would have to wait another 2,000 years --as the Big Basin fire cuts a swatch to the sea.

Even a camera klutz like me could almost take a photo this beautiful of the magnificent redwoods here.


I can't help but wonder how much of what remains of California's natural beauty might have been preserved, had the Governor not spent a dime trying to save a nickel when he vetoed the purchase of the "super scooper" planes that have proven their worth many times over (it shouldn't be long now before California could have bought one, at the monthly rate that the state has paid to lease them).

Here's to hoping he fasts until he's as blue as a smurf

Pastor Jim Garlow of the Skyline Church in San Diego is organizing up to a thousand ministers from around the country to help pass the constitutional amendment against gay marriage on the November ballot.

Among the stunts proposed is a 40 day fast. Frankly, I think he might improve California if he should go without eating (or breathing) from now until after the election.*

Why can't they get it through their heads that if you're against gay marriage, then don't marry one!

*Would this still qualify as a non-violent response? I'm more than a tad suspicious that these creeps trying to foist their agenda are banking on us being too damn polite for our own good. Any crazy ideas I might come up with I'm blaming on the paint and plaster dust and fumes filling my apartment during the renovations.

LA Chinatown's 70th Anniversary Party

Flood-related web resources courtesy of the Iowa City Gazette

Just another perfect cloudless June day with CNN, Telemundo and every other network's truck up and down the street filming the first gay weddings

Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival

Richard & Mildred Loving Day

On this date in 1967, the Supreme Court struck down the anti-miscegenation laws in Loving vs Virginia

One more word about "traditional weddings" and I might lose it

Forms of traditional arranged weddings are still practiced by more than half of the world's population.

This includes Afghanistan, Austalia, Canada, China, England (!), India, Iraq, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa and Vietnam.

The bride-to-be might even be murdered by the family of the groom if they don't think the dowry is enough. Though the practice is largely illegal, they are often disguised as accidents or suicides.

So, please, if anybody happens to mention that they're voting for the constitutional amendment this November, casually ask them how much the parents had to pay for a dowry in their wedding.

Some civil servants in California don't want to do their job

County clerks in Butte, Kern and Merced counties have tried to get around performing same-sex marriages--by ceasing to officiate any weddings --gay or straight-- when the upcoming June 17th date set by the State Supreme Court rolls around. That's defending traditional marriage alright.

In Merced, at least, the County Clerk's office retracted their statement once they heard from county officials.

The typical excuse has been a lack of financial recources, space or staff. At first I thought, to myself, if that's the way you want it, then perhaps the state of California might not have the resources to give you any water from the California Aqueduct, or power from the state grid. And for certain, GLBT folk will know where not to spend their money on vacation (especially since more Californians are vacationing in-state with the high price of gas and plane tickets).

Yet in Kern County, one of the two remaining counties trying to not officiate same-sex marriages, a coalition of straight churches have pledged to stand by and have a minister on hand to perform weddings at all times to anyone who may need them*. With the November constitutional amendment on the ballot, it would be counterintuitive to hurt our allies by calling for a complete and outright boycott of those counties, in the very portions of California where support and goodwill are crucial. At the least, we won't honeymoon there.

Perhaps the best revenge would be for those County Clerks that don't want to follow the law just get the privilege of sitting back and watching the rest of California's counties reap the financial windfall expected to follow the legalization of same-sex marriages.

And maybe, too, getting to see how stupid they'll look to the rest of the state. The SF Chronicle noted that Contra Costa County Clerk Stephen Weir called officiating same-sex couple's weddings a no-brainer, noting that his County clerk's office makes $72,000 a year already in officiating weddings. The Californian reported that Kern County has recouped a tidy profit by providing marriages over the last two months, at $30 a pop. They also mentioned that County Clerk Barnett has cancelled 25 heterosexual marriages that had been already scheduled for after her June 13th deadline (does that mean that, technically, Barnett is against all marriage?) throwing the nuptials of those couples into limbo. Let's see how those county officials that drag their feet try to come hat in hand in Sacramento for more funding for schools and roads and other services when they turned their nose up at easy, legal money. If you know anyone who lives in Kern County, you might let them know how Barnett's decision has cost the county thousands of dollars in potential income --and be sure to remember that come election day.

It isn't like anyone was asking them to produce pollution-emitting cars, or sell guns that would be used in robberies or anything heinous that would actually affect the quality of life of other Californians.

*It might not be a bad idea to turn a positive spin on this, and send notes of thank you to the Rev. Byrd Tetzlaff, of the Unitarian Universalist church, who has pledged to be on hand at the County clerk's office, all day, every day through November 4, to perform weddings for free to any couple who shows up. You can e-mail her at minister@uufkc.org or drop her a note (and maybe a donation) at:

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kern County

POB 296

Bakersfield, CA 93302-0296

Leslie Jordan is taking his Trip down the Pink Carpet

I was fortunate to see Leslie last night at the LA kick-off of his Gay Pride book tour. If it's possible to die from laughin' then I've died an' gone to Heaven.

The good news is, that in addition to his new book, Leslie will soon be seen on Sordid Lives, the television show!