Rands writes a post more akin to a love letter to, than comparison of, notebooks. One excerpt that matches me completely:

… when I see a store with notebooks for sale, I always stop. I examine. I flip the pages and figure out if there is anything new. I do this regardless of current company, country, or convenience. I am a social introvert, but will stop a complete stranger on the street if they’re sporting an unknown notebook.

Rands In Repose: Sweet Decay

I’m really late in getting these photos posted: Vic’s birthday was back in April. I have no idea what happened to, or in, the month of May. But let’s move past that.

The Partner, our friend Missy, and I crammed into Missy’s car the Friday before Vic’s birthday and drove out to Penn State. Missy and I took turns driving and I was really hoping it would go a lot better than last time, but no, Ohio still sucks to drive through. As we didn’t arrive at their place until early Saturday morning, we all pretty much went to bed as soon as we got there.

Saturday morning proper we ate breakfast, drove around a bit, then headed out to the bars.

Here’s the thing about State College/Penn State: a lot of the bars won’t let you drink the day of your 21st birthday.

I’m sure you’re probably thinking, “What the fuck ever.” But I am not kidding. I thought Vic was kidding when she told me. I thought the bartender at the first bar we went in was kidding when he said they wouldn’t serve her shots, only beer. But then he took Vic’s driver’s license and wrote all her info down, then he got out a fat permanent marker and put big X’s on her hands so she would be forever marked as a Celebratory 21-year-old. I questioned his sincerity again and he told me again he could only serve us shots, and not her, because it was her 21st birthday. Then I told him his bar could fuck off, we’d go elsewhere, because we did not just drive nine fucking hours from Indiana to celebrate her 21st birthday without any fucking birthday shots. In Indiana, I said, we give FREE birthday shots.

But nearly every bar, bar and grill, and restaurant with a bar refused to serve Vic liquor. Some would only serve her if it’s been 26 hours since her birthday. Some places would serve her beer but not liquor. One bouncer wouldn’t even let us in, telling us, “We can’t do a 21 tonight. We can’t let you in.” And in the whole fucking city I couldn’t find one bar that would serve me two shots at one time.

State College bar owners, you suck.

Once we resigned ourselves to having to walk around searching for the bars that would serve us, the night went pretty well.

View the entire set here, or at Flickr:

Found with The Partner. But I posted it first.

I taught myself to knit, but I can’t seem to be able to teach myself to crochet.

I saw a bumper sticker recently that said “Evolution is a lie” and I questioned out loud “Evolution is a lie?” Then I started cracking up laughing, because it seems so silly to me for there to be folks who are so convinced that “evolution is a lie” so as to proudly proclaim it upon their vehicle. My second thought was, “What the fuck? Who really believes evolution is a lie?”

The New York Times Online has an article by Adam Nagourney entitled, “Ruling May Revive Gay Marriage as Issue”.

Revive?

It’s ALWAYS been “an issue”. Whether or not presidential politicians want to speak publicly on the subject is a different issue altogether. They’re too busy trying to get as many votes as possible, alternately caving to competing sides until they’re so in the middle it doesn’t matter which one you vote for.

For until two women or two men* can legally enter the marriage contract, it will remain “an issue”.

We need to question what type of “issue” the same-sex marriage issue truly is.

For just like the bumper sticker proclaiming evolution to be some sort of hoax, so too do groups of folks proclaim same-sex marriage to be some sort of threat to the institution of marriage as a whole. Where do people come up with these ideas?

Walking home with The Partner tonight, I remarked on how moved I was to read about couples publicly celebrating the California court ruling.

To publicly celebrate being able to enter into a state contract.

My mind boggles that such a thing has to happen.

Same-sex marriage, as it is so called, is an issue of “separate-but-equal” treatment, which, as has been shown, is NOT equal.

Listening to NPR today I became enraged at a woman they interviewed who was “against” same-sex marriage because it “threated marriage”. First I couldn’t believe NPR actually gave air-time to this person, and second, that she would rather actively participate in the prohibition, the denial of two fellow citizens’ rights than mind her own relationships and legal contracts.

What the fuck kind of mentality is this?

I actively question folks I know on their reasons for entering the marriage contract, if they are so privileged to legally do so. Thus far their answers have been a resounding “for the benefits”. Benefits such as sharing health insurance packages. Benefits such as sharing the right to decide how their lives, both independently and jointly, should be lived.

With reality surrounding you, if you can’t fathom evolution or reason as to why two consenting adults should not be able to enter a contract of their choosing, then you’re an idiot.

_________
*However we shall define those terms.

Earlier this week I was contacted by a communications exec with the National Tertiary Education Union of Australia who was interested in using one of my photographs for an upcoming campaign. I sent him my licensing information and everything must have met their approval because I LICENSED A PHOTOGRAPH. FOR MONEY.

Granted, it wasn’t much money, but HOLY SHIT Y’ALL.

Hi. I’m Anne and I’m a professional photographer.

California’s Supreme Court today ruled state laws against gay marriage are unconstitutional.

“In view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship,” Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote of marriage for the majority, “the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.”

California already has a strong domestic partnership law that gives gay and lesbian couples nearly all of the benefits and burdens of heterosexual marriage. The majority said that is not enough. [source]

California joins Massachusetts in being the only two states to legally support marriage equality.

Idiots and godbags (as much as there is a difference) in California are not willing to focus on their own families, though:

Conservative groups have proposed a new initiative, this one to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. If it is allowed onto the ballot in November and approved by the voters, [today's] decision would be overridden.

There must be something wrong with me, because I think it’s silly to get all huffy over two women or two men entering the marriage contract together.

In 2003 Canada ran these commercials on television stations across the country:

Here in the US:

Advocacy and awareness go a long way.