iamnotanoctopus

This journal is once again friends only. Here would be the ideal place to leave comments.

NOW calls for Day of Mourning for Dr. Tiller, National Day of Commitment tomorrow.

They're asking everyone to wear white armbands all day tomorrow, June 1st.

I'm sure you've seen this a thousand times today, but it's so damn good.

Stephen Fry: Dearest absurd child.

I love you, Mike Gronstal.



May you live 100 years and be the Senate Majority Leader for all of them.

My sister just sent me an excerpt about our great-great-great-great-grandfather's oldest son from a book written in 1905. The author refers to him as the Doctor throughout. The whole thing is under the cut, but I thought I'd put my favorite bit up here.

One day, a man who, twenty years ago, was one of the best-known and most popular in the country, a pillar of the Methodist Church, who held some of the highest offices in the gift of the people, went down on Second Street to get groceries. His Methodist tenets slipped a cog, and he loaded himself up with more wet goods than dry, until he took in more than he could carry on a straight line. Steering himself to Campbell's place, he went in, declaring he could whip any man that did not weigh over one hundred and forty pounds, reeling against the Doctor, as he entered the door. "That's just my weight," said the Doctor, as he gave him a side-winder straight from the shoulder, which landed him out on the sidewalk, where the Doctor sat down on him and was giving him a good pummeling when bystanders pulled him off, and the incident was closed. Nothing more was said or thought of it. That was the way of those first-comers. It was like the Doctor, thirty minutes after, to have invited his victim in to "take something," for he was generous in treating, but never drank himself. The good Methodist was never known to patronize the liquid side of a grocery after that event.

( Dr. James Campbell )

OMG WHAT.



Seriously. WTfuckingF.

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT!!!!

Iowa's Supreme Court upheld Judge Hanson's decision, and declared the ban on gay marriage unconstitutional!

HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS I LIVE IN THE FUCKING MIDWEST AND GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL IN MY STATE! FOR REALLY REAL THIS TIME!

They said we could probably have the ball rolling in as little as 21 days, and guess what else? NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ETA:


nataliedee.com

In case you are still feeling pessimistic, let me assure you that there will be no California-style referendum bullshit--at least not for quite awhile. You can't amend our constitution that way--any amendment has to get through two legislative sessions in a row first, and we are currently blue, baby!

From Yahoo: Technically, the decision will take about 21 days to be considered final and a request for a rehearing could be filed within that period.

But Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said his office will not ask for a rehearing, meaning the court's decision should take effect after that three-week period.

"Our Supreme Court has decided it, and they make the decision as to what the law is and we follow Supreme Court decisions," Sarcone said. "This is not a personal thing. We have an obligation to the law to defend the recorder, and that's what we do."

That means it will be at least several weeks before gay and lesbian couples can seek marriage licenses.

Sarcone said gay marriage opponents can't appeal the case at the state or federal level because they were not party to the lawsuit and no federal issue was raised in the case.

Opponents can try and persuade Iowa lawmakers to address the issue, but state Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said it's "exceedingly unlikely" gay marriage legislation will be brought up this session, expected to end within weeks. He also said he's "not inclined to call up a constitutional amendment," during next year's session. SUCK IT, FREEPERS.

OMG YOU GUYS IOWA'S SUPREME COURT IS GOING TO DELIVER THEIR DECISION ON GAY MARRIAGE TOMORROW!

OMG YOU GUYS A GOOGLE NEWS LINK!

OMG YOU GUYS CROSS YOUR FINGERS!

OMG I'M GOING TO PEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ignore me, I'm hunting down granny square patterns I like, and my bookmarks don't organize quite the way I'd like. The only reason you can see this is in case, for some reason, you should ever need a crochet square pattern.

( Granny Squares )

Per our tradition, Morgan has brought over the latest edition of Wolphin for us to watch.

OMG, you guys, "Glory at Sea!" is so fucking awesome. Ku-fucking-dos to their set designer in particular, but just wow all around.

Also, from the menu screens, abandoned baby bubble wrap wailing in fear. Oh, yes.

Home for the Holidays. If you haven't seen it: directed by Jodi Foster, with Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott, Steve Guttenberg (in a good way, not in an awful TMAAB way), Claire Danes, and Cynthia Stevenson (who doesn't get enough roles by half, she is so great at being bunged up, it slays me). My adoration of Robert Downey, Jr. from time immemorial is well-known, but I love pretty much everyone in this movie. Not that I don't love my family, or that they are anywhere near as insane as the family in this movie, but I do relate to how you spend so much time building your own life, living in the bubble you make for yourself, the holidays can be incredibly overwhelming because they can push you back into that one role you didn't choose for yourself.

I'm going to watch it right now, I think.

So we just bought a Nordictrack Mini Stepper, on account of an elliptical machine that doesn't wobble costs quite a bit of money. I don't know if there's any objective way of telling you what the resistance is set at right now, but I can't make myself do more than two hundred sets (400 steps, thxsomuch) at at time. I'm just giving myself five minute breaks for my legs to un-jello, and then going RAWRR I R TEH AWESOME until the counter hits 150 or so and the meaningless of life sinks in. EXERCISING WHEE HOO. Don't talk to me about the resistance bands--I've been leaving them alone because I feel extra retarded trying to get a rhythm going with those. Some day, though. Some day.

RIP, Jdimytai Damour.

I'm sure you at least heard about this in passing, but JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, read the whole thing and see if you don't feel physically ill.

Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, who is in charge of the investigation for the Nassau police, said the store lacked adequate security. He called the scene “utter chaos” and said the “crowd was out of control.” As for those who had run over the victim, criminal charges were possible, the lieutenant said. “I’ve heard other people call this an accident, but it is not,” he said. “Certainly it was a foreseeable act.”

Some shoppers who had seen the stampede said they were shocked. One of them, Kimberly Cribbs of Queens, said the crowd had acted like “savages.” Shoppers behaved badly even as the store was being cleared, she recalled.

“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’ ” Ms. Cribbs told The Associated Press. “They kept shopping.”

And to think I stay in on Black Friday because I'm worried someone's going to hit me with a shopping cart. FUCK.

I don't know how many of you remember the story about Duanna Johnson from earlier this year, but this is so sad.

On February 12, 2008, Duanna Johnson was brutally beaten by a Memphis police officer after she refused to respond when the officer called her “he-she” and “faggot.” That night, Johnson became yet another of the countless trans women of color to be targeted and brutalized by police in this country. Two officers were fired after the attack; neither was prosecuted... This past Sunday, Duanna Johnson was found murdered on the streets of Memphis.

The story is at Feministe, along with a link for donations to help Duanna's mother with funeral expenses.

I love Funny Obama. Funny Obama is my favorite. Have some.

Obama roasting Rahm Emanuel a few yeas ago:

Although I believe the video suffers a bit from lack of rainbow-maned ponies and cooperative sprites, probably it is a more appropriate post-election song than what I posted earlier. Sue me, Oprah hadn't told me what to think yet. Way to go and be all awesome, will.i.am. Again.