Find Me Here

Here's where I'll be spending a good portion of the next two years: Sims Hall at Syracuse University.  Only two weeks to go!

re: A BIG Announcement

Here it is:

Bangs!!

A BIG Announcement

Is coming today!  Just so you know, this is going to be HUUUUUUGE!

Stay tuned!

It's Official!

It's Official!

Now it's time to get serious about my MSW application, due in December. Whoa!

Re: For This, We are Grateful

This is a re-post with some italicized augmentations. I'm thankful for so many of the same things that I'm recycling. Yay, recycling!

in no particular order: a strong, fun marriage * a smart, helpful, cute, supportive, funny husby who I looooooooooove * generous and loving family, near and far * Olive * Herb * Rachels! Tovah! * new friends * reconnecting with old friends * decent, hassle-free (knock on wood) health insurance * Dan Savage * new adventures * Mother Jones * Smart Wool * chickens * our local bookstore, local whole foods stores, and local gift shops * Obama * The Stranger (they gave me this idea and I used and/or changed some of their thanks) * a job that sort of lets me come and go as i please * Purity's cinnamon ice cream * our own (well, not OWN own) little house * access to fair trade and direct trade coffee * Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, David Pakman * NPR * so long, DADT * reliable transportation * Wegmans * Nutella * access to local meats, eggs, cheeses, butter * Roku box and NetFlix * my new super-cute and fast puter *Google * chiropractics * close proximity to Ithaca * only one more semester * Joel and Ethan Coen * smart phones * our mostly good health and that of our family and friends * everyoneisgay.com * learning to make the best of things (still working on this one) * 30 Rock * Apples to Apples * farmers markets * things that used to be disposable but now are compostable! * This American Life * Cook's Illustrated * turbo-fast internet * kefir * (getting close to?) finding my niche * extra, extra, extra sharp cheddar * kombucha * AVG * smoosh-faced dogs * too many other things to list

I Stayed up until 10:30 in the Morning and it was Worth It

I wrote my first research brief (my first school-induced overnighter), also known as a position paper, for my Community Leadership and Development class. As I frequently do, I wrote about LGBTQ kids, specifically, LGBTQ youth and suicide prevention. The first draft was worth 30 points. Here is the front cover with grade. "Outstanding in every way. You're done," which means I've got no rewrites to do!

Read the (outstanding!) paper here.

Re: Fall 2010

Here's what I'm actually taking (not this) this semester:

• Social Justice
• Holistic Health Practices
• Child Welfare Policies
• Community Leadership & Development

I've finished my second week of classes, and I'm pretty sure this semester is going to be a good one. Here are some neat things coming up (I don't care if Christopher Moore says bulleting things isn't blogging. He hasn't written anything good since 2006.):

• I'll be attending a local training on Child on Child Sexually Aggressive Behavior
• I'll be on a research panel for a study on body image in young women
• I'll be attending a workshop in Syracuse on LGBTQ Teens and Suicide Prevention
• I am in the process of writing a research brief on LGBTQ teens and suicide
• I have an interview at Planned Parenthood for my Spring 2011 internship
• I'll be researching the Southern Tier Aids Program (STAP, one of my favorite local organizations) and SayIT intervention team, a part of the Crime Victims Assistance Center

I feel energized and excited to be involved in more than just my required class work. I can feel that my interests are sharpening and that soon I'll have a good sense of which population (LGBTQ teens, women in crisis) I'm most suited to advocate for and work with.

I definitely have a bee in my bonnet about going to grad school next year. I feel like I'm really amping up and will definitely be ready to flourish very soon. The question is whether or not we can afford it (we can't). If we figure out a way to pay for it (LOANS!), by the time I'm finished and start a career, will I have time for a baby? Which is more important to me? What if I forgo grad school for a baby and my parts don't work? It may seem as though I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm not. This is the exact semester during which I need to do all sorts of work about grad school. I feel like if I don't do it now, I may not ever; I don't know if that's ok with me.

Re: Summer 2010

Summer grades are in, and they're good! I'm including my actual grade this time because the letter grade doesn't tell you how awesome I was in my research class (the truth is, all classes are research classes @ BU).

• Social Science Research Methods: A (99%!)
• Psychology and Culture of Women's Bodies: A (93%)

Now I have two full months of vacay before my fall semester begins. It definitely looks like I'll graduate Spring 2011!

Olive Breakthrough?

I maaaay have had an Olive breakthrough tonight. I've been doing a lot of reading about buns-especially lately because I'm concerned that she's soon to become a dredlocked bunny because she won't let me touch her and she certainly won't let me brush her. So, I've been worried about her delicate skin and also worried that the vet will think that I'm a bad bunny mum when I bring her in to be fixed.

Anyway, one thing I came across is that lots of buns prefer to be pet on the forehead. Hmmm. When I try to pet her, I try to pet her bod like I'd pet a cat or doggins. It makes sense that she wouldn't be into that since it might feel like I'm a predator looking for a teeny, fuzzy lunch. I don't think I've ever tried to pet her forehead!

So, I've been up late tonight working on clearing out my Google Reader (um, I mean, I'm working on HOMEWORK. I'm doing HOMEWORK!), and went to the kitchen to give Olive some H2O. She was sitting next to her cage looking fluffy as ever. I returned her water bottle to its cage spot and absentmindedly tried to rub her forehead. She didn't move! I rubbed her forehead and around her ears for 3 minutes, perhaps, then gave her a sesame seed treat. I sat on the floor waiting for her to finish her treat; she returned when she was done. Interesting!

I tried again: I rubbed her forehead and around her ears for another couple of minutes. She seemed relaxed; maybe she liked it! I figured I'd better not push my luck. I gave her another treat and left her alone.

This miiight be a fluke, but I hope not! I've been struggling to get Olive to do business with me for a couple of months now; I really hope this might be a turning point! Hooray!

I Can't Believe Charlie Brown!

Ha ha ha! This is so funny. Especially since one no-sense-of-humor-reader got upset about the paper printing the letter. Nerd! Ha ha ha!

via today's local paper:

I can't believe Charlie Brown, again this year, played Lucy in his outfield. Lucy is the worst player in the history of baseball.

John Andrews

Vestal


image via Peanuts Wiki

Tovah

Today, my beautiful and amazing besty, Tovah, graduated from The Family Institute at Northwestern University with a Masters of Science in Marital and Family Therapy. I am so proud of her and of all of the remarkable work she has done over the past two years.

I truly wish I could have been with her for this most spectacular occasion. I'll start saving now so I can absolutely be in attendance when she receives her PhD.

Congratulations, Toves.


This stunning photograph of Tovah is via means.andrew

Good News for the Ladies

From Mother Jones blog, Blue Marble:

What? "Spread em and grin" might be hitting the bricks? Yep, according to the Times:

A new DNA test for the virus that causes cervical cancer does so much better than current methods that some gynecologists hope it will eventually replace the Pap smear in wealthy countries and cruder tests in poor ones.

Not only could the new test for human papillomavirus, or HPV, save lives; scientists say that women over 30 could drop annual Pap smears and instead have the DNA test just once every 3, 5 or even 10 years, depending on which expert is asked.

Their optimism is based on an eight-year study of 130,000 women in India financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published last week in The New England Journal of Medicine. It is the first to show that a single screening with the DNA test beats all other methods at preventing advanced cancer and death.

'The study is another nail in the coffin for Pap smears, which will soon be of mainly historical interest,' said Dr. Paul D. Blumenthal, a professor of gynecology at Stanford medical school who has tested screening techniques in Africa and Asia and was not involved in the study.

But whether the new test is adopted will depend on many factors, including hesitation by gynecologists to abandon Pap smears, which have been remarkably effective. Cervical cancer was a leading cause of death for American women in the 1950s; it now kills fewer than 4,000 a year.

Downside: The insurance industry will no doubt use those DNA results, if this pans out, to take our premiums for years—then deny us a payout based on our genetic profiles. But still...no more Pap smears? Yippee!

Mirriam-Webster, I Think You're OK!

marriage: noun

(1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage

redefinition news via Slog

Hooray!

This great news comes from Andrew, Tovah's (former!) house hubby:

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let all of you know that after all of these months I have finally found a job. Or I guess I should say a job finally found me. I'm going to be working for Willow Creek Church in a ministry to 18-30 somethings called Axis. I'll be helping Axis become a welcoming place to people of all backgrounds and help Chicago-land learn about Axis. I'm very excited about this position and the team I'll be joining. I fully believe 100% in the vision and mission of Axis and I feel blessed to pour myself out for this ministry.

I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have helped Tovah and I these past few months. It has been one of the most stretching, shaping times of my life and we literally would not have made it with out you. Some of you have helped us pay our bills, bought us coffee, and been the best friends we could have asked for. We are so blessed to have you all a part of our lives.

I just wanted to let you know about this. Feel free to pass the news along!

Andrew Means

TandDrew,
This news is utterly delightful. I am so excited for you guys. Drew, this job sounds entirely perfect for you.

Now, may please I borrow a dollar?

Recently, in Gay News

Great news: Connecticut legalized gay marriage!

Connecticut became the third state to legalize same-sex marriage today in a 4-3 decision by the state Supreme Court.

In an 85-page decision issued at 11:30 a.m., the court ruled that the state had “failed to establish adequate reason to justify the statutory ban on same sex marriage.”

The justices noted in the majority opinion that they recognized “as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health … that ‘our decision marks a change in the history of our marriage law.’”

The case, Kerrigan v. the state Commissioner of Public Health, was brought by eight same-sex couples who were denied marriages licenses by the Madison town clerk. They argued that the state’s civil union law was discriminatory and unconstitutional because it established a separate and therefore inherently unequal institution for a minority group. Citing the equal protection under the law, the state Supreme Court agreed.

“In accordance with these state constitutional requirements, same sex couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry,” says the majority opinion, which was written by Justice Richard N. Palmer.

via Slog

Also, from Hilary Duff...



via Slog