Adventures in Bedlam

NO on Prop 8: Letter to HGTV

As I am in the middle of re-doing and re-organizing parts of my house, I have been watching a lot of HGTV lately.  HGTV has always been one of my favorite channels, and I watch it regularly.  However, over the last week I have seen several of the offensive and misleading commercials in support of Prop 8.  In response, I wrote them the following letter:

To Whom it May Concern:

Over the course of the last week (October 20-25) I have seen several "Yes on Prop 8" commercials on HGTV.  I am extremely disappointed and offended by this.  Prop 8 itself is an attempt to take away the right of same-sex couples to marry--it is a vile attempt by ignorant and intolerant groups to strip people of their rights. 

I have always been struck by the seemingly "gay-friendly" attitude of HGTV as many of its shows feature gay couples, and at least one show features an openly gay host.  It is surprising to me that HGTV would accept advertising dollars from the yes on Prop 8 campaign as is completely at odds with the pledge of inclusion and diversity on the Scripps Network website.

I understand that HGTV and its affiliates derive income from advertisers, but surely there must be some choice of which advertising dollars to take.  I am a very big fan of HGTV but cannot abide by your showing the misleading and offensive commercials that support Prop 8.  Please take these commericals out of your advertising schedule.

Sincerely,
Holly West

It really bothers me that a TV network that boasts of its diversity on its website would accept advertising dollars from the Yes on Prop 8 campaign.

If you see adverts for the Yes on Prop 8 campaign on other TV stations, take a moment to contact them and voice your opinion.

No on Prop 8 - Personal Stories

As you all know by now, I am a strong proponent of the right of same-sex couples to marry.  I am a heterosexual woman who has been married for ten years to a wonderful person named Mick.

By virtue of being heterosexual, my marriage is not at risk from Prop 8, which seeks to take away the right of same-sex couples to marry.  Therefore, my personal story might not have much impact on those who support Prop 8.

What about those people whose marriages are at risk?  How do they feel about it?  How is a civil union different from a marriage, and why isn't it enough?  It boggles my mind that anyone would think it's okay to take away the right of a loving couple to marry.  I hope the stories I've linked to below will help you understand why it is so important that Prop 8 does not pass.

Tom & George
They are a couple together for ten years who had a wedding ceremony seven years ago.  When the California Supreme Court recognized their right to marry in June, they legally married in August.

No On Prop 8 Personal Story
"These have been magical, blessed days for us. Some want to take the marriage away from us, because they don't know us. They hold hatred in their hearts for us. They must. Why else would you take away anyone else's rights? Why deny people their magical, blessed days?"

SF Lesbian Wedding
"They say every woman dreams of her wedding day. As a child, I never did. But if I had, I don’t think I could have imagined a day with more meaning. "

Del Martin & Phyllis Lyons
Del and Phyllis legally married on June 16, 2008 after being together over 50 years.  Del died at age 87 on August 27, 2008.  The groundwork for Del and Phyllis to marry began sixty years ago when 40 states had criminal laws that prohibited whites and blacks from marrying.

CajunBoyLBG says it well when he writes:  This is a stark reminder that someday YOU might be part of a group some deem "less than human" and "unworthy of Constitutional protection". If you don't do the right thing now, will others be there for YOU if the whackjobs come for you?

Indeed.

When you cast your vote on November 4, remember that your vote will effect the rights of real, human, flesh & blood people.  Vote NO on Prop 8.

An Open Letter to Friends & Family Who Support Prop 8

Dear Friends & Family,

 

I am writing this letter to urge you to vote NO on Prop 8, which seeks to eliminate marriage for same-sex couples.

 

Prop 8 will take away the right of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California.  They have had the right to marry in California since June 18, 2008.  Their marriage licenses are valid, legal, and no different than yours and mine. 

Having a marriage recognized by your church or religion is different from civil marriage.  If you attend a specific church, you probably have both a civil marriage and a marriage recognized by the church you attend.  I only have a civil marriage.  Nobody is trying to force any church or religion to marry same-sex couples, nor are they asking churches or religions to recognize civil marriages as fulfilling the requirements of marriage of a particular religion.

 

Taking away the fundamental civil rights of otherwise qualified adults is wrong.  Don't use your religious beliefs, which are arguably the most precious thing in your life, as an excuse to descriminate.  You may not like to hear it, but if you support Prop 8 that is exactly what you're doing.  What if someone was trying to deny you the right to legally marry the person you love because you don't share their religious beliefs or because your marriage is not recognized by any religious body?  Or if you do belong to a specific religion, is my marriage any less valid than yours, just because I am not married in a church?  Or because I don't have children?  Of course not.  In the state of California, my marriage is just as legal and just as valid.  So should it be for same-sex couples, whose relationships deserve the same respect and validation as ours, regardless of religious beliefs.  Marriage brings emotional, social, and financial benefits that are being denied to thousands of American citizens every day.  That descrimination cannot continue.

 

My marriage is the most important thing in my life.  That is why I am so passionately in favor of the rights of same-sex couples to marry if they choose to.  I know how wonderful marriage can be and don't want other loving couples to be denied that right.  I can't imagine how it would feel if someone was trying to take that away from me, can you?  That's exactly what Prop 8 is trying to do to same-sex couples. 

 

I'm asking you to do the right thing and not use your religious beliefs as an excuse to descriminate.  Your beliefs are too important to lessen by doing that.

 

Holly

Gauntlet Mittens

Here I am sitting amid the ocean waves and sunshine of 80+ degree Southern California knitting winter hats and mittens.  I will not lose hope that the Fall weather will come, even if it's some time in March.  Forget about Winter.

My latest quick project was Gauntlet Mittens, by Kris Percival in her book Speed Knitting.  There are actually a lot of cool projects in this book (just remember that "speed" doesn't necessarily mean "one skein") and I've there are few more things I'll be knitting from it in the next few weeks.

 

I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, with size 13 circular needles for the cuffs and size 11 DPNs for the mitten itself.  One pair of these takes me about three hours.  I modified the pattern to shorten the cuffs and also measured the sections of my hands (cuff to thumb, then fingers) because the first mitten I knit according to the measurements in the pattern it was a bit too small.

 

I have to admit I used to hate Thick & Quick, but now I kind of love it.  It comes in some lovely colors this season and it's very soft.  Also, quick knit projects suit me very, very well, as instant gratification takes too long for me (line stolen from Postcards from the Edge).

Memories

I'm not sure what triggered it, but today I did a search on YouTube for my former choir director, Paul Salamunovich, and found this:

Okay, I'm not asking you to look at almost 10 minutes of video of a boring chorale/orchestral performance (or am I)?

I just had to post this because I totally remember this performance (I am somewhere on the middle-left, about three rows back) and it brought back such vivid memories of a very important time in my life.

At the time, 1987, I had a very good, clear, soprano voice.  By the time I graduated I was a second soprano.  Now I can hardly sing at all.  Must be all the whiskey and cigarettes.

But most importantly, I want to say that Paul Salamunovich was a very important man in my life.  He was inspiring, unyielding, and completely unforgiving if you missed a note (and if you couldn't sight sing, forget it, get the fuck out of here).  And he could coax the sweetest of sounds out of the most clueless of freshmen.  I know, because I was one of them.  Every rehearsal was a performance, and he explained the music in such a way that it felt like theatre--you weren't just singing, you were acting, you were being the music.  Sound poetic, and in a way I'm sure it is--you know the memory of an eighteen year-girl.  Always romance and flowers.

He is, to use a very tired cliche, the real deal.  And I am so very proud to have been able to work with him.

Don't Eliminate the Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry - Vote NO on Prop 8

Now and then I am lulled into the false reality that as a group, humans have acheived some degree of enlightenment.  Then I remember that we are still actively and legally descriminating against each other and I am brought crashing back to earth.  In this case, I'm talking about marriage descrimination, specifically, marriage descrimination for same-sex couples.

Actually, in the state of California, we officially stopped the descrimination on June 17, 2008.  Unfortunately, Prop 8, which seeks to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, will be on the ballot in November.  Eliminating the rights of adults who want to participate in marriage, a legal institution which provides financial, social, and emotional benefits not available through domestic partnerships (which were legalized in 1999), is not only wrong, but morally reprehensible.  Same-sex couples already have the right to marry legally in California, and Prop 8 seeks to eliminate that right. 

Here's the deal.  In 2000, California voters approved Proposition 22, which stated that "only marriage between a man and a woman is considered valid and recognized in California."  Despite this, in 2004, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom mandated the issuing of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in San Francisco, which resulted in almost 4000 marriages.   These marriages were later annulled by the California Supreme Court, and the city of San Francisco began a legal challenge on behalf of these couples which led to the May 2008 California Supreme Court ruling that limiting marriage of same-sex couples was unconstitutional.  The court refused to stay its order, and as of June 17, 2008, same-sex couples have the legal right to marry in California.

Between June 17 and September 2008, over 11,000 same-sex couples have legally married in California, and by November, there will be many more.  These marriages are recognized and valid, and they are no different from marriages between opposite-sex couples.  Furthermore, if Prop 8 passes, these marriages will almost certainly remain valid, as constitutional scholars agree that the amendment proposed in Prop 8 will not be retroactive.  That means that even if Prop 8 passes, thousands of same-sex couples who are already legally married in California will remain legally married.  Which is as it should be.

As the election approaches, I will be writing more about this issue, as I am very passionate about it.  Let there be no mistake:  Prop 8 does not protect marriage.  It eliminates the fundamental rights of human beings.

A Special Birthday Present

A few months ago, my friend Julie gave me a pair of clip on earrings that had belonged to her grandmother.  They were unusual, but so tarnished it was hard to see what they were.  After cleaning them up a little, it appeared that they were some kind of Buddhas or genies--at any rate, a very interesting design.

 
I held on to them for quite awhile but knowing Julie's birthday was coming up I thought they would make a great 40th birthday present.  I set to work trying to think of a good design for them.

After cutting off the clips from the back and asking my jewelry teacher to look at them, I realized that they had some kind of enamel on them that might not stand up to heat.  My original idea was to do some soldering on them, so this meant that I probably wouldn't want to do that.  Instead, I drilled holes at the top and attached jump rings that way.

I knew I wanted to add some gemstones and since the earrings themselves were already in a tear drop shape, I decided to let them hang at the bottom of the design.  I hammered circles and soldered jump rings to them.  Then I added golden tourmaline briolettes to echo the tear drop shape of the earring bottoms.

The end result is gorgeous, though I'm sorry to say that this photo does not do them justice.  They are very shiny and totally striking.  Best of all, they're one-of-a-kind and a great re-use of sentimental, but old-fashioned, jewelry.

 

I love them!

Happy Birthday, Julie!

Clapotis Wrap

Behold, one of my favorite knit projects of all time:  The Clapotis Wrap.  It's meant to be a scarf, but it's big enough to be a wrap.

 

I love scarves, and I don't have near enough of them. When I found this pattern on Knitty, I knew it would be a perfect scarf for the not-so-cold winters of Santa Monica.

   

Of course, I used a different yarn than is called for in the pattern, but it worked nicely:

Patons Grace
4 skeins Brown, 3 skeins Azure
Size 6 circular needles

 

While it took me a couple of weeks longer to knit than I thought it would, I almost didn't mind because it is such a fun pattern.  There is something very decadent about dropping stitches in a pattern, and in this one I got to do it every 12 rows.  Obviously, I have to get my entertainment where I can.

  
It's also a forgiving pattern--at the end I had the wrong amount of stitches and I was able to easily "hide" it.  So it's not perfect, but you'd never know.

I know I will be wearing it a lot this fall and winter!

Dedicated to the One I Love

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Mick, I dedicate this song to you:

Seems like only yesterday we were swaying clumsily back and forth to this song in front of family and friends.  What we lacked in dancing skills, we've certainly made up for in love and happiness.

Everyone says marriage is hard work, but I have to be honest, it's not hard at all for Mick and I.  It's actually pretty darned fun.  And just to prove it, we're taking trapeze lessons today to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Happy Anniversary, Mick!  I love you!

Garden Update

Remember when I blogged about how happy I was about the vegetable "garden" I planted about two months ago?

Well, chickadees, it has thus far yielded me the following:

1 zucchini
1 Japanese eggplant
0 tomatoes
Enough lettuce to make about six salads
Loads of basil
Loads of Italian parsley
Loads (though still not fully grown) of serano chilis

 

The Japanese eggplant plant died and has been removed.  The zucchini plant is almost dead and almost certainly will not give me any more vegetables.  The tomato plant is also almost dead and waiting for removal.  The salad greens are happily growing and show no signs of faltering any time soon.

My housekeeper told me I waited too long to plant and that it's too cold and wet here in the mornings right now, which is probably why all my plants died.  I also let the bugs kind of eat them up a little, so that was my bad.

I did make some very tasty turkey burgers using my zucchini:

1 lb ground turkey breast
1 cup chopped mushrooms
4 large garlic cloves, coursely chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 egg
Garlic salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and form into patties, then grill and serve on buns with all the fixin's.

As soon as the serano chilis are ready I'll probably add half a chopped serano--although that might upset the flavor balance a little.  We'll see.