bloody numbers!

math nerd tattoo

This is my next tattoo- what do you think? I'm picturing a bracelet style on my wrist. Please give me your comments now, before I get it printed forever on my body.

References:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_(m..._constant)
press.princeton.edu/titles/5342.html

we fucked up

Look, folks, when it came to opposing prop 8 we fucked up. Blame the mormon church, blame the voters who believed their lies, whatever. We really should be looking hard at the message we sent.

I've been doing a comprehensive search for anti-prop 8 ads, and I've been horrified by what I find. The vast majority of the ads feature snarky 30-somethings making ads that would only appeal to themselves. How could the movement think that insulting, derisive and divisive ads could carry their message to swing voters? Ads like this: www.funnyordie.com/videos/c...an-smith, in which white-backgrounded liberals fling the words of prop 8 voters back at them, in a context the voters never intended, does not make friends. It makes enemies.

Here's how the ads need to go:

<Suburban living room, floral wallpaper, precious moments figurines on the shelves. On doilies. On the plush couch, an African-American, 60-year-old woman in conservative dress- a good Christian woman.>

G.C.W. "I raised my family to have good values- to be honest, to be loving, to be true to the teachings of Christ."

<cue montage of family photo's from the 70's and 80's>

G.C.W. "So when my youngest son, Peter, told me he was gay... I was devastated. I prayed it was just a phase. I wanted my son to get married, to have children, to live a faithful life. I felt like all my dreams for him were shattered."

<cue close-up on a photo of Peter and his mother>

G.C.W. "But a few years ago, Peter brought Chris to dinner with the family. When I saw them together, I couldn't help but see the love and support they showed each other. I saw my child truly happy for the first time in his life."

<cue a picture of the family attending church together. see Chris putting his arm around G.C.W. and smiling at Peter. >

G.C.W. " Still, I worried that their love was sinful, so I went to see my pastor. My pastor knew Peter since he was born, and had met Chris just that Christmas. He told me "Mildred, in the eyes of Jesus your child is perfect. Christ preached for us to love each other, and to Judge not lest ye be judged."."

"Well... after that I let go of my wish that Peter would marry a nice girl, and accepted that he would marry a nice boy. And you know what? Their wedding was beautiful. They were married in Chris' Unitarian Church, and received all the counseling and support my own church would have given them."

<Shift to darker music, flash to a pro-prop 8 protest crowd. emphasize their anger and intolerance in the photo spread. possibly visually tie their angry protest to anti-civil-rights protests.>

G.C.W. "But now my child's family is threatened, and by the very people who claim to follow Christ. I might have understood their argument, years ago, but now I understand that we have to embrace our differences to truly support Christian families. Please support my family, and my child. Please vote no on Prop 8."

<end>

There were some decent ads, like the ones my sweetie sent me today:
www.youtube.com/watch
www.youtube.com/watch

But the main thing those ads fail to do is validate the fear people feel about having a gay family member. That fear has to be validated in order to change people's minds. That's why the ads should focus on people who have changed their minds after a family member came out, not on people who have always believed gay marriage is fine. And the ads should have targeted African-American families, who were notoriously in favor of prop 8.

So that's my rant. We did it wrong. We must do it better next time.

not at all fair and balanced

I am so very anxious about tomorrow. I'm anxious about voter suppression, corporate voting machine fraud, and the possibility that I may not get what I want out of this election.

I generally consider it wise to give some credit to all political points of view, and allow for the possibility that I am not all-knowing. By that standard I am decidedly unwise in this election. I'm intellectually, morally, emotionally invested in defeating the right wing. I know that prop 8 is wrong the way I know that the sky is blue. I feel as strongly that McCain is corrupt, self-serving and dangerous.

I'm angry with people who disagree with me on these two issues. I'm even having a hard time with folks who are questioning prop K, though I grant that it's a more confusing issue.

And that worries me. Am I becoming a narrow-minded partisan? What does it mean that I find the opposition unfathomable and infuriating? Or maybe there's a simpler explanation for my worry: maybe all my anxieties must contain a thread of self-doubt in order to satisfy my perverse little brain.

gah! I just want tomorrow to be over so I can implement the appropriate coping mechanisms already!

sexual tension

I've decided that there's an unsupportable amount of sexual tension between my cats.

This is troublesome, as they haven't the genitals necessary for the alleviation of said tension. Instead, they're whiny, hypervigilant, and overly concerned with kitty treats.

That is all.

AIDS Walk SF

I've just this minute registered for the San Francisco AIDS Walk on the 20th! Please, if you are able, contribute to the cause via my donation page:
aidswalksanfrancisco2008.kintera.org/nicolejohnson

The program I'll be working for at my new job is going to receive a lot of funding from the AIDS walk- my ED sent out this announcement:

"A Woman’s Place (AWP) is one of 8 programs of Community Awareness & Treatment Services, a private non-profit serving homeless adults in the City and County of San Francisco. AWP offers a wide spectrum of services including emergency shelter and transitional housing to chronically homeless women with multiple problems including HIV+/AIDS. AWP is the only gender specific facility of its kind in San Francisco offering a safe haven for San Francisco’s most vulnerable women. Your contribution to the AIDS Walk will contribute towards the support of the HIV+/AIDS program at AWP. This special program offers transitional housing with intensive services including case management, benefits advocacy, and money management to women with HIV+/AIDS. During their stay, there is a special focus on linking women to primary medical care and mental health services, as well as educating them on HIV+/AIDS treatment options and the effects of drugs and alcohol on disease progression. Another major emphasis of the program is preparing the women for entrance into permanent housing once they complete the program. Your support of this unique and critical program during a time of shrinking funding is appreciated."

My New Job

I've just been promoted in my agency, to another program called A Woman's Place. It's a shelter, recovery center, transitional housing program, mental health stabilization center, and transgender/HIV+ program. I'll be a Program Coordinator, with a lot more pay and a lot more responsibility than I have now. The program is also way more chaotic than I'm used to- my sedate homeless seniors facility has been almost relaxing by comparison. Here's hoping it works out!

housesitting and real estate

Hey Folks!

Dan and I are going camping over the 4th and are looking for a housesitter/catsitter. We strongly prefer someone who can stay at our apartment and give our cats some TLC in addition to food. Compensation is generous and dates are flexible - email me for details. If you have a friend who you'd recommend, please feel free to forward this to them.

Also, the apartment adjacent to ours (and nearly identical to ours) is for sale! If you're in the market for a 2-bedroom 1-bath condo in the mission, or know a cool person who is, let us know! The house has 4 units and everyone who lives there is awesome. This unit shares a back deck with ours, so we're hoping one of our friends will move in there.

4th of Juplaya

Who is going to juplaya this year? I just realized it's just over a month away.

Scottosaurus

My friend Scottosaurus died this morning. I wrote about him here, earlier: people.tribe.net/hot_damn/...35230eacba

You will be missed, Mr. O'Saurus.