Banned Books Week #2 - Five More Books to Consider

Today I continue with the second half of the top ten challenged and/or banned books of 2016, and again I ask you to consider reading one (or more) of these. I've read several of the ten books I'm spotlighting, and recommend them highly. Here we go ...

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green.

Better known for his novel "The Fault In Our Stars", John Green's novel "Looking for Alaska" won the Printz Honor award. This young adult novel was challenged and restricted because of one sexually explicit scene that was felt might lead young readers into "sexual exploration". Wow. Kids exploring sexuality. Doesn't that come with the hormones of the teenage years?

"Big Hard Sex Criminals"  written by Matt
Fraction and illustrated by Chip Zdarsky. 

This is a compilation of adult comics by two award-winning artists. It was challenged and banned and deemed to be too sexually explicit by library staff and administration.

"Make Something Up: Stories You Can't
Unread" by Chuck Palahniuk. 

This is a collection of adult short stories and received positive reviews from Newsweek and the New York Times. It's been challenged for profanity, being sexually explicit, and being "disgusting and all around offensive". I don't know about you, but I think I might want to read something that is thought to be "all around offensive".

The "Little Bill" series, written by Bill Cosby. 

The #9 book in the list is unusual for several reasons. First, it's a series of books. Second, it wasn't challenged because of the writing or the material. It was challenged because of the author. Librarians wanted to pull the series off the shelves because of the criminal sexual allegations against the author. The books themselves look really fun and like something that would be enjoyable for a kid to read. It's a shame that Bill Cosby threw his life into the toilet the way that he did.

"Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell.

If there is a book on this list of ten I'd recommend without a second thought, it's this one. One of seven New York Times Notable Children's Books, and a winner of the Printz Honor, this book was challenged on offensive language. "Eleanor & Park" was my introduction to this author and I found it beautifully written and characterized. It dealt with some really hard situations and managed to deal with them beautifully.

So there you have it - ten banned or challenged books that are well worth putting back into your school libraries and possibly into your own hands for a good read. I haven't read all of them, and I doubt that I will, but I have read several and really enjoyed them. Of course, the list of banned books extends back into time, so there are thousands of choices out there. Why not treat yourself to reading a banned book this week in honor of Banned Books Week.

Have a wonderful Tuesday. Chickie gets the day off today to make up for her working on Monday last week, so I'll be on the sales floor a bit more than usual. Oh well, such is the breaks. Enjoy your day!

Banned Books Week - Have You Read Any of These?

September 24-30 is Banned Books Week. If that doesn't make you, as a reader, stop and think for a moment, maybe it should. Books? Banned? Absolutely! Because books have power. That written word, that storyline, those characters - they can dig into a person's soul, crack open a dusty and rusted corner, and with the application of perfect pressure, can let in light. Today I'm featuring the Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016. I've read some of these, and there are others in this group that I think I'll add to my TBR list. Why were they challenged? I've included basic descriptions of why beneath each cover.

Today and tomorrow I'm featuring the books most often challenged, restricted or
banned in 2016. Below the cut you'll find the top 5, numbers 6-10 will be
featured on Tuesday's blog. 

Here we go ...

The #1 challenged and banned book of 2016 is "This
One Summer" written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated
by Jillian Tamaki.

1 - Although it won both the Printz and Caldicott Honor awards, it was targeted as banned or restricted because this graphic novel includes LGBT characters, drug use, and profanity and was considered sexually explicit with mature themes.

"Drama", written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier,
lands in the dubious #2 spot. 

Although it won the Stonewall Honor award, this graphic novel ended up on this dubious list because it included LGBT characters, was deemed sexually explicit, and was considered to have an offensive political viewpoint. Once again, books are considered political weapons, and isn't it curious that the top two in the list have LGBT characters?

"George", written by Alex Gino landed at #3 on the list. 

"George" won both a Stonewall Award and a Lambda Literary Award, but was removed from library shelves because it included a transgender child and the "sexuality was not appropriate at elementary levels". I know adults for whom this level of sexuality would be inappropriate, and third grade advanced readers for whom it would be just fine. Let kids make up their own minds about what is and is not appropriate.

"I Am Jazz" written by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated
by Shelagh McNicholas. 

No awards here, but Jazz is well known for telling her own story though the televised media. This picture book memoir was challenged because it portrays a transgender child and because of language, sex education, and offensive viewpoints.

"Two Boys Kissing" by David Levithan

This book quickly rose in the ranks of top LGBT books, but it's been condemned and banned from many libraries because its cover has an image of two boys kissing and it was considered to include sexually explicit LGBT content. Despite that, it is included on the National Book Award longlist and is a Stonewall Honor winner.


I don't want to get too graphically heavy, so I'll put books 6-10 on the list in tomorrow's blog. On the list of ten books, half were restricted or banned because of LGBT characters or connotations. Challenged books results in the book being banned from the library, school district, or city library system 10% of the time, and books, if people are quiet about them, can slowly make their way into the dusty stacks of the 'never read' and then the trash. Do you care about books? Are you passionate about reading? Why not let an author know that their words mean a lot to you. Make their day! Also, pick up one of the books I'm featuring over these days and read it. Support that author's right to tell his or her or their story.

Have a wonderful Monday. We're getting some rain, so the beastly temperatures of upper 80's into the mid-90's that we had yesterday are finally down to mid-60's. A lot more comfortable.

Project Avalanche - One Snowflake Can Make A Difference

I'll do a Project Runway Junior recap in tomorrow's blog since the summaries I use for photos and secondary information are published online later for PRJr than for the standard PR. No problem though, since my brain is running a bit slower today anyway. Instead, I want to talk about the next step in the "10 Actions for 100 Days" movement.

There were a lot of Pink Pussyhats in Women's Marches throughout the world.
A veritable sea of pink. Chickie is still wearing her hat proudly, as are others
throughout the nation. 

If you recall, the initial focus was on the Women's March to Washington, at which millions of women around the world marched to show their support for human rights, women's rights and LGBTQIA rights. Pink "Pussy Hats" were worn by many and a feeling of solidarity with others was achieved. The first of the followup actions was to send postcards to your Senators, telling them which issues were most important to you, and reminding them that you are as valid of a constituent as any other. Did that.

Huddles will be informal gatherings to establish what is most important
to focus on and how best to continue to make an impact. 

The second action has now been announced, and it's one I won't do, at least not on the physical level. It's called "Huddle" and focuses on gathering together with others in a public venue or a private house to discuss issues of importance and ways in which the women can keep their focus, working for rights and changes under our new government. Although it's a really great idea for those who are social beings and who enjoy networking, it's a total "No" for me. I'm not huddling with anyone, I'll just stick to huddling from the frigid temperatures in my long purple coat. I am huddling in a virtual room, though, joining with Project Avalanche and mailing letters and snowflakes of concern. One snowflake, joined by many others, can become an avalanche.

One snowflake, when joined with millions of others, can
create an avalanche. 

Does that mean I won't be involved? Heck no! I'm tackling immigration and other issues of importance to me instead with Project Avalanche. Instead of focusing on our Senators, as the first action did, this one focuses on writing letters to your representatives. Inside of these letters, we encourage people to include snowflakes, one or many, each one identified as an issue of importance to you. The letters and snowflakes should be mailed between the dates of March 16-20 so that the offices of the Representatives are deluged with snowflakes - an Avalanche of Concern burying the offices of our Representatives in snowflakes. Are you looking for templates for your snowflakes? Follow this link for some really nice ones. I used one of these yesterday as a test and it worked really well.

On to the 365-day Meme for today ...

What kind of car are you driving?

I love my Mazda CX-5. It's the perfect car for me, although it
might be a bit too large for others. Chickie liked my car so much
that she bought a used 2014 model, identical to mine, when
she upgraded her car last year. 

I drive "Minion", a 2015 Mazda CX-5 in Red. I totally love my car. It has the space that I need, the versatility that I was looking for, gets excellent gas mileage (which would be a LOT better if I didn't do almost 100% short-run city driving) and makes a great Minion. I have two miniature Minions on my dashboard (from the Despicable Me 2 and Minions movies) and I actually have seat warmers as a standard feature - something I only found out about less than a month ago. Sometimes I can be a total dork.

List your pets.

Well, unless DH counts as a pet, I don't have any right now, so that's pretty simple. In the past I've owned several dogs and cats. Although I love both types of pets, my allergies have gotten worse as I've aged and I don't think I could tolerate a cat any more. I might look for one last dog when I retire because I do miss my dogs.

So that's it for a very cold Friday. The pool water will be so warm compared to the outside temperature, these are the best days for a good swim. Have a wonderful Friday. I'll be back tomorrow with my Project Runway Junior recap for the week.

Winter is Coming - Cards, Protests and the Homeless

I'm heavily into holiday card making and having so much fun! Yesterday before my weekly chat with Aearwen, I cleared some space and started work on the envelopes. I wasn't sure how it would work passing through my printer to apply the addresses, so I tested the first one, and it worked really well. You could probably have heard my relieved sigh all the way to Shirebound's house in far away California. I was good to go.

I was afraid that the envelopes wouldn't survive
the printer, but my test one worked beautifully!
Huzzah! 

All things considered, they went quickly. They are embossed and then colorized with distressed inks. I did the inking portion while talking with Aearwen. By the time we wrapped up at hour later, my thumb was dyed a dark purple/green from handling the ink pads. The color seems to be embedded, so I'll be colorful for a while. The envelopes are SO CUTE! I'm dancing on the moon. I just love it when a spark turns into a reality that I didn't even envision a week prior.

See that swath of white in the center of the map? That's the
"Winter Weather Statement" that's espected to hit the
Dakotas and Minnesota within the next 48 hours. Today
is beautiful and warm, tomorrow will be ooky. 

The first big snowstorm of the season will be tracking across the Dakotas and on into the upper portion of Minnesota and Wisconsin over the next 24-48 hours. Although I'm thinking about sweeping the snow off my car and driving on slippery roads with drivers who haven't faced longer stop times and less secure footing for months, I'm also thinking about those whose outdoor lives are about to change.

The tribes have been gathering peacefully. They pray, they chant,
they sing, they support each other. The government has set
dogs against them, threatened them with weapons, arrested some
of them, and assaulted others. As with most protests in my life,
I'm totally on the Indian side in this one. If I didn't have a shop
to run, I'd be out there too, freezing in tomorrow's snow alongside them. 

There are a lot of people at Standing Rock protesting the abrogation of Sioux treaty rights by the oil company who wants to exercise their right-of-way and put a pipeline through lands under stewardship of the Sioux people. Members of many different tribes have joined the protesters in their peaceful protest, including several personal friends. It's going to start getting hard, now. The weather will mean great hardship for those camping out on the flat prairie lands. These people will need your prayers and support now, through the spring, more than ever. Would you like to know a little bit more about the protest? Just follow the link.

The statistics are frightening.
20%-40% of all homeless youth identify as LGBT.
Many homeless youth have either
been kicked out of their homes or aged out of foster home
programs and have nowhere to go. This is NOT the
way to treat children and young people. Actually, of
course, it's not the way to treat anyone of ANY age. 

My thoughts also turn to the homeless - those homeless by choice and those homeless by circumstance. The northern states are harsh places to be homeless in the winter. We lose people to the weather every year. Too many of them are LGBTQIA youth who have either run away from dangerous home situations or been kicked out. Although shelters exist, they are always filled quickly, and there are few that offer shelter during the daylight hours. We need more places of safety, especially for homeless teens.

Winter in Minnesota means pond hockey with backyard and neighborhood
outdoor skating rinks for pickup games. Here's a Minnesota back yard
rink. Just a few kids getting together to skate after school. 

So, despite the fact that many people look forward to putting on their hockey skates and their cross-country skis, I look at the snow with some dread. The season of winter joy can also be a season of great pain.

Happy Thursday to all. Project Runway tonight, so hopefully I'll have ample time for a recap for you in tomorrow's blog. Have a wonderful day, and be kind.

Support Others - It's More Important Now Than Ever

It's the first weekend in our new world. What are you going to be doing this weekend? Mine will be quite normal - work on Saturday, work on holiday cards while watching football on Sunday. But if I happen to go to a bar or restaurant, I'm quite sure the topic of conversation will be the election tempered by the personalities and the fears of each individual. The last item is the linchpin that will drive these next four years - fear.

Don't let fear rule your life, actions and reactions. Treat
people with kindness and respect and they, in turn, will
treat you similarly. 

Fear is what drove this election and fear is a powerful force. Fear of those who are different that ourselves and cause us to build mental and physical barriers creating lands of "me" and "others". Minorities are fearing attack crimes will go unreported and unpunished. Bigots who are already active, those who want a less inclusive and less welcoming society, seem to be feeling more comfortable as they contemplate actions of hatred against others.

The hijab is the head covering worn by many
Muslim women. It's purpose is to cover the hair. 

Already I've heard of young Muslim ladies having their hijabs pulled away from them, Gay, lesbian, transgender and other people who aren't the "norm" in the eyes some prejudiced turds, are feeling true fear as they go about their daily business. An acquaintance of mine, a talented young gay man with a rainbow sticker and a Hillary sticker on his vehicle, has already had "Faggot" yelled at him from the driver of a truck with a Trump/Pence sticker on the back. What was he doing? He was putting his groceries into his car. The safety pin movement that started after Brexit is beginning to take hold here, giving the bullied and frightened a safe place to turn for an instant ally. Wearing a safety pin is a start, but we need to convince ourselves and others that despite the changes in national policy, we still live in communities that welcome everyone we welcomed a week ago.

Do we need to be afraid to express our pride? 

This was a national election and it will change our world in a lot of ways. But we live in a trickle-down society and even though the Presidential brush is broad, the paint drips down in much smaller amounts to affect us on the regional and local levels. Did you vote for local candidates? Did you elect new representatives, senators, councilors or mayors? Did you vote for local judges or amendments and propositions? These are the people who will directly affect your lives every day. In many cases, we tend to re-elect familiar names so unless those people really messed up or decided to retire, the old guard is firmly in place.

Maybe we should all be putting these on our vehicles while
wearing safety pins in our lapels. Maybe our friends and
neighbors need to know they have allies and support. 

After the novelty wears off, after the 100-day mandate that every President seems to get, things will settle down. When we look back through the glasses of history, I hope that a lot of the hoopla will be viewed as overblown rhetoric that ended up being a lot of hot air. We just have to support each other and push away the hate until things settle down once again.

Dreamscapes

Do you ever work things through in your dreams? It doesn't necessarily make for a restful night, but it can resolve problems and approaches with my projects without wasting my time. Last night's sleep was deep in three into different drreamscapes - familiar, yet different each time.

My dream shops are never actually this organized. Usually things are
in open boxes, mislabeled, or all mish-mashed together. 

#1 - I was on the sales floor of my shop. I only knew it was my shop because, in this instance, my staff kept coming by with questions about products or with customers in tow who had questions they couldn't answer. As usual, in these dreams, the products I was selling was higher-end collectibles and jewelry, not beads and craft supplies which make up the majority of my merchandise right now. I think I segued into a different dream when discussing a 14K ring with a customer and telling a staff person to get something out onto the sales floor because she knew what the pricing should be. It's always exhausting to dream about work, even if it isn't real. It's stressful.

I'll be trying a new technique (new for me) and applying paint
with a dauber to cover lightly, blend easily, and impress paint
onto larger areas of space. It should be interesting to play with. 

#2 - I worked through the next stage of the cover page to my holiday cards in my head. This is the coloring and application stage, and I suppose it was in my head because I'm bringing my box of goodies (paints, fancy cutters, etc) over to the shop today so that I can continue the project. By the end of the week I'll have determined if the past few weeks of work will actually look good and where to go from here. I will often work through the next stage or a crafting or sewing problem in my dreams before trying it out in reality. I've solved problems and avoided mistakes by doing this.

I was so disturbed by my third dreamscape that I was putting
flowers down in memorium in my dream too. How truly bizarre. 

#3 - I don't usually dream of world events, but for some odd reason I dreamed about a news report that said ISIL had crucified a gay man by the side of a busy road. I remember thinking to myself that it was odd for them to choose a method of death more associated with Christian than Islamic trends, and also that it was both ridiculous and infuriating for anyone to assault or kill someone because they were hard wired to be attracted to the same sex instead of the opposite.

Three different scenarios of my dreams through my last hour of sleep this morning. So weird. I'm still a bit rattled by how angry I am at the third scenario, acknowledging once again that although pockets of the world are "safe" for LGBTQ people, there are so many places where it can quite literally mean death to be seen as 'different'. I'll be sorting through my experiments for my holiday cards, but it will be the third scene that will linger long into my day today.

Have a wonderful and productive Thursday.

A Celebration of Color and Diversity

Yesterday was grey, dreary, foggy, rainy, and generally bleh! I can't tolerate another day like that, so I'm looking for color today. But first, I want to share a video with all of you. This is a simple film that lasts less than seven minutes but expresses so beautifully why I am so adamant about LGBT rights. Although I'm embedding the video below, in case you can't get that to come through on your computer, I'm also including the link here so that you can see it one way or another. Keep your tissues handy, this one had me in tears.





The group, "Freedom to Marry", approached Richard Blanco, the poet who spoke at President Obama's inauguration, and requested him to create an original poem celebrating love the the freedom to marry. His poem is spoken in this short film and addressed, so beautifully, why I am so passionate about this issue. I urge each of you to click on the link and watch it. It will enrich your day.

Now back to color...

I hate dreary days, and since I started by talking about LGBT rights, I'm going to home in on the colors of Pride. The original Pride flag was designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Celebration.

The original flag featured eight stripes. The pink
was dropped, the blue was changed, and only a
single purple was used in the version we now see. 

Each stripe of the flag had meaning within the scope of humanity and equality. The stripes were Pink/Sexuality, Red/Life, Orange/Healing, Yellow/Sun, Green/Nature, Blue/Art, Purple/Harmony and Violet/Soul.

The current flag features six stripes.

Shortly after this premiere the pink stripe was dropped because of insufficient fabric availability and then, within a year, the flag was changed to six colors and the blue was darkened to royal blue. This is the flag we are used to seeing today.

There are other flags for PRIDE - ones that you may not see as often.

The bisexual flag celebrates the intersection of the sexes
with the smaller lavender stripe. 

This is the Bisexual Pride flag, designed in 1998 by Michael Page. It features three stripes, The magenta stripe at the top represents same sex attraction, the blue stripe at the bottom represents opposite sex attraction and the narrower lavender stripe in the center designates attraction to both genders.

The traditional baby colors of blue and pink frame the white of change
in the Genderqueer and Transgender flag. 

In 2000, Monica Helms designed the Genderqueer and Transgender flag. It features the traditional baby colors for genders - blue for males and pink for females, with a white stripe in the center designating those who are transitioning, unisex, gender neutral, or who have no gender. She designed it to be hung in any aspect.

Although this flag is less common, it acknowledges a segment
of humanity that are often ignored. 

This three-stripe flag is sometimes used for Genderqueer. Designed by Marilyn Roxie, it represents those who are genderqueer, Two Spirited, gender fluid, or androgynous. The lavender stripe is the mix of pink and blue representing androgyny. The white stripe stands for gender neutrality and the green stripe stands for those who do not identify with the traditional gender spectrum.

So celebrate color today, watch the short movie, and continue to be aware that people are complex creatures who don't fit into boxes, but instead they burst out from their societal prisons to express their own unique individuality. Celebrate diversity. Celebrate Love. Happy Friday to everyone!

Father's Day Weekend is Here

This weekend is Father's Day and even though my own father has been dead for more than 20 years, I have to post and honor the day because all of us have fathers. Now ... some of my readers have or had fabulous fathers. You know the kind - supportive, helping you explore the variety of life choices ahead of his kids, creating a safe and loving place to return to each day after school, and being generous with his sense of humor and support of his kids. That's the kind of father we all wish we had and some of us were actually lucky enough to have a father like this.

Happy Father's Day to all of you. 

But there are other kinds of fathers out there that don't quite fit into this definition. These are the fathers who might almost be better called 'sperm donors' instead of fathers. These are the fathers who are violent towards their families, who drink away their paychecks or spend them on drugs, who don't attend the performances or sporting events of their kids, and who only move through their lives from one day to another, dragging down everyone they touch along with them.

What kind of father did you have? I was very fortunate. I had a father who met the first description. My friends and other family members also had fathers who mostly fit the first description. But many kids out there don't have that good fortune.

To find a large list of organizations helping homeless
LGBT kids, just follow this link. 

It is a fact that 65% of the kids living on the streets these days are LGBT kids who have been kicked out of their homes because of their sexual orientation. Sixty-five percent! That's a HUGE number of kids who thought they had a safe place to return to after school and who found the doors locked against them or their very lives threatened by those who should have loved and supported them throughout their lives.

AJ and Alex are two homeless LGBT youths living on the streets of
LA. For their story follow this link. 

When a child is born, a road of infinite possibilities open up ahead of her. Parents hold the baby and are amazed and awed that they have the responsibility for this small life - that they will raise a bright and vibrant child who will grow up happy, healthy and fulfilled. That's a great goal. These new parents don't look at their baby and see a drug abuser, a thief, a murderer, or a bully. But these are also possibilities.

What does the future hold for this child?

So celebrate Father's Day and be thankful if your father was supportive and loving. It's exactly what a father should be and you were lucky and cherished. And reach out to those who are less fortunate than you were. Support some of the shelters which exist for LGBT teens who have no other place to turn. Turn your fond memories into action to help others. Here are some resources for you to check out...

The Point Foundation empowers LGBT students to continue their education through grants and scholarships.

Live Out Loud connects LGBT students with LGBT adults in their community, providing positive role models and connections.

New Alternatives provides safe shelter for LGBT youths in New York City.

Although these are East Coast focused (except for the Point Foundation), I'm sure that your specific area also has shelters and programs designed for homeless kids, most of whom are LGBT and I've listed other resources and links in the photo captions above. If you want to help kids, working with your local LGBT programs is a really good way for you to celebrate the loving father and supporting life you were lucky enough to have. If your home wasn't as happy, or you overcame great difficulties to become the fantastic person you are today, reach out to help others overcome their damaging circumstances. Have a happy Saturday and a great Father's Day.

A Discussion of 'Alternative Lifestyle'

An LJ acquaintance has been exchanging posts with a number of us about what he is calling 'Alternative Lifestyle'. In his particular case, he is referring to homosexuality. Those of us responding to his initial post are almost universally stating that homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle. Do you agree?

Is the practice of yoga an alternative lifestyle?

The dictionary defines 'alternative lifestyle' as: a way of life considered unconventional or nontraditional according to a social or cultural "norm". I don't consider hard-wired human sexuality as an alternative because I don't consider our choice of sexual partners to be an open buffet of options. As much as I might want to be attracted to women sexually, it's not going to happen. There's no 'zing'. I can admire a beautiful body, but I am only admiring and don't want to take it to the next level.

Is an Indian Fakir an 'alternative lifestyle'? 

Acts of sexuality can be alternative. Entering into a Dom/Submissive partnership could be considered an 'alternative' choice.  Choosing to have a relationship that embraces varying degrees of BDSM, bestiality, or polygamy can be considered an 'alternative' choice. Your sexual life, as an adult walking this earth, can be as plain or elaborate as you and your partner(s) choose. But your choice of partner - no. That's not.

Is polygamy considered an 'alternative lifestyle', a mandate of God, or
just against the law?

Yet, as I look through images of 'alternative lifestyle' it seems predominantly focused on gay and lesbian couples. Why is that? Why do we consider same-sex relationships to be deviant? Why are we threatened by the sight of a same-sex couple walking ahead of us on the road? And even more than that, why are same-sex couples or LGBT people so often singled out for violence by others?

Are Dom/Sub relationships an 'alternative lifestyle'? 

Beatings, whippings, even rapes and murders of LGBT people have been ignored or condoned for centuries. In our enlightened society, law enforcement has often turned its back when the crime is committed against an LGBT person. In other areas of the world, homosexuality is criminalized and punishable by multiple years of imprisonment or even death. Why? Again I ask - what is so threatening?

Why are gay couples singled out as living an 'alternative lifestyle'? 

I lived through the 60's and early 70's. I clearly remember the prejudices and occasional violence against the hippies that was openly displayed. My parents remembered the horrors of Nazi Germany and signs telling them that 'No Jews Welcome Here'. Push a bit farther back and you'll see the same signs for the Irish, and Native Americans, and of course, Blacks. So where do we draw the line for the extension of human rights? I firmly believe that all human beings are entitled to full human rights, regardless of their sexual choices.

Who makes the determination of what is and isn't acceptable behavior? 

I wasn't planning to write a full essay on a weekend, but there you go - darned muses. Have a great weekend.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back - Gays and the Olympics

The Olympics are officially open after a long, rather heavy-handed opening ceremony that was fun in a lot of ways, but lacked the precision of Beijing or the pure exuberance of London. These are most certainly Putin's Olympics and his stamp was on everything. I'm not casting blame here, it makes sense that any Olympic game will spotlight the host country for their opening ceremony. Indeed, it is expected.

Oops! Isn't there supposed to be a fifth ring? Small little glitches
like this would never have been allowed in Beijing. When this ring
failed to open, I told my husband that "Putin will be pissed - heads will roll." 

This Olympics athletes are being more open and brave about coming out as homosexual. This is possibly partly as a gut reaction to Russia's extreme anti-gay laws. There are six athletes who have publicly come out as gay competing in Sochi - all women. I give them all credit. It's not easy to be a gay athlete on the world stage, and to do so in a country that is so extremely anti-gay takes great courage. The six women are: Anastasia Bucsis, Canadian speed skater, Belle Brockhoff, Australian snowboarder, Ireen Wüst, Dutch speed skater, Sanne van Kerkhof, Dutch short track speed skater, Cheryl Maas, Dutch snowboarder, and Barbara Jezeršek, Slovenian cross country skier. These brave women, and in all probability other athletes who are still closing the closet doors for a variety of reasons, are now competing in a nation that is actively anti-gay. Very uncomfortable. Give these women your support as they compete over the next days.

Many people have protested the anti-gay laws of Russia. This protester in
was arrested in June at a protest in St Petersburg.  He carries the Rainbow Flag and
the pink triangle made infamous by the Nazi regime is prominent on his clothing.
A very brave young man. 

Russia is only one of many nations with severe anti-gay legislation, but it is in the spotlight right now. Russian law forbids discussion or disseminating information about homosexuality in any forum. This is specifically directed at anyone providing information to children or teen aged young adults - probably the segment of the population most in need of the facts. Vlad Putin is pushing Russia hard to focus on population growth in a time when the world population numbers are reaching a point of no return and planet non-sustainability. He has also been linking homosexuality and child molestation - a serious misstatement of fact that is often incorrectly cited as a justification against homosexuality. However, I'll save my tirade against child abuse for another post.

Here's a great graphic for all of you to grab if you want a FB profile
pic (resize to 180 x 180) or an LJ avatar (resize to 100 x 100). Maybe the
Russian who designed the opening ceremony rings was subconsciously
emulating this poster? 

With just these two actions - the repressive anti-gay laws and the push for population growth - Russia has proven that once again it is placing itself outside of the world community and focusing on interests that are not beneficial to the world, but only to Russia.  (I argue that the anti-gay laws are not actually beneficial to anyone - inside or outside Russia.) Simply put - Russia is selfish, self-centered, and self-focused, ignoring anyone else, and totally narcissistic. If Russia was a girl in high school, she would be the one who was so vacuous that even though she would have her own little clique, most of the student body would despise her. Yet, she would never realize it because her head would be so far up her own derriere.

Self-centered much? Russia wants to be part of the world, but keeps
building walls to keep the rest of the world at arm's distance with
antiquated laws and regulations. 

But anti-gay discrimination hits closer to home too. Just this morning I was reading about a local high school boy who was brave enough to come out as gay on Facebook within the past month and since then he has received physical threats from students in his own high school. This, in MY state - a state that has equality of marriage and one of the largest Gay Pride movements in the nation. I am appalled and ashamed that some of our children are so close-minded.

Here's one more really excellent item that is perfect for your Facebook
profile or your LJ avatar. Size dimensions are listed above. Don't have
the ability to resize but want one or both of these? Let me know, I'll
be happy to size it for you. 

I'll finish today's post with the names of some other Olympic athletes who have come out as gay, some of whom may be competing in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro:  Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, Finnish swimmer; Thomas Hitzlsperger, German football (soccer) player; Ian Matos, Brazilian diver; Brian Boitano, US figure skater; and, Tom Daley, British diver. If you want to know more about any of these athletes or Russia's anti-gay laws, just follow the link. In the meantime, I'll be watching the Olympics and continuing to work towards true sexual equality for all people, LGBT or Q. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday Was Wonderful (WWW)

Wednesday was wonderful - I was happily bouncing off the walls by the end of the day. I had a long list of errands - everything from picking up a ream of paper to grocery shopping and I accomplished all of it in a timely manner. But the major work I had on my agenda were the final two pictures for CB's Big Bang story.

I'm not fond of shopping and am the Queen of getting out
of stores in record time. Watch out ahead! I'm driving
a grocery cart!

I knew what I wanted to do. I had a re-do for her on one picture where she wanted different coloring. Although I tried to change it in Photoshop, it just wasn't working for me so I spent an hour or so on Sunday redrawing it from scratch and did the coloring yesterday. My happy was my Erestor, though. I was nervous about him - I was coloring him from a photograph that I fell in love with but pastels are still a new media for me and I was nervous about how well I could pull this off.

Painting from a photograph requires blending colors. I was really
nervous about how well it would work out.

He is BEAUTIFUL! I am so very happy! CB may not like the picture or my interpretation of him, but I am delighted with the color work and immediately started blocking out a picture I've had in my head of Feanor and Nerdanel. I worked on that for a little bit and have a much better idea of how I want to block it out. Maybe next week for that. I also finished some beta work for my friend in Germany that I really owed her for a couple of weeks now (bad me!). Now it's back to her before it returns to me for a second read-through.

I love fresh fruit. My fridge has kiwis, grapes and strawberries for munchies right now.

My refrigerator is stuffed full of wonderful fruit - I went a little crazy at the grocer yesterday. I have lots and lots of green and red grapes, two pounds of strawberries, carrots and celery and a bag of oranges is on my counter. I don't think I'll starve between now and next week.

And finally, because I really can't let it slide without comment, the murmur about yesterday's Supreme Court case (#12-307 if you're looking for the transcript) seems quite positive for the abolition of the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA penalizes legal marriages between same-sex partners because it specifies that marriage is only legitimate between one man and one woman. Of the two cases that the Supreme Court heard this week that dealt with gay marriage, I think this case has a stronger platform and a greater chance of success. I think that the justices will decide that Prop 8 could still be altered via an amendment to the California constitution, but the DOMA is a federal law and falls more into their jurisdictional umbrella. I downloaded the transcript but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'll catch up on it today.