Goodhair Poses a Question

And I have the answer: what an imbecile.

“We’re creating more jobs than any other state in the nation. … Would you rather live in a state like this, or in a state where a man can marry a man?”

kona's saturday night austin tour, but first : Quirky Question of the Day

I know all of you have some weird quirks or you wouldn't be coming anywhere near this blog. So I have a question for you:

What common thing or occurrence can you simply not stand?

This can't be something like fingernails on a chalk board because that bothers a lot of people; it has to be something rather unique to yourself that hardly anyone else would understand the aversion.

For me, I can't stand hearing an audience on an audio recording. It almost completely ruins a recorded event for me if the performer does any type of interaction with the crowd during a recording, and the louder the response from the crowd, whether they are laughing or cheering, the more I cringe up in a knot.

I've never been much of a fan of live musical recordings either. During my youth I accidentally purchased a few by accident, not realizing they were live recordings. Once in a while, a band would sneak one song in on me on a studio album.

Back in the 80s when I lived in London, I purchased a cassette tape of a comedy routine recorded by Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, and while I enjoyed it the first time around, I never had any interest in listening to it again, because I don't really like being spoken to, or read to, in an audio recording. NO TALKING BOOKS IN MY HOUSE! (But if you are into that kind of thing, and don't mind off-color vile humor, get it! It's great!)

But I have absolutely no problem with live video recordings of anything and can watching them over and over. Maybe with any spoken word, or audience involvement, I need to see faces and facial expressions, whereas music recorded in a studio transcends the person(s) involved.

txrad likes Prairie Home Companion on NPR. Needless to say, I detest it. But DJs talking don't bother me, as long as they keep it relevant, nor do on-air radio interviews disturb me in the least. Maybe it's because I don't feel like I'm being spoken to, but rather that I'm eavesdropping.

There's a fine line in there somewhere.

I now return you to our regularly scheduled Saturday night programming.

Let's go to P3:

Friday Pussy Blog: BirkenTot Edition

The boy is soooooo sweet!

Teh humanz shooz fit meh!

Happy Friday all you Tot lovers!

1 Man & 1 WoMan: 20 Years Happily Unmarried

Twenty years ago on this date I'd been living in San Diego barely two months. I was getting ready for another Friday night out at the Metro in the Hillcrest neighborhood for some drinking and dancing. I had no idea it was the night I'd meet the man I'd be with 20 years later.

I asked him to marry me shortly after we met knowing that we couldn't, legally. And at the time I had no idea that during the time we were together, gay marriage would be legal in six five states by the time we were celebrating 20 years together.

Texas isn't one of those states, nor does the US recognize same-sex unions. We're still waiting.

Although in all honesty, given the track record of "sanctified" marriages, we aren't doing bad at all.

Percentage of marriages that end in divorce in America: 53%

Medical field(s) with the highest divorce rate: psychiatrists and marriage counselors

Percentage of marriages where one or both spouses admit to infidelity, either physical or emotional: 41%

Percentage of men who admit to committing infidelity in any relationship they've had: 57%

Percentage of women who admit to committing infidelity in any relationship they've had: 54%

Percentage of men and women who admit to having an affair with a co-worker: 36%

Percentage of men and women who admit to infidelity on business trips: 36%

Percentage of men and women who admit to infidelity (emotional or physical) with a brother-in-law or sister-in-law: 17%

Percentage of men who say they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught: 74%

Percentage of women who say they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught: 68%

So, all you folks who think we should not have the right, carry on with your happy lives.

And one more thing: You know those people --usually op-ed writer-types-- who are in favor of same-sex marriages but they frame it in a comical way, like "gays should be allowed to get married! Why shouldn't they have the right to experience the same misery as the rest of us?"

I have a message for you. Contrary to what you may think, unmarried gay couples who have lived together more than six weeks don't live a life of non-stop blissful euphoria with feather boas waving in the air over cocktails. Relationships are challenging at times. There are great days and there are major disagreements. And it makes no difference whether it's two same-sex couples or opposite-sex couples living together married or unmarried. The dynamics are exactly the same.

But I am happy we are together and I can't imagine living life without my man.

Sometimes I wonder if those who are so adamantly against same-sex marriages aren't just slightly concerned that some of us will make them look bad, statistically speaking. (Yeah, I know; it's mostly the whole God thing, and I decided not to post my diatribe on that topic. Trying to keep this as positive as possible on a very special day.)

Hot August Wind Chill

I'm such a weather geek. I'm loving my new weather station which sends data directly to my PC. It is particularly useful in monitoring the wind chill this time of year. If this was a speedometer I'd be in violation of the law.

saturday night austin tour haiku

I knew I was gay
the first time I laid eyes on
lovely Doris Day

Friday Pussy Blog: Theremin Pussy Edition

Damn, shitfuckhell, what a week and a day!

It could be a yawn. Or it could be a scream.

Hat tip to Witchay Woman for the theremin vid! It's got some David Lynch vibe to it.

"Christ, What a Hysteric"

The HBO series "True Blood" is all the rage these days. Rolling Stone devoted a cover to it. And it's pretty humorous if you want my opinion, given that it is a vampire series. I mean, come on, how do you promote a vampire series without fangs or blood?

[Oh, screw you, Bhotofucket!] Glad I keep backups:




Someone was offended by it. And I didn't create the title of this post; she did, along with a "Trigger warning for sexualized violence."

I've heard that about me.

Please. Can we separate fiction from reality? I know it's all too easy to draw them together with metaphors, but... just saying. Get a grip. (And regarding that boob grip, they are a couple. Wanna do it in fake blood? Be my guest! Free country!)

Some of us still have the ability to make distinctions and draw lines.

Oh, Irony!

How I love thee!

Friday the 13th Pussy Blog

Fuuuuuuuuuucccckkkkk~ What a day...what a week.

Hope yours was a little easier than mine was! Happy Friday!

Childhood Without Inhibitions

I'm not sure why this crossed my mind today but it certainly makes for another interesting Question of the Day until I can get my shit together for a real post.

When I was in the first grade, I remember sitting behind a girl in glass. Her name was Becky and her mother owned a clothing store in my hometown.

Becky had beautiful silky black hair, just shy of shoulder-length, and I'd reach up and pull my fingers through her hair. It felt so good. Apparently she didn't mind because I certainly don't ever recall an incident in which I was told to "STOP it, you freak!" It was just one of those innocent 7-year-old moments of exploration I guess.

A year or two later I remember another girl spontaneously deciding to stick her tongue in my ear. I think her name was Carol. Last name: Russell. (That just came to me as I was typing this post.) It was an "ewwwwww" moment for me.

And then, in the same classroom and the same year, there was a boy who would come to the back of the classroom where there was a shelf of books, and while I was flipping through a book, he would unzip my pants and stick his hand in there. And this was while the classroom was full and the teacher was in the room. (Sorry, I don't remember his name. Honestly.)

I'm just curious. Do the rest of you have stories like this, or was it just me?

Cat Commands

I've decided to do a Question of the Day which can carry on through Thursday since I expect to be busy and may not get a Thursday post up.

What is the most common command you make to your cat?

If you are a dog owner, you may substitute. Ditto for parakeets (although I'm not sure that parakeets take commands very well. Joe? Tracy? Care to weigh in?)

If you have no pets, substitute children. Or whatever.

I rarely make commands of Sissy because she's generally well-behaved and not a nuisance in any way whatsoever. The same cannot be said of the Tot, so I have two most-common commands to offer up:

1. Get out of the way, boy!

2. Boy, get out of my shoes!

As Above, So Below

Canada legalized same-sex marriage in 2005 and was the first country in the Americas to do so. Just slightly less than five years later, Mexico City legalized same-sex unions. In mid-July of this year, Argentina legalized it. And now, the Mexican Supreme Court has ruled that such marriages must be recognized nationwide. I like this rapid progress!

The court had already ruled this month that Mexico City’s same-sex marriage law, which took effect in March and has resulted in hundreds of same-sex marriages, was constitutional.

But on Tuesday, the court went a step further, ruling 9 to 2 against a complaint from the attorney general’s office, which had said that other jurisdictions should not be required to honor marriages that were performed in Mexico City.

This is a huge win for us. Despite the fact the other Mexican states are not required to offer same-sex marriages, this court ruling still is a giant step forward, and places the United States in the position of being surrounded by legally married gay folks.

Perhaps someday we'll join them. But will the United States be the last country in the Americas to make it legal? That wouldn't surprise me.

Stop the Killing

Another reason why the death penalty must go.

“I am gravely concerned that the State of Ohio may be on the verge of executing an innocent person,” Jim Petro, a former Ohio attorney general and a Republican who described himself as a death penalty supporter, wrote in a letter to [Gov. Ted] Strickland.

The article goes on to point out that Ohio trails only my current state in executions over the past two years.

There are times when being #1 and #2 are not honorable. This is one of them.

Fuck CAMP

I hate CAMP. So damn stupid.

"To point out the obvious, in almost 30 years, CAMP has been unable to reduce marijuana use or availability," said Mike Meno, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. "All it does is pay for law enforcement officers to go out in the woods and pull weeds. Every year, they find more and more, and that just motivates illegal growers to plant more."

"CAMP is an enormous waste of money -- I've even heard law enforcement refer to this as helicopter rides," said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli of the Drug Policy Alliance in Los Angeles. "It's fun for them, but spending this money on that doesn't do any good, and that's a shame when we're in such dire budgetary shape on all levels."

konagod's saturday night austin tour

Sahara Smith at Threadgill's in Austin during SXSW 2010.

I just heard this song a short while ago on the radio for the first time and loved it. Had to share.

Friday Pussy Blog: Speechless Edition

After one of the most intense weeks at work I've had in quite a while, I ended the week with an exhausting two hour meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer. Got home after 7:00 tonight. Nothing more to say. :-)

Just got a rare shot of Sissy in some location besides the bed! Now you know she's alive and not just some stuffed animal on the bed I keep photographing week after week!


And now, for all you Totohaulics. The Great Orange Master:

TGIF. And I seriously mean that this week!

The Best News I've Heard This Year!

What boggles my mind is why so many people would bother to give one iota about the issue of marriage equality, let alone contributing huge sums of money to stop marriage equality from happening! Despite what the far-right likes to say, it doesn't have any impact on heterosexual marriages any more than unmarried gays living together has an impact on unmarried straights living together.

This is not a liberal/conservative/Democrat/Republican issue; this is an EQUAL RIGHTS issue.

And while this ruling will be appealed, and it may well turn up in the lap of SCOTUS, today is a victory I will relish long and hard. It is a big steaming hot dish of fuckyou served up to the Mormon Church, and any other idiot groups who pumped millions of dollars into the campaign of H8.

And I can't help but sit here with this smirk on my face wondering if they all got their money's worth in the end.

All Eyes on California

Because Wednesday is going to be a big day.

A San Francisco federal judge on Wednesday will issue a much anticipated ruling in the Proposition 8 trial, a decision that will be a first step in a long legal process to decide whether California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal constitution.

Unfortunately, it won't mark the end, but at least another step in the process will be behind us.

Either way the judge decides, the losing side is expected to appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Most legal experts expect the case to ultimately be decided in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also, unfortunately.