There's no E in Judgment.

I'm just saying, if you're not the best speller, maybe you get someone to proofread your protest sign before you wander around telling people they are going to hell. Just a thought. Then again, I also wouldn't have my pre-tween kids walking around with me looking all kinds of freaked out. So, today Jen and I went to the pride parade and hung out. That's some good people watching right there. Now, it was far more family-friendly than Bill O'Reilly will have you believe (a good chunk of marchers were teachers, cops, firefighters, PFLAGers, synagogues and churches but I'll bet anybody $100 that the clip on Bill O'Reilly's show will be the two leather floats. Fair and balanced, my ass) but good people watching nonetheless.

In all of my people watching, I arrived at one conclusion: the lesbians are a fat, ghetto-y lot. I hate to generalize but the men keep themselves up. The ladies, not so much. Muscle tone was scarce. Now, I realize that I post a bit about my un-thinness and my attempts to turn it around and this makes me hypocritical but c'mon, if I'm feeling thin, then things have gotten out of hand. It seems the ladies are in dire need of some of this body fascism that I hear plagues the gay men.

I got to see Margaret Cho, Cyndi Lauper, Gus Van Sant and Peter Paige! I'm still crushed that we weren't here in 2006 so I could've seen Jennifer Beals so I could see if she looks awful in person . On teevee she looks better at 40 something than most people do at 21. I imagine she would say it is good genes and organic food but I think it is probably much closer to a pact with the devil or bathing in the blood of kittens.

WTF?!

Jen and I had said that we were waiting on the marriage thing to see how it shakes out in November. I think there is going to be an ugly fight about the proposition here in California and I would rather it not be super personal. Now it appears that the Federal Marriage Amendment is making a comeback. I wasn't entirely surprised. After all, it might just be a ploy to get out the vote for McCain. What DID suprise me is who some of the co-sponsors are........ David Vitter and Larry Craig!

If you don't recall, David Vitter is the Senator from Louisiana who has been involved in scandals involving two different prostitution rings and Larry Craig is of course the Senator from Idaho who was discovered to be soliciting sex in airport mens' rooms

Defeated.

So, yesterday was my self-imposed deadline to get under 200 lbs. I started at 210 lbs and was doing pretty well. The day before I left for my Chicago trip, I weighed in at 203, which isn't bad since I still had two weeks to go. Then Chicago happened.......

There was alot of food- all free, all the time. I live with Jen, whose personal motto "Free is for me!" has really seemed to influence me more than I thought. So, I ate. and ate. and ate.

I came back to find that I reached 209 lbs, which in just a few days had shot up to 211!!

Yesterday, when I got to work, I officially weighed myself in........207 lbs.

I was defeated.

A Moment of Silence

Today is the first anniversary of the death of my dog Bella. I don't have some lovely eulogy planned. She was the sweetest, friendliest dog who ever lived and was evil-genius-scary smart. I consider myself very fortunate that she chose us as her family and am glad that we had the opportunity to spoil her rotten as she deserved. Bella is the greatest dog that anyone could've ever asked for. I love and miss her to pieces and hope that she and my dad are playing fetch and sharing a meal.

I heart Chicago (plus, it doesn't smell like piss)

So, I really liked Chicago. Honestly, I was a little surprised. I am a bit of a snob (shocking news to all, I'm sure) and have a strong anti-Midwestern bias. I had heard that Chicago was pretty fun but didn't think that I would like it SO much. It has beautiful architecture, plenty of parks, lots of stuff to do, affordable housing and well, it doesn't smell like piss. Also, shockingly, I spent nearly 5 days downtown in a major metropolitan city and no one asked me for money. I chalk this up to long, Arctic-like winters that make it an unattractive homeless destination spot.

I had a great time. I feel like I was so busy with work that I didn't have as much free time as I would've liked. Jen came up for a mini-vacation and that made it all the more fun. We hung out with my coworker Linh and went to the Field Museum (an awesome time for fellow bio-nerds and home to the coolest souvenir that $1.50 can buy), the Shedd Aquarium (where I mocked a 10 year old that can't tell the difference between a starfish and alligator) and we got a random mini-tour from an Obama-lovin' alderman. She helped us find the Field Museum and told us where he lives, but I forgot.

Chicago is a great city. I almost wanted to move there until I realized that it would mean living in the Midwest. I am hoping that I will soon be able to upload our pictures to my Picasa page which I can link here.

And She's OUT!

Well, sort of. She's not going anywhere. Hillary is the villain that keeps coming back at the end of a bad horror movie. She'll either wind up as Obama's running mate (as he grits his teeth) or she'll torpedo him. If Obama loses, she'll claim that if she were the nominee, the Democrats would've won and in 2012 she'll run again.

What are Obama's chances of losing? Well, it depends on who you talk to. I am reading time and time again that large numbers of her supporters are refusing to vote for Obama. Her Karl Rove-playbook tactics are working better than anyone could've hoped. The campaign has been super-successful in painting him as the Muslim Manchurian Candidate bent on helping out his terrorist friends and destroying America. Oh yeah, he doesn't wear a flag lapel pin. Yeah, well neither do I. They're stupid and ugly.

First of all, he is not Muslim. Didn't they hear about the REVEREND Wright controversy and the United Church of CHRIST?! Even if he was, WHO CARES?! One's religious beliefs or absence of should not be a litmus test for public office. Are these people seriously suggesting that the only people who are fit for public office are megachurch-loving Evangelical Christians? Please.

The flag lapel pin as evidence of patriotism is beyond dumb. Patriotism in general is hard to discuss because people often wind up sounding corny. How is one's patriotism reflected by wearing a little pin made in China? This is a non-issue. You may disagree with Barack Obama, John McCain or even Hillary Clinton but do you honestly believe that any of them hates this country?

All in all, Hillary ran a racist, bigoted, delusional, self-aggrandizing campaign that was both poorly planned and executed. She does not deserve to win- even without taking into account her record in the Senate or her husband's record which she took sole credit for. To make matters worse, she gave the most ungracious speech that I have ever heard of. She robbed Barack Obama of his night. She instantly turned all attention onto herself as she screeched about how the election was essentially stolen because SHE (not really) won the popular vote (Welcome to the Electoral College!) and asked her supporters to basically lobby on her behalf to get her the VP slot. The only thing more pathetic than Hillary tonight were the zombies behind her eating up everything that she had to say.