Gay Marriage Kills Babies!

or something. i have to have a nice rant about this or i'm going to explode. or implode. or something. i am sick to death of coming home to messages on my answering machine from a 'concerned mother of three' wanting to put a stop to gay marriage. and i'm sick of answering my phone and hearing this same recorded message OVER and OVER again. this barrage of calls was apparently sparked by the legalization of gay marriage in massachusetts, and somebody feels the overwhelming urge to repeatedly call THE WHOLE WORLD begging for someone to help fight gay marriage.

why the hell do i care if gay people get married? huh? can anyone think of one good reason? do gay people harm our children? i don't think so. and how does their getting married hurt me? IT DOESN'T! someone alert the masses! gay people aren't hurting anyone! let 'em get married if they want! 'cause guess what? it's none of our damn business! and you know what i've found? married people without kids pay more taxes than singles. it's true. so gay people getting married (provided that they don't adopt kids, which just for the record, i don't have a problem with) would actually create more tax revenue! well, income tax revenue anyway.

oh, and i'm pretty damn far away from massachusetts. i doubt that folks here in the bible belt will ever allow the legalization of gay marriage in this part of the world. i mean, people here wouldn't even vote 'yes' on removing racist language from the state constitution, but there was all kinds of support for an amendment banning gay marriage. jesus christ, people, what the hell is wrong with you?

perhaps you've noticed this, but the 30 or so calls i've recieved from these people over the last month are really STARTING TO ANNOY ME. now they're calling twice a day. at least. yesterday i was home for lunch (technically, but i spent half an hour on the phone ordering lab stuff), and the stupid anti-gay people called. of course, i've heard their speil a hundred times, so i hung up. then when i got home last night, there was ANOTHER message!

after about the tenth message on my machine, i decided i would actually call the number they left (you know, 'press 1 for more information or call 1-877-266-6277' - and that IS their actual phone number, btw, in case anyone feels that they MUST call and bitch at these morons on my behalf) and let them know how much i DO NOT CARE if gay people get married and how much their repeated calls were pissing me off. i also mentioned that i am registered with the national DO NOT CALL list, (so why the hell do they keep calling?), after which the nice fellow i chatted with (read: bitched at kind of a lot) said that he was adding me to THEIR do not call list. after which the annoying calls ceased for approximately three days. and now they are back IN FORCE, with their multiple calls per day. i seriously need to get caller ID on my land line. 'cause i am SERIOUSLY sick of losing precious minutes of my life (minutes i can never get back, mind you) listening to this crap. or deleting it from my answering machine.

chad has suggested that i call them up and try another tactic. i should tell them they're all going to hell for judging the poor gay people (not that i pity gay people either, they're just people like everyone else). the concerned mother seems to want to avoid hell at all costs (though judging and meddling don't seem to bother her or the multitudes she's roped into aiding her on the quest to end gay marriage once and for all (mwahahaha!)). you know, 'cause the message also includes some bit to the effect of god defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman (so sorry to all the polygamist mormons of yesteryear and all those ancient egyptians and their concubines, who certainly all went STRAIGHT TO HELL, regardless of whatever good natures they possessed and good deeds they performed and good lives they led, along with all the ancient greeks and romans and native americans and countless tribal people with their multiple gods. too bad, you're all screwed).

whew. it's nice to have that off my chest. so, one last point, just for the record - i really, truly, honestly, deeply believe that being gay does NOT make one a bad person. i know plenty of great, kind, wonderful people who are gay. people to whom i will one day occassionally entrust the care of my children (not that i'm going to have any of THOSE anytime soon, but one day i would like a kid. everybody loves babies). gay people don't kill babies (no more than straight people kill babies, anyway). they just want to be happy. what's wrong with that?

!

again, this will be the briefest of posts. i just felt an urgent need to share my excitement with the internet. i just got an email from dr. v. about a paper that is the process of being published... and they cited me! my one published journal article got cited! by people from spain! i went there! and their results, they validate the whole purpose of my dissertation! so i'm not stupid! and my entire ph.d. project is not useless! so that means that no one will come along in ten years and completely invalidate four years of my life! yay me!

Been A While, Eh?

so it's been a while since i last posted to this blog, but dudes, i have been so busy you wouldn't believe it. i don't even really have a ton to say right now, but i thought i should let the world know that i'm still a part of it. so, i'm here. i'm alive. and i'm cold. geez, do i ever miss those 75 degree days... oh wait. that was just monday. man, i hate highs in the 40's! from 76 to 46 in just one day. yuck.

anyway, i'm off.

2006: A Year of Extremes

i'm a little late with my musings on 2006, and i think now that perhaps this post won't be as long-winded as i originally thought. i find myself fully embracing 2007 and putting 2006 behind me. but first i feel like i need to reiterate the major happenings in my world in '06.

2006 was either the best year ever or the worst year ever. it definitely was not the average year for me. allow me to list the major events:

• ice pilots finish the 05-06 hockey season with a horrible record
• ice pilots go through the first half of the 06-07 hockey season with the worst record in the ECHL
  
• flyers get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round
• flyers end the first half of the 06-07 hockey season with the worst record in the NHL
• i went to spain... but halfway through the trip i got some horrible illness that sucked some of the fun out of it. i didn't fully get over it until i'd been home for two weeks. yes, i sounded like a lifelong smoker with emphysema for approximately two and a half weeks. and yes, that sucked.
• my mom almost died (obviously, this was the worst thing that happened in my life all year. actually, it's probably the worst thing that's ever happened in my world.)
• a good friend's mom passed away (she had cancer)
• another good friend's dad almost died (a hole in his esophagus caused his lungs to collapse. he had surgery, was in intensive care for about a month, but is now doing physical therapy.)
  

and now for the parts of 2006 that didn't suck.

• i went to maine. i froze my ass off, but it was a blast.
• i went to spain
• i ran with bulls in spain
• i made friends and contacts that will help me throughout my career in both places
  
• the gulf coast was hurricane free
  
• i successfully completed all four field experiments i had planned (this is major - for once no hurricanes came along to destroy them like in 2005)
• i got my prospectus approved
• chad and i bought a house
• my mom got better

these are not everyday occurrences around here. some of them sucked in a big way, and some were awesome beyond words. all in all, i don't think i can take another up and down year like that. every time something good happened, something bad came right on its heels to ruin it.

here's hoping that 2007 is on a more even keel than 2006... or that the good stuff happens without those pesky bad parts.

Coming Soon...

i promise to deliver what likely will be a long-winded post about the ups and downs of 2006... later. but soon. i've been meaning to write this for the last two weeks or so (even before my last post), but i haven't really been feeling it.

i guess my new year's post will come a tad late this year.

for now, adios.