"You're calling the wrong house."

That's what I said to the chipper young woman who called from "Yes on 8", asking to speak to Ruth. I also told her that what she was doing was hurtful and wrong, and that she needed to think about what she was doing. Then I hung up.

I should have said, "I don't want to talk to you, and neither does my wife."

I'd actually thought that if someone called, I'd try to engage them in dialogue. As it turns out, I was just proud of myself for not yelling at her and asking what I'd ever done to her, why her side was lying like a bunch of lying liars that lie, and why she was such a hateful bigot who couldn't mind her own fucking business and keep her nose out of my life.

I didn't say that. But I'm tired of being fucking nice to people who believe that I should be a second-class citizen, so I was sure thinking it. Loudly.

Sam Has Spoken

....and he's telling the motherfucking bigots to get off the motherfucking state constitution:

Our Marriage: Let Us Show You It

If this is kind of disjointed and rambly, it's because I finally failed my "Save vs. Current Cold Virus". I felt like death insufficiently warmed over when I woke up yesterday morning, so I stayed home and slept most of the day. Telesilla made her awesome cold-weather lentil stew and did a load of laundry. I had some stew when I woke up, along with a couple of the cookies we made Sunday night. At some point, I may play some CoX and try to get the Zombie Apocalypse badges for more of my characters, and I may write a bit; Telesilla's still getting over her cold; she's gone to bed already and is asleep with the kitten curled up on the pillow next to her.

It's a pretty typical evening for us, really. Our idea of an exciting night is going out to dinner--if we're really feeling adventurous, we'll go somewhere other than the local tacqueria or the little cafe with the awesome crepes. Once a month, we'll go into the Bay Area to hang out with friends, and once a year for the past three years we've gone up to Sea Ranch in February with friends for a writing weekend.

This is pretty much our glamourous lesbian lifestyle: a couple of chubby middle-aged women in an apartment in Northern California with two cats, driving a 7-year-old Volkswagen Bug with fuzzy d20's hanging from the rearview mirror. This is what's being described as "Armageddon" and "more important than the presidential election" by some on the right. We're the great threat to "traditional marriage". We're the reason the California constitution has to be amended, because otherwise more people like us, might get married.

I've commented on several blogs now, asking for someone to list specific examples of how our marriage has harmed theirs--or affected their lives in any way. Strangely enough, no one's taken the challenge. No one's been able to explain exactly how traditional marriage has become such a fragile entity that it must be defended from a couple of geeky lesbian fangirls, or why 50%+1 of California voters should be allowed to decide whether my marriage is valid when I wake up on November 5.

I feel like I should say something profound, but the truth is that our marriage is made up of a collection of tiny, mundane moments--just like the marriage of everyone else I know. How is telling us that we can't get married because we're both girls any different than telling us we can't get married because I'm black and Telesilla's white? How is this so important that state law has to be changed? How is this--how are we--a threat to anyone?

The answer is simple: it isn't, and we're not. Proposition 8 is unfair, because it will write discrimination into law. Proposition 8 is unnecessary, because marriage doesn't need protecting from us. Proposition 8 is wrong, because it says that we don't deserve to be happy because of who we love.

*sigh*

After weeks of poll numbers indicating that voters in CA were going to reject Prop 8, two new polls are showing it ahead.

Please, please, those of you in CA...get out and vote. I want to stay married.

Satire is dead.

Why is the target number for the bailout $700 billion?

"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

*incoherent frothing*

I can't...this is...WHAT THE FUCK???

The Sac Bee has a story about a couple who refused to sign the wedding licence in Sacramento because it refers to "Party A" and "Party B" rather than "Bride" and "Groom". They feel that their rights have been violated by the use of the non-traditional language.

I wonder if they refused to fill out their license forms at the County Clerk's office. It's all computerized now, and I'm pretty sure that's not "traditional".

The real kicker, though, is at the end of the article:

For now, they are busy with their family (she has two children from a previous marriage and he has three) and starting their new life.

He's 29.

She's 25.

Sounds like I'm not the one whose marriage needs to be "protected".

That Old Earth Logic

Pressed about what insights into recent Russian actions she gained by living in Alaska, Palin answered: "They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

To quote one of the commenters at Balloon Juice:

"And when I look out my window I can see the moon. Doesn’t make me a fucking astronaut now, does it?"

Smells Like Desperate

McCain's latest ad attacks Obama for sponsoring "Legislation to teach "comprehensive sex education" to kindergardeners."

SB 99 (which did not pass) would have lowered the start of sex ed from 6th Grade to Kindergarten. The bill included opt-out provisions for parents and specified that "all course material and instruction shall be age and developmentally appropriate. " It emphasized the consequences of pregnancy and STD as well as how to say no to unwanted sexual advances.

Why does John McCain believe that children should not be taught that it's okay to say no to inappropriate touching?

ETA: A noun, a verb, and POW:

"It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls – a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn’t define what honor was. Now we know why," --Obama spokesman Bill Burton

"The Obama campaign has not disputed any of the facts in our ad, but if they want to question John McCain’s honor and record of service to this country, then that’s a debate we welcome."--McCain spokesman Brian Rogers

*flails*

In a little less than 16 hours, Telesilla and I will be married.

I'm only freaking out a little.

The rings came today--the right ones. We'd ordered them off Amazon at the beginning of August, and they arrived promptly, but both in the same size instead of a 6 and an 8. I called, and the woman sent another--size 7. We sent those back, and she sent a size 8, but in the wrong pattern. Today, she sent a 6 and an 8 in the pattern we wanted, so that's right, at least.

We had an appointment this afternoon at 1o go to a local spa and get our faces done. We got there on time, but the place was closed. I called and didn't get anyone, and it was hot, so we came home. About half an hour ago, I fiinally heard from the spa lady. She's been sick, which is fine, but hello? Call and let me know?

Tonight, we went out for sushi, so I'm feeling better, if a bit full. And yeah, still kind of nervous about this whole getting married thing.

Also...

Can you just imagine the reaction if the Democratic National Convention had included a party featuring a band called "Hookers & Blow"?

Yay family values!