Odds 'n' ends
A moment of white space for the California Supreme Court's decision:
Seriously, guys.
My family subscribes to the LA Times, and while I was glad that they covered the topic extensively, including front-page articles and a full spread later on, the first sentence of this article which glibly assumed the court's decision that marriage is a "label," made my stomach twist. For the first time, I wrote a letter to the editor:
Even if we accept for a moment that marriage is merely a “label” when our emphasis upon it as a significant cultural ritual would suggest otherwise, denying this “label” to gay and lesbian couples legitimizes discrimination. The excuse that partners joined in civil unions or domestic partnerships receive the same rights as married couples without the “label” is untrue both legally and in practice. This smells of another “separate but equal.” True equality consists in entirely shared rights--even the right to a label.
I could have said so much more, but shorter letters have a greater likelihood of being printed.
In the meantime: compassion, determination, willpower, justice, love. These are powerful tools. Let's use them.
*
I'm getting so much done that it's scary.
Thanks at least in part to rondaview 's birthday gift of a beautiful Moleskine day-planner, I have been actually organizing the goals that I want to achieve this summer, and working bit by bit, day by day, toward achieving them. I'm always good at making big goals, but breaking them down into smaller components so that I can actually accomplish things is somewhat new. So now, I write down what I want to accomplish on a day-to-day basis, and instead of sitting and staring off into space when I don't have something immediately pressing to do, I look at the planner and it tells me what I need to get done. Quite efficient! I am hoping that this will continue as the summer progresses...
*
In other news, I don't know if I ever told anyone that I got a job for this summer. I'll be writing study guides and other materials for DemiDec, the company that produces materials for Academic Decathlon competitions as well as a bunch of other academic-related stuff worldwide. It's entirely work-from-home, I just have to upload projects every few days or so and integrate editorial comments from whoever my boss is (I'm still not clear on this). In fact I'm still not clear on a lot of things, but the one thing I do know is that it pays well, has flexible hours, and is something I can do from an internet cafe anywhere in the world. Frankly, these sound like hallmarks of a great job to me.
*
In the past week, I finally read Good Omens and The Graveyard Book. I was actually a little disappointed with Good Omens because it had been so hyped, and while I liked it a lot, it doesn't beat out any of my favorite books. I was trying to explain this to octavius_x on facebook but I don't know if it worked. The thing is, I really like books that are really focused on the mind of a single main character, maybe two MCs tops, with well-controlled supporting casts. I also like series, because they give me more time to fall in love with the same people. I really enjoyed the world that Gaiman and Pratchett present, and I think that it's obvious that they have great things to say and a great way of saying them, but as a story, it didn't grab me the way I wanted it to.
Of course, none of this to say it isn't good -- it's still fantastic! It can't possibly not be fantastic! I really liked how the story started, but (and maybe this is because I rushed through the end a bit) I didn't like the end as much. Probably because there were more pages devoted to a much smaller amount of time (the few days before the end of the world). But maybe just because the book opens with the Angel with the Flaming Sword giving the aforementioned sword to Adam and Eve to keep warm, and then continues by asserting that infamous London motorway M25 is in fact shaped like a devilish sigil, explaining all of the pain and frustration and hardship that this single road causes.
I think I might have liked The Graveyard Book better, mostly because Silas is kickass and I think I love him quite a bit. Also, I totally figured out that Mr. Frost was the man Jack before we even learned that his last name was Frost. I really liked the Jacks of all trades, they were a fantastic sinister presence, and part of why Neil Gaiman rocks so much. Thank you, Neil Gaiman, for taking children's books seriously.
(Sidenote: when I was searching for The Graveyard Book at my local public library, I couldn't find it on the shelf where I thought it was supposed to be, so I went to ask the woman at the children's desk. When I told her the title I was looking for, her face scrinched up and she said with mixed disdain and horror, "Oh, you want the scary book." Her colleague then interrupted to inform me that it was shelved with the award winners, and she scrinched again at the thought.)
I was thinking about this, and I realized that I also liked The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents better than I liked the one adult Terry Pratchett novel I started (and have yet to finish, I know, I'm a terrible person): Monstrous Regiment. Maybe I just have a thing for children's literature? Roughly half of my favorite books are marketed as young adult (Harry Potter, Young Wizards) and that certainly doesn't keep me from enjoying them.
*
Finally, kaleo2tz is busy gallivanting through Europe right now, and I am infinitely jealous. However, as I will soon be doing some gallivanting of my own, I am probably not allowed to complain. Probably. But I might do it anyway.
Seriously, guys.
My family subscribes to the LA Times, and while I was glad that they covered the topic extensively, including front-page articles and a full spread later on, the first sentence of this article which glibly assumed the court's decision that marriage is a "label," made my stomach twist. For the first time, I wrote a letter to the editor:
Even if we accept for a moment that marriage is merely a “label” when our emphasis upon it as a significant cultural ritual would suggest otherwise, denying this “label” to gay and lesbian couples legitimizes discrimination. The excuse that partners joined in civil unions or domestic partnerships receive the same rights as married couples without the “label” is untrue both legally and in practice. This smells of another “separate but equal.” True equality consists in entirely shared rights--even the right to a label.
I could have said so much more, but shorter letters have a greater likelihood of being printed.
In the meantime: compassion, determination, willpower, justice, love. These are powerful tools. Let's use them.
*
I'm getting so much done that it's scary.
Thanks at least in part to rondaview 's birthday gift of a beautiful Moleskine day-planner, I have been actually organizing the goals that I want to achieve this summer, and working bit by bit, day by day, toward achieving them. I'm always good at making big goals, but breaking them down into smaller components so that I can actually accomplish things is somewhat new. So now, I write down what I want to accomplish on a day-to-day basis, and instead of sitting and staring off into space when I don't have something immediately pressing to do, I look at the planner and it tells me what I need to get done. Quite efficient! I am hoping that this will continue as the summer progresses...
*
In other news, I don't know if I ever told anyone that I got a job for this summer. I'll be writing study guides and other materials for DemiDec, the company that produces materials for Academic Decathlon competitions as well as a bunch of other academic-related stuff worldwide. It's entirely work-from-home, I just have to upload projects every few days or so and integrate editorial comments from whoever my boss is (I'm still not clear on this). In fact I'm still not clear on a lot of things, but the one thing I do know is that it pays well, has flexible hours, and is something I can do from an internet cafe anywhere in the world. Frankly, these sound like hallmarks of a great job to me.
*
In the past week, I finally read Good Omens and The Graveyard Book. I was actually a little disappointed with Good Omens because it had been so hyped, and while I liked it a lot, it doesn't beat out any of my favorite books. I was trying to explain this to octavius_x on facebook but I don't know if it worked. The thing is, I really like books that are really focused on the mind of a single main character, maybe two MCs tops, with well-controlled supporting casts. I also like series, because they give me more time to fall in love with the same people. I really enjoyed the world that Gaiman and Pratchett present, and I think that it's obvious that they have great things to say and a great way of saying them, but as a story, it didn't grab me the way I wanted it to.
Of course, none of this to say it isn't good -- it's still fantastic! It can't possibly not be fantastic! I really liked how the story started, but (and maybe this is because I rushed through the end a bit) I didn't like the end as much. Probably because there were more pages devoted to a much smaller amount of time (the few days before the end of the world). But maybe just because the book opens with the Angel with the Flaming Sword giving the aforementioned sword to Adam and Eve to keep warm, and then continues by asserting that infamous London motorway M25 is in fact shaped like a devilish sigil, explaining all of the pain and frustration and hardship that this single road causes.
I think I might have liked The Graveyard Book better, mostly because Silas is kickass and I think I love him quite a bit. Also, I totally figured out that Mr. Frost was the man Jack before we even learned that his last name was Frost. I really liked the Jacks of all trades, they were a fantastic sinister presence, and part of why Neil Gaiman rocks so much. Thank you, Neil Gaiman, for taking children's books seriously.
(Sidenote: when I was searching for The Graveyard Book at my local public library, I couldn't find it on the shelf where I thought it was supposed to be, so I went to ask the woman at the children's desk. When I told her the title I was looking for, her face scrinched up and she said with mixed disdain and horror, "Oh, you want the scary book." Her colleague then interrupted to inform me that it was shelved with the award winners, and she scrinched again at the thought.)
I was thinking about this, and I realized that I also liked The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents better than I liked the one adult Terry Pratchett novel I started (and have yet to finish, I know, I'm a terrible person): Monstrous Regiment. Maybe I just have a thing for children's literature? Roughly half of my favorite books are marketed as young adult (Harry Potter, Young Wizards) and that certainly doesn't keep me from enjoying them.
*
Finally, kaleo2tz is busy gallivanting through Europe right now, and I am infinitely jealous. However, as I will soon be doing some gallivanting of my own, I am probably not allowed to complain. Probably. But I might do it anyway.