I should write a post where I recap everything I’ve called “my new favorite” since I started writing here. I could even go back further to my now defunct and almost embarrassingly bad blog and pull from there too. I use “favorite” all too often. I swear I have some solid, unchanging favorite things. That might be another post in a world where I write steadily.

So, a flash mob happened. And the video will not embed itself lovingly into this post under any circumstances so here’s the link: http://youtu.be/vrrmeECJzoo

As a political statement a group of dancers to an unknowing audience isn’t the strongest move but the Courage Campaign got a lot of exposure and it was a really fucking cool thing to see up close. I was involved to the extent of holding half of a sign with a stranger that said, “YOU CAN’T PRAY THE GAY AWAY,” and waving a purple piece of fabric in the back row at the end. It wasn’t exactly volunteer work in the name of equality but I’m thrilled to have been there, goosebumps prickling up my arms, tears welling in my eyes, watching so many people of so many ages and backgrounds come together and do something wildly fun and bold to make a point.

-CJ

OMG

I won’t paste the article in its entirety even though I want to, and then I want to Tweet it, line by line, and then send links to my entire contact list and then print it out to stick up on the refrigerator in the lunch room at work…

Behold:

(the whole shebang is here: http://nymag.com/arts/tv/upfronts/2011/roseanne-barr-2011-5/which and I highly recommend it be read and worshipped accordingly)

Marcy presented herself as a sister in arms. I was a cutting-edge comic, and she said she got that I wanted to do a realistic show about a strong mother who was not a victim of Patriarchal Consumerist Bullshit—in other words, the persona I had carefully crafted over eight previous years in dive clubs and biker bars: a fierce working-class Domestic Goddess.

…

It didn’t take long for me to get a taste of the staggering sexism and class bigotry that would make the first season of Roseanne god-awful.

…

It was pretty clear that no one really cared about the show except me, and that Matt and Marcy and ABC had nothing but contempt for me—someone who didn’t show deference, didn’t keep her mouth shut, didn’t do what she was told. Marcy acted as if I were anti-feminist by resisting her attempt to steal my whole life out from under me.

…

I grabbed a pair of wardrobe scissors and ran up to the big house to confront the producer. [...] I walked into this woman’s office, held the scissors up to show her I meant business, and said, “Bitch, do you want me to cut you?”

It just goes on and on in its greatness. Many applauds to this woman for experiencing what she did and then many more for putting this out there for us. Her show was a hit long before I could appreciate it for what it was but I am tempted to watch all nine seasons with all the coolest chicks I know.

-CJ

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject  
 financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.                     
                                                                            
 2. Ignoranus : A person who’s both stupid and an asshole.                  
                                                                            
 3. Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you  
 realize it was your money to start with.                                                        
                                                                            
 5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright  
 ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign 
 of breaking down in the near future.                                       
                                                                            
 8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person  
 who doesn’t get it.                                                        
                                                                            
 13. Glibido : All talk and no action.                                      
                                                                            
 15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve  
 accidentally walked through a spider web.                                  
                                                                            
As well as plays on common words:

1. Coffee , n. The person upon whom one coughs.                            
                                                                            
 2. Flabbergasted , adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has    
 gained.                                                                    
                                                                            
 4. Esplanade , v.. To attempt an explanation while drunk.                   
                                                                            
 6. Negligent , adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a  
 nightgown.                                                                 
                                                                            
 7. Lymph , v. To walk with a lisp.                                         
                                                                            
 8. Gargoyle , n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.                                 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 13. Pokemon , n.. A Rastafarian proctologist.                              
                                                                            
 14. Oyster , n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

no more, I promise.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122822689

Driving these (presumed Caucasian, no?) voyeurs through dangerous territory does not enlightenment offer. If they gave a shit, they could contribute to the well being and contributions being made by ex-gang members, L.A beautification projects or youth programs to keep kids away from the influence of the lifestyle. Is any gangster going to see these rubber-neckers observing his/her life and wonder why he/she ever chose this route? From the NPR article, linked above:

“The most important thing about this tour is to reinforce the fact that these guys are human,” Auld says.

Auld’s biggest complaint: having signed a frightening release form at the outset of the tour, which warned it was inherently dangerous. Auld was hoping for a little more excitement.

It is not a given that gang members are human beings?
Would you like to order a shooting with that? Super size the risk and danger, sir, for your viewing pleasure?

I just… can hardly put into words how disgusting this is, and yet I find myself not surprised that someone, ex-gang member turned mentor or not, has found a market for it.

-CJ

With a deep breath, she informed that just hours prior, Josh’s aunt Sharon, uncle Steve and cousin Jonny had all died in a freak electrocution accident, stemming from a downed power line at their house.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=7898033

The breath was sucked out of me and I struggled to remember that I was operating a vehicle. I shook my head to loosen the words stalled in my brain, hoping for anything to come out, and blindly settled on what? over and over again. She asked that I be the one to tell Josh in person. She needed me to be strong for him, as she was being for her husband, Steve’s older brother. It would be too time consuming to venture out to Orange County to bring Josh the news while the family around her was reeling, but she couldn’t settle on doing it by phone.

I nominate his mother to deliver any bad news I must bear for the rest of my time here. Woman’s a friggin’ saint.

I made a quick call to my supervisor and then my mom, as a grown woman tends to do in light of what-the-fuck moments of any degree. I still hold some guilt that I was talking to her about it before I was talking to my boyfriend but if I was to show any amount of strength and will myself from falling the fuck apart, I needed her to help me. As always, she did.

Josh told me later that he thought I’d been fired. Showing up at his office on a weekday morning and calling his company line, something I’d never done before, to ask him to come outside was unexpected, to say the least. I would trade the best job in the world for that to be the news I had. Like I’d hoped he wouldn’t, he didn’t ask why I was calling, just got up from his desk and came to the parking lot, headset still around his face. I hid behind my sunglasses and clenched my hands to stop the shaking. His reaction mirrored mine, as his hands went to his head. What?

A short amount of time has passed. The funerals came and went; one for Jonny and one for Sharon and Steve. My love donned white gloves and a rose pinned to his dress shirt as a pall bearer. Hundreds of people showed up to the double service last weekend, including at least a hundred leather vest clad bikers in green bandanas for Steve.

It was an incredibly gut-wrenching experience, watching these hard, tough, scarred and tattooed, grown men cry. One that I never hope to see again. The collective shock and heart break was damn near too much to bear and these are not even my blood relatives, but Josh’s and Kiddo’s. Kiddo and I didn’t have much of a relationship with them, and still she was in tears when she saw the sadness her dad tried his best to hide from us. It was the shock and the tragedy and fucking unfairness of it that shook me to my core.

We played poker with them two weeks before, on New Year’s Day. I told Josh on the drive home that it was like watching a couple of high school sweethearts, they way they so blatantly adored one another. I’m thrilled I got to see them leaning against the back of the couch to peer into a lit up fishtank, arms slung around each others’ waist. I’m glad I got to laugh my ass of Steve’s shit talking during Seven Card Stud. And I’m really glad I got to meet Sharon for the first time that night. When she hugged me goodbye and said, “It was so nice to meet you,” I really believed her. They were such genuinely good people and a crowd of a few hundred were reminded as people took the podium during their service and told stories about what a joy it’d been to know them.

The night of their deaths, I posted to my Facebook: We are all finite. Drop your grudges, kissed your loved ones.

You just never fucking know.

-CJ

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/09/27/bts.ufo.activity.cnn?iref=allsearch

Listen closely for the faint sound of a thousand heads popping delicately from tightly bound assholes…

Josh is passionate as all get out for conspiracies and UFOs. I love this about him. This morning he sent me a snipet from an article along with a rant that needed sharing:

The Wrights, who had pursued their research in the absence of a complete theory of aerodynamics, struggled on for several more years to convince a doubting world of the reality of their achievement. Although hundreds of people told editors they had witnessed their machine in flight, local newspapers refused to check out their stories. Photographs of the aircraft in flight were dismissed as hoaxes.
It was not until a special demonstration, organized by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1908, that the scientific and popular press finally conceded that the Wright’s “impossible” technology did, in fact, work as claimed.

(Source: http://www.themissingtimes.com/Boeing.html)

Josh: This is exactly what’s going on right now with the disclosure of ufo information. There are government officials on a major network, on a national televised event, and yet, people are still writing it off as nonsense. Even the cnn anchor that was covering the broadcast was rolling his eyes and making light of it. This is the absolute most important information that has ever come to light in the history of mankind, yet lindsay lohan’s drug use is given all the media attention.

I don’t love this about him in a pat him on the shoulder and nod kind of way. I love that does extensive research and watches numerous documentaries and reads books on the subjects for no reward other than his own broader mind and knowledge. And homeboy has opened my brain wiiiiide, lemme tell ya.

-CJ

Socarides said President Barack Obama “badly miscalculated” the Pentagon’s support for repeal, while Democrats made only a “token effort” to advance the bill.

A part of me wants to be lighthearted and say the gay and lesbian community is too good for the military anyway. The other part of me is so, so sorry for the lives this is negatively affecting. We can all argree this is the one of the stupidest laws in effect, right?

Right.

-CJ

THE GAYS CAN MARRY!

A federal judge in San Francisco decided today that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, striking down Proposition 8, the voter approved ballot measure that banned same-sex unions. U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker said Proposition 8, passed by voters in November 2008, violated the federal constitutional rights of gays and lesbians to marry the partners of their choice.

This is fucking incredible news! I can’t stop smiling! I can’t even be witty or sarcastic! Someone come hug me!

-CJ