Whine & Cheese

Photo Friday: Garden

Practically go through the entire day before remembering it was Photo Friday!   It's been a month since my last entry, the last 4 weeks have been kind of too vague for me ("I'm Feeling..." and "I Love...") or else just nothing came to mind ("Athletic" and "Freeze Frame").

When I remembered, I thought for sure it was going to be a Halloween-ish challenge... but alas it was not... and as you probably have already guessed, it was... Garden.

My mind initially went to a couple of shots I took in London (at Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park), but ultimately I submitted this shot of Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture in Jardin des Tuileries as we were approaching the Louvre during our stay in Paris this past May.

I thought this one definitely had a bit more of a "pop" than just some straight flowers or a typical garden scene... and the spider does give it a Halloween-ish aspect to it (ignoring the fact that it was a gorgeous spring day with the irises blooming in Paris)

Vamped (#24)

Slowly but surely catching up with these book posts!  I would like to say I timed this next one - Vamped by David Sosnowski - intentionally to hit today/on Halloween... but it's just a coincidence... and convenient too... as I wasn't quite sure what I was going to write about today (other than yet another, "Is it Tuesday, yet?!" post!)... so definitely an "aha!" moment.

So yes, another vampire book!  I know it doesn't seem to make much sense even to me that I keep coming back to this genre (and I think it is a genre of its own!) over and over again.  I think I am a fairly reasonable and semi-intelligent person and I can't quite figure out why I keep getting sucked in (ha!) to these books.  And this is even my second vampire book of the year after giving the teen phenomenon Twilight a stab (ha!) earlier this year.

As you may recall, I discovered this book thanks to the Author Q&A section of the last book I read, Mary Doria Russell's A Thread of Grace.  Now you may also recall, while I thought that book was well-written and had a compelling subject matter... ultimately, I didn't end up enjoying it all that much.  So you are probably thinking it is pretty strange to take a recommendation from a book you didn't really like... well, you are probably right.

That said, the two books could not be more different.  Where Grace was a very serious, historical work of fiction that I found to be quite difficult to read... Vamped was easy reading, a satirical / humorous book about... well, about vampires!    

This was definitely a different spin on the vampire genre... humans are on the endangered species list with vampires ruling the world... well, not ruling... but merely living their lives... having to work the jobs that there are no humans to do now, buying novelty items like Count Chocula cereal off of eBay (after all food is barely needed except for non-vamped pets), and Alaska has become the hot vacation destination during the times of the year that the sun barely comes out.  We learn this all through Martin Kowalski (not a very scary vampire name, huh?) as he is tiring of the eternal life - but stumbles onto a recently orphaned human girl and decides to raise, despite his instinctual urges for real human blood... blood is now manufactured from stem cells, readily available, and warmed up to 98.6 degrees with a vampire's answer to the kitchen coffee brewer... Mr. Plasma.

So there is a lot of fun and terribly imaginative stuff going on in this novel, but something just that ultimately didn't do it for me.  While I enjoyed the above-mentioned aspects of the novel (and there were many more of them), I didn't find the storyline or the characters particularly compelling.  Nor did I feel like it was terribly well-written... a criticism I usually don't say aloud all too often, because I do have the utmost respect/awe for anyone who can write a novel, let alone getting it published.  It just got a bit too cute-sy for me vs. that sharper satiric edge.

One big thing that was working against it is that I was and have been watching the HBO series "True Blood"  while I read this book.  It covers similar territory.  While vampires are still a minority in this world, they have revealed themselves and hope to live side-by-side with humans ("True Blood" is the best selling brand of synthetic blood).  There is sly humor in the series (which also based on a series of books - the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris - which I have not read)... so a big part of my so-so reaction to Vamped is that is did not even closely approach the level of enjoyment I am experiencing with "True Blood."  Granted it is not likely very fair to compare the two, but that's the facts and I'm sticking it to it.

2008 1-2-3-4-5 Reading Challenge: + 366 Pages (Total: 9,171 pages - Finished: 10/15/2008)
-705 pages behind pace for the year (-40 change in pace since last book).

Election Fatigue

I have to admit that I am ready to vote and get the election over with already.  I had a good laugh at The Daily Show the other night when relatively new "correspondent" Wyatt Cenac likened it to having a drug-induced erection for 3 hours and 58 minutes and having to wait to the 4 hour mark to "contact your doctor" moment.

Watched the Oba-mercial last night and have to say I was pretty moved by it... which means it was "mission accomplished" (well at least to "the base").   I will admit I was slow to coming around to Obama, but I do find him to be very inspiring and the "transformative" political figure that I think is exactly what this country needs right now. 

While I remember being stoked about Clinton ("Don't Stop (Thinkin' About Tomorrow)" and all that good stuff)... things are different this time around... I was 25 years old when Clinton was sworn-in and now a tad north of 40... the world is certainly a different place... and I am definitely more in tune with politics these days (thanks to - or blame! - the Internet for that)... so I was saying to Todd last night after the Oba-mercial that this is what people must have felt about JFK... and here, I will also be Debbie Downer and add that I fear Obama may meet the same fate/end... but alas Todd reminded me he has to become President first...

... which I think he will do.  Sure I am probably setting myself up for another election night where my hopes and dreams are pulverized to bits in thinking the person I voted for was going to win. 

Funny enough, when this election cycle began (which seems way back to when I was 25 years old!) I thought it wouldn't be the 'end of the world' if McCain won.  But I was talking about the "old" McCain and I can not respect much of what he has done/turned into over the course of this campaign.  And heck, I might have still felt the same if he had a running mate other than Palin - which again is something I think the "old" McCain would not have done.  Again, I am not saying I would be "happy" or even remotely have the thought of "crossing party lines" - but again it wouldn't be the "end of the world" (and okay, even if it does happen, it won't be either)

While I know this is coming from left-leaning, liberal biased comedy shows, my mouth has hit the floor hearing what people are saying at McCain or Palin rallies (again, I know this isn't everybody!)... but it was scary how sincere people were in thinking if Obama wins that there will be a terrorist or Muslim in the White House (with some thinking those two are synonymous)... one woman feared that she would have to wear a burka... "he will put a turban on and we will all be shot"... "I am scared to death of him"... "there will be no America left"... "he's not living in a realistic world with his Islamic view."  The fact that these thoughts are honestly out there is scary to me and makes me fear for Obama.  Again, I am not asking for people to be happy or non-skeptical or wary... but I wish there was more "it won't be the end of the world" if Obama is elected.

Switching gears, I suspect that election night will end with mixed feelings... again, while I am fairly confident I will be voting for the ultimate winner (well, not necessarily thanks to electoral votes from my state) in this race, I (once again!) have little confidence that our state will reject the "define marriage" constitutional amendment.  I have to admit that I have been a bit jealous over all the attention/money/etc that California's Prop 8 has been getting... but, at the end of the day, I do realize that if California (of all states!) loses this battle... the negative ramifications/impact to our cause will be enormous.  While even if the improbable happens here in AZ and Prop 102 is rejected, nothing will change as gay marriage is still against state law... but there is a lot more to lose in CA.  Again, good thoughts and hopes to our neighbor to the west!

A few years back, when the gay marriage debate was really raging (not that isn't now... obviously!)... I discovered this quote from Thomas Jefferson (actually a version of it on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC) and I think it is worth repeating:

"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects.

But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times.

We might as well require a man to wear still the same coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

Again, while I am ready for this all to be over with... let me take a moment to raise a glass... in a hopeful, non-cynical, naive (and rare, for me!) way... to the "progress of the human mind!"

To Kindle Or Not To Kindle

... that is the question.

Last week, I tweeted that I was a bit surprised that Oprah highlighted the Amazon Kindle - a wireless, portable reading device - as one of her new favorite things.  I think O is pretty sincere when it comes to books... and given how much I love books, I was just surprised that she was enthusiastic (and that might be an understatement) above an electronic device that moves away from physical books.  At the time, I said I couldn't imagine making that move myself... but I tweeted that before seeing the show... but after seeing it, I have to say I have been having a semi-serious internal debate of whether to once again drink from the Oprah kool-aid well.   Here are my pros and cons:

Reasons To Get A Kindle

It's a pretty cool gadget

It saves paper / "green"

Reduces household clutter on an item that is rarely ever used again

Most books priced at $9.99 (60%-ish off hardcovers/20%-ish off paperback prices)

Oprah $50 discount (but only for a couple more days!)

Easier to handle (especially vs. bulky hardcovers)

Built-in dictionary look-up / ability to highlight passages

Reading reviews, avid readers and book "lovers" appear to like it

Reasons NOT To Get a Kindle

If it ain't broke, why fix it - cool gadget, but "needed"... ummm, no.

Even with Oprah discount, still costs enough ($300+ w/ discount) to give a pause

First generation product - so likely to improve in the future

No back-lighting - seems like this would have been a no-brainer feature

Can't go to a store and physically see, touch, experience the Kindle - so a bit of blind faith

I LOVE shopping for books.  Heck, after the whole Internet novelty wore off I stopped ordering books from Amazon because I missed going to the bookstore and buying books.

Bookstores seem to be in enough trouble these days - especially independents - so this just seems like another nail in coffin

Well, I had hoped getting these down in print and out of my head would help to clear things up, but I seem to be even more conflicted than before I started the post!  In other words, pretty typical Libra behavior... that ever charming see-saw of not being able to make a decision or else making a rash one!   So we'll see what happens, I probably decide what to do (or not to do) in the next day or so especially given the $50 discount code.

Wrong Side of History

I was thrilled to see this political cartoon from Steve Benson in today's The Arizona Republic.

It echoes pretty much exactly what I said in one of my posts from last week... and while I remain pessimistic that Prop 102 will be defeated... despite defeating a similar prop two years ago, Arizona does not have a great track record on this kind of stuff... as it was one of the last states to observe Martin Luther King Day... a voter rejection of the holiday led the NFL to pulling Super Bowl XXVII out of the Arizona... the MLK holiday prop returned to the ballot two years later and was approved by voters (with Super Bowl XXX awarded to the state shortly thereafter).

So we shall see, if this proposition does pass my only hope is that I will live to see the day that this is similarly overturned when the "wrong side of history" pressure mounts... and I wish my friends in California and Florida that their electorate will see the light as well next week!  

Tina Turner

As noted in the last post, we did make it to the Tina Turner concert on Friday and I feel like I haven't shut up about it since... and I am sure we weren't the only concert-goers filling up their iTunes library with some of the old favorites and new discoveries. 

We had pretty good seats - only about a section and a half from the stage on the lower level of the arena - when I as getting tickets I had the option of floor tix, but have found the view is usually better from the side.  So we had a good view of the action (and a chance to look at the video screen on the side of the stage)... and even were only about 20 feet away from Tina when she swung out over the audience during the encore.  The picture to the left is from our concert, taken by our local paper... I would have linked to their review but they were not very kind at all... pretty much calling Tina fat, out of tune, and past her prime... which I didn't agree with at all... well ok, maybe a tad... but you don't diss a 68-year old legendary diva like that!

While I thought Tina was a bit bigger up top and her face was a bit rounder, her lower body was amazing.  Picture is the opening ensemble ... and had all the curves working in these skintight hot pants are the my skimpy skirts she sported through the night.  As ZZ Top would say... she's (still!) got legs and she knows how to use them!  

And while she did take her fair share of breaks during the night... when she was on stage there was no doubt she was giving it her all and not holding back.  Much like her peer Cher (or for that matter even Madonna), Tina used dancers to keep the action going while she went backstage for a bit of a breather under the guise of a costume change.  There was also a 30-minute intermission... but again, you could hardly blame her given her output.

I won't bother doing a blow-by-blow of the concert... here is the set list... not missing any of hits, her own or her many successful cover versions.  I had not realized she had recorded so many covers - of course, arguably (though not very arguably, in my opinion) her biggest hit Proud Mary is one... a surprise to me was her soulful take on The Beatles' Help... another of her big comeback hits, Let's Stay Together (which I am coming around to think is one of the great songs of all-time)... she did a couple from the Rolling Stones, Jumpin' Jack Flash and It's Only Rock n Roll... and Robert Palmer's Addicted To Love (the only slight miss of the bunch). 

But overall just a great night... and I'm guessing it is needless to say, the "moment" was experiencing Proud Mary.  In that lists of concerts from Friday, it is always great to experience that great hit first hand.  Often these moments pass before you know it, so I always try to slow down my mind just for a moment and take it in...i.e.,  I am watching Tina Turner performing Proud Mary right before my very eyes!

Outside of Tina, it was a very odd evening... with a awful lot of alcohol consumption, while you know I am no prude in that area... it was still pretty wild (even for "a mostly middle-aged" crowd) and it probably explained a lot of what we saw/experienced...

From the groups of women (and the occasional man) in the big Tina wigs... or to the "mature" woman, who I am not sure was trying to dress as Tina or not, with the mini-skirt, fishnet stockings and knee high boots.... interesting look, but I think her "private dancer" days had expired long ago.   

Next, we had a mother/son combo in front of us (+/-10 years, guessing late 20s son/early 50s mom??)... before the show, she did not budge from her seat... and simply put up the biggest struggle when she had to put all of her effort into pulling in her knees a few inches to put up with the annoying people who needed to pass by her and into her aisle to get to the seats.  So it was quite comical, that when Tina came out - she popped out her seat like a jack-in-the-box and pretty much macarena'd and wiggled her ass through most of the front part of the show.   But then, she seemed to get a little woozy... grabbed the seat in front of her... and then her son grabbed her... and she moved to the aisle and then fell down the stairs and pretty much face-planted at the landing.  It was pretty awful, she needed to be carried back to her seat and ended up leaving at intermission (they were apparently staying at one of the hotels around the arena)... we tried to eavesdrop on the son when he returned, but could only make out that she was okay (but it had to hurt!!) and that she had had some wine earlier in the evening.  

Then in our aisle, there was a woman at intermission who decided to do some polling on the Presidential race during intermission.  While I thought it was an odd discussion to start at a concert, I honestly didn't care sharing... there were McCain "votes" and then she asked us at the end of the row which was myself and Todd and a very neatly attired young man by himself but who bought a Tina program who we were voting for... I must have given them a "Are you kidding me look?" but she was still shocked by our Obama support... I mentioned wasn't it obvious by "our demographic" and they pleaded ignorance... obviously thinking all the pairs or groups of men all over the place, were hunting buddies or who only referred to "tight ends" while watching or talking about football.   She drunkenly (yes, shocking!) and quite genuinely pondered how McCain could be so behind in the polls despite so many in her "polling" supporting the AZ senator.  I decided it best not to remind her that she was in Arizona or how that whole crazy electoral college thing works... 

So a very interesting night all around!   But beyond all this crazy side-show stuff, I am so glad that we got to see Tina... she was awesome!

In Concert

Have a pretty active weekend scheduled... we're headed down to Tucson to celebrate Todd's Mom's birthday (which was yesterday) and tonight we are off to go see a concert!   

Concert-going is pretty rare activity these days, not sure if it's the increasing age issue or just that there aren't that many acts that are seriously pulling us in... or it could be a laziness... as it seems as if a lot of the arena concerts have shifted from downtown Phoenix (semi-convenient) to Glendale (which is way the heck out there).  Granted there has been a lot of growth since, but a few years back we went to see Bette Midler (shocking I know!) at the Glendale arena, the Divine Miss M joked that on her way to the venue they passed a cows that were asking "Where are we?"

But honestly, I think mostly it's that second reason I mentioned above... there's just not anyone left out there that I have a strong desire to see that I haven't seen before.  Well, perhaps there was one more person on that "still to be seen" or "bucket" list... and that is being taken care of tonight.. as we are off to see... Tina Turner!   

Way back in 2000, I kind of regretted not getting tickets to see Tina, especially since it was billed as her "last" tour... but, as you know, you can't keep a good diva down (we saw Cher's "farewell" tour twice - and at least a year apart - and now, years later, are trying to figure out when to see her in Vegas)... so who knows if this will in fact be Tina's last tour...but at age 68, I'm not taking any chances this time that she'll be headed through Phoenix again.

Awhile back I tried to put together a list of concerts I have attended, but never got around to sharing it.  For it to be truly complete, I should have broken out my ticket stub bag... but instead I just went through our iTunes library, which should be a pretty accurate. 

So here's the list (in alpha order.. and warts and all!)... I am sure some of your favorites are missing, but again for me, this list is pretty complete:

Andrea Bocelli
Garth Brooks

Mary Chapin Carpenter
Cher (3)
Eric Clapton

Celine Dion
Dixie Chicks

Melissa Etheridge (3)

Radney Foster

Peter Gabriel

Hall & Oates
Hootie & The Blowfish

INXS

Billy Joel
Elton John (2)

BB King
Gladys Knight

Cyndi Lauper
Annie Lennox

Madonna
Barry Manilow
Reba McEntire
John Mellencamp (2)
Bette Midler (2)
The Monkees

Dolly Parton

Bruce Springsteen (3)
Barbra Streisand

Shania Twain
Sting

Tears for Fears
Travis Tritt

U2

Tricia Yearwood

A Thread Of Grace (#23)

Still playing a bit of catch-up on the reading list... today's book, A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell.

One of the things I like to do with these book posts (if you haven't figured it out already) is tell you how I got to the book.  In this case, I had read Russell's The Sparrow several years ago ... and while suffering from my usual book amnesia, I do recall it being pretty good.  And while not the sci-fi/future subject matter (which, btw, I very rarely dabble in) of that book (and its sequel, which I did not read), I was still intrigued by the what this book was about so, as I often do, I threw it on my Amazon wishlist just as a personal reminder... but I forgot that my Mom checks out that list around birthday/holiday time... so I got this book for Christmas (yes, 10+ months ago!!!) and vowed that I would read it before this Christmas rolled around!!  Funny enough, my mom just sent me another book off my list for my birthday last week - and this time I am being much better and plan to read it after I finish my current book.

So as I said I was intrigued by the subject matter of the book... which takes place in Northern Italy towards the end of World War II and a true story (though this is all fiction) of Jews trying to find/flee to safety from Germany and other occupied areas... and the confusion in these remote areas of what the future holds when the news that Mussolini has surrendered the country to Hitler.  The book contains a wide range of characters: Italian Jews, Jewish refugees, Italian Catholics (many hiding Jews), and German officials (mostly active, but one major character a deserter).  There are so many characters that there is a list of most of them (some who take on different aliases throughout the novel) in front of the book, along with maps (with both real and fictional locales)... which is helpful as the narrative jumps from one to the other and back again.

And while I found the subject matter quite fascinating, ultimately I found my experience to very similar to another WWII book that I read just a little over a year ago, Suite Francaise that was a fictional, but based on true events, story of the Nazi occupation of France... I thought the book was "good" but did not really enjoy it.  While I like to think of myself as a reasonably intelligent person... one who doesn't mind being challenged by a book, I found both of these books to be hard to follow and hitting points where I didn't really know what was going on or who the characters were.  Needless to say, in Grace I found myself flipping to that list of characters often... which again, while helpful, I felt I shouldn't have been using a crutch... or needed if the book was doing its job.   

I have to admit that I almost took Nick Hornby's advice in his collection of essays about books/reading, Housekeeping vs. The Dirt, and abandoned the book... his assertion that life is too short (or that there are too many books out there) to be spending your time with a book you are not enjoying.  But I am stubborn in that respect and could still appreciate Russell's writing and eventually I would get back to a character or storyline that I was more invested in.

So yet another cranky book post, you might be surprised that my next (and shockers... impulsive!) book selection was one Russell mentioned in the Author Q&A at the back of this book.  But since that book had to do with vampires, very much my literary guilty pleasure, I decided to give it a shot... was it a wise decision???  Well, you just have to wait and see... ah, don't you love cliffhangers?!?

2008 1-2-3-4-5 Reading Challenge: + 426 Pages (Total: 8,5805 pages - Finished: 10/3/2008)
-665 pages behind pace for the year (-47 change in pace since last book).

Dance Off

Things have seemed a bit glum here at W&C of late... the election, the financial crisis, so-so books... so it seemed like a perfect day to shake it up and get back to the important stuff... like Dancing With The Stars! 

Though there isn't necessarily good news here either, where have all the objects of my affection gone?!?!

Things are getting bleaker for yours truly each week as the eye candy is going - with all due respect to Lance Bass - bye, bye, bye!

I knew our household's shared "other boyfriend" Mark Ballas was in trouble when he got hooked up with Kim Kardashian.  Pretty female "stars" don't tend to stick around this show all that much and throw on top of that a personality-challenged professional reality TV "star"... and it didn't take an Einstein that Mark wasn't going to repeat last year's Yamaguchi championship.   And his absence is only exacerbated by the fact that his dad Mark "Corky" Ballas is still in the competition... they are so physically/vocally similar that it is almost as creepy as a scantily clad Julianne doing a sexy dance with her brother Derek last week!

Then we lost Maks due to the "oh, I can't bear to see or hear it again - but I must rewind and watch and listen to it again (and again)" Achilles heel rupture of his partner Misty May-Treanor a couple of weeks ago.  While Maks is kind of an arrogant prick, he is/was still very enjoyable to watch.

And alas, unbreak my heart over the loss of Alec Mazo last night.  Alec was the stud (and champion) of very first season of DWTS.  I had kind of forgot how hot he was in the few other seasons he has danced in since... mostly because he didn't stick around... but seeing Alec again week after week brought back many pleasant memories.  I will very much miss his Disney Prince hair and good looks, but now he gets to spend more time with his also kicked-off wife Edyta, who ain't too shabby in the looks department either.

Now granted we still have Derek and Tony Dovolani... though both of them has a part of their personality that can rub me the wrong way (much more so Tony than Derek)... and honestly there none of the male "stars" did all that much for me this year... though I kind of waffled (ha!) on Rocco... and Lance certainly has that "I like boys, boys like me" charm/appeal to him.

I am still doing fairly well on my "predict the finalist after the first night" challenge... though the loss of Misty cut into my prediction (though after seeing a few more dances, I was a tad less confident of her making it all the way to the end).   My remaining picks were: Lance, Warren, Susan, and Cody.  Of those, I think Lance and Susan are a bit dicey -- Lance hasn't excelled as expected and Susan, despite what I still think is a sizable daytime audience fanbase, landed in the bottom two this week (though I suspect that might rally her base next week).  I still see Warren getting through and Cody should do okay with his 'Hannah Montana' fanbase and the uber-lovable Julianne. 

The glaring omission from my finalist prediction picks is this season's front-runner,  Brooke!  The main reason for that was a lack of a fanbase, but she has risen above that thanks to a decent personality and good dancing (though I think the judges are being tad too over generous with her)... so she's pretty much on the same trajectory as Stacy Keibler, who made it to the final show of Season 2... so while, I will stand by my picks, I will backpeddle every so slightly and say that I think Brooke will probably do the same.

Marriage

Ok, I have to admit one of the nice thing about having the "Senator from Arizona" running for President is that we have not been run over by advertising for that particular race ... though I have to say I have been a bit surprised how many TV ads I have seen from Obama... again, not a whole lot... and signs that litter pretty much every corner in town are also fairly devoid of any mention of either Presidential candidate.

But that's not to say, we aren't getting our fair share of political ads... there are plenty of folks running for Congress and other elected offices that are apparently more "in play" in our state... and, of course, there are those darn propositions. 

And one in particular, I have found to be particularly annoying and personal.  A "Yes" vote on Prop 102 would change the Arizona constitution that marriage would be valid and recognized as only occurring between a man and a woman.  This beyond the fact that there is already a state law that says as much (and reminding the public of the fact in wording on this prop was squashed by the Republican Secretary of State)... and that two years ago a very similar proposition was rejected by voters... but even I can not be naive enough to think that was largely thanks to it also including heterosexual domestic partnerships.

This time without it affecting straight folk, there seems to be little momentum or support to oppose it.  Having the TV on as background noise for most of the day, I would say TV ads for "yes" outnumber the "no" by easily a 25 to 1 margin (and I might be generous even there) and likewise the signs in support - "Yes on Marriage" (well, maybe to you!!) - are everywhere. 

There has been some notable support against it ... Phil Gordon, the mayor of Phoenix (and a Democrat) is against it.  I was pleasantly surprised that our hometown paper, The Arizona Republic, came out against it (though before I couldn't stomach it anymore, apparently some conservatives in the State, think the paper is very liberal... that's news to me)... and I even saw an interview with the irrepressible Charles Barkley who said that if gay people want to get married "God bless you" and whoever opposes it are "idiots" (again, just quoting Chuck).

But still I think it will pass... and pass easily... and I wouldn't be surprised if it is the only "Yes" on the crappiest collection of propositions that I have seen on a ballot in some time.   Despite its islands of "blue," Arizona is still a pretty conservative state... but heck if California is in a battle with their Prop 8, you can probably see why I am so discouraged about this. 

And it was really a kick in the stomach, to see one of neighbors have a  "Yes" sign stuck in their front yard... which I imagine is against HOA regulations.  I know that I am largely "preaching to the choir" here, so I won't get on my soapbox... but I just want to say to those folks voting "yes" on this proposition that you are on the wrong side of history. 

While I certainly have reason to take this personally, this is simply and purely a civil rights issue - and while I am well aware that this issue has serious religious baggage, the rights that are bestowed come when one pays he government for that piece of paper.  So I would say to my neighbor that the sign in their yard is the equivalent of saying Asians can't marry each other or Jews can't marry each other or (god forbid) Asians can't marry Jews.  I know detractors will go on to say it's all about who has what body part(s)... but I will go on the record that this is something I didn't "chose" to be and add that in talking with my married friends that the relationship that I have been in for 13+ years is not terribly different from theirs at the end of the day.