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Monday, May 31, 2004
Mediate This! I quit mediating last week. It was a volunteer gig that I have done for over five years now. I have always enjoyed it, I have always loved learning about the theory of mediation and how conflict can be lessened through increased recognition and empowerment in communication. The transformative paradigm is a skill-set that I will hold near and dear to my heart. But, as is often the case in life, a hectic schedule had prevented me from keeping up to date on the required continuing training that is necessary to maintain my certification. (Unlike other volunteer gigs, to be a mediator, you have to fulfill a certain number of training hours and mediate a certain number of times during the year to remain active.) Starting a new business, taking on a bunch of other community organizing tasks, remaining politically active, and the fallout from other personal issues has taken priority over this particular volunteer gig. My intentions were always in the right place and the agency had made a special effort to allow me to "catch-up," which I fully intended to do. But in the end my goal would prove unrealistic, as timing and a perceived lack of appreciation on the part of the agency would intersect. A few months back when the agency contacted me about my deficiency in hours I had let them know that I would make up the time... they had a few ways to do it... I could read an article and answer questions, or I could watch a video of a mediation and critique it as an observer. I was sufficiently behind that I agreed to do both. But, not having a VCR or time on my hands was a bit of a challenge and so I hadn't done either by the time I got a very cold letter from the agency telling me that they couldn't use me anymore. I responded by saying basically that I expected better from them considering that I had volunteered for 5 years and always hit my training/mediation requirements previously. Maybe instead of a cold letter, perhaps a phone call...? Fast forward MONTHS later. (Yes, it has been about six months since that letter and I still hadn't made up my hours from last year and hadn't been keeping up this year either. No excuses, I just hadn't.) Someone from the agency needed a fill-in mediator. Apparently, a Visitation-Custody case needed to be scheduled and it HAD to be a male mediator. The male participant in the case had demanded this, saying that he would walk out if he was confronted with a room full of women. It would take place during the afternoon, but the case coordinator made it sound dire enough that I agreed to leave the office early and mediate the case. I had been told the names of the parties, which is standard practice, but not that there were any other participants, until I arrived. As mediators, we expect that we'll know who's going to be in the room in case we have personal conflicts with any of them that would throw hurdles in the way of being unbiased. When I arrived, I was told that the female participant would be joined by her advocate from the Advocacy Center. I checked the case information form and realized that the advocate that would come with her was MY advocate less than three months ago when I was going through violence issues with my ex-boyfriend. The advocate, this same woman that was going to be in this mediation, had talked me through the legal process of getting an order of protection, talked to me about my legal rights and ability to press criminal charges, followed up with DA's and the Police Department for me, and in general provided me with a sense of peace-of-mind through a very difficult situation. At first I thought it didn't matter. I thought I could put it out of my mind. But the more I thought about it... that this woman was going to be sitting in the room while I tried to mediate a sensitive situation... a woman that I had never met face-to-face, that I had only talked to over the phone and knew so much about me and one of the most traumatic things that has ever happened to me... I realized that I couldn't do this mediation. I knew that I couldn't focus on helping this couple in their conflict when I would be thinking about my very recent brush with violence. So I stepped into a case manager's office who knew about my personal situation and said, "Do you think it's a problem that I would mediate with this woman in the room?" And of course the answer, the only appropriate one, was "What do YOU think?" We checked in with the Director of the center... so now I'm standing in her office with two case coordinators, the Director, and my co-mediator. Both of the parties are waiting and I'm having to explain why I don't feel comfortable mediating this case which could put the entire session in jeopardy. The more I'm talking about it, the more I'm getting worked up. I was totally embarrassed that I had to be revealing this personal information about myself to so many people that I don't know THAT well, and I'm practically on the verge of tears. So my would-have-been co-mediator leaves to deal with the mess I just made and almost instantly the director says, "I'm surprised to see you mediating, actually... I wasn't aware we were still using you. You haven't made up your training hours." I said, "I know, I was told you had made an exception for me to keep mediating, I'm really thankful. As you can see, it's been a pretty stressful time for me." She continued saying more things that I can only assume were meant to make me feel guilty. My head was racing, I was thinking... "I'm standing here a wreck because I've had all of this amazingly emotional stuff dredged up and you choose NOW to guilt me about my lack of training hours?!?!" Of all the people I thought would understand about the inappropriateness of doing that following a very personal and obviously emotional discussion, it would be the Executive Director of a mediation center. Not so, she kept going (chastising me in front of one of the case coordinators) and so I turned on my heels to leave the office. I threw a "Thanks" over my shoulder and was gone. Shortly after I got back to my office and cooled down I sent the director an email. Basically I just told her that her concerns were valid and that if I couldn't find the time to make "a good faith effort" to catch-up my training that I shouldn't mediate, and she could take me off the active mediator list. I made a parenthetical comment about how I thought it might have been less appropriate to have the discussion the way she did and left it at that. Best not burn bridges. I'll just chalk up the experience to another life lesson. I'm definitely richer for my experience at the center. And, as my friend Susan says, I'm clearing space in my life for good things to enter... | private feedback | (0) public comments To Be Happy Don't think that I'm complaining. Sometimes it keeps on raining. But don't be frightened by thunder and lighting. Soon the sun comes out and the flowers grow. And you find you're already on the road to be happy. | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, May 27, 2004 Ithaca is... I've been seeing a lot of new takes on the "Ithaca is Gorges" t-shirt lately. "Ithaca is Gangsta" and "Ithaca is Cold," among others that escape me as I type this. But let's not forget my favorite and the one that pre-dates this trend... *big sarcastic grin*... "Ithaca is the City of Evil." FreeRepublic.com, which I have posted about before, bashes liberals and left-leaning Ithacans on their site. They post news stories in forums to allow people to make denigrating comments about the subjects of the articles. This is highly intellectual dialog, to be sure. Freepers, as they are commonly referred to, are also known to flood internet and news polls (like the Ithaca Times' Best of Ithaca) to try to skew the results. Not that I expect conservatives to have many intelligent things to say... Recently I was out having drinks... and someone was talking to me about a speech in which Dubbya advocated the creation of electronic medical records to streamline health care procedures. And I said, "Yeah, I think that's a great idea. Hillary wrote about it in last week's New York Times Magazine." So, basically, we agreed, right? Wrong. He turned to me and snapped, "The only thing Hillary Clinton knows about is licking twat!" So much for intelligent conversation with a conservative. But now that I have that off my chest... Recently there was a thread about a story that our local news did about the Web site, and in particular a page administered by a FreeRepublic member called BehindLiberalLines. News Channel 10 attempted to make contact with the individual responsible for the site and of course couldn't reach them. The news channel resorted to showing a local progressive politician's and businessperson's response. But then it got stranger... Ryan Parkhurst, Senior Producer at News 10 Now, posted a request to the forum in which he identified himself as a "card carrying republican"... and implored the person behind the "Ithaca is the City of Evil" site to come forward and be interviewed. Of course the individual denied, citing "at least one former conservative Ithaca website that was pretty much hounded off the web by the 'tolerant,' and 'enlightened' people of Ithaca, some of whom made a concentrated effort to discover the identities of the people behind that site as part of an effort to intimdate and harass them", i.e. "I can make money selling merchandise with my lame ideology printed on it, but I don't have the balls to step up and defend myself." How easy it is to lob insults and empty slogans from anonymity. | private feedback | (1) public comments Wednesday, May 26, 2004 I want my GayTV! MTV Networks announced yesterday that, after a long delay, it intended next February to start the first cable television channel directed at gay viewers. The new channel, to be called Logo, will have one unusual obstacle: outrage from conservative groups. [NYTimes.com article: MTV to Start First Network Aimed at Gays] | private feedback | (0) public comments Big & Rich That's the name of a new country duo with a fantastic song and video out... Yes, it's country, but who wouldn't love a song with the lyric "Save a horse, ride a cowboy"? | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, May 24, 2004 Charges Dismissed Update on the bias incident I've been posting articles about... [Charges dismissed against councilman] | private feedback | (0) public comments Sunday, May 23, 2004 Funniest thing that happened this weekend Friday happy hour... at Simeon's on the Commons... with Cheri and Lauren... I am talking about my new crush... who they both have met before. "Oh yes, he's very good looking," They both say. "And he seems really nice too," I add, "even though I haven't talked to him that much yet. He seems like he has his shit together." I pause and say, "The only problem is that people say he's a player." Cheri says, "What's your definition of a player?" I say, "I dunno. Someone who's always got someone they're seeing but not for very long. They always have an iron in the fire." Lauren leans forward. Very seriously, without even a hint of sarcasm or catty-ness she says, "Aren't you a player?" Cheri immediately busted up and I was too shocked to respond right away. When I got my wits back I laughed and told her she was my new best friend. Who knew straight people were so funny? | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, May 21, 2004 Political Reality Television This might be taking "keeping an eye on your opponent" a little too far... The Chicago Sun-Times reports: "For the past 10 days, U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama hasn't been able to go to the bathroom or talk to his wife on his cell phone without having a camera-toting political gofer from his Republican rival filming a few feet away." "In what has to be a first in Illinois politics, Republican Jack Ryan has assigned one of his campaign workers to record every movement and every word of the state senator while he is in public." "That means Justin Warfel, armed with a handheld Panasonic digital camcorder, follows Obama to the bathroom door and waits outside. It means Warfel follows Obama as he moves from meeting to meeting in the Capitol. And it means Warfel tails Obama when he drives to his campaign office." And what, exactly, does Mr. republican Jack Ryan think he is going to do with all of that film? If i were Obama, I'd invite the cameraman into the bathroom to get some fun outtakes that couldn't make it into campaign commercials. [Obama admits he dislikes his most loyal follower] | private feedback | (0) public comments Alleged Racial Bias Incident Update [Ithaca Police report released in arrest of city alderman] | private feedback | (0) public comments Internet Phenomenon Some friends were telling me about this hilarious video where a kid sets up a camera and films himself doing star wars moves with a broom handle. The movie has made its rounds and has quite a following. Not only is there the original video but people have also made all kinds of edits and re-mixes. Enjoy! | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, May 20, 2004 Music Break As a break from all the uber-serious posts lately... Reba's new music video, Somebody has been posted online in Windows Media Format. Reba looks great, the video is super. Check it out. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quotable My friends... Chris and Dennis... who I wrote about travelling to Mass. to get married this week were quoted in the New York Times... "If I needed to I would want to fight it," said Chris Bianchi, 29, of Rochester, N.Y., who married Dennis Skinner, 27, on Tuesday in Somerville. Mr. Bianchi said they would take their marriage license to city hall in Rochester next week and seek to have their marriage recognized. For the record, their ages got swapped. Sorry Dennis. ;-) One day after the start of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, Gov. Mitt Romney demanded copies of marriage applications from four cities and towns that are defying his order not to marry out-of-state couples. Looks like a fight is brewin'. [Full Article] | private feedback | (0) public comments Veep Talk The names are flying fast and furiously. Who is John Kerry going to pick as his V.P.? John Edwards? Wesley Clark? Bill Richardson? Hillary Clinton? There is one person that keeps getting mentioned by Democrats... One person that would end the Veep search if only the object of their affection would entertain the idea. John McCain. Wait? John McCain, REPUBUBLICAN from Arizona? THAT John McCain? Yup. There have been articles everywhere. On Meet The Press, Joe Biden mused that he hoped McCain would take Kerry's call if Kerry decided to ask him to serve as Vice President. And Biden continued to say that he hoped McCain would be a more loyal American than loyal republican, and that a Kerry-McCain ticket could go a long way towards healing the divide in this country. And I kinda agree. I think it would be cool too, through all my partisanship, to have John McCain (who I have always respected as a politician) to join a bipartisan ticket against the man who is ruining this country. It WOULD completely change current political paradigms. And as much as John McCain swears he holds no grudge against Dubbya... (Dubbya smeared McCain during their presidential primary with all kinds of nasty rumors and McCain makes his disagreements with the administration public knowledge), he has every encouragement to rebel against a party that doesn't respect him or any type of dissent. republicans, for their part, are cannibalizing their own and doing everything they can to drive him towards leaving the party as far as I can tell. Instead of coddling someone with the potential of ruining their hold on the white house by joining a bipartisan presidential ticket, they crack jokes at his expense and question is republican credentials. At a press conference yesterday, a conversation with reporters and House Speaker Dennis Hastert went something like this: Reporter: "Can I combine two issues, Iraq and taxes? I heard a speech from John McCain the other day..." Hastert: "Who?" Reporter: "John McCain." Hastert: "Where's he from?" Reporter: "He's a Republican from Arizona." Hastert: "A Republican?" Amid nervous laughter, the reporter continued with his question. John McCain deserves a hell of a lot better than that. And while the chances are very slim (but still fun to think about) that he'd join John Kerry's campaign in any capacity... he's probably about the only republican left that I have any respect for. [Hastert questions McCain's GOP credentials] [Desperately Seeking Senator John McCain] | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, May 19, 2004 More Racial Tensions in Ithaca? After apparent racial bias incidents at stores and our local high school, I was disheartened to read about another... the alleged improper treatment of two black men at the scene of a petty incident. And this time they handcuffed the wrong black man. From my quick read of the Ithaca Journal and the Ithaca Times coverage, I gather that three students who had just finished an exam (one white and two black) got invited to a friend's apartment. When they couldn't get into the building, the white student pounded on the door which caused a security guard to question what they were up to. The security guard told them that the two black students could enter and the white student who pounded on the door could not. Makes sense so far... Meanwhile, the friend who had invited them over said they should come in the back door. All three entered the building through said back door. Some time later, the security guard returned with a city police officer in tow. The officer and the guard entered the apartment on their own and ticketed two of the two black students with trespassing even over the objections of the friend who invited them and occupied the apartment. Not only that, but at least one, if not both, of the black students were handcuffed and put in the back of the police car for "questioning" which lasted approximately 45 minutes. Got it? OK, so one of the black students that was handcuffed is an elected official... an Alderman on the City's Common Council. (Oops.) He held a press conference yesterday demanding that action be taken or an investigation begun into the appropriateness of police procedure. So I have a bunch of questions... #1. Why did they only ticket the two black students? Especially in light of the fact that it was the white student that banged on the door to begin with and was the one that was told not to enter the building, and all three of them were together. #2. Why would they ticket ANYONE if the occupier of the apartment was vouching that the three students had been invited? What made the officer and the security guard continue with processing and ticketing the students at all over her objections? #3. Is it just me or does 45 minutes handcuffed in the back of a police car seem a teensy bit overkill for two students who were accused of doing nothing more than trespassing? 45 minutes of "questions" and "processing"? Hmmmmm. #4. Don't the city police have anything better to do than harrass college students who are hanging out with friends in the privacy of their own apartments? I gotta say, when I first read the very short blurb yesterday I thought, "that really smells of racism" but then I thought "Shane, hold your judgement until you get some more information". Well after today, my suspicions are only increasing. Something smells fishy. [Arrest of Alderperson Raises Questions About Racial Bias in Police Department] [Alderman arrest sparks probe of IPD] [Upset by police, alderman feels 'need for serious action'] | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "[Laura Bush] brought back dignity and grace to the White House. She has no interest in seeking her own headlines or making policy." Lynette Boggs McDonald, a Clark County commissioner (Nevada), introducing Laura Bush at a rally for Dubbya. Ummm... "dignity and grace"? For what? For standing behind her imbecile husband and smiling? Read between the lines... what this woman and most republicans are saying is that the proper role for a woman is to support her husband and have no public ambitions. Ms. McDonald went on to say that Laura Bush is no Teresa Heinz Kerry or Hillary Rodham Clinton. That's plainly obvious... and one of the main reasons I'm a proud Democrat. Democrats are not afraid of strong women. | private feedback | (0) public comments Tuesday, May 18, 2004 Quote of the Day #1 "Fifty years ago today, nine judges announced that they had looked at the Constitution and saw no justification for the segregation and humiliation of an entire race." George W. Bush yesterday, the 50th anniversary of the Brown V. Board of Education, praising the activist judges that took an unpopular stand to desegregate public schools and declare the "separate but equal" paradigm unconstitutional. Quote of the Day #2 "The sacred institution of marriage should not be redefined by a few activist judges. All Americans have a right to be heard in this debate. I called on the Congress to pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife. The need for that amendment is still urgent, and I repeat that call today." George W. Bush yesterday, the first day that same-sex marriage was legal in Mass. This time, he was calling on congress to amend the constitution to permanently segregate and humiliate gays and lesbians in committed relationships. The irony is apparently lost on George W. Bush. | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, May 17, 2004 Quote of the Day "Emily, get out of the way. Bring the camera back please." Colin Powell to a white house press aide that tried to cut-off his interview with Tim Russert on Meet The Press. It was a moment that was probably funnier to see than read about, but as Tim Russert was about to ask Powell how he felt knowing that almost everything he presented to the U.N. over a year ago was a sham, the camera pans away and a press aide rushes on to get Mr. Powell to leave the interview. But Tim Russert is a force to be reckoned with, and you do NOT pull the plug on an interview with him. Mr. Powell came back on to give his final double-speak answer and they aired it all. [Read the full article] | private feedback | (0) public comments Congratulations Chris and Dennis! My friends from Rochester, Chris and Dennis, have been together as long as I've known them... (7 years) and are a rock-solid couple that I absolutely adore. Not only are they there for eachother but for their friends as well. And right this very minute they are in Mass. waiting to get married... such an inspiration. Congratulations to them and all the gay and lesbian couples that are making a committment to eachother this week in Mass. [An article at CNN.COM] | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, May 14, 2004 Voting as Sin Catholics who vote for politicians in favor of abortion rights, stem-cell research, euthanasia or gay marriage may not receive Communion until they recant and repent in the confessional. Bishop Michael Sheridan’s pronouncement was the strongest yet from a U.S. bishop in the debate over how faith should influence Catholics in this election year. [Read the full article and another point of view] | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, May 12, 2004 Everybody loves a parade Today is the 100th anniversary of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The celebration kicked off with a reenactment of the parade held on campus a hundred years ago. There were old cars, tractors, people dressed up like dung beetles, lambs, compost piles on wheels, floats with squealing pigs, calves, a marching band, free ice cream, and tons and tons of candy being thrown from floats. One of the floats was even handing out little ivy plants... I was already up on campus, it would have been a shame not to come out and support my college. I have such a soft spot in my heart for the Animal Science Department, where I spent so much of my time in school. I kinda wish I had marched with the alumni. But then I wouldn't have gotten any candy. Tough choices.  Tuesday, May 11, 2004 My schedule just cleared up After much difficult discussion, it was decided that the event we were planning for Ithaca's Pride celebration could not go on as planned... and that there wasn't enough time to reinvent the wheel before June 13th. While I'm disappointed... I've learned a lot about organizing events, timing, people, community activism, and the importance of communication. Perhaps the most important lesson of all is not to be put off by those that want to complain about what you're doing but don't want to step forward and invest their time or help out... ...everyone seems to want to celebrate pride, but noone wants to organize it. Here's to better luck for an Ithaca Pride in 2005. | private feedback | (0) public comments All I Need Everywhere someone's getting over Everybody cries And sometimes you can still lose even if you really try Talking about the dream Like the dream is over Talk like that Won't get you nowhere Everybody's trusting in the heart Like the heart don't lie And that's all that I need, yeah Someone else to cling to, yeah Someone I can lean on Until I don't need to Just stay all through the night In the morning let me down Cause that's all that I need right now Everywhere someone's getting over Everybodys life is someone People still use other people with a crooked smile And all around the world there's a sinking feeling Out there right now someone's feeling Down on themselves and don't know why Every night And that's all that I need, yeah Someone else to cling to, yeah Someone I can lean on Until I don't need to Just stay all through the night, yeah In the morning let me down Cause that's all that I need right now And life ain't no beauty show We don't know where tomorrow ends And when we're sad It's kind of a drag Just stay all through the night In the morning let me down Yeah, cause that's all that I need Yeah, that's all that I need Yeah, that's all that I need That's all that I need right now Right now My new favorite Matchbox 20 song. | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, May 10, 2004 Quote of the Day "I don't mind making love to you. Just don't ask me to marry you." New York's uber-lame republican governor, George Pataki to Senate Majority leader (and fellow republican) Joseph Bruno. Bruno and Pataki were at the public opening of a power plant in the hudson valley and apparently wanted to crack jokes about gay marriage. (Huh?) Bruno inspired the Governor's response following this riff... "I've been proud to partner with this governor - most of the time. Like all good partners, occasionally you don't partner. But you kiss, you make up and you make love most of the time." | private feedback | (0) public comments Sunday, May 09, 2004 Leave it to Mom I have had one hell of a year... and have been threatening to take a vacation for months. My business partners mentioned that they were taking some time off in the summer and maybe it made sense to just close the office down... we could just warn our clients that we wouldn't be around for those two weeks. I thought it sounded like a good idea... it coincided with my birthday... who wouldn't want to take a two week break from working around their birthday? So I mention this to my mother... that I had two weeks off in June. "I have a week off in June!" she responds. (Turns out her week off is my first week off.) I say, "Really, maybe we should plan a trip. Just the two of us." Then the fun part... "Where do you want to go?" I'm very much like my mother in the sense that we're both very "go-with-the-flow" people. Frankly, neither of us really cares where we go on vacation, as long as it's not Rochester or Ithaca and we get to spend some time together. So we went round and round for two weeks, being very non-commital about our options. There was talk of going to the cape/P-town, mom countered with South Beach/Miami, I suggested "somewhere in California," there was limited talk of a cruise... but the Caribbean or Alaska? Maybe we'd have a good time in a city in Canada? We were all over the map. Since we were both so busy, a lot of the "conversation" was happening via voicemail. One of us would just have to pin it down. So finally I left a message on her machine... "Mom, just pick a city in California." She left me a message. "Hey Shane, it's your mom. I've booked our tickets to San Francisco. Leaving the 14th, staying for six nights. And the first day we're touring Alcatraz. After that, we'll figure it out. Love you, bye." Good choice, Mom! San Fran, here I come! Happy Mother's Day!! | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, May 07, 2004 The wheels are comin' off The administration that was once revered as the most well-oiled, loyal, and on-message machine is now falling apart at the seams. The Department of Defense and the State Department may as well be on different planets. Powell doesn't know about funding requests and Iraq war plans before foreign leaders know about them. Rummy isn't sharing information about Department of Defense investigations into allegations of prisoner abuse... even with Dubbya. And Dubbya is pissed... the white house that never leaks anything bad about the administration leaked that Dubbya was very upset with Rummy. Condi Rice isn't getting information from Tenet. Dubbya won't even testify in front of a panel without his brain in tow, and its growing more and more apparent that NOONE in the current administration listened to the previous administration. Bush is over. | private feedback | (0) public comments Me and My Cutie Patootie  The two of us out on the deck before her tee ball game. Thursday, May 06, 2004 Quote of the Day "These are international standards. It's the best care available in a prison facility. For many, the living conditions are now better in prison than at home. At one point we were concerned they wouldn't want to leave." Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, in charge of the Iraq's prison system. Karpinski has since been suspended from the job, and is facing disciplinary action and a possible court-martial after the publication of the shocking photographs showing abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Shameful. And for those of you who are as appalled as I am about the woman in the photos who is standing next to the prisoners giving the thumbs up sign, check out this NPR broadcast about the involvement of women in the abuse at the Iraqi prison. [Full Article] | private feedback | (0) public comments Ithaca Directory Happily Stuck in Ithaca has been added to the Ithaca Directory, a listing of web sites that have something to do with Ithaca. | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, May 05, 2004 Mean Girls  Last night, as a bit of stress relief and break from the ultra-serious, need-to-process-afterwards movies I've been seeing lately, a friend and I went to see Mean Girls. Not only do I love the high-school-popular-girls-as-nasty-bitches genre... this movie is also written by Tina Fey, who is my favorite cast member on SNL. (Her witty reading and commentary of the weekly news aside Jimmy Fallon is a real treat... and if I had cable, even basic, Fey's segment would be appointment television.)
The movie has quite a few familiar faces from SNL... and a bunch of fresh faces. The main character, Cady, has been raised in the wilds of Africa and gets dropped into an American public school when her mother takes a job teaching. Cady falls in with "The Plastics", a group of teenage girls who are superficial, catty, bitchy, beautiful, popular, and powerful... the kind of people we want to be and want to tear apart at the same time. As one female student says, "They ruin lives." Comedy and drama ensue as the girls get turned against eachother... secrets are revealed... and "The Plastics" have a meltdown. There are a lot of good laughs, some decent laughs, and some duds. (I'm super disappointed that there's a scene in which every character has a romantic interest... even the head bitch... EXCEPT the gay male sidekick. I mean, couldn't they throw him a bone? I guess in high school, gay guys have to be asexual. I expected more from Tina Fey.) If you just want to laugh and like your movies a little campy and void intellectual content... go see Mean Girls. [The Trailer] | private feedback | (0) public comments Disney: No Anti-Bush Movie, Please Disney, parent company to Miramax, is trying to stifle Michael Moore's new documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 from being distributed in the US in time for the election. The documentary links President Bush with powerful Saudi families, including that of Osama bin Laden. Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, told the New York Times that Eisner asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with Miramax. Emanuel said Eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where President Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, is governor. [Read the full article] | private feedback | (0) public comments Tuesday, May 04, 2004 Do You Know Who Your Representative Is? Sometime soon after recording PSAs yesterday morning, Michelle says, "Can you do dinner tonight?" I said, "Absolutely!" I haven't gotten to see her much since her campaign last fall and it only took about 15 minutes worth of conversation to realize that I miss hanging out with her very much... She is a fantastic friend and great to talk with. We found our groove and had a great dinner. Towards the end of dinner we started talking about this disturbing thing that continues to happen to her... she and another friend of mine (also an elected official) Leslyn, are constantly mistaken for one another. Now, these two women are very good friends, and both black women... but honestly, the similarity ends there. And I was struck by how inherently insulting it must be to Michelle and Leslyn that people don't take the time or care enough to differentiate the two of them. Their bodies, their hair, their skin tone, the way they hold themselves, their demeanors, the way they talk, are all completely different. So why is it so common that people mistake them? A disturbing number of people do it. I am hesitant to attach the word "racism" but I keep coming back to that. The extent of it is just plain crazy making. People clip stories about Michelle from the newspaper and pass them to Leslyn's brother and say things like, "Hey, we saw your sister in the paper today!" Reporters and community members will walk up to Leslyn and ask about a play that Michelle was recently in or an event that Michelle was recently at as thought Leslyn had done those things. There are meetings that Michelle doesn't attend (at which Leslyn is present), where they thank Michelle for coming in the minutes. And there are even more horrendous stories that I can't bring myself to share. My patience would wear pretty thin. We used to joke about this mistaken identity "problem" during Michelle's campaign... at press conferences, Michelle would make a joke about how they obviously weren't the same person since they were finally being seen side-by-side. We always hoped providing an uncomfortable laugh about it would get it out of the way and people would stop making the mistake. Sort of to say, "No, No, a lot of people do it. But come on now, really." I've had friends of mine point to either Leslyn or Michelle and say to me, "Isn't that your black friend?" as though I might only have one. And a high-ranking Democrat, upon overhearing discussion of the mistaken identity, said something to the effect of "Well, they're both larger, black women." When confronted about it, this individual apologized for being insensitive about their weight. THEIR WEIGHT!? As if referring to them both as black women who are interchangeable is not offensive! Only time will tell how this will play itself out... but I desperately hope the Ithaca community soon realizes that there is something terribly wrong with only making room for one black female elected official... and lumping the rest together. | private feedback | (0) public comments 11 Hard Questions for Bush But many more laughs for us... an opinion piece from SFGate.com. | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, May 03, 2004 Plant Daddy To be sure, I'm the guy that always volunteers to take the sad pointsettia home after Christmas because "otherwise its going in the trash" and I'm the guy that attempts to rescue any plants that are on their last legs that friends and coworkers have given up on. If there is ANY green left at all, I'll attempt to revive it. This doesn't mean I have a particularly green thumb... some of my attempts are utter failures. I'm just a glutton for a challenge and have an unsinkable hope that abandoned plant life can once again flourish, even if it's kitchen scraps... a potato peel with a healthy eye or a bulb of garlic sprouting in the refridgerator drawer. I've been known to have the most random plants growing in containers on my porch (last summer was a potato, a blueberry, and garlic). My latest rescue is one of those planted-by-a-florist specials with a big pink bow that you might give someone when they move into a new office. It came in a wicker basket, with about six different houseplants included. One of my suitemates had put it on the floor beside the garbage can as though they felt guilty actually throwing it inside the can. What caught my attention is that one of the plants was a healthy specimen that was actually flowering, the only plant that was showing any signs of life... the rest of the plants were completely brown. This basket had obviously been neglected for a while. So my goal has been to replant the one plant on its own and shower it with love. But I keep forgetting to bring in the new pot... and in the meantime I got sick of looking at all the brown leaves so I trimmed away all the dead material and kept watering the whole basket. Then, at the base of two of the plants I noticed little buds, and like a proud parent I've been showing my officemate everytime something exciting happens. "Pam! Look! A new leaf!" and I walk the basket over to her desk so that she can inspect it. So now I have one plant and the equivalent of two plant babies. And boy do I ever dote on them. I took the basket over to Pam's desk today to show her how proud I was and she said, "You're such a proud daddy!" *big grin* I really am a proud plant daddy! | private feedback | (0) public comments Gay Pride PSAs This morning I went out to the local radio station to record a PSA for Ithaca's Gay Pride event... a mass same-sex committment ceremony happening June 13th at the Common Ground. I'm very excited about the event... and a local radio talk show host offered his studio and some air time to record and play two PSAs to help us get the word out. (Michelle Berry, Second Ward Alderwoman and Ally recorded the second one.) Listen for the spots to start a week from today on the Casey Stevens show, weekday mornings from 6-10 AM, on WHCU 870 AM. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day "I asked Hillary, 'Can you give me some suggestions about running for Senate in a state you haven't lived for in a while, or in your case, ever?'" Al Franken, liberal comedian and radio talk show host about seeking advice for a potential Senate campaign in 2008 against Norm Coleman. He says the odds are "better than 50-50" and he says he would make a decision by late next year. And speaking of celebrities running for office, Jerry Springer is once again floating the idea of running for Senate in 2006. Just think of it... how much fun the Senate would be with BOTH Jerry Springer and Al Franken in it! | private feedback | (0) public comments |
Hey! I'm Shane... a proud gay progressive Democrat who has recently relocated to New York City from Ithaca, NY. As I am no longer in Ithaca, I haven't quite decided the fate of this blog. Drop me a line!
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