QOTD

"Like smallpox and whiskey, homophobia was a Western import, codified once the U.S. and Canada became nations."

- Jon Roth

As you know I'm 1/32 Cherokee, which is why I liked this article in Out: A Tribe Called Queer, In the Native American community, two spirits can be better than one.

Marnie vs Marine

At work, last week, I read something aloud and incorrectly read "Marnie" (as in a woman's name) instead of "Marine" (as in the U.S. Forces).  My team made fun of me because I followed the oopsie with the statement: "That doesn't make sense, why does that say 'Marnie?'"  My team corrected me.

I was first diagnosed with dyslexia when I was in the third grade.  I went to special classes in fourth and fifth grade to learn how to learn with dyslexia.  It was a low point in college when I realized I would never "out grow" dyslexia; I was twenty before I realized I'd never "catch up" and be "normal."  

I never, ever tell anyone at work I have dyslexia because I don't want it to be perceived as a weakness, an excuse, a crutch.  But sometimes it gets to me.

Lucky for me, today The New York Times had an article by Annie Murphy Paul titled The Upside of Dyslexia

Thank you Annie Murphy Paul.  I needed that.

Flue

Last night we were watching our nieces while my brother and his wife went out on a date night.  We had just gotten the girls in bed upstairs, and since I was chilly downstairs I fired up their gas fireplace.   Ten minutes later their fire alarm (which is tied to their burglar alarm) was loudly beeping in every single room in their house.  I mean every single room in their house was beeping.  Every single room.

After we got the alarm off, the fire off, the widows up, and the girls back in bed, my husband looked at me and said: "Did you open the flue before you started the fire?"

Hooray for Blue

This is magical.  It's like Williams-Sonoma created the perfect mixing bowls, prep mixing bowls, and place mats for our house.  Look at those beautiful blues!

Williams-Sonoma Associate: "These are the best mixing bowls."
Me: "I know, I bought them in orange five years ago."
Williams-Sonoma Associate: "Oh no, did they break?" (She was concerned.)
Me: "No."
Williams-Sonoma Associate: "Oh, are these a gift? Do you need a gift receipt?"
Me: "No."
Willams-Sonoma Associate: "Oh, these are for you? Do you need another set?"
Me: "You sound like my husband.  I don't need them; I want these because they are blue."
(She laughed.)

Trigger's Spot

When I wake up in the morning Trigger Monkey likes to jump in the bed and take my spot.  I think it's funny when I see my husband and Trigger sleeping next to each other with both their heads sticking out of the covers.

Agreed, It's Time

My brother sent this YouTube video to me, and you absolutely must watch it.  It's brilliant.

QOTD

Today's quote-of-the-day is from an Op-Ed in Sunday's New York Times by Frank Bruni titled Genetic or Not, Gay Won’t Go Away:
"We don’t need to be born this way to refute the ludicrous assertion that homosexuality poses some special threat to the stability of the American family. We need only note that heterosexuality — as practiced by the likes of Newt Gingrich and John Edwards, for example — isn’t any lucky charm, and yet no one’s trying to heal the straights...

"I honestly have no idea if I was born this way. My memory doesn’t stretch to the crib. 

"But I know that from the moment I felt romantic stirrings, it was Timmy, not Tammy, who could have me walking on air or wallowing in torch songs and tubs of ice cream. These feelings gelled early, and my considerable fear of society’s censure was no match for them. 

"I know that being in a same-sex relationship feels as central and natural to me as my loyalty to my father, my pride in my siblings’ accomplishments and my protectiveness of their children — all emotions that I didn’t exit the womb with but will not soon shake. 

"And I know that I’m a saner, kinder person this way than trapped in a contrivance or a lie. Surely that’s not just to my advantage but to society’s, too."