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The modern gay rights movement in the US started 40 years ago today with the Stonewall riots. It's remarkable how far we've gotten in 40 years, but also for how much still remains. I'm optimistic that LBGT's will eventually get the legal rights they deserve, and with gay marriage now being done in 6 states, it's slowly but surely turning the tide on discrimination.
It's still sad though that people fill the need to be the closest even in 2009, and that gay slur words are still considered acceptable. And it's been very disappointing how little Obama has done to address these issues, completely ignoring his promise to get rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell in the military, which results in a shortage of Arabic translators when we need them the most.
And don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is that we have the same politicians who claim two guys in love destroy the sanctity of marriage ,but heading down on a tax-payer funded jaunt to Argentina to cheat on his wife is apparently a-ok. It really just blows my mind.
I'm typing this on my phone as I sit in LAX, on my way to New Zealand to see Kara again. It's a 6 hour layover, and they don't offer free wireless, so I'm stuck browsing on my phone. It's times like this that I love my phone!
Speakinf of which, there was a new software update for it yesterday, so it now supports an on screen keyboard (although I still like the physical keyboard better) and can shoot video. Cool stuff! The camera is still terrible though, and battery llife isn't the greatest, but I still find it all worth it for Internet anywhere.
But back to flying... I'll be in NZ a week this time, and I just want to get on the plane to watch some movies on demand, and get some sleep. I barely slept last night because of packing and work.
Though celebrating my 26th birthday yesterday did take up some time too. I went out to Mangia's pizza with a bunch of friends for some deep dish pizza goodness, and then went to see "Up" in digital 3D. It was really good! It was also preetty cool that since Kara is in the first time zone after the International dateline, she could be the first person to officially wish me happy birthday on June 3rd, which coresponded to 7am on the 2nd for me.
I need to find the airport that has beds you rent by the hour, that's a genius idea. I think I'll try taking some photos of planes too to kill some time.
Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor yesterday for the Supreme Court, to replace Souter. And the standard arguments from both sides pretty much began immediately. ::yawn::
It has been funny though with conservatives getting riled up about how she's racist, when she points out, correctly, that the experiences of a Latina woman are going to be different than that of a white male. And that those experiences might come in handy when making a decision. For instance, there is the amusing fact that Justice Alito, who graduated Princeton a few months before Sotomayor arrived, was part of an organization while at Princeton that opposed admitting women, such as Sotomayor, into the university. That's might make it a tad bit awkward to serve together won't it? But I would think that being barred from entering a college is something that a white male wouldn't have experienced, and I would also think that it could constitute a "richness of her experiences" that a Latina woman would have, and a white male such as myself wouldn't.
In other news, while I'm not surprised a majority of Americans are still against love, I am surprised that a full 40% are against even "like". That's how many people think a gay relationship should be illegal. Yes, that's right, a man having a boyfriend should be illegal. Somehow I bet it's the same 40% who also think the government is far too big and intrusive.
On a happier note, I'm loving So You Think You Can Dance this season. I'm not big into reality shows, but I love dance and they're some amazing performers out there.
Someone decided to take a bunch of photos of the insides of people's refrigerators. My favorite is the bar tenders, who has his fridge stuffed with styrofoam takeout containers. And so in the spirit of the photo gallery, I took some photos of the inside of my fridge, and the door. As you can see, I don't have a lot in there other than the basic condiments, some eggs, juice, milk, and some beer that's been sitting in there for 5 months now. Don't need much fridge space when you're living alone.
I've been watching the flight prices for New Zealand for a while, since I was planning my trips to see Kara. And even though I've already bought them, I still check to see how much, and when, they'll fluctuate just out of curiosity sake.
So for my second trip, I kept holding out waiting to see if they'd drop any. Then they went up, so I figured I should pounce before they kept on going up. But then not but about 24 hours later, they went back down to their original price. And of course when I called the airline, they just said it was the luck of the game and couldn't do anything for me. Then for my third flight, about 3 days after I bought my ticket, it was $50 cheaper. Also the prices for the itinerary I originally planned where quite a bit more than I would spend by moving it around a few days, so I went with the alternative dates. But then yesterday, they dropped by about $200 overnight, making it just about the same price I paid for the tickets I had bought for the alternative dates. It's craaaazy
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