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british air biz class seat
Sober
A very long time ago, in what feels like a galaxy far far away, I parked my car and walked into what turned out to be a rehab. And I have not used any drugs or alcohol since then, although I have wanted to occasionally. Today is my sober anniversary – the anniversary of the day I began this kooky journey.
So much has changed since then. I was very young at the time (didn’t feel like it then – I felt like I had been through so much). I’ve done a lot of growing up.
This past year has been a year of huge changes for me in so many ways. I have been working at and making giant strides to become me – to really acknowledge and embrace all of my Amy-ness – even the scary, icky stuff (that’s an ongoing battle). And the best part is that I have the greatest friends ever. They have been loving and supportive and there for me every step of the way. Some of them are sober and some are not – but they’re all such a huge blessing.
It’s nice having my anniversary right around Thanksgiving because it gives me a few days of remembering how much pain I was in and how hopeless I felt and how different a person I am now. Today, when I’m in pain, it still hurts a lot, but I don’t feel like it’s always going to be like this – I know it will all change in one way or another. And that I can make choices that affect how and what that change is.
Anyhoo, my brother is getting married today, which I’m very happy about. I met his fiance last weekend and we spent a few hours together getting to know each other. I gave her a big thumbs up (and this URL, which only goes to people I like). Looking forward to seeing the rest of my family that I haven’t had a chance to see yet.
It’s a little over an hour drive with my mom and my aunt to the hotel where the wedding is being held. Those two together can be particularly volatile, particularly if my aunt is stoned. Which only happens when she’s breathing…
Do you measure up?
That’s right – you can now get a condom that’s also a ruler. But it’s metric, so some math will be involved.
Travels with Amy
So, I spent the first weekend of my trip back east in Manhattan. Generally, when I come back for Thanksgiving, I spend the entire time with my family but this time I decided to chill out a little first. I'm really glad that I did. I slept in, hung out with friends, wandered the city and shot some pix (will post shortly) and just generally relaxed.
I only get three weeks vacation and I always spend 1 week doing the parent shuffle for Thanksgiving, at least a week on the Big Island (which centers me and lets me see my Hawaii friends who make me happy) and one week somewhere interesting. But that means that unless my family comes out to Seattle to visit me, I only see them once a year when I'm here for Thanksgiving. And I have a lot of family. Cause you know, my parents are divorced. And there are A LOT of step people, step people in law, step cousins, step nieces and nephews and of course, my real brother and nieces. I like them all a lot, which also makes things more complicated (if I didn't like them, I wouldn't mind not missing them, so liking them makes it more difficult).
And for some reason, I've been anxious about spending time with family this trip. The good news is when I actually do see them, it's all good. But the anticipation...not all that much fun.
Been in Connecticut for a few days and I'm heading to my mom's in NY later today. Hopefully, I'll keep my wits about me and not get into any trouble. I'll write more when I don't have parents hovering...
Keep your fingers crossed...
I only get three weeks vacation and I always spend 1 week doing the parent shuffle for Thanksgiving, at least a week on the Big Island (which centers me and lets me see my Hawaii friends who make me happy) and one week somewhere interesting. But that means that unless my family comes out to Seattle to visit me, I only see them once a year when I'm here for Thanksgiving. And I have a lot of family. Cause you know, my parents are divorced. And there are A LOT of step people, step people in law, step cousins, step nieces and nephews and of course, my real brother and nieces. I like them all a lot, which also makes things more complicated (if I didn't like them, I wouldn't mind not missing them, so liking them makes it more difficult).
And for some reason, I've been anxious about spending time with family this trip. The good news is when I actually do see them, it's all good. But the anticipation...not all that much fun.
Been in Connecticut for a few days and I'm heading to my mom's in NY later today. Hopefully, I'll keep my wits about me and not get into any trouble. I'll write more when I don't have parents hovering...
Keep your fingers crossed...
She just won’t go away
Watch the guy in the background, waiting until he can go on with his turkey slaughter…
Poor turkey. Last thing it heard was her babbling.
my entire hotel room
going to go hang out in the lobby & watch the pretty for a bit before I hike on over to the west side.
view from my hotel room
hung out with a dear old friend last night. It's the first time we've been together in person since I came out. It's always great to see her & last night was no exception. My friends here have known me so long that no matter how long it's been since we saw each other or even since we talked, we can just pick up as if it were yesterday. I'm lucky to have people like that.
Brunch with Lora this morning then meeting Eileen to go up to Columbia (Univ) & wander & take pix & then dinner & theatre with Rosie. I'm definitely looking forward to today.
Blogging from my phone with my thumbs so that's all you're getting for now.
meeting
Oy
whatta day. For reasons that I won’t get into here on a public forum (use your very creative imaginations), I did not get much sleep last night. And my entire building at work is being moved to another building tomorrow, so our offices have to be packed up (I have arranged for for movers to come move my treadmill to my new office – the official corporate movers will do it but I kinda don’t trust them as they’re moving 600 or so people over the weekend.)
And my team has been pushing really hard for something we’re shipping that we need to hand off ( which we did at midnight last night – yippee!) and although I have told the folks around me that my team is on top of it and on schedule, they’ve been ultra paranoid and hovering for the last few days and it’s been difficult not to snap at them. I have been mostly successful at that but I’m not a fan of the hovering. (They mostly stand outside my office and look in the window and look forlorn until I respond.)
I’m blogging in the 5 minutes in between meetings today. It’s taking a while. Sigh.
So, my point is, I am exhausted, there’s a lot going on at work and I’m sucking down the strong black tea that gets me all hopped up which is not hopping me today. And I have a new Twitter buddy who’s heckling me from afar. She knows not what she’s getting herself into…teehee.
But the good news is that I’m on vacation starting tomorrow. One of the big highlights of working for a large corporate enterprise is paid vacation! Every time I take time off, I do the happy dance cause I’m still getting paid. After working on my own for so long, it’s something I seriously appreciate. Of course, because we have a Dec. 3 ship date, I’ll be checking in to triage bugs ‘n other fun software factory stuff. But that’s my choice cause I’m diligent, you see.
I’m flying to NYC tomorrow at an ungodly hour, checking into the W on Lex and hanging with my friends all weekend before I face the family in the burbs and CT. I heart my family and all (and my brother’s getting married the day after Thanksgiving), but they’re a little exhausting.
Weather for NYC is COLD! But Thanksgiving is a great time to be there. It’s one of my favorite times of NYC year. (I try to avoid summer & the whole “odor du hot urine” in the subways.)
Once I’m done with the family stuff, I head to Paris for work. I heart Paris. I don’t have much time to play there, but I’m going to try to spend some time with a friend (that’s right – I have a Parisian friend. Doubters!) and wander around and take some pix to add to my collection (heh – I typed smutmug.com rather than smugmug.com just now. Now that’s funny.).
Anyhoo, I’ll be posting from NY and Paris about whatever adventures I have. Stay tuned!
I might just stress out
Hmmm…it’s Wednesday morning. I leave for a two week trip on Friday at 6:15am. I have to work today and tomorrow, must do laundry, pack, rip movies, transfer movies to laptop, drop off Gus, get my hair cut, go see Kathy Griffin (yay!) and probably nineteen other things.
And I’d like to squeeze in (teehee) ATG before I leave for two weeks, but not sure how to do that. (Somehow I think I’ll figure out a way to do that/her. Cause I’m shallow like that.)
Trying to figure out how I’m going to get this all done in the next 48 hours. Work is interfering with my lifestyle once again.
Also, I got some new teas the other night and the chai is pretty yummy but it’s got caffeine and it gets me all hopped up. Yesterday I drank two cups of it in the morning and I felt like I was on drugs. I drank 3/4 of a cup of it this morning and I still feel the caffeine.
When did I become such a wimp?
This is the greatest kitty ever
Made me cry (happy, laughing, crying). It’s the James Bond of kitties.
Thanks to Wired (there’s a bunch more amusing animal videos at that link).
Protesting
Back from marching in support of gay marriage/civil rights. It was a gorgeous day today – first time I’ve seen the sun in a while. That was a good enough excuse to get out and go yell about something – plus, protests were planned to happen simultaneously today around the country to make our voices heard about California’s ban on gay marriage, which has really upset and incensed the gay community.
Not sure how the protests went in all of the 300 cities they were planned
for, but there were thousands of people marching in Seattle. We started off at Volunteer Park, where there was a DJ getting everyone dancing around in the mood. I must say that gay rallies have the best music of any political protest I have ever attended. Also, we gays are very creative, if I can say so.
My favorite signs included:
“If Liza can marry a gay man, why can’t I?”
“Jesus had 2 dads”
“Let Dumbledore Marry!”
“Voldemort voted Yes on 8” (two separate – and distinct gay Harry Potter signs – they were not related, which especially amused me.)
“You can’t legislate whom I love” – I just love that they used the word “whom”. I’m assuming this was from the gay librarians.
And my personal favorite:
“Single? 206-788-5793”
Seattle’s a great city – lots of people were on the sidewalks cheering us on. A friend said that it’s not fun to protest in Seattle because everyone’s on our side, but I think that it rocks to live in a liberal, open minded city. Having lived in NYC, LA and Seattle, I haven’t had to experience living in a red place…don’t think it’s really for me. I think I’ll just skip that adventure.
I loved that there were tons of couples – gay and st
raight, lots of kids and plenty of dogs. The mood was upbeat – there were a few protesters yelling about us going to hell (I notice that they have very big signs. Are they compensating for something? Anyways, I digress…) and when we marched by the first group of protesters, folks started chanting “Love, Love, Love, Love” which just got me kinda choked up. That’s really what this is all about, isn’t it?
All of the pix I shot today are posted here. You may notice I have a weakness for taking pictures of pretty women. Sue me.
weaseled my way onto the stage
This explains a lot
this generation is dying off – they are the folks who voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8 (folks under 40 voted overwhelmingly against Prop 8 – we heart them). Maybe it’s not their fault – this is what they were taught:
Thank you Slog!
(Wow – that “transvestite” has a hot bod!)
7 is now my new favorite number
This guy has an interesting idea on how to strike back on people who voted for Prop 8 in California – no gay people to help them with their weddings – no hair, no makeup…he’s very amusing. And VERY gay.
Shock therapy
You can now purchase the iPosture, which will deliver a shock to your system if you slump. That’s right kids – forget putting a pile of books on your head to learn how to stand up straight. Don’t worry about your mom nagging you about your posture – shock your system into standing up straight!
Yes my friends – I’m looking out for your health and wellbeing.
From their website:
The iPosture is an intuitive electronic device designed to improve posture. Just over one inch in diameter, the iPosture automatically senses when the body slouches, and it alerts the user with brief vibrations to correct it.
…
Continuing the cute meme
The puppies are awake!
I love that there’s more than 12,000 people watching them right now. That’s hysterical! Thank god for the interwebs! (and of course, Al Gore.)
What’s with all the cute animal stories lately?
First of all, look at this picture:
So, here’s the story from the Daily Mail:
A baby penguin which had to be separated from its family after a greedy sibling continually ate all its food has found companionship - with this stuffed toy.
The penguin - called Pingu - began to lose weight and appeared weak after its bigger relative regularly helped himself to all the fish on offer.
Concerned keepers were forced to remove Pingu from the enclosure, but at just three-weeks-old the penguin was in desperate need of company.
Staff bought a £3.99 toy penguin from the zoo shop which acts as a surrogate sibling to the chuffed chick - who cuddles up to its new friend all day.
My people
From Politico:
On Proposition 8, Jewish Angelinos voted 78 percent against the ban while only 8 percent supported the ban, according to the survey of 1,200 voters in 50 precincts. The remainder declined to respond. The Jews’ vote against the ban was the highest proportion of any ethnic or religious group.
That’s why we’re the Chosen People. (I’m reading a book about the Mormons right now and apparently they think they’re the Chosen People, but I beg to differ. We trademarked that statement thousands of years ago…)
I’m officially disturbed
(more than usual.)
I kinda lost it when he broke off his nose and gave it to the chick.
Amy Update
It’s been a bit since I’ve updated all of you about what I’ve been up to. (lots of ups there, eh?). As you may have noticed, I’ve been kinda obsessed with the whole political scene. I’m (generally) calming down now.
Went to a fun soup-fest at my friend Mari’s house last weekend. Apparently, a wine fueled feud was the impetus. Who cares what caused them to soup-off – it was yummy!
Actually, I only ate two of the eight or nine different soups my friends made because they were laden with mammals (I limit my animal eating to fish and fowl.) But Shoshanna’s matzoh balls were vegetarian (no matzoh’s were harmed and none were worse for wear without their balls, which were impressive) and they were yummy.
I left Mari’s with a belly full ‘o soup and headed off to the theatre to see The Drowsy Chaperone. My car is apparently not a big fan of musical theatre and refused to drive up the steep, slippery hill by Mari’s house. It also slid to a point where I thought it (and by proxy, me) might fall off the side of said hill. Which concerned me. (actually it kinda freaked me out, to be honest with you.)
After a bevy of men (okay, four) futilely tried to help me push it up past the slippery part, Mari’s dad came to the rescue and managed to drive it all the way up the hill. Cause he’s my hero.
I made it to the theatre with 5 minutes to spare! The show was fun and not at all what I expected. It was a lighthearted romp (in a good way) and they made an old (1920’s) musical really entertaining for a modern audience by having it semi-narrated by a very fey guy in a button down sweater. It was fun and entertaining.
And then of course, there was the election on Tuesday. I spent the afternoon canvassing for the Democratic something for Change (the Washington State Democrats) who sent me and my friend Katey to knock on doors and make sure people knew it was election day. Suffice it to say, everyone knew. And the folks who were home were a little irritated by all the calls they had been getting all day about the election (plus us banging on their door). But they were good natured (we were only sent to likely Democratic voter’s houses) and it was a nice way to spend the afternoon. Plus we had great chai and cookies when we finished.
I started the night off at a fundraiser for Equal Rights Washington at Cafe Metropolitain in Capital Hill. Watching Barry being announced as the next President of the US was such an emotional moment and it was nice to be surrounded by incredibly happy homos.
We then drove over to the Eastside 
to Darcy Burner’s party. When we left Seattle, Darcy was up 57% (she lost to the incumbent schmuck Reichert by 2% in 2006 so seeing her that much above him was really great). By the time we got to the party, it was a lot closer and they still haven’t called the race – it’s within 2,000 votes (she’s now behind) and they have tens of thousands of ballots left to count. Apparently, they count ballots by touch here in Washington State. Or something equally slow and dull.
It was an incredible night. I’m really proud of what my country did and I’m a really proud American again. It’s been a while since I haven’t been a bit ashamed of my government when I’m traveling out of the country. I’ve been wearing my Obama pin when I’ve been outside of the US so that folks would know that I am one of the good ones.
I am however, really disappointed in the 51% of Californians who feel that they should have the right to deny my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters the right to marriage because they’re afraid of us. I know that there are will be ongoing legal battles about this and I’m really happy that the under 30 folks voted overwhelmingly against Prop 8 (which is what we wanted), as that means that younger people get it and if we’re patient, it will come. But I am not a big fan of being patient. And I’m still really unhappy with the Mormon Church for sticking their nose in our business – particularly when only 2% of Californians are Mormon. And I’m struggling with the fact that 70% of African Americans voted for Prop 8 and against equal rights.
I think that the best way to get the message across is to be open and honest and let people get to know us as regular old folks – just like them. We need them to look at us as people (their sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers…) who are not looking to take anything away from them and that we’re not scary (or recruiting) (although I could use a new toaster).
But I’m just not ready to forgive them yet.
Pix for all of these events are at http://amygeek.smugmug.com.
Last night
In NYC:
In Seattle (“Don’t Stop Believing”)
Philadelphia:
San Francisco:
Man, this makes me happy. It really is a new world. I’m still teary today. I think I’m going to go to DC for the inauguration. Who wants to join me?
President Barack Hussein Obama
Kinda rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it?
Excited and overwhelmed. Bummed about Prop 8 though. Will write more tomorrow. Very tired now.
Another good reason to vote
Win free stuff! A friend’s company is doing a get out the vote deal – all you have to do is send them a pic of yourself with your “I voted” sticker and you could win cool things. Here are the details:
We’ve never tried this before, but we’re going to give everyone who votes an opportunity to win something cool! Here’s all that you need to do:
Mambo the vote (courtesy of Mercury Mambo):
- Vote! Check out http://maps.google.com/vote to find your polling place!
- Submit a picture with you and your “I Voted” sticker using the form below or by emailing it to mambothevote@mercurymambo.com.
- Tell all your friends about the contest. You can use the ’share this’ link at the end of the post. The more people that enter, the more folks going out to vote!
Here is what you can win (courtesy of yours truly, Mercury Mambo!):
Epiphone Les Paul Special II
Dell DJ MP3 Player
(1) Roundtrip Southwest Airlines Ticket
Yet another reason to vote tomorrow
Yes, it’s the most important election in our lifetimes, whatever. And yes, Starbucks will give you free coffee if you go show them that you voted (increase the caffeine in your system and get even more jittery and anxious – sounds like a great plan!)
But, if you live in NYC or Seattle, here’s a different kind of incentive from Babeland – a complimentary sex toy if you stop by and show them that you voted!
Stop by any brick and mortar store (New York or Seattle) between November 4th and 11th and bring your voter registration card, voting stub or word of honor. If you voted, we’ll give you a Silver Bullet or a Maverick Sleeve (get it?) for free! Yes, free. It’s because we value voting that much.
How’s that for an incentive?
And Oscar Season Begins
It’s my favorite time of year. First of all, I like fall clothing. Second of all, the good (read: serious) movies are released in November and December so that they are fresh in Oscar voter’s minds.
The trailer for The Reader has been released. It’s a Nazi era film starring Kate Winslet (a personal favorite for multiple reasons – I think she’s super-talented and also she’s nice to look at) and Ralph Fiennes (also super talented and lovely to look at).
It’s produced by those kooky Weinstein brothers, which means that there will be a lot of hype and money for the Oscar campaign.
There’s an interview with Kate in the new Vanity Fair that I need to read. Take a look at this cover (almost doesn’t look like her)! She’s kinda working the stripper look, don’tcha think?
She’s also got another (Oscar bait) movie coming out soon – Revolution Road with that Titanic guy she worked with before (aka Leo DiCaprio). It’s a flick about a suburban couple during the 50’s. Sounds interesting and intriguing as well.
What flicks are you looking forward to?
(updated at 3:30pm cause the pic with Leo takes place in the 50s not the 70s.)
LP!?!?!
My manager just told me that he had just downloaded a new Clash album recorded at Shea Stadium (they opened for the Who – they don’t seem to mention that they were an opening act. Hmmmm… Rosie & I were there, of course!). Anyhoo, I went to Amazon to go get my own copy and look what’s there – Audio CD and an LP option! I didn’t know that anyone released LPs any more.
Ain’t it the truth
(and won’t you be glad when I can’t post any more about politics? Hang in there – it’s almost over.)
From Esquire online:
In truth, though, Senator Obama is the only one of the two candidates who seems to believe in the idea of a political commonwealth, that there are those things -- be they the guarantees in the Bill of Rights or mountains in Alaska -- that we own together. Barack Obama stands, however inchoately and however diffidently, for the notion that a common purpose is necessary for common problems, that "government," as it is designed in our founding documents, is our collective responsibility. It is this collective responsibility that built America into a great power without peer in the history of the world. And it is this collective responsibility that has succumbed to nearly thirty years of phony rightist populism, corporate brigandage, and the wildly cheered abandonment of a common American civic purpose. It is shocking that in America an argument for salvaging the common good is regarded as a radical notion by anyone, but that is where we are. And that is what Barack Obama seems to stand for. After all, as a young man with his potential, he could have headed straight to midtown Manhattan and made a fortune. Instead, he took a church job working for poor people in Chicago, and for his troubles, he and those poor people have been viciously jeered by the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. Such is their regard for the common good. And such is Obama's promise. And in that, however inchoately and however diffidently, Obama stands not only against Bushism, but against Reaganism, which gave it birth. And that is more than enough.
Don’t Vote
What does it say about me that my favorite people in this video are Scarlett Johannsen (yum) and Borat (huh)?
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