maybe less gay marriage is a good thing

Got your attention, right?

So the Supreme Court of Massachussetts, land of the "activist judges," ruled today that same-sex couples who are permanent residents of states that ban same-sex marriage cannot get married in MA. First of all, I say as someone not currently in a same-sex relationship that it seems a little futile to get married without corresponding health and legal benefits in your home state, even though it may be symbolically important (I'm thinking of Dan Savage and his husband Terry going to British Columbia in The Kid)

Much as the law seems punitive,especially with statements like "out of state couples are trying to evade the laws of their own states" and "we don't want to be the Las Vegas of same-sex marriages," (way to play to your '08 base, Romney) I can't help but think it will only increase the pressure to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide. Having Massachusetts as this isolated oasis of queer-friendly law kind of makes it acceptable to make gay rights something that only matters "over there," that only applies to those far-away freaks and radicals. Better to say, justice is achieved in one place, for a certain number of people, but the rest of the country needs to catch up. Not, Mass. can be the refugee camp for all the rejected GLBT folk.

Even Chief Justice Margaret Marshall (Brandeis Commencement speaker last year, and total badass) agrees with me. Her opinion says "It is rational for the legislature to take steps to ensure that marriages performed here will hold up elsewhere, and that they will not be ignored by other states." Yeah, homophobe states, it's YOUR problem. Ohio- don't say I didn't warn you.

sometimes TV matters too much in my life

And I'm not even talking about the Josh-Donna kiss on West Wing, which has since gone missing as a subplot for two weeks. Just...resolve...the goddam plotline already!

I watched Everwood last night (I was TIRED, shut UP), which brought my reaction-pendulum from "proud" to "pissed!!!" with every scene involving the main female characters. The good: Amy decides she needs time away from Ephram (the boy who has consumed her emotional energy for the past four years) to find out who she is and develop her own interests, including a newfound appreciation for feminist theory, yay! The bad: Her best friend Hannah tells her "maybe you SHOULDN'T get over this boyfriend, maybe you should consider getting back together with him, you're unhappy without him," blah-dee-blah.

This same character tells a grown woman that it's good to be the strong one who helps people deal with their own messes when grown woman decides to take care of herself and break up with her addict boyfriend (I'm simplifying a bit here) AND disagrees with Amy volunteering at Planned Parenthood because she doesn't believe in handing out condoms to everyone. So there are ideological reasons why I disagree here, but more than that I HATE HATE HATE the retread of the self-sacrificing, relationship-centered femininity that this character constantly parrots. I have no use for it on my TV, even if it's for the sake of having a different counterpoint.

In positive Planned Parenthood news, my homegirl Cecile Fire Thunder, the newly elected chief of the Oglala Sioux tribe said last week ""I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction." Boo. Yah.

dear brain:

C'mon, baby. Let's work together. We can get through this. The fact is, if you're so fucking powerful that you can convince me not to eat tomatoes, which are in EVERYTHING, then you MUST be strong enough to integrate some coherent thoughts on Spheres of Justice and complex equality. It's crunch time, brain. Power ten!

I promise, baby- once you create just ONE though, just a teeny little thesis statement, that's all I'm asking- THEN you can meander endlessly about what to say for the job interview on Wednesday or perhaps slightly more illicit topics. Since you had no trouble coming up with an endless succession of quips and witticisms in New York, this should be easy. C'mon, just a faint little brainpulse. Don't DIE on me, DAMMIT!

some days I just can't take it anymore

Another striking nugget of eavesdropping, this time at the Women's Studies Research Center.

*feminist scholar of world religions, who also has been stealing office supplies*: "I'm so sorry you won't be able to make my talk next week."

*normal-seeming friend*: "I know, me too."

*FSOWRWAHBSOS*: "It's going to be very important. I'm going to be completely radical and give my take on why monotheism is misogynistic and we need a complete paradigm shift to save ourselves."

That is what she said, VERBATIM.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! PLEASE G-D TELL ME THIS IS SELF-PARODY! I CAN'T...MALFUNCTIONING...PENARCHY!...LIONS!...
Seriously, maam, did you just take words that you think are relevant to feminist discourse and throw darts at them to form a thesis? Are you some sort of cheap Mary Daly knockoff? What the hell? You (and possibly one other person, intitials KE) are the reason feminism is disrespected and marginalized. Please try not to make eye contact with me in the future as the hatred from my gaze may reduce you to ashes.

Only at Brandeis, part 512

Overheard in the campus center today:

*guy on phone at IT desk* "I'm not a bad Jew! It's PURIM! No, my mom didn't tell me I needed to go!"

Hi. la. rious. I will so miss this place in I-don't-want-to-think-about-how-few days.

the purple vera wang

Of course, a day involving a purchase of a Vera Wang evening gown (not mine, but someone who will put it to excellent use) must be capped off with the triumphant return of post-Sorkin West Wing, including swirlycam-shot Josh and Donna kiss!!! Aieee! I had to walk off the elated shock. Seriously. Then I called my mom, both of us shrieking in disbelief and joy.

Actually, this was a good-mood inducing kind of day. The aforementioned successful dress shopping (the purchaser owns literally no other nice dresses, and this is so worth it) and an unexpected Trader Joe's run, minus Bird's Nests!!, and a few gifts for favors rendered.

I feel like a baby with a rotating mobile of fun items above my head, only instead of animals it's interesting news tidbits:
Milosevic died! South Dakota banned abortion! Ehud Olmert wants a peace agreement by 2010! And yet none of them catches my fancy enough to rantingly (it's a word, OK) analyze any one in particular. I will say this though: NYTimes needs to stop with the '08 starting-lineup magazine articles: batting first for the Republicans, Chuck Hagel! First up for the Democrats, Mark Warner! Damn, y'all, find something to cover that isn't happening three years from now.

But instead I'm just a superficial girl who cares only for pretty dresses and political soap operas. Fiddle-de-dee!

another blanche dubois kind of day

I told my father at one point, after a trip where I had to solicit the help of several good Samaritans, that I feel like Blanche Dubois- "Ah have alllwayys depindid on the kahndness of stranguhs." His response was that people must sense something likable or trustworthy in me (he should know, being the king of schmoozing). I said that that "something" was probably desperation or fear.

Today was one of those days. Two last-minute recommendations, the assistance of a friend who I randomly asked for dance pants, a couple others whose help and support did not go unnoticed on this particular day of Holocaust classroom presentation/work/three classes in which I also have to finish an essay/thank you letter writing/friend's presentation/PROJECT RUNWAY finale! The excitement you feel after more-or-less successfully completing all those tasks in a day? probably denial, because you're still stressed and pissed at your compatriot's remarkable bitchiness. Which is why I will now take refuge in Daniel V., Chloe and Santino. Go ahead and tap that vein, cuz it's time to shoot up some fashion-design competitive TV.

my new liberal crusade

Oh, the feeling is back. That adrenaline of self-righteousness coursing through my veins, the synapses firing a mile a minute to calculate strategy, the bullet-points of attack carefully scribbled on a napkin. Yes, my activist mojo is workin overtime for justice.

What, pray tell, might my cause be? Access to reproductive health facilities? An important election? Ending genocide?

Please, bitches. This time it's all about rescuing October, the best, funniest made-to-order cook in Sherman, and bringing her back to the kosher side where she belongs. Free October!!