Daily Candy (H-Bomb)

Great day! Charlottesville's own fabulous paper, invitations, stationery, custom printing and gift store, Rock Paper Scissors, is being featured as today's Daily Candy for the Washington, D.C. area! Mmm, mmm, that's good stuff. You can visit the real McCoy at 110 Second Street NE just off the Downtown Mall, near the fountain. Check it out and let us know what you think...

Zoo-sitting (H-Bomb)

Here are a few zoo-sitting snaps...

The sweet cottage.
The super cool chicken coop.
Lottie asserting her dominance by taking Din's bed.

Thanks Mom (H-Bomb)

A couple more...

• I am thankful for my Mom who taught me how to be a feminist and an activist.
• I am thankful for my electric mattress heater on these chilly nights. Thanks for the gift, Mom!

That's all I have time for right now. I'm headed out to a rustic cottage in Ivy to zoo-sit for some friends who have two dogs, a cat, a fish, and a mess of chickens. I can't wait to cozy up to the wood burning stove with Alexander Hamilton while all the pooches settle in for their evening nap.

Thankful (H-Bomb)

With the holidays nearly here, I've started thinking about all of the things I'm thankful for.

• I'm thankful for my Mother who by her lifelong example has given me the joy of giving gifts to friends and loved ones.
• I'm thankful for Jeffrey and our many epic conversations about politics, biography, authors, art, and technology.
• I'm thankful for my family who loves me and whom I love.
• I'm thankful for Miss Lottie and her happy smiles all day long.
• I'm thankful for my friends, old and new, near and far, who with their kindness and generosity have helped me through these past few months.
• I'm thankful for houseguests.
• I'm thankful for NPR in the morning and PBS in the evening.
• I'm thankful for my cute little house even when it's messy and the garden beds need to be weeded.
• I'm thankful for the recent election results although they're still so hard to believe.
• I'm thankful for the civil liberties we still have and the ones we will reclaim, damnit.
• I'm thankful for the gorgeous landscape of central Virginia.
• I'm thankful for bike rides with friends.
• I'm thankful for Miss Lottie who wants to defend me from the mailman, squirrels, and leaves blowing through the yard.
• I'm thankful for leisurely weekend mornings.
• I'm thankful for all of the love I've given and received in my life.
• I'm thankful for music.
• I'm thankful for a good laugh and anyone who can inspire one.
• I'm thankful for blog readers!

Well, that's a start. Perhaps I'll add more later. I'd love to know - what and whom are you thankful for?

The Most Important Day of the Year (H-Bomb)

You’ve heard it over and over again and that doesn’t make it any less true. Tomorrow’s election is critical. In addition to the thrilling opportunity to replace wrong minded idealogues with forward thinking progressives, fair minded Virginians are galvanized to vote against writing discrimination into the Constitution by voting NO on ballot choice #1, the so called “Marriage Amendment”. Today’s poll puts public sentiment about the amendment in a statistical dead heat. We must turn out more voters than the opposition or gay marriage and civil unions between same sex couples as well as opposite sex couples will be banned by the Virginia Constitution. The Constitution should never be used to limit our civil rights, only to expand and enforce them.

I hope that you will make a point of getting to your polling place between 6am and 7pm on Tuesday so that you can vote for forward thinking progressives and vote against writing discrimination into the Consitution.


"Civil rights" are positive legal prerogatives -- the right to equal treatment before the law. These are rights shared by all -- there is no one in the United States who does not, or should not, share in them.

Gay and lesbian rights are not special rights in any way. It isn't special to be free from discrimination. It is an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship.

The right not to be discriminated against is a commonplace claim we all expect to enjoy under our laws and our founding document, the Constitution. That many struggled and even died to gain these rights makes them even more precious. But it does not make them special, and it does not reserve them only for some, or restrict them from others.

When others gain a civil right, my rights are not reduced in any way. Civil rights are a win/win game -- the more won by others, the stronger the army defending my rights becomes. My rights are not diluted by those my neighbor enjoys -- he or she becomes my ally in defending the rights we share.

The so-called "marriage amendment" to Virginia's Bill of Rights should be defeated. Let us maintain our determination to fight on until all our brothers and sisters enjoy the blessings of liberty and justice.

--Excerpt from "Virginia Is For Lovers", Julian Bond (Chairman, NAACP), October 31, 2006

Vote NO on #1. Say NO to writing discrimination into the Virginia Constitution. Say it Loud! Say it Proud!

Money Makers (H-Bomb)

GIVE ME YOUR LUNCH MONEY had a blast at Azalea Park today, even though we did not get to play against Schweddy Ballers in the finals. Schoolyard Bullies earned their name by breaking our tie score after two extra innings. Thanks go out to our fans for all of the good vibrations and each of our teammates for their dedication to the bouncing red ball. Sadly it just wasn't meant to be today. No worries, Indoor Kickball begins January 14th and GMYLM plans on collecting lunch money the whole season long!Money Makers Standing: James, Megan, Jason, Logan, Josh, Loren, Eric, Chris, Corin. Kneeling: Emily, Heather, Jenny, Jen. In front: Niall & Miss Lottie. Not pictured: Holly (captain), Hope, Jayme, Leigh.

Closing In On The Finals (H-Bomb)

Awesome news! GIVE ME YOUR LUNCH MONEY won our first game today and tied our second, which puts us in the # 1 position going into the kickball semi-finals. Yessssss! We will play against the # 4 team at 11:30am on Sunday, November 5th and the winner will advance to the finals which are at 1:30pm. All games are at Azalea Park. Spectators and hecklers welcome!Those metal benches are COLD!