Whoo-hoo! DOMA was declared unconstitutional!

My brain's still not letting me do any sort of coherent write-up of The Hobbit. Whenever I start trying to organize my thoughts, my brain just stops and goes, :-D "I saw The Hobbit!" :-D Maybe after I see it a second time, I'll be able to write more. I will say, I was extremely happy with how they did the "Riddles in the Dark" scene - which is my favorite in the whole book.

Today, Regina and I watched a really cute movie called What Happens Next and I recommend it for everyone. It's a really cute gay romantic comedy - and not quite your typical one either. I think I'm going to need to watch it again in the near future as well.

And, otherwise, I'm home now and not quite ready to go back to work yet.

This makes me melt. :-)

Marine's homecoming kiss

After my post last night, Bro's GF, Y, came over bearing sushi and we had a girls' night in. It was fun hanging out and having dinner. Then we watched I Love You Phillip Morris - which was pretty awesome. In part because - Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as the romantic leads? :-D I've been waiting to watch it for, like, ever and was glad that it didn't disappoint.

I had rented it on my way home from work yesterday as a reward for getting through the craziness of the past couple weeks. (Instead of rewarding myself with food. I think it worked rather well, and shall be doing it again in the future.)


This morning I took my grandparents to BJ's - which was amusing. I had walked in with them and then, after my grandfather got one of those motorized scooters, I took his seat walker back to the truck. Once back in BJ's - I walked around the store twice trying to find them! They were fast! :-P But we were in and out in a little over an hour, which was good. And now we have stuff for the cookout on Monday, as well as (for me at least) needed odds and ends.

Then this afternoon was laundry and cooking. I made spaghetti sauce and turkey chili. And now my freezer's restocked and I have enough food for about a month if I ate just those two things.

I'm also working on frogging a sizeable portion of a shawl that I'm working on because a few little mistakes are annoying me. It's also my first time trying to put a needle through to "catch" the stitches. Let's hope I did it right.

I got this from my PFLAG mailing list. It's an open letter that was written to Dr. Laura Sclesinger, who is an Orthodox Jew and has said on her radio show that "homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance".


Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination ... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

Okay, so this is frakkin' *adorable*.

I had handbell practice tonight, which I've been looking forward to all week, for church's Christmas cantata on Sunday and the 11pm Christmas Eve service. It was a good rehearsal and I think we're in good shape - especially since we've got *a lot* of new people this year. (We've been "off" for a few years and only about a third of us had done bells before.) And I feel a lot better about one piece now that I have it marked correctly so I know when to change bells (I play three in it) and also, so I have the right notes marked. (While I can read music, I'm slowly learing the bass cleft, so my brain doesn't always give the answer right away and when we're playing, I don't have time to think about that.) I'm excited about playing - I've missed it!



see more Political Pictures

We had another good audience tonight for the show. Yay for that.

******

And I think everyone should rent Mulligans. It stars Dan Payne and is about getting second chances.

I'm now back home and wishing the weekend was longer.

The retreat went really well. Our associate pastor was our speaker again this year and the topic was "Open Doors". It was based on the verse "I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." - Revelation 3:8 (NIV) From the bits that I heard over the course of the weekend, all the women had a great time and got a lot out of it.

And I've been convicted (again) that I really want to work with the LGBTQ? community to show them that God loves them and made them the way they are. I think that a big part of my struggle with this topic is because the Church in general has a history of saying "homosexuality is wrong!" and my individual church is part of the confessing church movement within my denomonation. Part of it states that marriage is only between a man and a woman and marriage is the only place for sex. So, there's definitely some internal conflict on my part in how to deal with that and make sure that I'm doing what God wants me to do and He's starting to spiritually head-smack me.

I also had fun playing games with the other women - on Friday night eight of us played Trivial Pursuit. On Saturday, five or six of us played a game called Tri-Bond, which I'd never played before, but it was fun. And it was amusing - one of the ladies who's going to be moving away over the summer was doing really well and said - part teasing, "God must want me to win."


Speaking of humor - Friday afternoon, one of the students was talking about a dinner party she was going to and how she was going to be taking a store-bought pie because she didn't have anywhere to cook and G, our snarky manager, said, "MacGuyver would've made a souffle with a hot pot." And she replied, "I'm sure he would." And G said, "MacGuyver would've made a hot pot out of a tin can."

Today was fun. :-D

I headed down to Rehoboth Beach this morning for the Delaware Pride Festival, since I've never been to one and Jim was talking about it at PFLAG on Thursday. I saw him and his wife, along with Glenn and Kenny, and Sandra and Lori.

A number of vendors and informational tables were set up and there was a stage where they had some drag performers, as well as two dance teams (one I missed, the other was The DC Cowboys). I think the most fun was watching Josh Zuckerman. He's a little bit country, mostly rock and roll, and kind of hyper, but a lot of fun. And you gotta give a guy credit who can do a cover of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and not only sing it, but play the fiddle for it.

Another highlight of the day - (as Sandra put it) "The homeboys holding hands." It was this pair of black 17-ish boys who looked like they were from the inner city, walking around holding hands.