Metacentricities

I live (for the time being) in Massachusetts, the first, and only state to have legalized gay marriage. I’m moving (in August) to California, possibly the next state to legalize gay marriage. This is pure coincidence.

I didn’t think much about gay marriage between the time it became the primary goal of the lesbian/gay movement, and the time it became legal last year in Massachusetts. I have to admit, maybe because I wasn’t partnered, maybe because I didn’t have kids, or maybe because I cut my teeth in the lesbian feminist movement when marriage was, well, outré, at best, aping the patriarchy and being a traitor to the movement at worst.

And, of course, now, I think gay marriage is simply a civil right, a right that we just should have, that the government needs to provide. It’s pretty straightforward, really. And the vehemence with which the demand for that right has been fought has surprised the heck out of me (I know, I know, you’re not surprised. I’m not exactly sure why I am.)

What keeps surprising me too is that it appears that gay marriage, and the inclusion of gays and lesbians in Christian churches in general looks like it’s gonna cause schisms. I do think that religous institutions do get to decide for themselves whether they will bless gay marriages. Right now, just about every single mainline protestant denomination is fighting over this issue, and gay and lesbian inclusion in general, along with the Catholics, too. I was amazed, last week to read in Fred Clarkson’s blog, about the UCC fight over gay marriage. Now I just figured that since the UCC was on this big inclusion kick (the "God is still speaking" campaign), that they’d be right behind gay marriage. Boy was I wrong. The Anglican Communion is threatening to kick out the American Episcopalians over this issue. The Methodists are throwing out ministers… it goes on.

I’m pleased as punch to be affiliated with a denomination (or whatever) that doesn’t seem to have any problems with it. Whew. And, I can’t wait to marry my first gay or lesbian couple.

So this is my first year going to GA. There is some great stuff happening, and I am totally excited. Getting to meet folks I’ve only ‘met’ in cyberspace, like UU Bloggers and folks on various email lists I’m on. And there are a number of gatherings I’m excited about. Apparently, there is a PSR alumns and seminarians gathering, there is going to be a "gathering of clergy, seminarians, and lay women of
Color/Latinas". There will be a UUBF (Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship) gathering, etc. I haven’t gotten my program yet, and I feel like the day I go ahead and print it all out on the printer is the day it will come in the mail.

And, one thing I’m also really looking forward to is hearing Elaine Pagels speak. I’ve been immersed in her books lately, and have really enjoyed her perspectives and points of view.

I have to admit that I’m less than excited to spend the time in Texas, but I guess it will be fun to see what the people of Fort Worth do with lots of UUs around. And I hate (hate hate hate) the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. But at least I won’t be flying through it. (Instead, I get to fly through Atlanta. Sigh.)   

It’s a beautiful day, for once (we’ve had many rainy cold days in a row
- unusual for May.) I’m sitting at an outside table, at one of my more
favorite haunts in Amherst (I’ll miss it,) Rao’s Coffee, waiting for a
friend to arrive. I decided I’d try my hand at Moblogging (blogging from
my cell phone).

Life is getting strange. I’m beginning to deal with moving details,
think about people I need to see before I leave, and that sort of thing.
The excitement is getting dampened by the sheer weight of the tasks
ahead - it’s starting to completely preoccupy me. It will be nice to be
out of a surreal state - but I guess I have a few months before that
happens.

Maybe this is the cure for my Gadgetaholism?  OK, you’re right, it’s not. But it’s fun, nonetheless.

I’ve been catching up a bit on my blog reading, and caught a few interesting tidbits I thought I’d pass along. First, in my never-ending quest for nice places to hang out, sip, and surf, I found a very cool site, called the Delocator. Type in a zip code, and get a list of Cafes with WiFi. Very helpful. You can also add a cafe that you know about.

I discovered an interesting blog today, care of, again, RLP. It’s called the Velveteen Rabbi (very cool name). She has a great post about sabbaths and jubilees that’s worth reading.

I also re-discovered Technorati -  which is an interesting blog aggregator/search tool. I’m not sure I’m completely clear about how it will be useful to me, but it’s been a good way of finding info, and following blogs. What is cool is you can take a search term, and make it into an RSS feed!

And yesterday, I signed the Purchase and Sale for my condo. Yow! The countdown starts: I have 41 days until the closing. 41 days to organize, sell, throw out, and clean out a domicile of 13 years. AND, I sent in my housing deposit to PSR - looks like I’m comitted!

Just so you know, percolating in my brain for blog entries in the next few days:
- copyright/intellectual property/open source software
- the relationship between my spiritual life and my politics
- Podcasting
- Gay marriage
- Jesus and Buddha (I’m on a kick these days)

I happened across this site, called "View from the Isle" which landed in my RSS feed from iPodder.org. At some point, I’ll post about Podcasting, since I know a lot of folks don’t know a lot about it. But back to "View from the Isle" - it is a blog by a professional blogger, who does things like blog consulting. He is a founder and board member of the Pro-Bloggers Association. I had been hearing inklings of this, in various places, and I find it both fascinating, worrysome, but also maybe not so bad. I’m not sure.

In surfing through Tris Hussey’s site (that’s the guy who does View from the Isle), I’m intrigued, and a bit startled. One thing that comes clear, is that some of the idea of this is that if a blogger, seen, I guess, as an independent sort, mentions a company or product on their blog, they should get paid for it. Also, in looking at his blog, it’s chock full of advertising. Now maybe I’m getting it - advertisers realize that they are losing eyeballs from TV, because people are surfing the web reading blogs - so let’s advertise on the blogs! Yick. OK, y’all know I’d make a terrible capitalist.

That said, I did come across an interesting blog some of you might be interested in, one by Amy Garhan, called Contentious. Interesting to read. She has one post which is a  very nice definition of what a blog is, and what it can do. (The geeky coder in me, however, bristles at the notion that only non-technical users use Typepad.) It is very focused on the professionalization of blogging, but it’s got some good ideas.

In general, as you might imagine, I think blogging is a very cool thing. I think given the state of the media empire, and the lack of decent news, and real investigative reporting, that bloggers are filling an important gap. Also, it’s just really nice to be able to read what other people are thinking and saying on the same topics that you are.

The technology (primarily blogging software and RSS/Atom - the syndication system) has made blogging possible, and until the next new kind of technology that brings things even more together, this is pretty amazing stuff, compared to what we were doing, say, 10 years ago. And, just like banner ads made their way onto websites a fraction of a second after the web became broadly read, blogs with ads is, I guess a reasonable next step. I’m not against making money, we all need it, and I think it’s great if blogging becomes a venue for writers to be able to get their stuff out there, and make a living at it. I’m just not going to be especially interested in reading blogs whose main purpose is to try and sell me stuff, or those with a whole lot of ads. Never fear, you won’t see any here.

It’s taken me a while, and I’m clearly behind the eight ball, but there are some very interesting things happening in the realm of the "progressive religious movement" or whatever one might call it. I’m beginning to gather bookmarks on it, and will share them when they reach a critical mass. But one group to look at are the Christian Alliance for Progress. I know, sounds dangerous, but read their stuff.

There are lots and lots of blogs on this topic, some UU, some definitively Christian, some others, I don’t know that I can possibly keep up. But some of the best are in the list of links in the right hand column, and I’ll keep adding to them as time goes on, and I get to read more of them.

I don’t know how many of you are following this whole thing about filibusters. Daniel Harper (Another Unitarian Universalist Blog) has an entry on it today, quoting our fearless leader, Bill Sinkford, on the whole issue. (That last link, by the way, is not only Sinkford’s quotes about the issue, but a whole host of very helpful links.)

I’m torn about this. I mean, I’m not torn about the filibuster, I think that it’s an important preservation of minority rights, and I’m not happy about the prospect of a raft of new far-right judges. I’m torn about what this is all about. On one hand, it’s clearly an effort to get extreme judges into place. I do think that Bill Frist is mostly being an opportunist, given that he’s running for president. The pandering of some politicians to the religious right seems more opportunistic than genuine to me, but that’s just my opinion.

I think, when it comes down to it, it’s a lot more about power than it is about faith, or God. I think that the politicians who are in place thinking about using the "nuclear option" (where the hell did that moniker come from???) are thinking a lot more about finding ways of preserving their own power, as long as they can, then they are about those "people of faith" they are so glad to go on and on about, and co-opt.

And, of course, it continues to bug me that they are trying their best to portray those of us that are not fundamentalist Christian, and disagree with their agenda as against "people of faith". See the book by Bruce Bawer, called "Stealing Jesus" - it’s a really good one.

This is a great time to introduce folks to 43 folders, a blog I’ve been reading recently. It’s blog with tips, reviews, hacks, tools, and all sorts of good stuff. What’s also cool is that it’s very Mac-centric. Today, there are two good posts to talk about. The first, one that I need badly, is Cringe-Busting your TODO list. Basically, it’s making a list, and looking at what makes you cringe the most. And focusing energy on them, to reduce the # of cringe-able things. I love it.

The second entry is a review of a book I really, really wish I’d had a year ago. It’s called , simply enough, The Art of Project Mangement. I  know of at least one project which would have been lots less painful if I’d had this book last year.

I came across a very strange website today, found through BoingBoing. It’s called CwE or "Crying while Eating". It consists simply of  10 or so people, both men and women, being filmed crying about different things while eating at the same time. On one hand, it is definitely reminiscent of times when, for what ever reason (someone had died, I’d broken up with a partner …) I’d cried over my food. But it also is strange to watch other people do it. It’s especially interesting watching the men cry, because I have so little experience seeing men cry.

There is something somehow compelling about this collection of people. It’s odd, too - it’s something you’d only see on the net.

Anyway, tell me what you think.