In case you have missed the fliers, Facebook posting, and my going on-and-on about it....

Please join us for "An Act of Faith," an interfaith prayer service for transgender rights, tomorrow at Edwards Church (Northampton) at 7pm. Speakers include transgender clergy and lay leaders, as well as allied religious leaders and advocates. The event will be followed by a reception. Child-care will be available.

Edwards Church is on the corner of Main St. (Route 9) and State St., directly across from the Academy of Music.

More information about the event is available on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=82191097043


I am on the event steering committee. It's been a whirlwind of activity, pulling this together over the past two months, but it has also been a lot of fun and very moving to watch so many different groups come together to make this happen.

Melvil Dewey came up with this system while a junior at Amherst College and working in their library. More at: http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=137

Fascinating. There's always interesting stuff on Mass Moments though I don't always have time to read it (of course now that I'm sitting at a computer 3 1/2 days a week, I will probably be reading more of it).

My now-legally-adult son who I assume would not be relocated with me.

Tyro, eating sesame chicken and trying to convince the mostly-vegetarian rj_swashbuckler to try it:

Tyro: Want to try some..."vegetables"?
R: That's ok.
Tyro: It's like a rainforest. In my mouth. ::chews:: Or my dad's yard.


(For those who have missed this detail before, Tyro's dad has a yard full of chickens.)

rj_swashbuckler, while doing the "Weird Names" meme on Facebook aloud (catch this snippet here...he's not going to post it):

"My 'street name' is Hearts and Flowers Rugelach...in the shtetl."

"You didn't need that coffee to stay awake, you just needed the Cross Bronx Expressway."

-rj_swashbuckler (when we were guess where?)

That pretty much puts it all in perspective :)

NEW YORK (AFP) – An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.
[...]
He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber,'" the ACLU said.

Read the whole article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090106/ts_alt_afp/ustransportairsecuritymuslimsrights_090106002219

Sounds like a case for malehijab...how about a T-shirt that reads (in Arabic): "Does this make you $240,000 worth of 'uncomfortable'?"

Meanwhile, apparently Air Tran is apologizing to the 9 people (8 of them US citizens) ordered off a flight last week because they were discussing where the safest place to sit in their plane was.



No, fuckheads. You are not forgiven.

The guy who was singing Christmas carols at the dump, when we got there.

Totally made my day.

Waking up excited (not full of dread) about my to-do list.

Beautiful, bountiful snow.

If there is a better way to spend a snow day than camped out in my warm house with rj_swashbuckler, Tyro and various pets, watching "Olive, the other reindeer," cooking something I've never made before (kasha varnishkas, and a side of chicken apple sausage, which came out *delicious*) and composing a holiday letter, I'm not sure what it is.

Well, OK, camping out with Buttercup, too, would have been nice, but considering that would have required him returning from Providence in a snow storm, no thanks. Glad he stayed put and is warm and safe and welcome among his friend's family.

Today is a cleaning and cooking (possibly including baking cookies and making chocolates) day. And I'm sure there will be more snuggling on the couch at regular intervals.

The Northampton High School poetry slam's evening incarnation will be held:





I'd love to see folks there. I've heard noise of there being competition between students and community poets but I don't know if that's true.

Also: we're probably going to close the kitchen (for all but coffee and baked goods) at around 8, so if you want real food, get there before then. (Yes, you can even order *nachos* if it's before we close the kitchen.)

Courtesy of the_new_perfect, a meme:

The rules are that for 8 days you have to post something that made you happy that day.

Tag 8 people to do the same. (Like T_N_P, I'm skipping this, but I'll be pleased to read your happy things on my f-list if you do it.)

I'm happy that Buttercup is home, and that I don't have to be at (any form of) work until 2, and that tomorrow is Friday and I don't have to go anywhere.

This is cool...I'm glad this is happening (though sad it needs to, as usual)...

Jews, Muslims Plan Joint Memorial Tribute to Mumbai Victims
From: progressivemuslimsunited.blogspot.com/

NEW YORK (RNS) In an effort to continue interfaith cooperation and prevent
backlash against Muslims, Jews and Muslims are coming together here to
memorialize the Jewish victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai,
India.

Imam Mohammed Shamsi Ali and Rabbi Marc Schneier, who recently appeared
together in Manhattan during November's national Jewish-Muslim "Weekend of
Twinning," will each speak this Friday (Dec. 5) at New York City's Islamic
Cultural Center.

On Saturday morning, the Consul General of India in New York, Ambassador
Prabhu Dayal, will join them at the New York Synagogue for a second tribute.

( More )

Thoughts on the decision last night that will prevent the hookah bar from opening in town? 

I was not a fan of the hookah bar, but I think the arguments against it were ridiculously reliant on the argument that tobacco is bad for you (which iit is; however it is also legal). But even more so, I'm disturbed by the fact that the city approved it, let the backers invest significant money, and then changed their minds. The city is going to end up paying some serious money to these people, and in these cash-strapped times, I am not pleased by that. 

Just wondered if anyone else had thoughts.