Sign the Petition to Urge the President to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

The military is still discharging soldiers for being openly gay.

One of these soldiers is California's own Lt. Dan Choi, who is also an Arabic linguist. In March, Lt. Choi went on Rachel Maddow's show and spoke honestly about his sexual orientation. As a result, the Army sent him a letter of discharge on April 23. Lt. Choi is now fighting the discharge and fighting the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

I just signed a Courage Campaign petition to President Obama -- signed by more than 100,000 people --  urging him to do the right thing by stopping the discharge of Lt. Dan Choi and other LGBT soldiers, and asking President Obama to uphold his promise to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."  The Courage Campaign will deliver this petition to the president -- that's why it is important that as many people as possible speak out right now.

Will you join me in signing and urge your friends to do the same?:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/DontFireDan

Thanks!

Cleaning Up the Yard and Not Touring the Capitol

A corner of our backyard.

I was off work today and had planned to take a tour of the U.S. Capitol.  I have lived in the Washington, D.C. area for more than 20 years and have lived on Capitol Hill for more than 6 years and I have never been in the U.S. Capitol.  I almost went in once before.  We were in line to view Ronald Reagan when he was lying in state.  We thought, since we went at around 10 p.m., that the line wouldn't be too bad, but it was soon apparent that it was going to take hours and Reagan wasn't exactly my favorite president, so we bagged it after about 30 minutes.  

So, since I had a day off, I decided it would be fun to take a tour of the Capitol.  I went online and read that you can get a free ticket for a tour, so I promptly signed up.  My ticket was for 10:30 a.m. today.  I arrived at the Capitol Visitor Center at about 10:20 and as I got close to the door, the Capitol Policemen were telling everyone to leave the area.  They were clearing the area and everyone had to go across the street.  I waited around a while and it didn't look like anything was going to change, so I walked down past the Supreme Court building.  There was a bunch of crazies with red Jesus shirts protesting against "Homosexual Acts" and other ungodly things.  They try to give me some literature, but I kindly refused with an expert eye roll. 

I walked around Capitol Hill for a while and slowly made my way back home.  Obviously, I'm not meant to visit the Capitol.  

I spent the rest of morning cleaning up our backyard.  Shane's mom is coming on Thursday, so we have incentive to get some projects done around the house.  Though our backyard is tiny, it quickly fills with weeks, pine needles and pine cones.  I also did some pruning of a bush in the front of our house.  It was a beautiful day and it was nice being out.  We spent most of the weekend inside.  Shane got my cold from the previous week and it hit him hard.  He spent the weekend in bed or on the couch trying to get better.  I still am still not 100 percent myself.  I had quite a sneezing fit working out in the yard today.  We're hoping it is the swine flu, so we'll have immunity and survive when everyone is is dying this fall.  

Art I Could Get Into (Or Vice Versa)

I took this photo with my iPhone at the Philadelpia Museum of Art last week. The sculpture is called Princess X by Constantin Brâncuşi, a Romanian sculptor, and was done in 1915-1916. I don't know why, but for some reason it spoke to me.

The following is from Wikipedia:

In 1920, [Brâncuşi] developed a notorious reputation with the entry of "Princess X"[1] in the Salon. The phallic shape of the piece scandalized the Salon, and despite Brâncuşi's explanation that it was an anonymous portrait, removed it from the exhibition. "Princess X" was revealed to be Princess Marie Bonaparte, direct descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte. Brâncuşi represented or caricatured her life as a large gleaming bronze phallus. This phallus symbolizes the model's obsession with the penis and her lifelong quest to achieve vaginal orgasm, with the help of Sigmund Freud. Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, condemned orgasm by clitoral stimulation and praised vaginal orgasm with a penis as the superior and only legitimate type. His condemnation echoed the social mores of his era which condemned masturbation as both morally harmful and as a cause of mental disorders. Her search for the elusive vaginal orgasm led her to have two unsuccessful surgeries and numerous affairs throughout her life with wealthy and famous men.

When it Comes to American Idol, I'm a 14 Year Old Girl

Though I hate to admit it, I do watch American Idol and I have to say that I am rooting for Kris Allen over Adam Lambert. Kris did a nice version of this song, "Falling Slowly," from the movie Once several weeks back. I realize that Adam is likely on my team, but I prefer Kris. I'm such a teenage girl.

More DC Flowers

This is from my walk Sunday evening around my neighborhood.

Mess by Ben Folds Five

I don't believe in god, so I can't be saved.

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #193

You're different Irving. All the other men

I meet want a "no strings" relationship.

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #193. Let me know if you come up with a caption. Click on the link to enter your caption.

DC Flowers

I spent most of the day in bed feeling tired and recovering from my
cold. I did manage to muster enough gusto to go for a late afternoon
walk. I stopped to photograph this along the way.

C-Span Coverage of the White House Correspondents' Dinner

Obama's remarks begin at about the 20 minute mark in the video. You can slide the video marker about a third of the way over to skip the opening. Wanda Sykes speaks right after the President.

Yet Another Game Night

Archer and the Boyfriend beat us at Trivial Pursuit at our game night
at out house Saturday night. Here they are looking victorious and
adorable.

Jon Stewart on Gay Marriage and Marion Barry

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Gaywatch - Marion Barry
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Scene of Baltimore

Taken heading south just before entering the tunnel before Penn
Station in Baltimore.

Riding On the Train

Passing through Baltimore and bored.

Heading Home

I'm at the Perryville, MD, train station sitting on the Marc Train
heading home. I have a cold and am worried others may assume it is
the Swine Flu. I hope it isn't. I'm pretty sure it isn't.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #192

Stimulus Package? You're staring at them!

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #192. Let me know if you come up with a caption. Click on the link to enter your caption.

Mom's Stash

This is my Mom and her cat, Rudy, along with part of her stash from
the garden center we went to today.

Pink Dogwood

This is a pink dogwood tree in my Mom's front yard that I gave her
years ago for a previous Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day!

I took the train from Philadelphia to Aberdeen, MD, early this morning
where I was met by my mother. From there, I drove her to Valley View
Farm, a garden super store in Hunt Valley, MD. She was like a kid at
Disney World. This is her Mother's Day gift. I bought her a variety
of plants and herbs. She seemed to have a good time.

Cezanne @ the Philadelphia Museum of Art

I went to the Cezanne exhibit. The "Beyond" part is other artist inspired by Cezanne. It really was a very cool exhibit. Beside the painting by Cezanne would be a similar painting by Picasso and Matisse and a variety of other artists.

In addition, the museum has an amazing collection. Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Manet --and many more! And that is just the European wing, which is half of one floor. I'm about to hit the American wing.

Here's a very small example of what you can expect to see. Below is "The Bather" by Cezanne.

The painting belolw is by Marsden Hartley called "Canuck Yankee Lumberjack at Old Orchard Beach, Maine" done in 1940-1941. Hartley was a nice homosexual boy from Lewiston, Maine (1877-1943).

Evening Walk in Philly and Chinese Food

Shane had to work all day, but wanted to see some sites when he was finished.  We took an evening walk so he could see the Liberty Bell (from the outside of the building) and Independence Hall.  Below are a few photos from the walk.  It began to rain on our way home. 

We came upon this sign near the Liberty Bell site.  I was not aware of these Demonstrations before.

 

On the way back, we stopped at Chinatown for dinner.  As always, Shane had Sweet and Sour Chicken.  I had Broccoli in Garlic Sauce.  I was given the choice of regular broccoli or Chinese broccoli.  I chose Chinese broccoli, which is much different than regular broccoli.