Sluts

Recently my friend Keith did the Slutwalk in Seattle to reinforce that the cause of rape is the rapist and not women who might dress in a way some may disapprove.  It got me thinking about the word and the way we use it.

For a while I've thought ‘slut’ to be a worthless word.  It implies guilt and shame, which are worthless emotions.  And it's impossible to pin down exactly what it means.

Where's the line between virtue and sin?  

The Catholic Church considers anyone who's had sex with more than one person, ever, to be a slut.  That's most of us.

Most folks consider middle-age to be some indistinct number of years older than they are and they think sluts are people who've slept with more people than they have according to some obscure algorithm they've justified in their heads.

A co-worker once told me she was starting to get worried because she could no longer count the number of men she'd been with on one hand.  I refused to tell her how many I'd been with because I could tell from the look on her face and her tone of voice that she would judge my double-digit number negatively.  But compared to my friends that are well into triple digits, I'm a prude.

So does that mean that 5 is virtuous but 6 puts you on a slippery slope?  When I reach 8 that's kind of a lot, but when you reach 8 that really isn't all that many?  9 you're fine, but 10 is just too much?  99?  Well, ok, but 100 puts you in Madonna territory.  And is that bad?

The people I admire most are the ones that are super comfortable in their own skin, know themselves well, and proudly label themselves sluts; and they take away anyone else's power to hurt them.

I truly think that God doesn't count how many.  She knows, but is more concerned with how we treat ourselves and our partners.

If you think God is adding demerits as your list gets longer, then the opposite must also be true. I imagine that when I get to the Pearly Gates St. Peter is going to scowl down at me and say, “We sent you all these nice guys to bring joy to your life and you ran away from most of them.  Downstairs!”

Thought for the day:

Do not start to think of us as less than
     because we fail to live up to your expectations of more than.

We are.  Love us for that or get out of our way.

MCC: It Gets Better

Kitten Family Photo

Sweet Pea, 3rd cat from the left, went to his new home yesterday afternoon and Steve took Bubba, far left, this morning.  Jeff wanted a picture of all the kids before they scattered to the four corners of the earth San Diego.  We're giving Katie extra treats, but she still seems kind of depressed.  I suggested taking her to visit them all in a couple weeks.

Test Photos

How much are the kittens in the window?

They've grown SO MUCH!  They seem to get bigger by the hour.  They got their first shot and a clean bill of health from the vet this morning.  They still nurse a little but the vet said this is the perfect time for them to go to their new homes.  All of them are spoken for unless someone backs out at the last minute. Or you can try to sweet talk someone out of theirs.

Guy Tunes

SDGMC, I did not know how you could do a show as fun as your ABBA show last summer, but you out did yourselves.  We had so much fun watching it.  Thank you Dan & Peter for the extra ticket.  Paul & Ellen, always a treat to see you guys. 

Kryptonite

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Bubba: “Don’t You Mess with My Shoestring”!

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Seattle

Friday the 15th I boarded Alaska Airlines to Seattle to see Keith and Glen.  Keith and I were roommates for 2 years until he fled the relentless sun of San Diego to return to the lush green of Puget Sound. 

Friday evening we boarded the ferry to Bremerton to meet Jessica and Larry for drinks.  Jessica and I have known each other since Junior High Regional Band Concerts where we played French Horn.  We both ended up at the University of Illinois in the Marching Illini.  Jessica is a rare friend who can make 26 years seem like yesterday.

Saturday we went to the Fish Market and the fresh produce stands where we got fresh nectarines so juicy we had to be hosed off afterwards, and fresh blueberries for pancakes Sunday morning.  Then up the Space Needle just as the sun came out to give us spectacular views.  Sunday we drove around to different neighborhoods and parks, my favorite being the troll under the bridge on Troll St.  I was actually happy to see the clouds and have some rain after a heat wave at home.

Kitty Chaos

To see larger slideshow, click on it, and then find the full screen button in the upper left.

Diablo

Update 8/20/11:  When we found out that she is a he, we changed her name to Debbie because she's such a  snack cake.  This morning the vet said she's the smartest one of the group.  She's such a snake cake!

Kitty Gaga

The kittens are 4 1/2 weeks old now.  Their eyes are wide open.  Going by their pen with 6 sets of eyes and ears all pointing at you is very dangerous.  So far only 1 is spoken for so if you know of anyone who would like to give a cat a good home ( and, you know, not leave it out at night as coyote food ) please send them our way.

Kittens !

A week ago Monday I was laying down and Katie was all over me and the bed.  She finally settled down next to me.  After a few minutes she let out the cutest of kitty farts and started licking down there.  Soon there was an extra squeak in the room.  I slid off the bed and texted my roommate and his boyfriend.  I took photos with 2 cameras and a cell phone and sent out updates as the newborn count went up.

The smaller, low resolution pictures are from my cell phone.  They were easy to send out right away to Jeff and Steve.  The others may be a bit blurry due to low light and I avoided bothering her with a lot of flash. The slideshow can be viewed full screen by clicking on it and finding the full screen button in the upper left.

A total of 5 new little ones came out Monday morning.  She surprised us all by popping out another one over 24 hours later, sending Jeff into a panic.

Katie came into the house as a stray on the day of the Royal Wedding.  Jeff took her to be fixed but found out she was already pregnant. 

My coverlet and sheets actually cleaned up really well.  We saturated them with Shout, soaked them in cold water and then washed them in hot.  The slight shadow left behind can't be seen unless it's pointed out.  Anyone who looks for that and makes critical comments can just leave.

If you play the videos with your volume turned up pretty high you can hear their little voices.

Katie, Warrior Princess

Katie will usually dash out the door whenever it's open to stalk among the plants and let free her inner tiger.  She never goes far and is usually ready to come back inside pretty quickly.  We just check on her after a while.  If she's not ready to come in then, we check on her a while later and shake her bag of kitty treats and she'll come running. 

This morning she dashed out the door to guard the house from her favorite place hidden among the big leaves of the plants by the front porch.  When I checked on her she didn't come running and I couldn't see her at all.  I went back inside and was about to shut the door behind me when this white and calico blur of fur lept through the door and slid to a stop on the living room's wood floor.

The umpire yelled, “SAFE!”  The judges gave her all 10s.  The crowd roared.  Miss Kate, of course, demurely licked her paw and pretended not to notice any of it.

But she knew, make no mistake about that.  She knew she deserved no less.

h o r r i b l i z e r

“Don't be such a horriblizer,” Calliope used to say whenever Mary Ann began to fret about the world.

  - Arumistead Maupin, Mary Ann in Autumn

Princess Kate: Window Guardian

San Diego Gay Pride Parade 2010

Yes, I know I'm just now posting photos from last July, almost a year later.

A)   It's my blog and I can post stuff whenever I want
B)   Will this happen again with photos from 2011 Pride?  See A.

I was surprised by how many photos turned out well.  It was a bright, sunny, warm day in mid-July.  We met at Patrick's house for brunch and then walked over to the parade route.  After the parade we all relaxed in the cool shade of Patrick's front yard.

Easter Sunday

This is already on facebook, but I also wanted to post it here:

Sunday, at Steve's house, after Easter Dinner, one of the guys had this all organized to reproduce The Last Supper.  He had these drape things to act as robes and the names of the characters were on folded up cards that we pulled out of a vase.  At fist we didn't know what to think, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Kudos to Mark for providing Jesus' halo and Craig's mad photo skills.  I think it's completely appropriate that Jesus and 9 of the disciples are gay and Mary has a walrus mustache.  Happy Easter!

Wedding Photo: 1930

Going through some boxes I came across this: the 1930 Wedding Photograph of my maternal grandparents. My Grandmother once said they didn't wear white dresses during the Depression.  They would have 5 daughters and 2 sons.  He died six months before I was born.  She went to join him just last year at the age of 98.

New Roommates

Jeff, Princess Kate, Steve

Jeff generously offered to rent his front bedroom to me.  His signature is on the mortgage, but Princess Kate walked in on the day of the royal wedding and took ownership of the place.