bon totally pledged to obey bob, pass it on.

bonny, it was a sweet movie, the bits I could watch. Funny that I think the hottest Michael Vartan looked was as the dirty fallen priest on Alias, but it's not like we had to watch a good guy wrestle with his faith. Dirty priests have already done the dirty work. It's part of their charm.

Despite the fact my brother is trying to gas me out of the room with his farts, I have to share this detail:

I spent 2 hours wrapping all of the presents (oh god, he just let another one. Send gas masks). During that time, my brother opened a box of 5lbs of bionicles he won on ebay. Not 5 sets. 5 POUNDS. He dumps them on the floor. Spends the next 2 hours sorting them and building 2 creatures. And then he realizes that maybe he really ought to get around to wrapping (oh help! fresh air, please!) the rest of his gifts.

I have photographic evidence. Which I'll probably post when I'm home because I don't feel like messing with his iphoto right now. It's hysterical.

Oh and NOW? He's assembling a chemistry kit for D made up of stuff he pilfered repurposed from the lab. It's really cool, basic chemistry and realio trulio professional equiptment. But I predict at least half an hour getting it together.

Given we were up until 3 with his car, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Still have shopping to do. But not as bad as I thought. I can buy my brother engine degreaser!

*gasping*

Sniff and post?

My TiVo has decided I might want to watch Hawaii Five-O and Quincy ME. Definitely on the "been nice" list. Roomba, OTOH, is an attention-whore, because when it runs when I'm not here it finds its home just fine, but when I'm here it runs out away from dock and whines till I put it back.

Okay. I've just taken heavy meds. This pain has to be beat back, or maybe I could just be unconscious. I don't get no ER until I come back from Jamaica in over a week.

I don't think rebranding "marriage" as a "civil union" really changes anything. It is still a contract regulated by the State and that the State has a vested interest in. The State will still have to define who can and can't "unionize", and the same people who oppose "gay marriage" (god I hate that term) will now oppose gay civil unions.

France has had civil marriages for years--still doesn't mean they will allow "The Gays" into the club.

But it will take a leg out of some of the arguments. God didn't have as much to say about civil unions.

It is not a "rebranding". It's getting the government completely out of the religion business. If you take the word "marriage" completely out of it, and put "marriage" into the powers of the church, then the problems are solved, as there are churches for everyone who wants one, but the governmnent is supposed to offer equality for all.

What it does is extract the part of the union that the government should be involved in; the part where it's a legal contract.

If you take the word "marriage" completely out of it, and put "marriage" into the powers of the church, then the problems are solved, as there are churches for everyone who wants one, but the governmnent is supposed to offer equality for all.

I think this is one of those things that is true in theory, but in practice people are still going to get all worked up about it. From the State's point of view, marriage isn't about religion per se.

Happy Birthday Strega!

I'd like to have the same rights as straight people, full stop, however unlikely I am to actually exercise them. But part of me does like the idea of pushing for technically equivalent civil unions earlier, and then watching fundies' blood pressure skyrocket when we go ahead and refer to it as marriage anyway regardless of what the actual license says.