Mermaid or Whale?

I just received this email from my boss who had received it from her sister - it's WAY too good not to share.

Recently, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:

THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they don't have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who's skin is all scaly and smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me... I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my grandkids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a latte with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good gosh, look how smart I am"!

Moral of the story: Enjoy your life and those around you rather than wasting time and energy focusing on fitting into a general perception of "perfection." AMEN!

Damn It! I Miss My Man.

Chad's gone. He's in Pittsburgh for NIOSH Leadership training for 6 days then he is visiting friends of ours who live in Philadelphia for 2 days.

Bums me out when he's gone.

It's partially because I wish I could be having those experiences with him. But it's mostly that I selfishly want him home with me.

I love coming home from work to him sitting at the island in the kitchen checking Facebook or the Seattle PI's photos of the day or the Chevy Camero site. I love sitting down to dinner with him and talking about the day over a glass of wine. I love snuggling with him in our big red chair to decompress while watching some reality TV (he humors me) or an episode of From the Earth to the Moon.

I love checking on the twins together before we go to bed. I love laughing at Conan O'Brien or David Letterman with him while we brush our teeth. I love cuddling up with him in bed before we go to sleep till he says "OK, get away, you're hot." (I just wait till he falls asleep and cuddle up to him again.)

I love the husband, father, best friend, lover, comedian, provider and personal heater that he is. So, yeah. It's totally selfish.

Don't get me wrong - I am excited and thankful for his job with the CDC and the training, opportunities and chances to travel that his job with the Federal Government provides. Wouldn't change those things for the world. But having him gone sure as hell makes me appreciate the man who has chosen to spend his life with me.

New Family Members... (it's not what you think!)

Last fall I wrote about my new Uncle Pat on our Hutson Family blog. (Synopsis: I got an email from Pat Lueck saying that he was pretty sure that my grandpa was his dad - sure enough!)

Well, he and his wife Ann and grandson Gabriel braved meeting the Washington Lucks last month. I blogged about it on our Hutson Family blog.

Pretty crazy stuff! But we're very excited to have all these new family members!

Praying for Peace, Hope & Justice in Iran

I've been following what's been going on in Iran via first-person accounts on Twitter (@Change_for_Iran, @TehranBureau, @Mousavi1388, @StopAhmadi, @LaraABCNews, @persiankiwi, @iran09, @madyar, @hadinili). They have been tweeting photos and video as well from YouTube (WARNING: lots of graphic content). What's going on over there is massively effed up. The people of Iran are trying to peacefully protest the recent election and they are getting attacked.

The two front-runners in the Iranian presidental election on June 12th were incumbent Ahmadinejad and Mousavi of the Independent Reformist party. There is much speculation that the election was a fraud. Mousavi and his supporters are calling for the election to be annuled and a new election held immediately. Mousavi has been communicating with supporters through his Twitter account and Facebook page.

There's a photo circulating that shows three TV screen shots. In each screenshot, it shows the time and the number of votes for each candidate. As time progresses, Ahmadinejad's votes keep increasing while Mousavi's votes decrease, which of course, is not possible. The Iranian government has admitted that in 50 cities there were more votes cast than there were registered voters (it has been speculated that it happened in as many as 170 cities).

The Supreme Leader (has ultimate power over everything including the president) Ayatollah Khamenei has validated the election and told the people of Iran that protests would be considered acts of terrorism.

Mousavi's "Sea of Green" (he adopted green as his campaign color) have demonstrated peacefully. They have either been silent or have chanted "Down with the dictator," "Death to the dictator" and "Give us our votes back".

The Iranian government blocked text messaging, cell phone signals, Facebook & YouTube. They have blocked and hacked Twitter accounts, and are using the accounts to track protesters. Twitterers (Tweeters?) have had to use proxy sites to post their updates. The government has ordered all foreign journalists to remain in their hotels. Some have even been ordered out of the country. Protesters, policitians and journalists have been arrested. Some have just "disappeared."

Protester have encountered tear gas, fire hoses, helicopters dumping acid on the crowds, gun fire and brutal beatings. People have been brutally murdered, though it's tough to know how many since any official reports have to go through the Iranian government before they become public. There are 4 types of security - the police, Basij (men too old or young for the army), IRG (Iranian Revolutionary Guard) & the army. The police, Basij & IRG are in the streets of Iran with the protesters. Some are sypathetic, but many just take pleasure in assaulting the masses. It doesn't sound like the army has been brought in yet, but it appears that it's only a matter of time.

Mousavi has ordered a national strike - no one go to work, no stores open - as part of the protest. The demostrations in the street continue. The violence continues.

I'm very disturbed by what's happening in Iran. And thanks to Twitter, I'm keenly aware of what's going on up to the minute. One person I'm following (@Change_for_Iran) has not posted anything since June 20th. I'm afraid for his safety. His profile lists him as simply "Iranian student."

As a young American, this turmoil that is playing out right before my eyes Iran has made me so grateful for where I live and the trivial problems that I deal with every day. I can leave my house and take to the streets of Spokane without having to worry about my safety. I can post this blog with my name and location attached and not have have to worry that militia are going to seek me out and make me "disappear."

I'm praying for peace and justice for the Iranian people. I'm praying for an end to the violence. I'm praying for Iranian democracy. I'm asking God to give me the faith and hope that is evident in so many of the Iranian people.

I hope you are praying too.

Information about Referendum 71

Just got this email this morning from Equal Rights Washington/Washington Families Standing Together. Thought I would share. It gives information about the domestic partnership laws as it stands now and information about Referendum 71. It's signed by some of the key supporters of the pledge to decline to sign the Referendum 71 petition.

OK... that MAY be the end of my rant about this for now.

Follow up to same-sex marriage post...

After tweeting the link to the post "Really California? Are you kidding me?", a friend of mine @replied me and sent me the link to another blog post supporting same-sex marriage: I Am Married. It was written in 2004 by an award-winning author and blogger. He is a thirty-something straight man who is married with one child.

It's a great read! (Thanks for sharing, Aaron!)

Really California? Are you kidding me?

The title of this blog post really says it all.

I am shocked, offended, apaulled, disgusted, disappointed and ANGRY that the Supreme Court of California voted to uphold Proposition-8 this week. I mean, seriously. What the hell decade/century/millenium are we living in?

I whole-heartedly believe that marriage should be a LEGAL union between any two individuals who love each other enough to commit their lives to each other. Anyone who has ever been married will tell you that marriage is tough. But it's the most fabulous roller coaster you'll ever ride and I commend two people who are dedicated enough to each other to want hop on that roller coaster together.

LOVE IS LOVE. What difference does it make whether it's between a man and a woman or two men or two women? With all the horrible things in this world, I'm outraged that the Supreme Court of California has decided to continue to support something that takes away the happiness of marriage and equality from a few hundred thousand of the state's citizens.

It amazes me that states like Massachusettes (where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2003), Connecticut (legal since 2008), Iowa (legal since April), Vermont (becomes legal Sept 1) and Maine (becomes legal Sept 14) have embraced their gay populations while California, which is supposed to be a progressive state, has not.

I think at this point it has to be up to activists in California to petition to get a new bill/referendum/proposition on the ballot as soon as possible to legalize same-sex marriage. Since 6 of the 7 justices of the Supreme Court of California didn't have the cojones to overturn Prop-8, the voters are going to have to do it.

I'm proud that the State of Washington has passed a law to expand rights for domestic partnerships. But there is already a proposed ballot initiative to overturn the bill, which was signed into law by Governor Gregoire on May 18th, called Referendum 71 and immediately Equal Rights Washington starting urging citizens to Pledge to Decline to Sign Referendum 71 petition. I pledged earlier this week and I encourage everyone else who is registered to vote in Washington to sign it too.

While I am saddened and frustrated and angered by all this, I am still hopeful. I have faith that every state in the union will legalize same-sex marriage in my lifetime. And I am choosing to help the cause rather than ignore it or sit idly by.