Outside of the box thinking

From a part of the world where war, drug trade and a confounding political and geographical situation have had to change our country's definition of "winning" for over eight years, there's a story about soldiers making a difference without weapons, hand to hand combat or plans for battle.

Even if the outreach is to two, three or four at a time, it seems some of our female soldiers in Afghanistan are making progress by connecting with women in that country's villages and encouraging them to push past their fear. At the same time, these soldiers are "winning the war", not by destruction or brute force, but by using their (and their translators') words and making connections.

What a wonderful way to change the way we begin to think about war, especially with tomorrow being Memorial Day in our country. It reminded me a little of the story which helped to begin the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and the revolution that's quietly spread around the world in the past 34 years, empowering women in villages through creating connections and promoting basic commerce as a means of lifting people out of desperate poverty.

Peace be with us all this weekend.

T minus five days: a small slice of life

The view of the setup of Sunday's big show

Tonight, as I was in between trains, I took a small break to refill the wallet and grab a small snack to stop a minor blood sugar crash. I finished off the snack, tossed the wrapper and turned to walk back down into the subway stop. In front of me stood a young woman who was talking to someone on her cel. She faced the same direction I was and, in front of her, was an elderly couple. The man was well dressed and holding a cane in one hand.

To the man's right was a woman about the same age who also had a cane in her free hand. The woman was struggling to walk down the stairs with an obvious case of gout.

The young woman was well into her cel phone conversation and may have been grateful for the break in forward motion to focus on that conversation. The young woman served as a barrier to anyone wanting to pass to the old man's left side. I picked up on what was going on and positioned myself a few steps above the old woman. For those rushing down the stairs eager to catch the next train out of downtown LA, they easily breezed by to my left, easily missing the old woman and her cane so she could slowly ease down into the subway station.

I took my time taking out a tissue to combat allergies while being paused ten steps from the platform entrance. I watched all three of them as the old woman, getting more wobbly and arched as she descended those final few steps.

I took a second to smile, silently offering praise that she successfully made it down the stairway, then praying that she and her companion would continue their journey safely.

Were the woman on the cel and I on the MP3 player temporary guardian angels or just subconsciously following the teachings of our parents to help someone without making them feel invalid? Someone else can rule on that. I write this simply in gratitude for the ability to do with relative ease that which someone else does with great struggle and a healthy dose of fear.

Please take a few moments in the days to come to be a "guardian angel" to someone without their knowledge-- for purely selfish reasons!

A view of red carpet underneath clear plastic with security and tourists scattered about. Just because it's my blog and why not post a picture of this?

More rainbows

Another southern California storm and another late-day great big rainbow over the Boulevard.

There have been a few stories that borrow from the principal of the rainbow -- the very picture of the beginnings of light shining through a dark and stormy scene.

First, Lt. Dan Choi, who has put a face on the fight to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy within our military, was able to drill with his unit (no laughing, please) recently. While it's not the bright, shimmering rainbow one would hope for, I'll take anything that leads toward a repeal of this absurd policy.

Another survivor was pulled from the rubble yesterday in Port-au-Prince and the man is still recovering. That would make him having survived, somehow, for 27 days. And, life goes on in that nation. If it only took sheer willpower and spirit to recover from last month's earthquake, Haitians would have already rebuilt their country and thrown a city-wide party this past weekend. Still, their needs will change in the coming weeks and months, so I'll keep the Red Cross link posted at the top. If you've been fortunate to find extra money or you're being blessed with a tax refund, a few extra dollars donated to the Red Cross or any of the other organizations who are trying to help will still go a long way.

The slowly growing rays of sunshine seem to be piercing even the darkest clouds in our nation's capitol. The President chatted with the press earlier today about his meeting with Legislators from both major parties to see what sorts of bills could be crafted to provide more help to those in need of a job and businesses who may want to hire but think they cannot afford to do so. I'm a little hazy on when, if at all, President GW Bush had done the same sort of thing in the last couple of years of his presidency. So, even if only a couple of things are worked out this week creating even the smallest movement forward toward recovery, it won't be due to a lack of effort to get both sides to work together by the President.

For liberals like me and, I'm sure, a health number of conservatives, the changes aren't coming often and fast enough. As much as I'd like to think one post written on one blog would be all that's needed to make everything come together, I'm a bit more realistic about those chances.

Then again, to get the strongest looking rainbow, you need a hard rain, dark cloudy skies on one side and bright sunlight on the other.

Whoa-oh-whoa it's OK

It's Friday night and I'm in a mood to celebrate!

Congress has passed a significant piece of hate crimes legislation by extending the existing federal hate crimes laws to cover crimes committed against lesbians and gays. I feel just a little bit safer and a little more at peace that violence done because of "those f***ots" or "those dy**s" will hold increase penalties for offenders. I can even dare to hope for future conversations about the reasons people commit such crimes in the first place and try to put a stop to that crime before it begins.

On top of that, my partner and I are celebrating 21 years together tomorrow and we're celebrating the recent wedding of one of our relatives (if this blog were about them, I'd name them) !

While I'm in a celebratory mood, click play on the YouTube clip below featuring Christian singing duo Jason & DeMarco (and they are boyfriends in real life! Yikes! Yippee!!) a fairly recent hit song "It's OK"

Because maybe it really is

The Countdown begins!

After nearly a decade of use, our old Mac Powerbook G4 is soon destined for recycling. I just finished the purchase of a new iMac with a much bigger monitor, wireless mouse and keyboard and got a free printer along with it. I even broke down, joining the 21st century, and got an iPhone. Granted, it's the older version, but how much power do I need to surf the 'net and draft posts here while I ride the light rail? I may even take clearer pictures (not better -- it's an iPhone, not a magic wand).

I'm hoping the new iMac will give me an easier-to-use website wallpaper program so I can restyle this site. I've even got a 8GB memory stick I'll be using to move the files from my old to my new computer. I have a new user for the old Powerbook all lined up as well.

Everything arrives in a week or so and, to make this even sweeter, my partner has kindly been saving money every month for over a year so we won't miss the money so much when we pay the credit card company in full.

I even ordered some coffee so I can stay powered up next weekend for the installation. Is that what's meant in computer-world by Java? I may already be in over my head . . .

Great Gobs O' Gay News!

As I was reminded by a straight co-worker today, there is much to celebrate as of late in the world o' "teh gay"

HuffPo has a nice, concise post about court decisions, legislation vetoes, city council unanimity all moving toward giving more and more gay & lesbian couples the right to be legally married (or to have their marriages legally recognized).

And, now, New York wants in on some of the fun.

Meanwhile, while my home state awaits word from its' Supreme Court re: Proposition 8, one of our state's most popular church leaders seems to have gone "sour grapes" over gay marriage.  And just a few months back, his tone seemed so different!

And Rachel talked about teabagging tonight on MSNBC.  OK, so it's about a grassroots-style protest planned for 4/15/09.   I could not stop laughing (and neither could Rachel)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

One of my biggest fears

I freak out at some point anytime I travel by plane at some point during the flight.  When I hear the"ding" of a "Fasten Seat Belt" sign and see that phrase light up in the plane due to turbulence, it triggers the panic.  Once the turbulence subsides, I return to normal.

I was reasonably calm, however, watching the news earlier today about an emergency landing on the Hudson River near NYC.  That pilot - what a mensch!  The combination of an experienced crew, the heroics and common decency from the passengers and the rush to rescue everyone by boats already in the water makes the adjective "miraculous" seem insufficient to describe what happened.

I do not know if watching all of this has stopped the in-flight feelings of fear I get.  If nothing else, I've got the website I referenced here for future review and will figure out someway, sometime to overcome the worst of my fears.