National Equality March

October 11, 2009.
Pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2460528&id=10133619&l=90b57b9173

Commentary in the form of an email conversation between me & my mom...

[My mom] wrote:
Very nice! You certainly have the prettiest sign there! Where did you make that? Did you bring it home with you? It looks like you had a great day. Who were you staying with? I know you said, but I have a terrible memory. Was that the person walking along with you?

I'm glad it was a peaceful march. I guess you might have gotten more attention if there had been trouble, but the whole idea is about love and ending hate and all, so peaceful makes more sense. Have you heard any good estimates about the number of people there? I noticed some "straights against hate" kinds of signs--were there lots of those, or just a few? Did you get to talk to interesting people, or was it enough to just be there with them all?

Sorry about all the questions! And thanks for the pictures!
Love, Mom

[Audrey] wrote:
I made the sign Saturday night...we went by WalMart on the way to Kiera's place & picked up some posterboard & Crayola markers. And I just sat around for a few hours & worked on it. I made Kiera's sign too - much simpler but still effective; it said "Will Work for Equal Rights" with "Equal Rights" big & rainbow-y. Yes, Kiera is the person walking with us.

Estimates for number of people range from 150,000 to 250,000. My friend Mark said the march in '94 - that he went to - was 300K...but this one was thrown together on a $200K budget in five months with NO marketing beyond viral internet stuff, in a lousy economy, so I think it's pretty impressive. The organizers (about 30 of them) had figured on 100K people, so it was a raging success on that count.

There were quite a few straight people watching, which I thought was really awesome. Lots of "Straight but not narrow" signs, and one interracial straight couple marching near us had a sign saying something like "50 years ago our marriage would have been illegal too," which I thought was cool & hopeful-looking. The whole march was VERY family-oriented. Lots of kids marching with their moms or dads; lots of couples marching together. There were also quite a few gay ex-service people who got burned by Don't Ask Don't Tell - not my thing, but still really awesome. I talked to a few people from all over - I had this idea to include lots of people saying where they were from in a video montage but I got too busy marching to record much footage. We were standing near a whole group from Utah; I talked to them a little bit. Mostly, though, it was just being there. It was like everyone knew each other already - not names & life stories, but didn't need to. People would just start talking randomly, and lots of people were running around with cameras like me, just running up to people & saying, "Can I take your picture?!" and snapping a shot & running off. It was this wonderful sense of community. Even with all those people, I never felt closed in or unsafe. If people stopped for whatever reason during the march, the crowd just flowed around them. Everyone was really really happy & calm but still with this undercurrent of charged excitement, like things can change & were changing and we don't have to be nasty to get what we want, just firm. So yeah, it was peaceful in the sense that no one was fighting, but in terms of energy, it was anything but. It was more like we just didn't need to fight - there were enough of us that anyone against us just didn't matter. And that sense of community just hung around all afternoon. Walking back to the car, everyone we saw was from the march and we'd all wave to each other or cheer at each other or whatever.

And please, question! It's great! I like it when people ask questions. :D

Roni's Border Burgers

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (lean)
1 lb beef chorizo
2 Anaheim green chiles
4 slices Pepper Jack cheese
4 large hamburger buns
Miracle Whip or mayonnaise

Mix together the ground beef and chorizo. Separate into 4 patties; grill until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Meanwhile, slice each chile in half and cut out the seeds. Flatten each of the halves and saute in a little bit of oil until soft. Place one slice of cheese on each of the burgers; top each with one of the chile halves. Toast the hamburger buns; spread with mayonnaise; put them all together.

Really really good served with tortilla chips & beer.

Wootage!

I love Tucson! This is probably not legally binding or anything, being (possibly) a mistake, but it's still pretty freakin' awesome: http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/280051.php

I need new boots...

So I was out hiking with a friend yesterday. Note to self: steel-toed boots get caught in crevices in the rocks REALLY EASILY. My toe got caught; my body kept going; the whole system bent at the ankle & I was screaming in pain before I hit the ground. It took me several tries to get up w/out passing out. Yikes! Fortunately, I had ibuprofin, and an awesome walking stick, and a cell phone so I could let my family know what was going on. I finally managed to get to my feet and discovered a way of limping along that did not bend the ankle. Unfortunately, I was 3 miles from the trailhead. So I kept limping. Part of the way along, we returned to the area managed by the visitor's center. They run tours on these little paved roads. My wife, who had raced across town to the visitor's center as soon as she heard I was injured, tried to convince a ranger to go up the little paved road and meet me and drive me back, thus saving me 2 miles. But that was a no go. They "don't do" that kind of thing. If I wanted a ride, I'd have to call 911. Well, I figured, if I'm walking all right (albeit very slowly & painfully), that hardly counts as an emergency. Besides, ambulances are expensive and I really don't think my insurance covers emergency calls. (And yes, although they can't exactly charge you for the call itself, they sure as heck can charge for the 2-mile ride in the ambulance from the trailhead to the visitor's center.) So I kept limping. It took me 2 hours. I am exhausted. We then went to urgent care, because by now the ankle was swollen & kind of numb, and I still couldn't bend it. They x-rayed it & determined there was no break, but it was a nasty sprain. Joy!

The truly disturbing things in life...

I parked in an ordinary parking space on an ordinary day. Next to the car was a raised gravel area with a sad, wintry bush and some dried leaves. And what appeared to be a rag. I didn't think much about it, but simply left the vehicle to complete my business.

When I returned, I took a closer look at the rag. Not for any great reason, or because it was remarkable at first glance, but because my back has been stiff so it took a little longer than usual to sit down, and I had to look at something.

The rag was not a rag. It was a corset. A black corset, inside out, with stiff stays and laces, just sitting in the parking lot.

I found myself contemplating the erstwhile owner of the limp corset. Was she a dominatrix type, who carries around a spare corset the way some people carry around a spare bra, just in case of emergency, who was not careful about how she opened the door of her car? Was she a normal sort of girl embarrassed about owning such a thing, who found a need (perhaps in a parental visit) to quickly discard the item? Was she out on a date and found the bank parking lot ideal shelter for 'adult activities'?

I mean, really, who loses a CORSET? The things are expensive!

Random Criminal Procedures thoughts...

I have a random fear of hiking in the woods, coming across a pot field, & being arrested & getting my body cavities searched.

I also have a random fear of being pulled over late at night while tired & being forced to submit to a blood test. Yikes, needles!

WHY DO PEOPLE PAY $18K/YEAR FOR A CLASS, THEN COMPLAIN ABOUT IT INCESSENTLY?

A random thought from Torts reading...

I would just like to state that "Nameless Wrong" would be an excellent name for a band.