just in case you've forgotten, there's still a war going on...

follow up on mexico

To follow up on my statement below doubting that Mexico would have same sex marriage before the US...I either forgot or somehow completely missed that there are states in Mexico where it is legal, as well as in Mexico City. So...I think now that it probably won't be long before the US is sandwiched between two slices of sanity.

Here's a gem by Glenn Greenwald.

argentina/bp/pub

I’m getting absolutely nothing done at work today, so I thought I would bore you, gentle reader. Argentina now has same sex marriage. There would be some major irony if this sentiment moves north and Mexico passes same sex marriage before the US does....doubtful this would happen, but then again it’s legal in Spain and South Africa - two countries that are pretty goddamn religious...or at least that is my perception of them.

The oil spill in the Gulf has been capped, at least for now. That’s good news...and probably not news to you if you are reading this. I’m writing this more as a reminder to myself when I look back ten years from now. People on the right screamed why didn’t the government do more and people on the left screamed why doesn’t BP do more – while I agree both government and BP should have done more (by more I mean REGULATION), the irony of the left/right flip flop was amusing to me. I still find it astounding that people think regulating a multibillion (trillion?) dollar industry (oversight, safety, inspection, contingency planning, mitigation, etc.) is wrong or anti-industry...or my favourite, bad for the economy – love that one.

On that note, it’s Friday and I’m off to the pub with some workmates...

random people at a bus stop

jamais vu

I've been thinking about that state of feeling unfamiliar with the familiar - jamais vu. More in relation to environment, not emotions. Though, I guess the two would be intertwined. Figuring out ways to represent this state is my next project idea for nfdu PROJECTS. I definitely want it to be a collaborative endeavor, but not sure about scope...? Seems more like a selective invitational, rather than a call for entries project. I have some people in mind that I would like to approach, probably best to do that and get their input and go from there. I keep thinking about the first time I saw a Hungry Jack restaurant in Sydney - it's the same as Burger King in the US - it's that feeling I had that I'm talking about. I'm conscious of the fact that this experience is so incredibly subjective that representing it objectively might be impossible. LOL, I'm having deja vu.

home and home

So this week was the first week back to work from the trip. Not so bad. The trip seems like a distant memory now. My last thoughts on the topic were kind of negative. I’ve had some time to think it over and things weren’t as bad as I had made them out to be. Sure, I wish there had been more time to spend with friends. Sure, I wish in retrospect we picked another weekend other than Gay Pride to go. And sure, I wish that dumbass hadn’t puked on me on Saturday night! WTF?!? We were at the Powerhouse not more than two minutes and this guy came stumbling out of the crowd bumped his head on the bar, raised up and spewed undigested liquor all over me. At least he hadn’t had any food in the past 12 hours. Amateurs, all amateurs, I say! I was in such a bad head space when we left Australia that I put too many expectations on this trip home. Expectations are something I learned to suppress many years ago, but this time the excitement of the trip got the better of me. I think I expected people to drop everything and come spend all their time with me…I know better, I mean it’s California, okay? The trip was kind of a mirror. It took me a couple of days to get over how neurotic and dramatic everyone was. I know I’m just like this, but I haven’t had to be immersed in it in two years. I saw ugliness and selfishness where I wish I hadn’t, including my own. America is a drug, and when you are off the drug you forget the anxiousness until your back on it again. It can be quite exhausting. I want to go back to California, it’s my home. I miss the hipster attitude of San Francisco. I miss the commerce. I miss walking down any street and running into people I know, one right after another. I miss being able to have conversations that aren’t centered on sports. I miss the ubiquitous visibility of gay people.

On Saturday morning after returning to Australia, I got up and went down to get lattes for me and hubby. While walking through Town Hall Station, I ran into one of my coworkers. It was completely unexpected. She said, “Welcome home!” It put a smile on my face.   

Side note…American accents sounded strange to me for the first time. It was funny and unexpected.