I’m a Mommy Too!

we got legally married in massachusetts in august 2005, a few weeks before our big (illegal!) ceremony.  it was tiny and fun and we loved our justice of the peace.  but it didn’t feel like our real wedding.  i almost didn’t believe we were married afterwards.  i’ve gotten used to valuing our marriage in our own hearts and with the love and support of family and friends — but i think i’ve learned to try to make that enough.  the idea of having the support of a greater community - society at large, even strangers - is amazing to me.  on an intellectual level, it’s amazing that anyone cares enough to stop me and d from getting married.  but in my heart, it’s incredible to imagine - strangers - supporting our relationship.

it’s wonderful, but it’s almost scary.  many of us have built our relationship in a little cocoon, and when i allow myself to “go there,” it’s like a whole wide world blowing open.

Is Obama a Mac and Clinton a PC?

the article is about their websites, but it really resonates in a larger way.  i feel like those apple ads push to make you proud to be a witty, emo, hipster mac user (you might even date drew barrymore).  or alternatively, embarrassed because you prefer a pc and must therefore be a chubby, humorless guy in a bad suit.  likewise, i get a similar message from obama supporters: do you want the same old guy (ahem, whatever) in the bad suit?  sure, i can have the troops out in a few short months.  how?  dude, don’t be such a buzzkill.  don’t you want HOPE?  CHANGE?  hope for what?  change to what?  sh.  here, have some kool-aid.

i’m so glad it’s almost over!  this election is just getting on my nerves at this point.  it’s so ugly.  but we love to vote, and it was exciting bringing nate into the booth.  here he is on his first election day.

okay, so it’s more us than him, but there are his feet!

in other news, last night was our best night’s sleep in four weeks!  he slept solidly - in his co-sleeper - from midnight until 3am, and then after eating, he went back to sleep - in his co-sleeper - until 7am.  neither of us had to get up with him, d just fed him in bed and he drifted off.  no rocking, no gliding, no swinging, no walking.  it was amazing!

i just need to make sure you all read about the philadelphia gay news and their interview with senator clinton.

this is the front page article — note the blank space under obama’s picture, because he declined to interview.  here’s what they say about that:

“At this point in the Democratic presidential campaign, we’re able to view the candidates by their actions. And we have found that Sen. Barack Obama would rather talk at the LGBT community than with them…The fact is that Obama has spoken with the gay press only twice, and one of those interviews…was in 2004, before he became a U.S. senator. The other limited interview occurred after controversy erupted when his campaign added an anti-gay minister to his tour of the South. It has now been 1,522 days since Obama has been accessible to our community.”

 

has anyone else noticed that in the democratic primary, everyone calls the candidates by their first names?  anyone agree that it is not a coincidence that we do that now, when the candidates are a black man and a woman?  i know that clinton’s signs say “hillary,” and we have to distinguish between her and her husband.  i think the media supposedly use her first name for the same reason.  but sometimes people write “mrs. clinton,” which also burns me up, because doesn’t “senator clinton” make the distinction?!

i found this list of 100 reasons to support hillary, while browsing a new favorite blog.  pretty interesting.

lastly: mau.reen do.wd is a raging misogynist.

i haven’t turned into a rabid clinton supporter or anything; but i was wicked excited last night.  i’m working nights tonight and tomorrow, so i stayed up late (i got up early this morning and i’ll take a nap before i go to work).  i was watching something on ti.vo and around 1am, i went back to live tv and saw the news!  i don’t know if she can beat mccain, but considering obama outspends her 3-1 (or some such number) and she won texas anyway… well, it’s something to think about.

last night we had our second (of four) birth classes.  we really like the teacher, and i like having the time to bond with d and the baby.  and for that time, i feel like i’m doing exactly what i should be doing.

who am i endorsing for president?  i figure i should document my thoughts tonight, since tomorrow it may be irrelevant.

obviously, there is no candidate who is far enough left for me.  i’m a registered dem, but it isn’t where my heart is.  every candidate is way too moderate, but i’ll always have that problem so i may as well get on board.  but with whom?  apparently obama and clinton vote the same on almost everything.  they both represent a huge step forward, and i truly don’t know whether it’s more important to have a black president or a female president.  that sounds like a silly question — which is more important?  maybe a black man, because african americans have suffered slavery, lynchings, and fire hoses, and continue to experience personal and institutionalized racism, poverty, and segregation?  a white woman, because of the glass ceiling, the punishing maternity leave policy, the rampant sexism in the media, the fact that they got the vote later?  will it change anything to have either of these senators become president?  hopefully the big picture will change, but it can’t undo the crap this country has done to anyone.

i don’t think feminism means voting for a woman who has, in large part, turned away from what i consider feminist politics (and i’m not talking about staying with bill).  but just because i want change in the country, that doesn’t mean i should vote for the person who can fit the word “change” into a campaign speech more times.

pennsylvania’s primary isn’t until april 22, and by that point one candidate may no longer be relevant.  but if i were voting in super tuesday, i’m pretty sure i’d vote for clinton.  i’m trying not to make this about identity politics, even though i’m a second wave feminist at heart (if that’s even possible).  it seems like a lot of progressives are supporting obama, but honestly i’m not sure he knows everything he needs to know to fix things.  clinton’s been saying he wouldn’t be ready “on day one,” and i think i agree.

if i don’t sound certain, it’s because i’m not!  it’s unusual for me, but to an extent i’m following my heart.  when obama won iowa, i noticed i was bummed out.  and then when clinton won n.h., i got excited.  so maybe i’m just following that feeling?  d is deciding based on who will beat mccain (it seems like that’s going to be the repub).  and when i look at it that way, i wonder about clinton.  i think people have a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to the clintons (i realize that comes off as a pun or a double-entendre, but i can’t think of any other way to put it!), and in between people might knee-jerk vote against her.  still… when i hear obama, i know he’s a great orator and stands for change and hope and all things exciting, but i don’t hear as much content.  also, although he made a great speech on mlk day about homophobia (which i appreciated), he has associated himself with some real assholes.  lastly, he’s a bit church-y for me.  yikes.