| March 7, 2004 | Music | Recipe Calendar | Archives |
The Gay Marriage Issue is just the kind of consciousness-raising entertainment we need here in late winter. So much good writing and discussion in newspapers and magazines. Just read Jonathan Rauch's piece in the Atlantic (How the Founding Fathers would have dealt with gay marriage).
 The photos in Newsweek and on CNN show happy ordinary couples and families, glowing with happiness. Why would anyone want to deny them that? I think Mayor Gavin Newsom's act of civil disobedience was brilliant: he has succeeded in "putting a face on discrimination." Among the participants in the Winter of Love were friends Jean Carr and Este Armstrong who live in Maryland with their children and zipped out to San Francisco to be married. Hurrah for all those other mayors and town officials who are are looking at their laws and realizing that equal means equal and are sharing in this peaceful joyful revolution.
Conservatives have to be finding themselves in an odd position here. Family is the social unit that makes good citizens, raises good children, builds community. Why deny family to a segment of the population? Family values are for everybody. As for the Shrub's gay marriage ban amendment, when you have totally failing grades on foreign and domestic policy, your last desparate hope is a cultural war.  I hope the Kerry campaign continues to avoid engaging in cultural wars and stays with the key issues that will let us get the Mad Cowboy out of office.
Painting away inside 93 Main, our little building downtown. Here's what we're doing with the downstairs commercial space: a stripe of color between the tin ceiling and the beaded board wainscoating which has been pickeled the same color as the ceiling. The wall color was supposed to be Cayenne, but we switched to a Martha Stewart color at the last minute. It was the least we could do. So many other people richly deserve to go to jail more than she does. I have no idea who will want to rent the space. That will be a little surprise for all of us. Things worth saving: John and niece Brittin's Mardi Gras menu at their Bombs Away Restaurant in Corvalis, Oregon. They need to come to JazzFest again this year to get some music to go with that food.
Our monthly Unity Trails Group meeting is a lunch meeting at CrossTrax restaurant. Wilson Hess was lurking about and I got him to take this picture. Mealtime meetings are the way to go. People are on their lunch breaks, so the meeting can only last about an hour. The restaurant can use the business, and we get to eat while we meet. The group includes people from Barn Raisers, Unity College, MOFGA and Rotary. This meeting was on Mardi Gras and we had king cake for dessert.
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