LET'S HEAR IT FOR EDIE'S HAT !!

and this sign from today's NYC parade

dinner w/ Pride

  gay cocktails!

 rainbow snacks 

the start of a theme

 Summer Table

 Mixed Greens Salad 

w/ baby beets

tomatoes

strawberries

red onion

Oven Braised Turkey Loin

Rainbow Swiss Chard

The very first corn of summer
w/ butter and basil
Wild Rice

Then there were the rainbow cupcakes and some ice cream! 

OH PROMISE ME

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The B-52's Hot Corner

yeah, born this way, but.....

if you are on the fence at all about your sexuality, like - yeah, I'm all bi or what ever  - this will just push you right over the fence......

Gay Boxing Day

THE DAY AFTER

A strange day - very much that December 26th sort of " wasn't that a party " feeling. I missed my boyfriend Nate Silver Tom Goldstein this morning, we had been together all month on his FANTASTIC blog SCOTUSblog. Things are still sort of sinking in, and I loved all the END IS NEAR talk today from the Christian right wing - or as you can tell by this mornings NY POST - the Fox News universe just chose to pretend that it did not happen......

daily Koda

Swimming in the pool of equality!

CUPCAKE PRIDE

Wegmans was celebrating yesterdays court ruling today!

This is the day

And it was a long one, really
started out with the DC GMC in front of the Supreme Court

Seemed to peak really early, those few hours this morning , pre decision were just a blur.... then boom. Right off the bat, DOMA - tick tick tick, forever or 5 minutes. GONE.

And gone big and bold too - not a little namby pamby yes you may have a crumb, Justice Kennedy ( Reagan appointee ) blew up the world - Kyle and Neil are equal American citizens, with all rights and responsibilities.

Then the talking started. Lots and lots and lots of talking, from so many people and for what ever reason trying to get in the OTHER side of the argument [ as if the News Media would search high and low for some Klan members to support what Paula Deen said as a good thing - but have NO problem putting on Christian pastors to say really nasty things about me ..] 
And as the day wore on people starting sort of tapping down expatitions, " well the gays did not get everything  - It's not illegal to be a Roman Catholic in this country , yet...". More or less just saying that yes , this is an advancement , but there is much more to be done. Yes, and all these folks were totally wrong.

This was yesterday

This is today

This was Brown v Board, this was Loving v Virginia, this was Griswold v Connecticut and Roe v Wade.: Windsor v the United States.

Just pure joy as the ruling came down this morning, there was dancing, and there was just a massive .. release. The last few weeks have just been gut wrenching, " will it be today ?" , " yes?, no ?" then yesterday with the vulgar, painful gutting of the voting rights act - we were a little worried. I am tired.

A full nights sleep with out lurching towards SCOTUSblog at first light - and we will dig deeper into this.

ONE HOUR

I am  - I think numb.
Nervous as that cat  - but sort of internalizing it , for the most part . Ask Neil - I tend to get a little..." overwrought " in these situations.

NOT that there has EVER been a situation like this before - In less than an hour, my status as an American citizen will be decided. If you have not walked a mile in my shoes then I think it would be hard for you to sympathize...

I'll just do some running feed today......

dinner

Taco Salad

sleepless night

In August of 1982, in Atlanta, Georgia - Mr. Michael Hardwick had a very bad day. Earlier in the year Hardwick had been given a public drinking citation by a City of Atlanta policeman, there was some mix up on the date written on the ticket - and Mr. Hardwick missed his court date, upon learning this, he went right down town, paid the 50 bucks and got on with his life....
A few weeks later the same officer that had issued the ticket came to Hardwicks home - not knowing the citation was paid and moot - the story goes off track here with one side saying a house guest opened the door for the policeman, the other side saying the door was just left ajar - either way, the officer came in, and searched the house for Mr. Hardwick, finding him behind a closed door , in his own bedroom, in his own house having " consensual oral sex "........
Bang ! You are under arrest - both of you... Sodomy is a crime in Georgia. The local DA chose not to bring the case before the grand jury - the first step in going to a trial , but Hardwick wanted more and backed by the ACLU, he sued Georgia Attorney General ( and there by the entire state ) Michael Bowers - going all the way to the Supreme Court where in 1986 the court found in favor of the state of Georgia - your house, your bedroom door, YOU mean nothing......Got it?

Set law of the land and a lovely way to grow up, we fast forward to 1996 when the court ruled on Romer v Evans - a case out of Colorado where the voters in the state passed a constitutional amendment stating that " would have prevented any city, town, or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to recognize gay and lesbian individuals as aprotected class " . 

Got it? Anti sodomy laws are perfectly constitutional and the people of Colorado are going to make sure that no gay or lesbian ever gets anything close to equal protection.....

But 10 years had passed, 10 years and a plague.Ten  years and not just a few drag queens at the Stonewall Inn fighting back, but an entire country of LGBT people and their allies rising up in the face of a realcrisis. This time we won - a new court and with a 6-3 vote the amendment was ruled unconstitutional.... 

Scalia and Thomas were on the court then, these are some of Justice Scalia's remarks:

• Amendment 2 did not deny homosexuals access to the political process but merely made it more difficult to enact laws that they favored. He noted that the majority's result stood in flat contradiction to the court's earlier decision in Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), in which it had ruled that laws outlawingsodomy are not unconstitutional. That was based on the fact that Bowers had rejected a rational-basis challenge to sodomy laws on the grounds that traditional moral disapproval furnished such a rational basis, and argued that "If it is rational to criminalize the conduct, surely it is rational to deny special favor and protection to those with a self-avowed tendency or desire to engage in the conduct."
• The holding was difficult to reconcile with Davis v. Beason, 133 U.S. 333 (1890), and why §501 of the Idaho Revised Statutes was not an "impermissible targeting" of polygamists, but Amendment 2 was an "impermissible targeting" of homosexuals, asking "Has the Court concluded that the perceived social harm of polygamy is a 'legitimate concern of government,' and the perceived social harm of homosexuality is not?"
• Arguing against what he saw as judicial activism and a "Kulturkampf" (culture war), he held that as the Constitution says nothing on the topic, it should be decided by democratic processes, and that "it [is] no business of the courts (as opposed to the political branches) to take sides in this culture war. But the Court today has done so, not only by inventing a novel and extravagant constitutional doctrine to take the victory away from traditional forces, but even by verbally disparaging as bigotry adherence to traditional attitudes."

His dissent ends by opining that "Today's opinion has no foundation in American constitutional law, and barely pretends to. The people of Colorado have adopted an entirely reasonable provision which does not even disfavor homosexuals in any substantive sense, but merely denies them preferential treatment. Amendment 2 is designed to prevent piecemeal deterioration of the sexual morality favored by a majority of Coloradans, and is not only an appropriate means to that legitimate end, but a means that Americans have employed before. Striking it down is an act, not of judicial judgment, but of political will."

Lawrence v Texas and DOMA

Bowers was the law of the land until 2003 when a case with almost all of the exact same details made its way to the Supreme Court out of Texas. Police were in an apartment,Mr. Lawrence's and  walked in on two guys doing what two guys do - and its off to the pokey ( where btw, a lot of guys do these sorts of things ...). Really, Sodomy laws in the 21st century ? 6-3 with the Bobsie Twins naturally voting against it...
Also back in 1996 way out in little Hawaii some loan Senator or Govenor or just some guy in a hula skirt said the term : "same sex marriage " causing a total freak out melt down in all of Washington. Lead through the nose by the Christian right, Bill Clinton signed the law:

In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

Fast Forward

SO, all of this ,California's Prop 8 and all these years of cases and and years , decades of work on both sides comes to a full on head TOMORROW. I am a wreck.
Are Prop 8 and DOMA Constitutional , Are Neil and I full Citizens of this country ?
Part of me is just amazed that EVERYONE Is not on edge about this - Ill be here early in the am..10:00 am, and everything afterwards.....

dinner

Spicy Black Beans

Pork Chop

Marinated in cumin and yogurt

A little home made Pica de Gallo

Daily Koda

The almost hens teeth rare HOT and STICKY almost Canada day - took some work to get Koda to go swimming with me....

Still awash in the verdant sea of a post flood Mendon

only this time with heat and bugs!

 He was in for a good long time

 I don't know if you can tell but the water was

way up over this little bridge, washing away some of the support

leaving all these cobble stones....

NOTHING! Like a good roll in the tall grass after a good hot Summers day swim!

Pics w/ Music

My very good old pal Craig down in DC is , as I type, singing ( with a group ) the ooo ooo oooo's behind the freaking ROLLING STONES . Pretty darn cool.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

A little bit shocking for 2013 - The Rolling Stones are right now, the #1 Money making tour in North America.....

Neil once sang the ooo oooo's behind Barry Manilow!

Pics w/ Music ll

THE SONG

( an easy one to guess )

The Boy Who Cried Equality

Once more to the barricades!

Another Monday , another shot at a little bit of "Justice for All ".....

The Supreme Court WILL come down from on high with some decisions - 11 left, Four big ones.....

We will be live starting at 9ish......

Salinger Official Trailer 1 (2013) - JD Salinger Documentary HD

The B-52's - There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)

dinner

Pork on a Stick

( can you really do wrong with pork on a stick ? )

Yellow Rice

Summer Ratatouille

daily Koda

dinner ( last night )

Cooked a gin soaked ( kyle and neil, not the chicken ) low and slow for a good long time, bathed in a yummy Briny vinegary baste, then slathered in BBQ sauce.
A lovely last cool night of Summer for a good long while

 BBQ Chicken

Methodist Beans

Apple /Red Pepper Cole Slaw

Paula and the Giant Noun

Paula Deen has a brother. 

Does not seem as if that should be so very newsworthy, but it turns out it is. Paula Deen Inc owns 49% of of Uncle Bubba's Oyster House there in Savannah, with the brother - the eponymous Bubba - owning 51%. Now it turns our that Bubba can be a bit of a dick.

He is being sued right now by a woman for creating a " violent , racist and sexist work place" , who knows if he did or if she is just out for a buck... I have not really gone into the case all that much, I'm just not that interested. But, for what ever reason, PAULA DEEN INC , her peeps ,her handlers , lawyers, PR people , that whole mess of folks down there in Savannah decided instead of writing this woman a large check ( while putting some checks on old Bubba ) they would allow Miss Paula to go on record ......

" Have you ever in your entire 66 years on the planet used the N word ? "

And it broke the internet.

The story I guess broke on Thursday, with Paula scheduled for a TODAY show appearance on Friday morning to clear the air - and blew them off, mistake #1. Then she comes out with some wack a doodle you tube thing , all a hot mess - apologizing and crying AND then pulls that after like half an hour, it was of course copied all over the place BUT she then released a second one  - more composed. I am not going to link to any of these but they are easy to find.....

She says at some point in her life she has used a word - and The Food Network lets her go. She was not fired, but as much as I can tell, they are just choosing not to re-up her show... for saying at some point in her life she has said it.
Wrap your head around that one.

I could not have a show on FD, I have said the word - Neil and I spent a lot of time talking about it last night. When I was growing up Brazil Nuts were not called Brazil nuts, even if my small child brain never really connected the two. Enie Menie Miny Mo was not catching tigers at Winder Barrow Elementary School , and there was a certain baseball play that was either in or out... that would keep a lot of little Barrow County boys off of the television.

Have I ever said it in anger , ever... I really and truly do not think I have... but yes, I , the most racked with Southern guilt hard core old school liberal have in my 50 years said it... and so what?

You live your life and you learn. I'm pretty sure Paula Deen does not let it pass in everyday conversation - NO ONE in polite society does, even down in good old squared Savannah. Nor in Atlanta , or Charleston , or New Orleans or even Rochester , New York. Do you think Food Network will ask every single on air personality if they have EVER said a racially despairing remark ever ?

It is very surprising how BIG this story became, how very third rail this word is. There are about 17,000 !!! comments on the HUFFPO story on FD dropping her . On my go to LGBT news blog, JOEMYGOD, he posted about it and it got triple the usual amount of comments that his stuff usually does, with people saying HORRIBLE things about a woman that they do not in any way know.
Yes, this is misogynist and age-ist, and it is also a HUGE chunk of a prevailing anti Southernish that is out there... YOU know everyone that sounds like Paula Deen is a horrible racist.... except for the fact that I sound a little bit like Paula Deen and Jimmy Carter sounds a .. well a whole lot like Paula Deen. Bill Clinton ? put him on the list.....
You can drawl your vowels, and talk really fast running all your words together, fixin too and yall come go with us, with out being someone that would use that word. Hard for a lot of people to wrap their heads around.
The sexism and ageism part of it.... look to another very different TV maven , Martha Stewart and look at the rapturous joy folks took in her going to prison for something that a shit load of men did and walked clean away.....

Who knows what will be the outcome of this.... there is a HUGE backlash around - with people just scratching their heads over the amount of anger . Did Paul Deen break a hugely unwritten rule in the 21 century south that you do not shine a spot light too brightly on the way we/they live -" Yeah, don't really talk about how you want an old time Southern wedding etc " Folks not from Savannah won't understand. The flip side being don't have an old time Southern wedding....but who am I to say what you can do...

Look at this photo :

This is LAST WEEK, the Alabama GOP welcoming state party leaders from around the country to a meeting [ planning the future of the GOP, I kid you not ] with these two HOOP SKIRT ladies out front.... No outrage... An post middle age, Southern woman , rich , maybe powerful - woman says something , which I think is much less outrageous and the tar and feathers are broken out.....

A lot of forces driving this story... stay tuned....

Summertime- Audra McDonald

So LATE to this party.

With all the internet buzz going on about this seasons GAME OF THRONES, Neil broke down and got some HBO package, so he could catch up on a show that he does love. Me, not so much... way way to many things being chopped off - I won't even go in the room -

BUT - I was playing around with the on demand section and came across this :

O. M. G.

I can not remember if I have EVER laughed so darn hard at a half hour sit com before - seriously off the charts funny , at least it is to me....Not that it matters , because they both end this Sunday night , but it comes on the same time as MAD MEN.....

out with a bang

These last few days , since the deluge, have just been off the charts lovely, Brilliant blue sunny days followed by crisp cool moonlit nights, perfect for windows open sleeping , just perfect .
And all going away right on cue as SUMMER comes down on us tomorrow and we go for some 90º + and a little Georgia style humidity.

MOVE YOUR BLOOMIN" ARSE!

It's Royal Ascot week!

Now for us , as a rule, that usually just means hats. The Oscars/Golden Globes and Met Gala of HATS! But, this go round, turns out - it's about the race!

Queen Elizabeth's horse Estimate won the GOLD CUP at the Royal Ascot race on Thursday, marking the first time in the race's 207 year history that the prestigious award has been won by a reigning monarch!

 

Her Majesty's horse Estimate crossing the finish line

Pre game , you could bet on what color hat she would wear!

 Purple wins!

The Royal Box goes wild !!

You know she has more jewels than any other woman on the planet, but just LOOK how happy winning this little gold cup makes her. SHE is the one that gives out the trophy for the signature race of the event, but she could not give it to herself, so The Duke of York stepped in!

 One Happy Queen !

more photos here

Thursday / Thursday

UP with the chickens again this morning to no avail - No ruling from the SCOTUS.
There are 11 cases left on the docket, four biggies.

• voting rights ( time to do away with that pesky old 1964 voting rights act and just let Bubba in Alabama put up just as many hoops as he wants to to keep the coloreds from voting....)
• affirmative action ( really, that old war horse again! )
• Prop 8 case
• DOMA

So, from what most folks in the know are saying, the whole ball of wax on Monday - paper dump and The Court is done for the year.

There is the chance they could stretch it out till next Thursday. 

Headline of the Year ( so far )

From the U.S. News & World Report :

Comments by Rep. Michael Burgess About Fetuses Masturbating 

Not Based in Science, Doctors Say.

Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, said Monday he is opposed to abortion because fetuses masturbate in the womb , the rest of the story

dinner

 Sort of a quasi 

Thai marinated grilled chicken breast

[garlic/ginger/lime/hot sauce ]

Mixed Summer Squash

Grilled Broccoli

There was a salad and this being Tuesday, there was a watermelon!

The final wane of Spring

After the Noah like rains of most of June, things are as GREEN as they have ever been up here. Paired today with a deep rich blue cloudless sky - which will lead tonight to some very chilly temps. Low 40's are possible here in Mendon

 I do like this hat

 Koda took a nice long swim today -

the creeks are all still very high as well...

Still yearning to be free....

Majorly over caffeinated for no reason at all. 

No SCOTUS decision on DOMA or Prop 8 today.

Up at first light this morning after being up late late counting how many Don Drapers or Bob Bensons can dance on the head of a pin. Just could not sleep.... 

Your real future being decided by the Supreme Court will do that too you.

Two , possibly three days left for Court rulings this term, Thursday, the following Monday [ the most likely ] and they could add an extra Thursday to the mix.

Four big bread and butter cases left out there, Two for the gays , affirmative action and , what I think is by far the biggest case for the masses, Voting rights - all looming . Just chuck them all out at once and hit the road for their Summer houses, I guess.

Watch this space.....

Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, into Your brother's face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning.