Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters) yeah!!! CNN: California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates U.S. Constitution, appeals court in San Francisco rules

text of ruling

(Community Matters) Not sure I’d pay $4 per cup of coffee if it wasn’t about the young people I meet at the city’s best coffee shops – Houndstooth, Caffe Medici, Bennu. Drew Dunavan is the manager of Medici’s Guadalupe store, books their music and has just launched his own recording studio in South Austin, Werd Recording.

(Community Matters) this is why (& these kids are who for) we continue to fight, even when others think things are pretty much okay.

The silence of adults was deafening. At Blaine High School, says alum Justin Anderson, “I would hear people calling people ‘fags’ all the time without it being addressed. Teachers just didn’t respond.” In Andover High School, when 10th-grader Sam Pinilla was pushed to the ground by three kids calling him a “faggot,” he saw a teacher nearby who did nothing to stop the assault. At Anoka High School, a 10th-grade girl became so upset at being mocked as a “lesbo” and a “sinner” – in earshot of teachers – that she complained to an associate principal, who counseled her to “lay low”; the girl would later attempt suicide. At Anoka Middle School for the Arts, after Kyle Rooker was urinated upon from above in a boys’ bathroom stall, an associate principal told him, “It was probably water.” Jackson Middle School seventh-grader Dylon Frei was passed notes saying, “Get out of this town, fag”; when a teacher intercepted one such note, she simply threw it away.

In Michele Bachmann’s home district, evangelicals have created an extreme anti-gay climate. After a rash of suicides, the kids are fighting back.

Rolling Stone article link

(Community Matters) Dinner club toured their house under construction in Rollingwood, then to a new Chinese restaurant in Westlake

(l to r: Sandi, Christopher Kennedy, Eugene, Joene Grissom, Marianne Rochelle, Steven. Mark Salmanson taking the picture. Cookie Ruiz missing this month)

(Community Matters) No doubt these have been important organizations for our institutions of higher learning. And, societal standards for transparency and accountability have increased. It won’t all be for the good but it’s probably hard to argue good won’t outweigh bad. Austin American Statesman article – impressive investigative journalism

(Community Matters) Cirque du Soleil’s O with Luke Saturday night. Dinner after at the Cosmopolitan joined by his senior staff members and Angela his boss from Chicago.

Spent the day just me and Steven, mostly touring Hoover Dam which we loved.

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I’d been to the Hoover Dam, at least twice before, but touring America as a 40-something and 50-something adult is so different – much greater appreciation for what we’ve built, for what our parents and grandparents sacrificed to build this country’s infrastructure.

we have the best nephews, nieces and godchildren – not to mention parents, and good gosh, don’t get me going on how lucky I am that Steven is my husband. Life is good

gotta love those cheesy superimposed tourist pictures

(Community Matters) organizations raising millions and spending 4 and low-five figures on the cause. Excellent AAS article by my friend Tony Plohetski

(Community Matters) France: seems significant

Lawrence Wright’s piece in the New Yorker on Scientology

(Community Matters) Steven and I are celebrating my birthday weekend by visiting our godson Luke Hayes.

Neither of us have been in Las Vegas in over 25 years – wow, big changes. We’re staying at the Wynn Encore Tower. Walked most of the strip this afternoon, checking out the massive casinos/hotels. Think we’ll tour Hoover Damn tomorrow (Steven’s never seen), then Cirque Du Soleil’s O with Luke, then dinner with his senior staff. He’s the Nevada state director for Pres. Obama’s campaign.

(Community Matters) Pleased to read they’ve reversed course

(Community Matters) damn, he gives us a lot of credit

In fifty years we have seen this tiny group of people – they really only represent about two percent of the population – that has grown from being a reviled subculture to now having more power in the legislatures and courtrooms of the world than the Christian church does. In fifty years! Nothing has ever grown that fast globally, nothing. Not Islam, not Darwinism, not Marxism, nothing has ever grown that fast. Which shows you that this is a spiritual phenomenon that is unparallelled and that’s why God has selected it, singled out this particular behavior to be the indicator of extreme apostasy, the furthest edge of deviance and the warning sign that things are in really, really bad shape.  who/what

(Community Matters) We celebrated Milinda Mitchell’s birthday tonight – Milinda, Michael Mitchell, Robert Torian, Tana & Joe Christie, Heather, Juliana Sciaraffi & moi – at Vino Vino. Wow, their menu has expanded and really good food.

Milinda’s one of our intimate family members. Happy Birthday, Milinda!

(Community Matters) Not sure I’ve ever watched Ricky Martin before – I say this as I’m having to fan myself. omg, he’s a sex pot

(Community Matters) Everything about the filing is exciting. I had no idea Zuckerberg controlled 57% of the voting rights (while still owning 28%)

(Community Matters) First I’ve heard of this new East Austin bakery, beer garden, restaurant - I wanna be there now. 709 E Sixth St (which means one block west of I-35)