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Greetings, Quotaholics:
As you know, I live in California, and we’ve been the focus of a lot
of media attention in the past few weeks since our Supreme Court threw
out the ban on gay marriage. Today was the first day that such
unions were legally permitted, and the first couple to tie the knot
was Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 84. They have finally
legalized
their union of 55 years.
There’s obviously a lot of controversy that surrounds this, and I
ran across an article in the New
York Times that used the legalization in California as a reason
for doing a follow-up on Massachusetts, where gay marriages were legalized
four years ago. The information presented was interesting.
Since that law was enacted there have been blissful unions, painful
divorces and everything in between, just like in the straight world.
Some same-sex couples say being married has made a big difference,
and some say it has made no difference at all. There are devoted
couples who have decided marriage is not for them, couples whose lawyers
or accountants advised them against marrying, and couples in which
one partner wants to marry but the other does not.
As same-sex marriage begins in California, Massachusetts’s experience
may offer hints of what is to come. For example, after an initial
euphoric rush to the altar, the number of gay weddings here fell sharply
and has declined each year since. Of the more than 10,500 same-sex
couples married there since May 17, 2004, 6,121 wed in the first six
months. There were 2,060 weddings in 2005; 1,442 in 2006; and 867
in the first eight months of 2007, the most recent data show.
Nearly two-thirds of the weddings have been lesbian marriages, including
one between two women named Melissa McCarthy. And while nearly half
of straight people marrying are under 30, more same-sex married couples
of both sexes are older — nearly a third are in their 40s.
Lawyers say same-sex couples are more likely to draw up prenuptial
agreements than straight couples are.
“It’s been a mixed bag,” said Jacob Venter, a 44-year-old child psychiatrist
who married Billy Boney, a 36-year-old hairdresser, a month after
it became legal to do so. They have disagreements over money,
the in-laws and whether to adopt children or have their own.
“Nothing turns out the way you imagine,” Mr. Venter said. “There are
no role models for gay marriage.”
Unlike California, Massachusetts has a residency requirement for marriage.
Some couples have moved here to marry, including Lisa Forest and Ann
Marie Willer, who came from Texas.
“Without having that legal recognition, we felt very vulnerable,”
Ms. Forest said. “We wanted the psychological security of knowing
that we’re protected if one of us were to become sick, that we would
be able to transfer our assets, at least on the state level, without
incurring taxes, that we’ll be able to stay together if we’re old
and not able to care for ourselves.”
“I feel totally different inside my skin,” said Linda Bailey-Davies,
62, who married her longtime partner, Gloria Bailey-Davies, 67. With
marriage, she said, “I felt legitimate in the world.”
Still, some couples find few significant advantages. Many employers
offered health insurance to domestic partners. State taxes can be
higher for some couples, and the lack of federal recognition of gay
marriage makes lucrative benefits — Social Security, federal tax breaks
— off limits.
Some same-sex spouses have split up, including Julie and Hillary Goodridge,
the lead plaintiffs in the case that paved the way for same-sex marriage
in the state.
“Lesbian and gay couples get divorced for the same reasons that heterosexual
couples do,” Joyce Kauffman, a family lawyer and gay activist said.
“Honestly the only thing that is different is that some people rushed
to get married without thinking it through just because they could.
It was an incredibly heady historical moment, and some people probably
made the decision hastily.”
There’s a lot more to the article, with the stories of different couples
being told, but what struck me was how “normal” it all sounded.
I don’t mean that in a nasty way, either. It just simply was
no different than the same things that straight couples go through.
Some unions will last until the death of one of them, others didn’t
survive a couple of years. There are the same traumas of being
cheated on, and there are divorces that have one partner pitted against
the other.
I thought the combination of the publicity generated by the California
law, and this four-year retrospective on Massachusetts would make
good fodder for the thinkers at RGQ. Are you surprised that
the realities of gay marriage are no different than any other?
Would you have expected something different?
And of course, the perennial question. How do you feel about
the idea? Does a personal objection by some really count as
a valid rationale for banning marriage for those who don’t see it
that way? In the end, does it make any difference to straight
people when two people who were gay and living together anyway take
the last step and tie the knot?
Happily but not gaily,
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link and direct your contribution to reallygoodquotes@yahoo.com.
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“The object of war is not to die
for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.” - General
George S. Patton, American General in World War I and II (1885-1945)
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“The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter,
taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans
are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get
elected and prove it.” - P. J. O’Rourke, American political commentator
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“There are many earmarks that
are very worthy - all of mine, as a matter of fact.” – Nancy Pelosi,
to reporters on the practice of attaching spending earmarks to legislation
at the last minute, March, 2006
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Childbirth
[Thanks to Bonnie in Louisiana]
A woman gives
birth to a baby, and afterwards, the doctor comes in, and he says,
“I have to tell you something about your baby.”
The woman sits
up in bed and says, “What’s wrong with my baby, Doctor? What’s wrong?”
The doctor says,
“Well, now, nothing’s wrong, exactly, but your baby is a little
bit different. Your baby is a hermaphrodite.”
The woman says,
“A hermaphrodite… what’s that?”
The doctor says,
“Well, it means your baby has the…er… features… of a male
and a female.”
The woman turns
pale. She says, “Oh my god! You mean it has a penis… AND a brain?”
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“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
- Saint Augustine, Ancient Roman Christian Theologian (354-430)
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“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake.
The great affair is to move.” - Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish essayist,
poet and author (1850-1894)
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A
Macaw’s-eye View of the Rain Forest
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E-Mail
the Imp
When people, at least this person, think about homes, a one or two
story square or rectangular construction comes to mind. There are
exceptions of course; there are A Frame or half A Frame constructions
which usually are summer homes, cabins, or lodges.
There are also “round” based constructions such as teepees if they’re
temporary or conical round houses or domes, but for the most part
houses are square or rectangular boxes. In fact there’s a 1960’s folk
song called “Little
Boxes” that refers to the suburbs being made up of little boxes
(houses) made of “ticky tacky” and all looking the same.
The fact of the matter is that almost all of our buildings are made
up of boxes: boxes pushed together sideways and stacked on top of
each other. Dozens of boxes on one level making up a story, and dozens
upon dozens of stories to make a skyscraper; I can’t imagine building
something like the Sears Tower out of a bunch of domes or A Frames.
But there are some people who defy logic and reason and design very
strange
homes and buildings, and even bizarre
homes and buildings. In some cases I think I can see an artistic
flair in these designs, but the upside down house just looks like
an accident to me. Some of the others look to me like something designed
by Salvador Dali under the influence of LSD.
I don’t know if some of these where designed with a valid practical
purpose in mind, to me it seems as if they were designed for an artistic
flair, or meant to have simple shock value. Whatever the purpose,
they do catch your eye. I wonder if the traffic accident rate is higher
around these buildings.
The Bad Sied 
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Speak
right up!
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On this day in history, June
18, 1923: Checker Motors Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan has the
first Checker Cab roll off the assembly line. Back in 1908 a car called
Seven Little Buffaloes began the chain of events that led to the iconoclastic
Checker Cab. With mergers, moves, and improvements the taxicab industry
grew. Morris Markin lent $15,000 to a friend who ran a small taxicab
body plant. Markin needed to protect his investment – and the rest is
history.
With further mergers, the Checker Cab Manufacturing Co. was created
in 1922 and located in Joliet, Illinois. They were making three cabs
a day then. By 1923 they were making 112 cabs per seven day week. By
April 1923, more than 600 Checker Cabs were on New York City streets.
Checker was growing and a move to Kalamazoo followed. More models were
created. By spring 1925, Checker was making 75 units per week. A whole
new body design came about in 1928. By January 1929, there were 21,000
cabs in NYC and more than 8,000 of them were Checkers.
“Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving
taxi cabs and cutting hair.” - George F. Burns
“If, in New York, you arrive late for an appointment, say, ‘I took a
taxi.’” - Andre Maurois
“I think everyone should drive a cab two weeks to get a taste of Americana.”
- Dennis Roberts
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Email
Kirsten
“Every morning
in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will
starve.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you’d better be running.
(But, unless you’re a runner, you won’t understand.)
~ Unknown
~
I started running on the same day that I quit smoking. I was in absolutely
horrible shape, which is understandable when you consider what habit
I was giving up. I could barely draw enough breath to blow out a candle,
and yet here I was, lacing up my new running shoes before the sun
had even come up. As I stumbled down my driveway that morning, my
neighbours were treated to an extended rendition of my Early Morning
Cough. My goal was simply to make it to the next streetlight without
folding “like a cheap hooker who got hit in the stomach by a fat guy
with sores on his face”. (Joey in “Friends”).
Within four years, I had a fleet of running shoes and I was running
half-marathons in under two hours. I made daily acquaintance with
my friend, The Runner’s
High – that amazing endorphin rush you get when you’ve been out
for a long run. I was in the best shape I’d been in for my entire
adult life. Things went off track for a few years when the kids came
along, but I am now making my comeback. I’m not up to half-marathon
standard yet, but I could run a 5 kilometre (3 mile) race in a respectable
time.
As I explore the world of running again, I am having to dust off some
of the pearls of wisdom I gained the first time round. I am also finding
brand new pearls to pick up. As those of us in the Northern Hemisphere
head into summer, it is a good time to share some of these pearls
with anyone with an interest in running.
Here are my favourites, in no particular order:
- You have to
have decent shoes. When you are running, you hit the ground with
an impact of up to ten times your body-weight, and you need the
cushioning to support that. There is a staggering variety of running
shoes available these days, and they cater for all kinds of feet
and running styles. They also cater for all kinds of budgets – while
you ideally don’t want to be stingy with your shoes, you are able
to get good ones without breaking the bank. A whole host of injuries
– foot problems, sprained ankles or knees, sore backs or necks,
pulled muscles – can be caused or worsened by bad shoes.
- If you’re new
to running, start out slow. Don’t go out on your first day acting
like Zola Budd.
Speed and distance should both be built up over a period of time.
Beginners should initially go for a combination of walking and running.
Start out by walking more than you run, and as you find your groove,
gradually swing the pendulum so that you are running the majority
of the time. Even at the height of my half-marathon days, I never
entirely abandoned the concept of the “walking break”.
- You do not
have to run every day in order to get good at it. In fact, the opposite
is true. If you have never run before, running every day may actually
do more harm than good. Running causes muscle tissue to break down.
Recovery makes it build up again. If you allow enough time for recovery
(one or two days between runs, depending on your fitness level and
muscle strength), the muscle will build up to be stronger than it
was to begin with. As your strength and endurance build up, you
will need less recovery time between runs, and you will be able
to run longer distances.
- If body fat
reduction is one of your running goals, run first thing in the morning
when your blood sugar is low. That way, your body will draw on fat
reserves for energy, because there won’t be a convenient blood sugar
supply available. For short distances, don’t bother with Gatorade.
That will immediately give you high blood sugar levels, so you won’t
be burning fat.
- Know when to
stop. This applies to all runners, no matter how accomplished. In
fact, it’s the more seasoned runners who have more of a problem
with this. If you experience dizziness, chest pain, blurred vision,
difficulty breathing, or light-headedness and confusion, stop. Immediately.
- To aid recovery
after run, drink some water and eat something within an hour after
exercising. Your muscles need protein in order to build up.
- Keep your toenails
short. The motion of running makes your feet slide forward, and
long toenails will get clobbered. It’s probably not going to cause
an actual injury, but it’s really uncomfortable.
- Your core body
temperature is going to rise when you run. Dress as if it’s ten
degrees warmer than the temperature on the thermometer. If you’re
running in winter, dress in layers that can be stripped off and
tied around your waist as you get warmer. In the summer, try running
in the rain. Sounds strange, I know, but light rain is actually
very nice running weather. It keeps you feeling cool and refreshed,
and it is usually accompanied by good air quality.
- Stay well hydrated,
both during and between runs. Muscle tissue contains a lot of water.
If you are dehydrated, you lose muscle mass.
- Sometimes runs
start out really badly. You may be feeling under par, your muscles
may be tight, you may just have difficulty finding your rhythm.
When this happens, try what I call the “one mile rule”. Quite simply,
run for one mile and see how you feel. Most of the time, you’ll
find that whatever problem you started out with is gone. If not,
you can just turn around and jog an easy one mile back. Bad days
happen to all runners, and that’s OK. Bad days are invariably followed
by good ones.
Running is a great
way to lose fat, build muscle, get fit, and look great. The only real
financial outlay is running shoes. And running clothes, unless you want
to run naked. I’m not too sure what the neighbours would say about that,
though.
Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten
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Today I want to talk to you about how your computer looks up an
IP address in the really big internet phone book. What I gave you
before was a very simple explanation. It’s really more complicated
than that. You see, the really big internet phone book would be
*really* big. The phone book for Buffalo and its suburbs is about
three inches thick, and there are less than a million people in
it. The phone book for New York City would be a couple of feet thick.
That’s a little to big to be convenient to use, don’t you think?
In the same way, to have one computer handling billions of lookups
per second wouldn’t work very well. It just couldn’t do it fast
enough.
So several things happen to share the burden. The first thing that
happens is that your computer looks at its own “hosts” file. This
usually only contains the name “localhost” and the IP address of
127.0.0.1. That is your computer’s IP address, but the internet
can’t see it, just like the internet can’t see 192.168.x.x IP addresses
in a private network. But you can use it like your own personal
internet phone book. While the RBIPB is better for looking up IP
addresses, the hosts file is a great for blocking certain sites.
Say you don’t want your daughter to have a secret MySpace page.
You just put an entry for myspace.com in your hosts file, but give
it your local address, 127.0.0.1. When your browser goes to look
for myspace.com, it asks your computer if it knows the IP address,
and your computer says, “Yup, that’s me.” Your browser then tries
to connect to http://127.0.0.1. Unless you have a web server running,
your browser is going to say it can’t connect to the server, and
that happens really fast because because it is your computer telling
your browser so it doesn’t have to ask the RBIPB.
Another way you can use your hosts file is if you don’t particularly
like harmful software. You just load the MVPS
hosts file and block them the same way you can block your daughter
from posting on MySpace. It basically allows you to see the content
otherwise held in the RBIPB, but it blocks the sites that want to
do you harm. It’s updated regularly, just like the RBIPB, and it
keeps you safer, faster. I highly recommend it.
I’ve gone on past my due time so I’ll explain what your computer
does next when it looks for a web site tomorrow.
Well, I’m writing this on Tuesday so you’re going to read this
on Wednesday and I’ll write my response on Thursday which you will
read on Friday which will be tomorrow by then. So it’s not exactly
tomorrow, but you know what I mean, right?
Tim a’Musing
Having a Ball with Time
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Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your
forehead. The throbbing will go away. - Peggy in Tonawanda, New York
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I’m still searching for the perfect opening line that will inspire
all the lurkers out there to jump in. I know there’s gotta be
some of you who have thought about it and maybe even written something
before you chickened out! Come on, join the fun.
Next opening line…
Gas prices today are so high…
Hints:
There’s a great rhyming dictionary at http://www.rhymezone.com/
Limerick rules. http://freespace.virgin.net/merrick.sheldon/limerickrules.htm
Submit
Opening Line
Submit
Limerick
The
look on his face said, “Let’s go.”
But I told him I didn’t know,
If I wanted to be wed,
I’d just rather stay in bed.
So, he got up and called me a ‘ho. - Bonnie in Louisiana |
The
look on his face said, “Let’s go”
A fit I did not want him to throw
Read “couples get in free”
Thought,”that’s us!” him and me
Oops! It had meant for beau and beau! - Maria in Illinois |
The look
on his face said, “Let’s go”
I said, “whoa” as I skied through the snow
“Are you crazy going beyond
The boundary”, I did respond
He responded, “Yes you scaredy crow”! - Aditya, Gurgaon, India |
There’s
one thing I know I’ll lament
Concerning money and paying rent. . .
Spend enough to thrive
Save enough to survive
Yet don’t die with money left unspent! - Anne Onimous |
There’s
one thing I know I’ll lament
Going camping without a tent.
Mosquitoes are my bane
And of course it will rain
I would rather stay home and vent. - Anne Onimous |
There’s
one thing I know I’ll lament
And that is not paying this month’s rent.
Though fun, it was wrong,
I bought wine, women, song.
And now I’ll sleep outside in a tent. - E. Cole Aye |
There’s
one thing I know I’ll lament
Allowing my disk to fragment.
My computer’ll run slow
I can’t view porno -
I mean, access the internet. - E. Cole Aye |
There’s
one thing I know I’ll lament
Drinking beverages that ferment
Imbibing them, I find
Makes me to loose my mind
When those pink elephants do torment. - E. Cole Aye |
In a lyrics
course a school promotes
In the class, the teacher emotes
That I did something wrong
By plagiarizing a song . . . .
All I did was take a few notes. - Anne Onimous |
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Re: Gas Prices
I would not participate in a General Strike over oil prices per se,
but over the whole capitalist system that wrings profit from planned
hardships. Having Governments finally do something about it would mean
the overthrow of the plutocracy that calls itself democratic. This is
a far bigger question than just gasoline prices. High, european-style
prices are needed to encourage conservation, but the money should go
into funding sustainability. - Bob of the North
So, you honestly think our
government or the oil companies will ever let us get at the explanation?
The oil companies will lie about it, and the gov’ment will tax the heck
out of it, and as long as they can manipulate us, oil will be high.
Raise pigs instead of kids. At least you can eat them. - Lucille
In regard to gas prices, it’s a complicated issue, and I’m no expert.
Not even close. But I do know it’s a global problem, and it’s being
fed by the expansion of India and China, the two most populated countries
in the world. Demand there is going through the roof, and that raises
prices everywhere. Here supply is up and demand is down, so we’re not
paying European prices. But we’re still awful high.
You said
that some people are saying that speculators are driving the price up.
I sure hope so. That would mean that this is a “bubble”, like the internet
bubble and the mortgage bubble. That bubble will eventually pop and
there will be a correction, and either the price will come down, or
the price will stabilize and our wages will catch up. That’s what happened
in the 70’s. I just wish gas would have a steady rise like all the other
commodities, instead of taking it’s inflationary jumps in huge leaps…
- Chris in Utah
My theory is that the oil company’s know that gas powered vehicles are
not going to be around too much longer and are just trying to get as
much $$$ as they can before that happensthough there will always be
a market for petrol based products(even electric cars need lube) it
will not be the same as current levels. but whatever its just a theory.
- Chris From The Border City, Canada
Also, in regards to gas company profits. Their profit margin averages
4%. That means they’re making 16 cents on a $4 gallon of gas. Lets say
we cut that profit in half. Is 8 cents a gallon going to make that much
difference? I used to complain about the taxes on gas. While it varies
by state, the average tax on a gallon of gas is 47 cents, as of January
2008.
That’s
a lot more money, and about half of that is state taxes. At $4 per gallon,
is 24 cents a gallon that meaningful? I don’t see where we have a choice
but to let the market correct itself. Oh, yeah, and getting the government
the hell out of the way. Drill here, drill now. - Chris in Utah
For the last eight years the oil industry has held leases and permits
to drill 80% of the existing known US oil supply, but they are just
holding on to them until the price of oil goes higher so they can demand
more money for the US oil supply. They are closing refineries to drive
up the price of gas. They are using deregulation to boost prices regardless
of demand, and they are going bleed the country dry to feed their greed.
(Source: Rep.
Peter Defazio, OR) (link is to a 4.4 MB .mp3 audio file). - Lisa
in Denver
Here are a couple of good sources for what happens to the “real” cost
of our oil:
Gus
the Gas
Jim
Cramer - Tanks? - T.I.M.
Re: Louie, Louie
A few years ago, maybe back
in the 80s-80s, a local radio station appeared on air. The first couple
of days were no announcements, no commercials, only a continual, constant
playing of Louie, Louie for two days. This was the beginning of the
“oldies” station in our area at that time. - Noella
Re: The Name Game
Of course, you can learn to like your name if it is pronounced properly.
Pia Isadora pronounced my middle name in a way that inspired my friends
and family to say things like: “Lucy Piapotomus” or “Lucy pee a pot
full”. I like Pia Lanstrum’s pronouciation. She emphacized the “i” sound,
and made me a fan of Camay for life. - Lucille
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Disclaimer- All quotes printed in this publication are believed to be
accurately attributed, but no guarantees are made that some incorrectly
attributed, or even outright false quotes won’t get in here from time
to time. I assure readers that I will do my best to weed out incorrect
quotes, and will print a retraction as soon as I become aware of any
errors. |
Click here to see the archives of past issues, or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reallygoodquotes/messages.
If you run across something really outstanding when perusing the archives,
I’d appreciate it if you’d mail me at TheBestOfRGQ@yahoo.com
and point it out to me. I’m in the process of compiling an e-book
called, not surprisingly, The Best of RGQ, and I’d like to hear from
you which pieces impacted you the most. |
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