We Want What You Want

-Thank you Keith.

-Until next time…

Veterans Day 2008

-Tuesday – November 11, 2008 – Veterans Day

-Good morning and welcome to our blog. We are Steve and Warren from cold Minnesota.

-Out in our back yard this morning it is 12 degrees above zero, under clear skies and – it’s cold!

Today’s northland weather forecast for our part of Minnesota is:

Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of light snow in the afternoon. Highs 35 to 40. Light winds.

I haven’t actually stuck my nose out the back door, but it feels cool – even in the house this morning as the furnace is just now bringing the temperatures back up after the night time temperature settings.

Color weather radar does show snow in the southern one third of Minnesota at this hour.

-Today is Veterans Day … Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans, both living and those deceased who have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

So on this federal holiday – we salute those brave men and women for their service to not only our country but to each of us.

-Steve got home about 5:50 p.m., and as soon as he got changed – it was into the bathroom for the two of us – to get our hair cut. We normally do each other’s hair cutting – since we both enjoy a “buzz” or short hair cut.

That job being finished we both showered and got ready for the evening.

-The Toronto Raptors and a full house at the TD Banknorth Garden were the witnesses last night. Paul Pierce was the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But. He was also the judge and jury, scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Celtics to a 94-87 victory over the Raptors.

It was a great come back by the Celtics, as Steve and I were glued to the television.

-Help fight for rights … Join the impact. Join the Impact is a nationwide protest that will take place in front of city halls and state capitols all across America on Saturday – November 15 (10:30a.m./1:30 EST – 12:30 here in Minnesota) to rally against California’s Proposition 8, Florida’s Amendment 2, Arizona’s Amendment 102 and the other anti-gay measures that were passed this election and in the past.

Go to www.jointheimpact.com to find your protest location and learn how you can help.

-In sad, but typical political news here in Minnesota – Less than two months after he was elected in 2002, Senator elect Norm Coleman used the power of his yet-to-be-assumed U.S. Senate office to try to leverage a presidential pardon for convicted money launderer and Tom Petters associate Frank Vennes Jr. And two years after that, Coleman wrote yet another pardon plea on Vennes’ behalf.

Birds of a feather, flock together.

Here are 20 reasons to join the impact:

1. The Archdiocese of San Francisco contacted the Mormons last June and asked for their help in supporting Prop 8.  The Catholics and the Mormons managed to put aside their vast theological differences for the sole purpose of opposing us.

2. Their votes were informed by religious beliefs, which by their nature can’t be reasoned with – passionate beliefs that unite people to fight tirelessly for a cause they believe in; namely, defeating us at the polls.

3. Regardless of how you feel about the issue of gay marriage, and if it’s time has come, or if other issues should take precedent, or if we should even desire a broken-down institution like marriage, this fight is not really about gay marriage.  It’s about the fact that we are not recognized as full citizens by our own country, and by a large number of American and their organized religions. Like the ban against gays in the military, it is a concrete example of institutional discrimination. We are the bottom of their barrel, we are their scapegoats, and marriage is simply the most current landscape for this battle, not the battle itself.

4. You may not want to get married, but you deserve to have the choice.

5. Regardless of how you feel about marriage, the fact is that for whatever reason, for a ton of reasons or for no apparent reason at all, THIS IS THE ISSUE that is now galvanizing thousands and thousands of people, both gay and straight, and we need to stop scolding from the sidelines and ride this passion as far as it will take us, right now, today, because passion cannot be manufactured, because it is organic and all-too-often temporary, and because this particular battle will affect countless other issues in ways that we cannot even imagine today, issues that you may feel more strongly about. This is a stepping stone, the next stone in our path. Take the step.

6. You will be participating in history, instead of merely observing it.

7. After four days of protests in California, Governor Schwarzenegger publicly encouraged us to keep fighting.

8. After five days of protests, forty-four members of the California legislature, more than one-third of our lawmakers, added their voices to the chorus calling on the state’s highest court to overturn Prop 8.

9. After five days of protests, Keith Olbermann added his own emotional voice to our fight.

10. Our anger is giving other people permission to join us, and after Saturday’s protests, others are bound to follow.

11. The fight over Prop 8 has already fallen off the front pages of most non-California newspapers and news sites. A coordinated, nation-wide demonstration will return that issue to the front pages.

12. The longer our anger lasts, the more people will ask themselves why we are so fucking angry. We want them to be asking themselves this question, every single day.

13. You will see, at these demonstrations, high school and college kids who don’t have any plans to get married any time soon but know what discrimination looks like when they see it.

14. Seeing them will give you hope for our future.

15. You are straight and you want to show your support in some concrete way.

16. You are not straight and the demonstrations will be filled with single dudes of every conceivable gender.

17. Gay weddings with free bars.

18. You spend too much time in front of your computer. Alone.

19. And instant messages don’t count.

20. Because we don’t have the shared religious beliefs to unite us against our opposition. Because the only passion that we have that could possibly counteract that unreasonable passion is our concern for each other.

-On his way to work yesterday morning, Steve was driving in the driving lane – when all of a sudden the car passing him in the passing lane observed a deer right in front of them – but what Steve didn’t see was that this same deer would be right in front of his car within a split second.

All of a sudden, Steve’s eye caught a glimpse of the deer as it pass right in front of his car going about 70 miles per hour into the city!

Steve quickly applied his automobile brakes – and the deer’s hoof just briefly grazed his license plate on the front of his vehicle as the deer passed safely onto the shoulder of the roadway and back into the woods.

Talk about a close encounter … as Steve said, that is the first time in my life that I’ve ever had a run in with a deer on the highway.

Thank goodness Steve and his car were untouched for the most part – by what could have been a very dangerous accident.

I would say the good Lord was watching over Steve yesterday morning.

-Things that make you happy:

• the rain on my face while walking
• a real fire… smells lovely
• writing poetry and reading poetry
• homemade things from the farmers market
• cake
• fresh coffee and grinding beans
• playing old vinyls and new strings on your guitar
• aroma of fresh brewed coffee
• my good friends and people who smile sweetly
• laughing at silly movies…

-Just a reminder again this morning … In your travels around the net today or this week – don’t forget to stop at my partner Steve’s new movie blog .. entitled Steve On Sinema.

My partner, Steve – started the new blog last week and published his first post. The blog is titled “Steve on Sinema” and will be about Steve’s second love:

This blog will take you on a journey with Steve while taking a look at some of the “sinema” that he enjoys most.  As you will learn from this blog over the days, weeks and months ahead, he is a huge movie buff and spends a lot of his free time watching from his collection of over 1,000 DVDs and counting.  Steve enjoys movies from all genres, but has a particular liking to Suspense/Horror flicks, and movies from the 80’s.

So as his blog unfolds, I hope that you would take a journey on over to read it and learn of his interests in movies.

He will be updating it again today or this evening … with his Hot DVD Release of the Week!

-Steve returns to work this morning … and he will have a busy day, as he did yesterday.  As for me, well we have company at our house for the remainder of the week – until we leave on Thursday for Minneapolis and St. Paul.

With the weather being cooler or colder as the case may be – there is not a lot of outside things we can do – so I’ll be pretty much stuck in the house today – but that will be good also.

-Well guys…time to head on our of here for this Tuesday morning. Steve will be up in a few minutes to get ready for work – and I’m off to the shower to wash my body and get ready also!Have a great Tuesday! We’ll see you back here again tomorrow morning – until then be kind and be good.  Enjoy your day!

-Until next time…