my brain outsourced the task of list making to my blog

my sister’s wedding
it’s over. it’s finally over. i wore the dress, i let a dude lead me down an aisle, and, yes, there are pictures. if you want to see them, bidding starts now. really, though, as surly as i am about the entire business of the white wedding, all was pretty fine and good. i felt like i earned my maid of honor status by staying up all night before the wedding working on a project that my sister decided had to be done at thelastminute, and then got up at dawn to decorate for the reception while the other girls slept in and had their hair done. also, my mom was so distracted by the time dinner was over that she didn’t even protest to my ditching of the dress for a tux shirt and pants. aaand i got to dance cheek to cheek with jennie. to unchained melody. in the presence of my entire family. hopefully, leanne started eating again, and she and darrin are having the honeymoon of their lives up there in duluth. maybe they’ll come to madison some day and we can teach them how to drink so that next time they get married, they won’t have to do it sober.

a weekend with cable television
gender is not the same as sex.
GENDER IS NOT THE SAME AS SEX.
GENDER IS NOT THE SAME AS SEX!
gender is determined by several factors that include society and personal preferences. sex is determined by gonads and chromosomes.
while i was at my parents’ house last weekend, jennie and i watched this cbs episode in horror as they claimed that "kids with extreme gender nonconformity usually grow up to be gay." just because one of the identical twin boys says he was supposed to be a girl, DOESN’T MEAN HE’S GAY! it means he’s transgender. he may very well also be gay, but not necessarily. what if he identifies as female, becomes a woman, and dates men? would that make him straight? what if he identifies as female and dates women, does that make him a lesbian? who cares? also, what about gender nonconformity? does that mean that female professional athletes are all lesbians? or that all male hairdressers or chefs or stay at home dads are gay? of course not! dear CBS: stop propagating stereotypes! it's like saying that all people who go to college are smart, or that everything you see on tv is true. also, "straight men tend to be shallow in terms of focusing on looks. gay men are shallow, too. straight men are more interested than straight women in having casual, uncommitted sex. gay men are like that, too." what?! you're a scientist at northwestern university? who the fuck gave you a grant to get on network television and announce stereotypical and absolute bullshit like "gay men are shallow" like it's fucking science? i'm not saying that stereotypes are wrong and that there is no difference between gay and straight people, i'm just saying that if you're going to talk about it like you've got some kind of authority, don't say that little girls who get video taped playing with trucks as toddlers are for sure going to grow up to be gay. fuck you. that's not science. i feel like finding out why people are gay is a setup for some kind of finger pointing big gay witch hunt. nothing good will come of this. why can't we just be gay? it's not a disease, why do we have to find out what causes it?

mufflers
this is a public notice:
if you drive by my house after midnight or before 8am, and your vehicle is either missing a muffler or utilizes pipes which amplify the sound of your unnecessarily rapid acceleration, i will hunt you down and set said vehicle on fire. ON. FUCKING. FIRE.

speaking of profanity…
this book had me laughing so hard that i almost peed my pants in public. on the web site, under the giant F are the a tiny little words “this way” and “that way.” click them to look at pictures. my favorite is “emergency fuck-off switch.” you’ll see.

panic attack?
so i found out this morning, that the scholarship that i recieved from the lgbt alumni association actually lowered the amount of financial aid that i accepted, thereby leaving me just over $100 after the payment of my tuition. sweet, i get $100, right? no. i had originally accepted financial aid in tuition excess of $1,000 so that i could pay off my student health insurance plan with it. rather, pay off the credit card that i payed for my ship with. now, right off the bat, i've got books and health insurance to pay for out of pocket. the more i thought about it, the more i started to freak out about not being able to make it through school. how the fuck am i going to go to medical school when i can't also be working a full time job? am i even going to be able to make it through the rest of my undergrad working 4 days a week? can i afford not to? am i going to go crazy before school even starts? on my way to the grocery store after work, i stopped at bongo to say hi to jennie, who suggested that my vague sense of illness and weirdly persistent heart palpitations was due to a panic attack. it makes me even more panicky when i almost can't help but panic about panicking. she also calmly explained to me that becoming a student means that i'm going to go in to debt. i just am. if this is what going in to debt for the very first time at age 25 feels like, i'm not sure i'm going to make it. three sarcastic cheers for going back to school. and owing people money.

fair wisconsin rummage sale
did you or someone you know move recently and have six boxes of stuff that didn't get unpacked since the last time you or they moved? did you or someone you know move recently and lose six boxes of stuff you or they could really use? do you or someone you know want to help fair wisconsin and the queers and allies of the state of wisconsin beat a proposed state constitutional ban on homo marriage? if you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you should call or email me for details on how you can donate or purchase items for sale. the vague when and where is that it is near my house on the weekend of september 9th. all money raised via the sale of donated items will be donated to fair wisconsin. also, if you've got folding tables, sawhorses, or anything that can be used as vertical space for rummage sale goods, please call or email me.

OMG! i almost forgot about hockey!
thanks to kristina's last minute meeting invitation, i have officially become part of the madison gay hockey association. starting some time in september, my sunday nights will be spent on the ice learning how to play hockey. it's going to be a little uncomfortable buying all of the gear, but i've heard that patrick, the guy in charge, has equipment purchasing down to a fine science. and i may even be able to save some cash by buying youth sizes. heh, heh. being small can have it's rewards. one of the local news channels might even tag along. apparently, queers playing sports is newsworthy. maybe some day they'll get to that piece about us having jobs and paying taxes. 'till then, check out my hockey profile!

it's over!

Comments

[Mo]

1. Wedding
Yay! Congrats to your sis. I wanna see those pictures!!!!

2. CBS
I've stopped even trying to watch anything on regular TV that relates to sex, gender, biological sex, homo/heterosexuality, or anything like that. There's always something they get tooooootally wrong, and it makes me mad. So my reaction is to just not watch it.

3. Mufflers
Agreed, on all counts. Our bedroom is not on the busy-street side, but still - there are some really, really loud cars that go by on the living room side. I always wonder what they're thinking - "Gosh, I'm sure EVERYONE wants to hear me drive by. I'm just. that. awesome." Um, no.

4. F that book
That book is hilarious!

5. Panic attack
Keep in mind that, because your FAFSA for this year looked at your information from when you had a well-paying, full-time job, your FAFSAs for the next few years are going to get you significantly more money, since they'll be working with your financial information from when you've worked lower-paying jobs. Money sucks, and being in debt sucks, but think about the awesome education you're getting in exchange! The money will work itself out in the end.

6. Rummage sale
Excellent idea! If I were in town, I would totally do it.

7. Gay hockey?!?
Awesome! I love love love your profile, too. Frickin' adorable!

In other news, we went to the gay hamburger restaurant last night. It was awesome!

I miss you! I'm gonna be in Madison the weekend of Sept 16, and will need to see you. :-)

[Molly]

Sorry ... to add to that absurdly long comment, the link I meant to point you to should have been
http://www.hamburgermaryschicago.com/