Monday, July 31, 2006

new alice newsletter is public. enjoy!

Petaluma sticker factory

Bodega bay rocks!

Bodega bay rocks!

Bodega bay rocks!

Jimtown with a jimtown shirt and rootbeer

Jimtown

Downtown Bakery in Healdsburg-- the best!

Downtown Bakery breakfast in Healdsburg

Downtown Bakery breakfast in Healdsburg

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Downtown santa rosa

Pt. Reyes

Pt. Reyes

Mt. Tam parts 2 and 3

Mt. Tam parts 2 and 3

Mt. Tam

Saturday, July 29, 2006

i'm off for a long weekend. going hiking in marin and sonoma this sunday and monday. see you guys on tuesday!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

a few new thoughts from Ariana, that great Woman of the World, during her adventures in Ecuadar with the Peace Corps:

"Hello friends and family,

"I just got some awesome news today that two of my life history notes about Blanchard's cricket frogs in Michigan have been accepted for publication in Herpetological Review! The notes aren't very long, only one or two paragraphs, but I am super excited because these are my first peer-reviewed publications! Woohoo!

"I think it has been awhile also since I sent a mass email about my adventures here in Ecuador. I am currently entertaining my first visitors, my friend Cindy, my sister, and my mother. Cindy arrived first, and she brought me a new digital camera from my dad, so now I can update my blog with pictures! Cindy and I went to the Amazon to visit my friend Joseph in Tena. We went to wildlife rehab facility and saw lots of cool animals, like ocelots, capybara, jaguarandi, and monkeys that will apparently jump on you and hump your ear if you look at them funny (ie. seductively). No ear humping occurred, thank goodness. Then we swam in the river, and I scared Cindy with stories of the candirú catfish, that will swim up your urethra and lodge itself there with sharp barbs. Cindy was brave, and swam all across the river, laughing in the face of danger =)

"Then we hung out in Quito for a couple days, waiting for my mom and my sister to arrive. We left for my site, Valle Hermoso, on Tuesday. Cindy, Sasha and my mom enjoyed their first episode of Rebelde, my favorite telenovela. We went on a long hike in the nearby protected forest, La Perla, where I will be helping out with botanical and herpetological research for the Missouri Botanical Garden and Arizona State University. Our guide, Placido, put on a dugrag, army fatigues, and strapped a large knife to his leg for our big two hour hike. I like Placido a lot, and he doesn't mind if we make fun of him for dressing like Rambo. We saw lots of cool trees, and two different species of frogs! We heard stories about scary snakes, but didn't see any.

"The most exciting part of the day was putting my mom, sis, and Cindy on motorcycles to see my work site in La Asuncion. I don't think Cindy was happy about it, especially because motorcyles are not built for 3 people. Though I did see 5 people on a motorcycle once. Like a sedan, only a lot less comfortable. I rode with my mom, and she enjoyed the experience. Who else gets to put their 59-year-old mother on a motorcycle? They met my counterpart and learned more about my projects. Plus my sister became good friends with a parrot, who enjoyed being scratched behind the neck. My mom and I went to church that night in Valle Hermoso, and saw a well behaved dog sitting in the aisle, enjoying the sermon, plus a toad (Bufo marinus, also called a cane toad or marine toad) hopped into the church as we were leaving. It was a multi-species sermon =)

"This weekend we are going to the Isla de la Plata (the poor man's Galapagos) to see humpback whales! That should be lots of fun. And very soon, I will get the pictures off my camera and post them on my blog, so look for some new entries in the near future.

"Okay, off to dinner, and maybe we will watch my new favorite show, Made on MTV."

Love,
Ariana

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

yay! lance bass of 'nsync has finally come out. good4him!

Former 'N Sync singer Lance Bass has announced he is gay and is in a very stable relationship with "Amazing Race" reality TV star Reichen Lehmkuhl.
The 27-year-old was afraid of coming out during his time with the boy band because he feared his sexuality would damage the group's commercial prospects.
He tells People magazine, "I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything.
"I didn't know. Could that be the end of 'N Sync? So I had that weight on me of like, 'Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did."
He adds, "The thing is, I'm not ashamed -- that's the one thing I want to say. I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy.
"The main reason I wanted to speak my mind was that (the rumors) really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it's on my terms. I'm at peace with my family, my friends, myself and God so there's really nothing else that I worry about."
Bass is currently developing a TV sitcom with Fatone in which his character will be gay.
Joey Fatone was the first 'N Sync member to find out Bass' sexuality.
Fatone says, "He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone. I back him up 100 percent."

my final farewell to the san francisco young dems:

"I Bid You Adieu"

While some of you may wish I perform "Thanks for the Memories" ala Connie Chung, I won’t go out that gracefully. I plan on ending my reign as your Newsletter Editor with a bit of holier-than-thou vitriol. So listen to me now and hear me later: You guys rock!

Seriously, I have been incredibly impressed by the passion and ongoing commitment each of you, and the club as a whole, have devoted to our common cause for our Democratic principles. It has been my pleasure to serve with you for the last year and I will miss this direct connection with you each and every month.

That said, I know my successor will do a terrific job and bring about some interesting and vibrant changes to your Newsletter. I may pop in now and again to assist where I can, but for the most part, this old man bids you adieu. Feel free to keep up with me and my goings-on anytime via my personal blog: www.reesesworld.com.


and my latest alice column:

"Changing Hearts and Minds"

Change doesn't always come quickly. In fact, it often is monotonously slow. But when it comes bearing fruit that couldn't have been imagined before, you know that it’s especially sweet.

Back in the late 1980's in Kansas City, Missouri, a huge fight was brewing at City Hall over the very simple—by today’s standards—cause of adding the term 'sexual orientation' to the city's human rights ordinance. See, simple-- there was already an anti-discrimination ordinance and this was just adding us to the list of protected classes.

The masses of right-wing bigots who showed up and rallied inside and outside City Hall in early 1990 when this came up for a vote would have one believe that the apocalypse was upon us. But strikingly, the nascent LGBT community of Kansas City began to form and come out to City Hall too. And they also began to 'come out' to their friends and coworkers and families, and to the public in Middle America for many for the first time.

I was actually one of those new-comers. Although, frankly, my own trajectory was more related to my coming of age and timing within my own life—I was all of 19 years old. But one of the very first activities I did upon coming out was traveling to City Hall with others I just met and would meet en masse to watch the civic proceedings and participate in public debate before the City Council.

Well, to make a very long political story short, the addition to the ordinance was unfortunately voted down through a procedural vote. We were very disappointed. But there were chants and songs of "We Shall Overcome" heard throughout the halls of the building that day.

One of those who voted against us at that time was a City Councilman known as Reverend Emanuel Cleaver. He was an up-and-comer and well respected in Kansas City's African-American and civil rights community. And he received a great deal of anger from our LGBT community at the time for his vote.

However, things began to change for the better soon after.

Astoundingly and graciously, Reverend Emanuel Cleaver took it upon himself to come to the Kansas City Pride Picnic.

This was not a little thing. In Kansas City, politicians don't exactly swarm to Pride like they do here in San Francisco. And this was also 15 or so years ago. So for him to attend our picnic and speak before us was a huge deal. And he spoke to us from the heart. He spoke to us from a little stage that we had at our little picnic in a little triangle park in downtown—no more than maybe a hundred or so people. And he told us about how the right-wing opposition to the Human Rights Ordinance had come to him and talked about how we LGBT people were 'trash' and deserved to go to Hell and all that fire and brimstone stuff.

And then he said something I've still never forgotten, although a bit paraphrased due to my own senility.

He said to us at the picnic, "My God don’t make no trash! No one created in His image is trash."

And the crowd went crazy. He pledged to bring the Human Rights Ordinance back. And when he became Mayor of Kansas City shortly thereafter he signed it into law.

I tell you all of this because of a recent event that’s even more amazing.

Reverend Cleaver is now the Congressman for the Greater Kansas City area. And during the recent fight in the House of Representatives over the Federal Marriage Amendment, he not only voted against the anti-Gay constitutional amendment, he also led the opposition. He spoke to the House floor as the only one in the whole body who is a practicing minister about how he, as a minister and a man of Faith, finds this constitutional amendment abhorrent. And he not only did this for his colleagues in the House, but he also did it for his community back home by meeting with the Editorial Board with the Kansas City Star and with local community groups and the like to talk about how angry he is that anti-Gay scapegoating is sinful and detrimental to our society and our democracy. And he spoke from the heart.


Now, I must tell you, this column is not about a change in one politician. It's not about a growth in humanity. It's not about faith in politics. It's not even about Kansas City...

This column is about how when we as a community openly and steadfastfully fight for our rights, live honestly and openly, live by the truth, and show the love that we are all about, we can bring change in the hearts and minds of politicians, the public, our friends and families, and even open up doors we never knew were possible.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

save the horses!
and look, adopting a horse is just a click away!

(my mother's thinking about it right now and wondering if the backyard is big enough...
my sister's thinking about it right now and wondering how many more animals can be in her home before she's considered a crazy loon...
my niece has already clicked on the adoption link, written a letter about how she'll love and take care of the horse, asked if she can get a huge discount, told them all about her home and the carport where she could keep him, how her house already has cats and dogs and gerbils and everything else and they already know how to take care of it and... and, of course, all without having talked to her mother about it)

my niece's fab new do


yeah, she be stylin!

i'm actually incredibly busy these days....

i know, i can't believe it either

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Its hot outside, the theater's ac'ed, and no one will go with me to see it, some I'm going now on my own

and from the rabid republican side of the world, there's this:
"Marriage is not about love. It's about a love that can bear children." --Republican Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, during Tuesday's House debate about an amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

it's amazing how people can be so virulently anti-gay that they can come up with strategic arguments that go against even their own social and religious beliefs. but what-ev.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Its so hot part 2

Its so hot my poor kitty's sprawled out dreaming of cooler days

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

perfect version of this

My Democratic Missouri Congressman Cleaver gave a passionate speech with strident language yesterday on the House floor against the anti-gay federal marriage amendment. it's below. i love that he comes at it from a religious background and religious statement on the need to keep the government out of the decision-makings of the church's teachings. if you'd like to send him a thank you note, here's his contact page or you can email him off his email webform and select his 'civil rights...' issue prompt.

Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I probably perform more marriages than all of the other Members in this body, collected. When I perform a wedding in Los Angeles in August, it will push me over the 400 mark for my career as an ordained United Methodist pastor.

I am baffled over what is taking place on this floor. When Rome ruled the world, every now and then Roman soldiers had to go back to Rome and pledge loyalty to the Emperor. It was called sacramentum. In my tradition, the Christian tradition, we took that word to use as our word sacrament, our pledge of loyalty to God.

The generic marriage ceremony, which almost every denomination uses, begins by saying, marriage is an honorable estate instituted by God and signifies to all the uniting of this man and this woman in His church.

The point, Mr. Speaker, is that the domain of the church is the place where definitions should be made with regard to marriage. Every denomination has struggled or is struggling with this issue. The United Methodist Church voted last year not to allow same-sex marriages. The Episcopalian Church voted to do the same.

I resent a body of legislators telling me, a member of a denomination, that they will decide who can and who cannot get married. It is the responsibility of the church not the Government. If the Government is going to become involved in this sacrament, then why not communion? Why does the Congress not then begin to deal with how many times a month a church should do communion?

Friends, this is the saddest day for me since I have been here, because I can see clearly that this body is willing to trespass on the domain of God. Marriage is a holy institution. It was created by God. And we say in my tradition that Jesus ordained and beautified marriage when he performed his first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, not on the floor of Congress.

The church controls this issue. If this body would like to move to have the civil marriages restricted, that is fine. People who want to go to the courthouse, or want to get married on a ship, that is fine. But in terms of the church, keep your hands out of the church.

The church is a sacred institution. I did not come to this floor to make enemies but to make a point. And my point is this. This is off base. This is wrong. I wish we had time to debate the theology of this issue, because I would do it with anybody in this place.

Monday, July 17, 2006

i love my missouri home-town congressman!

Angry frustration was palpable when The Star interviewed [Congressman Emanuel] Cleaver recently on Capitol Hill to get a unique perspective on the issue from Congress’ only practicing minister. He opened a Bible several times to show passages that he thought showed the absurdity of the effort. At one point he slapped the big book against his thigh in exasperation, muttering, “This place. … I don’t know.

“This is shamefully political and sinfully divisive,” said Cleaver, the senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City. “It’s bad theology because there is nothing Biblical about creating divisions between people.”

“Marriage is a spiritual issue. That’s not for the Congress to dictate, no more than it’s appropriate for Congress to dictate how much bread should be used in Communion. Communion is a sacrament. Marriage is a sacrament. Why not just put all the sacraments in the Constitution?”

“But the institution of marriage is holy and sacred,” Cleaver said. “And this body [Congress] is not one that ought to come within 100 miles of sacredness and holiness.”

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Dogpark

Please don't pick the roses

the latest anti-gay 'rationale' in the fight for same sex marriage-- that we gays are simply too good a people to need it; that straight people need marriage to control themselves and protect their children; gay people, it would seem, are beyond needing such a system in place because we're too good for the legal system

and all this time i thought we were supposed to be evil... who knew?

more on the cat

my friend ellen gave me terrific advice in her comment about what a wuss i've been in handling my fatherly duties. she's right. and i can do it. so with her advice and the added strength of hand, i did it. well, sort of. i couldn't do the pill. she kept spitting it back out and i could get it down there deep enough. but i did manage to get the liquid version down there! that is oh-so-much easier.

she hates me and she's hiding from me right now, but i only got one tiny scratch and she'll come around and it will all be ok. i did it! thank you ellen, and martin and my mother and others for all the encouragement.

p.s. another cat story while we're at it.

so those of you who've been to my home know that i have little toys in front of the doors to all the rooms in my little studio. i keep them there so that they block the door from closing. see, Amaya likes to push and pull on doors and tends to slam them shut unless something's blocking them. that would be fine except she ends up trapped in a room all day until i come home. sometimes with a friend of mine comes over he moves the giant ladybug toy i have blocking the bathroom door so he can have privacy in the bathroom. completely acceptable and reasonable. i usually leave the giant ladybug out of the way while he visits so that we can move around. and put it back in front of blocking the door when we leave. but this morning i forgot to put it back. and wouldn't you know, i come home and my cat is not at the door waiting for me and not anywhere looking up at me. it's like she's gone. and for a moment i'm concerned she's disappeared somehow. and then i realize, she must have closed herself off in the bathroom. and sure enough, she's trapped inside the bathroom meowing at the door to get out. and when i open the door she's oh-so-happy to see me. and the ladybug goes back in its place...

Friday, July 14, 2006

stephen colbert's take on the connecticut senate race is priceless! i don't think you have to know all that much about the situation to understand how terrificly biting his sarcastic wit is

people in my hometown of independence, missouri are pulling for me. got this email from my mother today (regarding the fact that my san francisco chiropractor, who i love dearly, retired recently):

"I just saw Dr Crow [my family chiropractor back in independence] and I told him about your headaches and that your Dr retired. So I ask him if he knew any good chiropractors in SF. He said his cousin lives out there and he would ask her if she could recommend anyone and he also said that Tim Meing has a list of traditional Chiropractors around the country and he will ask him for a name. He had Carol making calls before he even gave me my adjustment. He said he would get someone for you as soon as possible. I hope they can find someone you like and is close to you. Anyway they are trying. Love Mama"

how sweet is all that?

Thursday, July 13, 2006

i'm a terrible father!

i just can't give my cat her medicine. i just can't. i've tried and tried, but i haven't really tried that hard, because i can't! i just don't want her mad at me and i'm afraid she'll be upset and i don't want to hurt her and i don't know how to get her to open her mouth and take her medicine. i just don't know how to do it.

first, i tried to give her a pill, but there was no way. she wouldn't even open her mouth. actually it was hard enough just picking her up because she doesn't like to be held. then i tried with a liquid version, but she won't open her mouth for that either.

and now i just procrastinate and avoid the issue every day.

and really, she seems healthy and well. i'm sure she doesn't really need the medicine. i'm sure it's all just a ploy and it will all go away if i stop worrying about it. i know it will.

oh, i'm a terrible father!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006



i wish my head would stop hurting!!!



tonight was my last official meeting as the newsletter editor for the san francisco young dems. yay! their new club leadership was elected tonight and their new president, my good friend Luke, will appoint a new newsletter editor to take my place. i'll be working with the new editor, once appointed, to hand off the duties and materials. and i am very much looking forward to doing so! but i will say it's been a fun ride for the last year. and now on to the old dems...

my alice july column and interview with the department of health:

"Silver Thoughts
On the 25th Anniversary of HIV/AIDS
and an Interview with the
San Francisco Department of Public Health HIV Research Section"

In June of 1981, when the first reports of what became known as AIDS were publicized, I was all of 10 years old. My formative teenage years were during the time that AIDS began. I knew about AIDS before I was openly Gay, before I was an adult, even in my early teens. So, AIDS wasn't something that all the sudden hit my Gay community or my friends within it because I wasn't a part of the community yet. All I knew was about the effect it was having on the overall Gay world, the big-name stars like Rock Hudson and Liberace contracting it and dying, and all the other overall societal impacts it was making.

When I did come out in 1990, at the age of 19, I already knew about it generally, knew I better be safe, knew I needed to know more, and knew everybody needed to know more. One of the first things I did upon Coming Out was to learn about how to be safe-- reading materials, going to a clinic, asking questions, learning about safe sex, going to courses at school, and taking the test. It's all very overwhelming for a newly minted Gay man who's still a teenager. But, in many ways, I'm considered lucky with the timing because I didn't have to go through the extra-hard years of the early to mid-80's during the "don't know what is happening" and "losing all my friends" years. That was before me and I was 'lucky' in that respect. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to see all your friends die around you every week. Living in San Francisco now, and thinking about what it must have been like had I lived here in this same space during that time, makes me realize just how difficult this whole epidemic is.

My first test for HIV was probably the scariest and most OCD-induced two weeks of my life. The waiting was the killer. I had barely done anything, sexually or otherwise, prior to the test to warrant exposure, but it didn't matter at the time-- I was so scared and nervous and figured I was doomed. I couldn't wait til the end of the two weeks, and then, when they were over, I was scared to death to go back to the clinic to find out. This was still back in 1990 and I was still very young and very naive. The guy took me into the back office, sat me down, and told me that I was negative. I was so relieved, and yet felt guilty, like I should be positive because I was a Gay man and because I was a "bad" person. AIDS has so greatly affected our culture and the mindset of people that even we Gay men put such internal-homophobic and anti-Gay feelings upon ourselves as if we are supposed to inflicted with it.

Somehow I've continued throughout the years to stay HIV-Negative. But I also know that as long as it's out there, it impacts us all in the community and in the world. As such, I have personally looked for ways to help end this madness as soon as possible. And I know my fellow Alice members have all been involved in many ways throughout the years through giving, participating, walking, riding, writing, singing, dancing, staging, directing, marching, marshalling, rallying, and organizing, organizing, organizing. And for all of that, I and the community thanks you.

As part of the 25th anniversary, I interviewed Dr. Albert Liu, Director of HIV Prevention Intervention Studies with the San Francisco Department of Public Health HIV Research Section, on ways that we can help with his department's work. (I am currently a participant in an AIDS drug study known as Project T with the department.) Below is the interview:

------------------
Interview with Dr. Albert Liu, Director of HIV Prevention Intervention Studies

Reese Aaron Isbell (RAI): Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about the studies you are conducting right now and how Alice can help. First off, can you tell us about the program in general?

HIV Research Section (HRS): Project T is one of several HIV prevention studies at the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH). Project T is testing the safety of a daily HIV pill, tenofovir, in HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. If it is shown to be safe for the bodies and behaviors of HIV-negative men, in the future it may be tested to see whether it can prevent HIV infection (we currently don't know if it does). This study is being conducted in San Francisco and Atlanta, and similar studies are occurring around the world.

RAI: Now that we know a little bit more about what you guys are doing, please tell us how Alice can help. As you know, the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club is a local political club here in San Francisco and has a diverse membership throughout the Bay Area. How can we, as individuals and as a local political and social organization, help you in your research programs?

HRS: Alice can help by spreading the word about the importance of research in HIV prevention. In San Francisco, there are 15-20 new HIV infections/week, and worldwide, there are 11,000 new HIV infections per day. We urgently need new prevention tools, and community involvement in research is critical in the fight against HIV. People can find out more information about Project T at www.projectt-sf.org.

RAI: I've been a member of the Project T study myself since last summer, recruited right off the street in the Castro by one of your lovely outreach workers. Please tell the rest of Alice what they might expect should they decide to get involved in the study as an individual. What time commitments, activities, benefits, concerns, and especially oh-so-fabulous prizes can they expect?

HRS: People interested in Project T first come in for an informational session where we provide in-depth information about what's involved in the study. Volunteers who choose to enroll in the study will be asked to take a daily HIV pill and come in for visits over a two year period. We provide free risk reduction counseling and rapid HIV testing at each visit. We also provide free physical exams at visits and free STD screening and treatment during the study. Participants who enroll in the study are provided a small stipend at each visit to thank them for their time.

RAI: Any further thoughts you'd like to share with Alice? And what's the best way to contact you?

HRS: We are incredibly thankful for the over 100 men who have volunteered thus far in Project T - we are just past our halfway mark of enrolling 200 participants. Their participation is an invaluable contribution to the community and toward the fight against HIV. For more information about Project T and the HIV Research Section at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, please visit our website at www.projectt-sf.org.

RAI: Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about your work and sharing your thoughts with Alice. And a further thanks to you for all the great work you are doing every day in this fight. It is greatly appreciated.
---------------------

On the 25th Anniversary of HIV/AIDS, let us recommit to end the epidemic.

migraines
i'm so sick of pain
i've had a migraine and general pain in various places in my head, neck, and shoulders since last friday. it's gone up and down, but it's always been there-- deep in there. today i just feel drained from it all. i've tried to sleep it off, but sleep hasn't been helping either. it just lasts and lasts and i'm tired of it.

just saying

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

you see folks, today was my coworker Anna's 50th birthday (shown here alongside me) and her favorite color is purple. hence the purplish festivities and my purplelicious outfit:

Purple party

Purplelicious

more photos from my mother:

Monday, July 10, 2006

i like the way i look in this group photo taken during pride weekend. i think it has to do with my 'pink saturday sunburn' though.

either way, it's a slow news day here at reesesworld and so i'm delving into self-involvement to pretend i have something to say today.
check out a larger view!

Sunday, July 09, 2006

san francisco

Saturday, July 08, 2006

And now the library is open and full

The water next to the new library

New library's right next to the water

Friday, July 07, 2006

Children's area ready for opening tomorrow

New library ready to open tomorrow

Library forum

Libraries are everywhere

big to-do tomorrow with the first opening of a new branch library in san francisco in 40 years. as you may remember i worked on the branch library campaign back in 2000 so the branches have always been close to my heart. and the opening of this branch is specifically due to the campaign in 2000 winning. anyway, tomorrow will see big festivities down there near the ballpark (it's right next to the giants ballpark) amidst its first open day. today i'm going down there for a symposium on the 'state of libraries' and a sneak peak of the library itself. i'm sure there will be a nice piece in the paper about the opening on sunday and i'll be sure to link it

Thursday, July 06, 2006

and my latest young dems newsletter is finally out now too

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

yay! my alice newsletter is finally completed and publicized! i'm very pleased with how it came out, plus there's some fun photos in there-- including one of me at the breakfast last month. check it out!

as i recently have done with my mother's photos, i will post ongoing art-pieces from my brother Eric. you can also view some of his older work that i posted in my art section and i hope to one day soon update that art page with a fuller cast of his and my mom's pieces. in the meantime, here's a couple from my brother right now:

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

great editorial today on how bad things are with bush regarding our fundamental american rights

Monday, July 03, 2006

watched a terrific movie last night on dvd, Shattered Glass which i had been wanting to watch for years. turns out my instincts about wanting to watch it were dead-on. great movie and made me love peter sarsgaard even more. what a great actor! but i digress...

the movie is about the true story of a writer who conned various mainstream news publications, including the new republic where he worked full-time, by creating completely fabricated articles that sounded really good and seemed just oh-so-got-to-be-true. i can totally relate to it even with knowing they're fake because seeing their headlines and reading the pieces now (including the infamous 'hack heaven' in which he got caught-- through this online article) sound so real and common-knowledge. anyway, the great addition to the dvd was the 60 minutes piece where he was interviewed a few years later and the editor who fired him and others had great rants about him and how they were fooled.

the other fun thing about all of this is that the movie seems so close to the reality of what happened then. upon seeing the 60 minutes piece and reading the articles i've linked above and reading more about what happened online, i feel like i was there from having watched the movie. it's a fascinating moment in time and the a terrific warning to everyone to wonder about what reality is.

hey, what a glorious thing a random four-day weekend is! (sorry to all those out there who have to work on this ghost of a monday) but hooray for me! i'm actually loving it. for some reason, when you have a longer planned weekend, day-trips seem more possible. there's no reason why i can't take a day-trip on a regular weekend, but it always seems rushed. but with the knowledge of no work and the quiet atmosphere of town, getting away for saturday was terrificly relaxing. my friend and i went driving up north through marin and sonoma counties and just quietly enjoying the countryside and small towns up there on saturday. it was perfect. next time we'll plan it a bit more and get a bed and breakfast or cottage or something near some hiking or river excursion activities and make a whole weekend of it. but still, having that peace and adventure on the first of four whole days of freedom was perfect.

yesterday, was just as relaxing having no real agendas for a sunday. but the great thing was that it was a sunday without the gloom of a normal workday monday hovering over me. so more relaxation still. and now, today, on monday morning, i have the pleasure of still basking in living life rather than worry about what to wear and what i have to do today. i love this four-day weekend thing. we should really consider starting a work-trend like that. (again, sorry to all those out there that have to work today. you are making this dream possible for the rest of us. thank you. you will be rewarded in the afterlife, i promise.)