Bullet Points, Nicely Illustrated

I'm sorry to go to bullet points again, but it's just how I'm thinking right now. You'll see I'm not thinking that deeply. I did promise more frequent updates, though.

* Ted Kennedy died last night. Everyone else seems to have something to say about him, but I don't, not really. Just don't feel much connection. (I felt the same way about Michael Jackson.) I hope the replacement senator works out. I feel bad for his family, because they also lost Eunice Kennedy Shriver very recently. I am amazed by what a hungry, greedy summer this has been. Maybe it's because there's been so much stress and uncertainty in the past year.

* Above all else, I want this autumn to be calmer. Don't think I'm the only one.

* I am reading an incredible book called The State of Jones. (If you look at the Amazon reviews, it's a real love-hate of a book, and some people claim it's inaccurate. I love that some people find it too sensationalized, while others think it's too dry!) It is non-fiction, though I think it could make an awesome movie in the right hands. The State of Jones concerns a very obscure Civil War-era figure who should be much less obscure, Newton Knight. He was a poor farmer who was drafted to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War. He was anti-slavery and didn't want to risk death for rich landowners who felt they were too good to fight their own wars. So he and a group of other fed-up people, black and white, set up a stronghold in the Mississippi swamps and fought for the Union, without the Union's knowledge or consent. Read it read it now now now!

* I saw the button of the year today: "Health care town halls make me sick!"

* Check out this nicely stocked beer cooler. Even I found something I liked in it, and I only barely tolerate beer:



That would be Bill Guerin from the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrating with the Stanley Cup. He had his day with the Cup on Long Island recently. (Until last spring, he was a New York Islander. He's been on a lot of other teams, too.) The Keepers of the Cup also posted pictures of Guerin with his lovely wife and adorable kids. *sigh* Well, I also have a lovely wife. I can still enjoy watching Guerin on Sidney Crosby's line next season. An entire season of "You aren't actually following the puck, are you?"! Can't wait.

* No, L'Ailee doesn't regret making me watch hockey with her and teaching me how it works, why do you ask? Well, she doesn't regret it yet, anyway. ;-)

* I really don't regret getting her into NASCAR. (Of course, as an exclusive lesbian, she doesn't look at drivers *or* hockey players that way, though I'm sure she'd enjoy seeing a few women in fireproof suits.) I was happy when Kyle Busch won Bristol last week, since my beloved Tony Stewart couldn't, but she was literally on the edge of her seat, grasping onto my hand with her left and pumping her fist in approval with her right. So cute. Then we had to make everyone get the hell out of there. One day we'll do it for Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya, too.

* No race next week, so I'm going surfing no matter what the waves are like! I'm so due. I'll go even if there's another tropical storm nearby! I've had people joke that I brought hurricanes and tropical storms up north with me. It really is freaky.

* One thing we'll definitely not want to see in the Atlanta race week after next is the invocation. I may even want to go surfing for that, too. Now, usually L'Ailee and I let it slide. My friends and I tend to think of it as a time for going to the bathroom, making drinks, etc. But this time, James Dobson from Focus on the Family will be delivering it! Of course, he's not a minister, he's a child psychologist by trade, but why the hell not? It makes me angry. He made his living on the backs of people like me and L'Ailee. If you are a fan of NASCAR but not James Dobson--and believe me, you don't have to be queer to have a problem or three with Dobson and Focus on the Family--please consider letting the Atlanta Motor Speedway staff know how you feel about this.

Also, try e-mailing NASCAR themselves at fanfeedback@nascar.com. I know there are not a lot of LGBTs or ex-Christians or whatever who will be watching the race, but NASCAR has been trying to reach out and be inclusive. Let them know that Dobson is exclusive, hurtfully exclusive, and you don't appreciate having to hear a message like his before the race. At the very least, I hope someone tells all the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans in attendance that Dobson is a *big* Kyle Busch fan, so he'll get booed and have to duck beer cans. Shit, I've watched NASCAR since I was *three*, but I'll bet money that fucking Dobson doesn't even know who Kyle Busch *is*....

* Over at the San Diego Zoo, their three-week-old panda baby is growing quite well. Look, he's a precious little pocket panda now, and no longer resembles a naked molerat at all! And he's so squirmy and happy! (Well, we think it's a "he" over at the Pandas Unlimited community, but they don't know at the zoo yet because his mother Bai Yun doesn't let him out of her sight long enough for the vets to examine him...um, it. Can you blame her?)



* Finally, there have been some odd Twilight product tie-ins, but how about DuWop's Twilight Venom for lips? It combines their Lip Venom lip plumper with red stain to give an, I don't know, blood-drinking look or something, though Twilight vampires don't actually suck that way. I'm not trying it because my lips are already plenty plump enough, like most everything else about me, and L'Ailee thinks Lip Venom's burn and strong scent give it a very bad hassle-to-reward ratio. Her lips are just fine without it, too.