rm | sundries

Between some extra Patty time yesterday (I have never been so grateful for a Starbucks), choosing to sleep in today and and the time change, I feel pretty good. It seems like a nice day here, but sadly I have to do some work for work, finish this screenplay, and then if I can really get some Internet that functions beyond my LJ client, do some work that I left behind in NYC.

Happy Halloween! It's weird to be somewhere that almost completely ignores it. Tomorrow is a religious holiday here, however, and the offices are closed (although I have stuff to do).

Children are playing in the common space again. I forgot to mention that in town a few days ago, I saw some playing a game like tag, where one would break away from a safe group, run to the church, shove their hand in the holy water outside of it, cross themselves, and then try to run back to the safe group because the chaser caught them.

I would also like to say, lest you think I've left Torchwood and Captain Jack behind me, that large groups of children chanting numbers (which seems to be a feature of many games here) in languages I don't know is causing me surprisingly inordinate amounts of emotional upheaval (And, oh god, this song. I've not listened to it in ages, but I woke up craving Puccini but this was the best my laptop could come up with -- I did not plan for music out here).

I have just discovered that a very long post I wrote at my most depressed here didn't go through. Now I am trying to decide if I should post it for the record, or not share, since I don't feel so terrible anymore. It's an interesting post, but it's also full of hubris and neuroses. Am also debating if I want to talk about why the screenplay exercise was so confronting for me, but am pretty sure it's over the dignity line.

Despite the presence of gluten-free croissants and my ability to say celiac in German, it is very hard to manage my health here. I did get glutened yesterday (although I noticed right away so had only take one small bite of the strawberry parfait with the biscuit in the bottom) and the waiter just sort of shrugged. It's being treated like I don't matter that's often hardest about being here. Maybe that sounds spoiled, and maybe it is, but my health thing is real and mistakes happen, but pretend you give a shit.

Anyway, aside from that, this remains the country without vegetables. I like meat and cheese as much as anyone (probably more), but my body and tastebuds are getting a little fed up. The provencale potato chips are go though.

Last night there were bats chasing each other around outside my bedroom window. NOT EVEN JOKING. Bats are good, but need to stay away from my fucking windows.

Last night the time changed here and in the UK, so Patty and I are still an hour apart, but not in the US, so right now you all are only five hours behind us, and not six.

Dogboy & Justine is up to 58 backers for a pledged total of $2,2825, which is a very exciting 47%. I have to do a phone interview with a journalist about it today.

I've read a little bit about the Colbert/Stewart rally (I was on a boat on the Zurich lake at the time), but I was wondering if anyone could offer insight -- it is being covered as an oddity, as a critical political event, or as a legitimate but not very important event in a loud election season? I'm wondering if I'm missing a Moment.

"Tolerance" (I hate that word) in public vs. private schools. Unfortunately, it looks at private religious schools vs. public schools, leaving out the world I came from and one form which I suspect you'd get some very interesting and intense results.

Student slang and the policing of social boundaries.

Noose found at Equality California office. When the worker who found it called it into the cops, the office allegedly said, "sometimes you have to live with being a victim."

The anti-gay AGA in Michigan who was harassing a college student, may lose his job.

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Re. Tolerance - I'm growing to hate that word as well. And the fact that private schools are less tolerant than public - this is my surprised face. Really. I'm incredibly surprised.

Re. Noose - I actually called the SAPD to protest and they were pretty surprised to hear about it. Their reaction was one of people caught flat-footed and both the initial person I spoke to and the watch commander said they'd look into it. Whatever that's worth.

Re. Anti-gay AGA - The 'may' in 'may lose his job' hurts my brain.

Finally, I very much wanted to attend the Jon Stewart Rally, but wound up DVRing it instead. For me, it will go down in history as one of the great moments in American history. Jon Stewart proved himself the greatest statesmen of our age when he brought together 150,000 (minimum) people of all races, creeds and orientations and got them to unite and BE Americans for a few hours. His quote, "These are hard times, not end times" may just be my new motto.

Yeah, he's just a comedian and not an orator, but what he did was incredibly subtle in it's simplicity. When was the last time you heard of 150,000+ people getting together with no animosity, no stepped on toes and no PROBLEMS coming to bear between them? As far as I know (and if someone knows differently, I'll be sad), there were no fights, not even angrily raised voices among those who attended. It was 100% positive and how often can you say that when that many people are in a crowd? Seriously.

However, as part of his keynote speech he pointed out that we do it every day. He showed traffic flowing into the tunnels in New York, where people let each other go and behave in a civilized fashion every day and where those who ride the berm and cut in front are the shunned exception, not the rule.

What can I say? It moved me, :). And this is my only Jon Stewart icon, but since it's from one of his greatest TV moments, I think it's appropriate, ;).

I was there and as far as my experience was, everyone was nice to each other even when riding the extremely crowded metro. People did squeeze on, but we all knew we were trying to get to the same place. I have to agree with you about Jon Stewart.

So jealous! And I'm glad that my impression from TV was accurate, :). A friend of ours got to go, but he hasn't blogged about it yet...

Ditto. I remember a lot of people doing things like voluntarily taking up garbage bags to clear out any remaining litter (of which there was very little) and taking people's empty water bottles and fliers and stuff to throw them away.

Just... people being really positive and good to each other. It was like the end of Ghostbusters 2 in there.

The moment at the beginning where Jon Stewart asked the crowd not to litter and to leave it cleaner than they'd left it was made of class.

I was stuck at work, and my DVR is broken. Any chance you'd be willing to make a copy of your DVD? You can email me at my LJ or at tamy at squidge dot org

His keynote speech may very well be the best speech I've heard in my lifetime.

It's close, though I think a few of Obama's are also in the running for it, :).

I'd have to hear side by side with Obama's famous convention speech and the one where he talked to us like we were grownups about race. It's why the qualifiers, but it's top three if not the best, that's for sure.

This, :).

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