Victory against Prop 8!

 

Huffington Post:  Prop 8 Overturned

This is no stock photo! It's my daughter and daughter-in-law who were married at City Hall, San Francisco in October of 2008, during that small window before Prop 8 passed. Their marriage is considered legal because of its timing, their marriage is considered legal in California but the ruling today can only strengthen their union. This is such a victory for California's LGBTQ community and a step-forward toward a national awareness of this issue as being unconstitutional; not just in California but in all fifty states. A small step, but a victory, none-the-less!

What's Goin On

I have been rather dry on ideas for art posts lately and I do apologize to anyone who comes here just for the art images and their accompanying tidbits. The weather is good now and that means that I'm out there enjoying it and taking lots of photos. Those of you who visit regularly know my fondness for my camera and the occasional good photo it sometimes surprises me with.

I do have two art posts in the works right now:  one feature on the work of Georges Seurat and another in the series A Letter from Vincent. The latter is a mixture of excerpts from the letters of Van Gogh to his brother Theo and corresponding images of the paintings he was working on or those by other painters that fueled Vincent's intensity and passion.

 On June 23rd, I'm leaving for Santa Barbara to visit my daughter (SG1) and her wife, whom I call Beloved. I haven't seen SG1 since August of 2009, so I'm very much looking forward to spending time. I'll be back on July 6, which means I'll be celebrating my 51st birthday in sunny Santa Barbara, as well as the 4th festivities. SG1's Americorp stint will be over for the summer (she's enlisted for another year) and Beloved will have a light class load at UCSB, where she finished the master's portion of her degree and will begin work on the phd part in the fall. All is going according to plan for the happy couple, I'm pleased to say.  :-)

A week or so later, WP and I are leaving for the fairy cottage in Nova Scotia until the end of July. I plan on being home all of August to work on some house projects and enjoy my yard, the river and a few day trips here and there. We may even sneak in a visit to New York City, as there are lots of cool things going on at MoMA.

Peace, love and all groovy things,
Pagan Sphinx

For now, here are two images for you to enjoy - one each from Van Gogh and Seurat. 

Georges Seurat

The Seine at Courbevoie  

c1886

Flower Pot with Chives

What's Goin' On - It's a Snow Day!

I love snow days. Some of my co-teachers don't like snow days because it means we have days to make up at the end of the school year. I don't mind getting up and going to work in good weather, so a few extra days of school tacked on in June doesn't bother me one bit.

It's really pretty out there but I still have a lot to do to get the house ready for my mother's visit. I'm actually enjoying the domesticity of it all. At this stage in my life, I much prefer the domesticity thing to the student thing.

As some of you know, I've embarked on a journey through "higher education" to try and obtain a masters in education, with emphasis in special education, including a additional teaching license. In Massachusetts, they aren't cutting anyone any slack. And did I mention it's expensive? And why did I not suspect more strongly that the quality of this education would be mediocre? The classes are all at night and and in the summer. I don't mean to be a snob, as I was educated exclusively by public education and I work for the public school system. However, the quality of the instruction for night classes is fairly pathetic. Sigh. So I'm re-thinking if I want to continue pursuing this. I have a job and I'm not sure that the pay-off is worth what I will get back. What it would mean is that I would have more options outside my own school district. Hopefully at a slightly larger school with better resources.

The state of Massachusetts can more than afford to make the requirements stiffer. I don't know what the statistics are, exactly, but there is a very large pool of people wanting to enter the field of education right now including unemployed career-changers. Those who are already teaching, are swarming to update licenses and to obtain additional licenses that make them more flexible to their school districts.

I have a snow day from school to experience. What am I doing talking about school? 

 I haven't been taking many pictures for months now but I do have this one to share from last winter and it looks much like today. This one's from January of this year and there is a lot more snow on the bushes. Today we got 6-8 inches, I'm guessing. I haven't listened to a radio or turned on a TV today. I haven't had lunch yet. There is some Chinese take-out from last night for lunch. And then it's back to domesticville. I like the look of the snow from the cozy house.

Over the weekend I accomplished what seemed like an overwhelming task until I really tackled it:  cleaning out a closet in the upstairs bedroom with the remains of four teen-age girls. Wait. No. It's not that gruesome. It's really about objects from the past lives of four young women:  my two, who are 22 and almost 21 and WP's two who are 25 and 27. The only one of them now who keeps an address here is my younger SG2 who a junior in college in Boston.

Several phone calls were made and some determinations were made about what would be saved and what would be throw out or donated. When all is said and done, I took out of the closet (and from a couple of drawers) two large bags of trash and three large bags for Sal's. I reclaimed the closet. It's neat and clean and organized. I made room for my suitcases, which are always being shuffled about. The room itself looks really good. It's so 1950's with its built-ins, painted light yellow. And oh the charm of a hardwood floor that a teenager once took red permanent marker to, circa 1999. It's mostly covered up with a rug. When I whine about it, WP tells me "put it on this list" and sighs. The list grows ever longer. Sigh indeed.

Among the things remaining in that closet, one thing strikes me most:  the two wedding gowns; the ones my daughter and daughter-in-law wore on their wedding day when they up and eloped to San Francisco to take advantage of their right to marry. It was a right that was to last only a few short months in California but their marriage is legal, even after the passage of Prop 8. It was mind-boggling the planning they had to do in advance to make the decision to marry when they did. For practical and legal reasons, they had to marry in California and they knew that there would be a small window before they took it away again. So when people comment that my twenty-two-year-old is too young to be married, she responds politely with "so people tell me" and smiles. So do I. Although I did think she was too young to get married. And a year later, I fully understand. She's happy, she is working hard for Americorps and she's putting her ducks in a row for graduate school. And she's married. To a wonderful young woman - my fifth daughter, really.  That makes me smile. Girls. Girls. Girls. I love it.

WP's oldest, M lives in San Francisco and early this summer, so early this summer, I fly to Santa Barbara to spend time with SG1 and the Beloved and then flying to San Francisco to visit WP's daughter. Two birds on the west coast and two on the east coast. So Far.

SG2 is flying the nest more slowly. Given her nature since babyhood, I am not surprised. She struggles with college sometimes in that she is at a big university and things have a tendency to get boggled more as a result. She's not sure if she wants to be a journalist now and she is considering a master's in another field. She is an excellent, talented writer but if she is going to have any financial autonomy, she has to put her skills to use and be able to support herself. She loves Boston and she's made some very close friends there. Her boyfriend since September is a BU student as well and plans on sticking around. Another child to fly away soon. And you never stop worrying about any of them. We are very fortunate, though. We worry because it is the nature of parents to do so but we thankfully don't have much to seriously worry about with this bunch. I am always grateful for this.

SG2 relaxing outside the MFA

I will leave you with another photo from a wintry last year. I did speak of birds and nests, didn't I?  ;-)

If you're interested, the post below is on America artist Milton Avery. Tell me which is your favorite!

Graduation Photos!

SG1 and Beloved had their graduation this weekend. Graduation at Mt. Holyoke is traditionally a two-day event. On Saturday, Laurel Parade was held. If you're truly interested in the meaning of Laurel Parade at Mt. Holyoke, click this link. Otherwise, in my own words, it's an event that celebrates both the graduating class and Mary Lyon, the college's founder. Ulumi from graduating classes as far back as the 1930's join the graduates in the parade and hold their own reunion events.

Day One
Laurel Parade

The women all wear white and carry what seems to be an endless garland of laurel. Above are SG1 and Beloved that I captured during a lull in the parade, since I wasn't content to sit in one spot, but followed the paraders to their destination...

Mary Lyon's grave.

There are no speeches, just a swarm of young women in white wrapping the laurel garland around the wrought iron fence and their guests looking on and cheering. It was all quite charming.

Below, SG1 and Beloved take a break after the parade to chat and review the rest of the afternoon's agenda for the family.

But not for long, as introducitons needed to be made between their families and some fellow graduates and friends. And so of course, I had to take pictures!

Day Two The Actual Graduation:

Mount Holyoke
One Hundred Seventy-Second Commencement

Empty ampatheater seating, awaiting the graduates.

SG1 Bachelor of Arts in Politics
magna cum laude & with thesis honors

Beloved Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies
Cum Laude & with High Thesis Honors


From the graduation we came to my house for a small get-t0gether by the river, which included Beloved's parents and younger brother. It was wonderful to meet them. They're very excellent poeple.

Below are the graduates and to the right L.P., my younge step-daughter and on the far left my SG2.

The graduates/newly weds enjoying some cake...


and poignantly looking out over the river
(poignancy courtesy of the Cunning Runt) ;-)

Related links

Address was given by Irish president Mary McAleese.

Green Commencement at Mount Holyoke College. Every graduating class has a color and the color for the MHC class of 2009 is green.

What's Goin' On

There's a lot goin' on! I'm assembling my info for the application packet for the graduate (fast-track) program I'm enrolling in. The first class starts on June 29. That means that I have one precious week after school ends and before I start attending M-TH, from 2:30-7:30 daily, with an hour plus round-trip commute. This ends on July 9.

In two weeks SG1 and The Beloved are graduating from college; cum laude and with thesis honors. Several activities are planned that weekend, which is Memorial Day weekend. The girls are moving into their tiny apartment on the Santa Barbara University campus mid-August. That is starting to settle in, though it's still hard for me to imagine my daughter living a continent away from me. She has applied for a AmeriCorp job which she is eagerly awaiting word about. The Beloved will have her graduate studies and stipend and SG1 hopefully will be working a job with benefits. AmeriCorps is perfect: offers benefits, money toward the cost of paying off student loans and a small stipend. We're really hoping she gets it. She would be perfect in that setting.

SG2 is home for the summer and will be starting her summer job this weekend at the supermarket. She's somewhat despondent about leaving Boston and all her friends. She's settled in very nicely this year and immensely looking forward to returning. This is cause for relief for me, her mother, because her first year was not her happiest. She and her high school boyfriend have parted ways for a few months now and she is seeing other boys, having fun and doing very well in school.

This summer SG1 and SG2 and I are going on vacation together to visit my mother in Portugal; not far from Lisbon. But before we do that, we're making a little stop. I'm splurging on three days and nights in Barcelona for us. I can't imagine the next time we'll have such an opportunity. The Beloved is flying home to Sacramento to spend her last summer with her family before she and SG1 resume their life as a couple. This is the perfect time for the three of us to do some bonding and funning together. Then we go relax with my mother and see the rest of my family and enjoy some hot Portuguese sun, some Atlantic Ocean and lots of great food.

These family trips to Portugal have tended to have sibling rivalry all over them in the past but we're going to try to behave as if that's not so. We three are older and wiser and hoping for the best. And I think we're all really going to try not to get on each other's nerves. (keeping fingers crossed). Speaking of the past. Here's a digital photo of a print (cuz I can't figure out this scanner and I just never get around to figuring it out) of us on vacation in Portugal in 92', I think it was. That flash is glare and the one making the goofy face is SG1, in her own little world.



I think I've accepted the fact that I have to get through this program in order to get out of the trap I'm in at work, which I can't discuss in very much detail here. Today was just awful. Every day that I have like this at work is just another indication of how I need to move on from there. It is simply just a bad fit between this workplace and me.

World and national politics have me burned out. I'm discouraged by the escalation of war. Instead of bringing the troops home from Iraq, we're gearing up big-time for Afghanistan and Iran. I didn't expect such hawkishness from this president. Go ahead and lecture me, if you need to. I know a lot of people feel that Obama is between a rock and a hard place. But you can't convince me war is justified. It very rarely is. It should be a last resort. I know it's ideaistic but it's my conscience and I'm listening to it.

What are you all doing for the summer, do you know yet?

Maine and D.C. Move Forward & More

Maine Statehouse Votes in Favor of Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

Washington D.C. Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage


This article at the Gay Rights blog @ change. org

Here is Ms. Vienna Teng with City Hall. I wish she would write a song about Massachusetts but that's okay. My daughter was married at this city hall, so I love the song.

And if you never read the post here on this painting...



it was painted by my dear friend Steve Emery, whose inspiration for it were my daughter and daughter-in-law's wedding photographs at taken at San Francisco City Hall last Fall. Every time I try to write about how much this painting means to my family and me, I get a bit chocked up and completely lose the words. But I think you know. Visit Steve's gallery. It is a very uplifting space.

Shadow Shot Sunday & Part Two of my Amherst/Mount Holyoke College Day Trip

See Part One here.

Shadow Shot Sunday is being brought you to by The Pagan Sphinx blog this week, for a change of pace.

I went down to Mount Holyoke to surprise my daughter (SG1) and DIL (The Beloved) with a visit and maybe lunch and stopped several places along the way to take pictures. But there are just too many stops and too many photographs to document them, I'll post these for Tracey's Shadow Shot meme. I eventually meandered my way down to the campus. It was like summer today. Sunny and clear and hot. The First day all week that's been really nice.


During one of my stops, I discovered I'd forgotten my cell phone and couldn't call the girls to tell them I was in the area. So went about getting lunch on North Pleasant Street.

click on all photos to enlarge to a nice size

and ate it on a bench in front of this fountain. After lunch,I continued to travel through downtown traffic and down rt. 116 to my daughter's campus to look for her, sans cell phone. But not before I stopped and snapped these photos.

Mary Lyon Hall

Iron fence shadow in front of Mary Lyon Hall on the Mount Holyoke College campus South Hadley, Massachusetts
I then came upon this festive scene. Nice but it will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack with all these kids spread out over the expansive lawn

But there they were! So I asked them to pose, which they did with ease, dontach think? :)

My girl is radiantly happy. It's spring. She turned in her thesis today and she's in love.

Thanks, Tracey from Melbourne, for hosting Shadow Shot Sunday

What's Goin' On

I'm still quite sick. Fighting off infections with antibiotics, natural remedies and anything else that may work. And the headache continues, though currently abated with the help of lots of Excedrin.

The headaches are a result of an injury due to a fall about five years ago. The fall caused a whiplash type injury that comes back to haunt me through neck and headache pain. Only to be kept under control by neuro-muscular pain relief administered by The Man with the Magic Hands. But it costs; a lot. He's very willing to cut me some slack on the sliding scale right now but I feel guilty because I am in a better place than most. I do have health insurance for me and the Supergirls but it's costing CR and me a small fortune per month, whereas up until two months ago, the girls' coverage was free through his plan, which he no longer has. Lack of a comprehensive single-payer national health plan is killing this country's people -both financially and literaly. I actually have Sicko on hand from Netflix to watch sometime today. Just what I need to perk up my spirits...

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that we got home safely and that despite my various ailments, I'm actually fine, overall. WP's mother is in intensive care but doing well, so we'll be visiting her today and then I'm going down to see SG1 for a tiny bit to deliver some goodies. She and The Beloved are in the throws of thesis writing and have little time for anything else. The good news is that The Beloved is being heavily courted by UC Santa Barbara, who are paying her flight and accomodations to go visit the university. They really want her, so hopefully that means a good package for her there.

Do you want to see a couple of pictures from New York? I leave you with these.

Judy Chicago's place for Emily Dickinson at The Dinner Party
(more on this exhibit at The Brooklyn Museam, in a future post)


Rodin sculpture, in the foyer of The Brooklyn Museaum

Good News!

Our family has been agonizing over where SG1 and her wife, The Beloved would wind up living after graduation from Mount Holyoke in May, 2009.

The worries have been many: my daughter and her fiance were married in California just a few days prior to the passage of Prop 8. Her wife, S.W. aka "The Beloved" is a CA citizen who has been studying at Mount Holyoke for four years along-side my daughter. The couple had decided that SG2 will take a one-year break before graduate school to mentally adjust to the challenge of applying to a joint Masters/Phd program. S.W. went ahead and applied to several universities in the state of Calfornia, her first choice being UC-Santa Barbara.

Their marriage is now considered invalid, which presents several challenges, not the least of them is graduate housing for couples as well as health insurance. SG1 is a bipolar individual who can only do well when on the correct medications - especially in light of the path she has chosen of pursuing academics the way she has. We've worried about housing options for our daughter and DIL, about whether SG1 will be able to find employment for a year before enrolling in her own Masters/Phd program.

Today, S.W. , who just returned from a visit to her parents home in Sacramento yesterday, recieved the excellent news that she'd been accepted to UC-Santa Barbara, in the newly created Department of Feminist Studies! The couple is giddy beyond belief. One hurtle has been mastered on the way to their west coast future!

I'm so incredibly happy for S.W. She's a brilliant, loving young woman who adores my daughter and strives to make her happy. I feel very proud and lucky to have her as my daughter-in-law.

There are still more hoops to jump through, though at least they know exactly where they're moving; assuming the university offers S.W. a good package. We're keeping our fingers crossed while awaiting the details.

By the way it's 61ºF / 16ºC, right now. The weather there will suit SG1 very, very well!

My lovely daughter-in-law

A Beautiful Elopement

My daughter and daughter-in-law
October 28, 2008 San Francisco City Hall

View the entire wedding album and leave comments if you'd like; the brides will love it!

Album 1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050368&l=6004e&id=10403044
Album 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050371&l=ee098&id=10403044
Album 3: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050372&l=d1a50&id=10403044
Album 4: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050373&l=9aa6c&id=10403044

Lost Lobos - Emily

This one is for Meredith and Shannon. Always keep sight of what it's all about.
It won't be long...


All my love.

(notice the typo in the title. I'm just full of them Freudian Slips lately)