"Pro-Life" Is A Lie

Today Scott Roeder was convicted of 1st degree murder in the killing of Dr. Tiller in Wichita, Kansas.

Last May Mr. Roeder went to the church of Dr. Tiller, found him inside, pressed the gun to his forehead, and killed him.  He pointed the gun at two other churchgoers as he tried to get away, for which he was convicted of aggravated assault.

His defense focused centered around Mr. Roeder's belief that Dr. Tiller was murdering children; that is, the doctor was was an abortion doctor, including legal late term abortions, and that Mr. Roeder felt he was saving lives by murdering Dr. Tiller.


I find it preposterous and sad that this would even be presented as a legal defense.  This is a man who planned for years on killing another human being.  This is murder, regardless of that other human's actions.  

This jury seemed to agree.  They took 37 minutes to come back with a guilty verdict, which is just a little longer than it took a jury in this same courtroom last March  to acquit Dr. Tiller of 19 misdemeanor violations of Kansas's abortion law.

I don't usually write about things too far outside of my personal life, but I am compelled by this sense I have that we are becoming more and more disengaged with the importance of abortion as a right.  It was not always legal, and it could not be legal again.  I bet you know at least one person who has had at least one abortion, and I bet that they did not treat it as a frivolity.  We have to stay aware of the attacks on it's legality, and attacks on the individuals that risk their safety to provide us the equality that access to safe and legal abortion allows us.

Attachment Revised

Today Laundry Girl put up a fantastic post...

" 'Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.' - JD Salinger

When you tell someone something personal about yourself, you have essentially given a part of yourself to that person. That's called attachment. In the most basic sense. It's just that simple. So, if you don't want to be attached to someone, keep your goddamn mouth shut. And no touching.

But, if you ask me, that all sounds very boring. I'm going to tell you things. I might even touch you. And if I do, I will most definitely get attached. And, consequently, I will miss you if either one of us decides to leave. Deal with it. I can."

I will probably tell you lots of things, and some of them you won't want to know.  I am an over-sharer.  I also really like touching, and I'll want you to touch me too.  But if you want to touch me today, and then don't tomorrow, be an adult and tell me.  Don't show a lack of respect by running away and therefore taking from me the the opportunity to deal with it and still respect you.  That's basically all I ask.

I've been attached to more people than is probably healthy for my young age, and I couldn't feel better about it.  I would change very very few things about my love (or sex) life as I've lived it, and I don't plan on starting to keep my "goddamn mouth [or legs for that matter]" shut now.  

So with all due respect to Mr. Salinger, may he rest in peace, I am going to keep taking my chances on missing you one day.

What Does Bottom Look Like?

Does it look like being drunk in more than one bar with less than 3 other people in each of them in one night?  (I'm not counting the dog.)

Does it look like texting your ex (from memory since you'd deleted his number more times than you can count) and then proceeding to text him meaner and meaner things until you find yourself having to text an apology the next day?  (Even though you had erased all evidence, other than a snapshot of some of the really nice things he was texting back to you.)

Does it look like texting your current very complicated crush at 3am his time that you 'need to talk'?

Does it look like seriously considering making out with a man whose girlfriend you had met not but one hour earlier, because he told his friend he thought your were hot?

Does it look like scolding the friend, who also is your friends boyfriend, for trying to hook you up with him, when in fact it was you who told him to do it?

Does it look like accepting a trip back to the bar to drive by to see if the attractive man that was sitting there when I left to chase taken tail was still sitting there?

Does it look like discovering about forty fuzzy photos on your phone of you trying to get a cute picture holding the puppy, and having no recollection of it?

Or maybe, does it look like all these things combined?


Just wondering.

Wreckxting

"My love life is like a minor car wreck...  A little messy a little interesting a sprinkle of exciting but mostly just destructive and costly."

- Me to Jamie via text when asked about the prospect of me getting hitched.

Pizza, Brooklyn, and Jameson Oh My! (or Goodbye NY: My East Coast excursion comes to a close, NY Winter Adventure pt. 6)

Wednesday was my last day in the hood, and rather than push it just to make sure we fit in a museum while I was there, we relaxed and walked a lot and talked a lot and made it one helluva last day.

We had pizza, which Megan was insistent on (after our food tour and not doing pizza OR hot dogs she still felt she hadn't fulfilled her New York hosting duties).  It was good.  I shamefully could not finish my piece.  I knew we were going to a pot luck within a few hours and I didn't want to shame myself again in front of more than Megan by not eating there.

We went to visit an adorable new deli and specialty shop that we sell some oil and vinegar to, to check it out, meet the chefs, and buy some goodies for the aforementioned pot luck.  Torrisi Italian Specialties is warm, inviting, adorable, and has salami in the window.  If you find yourself with access to Mulberry and Prince in Nolita you must go, and eat something.  Anything.  It's delicious.

After a hit of shopping in Soho we hit the subway and landed in Brooklyn.  We had a couple beers with Kryn, who grew up across the park from us in Madison and I hadn't seen in too many years, and then headed to Tommy, Hannah, and Jen's for what would be one unexpectedly boozy pot luck welcoming Fuzzy back for a visit.

(A little background - Tommy's been one of my best friends since we met in the dorms the first week our freshman year in college.  He's a master of friend mashing - as in, so many people have met because/through him we could start a cult.  How many people I have specifically because of him is a blog for another time, but I will say that good people tend to attract good people, this rule applies to Tommy, and Tommy's one of the best.)

It was a fantastic night.  There was a scrumptious spread of a ton of cheese, some Torrisi goodies, taco dip, polenta somethings, wine, and lots oh lots of Jameson which we started enjoying with Hannah's hot toddy concoction, and then went on the rocks after we ran out.  Needless to say the night got progressively more fuzzy, but some of the topics we covered:
Jersey Shore
Felatio
Blogs before blogging was the thing
Frat boys
Freshman slutties
Jersey Shore
Man stank v. stank
Man stank in contrast to weed smell
Smoking
Titanic (the movie not the boat)
Jersey Shore
Madison High School Girls Swimming 1992-2007
Advertising
Reese Witherspoon's high level of bitchiness

Scary baby dancing:

Still life of whiskey and Tommy's face:

Middle School Dancing!

Megan and I got home late and got very little sleep before we got up to get me to the airport in the morning.  I was exhausted for days, but it was beyond worth it.  The trip was fabulous.  I would not have changed a thing, other than to have more time.  I can't wait to go back.