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January 29, 2008
Forgot to mention
Derrick's super-smart cousin Randy mentioned he had read my section in the book. Whathuh?
I've written an entry in a book, so I guess I'm published now.
I'm the section on being gay in Peace Corps.
Apparently, this book is SO amazing, it has rocketed up to 142,118 in sales ranking. I would have mentioned it before, but the guy who asked me to write never sent me a copy. Thpppttt.
Not exactly the New Yorker, but there you go. Now everyone will have to call me math god AND author.
Posted by G at 09:57 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 28, 2008
The really angry gay marriage rant
About a year ago, Derrick and I had a bit of an exciting event. After gathering all the proof (years of shared bank accounts, rent contracts, etc.) we became domestically partnered. The main benefit of being partnered is that I could add him onto my medical coverage, because being domestically partnered doesn't help on much else.
I don't want some church to bless my relationship. However, I could have walked into the city clerk office with a woman I picked up off the street, married her, and every state and federal office would treat us as one unit. Because we're gay (regardless that my relationship with Derrick has outlasted many friends' marriages), we still have to carry documents around that say that he has a right to visit me in the hospital and that he has the authority to make decisions if I'm incapacitated. Of course, in states with strong pro-family laws, even those documents would be ignored. Makes google maps very difficult to plot, sometimes, because of the fear of having an accident there.
Zod forbid that we try to do things like rent a car together. We went with a straight couple on a road trip, and I wanted to add someone else on as a secondary driver. Derrick wasn't allowed (not a real relationship), but my straight friend's wife could have claimed to be my wife and she would have been added without any question.
Back to the good news of the first paragraph- I just got the latest insult. I had tried to check in advance, but no one seemed to know until I received the letter today from our office of labor relations.
"Based on IRS policy, health benefits provided to domestic partners are considered additional income. This additional income is subject to all federal, state, and local tax plus social security/medicare taxes."
Guess how much? Almost 4 thousand bucks. Thank you so much for telling me this AT THE END OF THE YEAR. This will be added onto my W2, but without having any taxes withheld. This means that I will have an instant additional tax liability of approximately $1600. Taxes, if Derrick had big breasts and a vajayjay, I wouldn't be liable for.
Once again, I don't want some church recognizing my rights. They can bar me from the building and I'll be just fine, really. However, my relationship with my partner is as good as any straight couple, and it is not right that I am taxed more than a couple of identical income.
I'm getting really fed up. Those of you out there who think gay marriage is a threat to America (I'm talking to you, my sanctimonious little shit of a Ten Commandments-breaking uncle in Arizona who has donated money to anti-gay movements), look really hard in the mirror, because the only thing shameful and sinful is you. We don't want to be in your bedroom either, nor do we need you to accept us, at least in the privacy of your homes. But as soon as you step outside of your own little lily-white enclave, I should have the exact same rights as you- in the workplace, in federal and state rights, and in my pursuit of happiness.
WWJD? He'd give me a hug for putting up with all this crap, thank me for recycling and taking public transportation, working with at-risk kids, doing the Peace Corps, then begin clearing all the greedy bastards out of the temple.
Posted by G at 08:27 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
January 26, 2008
All work, All play, and No computer makes me a productive boy
I spend way too much time on the computer. Whenever my laptop's hard drive started making sounds like an angry cat in heat then died, I had to go cold turkey. No blog reading. No blog posting. No news reading. No games.
It was good. I fixed things that needed fixing. I hung out with friends. I talked to family. I noticed I had a boyfriend. We did twisted and dirty things. Like puzzles.
Derrick and I worked for quite a few evenings on this.
After working for a few evenings after work and such, it became this:
Yes, I know it is bigger than the Empire State Building next to it. I would just like to point out that the ESB took me DAYS AND DAYS to build. They'll both be useful for lessons on ratio and scale.
Now I'm back on the computer with a new hard drive. We just ordered more puzzles, so maybe I've gained a new perspective.
Posted by G at 07:22 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 22, 2008
Lawn Guy Land
When my friend Curtis suggested that we drive to the fartherestestest point of Long Island, I really pictured over 100 miles of suburbia. I'd gone once to the Ikea there, and I could have sworn that the LIE was one of the levels of hell.
I expected this:
He proposed this as a fun thing. So I went.
I was totally wrong! We left the main highway and traced the northern coast. Yes, there were hideous stretches of strip malls, but then we would come across one of the rocky beaches or cross over an inlet. We had views like this:
The north fork was interesting, as it has lots of wineries and scenic bits. We didn't stop at any of them (I hate wineries with bus parking), but we did stop at a place in Orient where I had my first lobster sandwich. Curtis also ate one, and he said he knew of a place in the city that had better. Of course they have better in the city!
I wouldn't want to live there, especially with global warming. Okay, side thing- I just typed 'global worming' which sounds really painful for all dogs.
Good company, good trip out of the city, good times.
Posted by G at 08:15 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
January 17, 2008
The wisdom of clocks
While I was spending time with family, my aunt remarked upon something interesting. Her dog will run in really tight circles, but only counter-clockwise. She asked if Bear did the same thing, and I've been observing her.
Bear spins with excitement whenever the food bowl is headed her way, but always counterclockwise. I thought it would be interesting to somehow limit her movement to see if she could rotate clockwise, but it also could be the coriolis effect, but now I JUST LEARNED that the whole toilet bowls draining differently in the Southern Hemisphere is a myth!
Blogging makes me learn things!
Does anyone out there have a dog who rotates clockwise?
Posted by G at 10:10 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
January 15, 2008
Back to 49
In November, I completed one of those goals of my life- I visited Rhode Island. My goal wasn't to visit Rhode Island specifically, but rather to have visited all fifty states, and it just happened to be Rhode Island. So tiny, so easy to miss. My dad took us all over the place when we were kids, and I continued that into adulthood.
Our friends Patricio and Jerry went with us to RI, and while I was driving, they grilled me on when I'd visited all of the states. For me to have visited a state, it can't just be an airport. It needs to be a lunch, a drive through with a stop, or overnight stay. However, I suddenly had a doubt about one state, and I had to call my dad later.
Conversation with father:
Dad: Yello!
He has always answered the phone that way, and this used to annoy me, and now I enjoy it.
Me: Dad, I just went to Rhode Island! This should be my 50th state, but I needed to confirm something.
Dad: Rhode Island was your last state?
Me: Yes. Don't mock me. Now, I need to confirm something. When we were kids, living in Colorado, didn't we go up to Oregon for a truck or something?
Dad: No.
Please notice that I did not get my garrulous nature from my dad.
Me: No? Are you sure?
I have to double check and often prompt, as dad can remember certain things with perfect clarity like cubic volume of concrete forms, yet he's a bit vague on birthdays, ages of his children (we're all frozen in our teens), and how much mayo goes onto the peanut butter sandwich.
Dad: Pretty sure.
Me: Damn. Damn. Damn.
Mentally I was saying something a little stronger than 'damn, damn, damn' but I was talking to my dad, and it was always my mom who cursed like a sailor.
So now I'm having to go to Oregon, which, in my opinion, is a much better 50th state. I'll be able to do this, because I'm going out to SF 2/13-15 for a math conference for math nerds. I have the whole following week off for winter vacation. Depending on the weather, I'm just going to take a meander up to Crater Lake
and the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, followed by a return trip through the west coast of the state, then returning through the Redwood National Park.
This is a lot better than my 50th state being the one with the longest name.
Posted by G at 05:35 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
January 06, 2008
Happy New Year! Give me another week!
I meant to start up the blog again as of Jan 1. On New Years Eve, my computer crashed. The hard drive has died, but after spending $100 on DiskWarrior, I've recovered most of my data.
It's a shame that the computer freezes up every ten minutes or so. My break is gonna take another week.
Can I just say that I might be buying a new laptop from Apple after Steve Jobs does the big announcements next week?
Posted by G at 08:17 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack