EastGirlsWest

Love that Melissa Ethridge just won an Oscar. Love that she kissed her wife in front of the camera before going on stage. Love that she thanked her wife in her acceptance speech.

Altarcations: their new weekly scorecard for New York Times wedding announcements.

This is brilliant. And even though it’s only their first outing with this new feature - it has the potential for MUCH amusement. Also, can’t wait to apply the scorecard to my own vows in a few months.

In other news, I’m seriously worried about Britney. Although, the worse she gets, the more fascinating she becomes. Really, really hoping that Britney lover Dooce weighs in on the train wreck this week.

Finally, Comedy Central’s Insider Blog has a fantastic review of the Fox News (failed) attempt at clever, witty political satire. From what I’ve seen? Ummmm…awkward. In that out-of-touch-vaguely-racist-and-oh-by-the-way-NOT-FUNNY kind of way.

Reverend Ted Haggard, the disgraced Evangelical minister who was outed by a male prostitute, has been pronunced “completely hetereosexual” after a few weeks of intensive counseling.

Kind of like how I don’t eat sugar anymore, except for every chance I get.

“I can’t wear these shorts. Look at how horrible they are. They make me look huge.”

“And I told you to get rid of them when we cleaned out your closet last month. You should have listened to me.”

“But then I’d have no shorts! I can’t just NOT own shorts. It’s wrong.”

“You don’t need shorts. That’s why God made skirts.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize it was God who made the skirts.”

“Duh.”

On two counts.

1) G. Love. As in, the extremely sexy bluesy/hip-hoppy/indie harmonica-playing dreamboat who happened to be at House of Blues on Tuesday night. I hadn’t seen G. Love play since I lived in Boston in the early 90s. But Tay is a huge fan, so I got her the tickets for Christmas.

Wow. I expected a fun live show. But I was unprepared for how…um…compelling G. Love is. And by compelling I mean hot hot hot. You know the G. stands for “Good”, right?

At one point during the show, he strutted across the stage after crooning some lyrics that detailed exactly HOW he loves his woman, finishing the last verse off with a sound from his harmonica that was the best sexual euphamism I’ve ever heard. This made every female in the crowd scream. Then Tay, who considers herself “bisexual and seeking a lesbian lifestyle”, turned to me and passionately yelled:

I’m straight! I’m Straight!! I’m STRAIIGGHHTTT!!!

She’s still in recovery.

2) I’m also quite fond of a Hallmark-created holiday that falls on February 14th every year. The poor Betrothed starts stressing in January about how to impress and surprise me with fantastic plans. I like to think of myself as low maintenance (he’s rolling is eyes), but when it comes to Valentines Day, I’m off-the-charts high.

I should be embarassed by this. People I respect see V-Day for what it is: a grossly marketed faux holiday, a manufactured non-event that’s an excuse to overcharge for flowers, candy and dinner.

Me? I can’t get enough. And I’ve always been like this. Admittedly, a big part of it is my obsession with Conversation Hearts. And chocolate. And the giving and receiving of pretty cards. But really, it IS because I’m in love with love. For my Betrothed, for my friends, for my family, for the knowledge that every single thing that’s good in my life is because of the love I both give and receive every day.

The Betrothed got a break this year and I’ve taken care of our plans for 2/14. But, I may talk a bit about local Valentine outings and events next week on These Days, so if you hear about anything interesting or unique, let me know.

Molly Ivins has died.

So sad. Such a great writer and an inspiring woman.

I can’t remember how I was first exposed to Molly Ivins, but I’m guessing it was through my mother. Was Ivins syndicated back in the 80’s? Maybe it was her first book. I don’t know exactly when I first became aware of her, or started reading her, but I was probably a teenager. A teenager being raised by a politically vocal mother who drove around with an “ERA Yes” bumper sticker on her car in the late 70s and early 80s. A teenager forming her own liberal views. Ivins writing was perfect narration to the way I was beginning to see the social climate and our political leadership. And a fearless female voice that I would quickly learn was a rare find in mainstream media.

It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America. - Molly Ivins