Forced to write-in remembrance.

I just finished reading my friend's blog(http://nolongeranish.blogspot.com/) and decided it was time (almost a year since my last real blog-not that anyone is reading or ever was)
My big fat 9/11 experience.
I was working the night shift for Fashion Week. When I say shift I mean 12 hours. I normally left around 8 am. A model walked in the trailer ("command office") by mistake and, since she was pretty and pregnant I volunteered to walk her to the correct backstage door.
I hoped on the subway deciding to get off at 14th and 6th and walk to the post office to send my girlfriend the Fashion week program. It was a spectacular fall day. Bright, warm filled with potential. I thought, what a shame to have to sleep through such a day.
I arrived at the post office on 12th and 4th avenue and breezed through, just missing a long line that had formed behind me. As I exited the building, I heard sirens and then as I was crossing Broadway I saw, what I thought was an abnormal number of emergency vehicles heading south. I walked down St. Marks to 2nd Ave and the south to 5th St, where I was staying with my ex-girlfriend, Lynn. People started talking to each other on the street. I passed a Mexican delivery man and he said something had happened at the WTC, where he had been only a little earlier. I told him to call his wife to tell her he was ok. I didn't even know what had happened at that point. Arriving to the corner of 2nd and 5th, people were pointing to the tower. Smoke was bellowing out. A man said his wife heard a large crash sound. Some people thought it was the movie people. We turned to go inside the Deli to see if we could get some info from the TV- this is what we Americans and I guess all people now, do, since 1963 and the murder of JFK. One station went out- they switched to the Spanish speaking station and we saw the second plane hit the tower. How ironic. If I had been outside 4 minutes longer I would have seen it live. Instead, I was like the millions of others located outside of Manhattan, watching it on TV
I ran out and up the 6 flights, bursting in and yelling at Lynn to look out the window. For years we took for granted the view of those two buildings. Now we watched them burn.
She scrambled to leave- she worked the days at Fashion and thought that maybe the Tents could be of use-as some kind of triage place or something. it was unclear at that time. As she left she said something to me that never made sense as to why she said it. She said, that building is going to collapse.
She left and I spent the rest of the day going back and forth from the window and my camera, to the TV. Ironically, I did not sleep through the day. About 6:00 I decided to leave and walk to mid town. It was so eerie. many avenues closed to non-emergency vehicles. Shops closed. few people on the street. I cant remember if the gatherings in Union Square had started yet. People were still looking for their loved ones, but not in an organized fashion. I arrived at the Trailer. It was dead. The shows had been cancelled and my job was just to be there. We bought a little TV to get what little info there was. The computers were up and I spent my time emailing to everyone I knew about the day and the heaviness over the city. About 9pm a bunch a people went running by the trailer on 6th Avenue and we were told that there was a bomb threat at the Empire State Building and everyone was evacuated up to 40th st. I was at 41st, but I knew it was a hoax. I stayed put.
The Tent was never used-there was no need. We did collect clothes but I think they were donated to an existing charity-the dead people did not need clothes . Still it was something and we all felt like we had to do something. I think I still do.

So much to do! One week to go rant.

So before my browser crashed, I had this spectacular literate rant, and now "poof!" its gone and that means I have to rake the crags and crevices of my brain and for those of you who actually know me, well, that's gonna take a bit. I think the gist of it was: HOW THE HELL CAN ANYONE THINK OF VOTING FOR MCCAIN???? WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE ME A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AND PROHIBIT ME AND MY KIND FROM THE RIGHT TO MARRIAGE? WHY DO THEY WANT TO FORCE GIRLS INTO A WORSE SITUATION THEN THEY ALREADY ARE, ON PROP 2? Ok enough with the caps. I know... this is the reason: THEY ARE MEAN, STINGY, VENGEFUL, MISERABLE PEOPLE. Why else do they want to enforce their world view on everyone else? They, especially the straight men on the right wing, HATE gay men, because they actually get sex. They, of course hate women, even the women. And HATE HATE HATE poor people who apparently don't have the intelligence to get out of their situation, so why the hell should anyone help them? Let's not talk about people who happen to not have a perfect body-well they are just, lazy, yeah that's it lazy paraplegic, Downs, or whatever.
I sure hope that these people pray to their deity that they never end up poor, disabled, disenfranchised in one way or another, cuz it's gonna be hard for me to have compassion for them. But, because I am a progressive liberal and do care, I will. Damn it.

VOTE*DONATE*ACT

Be Scared, Be Very Scared

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't): (thanks to MoveOn.org)

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."7

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10

Denim Day LA

So you are looking in your closet and you pick out a pair of jeans to wear. Apply some lip gloss and head out. Some time later that day or maybe on your way home, you are attacked and raped. The rapist is caught and it is brought to trial. He is found not guilty because you were wearing denim jeans. Obviously, wearing jeans means it is ok to rape a woman. Is this in Dubai, Afghanistan, cult community of fundamentalist anywhere in the world? No, it is Italy.

Denim Day started when an 18 year old girl was raped by her 45 year old driving instructor in Italy. At first he was convicted of rape, but he appealed to the Italian supreme court where he was released. The judge said that her jeans were too tight and that she must have helped him take them off, so the sex must have been consensual. This caused an uproar from people across the globe and now Peace Over Violence hosts Denim Day in LA every year. Please join and raise awareness. Read the whole story at www.denimdayinla.org/about/history.
Denim Day in LA is on APRIL 25 and is the biggest and most powerful sexual assault prevention education and awareness campaign. Visit www.denimdayinla.org to register and learn more about how you can get involved or call 213.955.9090 and ask for Kibi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7W6egjdChc

First Amendment Saturday!

What a day of extraordinary documentaries! The Betrayal, Larry Flynt:The Right To Be Left Alone, and Strange Culture made this Saturday in the grand Michigan Theater a visual, emotional, thoughtful, anger producing day of film. Ellen Kuras spoke about her 23 year saga of making her first directorial feature about the life of a Laotian/American family. Larry Flynt, still flanked by body guards (and frankly who wouldn't be after being shot in the spine) spoke of his continued fight to uphold the most precious document of the American people-the Constitution. And Steve Kurtz told us about his Kafkain nightmare, that still goes on, with the FBI i.e. The Bush government.
Bottom line: stay involved, donate to the ACLU or the Center for the Constitutional Rights, check out Steve Kurtz. Do Something!

Queer Realities: Fact and Fiction!

Thursday night has come and gone, but not forgotten! My hope in doing this program is to show the diversity of our stories, connected by our otherness and our humanity, which is what it ultimately all about. So you ask, Debra, how did it go?
The OUT Night at Ann Arbor Film Festival was a complete success! Thanks to an earlier time slot this year, we oversold the house. We laughed, we sighed, we cried, and we laughed again! Thanks to all the filmmakers who generously allowed their films in this program. Thanks to the local AUT Bar, owners and festival supporters Keith and Martin, for their continued emotional and financial support. Thanks to my host dyke family, Astrid, Gila, Fred and Gerta (the last two are dogs...) for their putting up with my 2 am arrivals after a night of unbridled film going and after-partying... And of course, thanks to the fantastic Ann Arbor Film Festival and their community for welcoming me and the gay community into theirs. It is a rare thing indeed to have a LGBT component of a general interest festival, and not one that I take for granted.

Multiplying Eyes Panel

This panel rocked, even if I do say so for myself! I was the moderator to a group of intelligent, knowledgeable and good looking people! The room was filled with attentive, smart and good looking people eager to learn and participate!
from Right to Left (!) Bob Alexander of Indie Pix(indiepixfilms.com), Chris Holland of B-Side (bside.com, Brooke Keesling animation filmmaker-Boobie Girl/instructor at College of Creative Studies, Mitch Levine of The Film Festival Group(filmfestivalgroup.com).
Thanks to Christen McArdle for putting this stellar panel together!