Values.... Ugh

The word "values" really gets under my skin. When it's used singularly, as in, I value my kitty, it's fine. But when people claim to have better "values" than others, it just becomes scary. I just watched the interview with Senator Rick Sentorum and Jon Stewart, compliments of Jobetta's fancy blog. I normally try not to post something on a subject another has posted on, but in this case, I wish to address Mr. Sentorum's utterance of the word "values" five-thousand-one-hundred-and-seventy-two times during the conversation.

Before I begin, let me first say what I mean by "values". According to dictionary.com, the definition of value (one of the many, and the one that most pertains to my argument) is as follows "A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable". Easy enough to understand. I have values. So do you. We all share some, we all disagree on some. That's totally cool, because we live in a diverse society made up of people and furry animals and plants. Though I'm not going to bring the furry animals and plants into this conversation, we must admit to the fact that no matter what you believe, you have things that you value on an ideological level.

When forming groups of laws based on what is "best for society" (as Mr. Sentorum put it), it is inevitable that certain ideological issues must be decided upon. Abortion, land use and capital punishment are a few. However, it is inconceivable that any law should be made which places a certain set of values above another. Of course, this happens time and time again, but what is "best for society" is not usually the case. Perhaps it is just my opinion, but what is best for society, the only "value" we should all share, is that of (can you guess?) EQUALITY.

Mr. Sentorum didn't disagree with this point when Jon Stewart mentioned it. Although, he really side-stepped the issue when Jon politely informed him that he is the product of a single-parent family and therefore, not part of Mr. Sentorum's... how did he put it? oh yeah... "ideal valued family structure". I digress.

Looking at history, what is valued most by a society is how that society will construct their laws and lives. Our existence is predicated on not knowing what is the absolute best thing all the time, but dammit we're gonna try anyway. One thing that will always the best thing is (I'm sure you see where I'm going) EQUALITY.

Equality is a value. It doesn't exist and it only holds meaning if people believe in it. But I guarantee you, anyone on either side of the issue of gay marriage would pronounce with fervent dedication that they "value" equality. I really don't want to go into it right now, but you all probably know how much research I've done into the "gay family". I've done so very much (not nearly as much as other, though) and I can't find where two gay parents who are in a committed relationship do any more harm to their children that straight people. You can find isolates cases, sure, but they're almost always linked to emotional issues the parent has anyway, not that they're gay. What Mr. Sentorum doesn't seem to realize is that though kids tease each other, there is a new idea of gayness being forged in America. With all the media attention and dedication they've shown to being American and upholding it's "values", gay people are well on their way towards legal equality.

What one values, another may not. Fine. Please don't misunderstand me. I don't think the democrats have got any "better" values than the republicans and vice versa. Really, I don't. Values are relative and only certain ones can both sides agree upon (equality being one of them). That being said, there are A LOT of republicans (I would argue the majority) giving their party a bad name right now and Mr. Sentorum is obviously one of them. Essentially, he's claiming that his structure of values is paramount to other people, their families and lives. I try not to wish ill-will on our legislative body (oh who am I kidding?) but I can't wait for one of his kids to do drugs, have premarital sex, or *gasp* "decide" to be gay.

Hopelessly utopian? Am I completely crazy to think actual equality could exist? Could we learn to value gay relationships as we (seemingly) value them as people? Mr. Sentorum brilliantly stated that he values gay people, he values them as much as anyone else. COUGH COUGH COUGH. SPUTTER SPUTTER SPUTTER. PUKE PUKE PUKE. As I've stated in many other posts, cultural equality comes long after legal equality. It is one thing to give minorities equal protection under the laws, it is quite another for the society in general to quit shitting on them for as long as they want to. However, we absolutely must start somewhere. I don't think Mr. Sentorum understands what equality is. Finally, in conclusion, not to keep you further, he's a smelly nut-sack with a mouth.

Brice Campin' Weekend

This past weekend was, without a doubt, one of the most memorable and best camping experiences of my life. As Sara puts it, "our friends are awesome and I want to fuck us". Indeed. Below is a list of the people who attended and my favorite memories of the weekend with them (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER EXCEPT ROBIN. DUH.)

1. Robin. Duh. He's, like, my boyfriend. But more over, he's a steadfast, intelligent, caring and loving person. We went out on Thursday together (before everyone else came on Friday) and I had an awesome time. We spent our day taking a couple of walks to Casa Bonita, playing cribbage (TWICE!!) and chatting about Ben Johnson. We miss you Ben! Over the weekend, he was his usual jubilant self, making everyone laugh and giving the most ginormous hugs you've ever seen. It's a beautiful thing to be in love with the person whom you can spend the whole day talking and not talking. We could talk and not talk all day and still find things to not talk about :)

2. Sara. Precious, brilliant, teacher-I-would-take-elementary-school-for-again Sara. Sara and I had lots of fun playing cribbage and I especially had fun using half of her suntan lotion (thanks, hon! No sun burns!). One of our more memorable moments was me showing her the cannodling of Evan and Liz C. and her breakin' up that biscuit. I was too chickenshit to do it, but she jumped right in. Sara made us all lunch when we went to Brice Creek, always helped with cooking and dishes and made a MEAN veggie ravioli and tortellini. Her idea of learnin' children to count quickly and efficiently - teaching them cribbage. I love you Sara!

3. Rachel. Raucous, radical, radiant Rachel. If you've never met a truly caring spirit, or you've never met someone who couldn't harm a fly, you've never met Rachel. Rachel and I had tons of laughs all the time, but that's what happens when ANYONE talks to Rachel. My favorite loving moment of Rachel came when she and I went down for a morning dip in the brisk waters. We both splashed around (and completely submerged ourselves) and painted our bodies with rocks. It was positively gleaming outside and whenever you see Rachel react to the sun's energy, you know everything's gonna be all right.

3. Sami. Hard-workin', shit-talkin', ass-kickin' Sami. You all know she's really sweet and that she'll always speak her mind. But we also know she's the world's Number One Instigator, the bringer of Earl and fabulous beyond all reckoning. My favorite memory of Sami and the weekend was whenever she called Artie (the dog) to her: "Artieartie!" What is so special about this is how animals react to her, not just Artie (though he would come runnin' when she beckoned). I've seen cats who hate life love her and butterflies and birds land on her (and stay for some time).

4. Tim. Sami's new squeeze, but he is much more than that. He is quickly becoming one of us (ONE OF US! GOOBLE GAABLE!). Tim is sincere as Sami, bright, fun, tubular. He has a wonderful puppy named Venus who loves her daddy so much. My favorite memory of Tim this weekend was his unshakeable appetite for cribbage. Sorry fellow cribbagers, but the award for Most Willing To Play Cribbage Anytime Day Or Night goes to Tim. He is, in a word, a Cribbage Evangelist. He's playin' it, preachin' it, lovin' it. Can't wait to see you at (more) cribbage nights Tim!

5. Liz Green. She's literally the most honest person I know and will tell you exactly what she thinks on any subject, just ask. She is kick ass to have around because like Robin says, "you always say what we're thinking!" When Liz loves something, she loves it unapologetically, unequivocally. My favorite memory of Liz involves two things - 1) Kissing everyone around the campfire on the lips, just cuz' and 2) Declaring me President and Rachel Vice President. You have chosen wisely, my dear :)

6. Liz Churchill. You-can-take-the-girl-out-of-the-city-but-you-can't-take-the-city-out-of-the-girl Liz Churchill. She's really smart, really precious and very, uh, willing to pursue what she desires (interpret that as you wish). Where Liz goes so does the Catch Phrase, which is always a favorite. My favorite memory of Liz involved that goddam jug of Peach Schnapps which she believed was the best drink ever and wanted to share it with everyone, especially the already "there" Evan. When she suggested putting the Schnapps in my whiskey and Coke... yeah. Thankfully, Liz is a very sweet (if determined) person, so she took my polite (or not, I think I made a vomiting noise and ran away) "no thank you" kindly.

7. Evan was there.

8. Scott. Long-ass drive for Scott to come see us, so it's always nice when he comes to things. Scott is a never-ending puzzle of technology, humanity and imagination. He's here and there and everywhere. A truly sporadic soul, being around Scott is like being in a blender. There's no telling what he'll say, when he'll say it or how the rest of the world will take it. My favorite memory of Scott is when he and Benny and I went to the store. That was fun.

9. John/Benny. I include them together because they came and left like the wind, but were no less entertaining. They are friends of Tim from Tahoe and arrived in a Toyota. These guys are, like, crazy drivers because it's an eight hour drive to Tahoe and they were like, "no prob, we'll just get up early to go". Damn. Benny likes to talk a lot and when on the trip with Scott and myself to the store, we learned much about him and Tahoe. Thankfully, he's not one of those talkers who I don't want to listen to. John and I didn't really connect. I think it's because every time he approached me, I flailed my arms around pretending to be an orangutan and clawed at his face like a cat from the Simpsons. He was nice to me anyway.

10. John Macken. The daddy mack-mack. I'm really happy that John has been hanging out with us lately. He's a cribbage usual, a Portland native and a happy little soul. He shared much with us this weekend, because he was so happy and comfortable in our circle of lovey love. Well, we got news for ya' John. You're awesome. Your giggle is my favorite memory because it makes me giggle too. Another fond memory of John is his utter glee in being there for the weekend. No one looked more content than he did. Which means our plan to lure him in is working. Excellent.

11. Phaedra. Goddam mother of fucking shit I love this girl. It really, REALLY sucks that she has to live in Corvallis, though I kinda' understand because she goes to school and works and has a house there. Phaedra and I don't know each other super well just because of the distance between us. That doesn't stop our random adventures from occurring, however. Our conversation is speckled with random words and laughter, none of which are coherent to anyone outside our conversation (and probably inside, too). My favorite memory of Phaedra was playing badminton on the road because of the middle of the court. HOBO was printed on the road for unknown reasons and it became our center "net". Phaeds and I were utterly tired by the time we played this game so she made the rule that if the shuttlecock landed half-over the HOBO, whosever side it landed on had to serve it. Pretty soon, both of us were at the HOBO, sneering at one another and smacking the shuttlecock to the other's feet, only to have the person snarl back and do the same.

12. Lea(h). Don't know how to spell it, don't fookin care. She's Uvo's little sister when I was formally introduced, but now she's her own person because she's so totally awesome. Lea is wonderfully sweet, caring and precious. She was enamored with my firedancing so I taught her how to spin poi! That was extrasuper fun and my favorite memory with her because she was a really fun learner. She can successfully do the forward and back weave. I really, truly hope to see more of this little cutie pie in the future!

13. Ryan. MVP goes to him because he brought the hammock. Need I say more?


GREAT trip everyone! I lovey love you all and can't WAIT for our next adventure!!!