Well, we had a very pleasant weekend here at The Jon Blog. It began on Saturday morning with a walk to work which included a stop-off at Borders book shop to pick up Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I was very happy to get it, as I'm a big fan of the series. I still don't get why people think that these are "children's book." Whoever heard of an 800 page children's book where people wake up screaming in the middle of the night?
Then I went to work - a mid shift, which was a pleasant change from my normal 3-12 shift. One rather fabulous part of work on Saturday was that there was a bridal party getting ready for a wedding that evening, and by some freak occurrence, I ended up being the one to go to their suite and steam out the wrinkles on one of the bridesmaids' dresses - and the bridal gown itself! So that was fab... I also got to open the bride's bottle of afternoon champagne. Whee!
And after work, I subwayed it down to Madison Square Garden for the Dixie Chicks concert. That was a lot of fun, except why would people actually go to their concert and pay money to boo? There were a couple of those. But most of the people were there to enjoy the music, to get their country groove on, and to show support for these brave, talented women.
After the concert, I came home and read a bit more Harry Potter before I went to bed. I was extraordinarily tired - partyly, I think, from only having one day off last week, but also from just not getting enough sleep (or healthy food) last week... So I set the alarm clock for 12:30, when I went to bed at 2am.... which would have made it very leisurely to get to work for the 3pm shift. I woke up around 11am and went to the bathroom, then got back in bed. Thought I might not fall asleep, but knew the book was there on the bedside table just in case. Well, I fell back asleep, magically... and it was sort of that lazy sleep where you're not totally out of it but you're mostly there, but you know the alarm is going to go off soon enough... Well, I finally got out of bed going, it's got to go off any minute -- it's been way longer than an hour and a half, hasn't it? Well, I was right. It was 2:09, and I'd forgotten to actually turn the alarm clock ON. So I scrambled into the shower, rushed to work, and made it on time, which was great. Too bad it was such a slow day at work.
But when I got home from work last night, the new episode of Sex in the City. I was very pleased with their take on the closing of the Lure... and the gorgeous man who Samantha fucked, well, he didn't hurt, either. Really, the only problem was that TiVo was slightly miscalibrated in the time department, and I missed the very end of the episode... So I know that Carrie called Burger and asked him to meet her at the movie theatre -- and they both said what a funny coincidence they were both in the same neighborhood -- but why was Carrie using a payphone instead of her cell, and what did they say after that? Oh well, maybe I'll find out one of these days.
In other news, Canada has legalized gay marriage. Here are two interesting links to newsy analyses of this; one more conservative and the other more gay. Note that the second article is perhaps one of the funniest things I've ever read in the news.
Here's my question about the issue. Detractors of gay marriage are all citing the "sanctity of the American family," and the importance of marriage as a male/female union. But wasn't marriage, as an institution, initially an issue of property? Remember the time (from history, not from personal experience) when women had to have an ample dowry in order to snag a husband? Women were chattel - the man's property - he owned her, and yet her family had to pay the man to take her away.
And so in my fucked up version of logic, shouldn't the future of marriage be based on love rather than property? I mean, it already seems that we've gotten this far. Marriage is supposed to be an institution based on love, respect, compassion and caring. So who gives a shit if the people who get married are boys or girls or some combination thereof?
Or maybe the bigger question is, if this is the history of what marriage is about, why do gays and lesbians want to be able to get married at all? I mean, I understand the issues about legal protection and support of a partnership, but... on another level, isn't getting married just another way we're trying to subscribe to their patriarchal, heterosexist agenda?
It's just a thought... and if I had someone I were in love with, I'd probably feel differently about it... but as a jaded single guy, well, can you blame me?
Posted by Jon at June 23, 2003 01:10 PM | TrackBack