The Buck and Mike Blog

I don’t know about you, but I have about reached my threshold of crisis fatigue. The economic recession is bad; I know, because we have both been job hunting for months without a glimmer of success. Our gas bill went up 934% from its November level. To quote Pres. Obama in last night’s speech to Congress, “Believe me, I get it.”

But we have to move on. Things have been worse in the past and are worse in many places in the world. Yeah, my heating bill is horrible but at least I have a house that’s heated. Foods costs have risen, but I can still go to Safeway and choose between four kinds of bananas and ten kinds of mustard.

It’s all about perception. Maybe if we calm down and stop thinking of life as a series of crises separated by periods of ennui and depression, things will actually start to improve. Hey, it’s worth a try.

Around the corner from Hawthorne Blvd., one of the main streets in our neighborhood, is one of Portland’s best-kept secrets: the Waffle Window. The Waffle Window is a window on the side of a corner restaurant, Bread and Ink, and when it is open you can savor some downright quirky and tasty treats.

As with so many Portland establishments, it’s open when the manager feels like putting an OPEN sign on the corner, though its popularity is beginning to force a more regular schedule. There are a couple metal patio tables and chairs on the sidewalk against the building for fair weather munching. If the window is open and the weather isn’t cooperating, Mary “The Waffle Woman” will invite you to take your waffle around the corner into Bread and Ink, where they have designated a small section for wafflers.

Mike ordered the 3B Waffle: Bacon, Brie, Basil. Mine was Sliced Fresh Pears with Nutella and Caramel Sauce. Then for “dessert” we split one Dipped in Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate and Sprinkled with Pearl Sugar. Total bill: about $10.

This week is the 12th annual observance of Freedom to Marry Week. It is a chance for us to take a few minutes each day to engage those around us in a conversation about the importance of marriage equality.

A society is only as strong as its families, and all families deserve our help to make them stronger. Look around at the families you know. How many of them include a husband, wife, and 2 or 3 children? Not many. I opened my Mormon Church congregation’s directory yesterday to get a sense of the makeup of our families. There are single people, couples without children, widows and widowers, older couples who have raised children, single fathers raising children, single mothers raising children, siblings living together, same-sex couples with and without children, and many other combinations. But not many “traditional” families. These families will never be “traditional” and yet they deserve all the help we can give them. They deserve respect, equal treatment, and moral support.

I guess this is the main reason I advocate for marriage equality. There are hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who so desperately want the institution of marriage so they can take on the legal responsibilities of marriage and all the work, effort, and blessings that come from a stable family life. It’s time to drop the posturing of “Tradition” and help strengthen all our families. Society will be all the better for it.

There are many books out there on the subject of marriage. I highly recommend these two (click covers for details):

Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage, by Stephanie Coontz. Looks at the decline of the institution of marriage over the past 30-40 years in a historical context and ways we can strengthen it.	Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry, by Evan Wolfson. Makes a solid case for extending the tangible and intangible benefits of marriage to same-sex couples.

“Massachusetts is one of the states with the two lowest divorce rates, even though it’s the poster-state for non-traditional values. It seems to me tremendously perverse to say that the institution of marriage is threatened by the one group that is clamoring to enter it, when so many heterosexuals are refusing to enter it.” –Stephanie Coontz, author of Marriage, a History

Freedom to Marry Week

No one really expected either side of California Proposition 8’s debate to leave things as they were after election night. Several separate initiatives of dealing with marriage equality have begun in California. Of special note are:

The heavily criticized Mormon Church reported non-monetary contributions to the “Yes on 8″ campaign, as required by law, by the January 30 deadline. These donations from headquarters amounted to about $189,903. While the donation makes it one of the larger donors, several organizations donated much more. (San Francisco Chronical article.) (Secretary of State filing form.)

The Supreme Court of California has agreed to hear oral arguments seeking to repeal the amendment. That hearing is scheduled for March 5 and a ruling is expected a couple of months later. (Los Angeles Times article.)

In December, Kenneth Starr filed a case to invalidate all the 18,000 California marriages performed between May and the November election.
In response to the last item, the Courage Campaign teamed with singer Regina Spektor and dozens of California families to produce this video:

Proposition 8, Mormon Church, Kenneth Starr, Courage Campaign, Regina Spektor

I recently made a quick trip to Washington, DC, to attend a funeral. In the neighborhood was the marvelous Smithsonian American Art Museum. A new addition to the collection is the fine Shepard Fairley art work used for an iconic Obama poster. The work is about six feet high and is beautifully detailed, created with paint, collage, and stencils.

Walking around the downtown neighborhood before and after the service I spotted a number of humorous inauguration tie-ins that I thought might be of interest.

Exercise clothing store	West Elm furniture
Men’s underwear store	Metro station IKEA ad

Also, in case you missed it, Chilota Graphics is distributing a free Obama computer font. A sample of some of the characters is shown here.

Iceland, one of the most progressive countries in the world, has chosen a new prime minister. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, previously the nation’s social affairs minister, is the new holder of the post. A former flight attendant, union organizer, environmentalist, and mother of two sons, she is the longest-serving member of the cabinet.

A fascinating country, Iceland has the world’s oldest functioning legislature (since the year 930), the world’s highest literacy rate (a fraction under 100%), and low infant mortality rate (6th in the world, compared with the US at 41st). Such government transitions generally go unnoticed by Americans. This one demands particular attention for two reasons. First they elected a woman, which isn’t the first time in European history, but still noteworthy. Second, she is the first openly gay person to serve in such a capacity in the entire world. That’s worth noting.

Check out the piece in the New York Times.

The best part of the article is the last line, a quote from Icelandic gay activist Frosti Jonssen:

“Nowadays, not only does Iceland have one of the most progressive legal environments for gay people, there have also been changes in public attitudes towards gay people. It simply isn’t an issue anymore.”

Ah, that it were so everywhere.

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Iceland, gay, New York Times, Frosti Jonssen

Last week I flew on an Airbus A319 similar to the one that ditched in the Hudson River a couple of weeks ago. I noticed that on this flight, nearly everyone paid attention to the ubiquitous “safety card in the seat pocket in front of you.”

Upon closer examination, however, I saw that the water landing illustration had two rather disturbing details. First—in what has to be a joke by the illustrator—was the poor passenger who made it out of the plane only to be sucked into the engine and ground up like a flock of geese. (Click illustration to see the detail better.)

Second, the doors over the wings were locked and people told not to use them. Thank goodness the passengers and crew of the US Airways flight ignored the safety card.