All Dolls are the Same

In the movie Guys and Dolls, one character asserts that "all dolls are the same." This turns into a bet . . . to find out what happens, you'll have to watch it. (It's really good, I promise.)

I, along with a healthy percentage of the population, disagree with this statement. It is clearly preposterous to suggest that all women are the same. Remove the dolls, now.

"All __________ are the same."

What have you heard there, explicitly or implicitly? All Blacks? All Republicans? All lesbians?

At Rebecca's institution of higher education, there seems to be a belief that "all minority student groups are the same." Hence, there is an attempt being made to consolidate a human rights group, a pro-choice group, a feminist group, and the LGBTA group. We don't know what is going to happen, but the LGBTA group is currently discussing how to avoid this consolidation and remain a strong, independent advocate for the LGBT community.

Let's hope the opposition wins the bet this time.

Are You Family?

Rebecca and I were on our way through the service counter at the Mexico City airport earlier this week when we were offered customs forms. The man looked at us and asked, "Are you family?"

We looked at him, a little taken aback. We knew that families could fill out one form, but we also knew that we legally wouldn't be considered family. We ended up saying, "For these purposes, we're not."

It was a terrible feeling, as though my family is somehow less of a family than a straight, married couple's. Michelle Bachmann, a Republican presidential candidate of The Marriage Proposal fame, has even stated that she does not consider a gay couple with children to be a family.

If the Respect for Marriage Act passes and Rebecca and I were married in any state, we could have filled out one form and declared our purchases the way we bought them: together.

So here's the question: what's your definition of family? and what should we have said?

That Thing

We did that thing. The thing that every bride-to-be does, without meaning to. The thing that ends up being a problem in the end when everything is said and done. The thing that most brides promise themselves not to do.

I don't mean being a bride-zilla, although I'm sure that will happen at some point (and when it does, I promise to hang my head in shame and write a post about it).

I mean that we spent more than we intended to and created extra work for ourselves.

See, I had this brilliant idea. We're in México, right? And we love Mexican art. We'd already purchased two amate paintings. Then I thought, why not use amate paintings for our invitations? Surely we could find an artisan willing to sell us 60 or so for a good price. We had already calculated that getting them printed through a standard printing website would be about $50, so certainly we could do it for that.

So we headed down to the artisan market. We did, in fact, find amate in the perfect size. We did, in fact, find exquisitely beautiful amate. The only problem? Amate generally costs about 10 pesos, or a little less than $1. We bargained with a couple different vendors, since nobody had enough paintings to buy from a single artisan, and we ended up paying $550 pesos, or about $50.

This sounds good, right? It sounds like we came out at the same price. However, we've now given the mouse a cookie, because we cannot simply mail people an amate painting. We still must get a card printed and put into an envelope. The plan is to buy blank note cards a little bigger than the paintings and rubber cement the paintings to the front after we print them off at home. Still, this is an added expense and effort.

So we did that thing. Anyone want to come help us assemble invites?

The Gay Agenda: Support the One I Love

I grew up in a church that believes that all "homosexuals" have a radical gay agenda. This includes things such as lowering the age of sexual consent and marriage, having access to child pornography, allowing for polyamory or polygamy, and teaching young children about how gay people have sex.

I've seen alternative agendas posted. For me today, my to-do list was to go to Cuentepec to see life out there, come home, and spend time with Rebecca, maybe via a trip to the movies. Her agenda was to go to Spanish class, pick up our laundry, and cook me dinner. She later added to the agenda: support Erin through a crisis.

My crisis is a medical one, so it's kind of nice to have a medical student with me. Negotiating the Mexican health care system has been a challenge so far, and it's nice to have someone to lean on (who will also insist that I get the care I need no matter how difficult the process).

Tomorrow's gay agenda is pretty much the same - get appropriate medical care. Then we might add in visiting some ruins or doing temazcal, a traditional steam house.

How about you? What have you heard about the gay agenda? What are your favorite parodies? What's your agenda for tomorrow?