Looking for the silver lining

I'm going to be honest: baseball and politics have put me in a terrible mood this week. I'm grouchy. And over-worked. And tired. Yesterday after work, I fell into two hours of deep sleep from which I only roused myself in order to meet up with some long-lost pals. Our girls' dinner (admittedly, more of the liquid variety for me) was great for my spirits, but I don't think any dinner could trounce yesterday's news.

Consider this: on the same day the despicable Yankees won the World Series, gay and lesbian couples in Maine, so newly affirmed of their right to marry like the rest of us, were spending their first post-election day as lesser citizens than their neighbors. I imagine that many Mainers who voted to repeal the gay marriage law were more passionate booing the Yankees that night than they were when they casually revoked the rights of their fellow citizens the day before. But perhaps the casual indifference of the folks who stayed at home on the couch is even more damning. Me, I'm not sure I could feign indifference about couples who've been together 20 years and only want to be recognized as such. Staying on the couch in the face of those couples is heartbreaking. But that's just me, a silly civil-unions-for-everyone proponent anyway.

I love poring over election returns data, and will be anxiously looking at the age of the average Maine voter from Tuesday. We already know that a huge portion of the opponents to gay marriage are aging Americans (who incidentally, also turn out to vote in much higher percentages than other age brackets). Many statisticians point to this data to explain that in another generation, a ban on gay marriage could seem as incomprehensible to us as a ban on interracial marriage* seems to us today. This one's for them:

from Flickr

Since I can't drop in to say hello without a silver lining, here are two good things: We're working hard on that whole Life Plan thing, and hope to have an update soon. Also, sometimes you just need to wear pretty shoes - not for vanity or fashion's sake, but simply for the way they make you smile when you need to (even if The Evil Empire did indeed strike back yesterday). Today is one of those days.

To a brighter future!

Want more information or ways to help regarding the struggle for marriage equality? The organization we donated to in lieu of favors at our wedding, Freedom to Marry, is a great resource - go check them out.

Bonus Link: Ana Marie Cox: "Glee," Sincerity, and the Maine Gay Marriage Repeal

 * Speaking of interracial marriage, our justice of the peace friend in Louisiana finally resigned. What comes around goes around...