DesignerBlog

Sometimes when people come clean about their political stands the news isn't good. But in the case of Kerry Healey, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, the surprises have been more positive than I would have predicted. She's now running for governor since Mitt Romney's going for the nation's top office, and there's a sense that she has a good chance of winning the election.

Make no mistake, she's a conservative and I am by definition NOT a fan. But as of this week she has three things going for her in my book as she breaks away from Romney's agenda and establishes her own:

A) She isn't a Mormon. A lot of Romney's priorities were pretty obviously based on his religion's policies. When the Catholic Bishops began their quest to be exempted from the state's anti-discrimination laws so they would be free to discriminate (guess against whom), he was initially cautious but eventually began to seek ways to make it work for the forces of bigotry. Fundamentalist religion might well be less of a guiding influence for her.
B) She has, therefore, announced that she opposes the Bishops, stating that they must live within the laws of the state just like anyone else and that religion gives them no special priviledges. And since she is, in effect, defending gay rights on this one (the right to adopt children, in this case) there just might be a couple of other areas where she turns out to be gay-friendly.
C) She's broken completely with Romney on the subject of stem cell research. In a state with an enormous research community, stem cell science could bring major companies, jobs and a lot of prosperity here. At a time when we're losing population and businesses to taxes and high housing costs, losing the edge in medical/biological R & D isn't a good idea. She's able to see that and also find irrelevant the over-emotional, non-scientific arguments of the religious right in this matter.

As the state's Democratic Party has yet to field a truly viable candidate to run against her, and the announced Independent is a real loose cannon, the prospect of yet another Republican governor in this ultra-liberal state is very real. It's encouraging to know that while I certainly don't expect her to be a leftie, she's at least a lot closer to the center than the man she hopes to succeed.

With the help of my sitemeter, I've discovered a couple of interesting sites that have linked to my blog. The first is Magmozine, the etymology of which is: Magazine + Homo = Magmozine. Nate, the 20-something Dallas-based editor, stocks it with plenty of eye candy and articles that are generally political in nature. http://www.magmozine.com

Left Center Left is a heavily political blog of Chris, a [presumably gay] Boston Blogger who included DesignerBlog in a recent discussion of gay Boston blogs he reads. He commented that my blog concerns itself largely with the kind of arts (dance, theater, fine music) about which he tends to be downright philistine, but apparently he finds something to like here which is fine.

Links to both can be found at the left.

Several blogs have gone into [generally unannounced] hiatus lately but one has come roaring back to life after almost eight months of silence. Stephen of GeekSlut, still larger than life and uncompromisingly telling it like it is, is off and running again and my link to him was restored as of this morning.

But there's another blog that will never revive and that may also never go away. It's remained on the web like an open wound, months after its author's death: No, dirty kitty . . . NO! He was HIV+, very active and forward-looking, almost finished an advanced college degree. He gave little indication that his health was failing until his very last post. While assuring his readers that antibiotics were taking care of pneumonia, the post was titled "Is this the end?" and he had just returned from a quick, sadly abortive trip to reconcile things with an ex. He promised to be back when he had fully recovered. Then nothing; but a couple of days later several blogs in shock announced his death. There's apparently nobody to take down the site. It's all very sad, and I hope someone was with him, even if just to stand by him at the end.

Our dear friend B the Chef sent these the other night and I'm passing them on because some are wonderfully clever and/or witty and because I wanted to end on a lighter note:

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing of one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stop bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
12. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
14. Glibido: All talk and no action.
15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.