Yet another sporadic update

Funny I just noticed my last two posts were on the 18th of the month, and here I am on the 19th. Well, the 20th by the time I press "post". Maybe there's some sort of blog cycle? For me, that would be like blue moons or seasons, and less like monthly events.

The news since last post:

DC did allow gay marriage to go through, so Jess and I queued up to perplex many of the happy couples alongside us and got our certificate. Jess gave me a bouquet which I held while in line, beaming. Yay! It was a three hour wait and well worth it. At one point a pregnant woman from a lesbian couple ahead of us leaned over and asked politely if we had, er, planned to get married on this day (implying, "hey, do you guys know it's gay marriage day?") to which I replied, "yep, we're here for the festivities." After letting her linger for a while I finally told her I'm trans, and she grinned and got called up to the desk. Later we had a lovely get-together with some friends and family at a chocolate cafe to mark the occasion.

Jess and I went to London -- her for a work meeting, and me for tagging along -- and we got caught in the ash cloud crisis! Which was not really a crisis for us. It was an extra week of vacation, as Jess has a dear friend who was staying in an amazing flat by herself and graciously put us up for the whole week. We even managed an unplanned trip to Brighton. Whee! There are pictures. So. Many. Pictures. If you wanna see 'em, place a comment to that effect.

We also both went to the US Social Forum -- Jess lead a workshop there, and I floated about seeing fabulous people, attended workshops and volunteering with the crazed data registration process for large groups whenever Sha looked like he was gonna totally lose it. What a wonderful time! It was indescribably nice to be among friends near and far in a sea of fellow leftists. I reminded me of when I was 15 and came to DC for the first time -- for the 1993 Mach on Washington. There were one million queers. People were singing in every Metro station, "If you're queer and you know it, clap your hands!" the claps echoed through every hallway, an amazing wave of sound. Who would think that was almost 20 years ago, and folks are still slugging it out to repeal "don't ask, don't tell"? Which is so far from my personal liberatory queer agenda. Sigh. But it was a happy memory! I had a really skewed impression of DC, though -- the second time I arrived was a rude awakening. Detroit would probably be easier to visit the second time around.

In recent news, we just wrapped up a week of family vacation in Michigan with much of Jess's extended family -- very sweet. South Haven is amazing, far as I'm concerned, because it's the land of sleep, bad cell phone access, not much internet, swimming and hanging out with awesome folks who all manage to get along with one another quite well. And, Jess! Yay.

On temporarily sad note, Jess got deployed to L.A. for her work and will be out there for a couple of months. We're hoping she can come back for a trip we'd planned with friends two weekends hence, but it remains to be seen. I'm also hoping our first anniversary is one we spend together -- I will do my darndest to make that happen, election season and work posts notwithstanding.

I've been at Working America for five years -- my longest continuous employment to date.

And now, I go to bed. Night all,
-Max

Oh, hope *indeed*.

Another year older and deeper in...?

The advantage to only posting once a year or so is that I can get a completely random reminder of how I was feeling the previous year. I was really excited about the Obama administration, and how!

After a year of slogging through the muck while watching a Congressional super majority whittled away, I too have fallen into the "enthusiasm gap". I wish it were an actual chasm into which I could throw some Dem strategists. I mean, *who* thought Creigh Deeds (VA gubernatorial candidate '09) would pull out the Obama "surge voters"? No, really! I don't get paid the big bucks for campaign strategy, but that one didn't pass the straight-face test in August of last year. And now look who's in Ted Kennedy's seat? But I digress.

The good news: Jess and I got married! It was real nice. We're just now getting together the picture books and videos, so sit tight. Our pal Jill took 3,000 pictures -- I joke that we could create a flip-book to reenact the wedding for people who weren't there. Kidding aside, they are beautiful pictures, and it was a wonderful time. We might actually get to do the paperwork in DC soon! Fingers crossed. We have not yet had a honeymoon and are trying to sort out where and when.

Lately: Survived snowpocalyse, which basically allowed me to catch up on sleep. Tomorrow I'm headed to Knoxville for the USAS national conference -- what's a little 8-hour drive among friends?

Lots happened in the last year overall, much of which now escapes my addled brain. This winter Jess and I took a roadtrip to Alta Dena with my mom and stayed with Jess's fabulous Aunt Jackie and Uncle Ed. It was my first grown-up visit to the beloved La Brea Tar Pits, a mere four or so blocks from the apartment my parents had when I was born.

I won't stay long, but will get something more up here before February 2011. I'm beginning to find Twitter's character limit insufficient at times.

Yours,
-Max