and it does shine. i got it today when we stopped by starbucks for a pound of coffee today. i just finished laoding it into my iTunes library, and am bathing in the euphoria that is the genius of joni mitchell.

joni mitchell has blessed us once again by releasing another part of herself to the world. it was with great joy that i came to know she is still making some of the best music this world has ever seen.

her new album, “shine”, is my next cd purchase. her voice, song smithing, arrangements, and messages will never cease to move me deeply. in the video, she wraps it up by saying “in order to be optimistic, you have to be irrational”. i love her.

her website is here.

5.2.2008

i was attending a job fair at the phoenix convention center today and noticed that they have a family bathroom on the ground floor of the west building (link is a pdf). i try to remember to add gender-free public bathrooms to safe2pee.org, which is a web project “to create a resource where people who do not feel comfortable with traditional public restrooms can find safe alternatives, and to support advocacy and research to further the cause of gender free, inclusive bathrooms.”

having faced situations in which i was personally uncomfortable using traditional gendered public restrooms myself, i am totally committed to adding to this resource whenever i can. i know i’ve linked to this site in the past, but i don’t believe one can promote this project too much. oh, and they also have a blog.

the phoenix pink pistols had our saturday shoot today, and since i was still off on my vacation, i was able to attend. i even managed to get my wonderful hubby to come along. after an hour of target practice, we stopped off at copper star coffee for a relaxing time with good friends and conversation.

i’m still putting together the pictures from our vacation at harrah’s in laughlin, nevada. stay tuned.

i had four new tires and a new battery installed at community tire today. my husband and i first learned about community tire through advertisments in local lgbt magazines, they are a sponser of phoenix pride, and are currently spotlighted on the greater phoenix gay and lesbian chamber of commerce. on top of that, i found a 10% off coupon on kudzu, so i saved about $40.00 on the service and merchandise.

i think it’s important to support those businesses that support our community. their advertising dollars help keep the magazines in which they advertise in business, and those businesses and magazines typically employ lgbt people. it also shows that it pays to support the lgbt community, and it helps businesses understand that the lgbt community has financial clout. and of course, it’s especially important to support lgbt owned businesses.

as far as community tire is concerned, tony at our local shop took the time to help me choose the right tires, explained everything i needed and wanted to know about the tires, battery, and warrenties, and had the car serviced and ready to go quickly and effectively. the entire staff treated me with respect and courtesy. i highly recommend community tire for your automotive needs.

and regarding the gun show, it doesn’t look like i’m going to make it there today. i know if i go, i’ll spend money, and after buying new tires and a battery, i’m pretty much tapped out. maybe next time.

i started my week vacation today, and began preparation for our long awaited honeymoon, which we put off until we could schedule syncronized vacation times from work. i guess two years is a bit long to wait, but such is life. and that’s a saying that applied to my day.

i need new tires, so i stopped off at our local community tire shop to get some pricing, as honda wants over $400.00 for a new set. they had to get them from the central warehouse, so i had a couple of hours to kill before they’d be ready to install. i stopped off at starbucks for some coffee.

when i got back to the car, i could have used my pink friend as my car wouldn’t start. i thought it might be the battery, but it was acting very weird - no typical “click click” common with a low battery, yet my cell phone (whose battery i’d forgotten to charge) worked through the car charger. so i called roadside assistance. an hour later, the nice tow truck driver from jacob’s towing diagnosed the dead battery, and gave me a jump. i called the tire place and told them i wouldn’t be able to make it there today, but would stop off tomorrow for the tires. and now, i guess a new battery as well.

what’s particularly annoying is that i had my oil changed at the honda dealer (at which time they also gave me the $400.00 estimate for the new tires) and they have this “19 point inspection and battery test” as part of the deal - they checked off my battery as “good”. in fact, there’s a separate ticket on my receipt for the battery test which rates the battery at “410 cca” (though on the accompanying graph, it says 358 cca), indicates that the battery age is 24 months (ummm, the car is a 2003 model which makes the battery 4 years old, which according to my math, is 48 months - 49 as i bought the car in july of ‘03) and states “the average battery life in this region is 29 - 33 months”. fucking idiots. i wonder how useful the other 19 points are.

you know, with all the fancy schmancy computerized automotive systems in use in today’s cars, you’d think that my car’s computer could have let me know that my battery was on its way out *before* it went dead if the dealer can’t. this was the first time i’d become stuck due to a car problem in many years - probably close to 15 or 20 years. in that respect, i suppose i should consider myself lucky and privileged in that i’ve been able to own or lease reliable cars, and have been able to maintain them. i’m privileged too that i have a cell phone - despite the fact that i don’t always keep it charged. damn lucky that i thought to buy a car charger (actually, my hubby got it for me at phoenix pride ‘07 from one of the vendors there), and that i was in a position to purchase the extended warrenty for my car, which included roadside assistance. so i really have nothing to complain about.

well, other than the fact that my first day of vacation did not go as planned. of course, it could have been much worse had i become stuck in a less opportune area of town. i was right in front of starbucks, so i had iced tea and a rest room. and was approached by only one panhandler and two street vendors. with a little luck, i’ll be able to get the car fixed tomorrow, and have time to stop by at the gun show.

i came across a disturbing article via the bilerico project this morning. it’s a column by doug giles, who apparently is a christian minister, columnist, and award-winning writer. i’ve always thought a minister is someone who has studied theology, and has been ordained by church superiors to lead a congregation, teaching the followers of jesus christ, lord and savior, the word of god. apparently, rev. giles is “desperately trying to finish his master of arts in christianity and culture from knox theological seminary.”, according to his bio.

this is the new face of christianity. a man who, when faced with someone trying to rub his foot in the next stall in the restroom, would:

A). crush his metatarsals like Queen Latifah on a live cockroach,

B). drain my bladder in the shoe housing his newly-crushed foot,

C). proceed to stuff his balding head in the toilet he was using, and…

D). call the cops to haul his near-drowned, lesson-learned, badly-beaten body to the nearest police department.

instead of teaching the word of god, to turn the other cheek, or the second most important commandment, after loving god, to love your neighbor as yourself, the good rev. giles would have us crush our neighbors, pee on them, stuff their heads into toilets, and beat them.

jesus would turn over in his grave, if he knew what his “followers” were saying in his name. and that’s my take on this, a self-identified lasped jewish pagan heathen trans woman.

itunes is offering 3 michael jackson videos for the price of two, so naturally, i got billie jean, beat it, and don’t stop till you get enough for a mere $3.99 because, well, i just had to.

the phoenix pink pistols had our lazy sunday shoot at shooter’s world this past sunday, and it was the first time in over 8 years i’d gone to the range. i had a blast, if you’ll pardon the pun. we were a small group, just mike, john, and myself. i brought my 9mm and 22, john brought his 357 and 22, and mike’s pistol was still having trouble, so we got two lanes for an hour and we switched off. the 9mm and 357 pack quite a wallop compared to the 22’s. not to mention the lower cost of ammo for the smaller pistols. all told, we went through 50 rounds on my 9mm in about 15 minutes, and about 250 rounds for the 22 in remaining 45 minutes.

after the shoot, we stopped off at copper star coffee, a quaint independent coffee shop set up at a former gas station location. great coffee, a comfortable seating area, free wifi, all nestled in the historic melrose district near downtown.

i was pretty tired when i got home - shooting is more physically demanding than i remember. it takes quite a bit of focus and some amount of strength keeping the pistols steady, especially the larger weapons with the stronger recoil. cleaning my pistols was also something i didn’t remember as being so physically demanding. i can see why many people choose a revolver over a semi-automatic. maintantence is much easier.

and by the way, it’s official: