Category Archives: Michigan

I live in Michigan, been there all my life, generally in the Detroit or East Lansing areas.

Gay Marriage in Michigan

So this topic has been bugging me. So I’ll whine for my longest time ever here (have I ever whined here?). If insanity is ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’ and ‘those who don’t pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it’. Aren’t the people against this going to lose against the couples fighting for their rights? Are they insane expecting different results!?!

I’ve read a few times that Michigan already has a law that bans gay marriage (here and here) but I personally don’t understand why Michigan was/is also trying to add it to the constitution. I’m not sure if I’ve read this in a reliable news source though, I’ve been obsessed with blogs lately so it might have been there. FYI: Michigan does allow public universities and other entities to provide benefits for same-sex couples that are the same as if the couple was married. (I’ve modified this paragraph a few times since the original post).

Same-sex couples are going to get married in non-official weddings regardless of the law, right? They’ve been doing it for years, even on the steps of the state capitol. So as far as they are concerned, they are married and others will continue to do so. If same-sex couples are getting the same benefits at work (even state/public universities) then what is the difference?!?

I have a real question. If a couple goes and gets married somewhere legal and comes back to Michigan, does their job have to give both members benefits?

This final thought:
“A heterosexual woman who abuses her infant in the womb with drugs and alcohol, and who later fails to provide food or shelter, is granted greater privilege before the law than a lesbian couple who wishes to adopt and properly care for that same child.” This caught my eye while I was looking for a Monday meme and led me to this article which (re)started this thought process while I was in the middle of blogging, hence this entry.

Please feel free to polietly correct me on any incorrect legalisms.

What Happens at the Equinox (at your house)? – Sunday Brunch

The calendar says it’s officially spring –

  1. Do you get a spring break? No. But most of the teachers and staff leave so it’s a nice time at work to get things done.
  2. Some of us are pretty casual about spring cleaning. Others go to it with a lot of gusto. Which are you? I’m due. My house is the absolute worst it’s every been! (It’s messy not dirty)
  3. Is planting flowers or a vegetable garden on the agenda? I’ll hang some on the railing of my condo (maybe). They better not need any water!
  4. Do you suffer from allergies and do they get worse in the spring? Yes I do. They generally do, but the seasons in Michigan haven’t been very cut and dry lately which doesn’t help any.
  5. How will you celebrate Easter this year? The family will get together most likely, generally a smaller gathering but many will be there. Maybe kidnap some kids to color some eggs and do the regular “stuff”.

These questions are from Sunday Brunch.

If you really want to know what happens at the equinox

A Tornado at Burger King

So I’m getting a snack at BK and some sun, I’ve got a spot I like where the sun shines in the window. And a bunch of little girls who are celebrating a birthday came in. I’m not sure how many of them were the Mom’s that was with them but they were a handful. They sure ate a lot too. Mom kept threatening them with no ice cream if they didn’t shape up! It’s pretty much a disaster where they were although it’s the spot that faces the televisions (closed captioned) so all the kids always want to sit there.

They just redid our BK in Dearborn and now it has WiFi. Isn’t technology great!

I tried the new checken tender sandwich (lettuce, tomato and no mayo), it’s better than the old one but Wendy’s spicy is way better. Oh, and I won free french fries too!

“Today” additions to my blog…

So I’ve been working on my blog here and there. The display format is going to change soon but I’m not there yet.

The fun part is that I’m working on a “today” part of my sidebar. Be sure to scroll down and check it out. It’s got the word of the day, the phase of the moon, the sky, what Dearborn, Michigan, USA, Earth looks like at this moment (it shows the sunlight, but since it’s zoomed in the US it’s hard to tell how it works exactly, keep an eye on it around sunrise/set) and the temperature/time. All the graphics are clickable for more detailed looks/infomation. I’m looking for more of these little gizmos so please send me any if you have some ideas (or post in the comments). Looking for a today in history or Detroit/Michigan news one in particular.

With additions of these graphics and being more conscientious of adding graphics to my entries I’ve got quite a few images on the page. This breaks one of my cardinal rules only 4 (or 6) graphics per page (especially start pages). As connections get faster this is less of a problem and I’m really good at defining the size of my images, which helps pages load better/faster. Now if I did entries more often, I’d have less graphics, but when I don’t do them as often I feel like I have to make them better. So I’ve been using a not often used tag called “lowsrc” what this does is load a lower resolution image first so the page gets formatted faster. Here’s my question. Where the images load, before they appear does anyone see the word “loading” appear (in a blocky font) before the actual image? Please post in the comments and let me know if you do (don’t bother if you don’t). Thanks!

Extra Busy…

I don’t know where the time has gone… I’ve been working on a few projects and things but not my blog (actually a little, just not stuff you’ve seen yet. I’ve been at one of my favorite conferences MACUL did a presentation (that I’ve never done before) that went well. Missed two Liz Phair concerts (wasn’t feeling well so I couldn’t do to the drive to Chicago and back), she did a regular concert and played at the Apple Store the next day.

So since I didn’t go there I didn’t get to see Heather either… But she’s in England with Nan for the so she might have some extra interesting posts this week. Finally bought an Xbox to play / hack around with, trying to install Linux, no success yet, but it’s been fun (anyone in the Detroit/Dearborn area who can offer me some help…?). Reading some books which I never seem to remember to comment on. The EXTRA nice part is it’s been sunny the last few days and that’s always nice in the winter!

Rachel Williams on Nashville Star!

Rachel Williams was on Nashville Star tonight. It was pretty great to watch, her mom (who I work with) had given me a CD to listen to before and she’s great (they are from Belleville, Michigan). Rachel has more information on her web site. They’ll be showing that episode a few more times this week.

They go back next week to see who won the voting to go onto Nashville Star 2 (on USA). Be sure to watch!

Busy Week and a Busy Friday

After a lonnnng week, Friday finally came. But I guess with busy weeks can come busy weekends. The snow made things seem just a little bit crazier…

First was Happy Hour at our regular place, they were busy so we didn’t get one of our regular spots but we managed anyways, pizza, chicken, some taco thingies and our beverage of choice.

Then we traveled through the snow to Detroit to see an art opening by one of the teachers at work. It was a lot of fun and it’s always interesting to see coworkers in a different environment. You get to see them not in “work mode”, see the kinds of people they date and it’s always extra interesting if they had a few stops themselves before arriving.

Then we were off to Ann Arbor to see a band, actually another teacher from an old district, called L’usa. They’re a great band and they play a little bit of the top tunes from now to the 50’s. We hadn’t seen them for a while so we did the extra long trip, usually they play a little bit closer to the Dearborn area.

It was a lot of fun but a long night to top off the week, I really got to catch up on some sleep, I slept over 12 hours. It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to do that. I’ll have to try and get some work around the house done tomorrow…

I love the train!!!

I’m off to see friends (Heather, Nan and the rest of the Allegan crew and whomever is visiting) and I’m on the train from Dearborn to K’zoo and I’m loving it. It’s so easy and you get the landscape (if you can call it that) floating by the window and I can blog/read/computer/etc. It’s pretty full (and left a little late) and I’m sitting next to this really quiet woman (reading Steven King) with my coke, my blog and I’m ready to watch a movie or something…

The Dearborn train station is a mile from my house and has free parking that’s right next to the police station which makes this extra convenient for me!