Elephants- Why Not?

The setting: Spicy Thai BBQ. Early Tuesday evening. Sitting by myself, waiting for ma man. A Thai family came in and sat. They conversed in both English and Thai. I don't understand much Thai (but I do understand much English). At one point I overheard one of them say something about kids in Alaska riding polar bears to school. Then someone said something about kids in Thailand riding elephants to school. Then an older woman said something about how people there don't ride elephants much anymore, because "elephants have gotten too expensive."

Having a moral Christmas, and licking my fingers

I should have had a second helping. I can't believe I didn't have a second helping. It's Christmas, and my goose hath been cooked. It was delicious and there was lots of it and I could have eaten more but I didn't. What's the matter with me?? I did have two pieces of pie, though. Yay! Gold star for me.

Subtext: I am trying to turn inside-out the popular way of thinking that holds eating very little equivalent to being morally superior to people who eat more. According to this way of thinking, eating less, or eating more healthily is considered being "good," an eating unhealthily "bad." A comparable standard is applied to exercise. The implication is that people (especially women, and especially white women) who eat less are better than other people. Part of this is feeling "guilty" for eating things like ice cream, or calling delicious, fattening foods "sinful."

There is also a similar morality that many vegetarians and vegans apply to their eating habits, not so much as it pertains to themselves, but in how it makes them "better" than people who eat meat or other animal products. Many of these veg-peeps don't think about this very deeply. I'm sure some of them have their hearts in the right place (I used to be one of these people, so I know a little about how they think), but considering yourself superior to people based on your consumption habits is itself morally fucked-up. You're not God, no one is, you can't see into anyone else's soul, and fuck you if you judge people that way.

Funny, I knew someone who was an extremely moralistic vegan, someone who definitely saw herself as superior to people who weren't vegans, and she wasn't afraid to express this publicly, either. The funny thing is that her attitude toward eating was eerily similar to people I have known who had eating disorders. I think there is a huge overlap in the thinking of one of these over-moralizing veggies and that of, say, anorexics, who consider shunning x, y, or z foods (fill in the blanks), or all foods, as the case may be, with being "good." Today, I am here to say: Fuck that.

My review of Bob's Holiday Party (it's a play)

http://www.goldstar.com/events/hollywood-ca/bobs-holiday-office-party-2.html?p=F1127094SB"

Thoughts from Super-inventor Dr. Nakamats

The great Dr. Nakamats, inventor of the floppy disc, the karaoke machine, and a few thousand other things (literally), gave an informal talk at Show Cave last week. It was more of a question-and-answer session than a lecture, and there seemed to be a lot of gems in what he said, though I had trouble understanding a lot of it-- he spoke quietly, he held the mic far away, and he has a heavy (but adorable!) accent.
     I took a few notes on what I did understand, and I'll copy them here for you. I may provide more explanation later. Just ask.


Extraterrestrial life?
-yes, he saw some in USA but he's not supposed to talk about it. They were about 150 cm tall & blue-white. They looked "like octopus but also not like octopus." They had a wet surface.


The future- are you pessimistic/optimistic?
-it depends on you
-global catastrophe: probably not in the next 100 years


What do you think of 3D technology?
-avatar, etc use old 3D technology. The one he invented does not require glasses. So don't buy 3D TVs until his 3D tv comes out.


-Most people will always choose the easy way of doing things. Choose the more difficult way, but always w/ love.

The new screechiness

Funny thing: got my ears deep-cleaned today (it's a long story), and now I'm hearing A LOT more high-pitched sounds than before. It's like the Dolby Noise Reduction has been turned off on everything. Crackle, crackle, hiss, everywhere I turn. Very irritating-- like something form a horror movie, in a way, but at least now I know I haven't lost my hearing (or at least not as much of it as I'd thought).

Here's to the imminent return of my earwax, my little red-orange friend...

Discovering new techniques

--- of what? I'll let you know in a while. Must go to the laboratory now and try them out. Results to come later.

Mood: (you know!)

Cocktail time soon! Then genius time!! :)

--
To think on: who do you think's looking at you??

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

Le progrès

Coffee strategy now being tried. By me!

Also, hotness (weather!) encourages nocturnalness, which encourages ME at NIGHT! To DO! It's self-therapy! I'll take it!

Preparing to outline + brainstorm, then come up with scenes with improv from my MIND. For the big story. The Bad Novel.

----

P.S. When "journaling" like so, I come off like the label on a bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap. But I thought this wasn't too embarrassing to share today.

Save the Echo Curio + other small venues??

Mmmmaybe you saw the LA Weekly article about the closing of Echo Curio + Hyperion Tavern. They need savin.' The article suggests contacting City Councilman Eric Garcetti (councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org) about the issue, which I finally did today. I pasted the contents of my email below-- crib if you wish.


Dear Councilman Garcetti:


Recently, the city has been cracking down on small independent live music venues, such as Echo Curio and Hyperion Tavern, because of apparent permit issues. While no one is saying permit or license laws should not apply to these venues, it seems like a misuse of the city's powers to devote scarce police resources to shutting down such places when there is SO much violent crime going on that could use the police's attention. It is very hard to see what harm, if any, is being done by tiny venues hosting tiny performances.


Please do what you can to help these venues re-open. They are an asset to the community.


Thank you.


Sincerely,

[And den I put my full "real" name and city.]


P.S. The LA Weekly posted an article about this matter at http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2010/10/save_the_echo_curio_and_other.php

"The Progress"

I could do some more writing right now, but that might require more thinking, which might require more energy, which probably requires more coffee. Which is a way to say: coffee time.

Later, liquor time. And more coffee.

New statistic to ignore

What's the date before which we can say most (>50%) of the people alive today were not alive yet?

Hmm.

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

http://mronhubbard.blogspot.com

I Cant Read
Http://www.myspace.com/icantreadicantread

Businesses Vs. Tax Haven Abuse

I'm so f***in' smart, I just had to share this thing I wrote when I signed a petition today for Businesses Against Tax Havens. I do business (Pet Set Rex! It's a recording studio as well as a band!) so I was eligible to sign. They ask for comments when you sign, + I though my precious words would just disappear into the ether if I didn't save 'em here for you:

If everyone pays their fair share of taxes, the revenues can be used to improve the US economy, promote jobs, and that will help everyone's bottom line in the long run.

Wow, thanks, me!

And now back to being totally un-self-indulgent. ;)

Mulling things over

Dreamed about Snooki again the other night. I blame myself.

--

At a truck stop, I finally found the source of all those massively oversized tanktops that go so well with a mullet & a 'stache. Finally, I can rest.

--
Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

All of this counts

...something I need to remind myself.

Writing here and there (especially here) counts as writing. So I'm not doing as badly as I thought on this writing challenge.

Keep going, person.

More later.

Stopping Bullying of Queer Youth- Resources + a Rant

Last night I tweeted this:

Mormon leader gives antigay sermon after recent teen suicides. Add yr name to the @HRC open letter http://bit.ly/bZAaPO

I was (re)posting it following an email I'd gotten from Human Rights Campaign, regarding a recent sermon by Boyd K. Packer, who is apparently some big cheese in the LDS church.

And this morning some beeyotch sent me an @ message on Twitter, saying "the HRC twisted his words to suit their agenda." The nerve! I'm not going to debate this female directly, as I generally find arguing with rightwingers to be a waste of my energies (especially online, + especially especially on Twitter). But this is too ridiculous to let slip by unchallenged, + I want this to be to everyone's benefit. :)

So I've got to say it:

1. The HRC didn't twist that Mormon assface's words.

2. After all the Mormon church has done to hurt LGBT people-- including torturing them with electric shocks to try to make them straight, and in addition to their other anti-queer campaigns-- I wouldn't care if HRC did twist that guy's words for their agenda, which they didn't. The Mormons think they have been wronged here?? Give me a break!

OK, I feel much better. Carry on.

Resources to Help Stop Bullying - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Writing challenge progress & probs

I say 'probs,' but what I'm thinking of now as a problem may actually prove to be something else. Like an "interesting thing," not necessarily a bad one. I'm figuring it out.

I've been stalling, putting off writing for any good chunk of time, or at least not making time for it.

I do come up with ideas, verbal and musical, and write down or record them all the time as always. But I haven't just sat and focused on creating or developing anything for as long as 10 minutes, at least not in recent memory (i.e., since August).

We've been invited again to submit a song for an LA Record compilation, this time for the Halloween issue. So we'll definitely put together a complete new song for that. That should help with my creative/productive momentum, and Geoff's, & our collective momentum. Yay.

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

Boo to everything.

How do people do anorexia?? I freak the fuck out if I go 4 hours without a snack.

Like right now.

I might update this from jail later.

;)

--
Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Progress progress progress

"Talking To Me, Talking To You"

I haven't been writing every day as I challenged myself to do. But hey, now I'm writing about how I haven't been writing, so there it is.
Progress.

More soon.

Http://www.twitter.com/mronhubbard

Http://www.imdb.me/maren

Pet Set Rex
Http://www.facebook.com/petsetrex

I Cant Read
Http://www.myspace.com/icantreadicantread

Don't Ask Don't Tell?

I am against DADT on principle and have been signing all the letters and petitions I've been sent opposing it, but I don't usually repost them on Facebook or Twitter because I have trouble believing it should be a top-priority issue. And I have trouble believing it should be a top-priority issue because although it has to do with equal rights for gays, which I support 100%, it also has to do with the military, and although I agree we need a military for defense, most of what our military is deployed to do has to do with killing people, and it's not always for a good cause.

So I can't crusade 100% on this.

Doing it again

...Whatever it is that I do.

Watch and watch.

Boo to everything forever.

That is all.

:)

White-bearded old men on skateboards

... make a Maren tired.

100 Day Writing Challenge

... = what I'm doing, starting today. Writing more for 100 days than I have in any previous 100 days... Yay, myself.

It's ok.

I can be ageist when it comes to corpses.

Crush videos

Got this email the other day:


You received a message about "SUPPORT HR 5092-MAKE CRUSH KITTEN/PUPPY VIDEOS ILLEGAL"


-------------------------------------------
Greetings!


I am proud to report that the United States of America House of Representatives (Feds) has officially approved to ban crush kitten/crush puppy animal torture videos. The vote is official: 416 YEAS and 3 nays. HR 5566 (was amened from 5092) now must be approved by the Senate. President Obama supports this bill, as I have received a single line letter signed by the President of the United States himself, with a ball point pen, that he will keep this very animal cruelty issue in mind.


http://www.freep.com/article/20100721/NEWS15/100721068/House-OKs-bill-to-outlaw-animal-torture-videos


PLEASE-PLEASE SHARE this Petition. So far 7,500 signatures and growing. This Petition is working!


Please keep it going.




Sincerely


Luke


-------------------------------------------


My question is: who were the 3 nays??

How I write

When I write, I like to lie in bed and pretend to be an invalid.

For music and TV and TV music nerds

About 2 days ago, I figured out that part of the Dexter theme song is almost exactly like part of the Bosom Buddies theme song.

Hey, I think it's a big deal.

Review de la Mr. Opera

I reviewed Das Rheingold on Goldstar: http://www.goldstar.com/events/los-angeles-ca/la-opera-wagners-ring-cycle.html?p=F1127094SB

A Very Special 1000 Ways to Die

http://www.spike.com/video/wrin-killed/3339464

When they won't go away

When the party's over but some non-friends still won't leave, play noise music!

Especially ours. It worked perfeck-ly. When I started screeching, imitating a mic feeding back, the peeps FINALLY got the picture & evacuated. Yay.

Best day yet!?

Gorgeous drive through Hancock Park on the way to escort at the wimminz clinic. Then Geoff & I ate Spicy Thai BBQ; now in a great mood & Geoff & I both like our hair better now. Coincidence??

And then I saw a lady outside shaving her face right there on Santa Monica Blvd. I love Hollywood.

Then we drove to Sylmar & saw baby horses...

And got a show tonite! http://ow.ly/1LyQ2

My 2 cents for a letter from Population Connection

Our country's support for international family planning is an investment in long-term economic growth and political stability around the world.

-----

More on this later.

Help defeat Stupak-- Sign NARAL's endorsement of Saltonstall

Sign NARAL Pro-Choice America's endorsement of Connie Saltonstall. Help stop Bart Stupak from continuing to play politics with women's lives.

From NARAL:

Hey!

I found out that Bart Stupak - the member of Congress who almost defeated health-care reform in attempts to impose an abortion-coverage ban in the new health system - has a great pro-choice challenger. Her name is Connie Saltonstall, and I want her to win!

NARAL Pro-Choice America, a pro-choice political group, is supporting Connie. Check out the info they've posted about the race and add your name to their effort!

http://bit.ly/bkJU2l

Thanks! We need to stop electing people who don't trust women.
 

Marfa + Ne-af w/ Rubber 0 Cement Friday @ Show Cave

Party to Protest Karl Rove!

On March 29, Karl Rove is doing some kind of public hooha at the Saban Theater in Bev Hills. Anyone care to go stand outside and boo this unclefucker?

Karl Rove presents and signs Courage and Consequence

From the moment he set foot on it, Karl Rove has rocked America’s political stage. He ran the national College Republicans at twenty-two, and turned a Texas dominated by Democrats into a bastion for Republicans. He launched George W.Bush to national renown by unseating a popular Democratic governor, and then orchestrated a GOP White House win at a time when voters had little reason to throw out the incumbent party. For engineering victory after unlikely victory, Rovebecame known as “the Architect.”Because of his success, Rove has been attacked his entire career, accused of everything from campaign chicanery to ideological divisiveness.

Tickets: $40 with book / $25 without book 
http://www.americanvoicesbeverlyhills.com

Feb 25 improv show- Facebook event page

Click here to see the event page on Facebook.

Solidarity w/ Iran peeps

Feb 25 improv show- Facebook event page

Improv show Feb. 25

$2 Butler

8 PM on Feb. 25

at Oneonta Campus

1515 Garfield Ave

South Pasadena, CA 91030

Watch + share these vids-- help women around the world

YouTube - PathfinderInt's Channel

Trust women.

  So... what does "Trust Women" mean to me? It means that it makes more sense to trust a woman with her healthcare decisions than some self-righteous fetophile who really doesn't understand that woman's life, that woman's reality. Some of the righties MAY have good intentions (and I am giving them a HUGE benefit of the doubt here), but they just don't understand what women go through-- or kids, for that matter! If they understood anything about the lives of women and children, they'd be way more reluctant to engage in their anti-choice actions.

  If a woman carries a pregnancy to term, whether by choice or not, there is never any guarantee that the child is going to be fully loved and taken care of. Let's face it-- a woman having a baby because she chooses to is much more likely to want, love, and try to do her best to care for the kid than a woman who has no choice.

  What's so "pro-life" about forcing a woman to have a kid she doesn't want? Do any of the antichoicers have any idea what it's like to be a kid who wasn't wanted?? Not all babies automatically get adopted! There are some very tragic stories that happen to some people who were not "wanted" as kids.

  I have seen many of these stories up close. My mother used to work in juvenile court, and often she'd come home crying because of some child abuse case she was hearing. She told us one story of abuse after another-- all atrocious, all unacceptable. No child should have to go through what any of those kids went through.

  And my mom is one of the pro-choicest people I know. She loves kids, she cares about kids, and she has fought hard for the cause of making sure every child is a wanted child.

  I could go on and on. There's so much more to this than the anti-abortion people want you to believe. Just trust women, and give them all the support they need to be mothers when, how, and if they want.

Vote for GLSEN to win a big contribution

Experimental Theater? You'll have to wait

The theater class I've been touting is being revamped and so on and suchandsuch.

So it ain't happening right now.

Stay tuned.