You are what you eat....

Saturday is the big Thanksgiving/Christmas Celebration! This will be my parents FIRST Thanksgiving without turkey. Here's what they're in for:

Appetizers:

Pumpkin Bread
Baked Brie in a honey walnut sauce

Dinner:
Celery and Pecorino salad with walnuts and dates
Wild Rice Salad with dried apricots and cranberries
Cranberry-Pomegranate sauce
Roasted vegetables with pine nut pesto
Mashed potatoes with creme fraiche and chives

Dessert:

Spiced Molten cakes

I'm guessing that at least 2 of these dishes will fail, but all in all I'm super proud of my vegetarian menu =)

What a lucky bride I am...

Nobody is telling me that I can no longer get married. No rights have been stripped. No vows have been silenced. My attraction to men as a person of the opposite sex has earned me a right. Nobody is stopping me from making a lifetime commitment.

Gee, thanks.

Let's take a moment here. Why is it okay for John and me to get married? John, penis; Sarah, vagina. I now pronounce you husband and wife...

No, science and anatomy have nothing to do with"proposition-hate." This gets stripped right down to religion. God didn't create us for some sweet man-on-man action, no no no. That's for the perverts and the sinners! There is a special place in hell for people like that, I tell ya!

Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus Christ say that homos are sickos. Shocking, right? People are relying on this information from crazy fucked up prophets and the aftermath of Paul's tripped-out excursion down to Damascus where he saw a blazing light and was given the power to discriminate.

Yes, indeed! The Bible is behind Prop 8 and you alll know it. Yet, JESUS CHRIST never says "Boo, homos!" it's the other crazy followers. You know, the ones who are actual human beings and flawed and make mistakes. Mistakes like, oh, I don't know, making up rules that Christ could care less about?

Okay, so even if the Christian faith really does "frown upon" the gays, so be it. It still sucks, but I guess that's religion for you. Don't let them get married in your sacred sanctuaries. Fine. I get that. If my home church found out that John was an atheist and I was ambivalent, they would turn us away. We'll go to city hall or hire an officiant who can legally marry us elsewhere. The "state" is on our side.

Aren't we so lucky....

But that gap of separation between church and state is slowly being filled.

Let's talk about the hypocrisy of banning gay marriage. It's strictly coming from a holier-than-thou point of view. Because the Bible says so, we have to abide by it. So what about the people who don't believe in the Bible? Why on earth is it okay for John and me to get married when we don't believe in the sanctity of marriage in that way. Where do you draw the line?

Penis + vagina = marriage?

What if two heteros get married but they don't like vaginal intercourse, they prefer taking it up the butt only. Sinners? Blasphemy? Do their rights get taken away?

What's next? Christians only? Mormons only? I'm sorry, you must be able to quote John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 in order to say "I do."

What about the people who do believe in the Bible? Lots of gay people are Christians...but I guess if one Christian thinks another Christian isn't Christian enough, then they're not Christian (repeating over in my head, wondering if it makes sense.... and moving on.)

How can a gay person want to rejoice and be a part of a religion that is so quick to dismiss them? Here's why: they believe in the kind of God that I wish existed: forgiving, loving, & accepting.

Everyone who voted YES on 8 would tell you that their god is just that: forgiving, loving, & accepting. They just seem to find ways to twist the definition of the word "accepting."

What better way to conclude my rant than with a prayer. Bow with me:

Dear God,

Ahem....Um, I kinda need you to stop allowing this to happen. I don't know if you exist or not, but if the prop-8 supporters are made in your image, then I don't want to know you. I don't want you to ever reveal yourself as an omnipotent God with more hatred and spite for these others that you created. The ones who can't help but follow their hearts, passion, and instinct.

Seriously, God, this is ridiculous.

Amen (on men)

La di da, di, doo? No, wait. da! I meant da!!

I'm totally terrified that I'm going to forget the words to my own songs tonight...

Yes we did!

Everyone who writes a blog should be posting today. We should take all of the blogs and live journals and diary entries from the entire country, put them together, and reference it for future inspiration, because people are definitely feeling it right now.

Last night was incredible. The streets of Brooklyn erupted in cheers when they announced that Obama had won. The yells and screams did not stop until well after midnight. The snowball effect of McCain calling Obama, conceding, and then Obama's speech was a complete blur of tears and emotion.

I am excited, tired, more excited, and definitely hung over.

Totally worth it.

And I want a puppy!! Puppies for everyone under Obama!

Your Religion is a Dirty Word.

I had a lovely time with some lovely women last night.

Then I got home and talked to my mother, another lovely woman, who unfortunately wasn't being so lovely. I mean, she was sweet as can be when she told me she was voting for Palin '08... and laughed when I corrected her by saying, "oh, you mean McCain, Mom."

Then I jokingly said "I thought you were voting for Obama!"

I figured she would just laugh it off and say her typical "oh, Sarah" and then sigh.

But, instead, she said this: "I'm voting pro-life and pro-Christian all the way."

Huh. Pro-Christian... There are so many things to say here...

First of all, there is the obvious separation of church and state that has supposedly been put into place in this country. Blah blah blah. Why can't voters accept this? Talk about being elitist...

Then, there is the more obvious response, which is that Barack. Obama. Is. A. Christian.

This is exactly what I said to her and the second I said it, John whipped around from where he was standing and whispered "No no no, it's not worth it! Don't fight with her!"

He knows my mother so well.

Her response was very quick. "Do you know the definition of a Christian, Sarah?"

My heart was actually racing. This has been a hot topic with my parents, even since I told them I was not a Christian anymore and I wanted nothing to do with it. (woops).

This is NOT a fight to get into with someone like my mother. No matter what you say or do she will absolutely not listen or bend from her impression. So I simply said, "Of course I do, you raised me as one."

Luckily this conversation did not go as badly as it could have. I simply brushed it off by saying, "oh well, I'm just glad to hear you're voting!" and we said our goodbyes and our I-love-yous and hung up.

BUT NOW, I have this sinking feeling in my heart, knowing that somebody that I love so much does not understand my side of things. And there is no way she ever could. My mother is a wonderful woman, a lovely person, but she is stubborn as hell. I know there are people that don't believe that Obama is a Christian, but I don't like it when those people are my family.

How "Christian" is it to judge other people's level of Christianity? The Bible teaches that it's God who will ultimately decide who is telling the truth and who isn't. Does she think he's not Christian because he doesn't fit her definition? Perhaps because he's not pro-life? Is it because of his ties with Rev Wright? Does this mean that anybody that votes for Obama is not a Christian? I know a lot of people who would disagree.

"Do you know the definition of a Christian, Sarah?"

There is no definition, screw the question. The definition is different among everyone. There are over 10 denominations within the Christian faith, not including the billion divisions of the Catholic Church. I thought a Christian was somebody who believed in God, and that Jesus was the Messiah and he died for their sins... and if they repented their sins they would be saved.

Hallelujah. Amen.

That is exactly what Barack Obama says he believes in, so he's a Christian to me. That's what a Christian is. He's been baptized. He says he's a Christian. Who are we to say he's not?

Christian is becoming a dirty word to me. Christian.

But it's not a dirty word. Neither is Muslim. Muslim. You can just feel the shudder rippling through the Conservative base.

And here is the definition of Christian (there are several of course)

• of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ

• a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity.

• a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ

• a member of any of certain Protestant churches, as the Disciples of Christ and the Plymouth Brethren.

Who is anybody to say that somebody else isn't really anything? Who puts anybody above anybody else to decide what they really are. What makes my mother so far superior to everyone else?

What a dumb reason to vote. Taxes, healthcare, the economy, the war, etc. Those are some good reasons. Women's rights is a good reason, but basing your vote entirely on whether the candidate is pro-life and a Christian? It's narrow minded and silly.

Christian.

I've worked myself into a frenzy over something I always knew about my family, but still hate to hear more than anything. Here's hoping there aren't too many people like them out there, because if there is, this election will take a cold turn for the worst.

This is how it goes...

Two of my friends from high school are going through divorces. I mean, really? Already? Divorce?