A Unified Hammer Dialogue

Partner and I celebrate the nineteenth anniversary of our first date this week (I tell that sordid tale here, and quantify it here, but note that we are up to 19 years, 6 cars, and 5 high schools now). And by celebrate, I mean we talk about it and smile and remember how stupid we were, and how glad we are that our stupidity turned into something really awesome. No gifts, no special meal. Just retelling old personal jokes and the State of the Union Address. One joke in particular is strikingly appropriate to a remembrance of Pete Seeger, who died yesterday. This joke is a dialogue, initiated randomly, usually when working on a household repair or home improvement project. 

A (calmly, with distraction): I wish I had a hammer.

B (equally distracted, but polite): What would you do with a hammer?

A (with a shrug): I’d hammer in the morning. 

B (attention still diverted): Would you hammer any other time?

A (nonchalant): Oh sure, I’d hammer in the evening. 

B (mildly interested): Where would you hammer?

A (dismissive): Oh, all over. 

B (concerned): What would you hammer?

A (with sudden increase in volume and exuberant gestures — jumping onto the table with arms flung wide is not out of the question here): I’d hammer out LOVE between my sisters and my brothers aaaaa-AAAAAAA-ALLLL over this LAAAAAAND. 

[end scene]

I never said we weren’t ridiculous. Now, where did I put that hammer? 

The State of this Union, 2011

A few years ago I mentioned that the U.S. State of the Union Address bears personal significance for Partner and I, marking that time, lo these many years ago, that we started our wanderings together. This week, President Obama’s third State of the Union Address had me counting on my fingers.

Seventeen.

Seventeen years of sharp right turns, overabundant grapefruit, and sleepless nights. 

In no particular order, here is a less-than-scientific accounting with which we might measure our seventeen years:

— 3 states (one of them twice)

— 4 cars (ok, two cars, one truck, and a Eurovan)

— 1 murder trial (neither of us) 

— 8 abodes (five apartments and three houses)

— 7 incisions (I lead by one, but do not hope for advancement on either side)

— 1 parachute jump (no, not me)

— 1 frog (may she rest in the compost pile)

— 4 hand-knit sweaters (three for me, one for him; he’s bigger)

— 1 nose ring (that one’s me)

— A handful of messy breakups (is there any other kind?)

— A bucketload of bagels (boiled, of course; chocolate-chip from time to time)

— 4 high schools (all him; three as teacher, one as oppressor)

— 3 institutions of higher education (four degrees and a certification)

— 3 Sonars (eeny, meeny, and miney)

— A mountain of books (and counting)

— 1 red and blue dye job (still not me)

— The infinite hope that we can put together at least another seventeen years (preferably with 100% less criminal justice system and 100% more intellectual engagement).

Love you, babe. 

A Call for Action In support of Texas Educators and Students

The news in Texas education is dire. The Texas legislature is working on a budget right now that could cost thousands of Texas educators their jobs and could have a negative impact on our children’s education. If you are a Texas educator, your job may be at risk.

If the current budget in the Texas legislature is approved as is, here are some things that could happen:

—-School budgets could be cut by anywhere from 10 to 20%. The largest expenditure in any district budget is personnel. How many teachers and support staff would be lost in your school if 10-, 15-, or 20% of them were laid off?

—-Not all school districts are talking openly about the budget projections, but Austin ISD projects over 1000 job cuts; Dallas area school districts project over 3000 job cuts; Round Rock ISD projects hundreds of job cuts; just to name a few.

—-Speaking locally, G-PISD has won awards for efficiency. Our district is a great place to work and to learn, but in a lean machine all cuts can bleed.

—-TEA has begun their layoff process.

Here’s what else you need to know:

—-Wrangling between Governor Rick Perry and the Federal Government is preventing Texas from receiving almost $900 million in education money. The federal government requires the states to ensure that this money be earmarked for education. Governor Perry won’t make that promise, so Texas schools can’t touch a dime.

—-The state budget plan is in the hands of the Texas House and Senate up in Austin. The votes of the Republican majority in both houses will determine the budgets that districts will have to live with for the next two years.

—-Texas has a backup plan. Called the Budget Stabilization Plan, but more frequently known as the Rainy Day Fund, this fund was established in the late eighties, and is replenished each year with revenues from the oil and gas industry. The purpose of the fund is to “prevent or eliminate a temporary cash deficiency in general revenue.” Here’s a short article about the importance of the Rainy Day Fund in the current debate: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-taxes/rainy-day-fund/texplainer-what-is-texass-rainy-day-fund-for/

If you work in Texas education, your job might be in danger. If you voted for a legislator who is now supporting cuts that could cost you or your coworkers or your children’s teachers their jobs, those legislators need to hear from you. They need to hear from all of us.

Please take a little time to let our legislators know how you feel about Texas Education. I’ve included contacts below, with particular relevance to residents of the Texas Coastal Bend. You can also use the Who Represents Me tool: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/ and the contact info at the Governor’s Office: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/

Remember, your STATE legislators are key in the budget battle. Personal notes and direct phone calls are more effective than a form email, but every little bit helps. The calls you make and the letters you write could save jobs and prevent the deterioration of our children’s education.

Thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of my information comes from one the following sources:

The news feed at http://www.texasisd.com/ 

The news feed at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/

And other professional, local, state, and national news outlets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you live in the Texas Coastal Bend, some of these contacts are for you. 

Gov. Rick Perry

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Citizen’s Opinion Hotline: (800) 252-9600

Office of the Governor Main Switchboard: (512) 463-2000

Email link to form: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst

Capitol Station

P.O. Box 12068

Austin, Texas 78711

Ph# 512 463-0001

Email link to form: http://www.ltgov.state.tx.us/contact.php

Joe Straus – Speaker of the House

Capitol Address:

Room CAP 2W.13, Capitol

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Ph# (512) 463-3000 OR 512-463-1000 

Susan Combs – Texas State Comptroller 

Mailing Address:

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Post Office Box 13528, Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711-3528

Ph# (512) 463-4444 

Email: susan.combs@cpa.state.tx.us

The Honorable Florence Shapiro – Senate Education Committee Chair

Capitol Address:

P.O. Box 12068

Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711

Ph# (512) 463-0108

Email link to form: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist8/

dist8.htm#Form

The Honorable Judith Zaffirini – District 21

Capitol Address:

P.O. Box 12068

Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711

Ph# 512-463-0121

Email link to form: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist21/

Dist21.htm#form

Rep. Hunter, Todd - District 3

Capitol Address:

Room E2.808, Capitol Extension

PO Box 2910

Austin, TX 78701

Ph# (512) 463-0672

Email: todd.hunter@house.state.tx.us

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=32&session=82

District Address:

15217 SPID, Ste 205

Corpus Christi, TX 78418

361-949-4603 (w)

361-949-4634 (f)

Rep. Aliseda, Jose - District 35

Capitol Address:

Room EXT E2.812, Capitol Extension

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

(512) 463-0645

(512) 463-0559 FAX

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=35&session=82

Rep. Scott, Connie - District 34

Capitol Address:

Room E2.302, Capitol Extension

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

(512) 463-0462

(512) 463-1705 Fax

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=34&session=82

District Address:

701 East Houston St.

Beeville, TX 78101

361-358-9400 (w)

Rep. Guillen, Ryan – District 31

Capitol Address:

Room EXT E1.320, Capitol Extension

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

(512) 463-0416

(512) 463-1012 Fax

District Address:

100 N. FM 3167, Ste 212

Rio Grande City, TX 78582

956-716-4838 (w)

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=31&session=82

Meanness, hypocrisy, and the lack of compassion and understanding in public discourse

Last week I was so proud and amazed by the power of people united in a peaceful movement in Egypt. But dude, this week, the appalling lack of compassion around here is really pissing me off. And I’m feeling particularly stabby about hypocrisy today.

I’ve had a hard time this week with the caustic domestic political rhetoric and the thoughtless stupidity that is overlooking the ways in which we need each other and the ways in which we should support and care for one another.

Congress is dicking around attacking reproductive rights when people need JOBS. My own state of Texas is also wasting time deciding what I can do with my uterus and the way in which my doctor and I can manage my reproductive health while a 27 billion dollar budget shortfall threatens the livelihoods of tens of thousands of educators across the state, as well as the quality of education for all Texas children. 

Wake up Lege! Texas is already sucking at educating and managing the children who are out here living and breathing.

People I know on Facebook are asking why we expend so much energy to take care of other people. A firefighter in Arizona did not go on a call because of political differences with the rest of his team. Institutions integral to a well-functioning democratic society—libraries, non-commercial broadcast and journalism, and schools—are being devalued and defunded. Worker’s rights are being attacked in Wisconsin. I could go on and on.

Listen to me. Humans are social creatures. We need each other. We need to take care of each other.

Texas, we cannot afford to make the proposed cuts in the education budget. Governor Perry, I respectfully submit that your economic development incentives won’t go anywhere if there isn’t an educated workforce to fill the jobs that companies may or may not bring to Texas. We need a well-educated, dynamic citizenry that can fill the skill-oriented and service-oriented jobs of the future. We need a well-educated and thoughtful citizenry that can continue to maintain the progressive ideals upon which this country was founded.

Texas, we cannot afford to make the proposed cuts in the education budget. Job losses are projected to be in the tens of thousands in the education sector alone. Job loss of that magnitude, in a state of our size, could not only drag down our state economy, it could topple the fragile recovery that has started in the country, and with that, the rest of the world. Everything is bigger in Texas, but we don’t want to be contributors to a bigger recession.

And yes, this is personal for me. I have three children being educated in Texas. I have a Partner who is a Texas educator. I am worried for my own family. But I am also worried for all of us, as Texans and as Americans.

I am so proud of US history and culture, of innovation and resources, of ideas. But I don’t want to live in an ignorant United States. I don’t want to live in a hypocritical United States. I want us to listen to reason and to pay attention to facts. I want us to have a social and a global outlook that continues to make this a great place to live. 

We have to find a way to make this better. We’re not going to get to a better place by ignoring each other, by attacking each other, or by throwing each other under the bus.

From the Archives: On the State of the Union

President Obama delivers the State of the Union Address this evening. I’ll be there, with popcorn, for a lot of good reasons, both civic and personal.

Below is a transcript of a post from January 2008 which explains why I’m a State of the Union geek. Please note that the tally of years is up to sixteen now. 

Love you, babe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Politics, Personal

According to the U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 3

“[The President] shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

I celebrate the State of the Union Address today, not so much because of any political motivation, but because the (generally) annual speech to the joint houses of Congress and to the nation and the world, coincides with a more personal event for me. Thirteen years ago, my partner and I set off on our first adventure together.

It started on a Friday. We worked in the same lab together, he a molecular biology grad student, me a biochemistry undergrad. Chatting over epi-tubes one Friday morning, we planned a lab-group outing. A performance art group was presenting a new piece that night on campus. I was on my way to class, and so he said he’d pass along the event to the other members of the lab group when they came in. We agreed to meet at the theater 15 minutes prior to showtime.

I showed up a few minutes late to find him waiting outside the door to the theater. Alone. He shrugged, and said that he guessed everyone had other plans. I learned later in the weekend that he had completely neglected to mention the plan to any of our friends or colleagues. We watched the show. We went out for coffee. The time we spent together stretched longer and longer. The sub-zero nighttime air of the desert in January did not deter us from ending up on the roof of the Chemistry building in the middle of the night to look at the stars. We ended up at a different coffee shop at five a.m. And not a thing had passed our lips but conversation and food.

Our waitress happened to be another chemistry student. She was due to get off work at six. We cooked up a hair-brained scheme to go to Tucson all together when she got off work. (Tucson was a four or five hour drive from where we were, across the desert and one state line, and none of us had ever been there). We waited, but she backed out, begging fatigue. Undeterred, we climbed into his truck and hit the road.

There is no rational explanation for why we did this. It was really rather stupid. For both of us. For a lot of reasons.

We spent the day in Tucson, driving around, eating again, and then drove back home late in the afternoon. Sleep-deprivation makes the next couple of days a hazy blur for me, but by the time of Bill Clinton’s second State of the Union Address in January of 1995, after a dizzy weekend, we were firmly Together.

And though we were married in July a couple of years later, each year we tend to note the passing of the state of the Union with a little bit more nostalgia and enthusiasm.

So here’s to us babe, and our Union. May we bear witness to many more presidential speeches together.