ZimWex Family Blog

Easter:: 3

After all of our own Easter Fun, we got to participate in a little National Fun.

We waited in line with thousands of people. 

Made our way through long lines.

To the Easter Egg Roll.  We got invited because Obama wanted to make sure that there were gay and lesbian families represented.  So we tried to look extra gay* and went on in and had fun!

 

We checked out Justin Bieber.  One song was enough.
! 

Ruby and Violet loved the yoga garden.
 

And did their Shivasana right there on the South Lawn.
 

And, of course, the traditional egg roll.
 
       

By the time all of that was over, we were pretty darn hot and sweaty, and maybe even a little whiny.

The most we could manage was a last photo op, and then we took our souvenir eggs and skedaddled back to NYC.  
 

AZ

*Okay, in absolutely no way did we look extra gay.  I even had freshly painted lavender toenails.  Although, isn't purple a gay color? 

  

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

So last night Tanya and I were invited to meet Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who is beginning her (re)election campaign for Senate.   We brought Ella with us, who though she self-describes as "hating politics", was on very best behavior in a room filled mostly with fabulous gay guys.

Although I think Gillibrand (and indeed all the Democrats) has her work cut out for her as far as getting re-elected, I was very impressed.  She seems at first very very normal, like any Mom you might chat with in the grocery store.  Her style of speaking is relaxed and casual, but she is obviously very very bright.  As this was a gay and lesbian event, she spoke primarily about the work she has done in the Senate towards repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (which is a lot).

As she spoke, she was so at ease discussing issues of civil rights that involve LGBT Americans, and spoke about them with such clarity and so little hedging, that it was easy to forget that no one ever does that. Schumer, Obama, Hilary Clinton, any of them...have always spoke more tentatively about LGBT issues.  And for good reason.  So far it has been thought that to hold the position that gays and lesbians have the right to marry is an un-electable position.  Listening to Gillibrand speak, though, I realized that that is very close to changing.  As a younger politician, she is more comfortable talking about LGBT Rights as a civil rights issue.  I think as we elect more and more politicians of our generation, we will see more and more of this.

In the meantime, her commitment to the civil rights of the LGBT community is refreshing and inspiring.  Also politically smart.  The gay voters (of which NY has quite a few) are getting motivated in a serious way to support her campaign.

So check her out.  

AZ

A perfect marriage.

Only rarely do mine and Tanya's interests come together in such perfect harmony.

Watch and enjoy.

If you have no interest in either musical theater or politics, this may not be for you, or it may kindle an interest in one or both!

Have a good weekend, everyone.

AZ

Maine.

Is rocking my world right now..

I know I said this just a few months ago, in my post about Connecticut  but I really feel like when T and I got married in 1997, with the hope that it would someday be legal, we never thought that it really could be legal in five different states just 12 years later.

And now, New Hampshire may pass it later this week as well!

The possibility of New York passing a same sex marriage bill is imminent.

If any of you live in New York and are interested in helping, please check out the Pride Agenda Action Center.

Makes it easy to contact your state legislators and/or to thank Sen. Schumer for his support.

Also, if you want to learn more about what you can do to help your gay friends and family members tie the knot, check out Freedom To Marry.   They have been doing amazing work across the country.

With thanks for your support, today and over the past 12 years.....

AZ

And now for a little politics.

I am oh-so-happy once again to be a New Yorker today, as Gov. Paterson introduced a same-sex marriage bill for New York.

Hard to believe that something that less than a decade ago we all thought was too dangerous to even mention...so many meetings talking about how using the "m" word would alienate people....and now here we are.

The clips below made me a little goose-bumpy, esp. Christine Quinn's.

Check them out if you have a moment:

Christine Quinn

Governor Paterson

Things are looking up.

AZ

Move over, Ben Brantley.

Here comes a theater review.

T and I saw Ruined last night.  Ruined is a play by playwright Lynn Nottage.   I have been told that it is based on Brecht's Mother Courage but I've never seen that, and don't much want to*, so I can't say for sure.

It is about war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the women who have to live through it.  At its center is Mama Nadi (who owns a tavern and whorehouse) and the girls who work for her.  Life for women is bad enough there at this time, that this is considered to be a pretty good/safe gig, compared to the other options.  It is really  extraordinary.

The reasons it is THE play that you all should go and buy your tickets for this year are:

1. The acting- all kinds of good performances

2. The directing- pitch-perfect.

3. The writing-well-crafted.

4. The music-evocative.

5. The story-captivating and important.

6. The hope- even though this is about just about the saddest things in the world, there is a sense of hope and resilience that you leave the theater with.  It is not just a total downer.

So, go!  You will be glad you did. But bring some tissues.

AZ

*Call me crazy. I don't like Brecht.

On Perry Street.

So although I am now a "blogger"*, I am still completely clueless as to most technological things still have a little bit to learn.  For example, my computer mysteriously "stopped working" this week, at which point I realized how I am a complete addict who has lost the ability to communicate without a computer or handheld device that I use my computer rather frequently.  But I could not decipher the source of my computer woes.  So I sadly made an appointment at the Genius Bar** for Friday.  Only when Tanya came to inspect the mysteriously dead computer did she spot the source of the trouble.  The power cord had completely shredded, as if a small animal had gnawed right through the coating.  Duh.

In addition, often a bit of time passes before I actually upload pictures from my camera to my computer.

This is one of those times.

As I uploaded these pix last night, I saw this picture which I snapped the day after election day.

It made me smile. Big.

AZ

*Okay, that still sounds pretty funny.

**yes, Tanya had to tell me how to do it. What do you want to make out of it?

A little more inauguration.

I can't stop.

Its an Ob(ama)session over here.

Check out these letters from Jerry and Ella to our new President.

I especially love Ella's Mercedes symbol; luckily T caught that gaffe and corrected it in time...

They are very excited and hoping for responses.

How much mail do you think the Obama White House will receive this week?

I will post any response!

AZ

*total prompt from Mom on the gay marriage, by the way. 

The children get it.

When I was in the car on inauguration day, and driving around doing my suburban-style drop-offs and pick-ups, Violet who was in the car the whole time, says to me, "Mommy, Obama's in the White House now."  Huh? How does the two-year-old know this????  A few minutes later, I heard her say "next President".  "Who's the next President?" I asked. "Obama", she replied.  I was flabbergasted.  

Of course, a few minutes later she asked me, "Is Obama a boy or a girl?"  So there is still some educating left to do.

AZ

While watching the inauguration.....

Violet is trying to nap- with a pacifier, a cup of milk, at least four stuffed rabbits (which she calls zaichkas), a magic wand, and a bracelet.*

I can hear the sucking on the pacifier audibly through the monitor.

I am in the living room with a blanket around my shoulders keeping me warm in the drafty place.

Have just finished a buttered whole wheat English muffin.

The kids are at school- one of them is getting to watch this live.

Its sunny outside and there's snow on the ground.

T is crying.

The "little people" are strewn across the coffee table.

There are crumbs on the floor, but I'm not sweeping up.

The world is changing.  Happy Inauguration.

AZ

*she used to sleep with a pacifier in each hand, but we are trying to wean her off of them, so we are letting her sleep holding other things...More on this in another post...