...and another one

as usual, i write frantically for 2 days, then i'm essentially gone for a week. bear with me, folks. i'm going thru my usual blog slump; as i've said before, this is my third blog; the other two eventually died b/c i never recovered from the slump i'm now experiencing.
at any rate, it's time for a rousing round of maryann ramblage, which is chock full of news, links and rantage.
....and off we go:

politics 'n stuff
one more reason to move to canada. it just irritates me that our country goes all up in arms to fiercely "protect" marriage, when our neighbors to the north unanimously decide that gay people should be able to officially commit, too. of course, they also were against the farce in iraq too. ::sigh::

i must say that i'm tired of reading about blue and red states. nonetheless, i was at this cute cafe in d.c. this weekend that my girlfriend introduced me to, which while having a bangin! chai, cool mugs and wonderfully nice people (this guy moved to another singleton's table so my boo and i could sit together), had an interesting essay/graphic posted about the reality of the red v. blue map.
it argues that the traditional map makes it seem like our country is a "red" country, when in reality, if shown proportionally, it is actually split in half. an enlightening (and less disheartening) read, imho.

and speaking of political discourse (ok, i hadn't been speaking of it, but this is, damnit), i must reiterate that i am in awe of feministe and sid .. they are constantly producing blogs that have a great mix of funny real-life experiences (a la feministe's paintshop drawings of her sleeping arrangements and sid's proclaimed love for turkey) and still wage intelligent, well-thought-out arguments on politics, etc.). i figure if i gush enough about them, i'll get constant shout outs from the two of them and somehow, by being remotely associated with them, some of their excess intelligence will rub off on me.
at any rate, go read their blogs if you haven't already. their choice.

on the topic of readable blogs, i was reading sid's comment on right bloggers, and her rec of ambra's blog. while i did at one point love her blog, the rift/pain has not healed; since the election, i seem to have gotten more sensitive and have become less able to take the viewpoints of people on the right, no matter how well-written blogs like ambra's are. i respect her (and others') right to their opinions, but i guess i'm just tired of hearing people say that people like me are contrary to god's natural design, that women don't have a right to choose what happens to their own body, and that generally liberals are loose, freewheeling people that will lead to the destruction of our country.
i know that some of these are extreme arguments, and i know that ambra actually sets her beliefs in rational arguments, i just can't read anything like that right now.

other news
a touching story about a gorilla wake at an illinois zoo. a beautifully sad look at the care these gorillas took to pay respects to one of their own.
and in the too dumb to be real category, the story of a man who thought he could get away from the scene of a crime on a lawnmower.

miscellaneous
i'm overdue to bitch about salons and the difficulty black women face for hair diddage. i'll do that tomorrow.

i'm also overdue on getting together my book and christmas gifts. i need to get on the on, as l-ron says.