artPad

artPad is a quick and fun online painting program your kids (and you) may enjoy. You can create online digital images, save them, e-mail them to friends, or even “replay” your painting process as a video. You can paint with a virtual brush, add text, or “spash” paint from a bucket, Jackson-Pollack style.

If you have painting software at home, this may not be of interest (though you make like the video feature). Try it when you’re visiting someone, however, and need a fun indoor activity to keep your kids occupied for a while. It’s more creative than just watching TV.

Starbucks Promoting Homosexual Agenda

Several conservative groups are pushing an anti-Starbucks campaign because of an objectionable quote on its coffee cups, 365gay.com reports. The quote in question is from Armistead Maupin, author of the gay-themed Tales of the City. It’s apparently part of a horrible secret agenda to promote literacy and cultural awareness while one sips a latte. Baylor University, a Baptist institution, has removed the offending cups from their campus.

You can view the quote on the site of the conservative Concerned Women for America. They also object to Starbucks’ support of gay pride events.

Some of us object to Starbucks on other grounds (sic)–we prefer the even darker roastiness of Peet’s or the ambiance of a local, private coffeehouse. Still, it’s perhaps worth contacting Starbucks to show your support, since the far right is requesting their followers to voice objections to the company. Stop in for a cappucino or chai as well; certainly we mothers can use all the boost we can get.

Fall Family Fun

OK, enough political posts. It’s September already, and will be fall next week Hard to believe–I think kids warp time so it runs faster around them. Here are a few useful sites for some fall activities with your family:

Pickyourown.org is a state-by-state listing of pick-your-own farms, along with recipes and more.

The Stormfax Guide to Fall Foliage has links to state foliage guides and hotlines, as well as a short explanation of why leaves change color, useful if you’ve got kids at the “why is everything?” stage.

If you’re like me, homemade Halloween costumes are always more fun to make and more comfortable to wear than out-of-the-box plastic ones. Babycenter.com has tips for common items that can form the basis for homemade Halloween costumes.

Halloweenishere.com has a long list of homemade costume ideas, including ones for people with wheelchairs, crutches, or respirators, as well as Halloween makeup tips.

Massachusetts Legislature Rejects Same-Sex Marriage Ban

As expected, the Massachusetts Legislature yesterday rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have halted same-sex marriages in the state. Opponents are pushing for a new amendment, however, that would not only prevent same-sex marriages, but also forbid civil unions.

The battle is won, but not the war. If you live in Massachusetts, find your state senators and representatives and write a letter or e-mail them with your thoughts on the issue.

Political Birds

The New York Times reports today that many conservatives have taken the family lives of penguins, depicted in the blockbuster documentary March of the Penguins, as affirming “traditional norms,” and proof of “intelligent design.” Funny how these same conservatives seem to be ignoring examples of same-sex pairs among swans and other animals, including penguins. La Cage Aux Folles indeed.

Same-Sex Marriage to Stay Legal in Massachusetts

The Associated Press reports that support has fallen apart for an amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. The official vote on the matter is scheduled for tomorrow.

Phew. Won’t have to return the china after all.

9/11/2001 Remembered

Four years ago today. For many of us, one of the most vivid moments of our lives, still remembered in all its intensity. And yet . . . it seems an eternity ago that we were living without the constant hum of threat, without the extra layer of fear when we fly, without the added twitchiness when on public transportation. We had a lucky decade or so, after the fall of the Soviet Union, when imminent obliteration didn’t figure large in our lives. It ended at 8:46 a.m. EDT, September 11, 2001. Here’s to the memory of the victims, the strength of their families, and the aid and assistance of so many others, in the U. S. and around the world. Let us hope for a renewed commitment to making sure this doesn’t happen again, to bringing to justice those truly responsible, and to maintaining our fundamental values and freedoms while doing so.

CNN has a special 9/11 Memorial section, with a list of the victims and tributes to them. The New York Times has a reproduction of their 9/12/2001 front page, reporting the attacks. Both are worth another look.

Grandparents’ Day

Grandparents’ Day is always the Sunday after Labor Day, which makes it this coming Sunday, September 11. In honor of this, the U. S. Census has put out some interesting facts and figures about grandparents in the U. S. I’m guessing they’re not counting same-sex grandparent households, but it’s hard to tell; the 2000 U. S. Census did have a category for same-sex unmarried partners. (HRC has done an analysis of this data, if you care.) Still, it’s an interesting page on the role of grandparents in our society, broadly speaking.

Make sure to call or drop your grandparents and/or your children’s grandparents a note (or flowers) on Sunday, if you can. Take a moment to remember them if they are gone. Reflect on the things they taught you that you want to pass on to your own children, while winnowing out that which doesn’t fit with your lives and beliefs. And happy Grandparents’ Day to those of you who are yourselves grandparents.

Referendums on Same-Sex Marriage

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he will veto the same-sex marriage legislation recently approved by the California legislature. Based on a California referendum in 2000, which passed a proposition defining marriage as between a man and a woman, Schwarzenegger says the issue should be decided by the courts or the voters, not by legislation. Let’s hope that LGBT and LGBT-friendly voters turn out in droves for any new referendum, and that the California judiciary views civil rights as fairly as the Massachusetts one did.

Speaking of Massachusetts, though, same-sex marriage opponents there have gained some ground in a ruling by the Attorney General, Thomas F. Reilly, who said a proposed 2008 ballot question on banning same-sex marriage would be constitutional. Reilly reportedly supports same-sex marriage personally, and is just interpreting the law as it stands; opponents claim he is ignoring a prohibition in the state constitution against using ballot questions to overturn judicial rulings.

No word yet from Miss Manners as to whether one should return the china if one’s marriage is downgraded to a civil union.

California Assembly Approves Same-Sex Marriage

Following the California Senate, which voted last week, the California Assembly approved a measure to allow same-sex couples to marry in California. This is the first time a legislature has voted to endorse same-sex marriage. (It was a judicial decision in Massachusetts.) The measure passed after a heated debate, and now goes to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for final approval. It is still unclear what he will choose to do. You can write to him here with your opinion.