I’ve kept my presidential preferences quiet. I think both Democratic candidates have their pros and cons, and while I favor one a bit more than the other, it’s not by enough to make it worth preaching or getting into debates here. As long as it’s not McCain.

As a sometime student of medieval history and (later) professional marketer, though, I have to say that Obama totally rocks the iconography.

Not that I’m equating the two; just noting the resemblance.

(Obama photo from the NY Times; Christ icon from Wikipedia Commons.)

Robin Reagler of The Other Mother has come up with a clever blog carnival idea. For the rest of the week, post a photo, memory, poem, music, or a combination on the following theme:

• Tuesday, 2/12: Something old
• Wednesday, 2/13: Something new
• Thursday, 2/14: Something borrowed
• Friday, 2/15: Something blue

Further details at her site.

Here’s my “Old” item for today, part memory and part photo:

As some of you know, I am a recovering academic, and nearly spent my life as a scholar of medieval history. (No, not the “dressing up in chainmail and running around a field” kind, but rather the “dressing in jeans and spending time in dusty old archives” kind.) Although I’m no longer working in the field, I’ve watched with great interest as Internet technology makes its mark even here.

If you haven’t yet discovered the British Library’s Turning the Pages project, which offers stunning online facsimiles of some great works of history, do check it out. There are medieval Christian classics like the Lindesfarne Gospels and Lutrell Psalter as well as a Haggadah and a Qur’an from the 14th-century. Of later provenance are Jane Austen’s manuscript of the History of England and the original Alice by Lewis Carroll.

No, this has nothing to do with lesbian moms (except insofar as it’s educational for the kids), but Robin said we should be surprising.

You’ll need the Shockwave plugin for your browser and a zippy connection speed, but it’s worth it.

Strollerderby asks this provoking question in reference to Hillary Clinton.

Heh. If it was true, of course, there would have been a lesbian president long ago, and Martina Navratilova’s birthday would be a national holiday.

(Yeah, yeah. It’s a stereotype. Laugh with me here.)

It came to my attention that January 6, when The L Word, Season Five premieres, is the date traditionally celebrated as “Twelfth Night” (though modern observances may place it on the 5th). Shakespeare, in his gender-mix-up comedy Twelfth Night, has Viola, in male drag, comment upon the Countess Olivia:

She made good view of me; indeed, so much
That methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me, sure . . . .

Coincidence?

(Yes, I know Olivia and Viola don’t end up together. I can dream of a rewrite, though, can’t I? Maybe Jenny’s available.)

Whatever the answer, I’ll be bringing you my thoughts on the show’s handling of parenting themes (and Helen and I will also cover this in our vlog) over the coming weeks. Congratulations also to Lee for winning The L Word DVD giveaway I held a few days ago. I have another DVD giveaway (not The L Word) coming up next week, so stay tuned.

I’ll start the year on a light note, with a bit of post-season haiku:

Spouse is back to work
Son is still awash in toys
Legos underfoot

And reflecting on some of the year-end political news:

Oregon waylaid
New Hampshire civilized now
Trip to Uruguay?

Feel free to leave your own contributions in the comments.

OK, my ever-insightful readers: Which of the following items best represents an amalgam of butch-femme, a perfect gift for the keep-’em-guessing lesbian: The Swiss Army Knife in a pink floral pattern or the KitchenAid Mixer with the flame detailing?

Other suggestions welcome.

A Florida college is offering employees pet insurance after denying them insurance for same-sex partners.

This of course begs the question of whether the pet insurance would cover gay penguins.

Famous LGBT enclaves like the Castro District in San Francisco, Key West, Florida, and West Hollywood “struggle to maintain cultural relevance in the face of gentrification,” claims the New York Times. “In the Castro, the influx of baby strollers—some being pushed by straight parents, some by gay parents—is perhaps the most blatant sign of change,” they say.

Oh, great. Not only are same-sex parents being blamed for the downfall of traditional American culture, now we’re blamed for the downfall of our own culture as well.

No, I’ll put a more positive spin on that: We’re responsible for the creation of a new sub-culture (or is that a sub-sub-culture?) of LGBT families. We take a little from LGBT culture, a little from traditional family culture, some legal and/or biological machinations to hold it all together, and stir well.

Where you live, do you feel more tied to the general parenting community or the LGBT one? Are you happy with the balance?

When scientists at the University of Utah flipped a certain genetic switch in the brains of female worms, it caused them to be attracted to other female worms, further proof that sexual orientation is genetic.

Now the nematodes are forming a softball team and planning a music festival.

(What does a lesbian worm bring on a second date? —A U-Crawl.)

A golden retriever in Virginia has stepped in to mother a stray kitten, and even began producing milk for the tiny feline when she refused the bottles her human rescuers offered. Love makes a family indeed.

Virginia. The state where alternative animal families make the news, but where “courts have routinely discriminated against gays and lesbians by finding that the parent’s status as gay or lesbian is not in the ‘best interests’ of the child.” (Thanks, Equality Virginia.)