Court and Parks

I keep telling myself that I'm not writing more blog entries because I never have any pictures. Then there are times when I say I'm not writing because nothing exciting ever happens. I think it comes down to the fact that I have to get the time to compose my thoughts, plan out the subjects of the blog and then sit down and write.

So it's been over a month. A couple things come to mind. First is the week we didn't go to Disneyland.

As some of you might know, I get four press passes to both Disneyland and California Adventure (the two parks at the Disneyland Resort) once a year. In February, Steve and I invited a gay couple we knew from the Reyne, a coffee shop we frequent on Saturday mornings. At the last minute, they backed out, saying they had plans to attend a play that evening with other friends and had just completely forgotten: Scratch those two off the A list.

Luckily, the Disney Media Office had crossed wires and didn't confirm the tickets until Friday, when I am not in the office, so I had a chance to save them for another day. Steve and I decided to go to Universal Studios, since I had never been there and he hadn't been in quite literally decades. They were having a special: buy entry to the park and get an annual pass.

We took the Studio Tour, which goes around the back lot, and got to see the area they're rebuilding since the major fire of last year (see blog entry of 6/1/08). I do have to admit that the back lot was much junkier looking than I thought it would be. The biggest part of the it seemed to be the exteriors for "Desperate Housewives," which is called Wisteria Lane or something like that. Of course, the tour included the collapsing bridge and the earthquake in the subway station and the Jaws shark in a lake. On the whole, it was interesting, and I can see how someone not familiar with Hollywood and eager to visit would be terribly impressed.

The second thing we did was go on the Simpsons ride, which was pretty fun. It's the old Back to the Future ride that's been revamped with a CG treatment of the Simpsons. The waiting area (aka "the line") was almost as fun as the ride, what with clips from past shows being shown overhead. The whole thing is supposedly Krustyland and there's a backstory with Sideshow Bob and a leaky nuclear reactor. If you don't follow the TV show, it would probably not mean a lot to you.

After the Simpsons ride, we stopped and had Benny & Jerry soft-serve ice cream (yes, such a thing does exist), and it wasn't too bad. All in all it was fun, for a day trip, but my back was bothering me (I pulled a muscle earlier that week), so we didn't get to check out City Walk as much as I would have liked. But now we have the passes, so going back is just a train ride away.

Steve is still actively working on the job search. He is sending out resumes almost daily. There are jobs out there, but there are also lots and lots of people vying for them. It's been ten years since I was unemployed, but I still remember the frustration of it all. We're doing OK financially and, between my paycheck and his unemployment, we haven't had to dip into savings or cut back too much on the good things. Our entire tax return did go to bills, though, instead of a new bamboo floor for the living room and dining room, as we were planning, and a vacation is pretty much out of the question for the near future. If those are the biggest sacrifices we have to make, we are indeed blessed.

The other big thing of late was, of course, the oral arguments before the California Supreme Court last Thursday concerning Proposition 8. (They look like a nice bunch of folks, don't you think?) The proceedings were streamed live online, and the Web sites that carried them were overwhelmed. I got onto the calchannel.com site, but Steve at home was unable to connect to any of them. I only missed about a half-hour of the three-hour-plus affair. It was quite interesting and I understand the conundrum the court finds itself in.

On the one hand, by overturning the proposition, they would be setting a precedent of limiting the power of the citizens to amend the constitution, which is a very bad thing. But by letting the proposition stand, they would be writing civil discrimination into the constitution, which is an even badder thing.

Also, if they uphold the proposition but let the same-sex marriages performed before its passage stand, the state would have licensed marriages that were legally valid but not recognized by the state. That's way too schizophrenic for me, and hopefully the court as well.

The Governator says he wants to see the proposition overturned. One of the cases before the court here was brought by a large group of municipalities and counties in California asking the proposition be overturned.

The amicus curiae briefs have flowed into the court from every which way. The list is as long as your arm and the vast majority of them back overturning the proposition. Even the attorney general, who is supposed to argue for the amendment, since it is now in the constitution, said it should be overturned and actually argued against it before the court.

My personal take on it: The court has overturned amendments because they brought about a change governmental structure, and that requires constitutional revision, not merely amendment. I think they should overturn this amendment and set the precedent that only revisions can be used to alter basic rights laid out in the constitution; amendments cannot be used for that purpose. However it washes out, we shall have a decision by June.

Another real nifty idea, I think, is to revise the constitution so that amendments can only be made by a two-thirds majority vote rather than a simple minority.

On the home front, Arroyo Grande-wise, we are planning a reader's theater, invitation-only performance of "Arsenic and Old Lace" starring the two moms. I bought a copy of the script, and Steve and I have been taking turns entering it into my computer so we will have large-type copies for the reading. Also, I've had to add a narrator to describe a lot of the action and bits that go on in the show. There's no set date yet, but if you want an invitation, please drop a line to me or Paula (my mom) or Kittie Vicars (my sister) and we will keep you informed on the when and where of the performance.

And looking ahead to next weekend, Steve and I are going to Disneyland, this time with a more reliable couple we know. The four of us keep saying we're going to get together and do something, but it's only happened once. The offer of free tickets was motivation enough, I guess, to plan a get-together next Saturday. I'll be doing a little more research to find out what's going on in the two parks and hopefully plan things out for the day. We're all really looking forward to it, and if we remember to take the camera, I'm sure there will be a posting here about it sometime soon.

So there you go, a really humungus blog entry to make up for all the little ones I haven't made. Perhaps I will be more diligent about keeping this up to date and timely with more regular entries. And, of course, your feedback keeps me motivated, so let me know when you've visited the site.