Take the Easy Way and Give In

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Anne Frank, Carol King, fearless, guns n roses, lyle lovett, Morrissey, REM, spiders, waylon jennings, Willie Nelson, wonder woman

There is a spider living in my living room. In the 9 years I have lived in my aparentment, there has only been one other spider. It was when a friend subletted the place while I was in Vermont. She had stuff from storage. The spider got in. It wasn’t a Daddy Long Legs, but it also wasn’t a Brown Recluse. It was probably your average, everyday spider. No larger than a dime. It was in my shower on a Saturday morning years ago. When I pulled back the shower curtain, there it was. I was not clothed. Things got ugly. After nearly hyperventilating, I grabbed anything I could find to not provide a show for the neighbors, struggled to the kitchen, and found Clorox. I burned that bitch.

I hate spiders.

My mom was here a few weeks ago, and I asked her to kill this newly residing spider. She never really saw it in its glory. She went in with a wad of tissue, and…missed. It retreated. She stuffed the tissue in the window jamb, puffing herself up to the fact that “it’s a goner.”

That was 3 weeks ago. The damned thing is back. And it’s spun an enormous web over my entire living room window. It was there when I got home tonight as the rain came down.

I’d Just Allow A Fragment of Your Life to Wander Free

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DOMA, DPchallenge, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Empathy, Equality, gay marriage, George Michael, In A Town Called Malice, love, marriage, Music, Prop 8, San Francisco, Supreme Court Ruling, teachable moment, The Jam, What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding

I’ve been a teacher for twelve years, and we teachers know lessons when they bonk us on the head. Ok, let’s be fair–we know them before they actually arrive. Last night, I thought about today’s newest decision from the Supreme Court. We Californians, especially San Franciscans, knew that a verdict on the legality of Prop 8 would be coming up before the summer recess. We held our breath, like we have done from the bittersweet moment Obama was elected (progressive) and Prop 8 passed (regressive).

I need to make it clear my personal stake in the overthrow of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). I am fortunate enough to be a straight, middle-class, well-educated white female. If I were a man, I would maybe have only a slight leg up. I have always known my fortune in life–my parents granted it to me, and made it clear that I should use it to my advantage but never abuse it, or hold it over anyone else’s head. I am not married. But I hope to be someday. If I am lucky enough to find a good person, one who loves life, and completes me in some small way, I hope to share what so many of my friends and family already experience.

But, I have other friends and family members. Hell, we all do. We all have at least one friend or family member, regardless of how distant, that is gay or transgendered or bi-curious. They may not yet be born. They may or may not be out of the closet, for their

I Found One Love I’ll Find Another, Heaven Knows How Hard I’ve Tried

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bad date, End Continuum, Karma, mean girls, Mr. Good Guy, online dating, street sign, waylon jennings, Willie Nelson

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word continuum means “a continuous sequence in which adjacent elements are not perceptibly different from each other, but the extremes are quite distinct”. I think I am at an end continuum.

I will preface my writing tonight with my true desire to not come across snarky, snobby, standoffish, self-centered, or any other backhanded adjective beginning with the word S. Nor do I want to come across as mean or even cruel. Those of you who know me even in the slightest are aware that I am not this person. But to the universe that knows me simply as Ms. Mo at My Words on a String, I fear my true self will not come across well here. So here goes.

Last night I went on what I will call the worst date of my life. This comes from the mouth of a woman who has been perpetually dating for the past three years to no avail. I have had a handful of second dates, and either I or the guy have left simply not interested. That does not mean that the guy was awful, or a freak, or even a flat- out asshole. It just means for whatever reason, there wasn’t the right je ne sais quoi. I’m not overly picky. I would say the number of dates I have had in the past three years is between 10-15, so definitely not over the top.

Some of the worst dates prior to last night:

• Being stuck with a $75 bar bill after my date just walked out.
• Introduced by my date to the local sex shop (I kid you not).
• Casually admitted his OCD and the litany of mood stabilizers he was on.
• Left me in the rain in a bad neighborhood, fending a taxi for myself.

And multiple dates that I had a great feeling about, and was rejected with a “Your a cool chick but not interested. C Ya”,  “You’re not athletic enough”, and my personal