Let's Talk about Cell Phones.

I just read this article on wired about cell phones (they call them hell phones). I've been thinking a lot about my cell phone lately. I have been trying to turn it off for more and more hours per day. I know that just turning it off doesn't negate all of the problems but I am worried that mine is having a negative impact on my life and the world around me.

Here are just two of the many arguments presented on Wired:

Flexitime

Have you noticed that no one makes firm appointments anymore? Everything is sketchy, provisional, pencilled in. "I'll call you when I get there." "Something's come up; can we reschedule?"

The hell phone may be a boon to the spontaneous, but it's also a license for the slippery, the evasive and the passive aggressive to mess with your head.

Detached

Just as hell phones allow you to avoid committing yourself to a specific time and place, so they allow you to remain detached from other commitments. We switch our phones off in the cinema because without bracketing all other concerns and giving our undivided attention to the drama unfolding on the screen we'd be wasting our time and money.

But what about the drama of our lives? Why is it OK to interrupt that? Is there such a thing as "emotional multitasking"? Maybe that's what you were doing when you struggled to suppress rising irritation as you waited for my hell phone call to end ... I'm sorry about that. And I'll be sorry next time, too.

Specifically, with regards to the "flexitime" issue, this, in combination with email, makes it really hard for groups that are mixed-class to meet. Over-technology dependant people like myself are happy comfortable with meetings being scheduled or cancelled just hours in advance but then this sometimes leaves people without the technology out of the loop.

Let's talk. What do you think of cell phones? Do you have one? Do you not? Why do/don't you? What do you think about cell phones in general? What do you think about yours?

we just got plugged

Not that I'm that masochistic or anything but I read massresistance, a bucket of hate each day. Anyhow, we just got plug. Well, I'll call it a plug because most of the things they write about being terrible are actually awesome.

TTB and TTF also have recent mentions.

In town this weekend? Help the gays!

Come volunteer for MassEquality this weekend!

MassEquality is the organization leading the fight to protect same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts. Over the past few months we've identified tons of nice folks who support same-sex marriage. This weekend, we'll be calling all of these people and asking them to vote for pro-equality candidates in Tuesday's Democratic primary. We urgently need help to make these calls, so come help us make this happen!

Our office is open from 11am through 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Please come by whenever you can and stay for as long as you can. Bring your friends!

MassEquality's office is located on the 11th floor (Suite 1125) at 11 Beacon Street in downtown Boston. We're right next to the State House. Google Map: [http://tinyurl.com/hr5ly]

If you have any questions, call or email Deirdra Dostou, MassEquality's volunteer coordinator. Her number is (617) 878-2356, and her email address is [DeirdraDostou@MassEquality.org]. For more information on MassEquality, check us out online at [MassEquality.org].

(For those who don't know, I work as a canvasser and field organizer for MassEquality. This message is going out over a couple of mailing lists, too, so if you're reading this for the fifth time I apologize...though if you are reading this for the fifth time, you're obviously way involved with the boston/cambridge gblt community, which means you're awesome, which means you should come volunteer.)

Thanks everyone!

a compelling piece

I read this today and it seemed like a well-articulated piece.

The first paragraph:

Progressive Christians tend to be non-judgemental and to feel that challenging the intolerance of others is itself intolerant. For that reason we often sit by silently when Fundamentalist Christians criticize homosexual persons. We tend to think of this as being open minded.

I reccomend a quick read.

Disneyland!

Just thought I would do some rearranging and make Disneyland more gay friendly

:-D

First Trans Politician?

Dana Beyer is running for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates, and it looks like she has a fair shot at winning. Today the Washington Post ran an article about her campaign. My favorite quote:

She imagines that most voters who greet her at their doors know about her transition. "Word gets around about something like that," she said. But it almost never comes up. She has knocked on 5,500 doors, at least 100 a day, and recalls only one man, a former town official, who mentioned it overtly. "He just threw it in," she recalled, while ticking off the reasons he was impressed with her.

Her campaign site can be found at danabeyer.com.

I want YOU to be an international financier.

Seriously.

Kiva is a really cool microfinancing site that lets you loan small amounts of money (ie, $25) to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world.

You can read about the businesses that need sponsors, loan some money to them, and get updates on what they're doing with your loan.

Just think - the $25 that would otherwise just chill in your checking account could help someone build a future.

They've gotten a lot of good press. Check it out.