dude. they're totally putting self-checkouts in wal-mart. I don't know if I can handle this.

warning: semi-pessimistic discussion ahead. some lucky souls in the world are referred to as "born to do great things." often this phrase is used erroneously; the lifetime of a person is examined and the illogical conclusion is reached that their good deeds were "meant to be." in other, more esoteric circumstances, an elder (usually a religous person or one of the psychic bent) will insist that a young person--could be a newborn, one with a caul perhaps, heh--has a lofty destiny.

if people truly are born to do great things, it's only logical to assume that some others are born to do terrible things. but what if some people are just born into mediocrity? living life in a middle of the road, middle class (okay, I'll say it, bourgeois) fashion. doing well but not remarkably so. living a cookie cutter life that millions have led before.

accepting mediocrity is lazy. accepting ordained greatness is egotistical. I say screw fate or die trying.

(disclaimer: if political rants bore you, stop here.)

since that's out of the way, I feel the need to speak up about the recent flurry of gay marriages. lynch me if you like, but I'm with barney frank on this one. I am in favor of gay marriage and you'd better believe it. but not this way. the situation in san francisco is coming across as more of a hostile spit in the eye of tradition than a rational chain of events. and it's one that's leaving a bad taste in legislative mouths.

people, the fma is nipping at our heels, and homosexuals are working against themselves by moving full speed ahead. it's all fine and good and idealistic to want to change the system through revolution. but in reality, in order to enact true and lasting change, the smart idea is to play it cool and go through the proper channels--at least in this situation.

now, anyone with any sense could challenge me by saying, "well, what about the civil rights movement? would african-americans have achieved their ends by lying around and allowing beaurocratic red tape to tie them down? there were sit-ins, boycotts, protests, all flying in the face of the white majority. are you saying that those were bad ideas?"

in answer: of course not. but what we have to realize is that we're not just challenging social norms here, we're going up against religious traditionalists to boot. think of the times that we live in. we have a largely conservative administration that led us through the wake of 9-11, an event that brought Christianity to the forefront of many american minds (not to mention many american leaders' mouths). during the clinton years this business would have ruffled fewer feathers, methinks, and I'd probably have been right there on the "pro-marriage-now" side of things.

for now, we can only hope that the days of dubya are numbered. and until such time as he bids the white house farewell, I cannot be in favor of any action that could force a decision on gay marriage. because that's what's happening, folks. the more we revel now, the more we push the fma toward reality. gather ye rosebuds while ye may...before the powers that be come along with their pruning shears.