Author: laranettle

Rally For Mariage Equality

I expect you are already aware that in Sydney on Saturday August 13 2005, we will be holding a rally commencing in Taylor Square at 1:00 pm and marching down Oxford Street to Hyde Park. There will be a number of speakers including Dr Kerryn Phelps, Clover Moore MP, Anthony Venn-Brown and Senator Kerry Nettle who last year tried unsuccessfully to amend the Marriage Act Amendment Bill to include all couples. We now have 37 groups supporting the rally.

I thought I would give you an update on plans for that day. Life has been difficult over this last week or two negotiating gay politics. Support from some of the peak organisations in the gay community remains rather precarious. However, the rally will go ahead and we have had good publicity in the gay press including coverage of the rally in the Star (SSO) and of AME in SX magazine as well as my own letter in the Star under the heading of AME’s Aims. (You will have to page down in the last two links.) As well, I was interviewed last Friday on air on 3CR, a Melbourne community radio station.

What Peter Furness and I need most from you is moral support. The effort is rather draining but we are forging ahead with the goodwill and support of many people. We could use financial support for the day. However, we expect the basic costs to be covered easily. What we would like to do is make this a visually interesting event to attract the attention of the media. I want to see a forest of pink hearts. I will be following the tradition that Luke has established, appearing in a navy blue suit with a pink carnation in the lapel. It will be, like every wedding, a celebration!

I have set out AME Sydney’s objectives for the rally for the benefit of those groups who are supporting the rally. These have been communicated to the NSW GLRL. I thought they would be of interest to AME members. I would certainly appreciate your feedback.
Objectives:
The objectives of the Sydney event are to contribute to the national day of action for marriage equality by conducting an event which will assertively and confidently affirm the value of LGBTIQ relationships and communicate that value to the wider community in order to advance the campaign for relationship equality.

This:
A celebration
Fun
Inclusive – open to all who support our objectives
Looking forward, but not ignorant of the history of August 13
Apolitical, but not ignorant or unappreciative of those who support our objectives politically

Not this:
A protest rally
A partisan political event
An event purely for the gay community, or seen to be only for that community
An event to promote causes other than relationship equality, as worthy as they may be
Regards
Malcolm McPherson
Convenor, Sydney branch
AME

Venting

Husband has gone bush – the Dept of Education are trying to convince him that teaching in BumFuck nowhere is a really good idea. Maybe for them…. But the minimum term is three (3) years. THREE YEARS ??? What are they thinking ??? I am afraid that isn’t going to happen. I mean, I love the country, the people are nice, you can get good scones at the CWA. But where am I supposed to get a decent espresso. Or visit a yarn shop with imported yarn porn. Or find a vet that will treat rabbits and not want to put them down as vermin. Six months, maybe. Three Years ? Yeah – and Monkeys might fly out my butt.

So. The husband is gone, and I can’t sleep properly, and the brother is away skiing (small consolation, the weather on the ski fields is ultra shitty), and I get a phone call from mother to say that dad (bless him, he came over while I went to work to help clean the house), has lost the Hare.

The hare has been missing before. Ask my friend Barry – it’s an entertaining story, but mothers will understand the terror I am going through. So I hang up the phone at work, and hop in my little Mazda 121, and hightail it home. The phone rings, a conversation ensues, cut short because of the Missing Hare Crisis. Then my dad loses the plot and starts shouting at me.

The father storms out, swears off hares forever, and I hear the screeching of very small tyres.

Cut back to living room. Lara in a puddle of tears, resolves to find hare. Quietly, without freaking him out even more. Hare is in the first place I look (under a clothes rack), and races back to the safety of the condo. Has a minor flap, but condescends to take treats from my hand. All is well. Except…..

The stress of all this finally lands on me, and a full blown hissy fit ensues.

Yup. I must be due for a period.

Manners ?

I had it pointed out to me today that knitting in public is considered by some people to be as rude as reading a book, or using a laptop computer. Now perhaps I am a somewhat old fashioned girl, but I honestly thought that it would be impossible for anyone to take offence at my knitting !

And I still think it’s rude to read in a social situation.

Am I wrong ?

A New Project

Last week I cast on (the Bendigo Alpaca I bought at the craft show) another cardi like that one I did last year. This one is black – a girl needs a new black cardi every now and then…

The pattern is from “Stitch ‘n Bitch” – the cardi on the cover. This one will be all black, and I am thinking of a granny square border. The great news is, I’ve only been knitting for a few days and I have already nearly halfway finished the back. I must be getting faster, the last one took months !

I Passed !

Today was the final day of my Celebrants course… And I passed ! I am now a civil Celebrant – which means I can do baby namings, funerals, vow renewals, all kinds of rites of passage except Weddings. Once I apply to the attourney Generals Department, and my application is approved, I will go onto a waiting list for authorisation. It “should” take less than 2 years, so I have the next 2 years to practice my skills before I get to legally wed anyone.

And the ceremony I had to do today was a bilingual one, requiring a translator – the teacher had told me it was easy, but I found it quite a challenge. After the ceremony, she told me that a ceremony with a translator is one of the hardest to control with grace and flow – and I did really well ! My translator was wonderful, which really helped, and I am utterly thrilled to have such positive feedback, as well as the knowledge that I passed all of my assessments (it was a LOT of work for someone who has been out of formal schooling for so long).

Bounce bounce… … …

Celebrations !

Today was the first day of my course, and I am so glad I decided to do it ! The course leader, Carol, says that there are no coincidences…. So maybe there is a reason I am at this course, maybe I do have what it takes.

Anyway, it’s been fun, looks like being hard work, but I am looking forward to the challenge, and the social contact !

Rhubarb is Home From The Vet

He’s had a blood test, a fine needle aspirate, a skin scraping, a fungal culture, and caleci vaccine. They also took his temperature. Twice… And he only bit one person ! (me). I am sure he is feeling poorly, he’d never put up with all that before.

Anyway, temp is normal, there is an infection on his chin that may be making him a bit unwell, and the snotty nose too. He has Vibramyacin (the chocolate flavoured antibiotic that he loves), and Matthew will call me in the morning with blood test results. Will keep you posted, but this stage it’s looking as though his unhappiness and weight loss is due to localised (not systemic) things that should respond well to treatment. I nearly cried all the way home, it was such a relief!

Grasshopper and Custard also had shots, and Matthew finished Grasshoppers pedicure that I was too traumatised to finish last week. We must have been in there for over an hour, and including pathology and three vaccinations, I was charged less than $250.

I love my vet.

A New Toy !

This is my very first post from my brand new computer. He is called SpongeBob, and you can see a picture of what he looks like here. Mine is the big one. Of COURSE. With all the extras. 400gb Hard Drive. Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse. 3 Year warranty. EyeTV (I’ll never miss Gardening Australia again – if I can get the damn thing to find a signal…). And….

A .mac family pack – which means that I can continue to publish my photos from iPhoto with just a press of a button. PC users just won’t get it, but my maccy friends know that the love of a good mac is a marvellous thing 🙂