Friday, August 14, 2009

Afternoon rant...

Some things that really piss me off right now:

My son Spencer, who is more important than air to me; my husband and best friend Milton, who is my rock; my maid of honor Jeri, who is as honest and sweet as anyone I know; the trees in my yard that I planted; riding my bike; chimarrão ; blogging; UFOP; walking anywhere, but especially in Ouro Preto, or in Rio along Copacabana with friends; the way the people in the Brazilian Consulate treat people; the way the delta breeze pushes out the heat after three or four days of apocalyptic heat; Bill Moyers; pancadas; sitting on the right hand side of the plane when you fly from San Jose, Costa Rica to Guatemala City; taking pictures; good service by a bureaucrat; Kathmandu and the Himalayas; my first classroom, not the kids tho; Mt. Shasta; San Francisco; Sequoia Sempervirens; gardening; the Empire State Building; the way Jon & I call each other on the phone just to talk; KCRW, especially on Saturday nights; Yosemite; the ocean, most anywhere; Highway 97 between Mt. Shasta and Klamath Falls; good art; good music; learning to be a little bit bitter; good food; good conversation; seeing the light in the eyes of a child when you show them something they never knew; Brazilian Portuguese; my iPod; people with open minds; Clo's house; my first car, a red '68 VW Bug; PUCC, 1998; Hina's; Araucaria Brasiliensis, or Angustifolia; All Things Considered; the call of a Vem-ti-Vi; the high road to Taos; Hong Kong; being a Dad; laptop computers; coming home to your own bed after a great adventure abroad; leaving for a new adventure; Brazilian music; Haifa; getting married to Milton, registering at the County Offices; Brazilian people; a good pair of shoes; Levis; when someone says thank you, and means it; my students, well most of them; being a friend; um chopes e dois pastel; saying no; saying yes; dinner at Ubiratan D'Ambrosio's home; Butch & Nellie's, midday; UNM: Milton's crazy family; the way I can get to almost anywhere in Brasil without a guide book; my men's yoga group; HGTV; coffee; a good joke; São Paulo at night from the air, especially on Xmas Eve; The News Hour on PBS; Amparo; Northern New Mexico; São Paulo, especially Avenida Paulista;The UTNE Reader; wifi; my current car, a Ford Escape Hybrid; Spring in California; mathematics, especially ethnomathematics and algebra; the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral; the internet; the color of green on the new growth of a Redwood tree; the first really good rain of the year in California; rhubarb; a dinner with good friends; being treated fairly; a good glass of red wine shared with a friend; as Cataratas do Iguaçu; traveling in Brasil in 1998; the No on 8 marches at the California State Capitol; DWELL; a good sound system; the first view of Ouro Preto when you arrive from BH; Italian coffee, in Italy; Highwy 1; cactus flowers...

No on H8

Great news...

Today we went over to the Brazilian Consulate to register our marriage certificate. We were informed that under -- Resolução Normativa no. 27 de 15/11/1998 -- Milton has the right to sponsor me for a Permanent Visa, just like any other married couple. This is a right that GLBT people in the Unites States do not have. So the first step is to register our marriage document at the consulate, which we did today, and it will be ready for me to pick up next week. Then I will need a full FBI finger print and check sent to the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and confirmed by them to include in our file. Then we will need all our documents (marriage certificate included) translated in Brasil, and then we can apply for my visa... after Milton swears in front of the appropriate official that he will protect me, take care of me financially, and he will have to declare that he is responsible for my moral conduct in Brasil. This is just amazing.

Now I am even more ashamed of our federal government and this state for its homophobic laws in regards to GLBT relationships, and its lack of protection and respect for GLBT people.

It is a deeply moving to me to have such kind and very sweet people in the Brazilian Consulate, who obviously very happy to help us. Needless to say, we know where we are going for the Xmas holidays this year!