Road trip to Maysville

As reported in The Enquirer:

George Clooney wants to bring his new “Leatherheads” movie to Maysville, Ky., as part of his small-town tour promoting small-town pro football in the 1920s.

“They’d like to do a screening, if possible, in Maysville. They’re working on it,” says the actor’s mother, Nina Clooney, from her home in nearby Augusta.

I am so there.

Just call me Reverend Rachel Richardson

So, I checked out the church through which Kathy Griffin was ordained and applied for ordination myself. Here’s the response I got back:

This is to confirm that Rachel Richardson has been ordained as a minister of the Universal Life Church, Modesto, California.

Date of Ordination: 3/10/2008
by Kevin Andrews, Pastor
www.ulc.net

The Universal Life Church is a “regularly established church or congregation” and all ordinations are done as the deliberate, thoughtful, and responsible act of a human being, not by a computer. The church holds regular meetings every Sunday morning in Modesto, and has congregations in all 50 states of the USA as well as countries throughout the world.

As a minister, you are authorized by the church to perform all peaceful rites and ceremonies of the church, including weddings, funerals, baptisms, blessings, and to preach, teach and hold meetings. You are entitled to all privileges and courtesies normally offered to members of the clergy.

I now pronounce you… a minister

After Brandon proposed, we initially planned to have a ceremony here in Cincinnati, where I had already lined up a local Buddhist woman to officiate. Then we decided to elope on Mackinac Island, Mich. where ministers, let alone lesbian Buddhist ministers, are a relative scarcity. Overall, we were really pleased with the minister we chose, who agreed to do a lovely non-religious ceremony in which we read our own vows. The minister was really just a formality, so it didn’t even bother me when he flubbed and accidentally inserted the whole “What god has put together…” line we had agreed beforehand to omit.

But if I had our wedding to do all over again, I’d totally ask Kathy Griffin to officiate.

The often provocative comedian - who raised some Christian groups’ hackles by joking about Jesus while accepting an Emmy Award last September - became ordained through an online church to officiate Saturday at the New York wedding of two fans, Brian Anstey and Elka Shapiro.

Griffin said she was ordained online by the Universal Life Church and completed additional paperwork to meet New York State requirements. But she insisted her role in the wedding was a one-night-only performance.

Maybe a renewal of our wedding vows is in order.

Way to promote education

Turbo Tax is a godsend, but even with my online automator, tax filing has suddenly become a real pain this year.

I usually get back at least $1,300 in school credits, but since Brandon and I are married now, we either have to file married filing jointly or married filing separately. If we do separate tax forms, I cannot claim school credits at all. If we file jointly, we cannot claim school credits if our adjusted gross incomes exceed $80k. This number does not adjust for regional rates of inflation, either. So, someone in California who makes $200k annually is on the same par as that of someone of a proportionate income-level living in the Midwest - where housing rates and cost of living is much lower - who makes $80k a year.

And this is despite the fact that Brandon and I married in June - we were married for just half the year, but we have to file as married for the entire year.

I’ve stopped trying to make sense of it all. All I know is that I now miss out on education credits that I have earned and deserve. Way to promote higher learning there, federal government.

New photos added

I’ve been incredibly lax in updating our new online photo album, but while procrastinating over homework last night, I did get the chance to add highlights from our recent trip to New York.

And for Charlynn, I uploaded photos of our Teddy cat - since we seem to have this very weird cosmic connection.

Role reversal

So, most who know me are aware that I did not change my name (or identity) when Brandon slid that size-5 silver ring on my finger. And those who really know me, know why I oppose the practice.

Despite numerous letters of complaint, Brandon and I continue to receive mailings from the Cincinnati Museum Center addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Brandon X. So, the fact that I would receive the below member newsletter from the Cincinnati Zoo kind of thrills me.

My 15 minutes of fame and Heath Ledger

Yeah, so I’m featured in The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune today.

Here’s the weird part: In my other blog, I used an image from a 1954 Pillsbury ad of a little girl enjoying a big piece of cake in the header graphic. The now 61-year old woman tracked down the Times reporter and contacted me, surprised to see her young image splashed on The New York Times.

I mean, what are the chances, right? I emailed her back and asked if I could do an interview with her via phone or email.

Kate Harding, who was also interviewed in the Times story, got an invitation to appear on The Today Show tomorrow to talk about fat acceptance. Unfortunately, it appears as if the tragic and untimely death of actor Heath Ledger has changed the show’s scheduling plans.

Sigh… I’ve been in secret love with Heath Ledger since Megan and I watched “10 Things I Hate About You” (which we saw about 20 times, btw - love that movie). Most recently, Brandon and I watched “Candy,” starring Ledger and Abbie Cornish. Most tragically of all, Ledger leaves behind an infant daughter.

Why couldn’t this happen to someone like, say, Ashton Kutcher?

Our first professional photos together

I’ve never liked having my picture taken. Brandon’s not too fond of it, either. This is the primary reason why I fell into the hobby of photography - I’d much rather be behind the camera than in front of it.

But I have to say… the photos Brandon and I just got back from the photographer’s studio are fabulous. My hair is fabulous, my complexion flawless, and my husband is hot. These are our first professional shots together outside of our wedding pictures, plus Brandon’s entire family also got a group family photo and individual family photos taken.

So, here’s some of our favorites:

We have larger res and more family photos in our online gallery.

Brandon and I featured on The Weather Channel show

Friends and family know my husband and I were married this summer on Mackinac Island, Mich. July 25. Yes, yes, I did all the nauseating wedding gushing, from making a wedding announcement page to an online wedding photo gallery.

Anyway, my mom just called me to let me know she saw us on a Weather Channel feature story on Mackinac Island last night! Yes, us! In our wedding carriage!

My mom didn’t recall the name of the show, but my mad google skillz suggests that the show was called Weather Ventures, which highlights dream weather destinations. The show aired last night and is supposed to air again Dec. 14. I even located a MySpace page for the show’s host, who blogged from the island on July 27 - we were married on July 25 so it may have been his crew who filmed us.

But, what about Darfur?

The entire world seems to have covered and blogged to death the plight of the British school teacher in Sudan, Gillian Gibbons, who faced up to six months in jail and 40 lashes for allowing Sudanese school children to democratically name a teddy bear after the prophet Muhammed.

It’s on-its-face outrageous, and the blood-thirsty reactions of some so-called Muslim followers even more troubling. (Apparently its against Islam to name an object after the prophet but it’s perfectly acceptable and even reasonable to kill a woman whose only crime is of ignorance of the religion).

But in all the media coverage of the incident, the one issue I don’t see being raised is the apparent double-standard and contradictions of Sudanese law. Sure, the government pardoned Gibbons, but it wholeheartedly instigated and condoned Gibbon’s prosecution and sentence.

Of course, this comes from a government who attacked its own civilians with helicopter gunships and armed a local militia to raze villages and brutally rape and disfigure civilian women. Then, far from soliciting international help to deal with the humanitarian fallout, Sudan’s government blocked aid groups’ access to Darfur and enacted a policy towards the displaced people that would deprive them of food, sanitation and protection - in other words, to kill them.

Gillian Gibbons might be free, but two-and-a-half million Darfuris remain refugees from Sudan’s regime.

I find it a tragedy that Gibbons’ case has sparked worldwide condemnation by the governments of leading nations, yet systematic brutalization and genocide does not warrant the same concern.