The above is a quote from a superbly produced play, “A Killing’s Tale,” written by my ex-husband and b!X’s dad. The play, a murder mystery set in the Globe Theater during Shakespeare’s time, has Shakespeare deliver the above line.
The play deserves a post all of its own, but that’s not where I’m heading with this. I saw the play with a couple who are good friends of mine. I’ve known the woman, a lawyer and child advocate, for years; her live-in male companion has been with her for the past several years, and so I’ve gotten to know him through her.
The three of us went to dinner before the play, and, because we were going to see a play by my ex-husband, the conversation naturally meandered toward relationships and why they work and don’t work. Now, the woman in this couple is liberal, feminist, creative, childless, and previously divorced. The man has kids from a previous marriage, is intelligent and well-read, and has a wry sense of humor. And he takes great pleasure in asserting Neanderthal attitudes about relationships and women. Yet, they seem to have a good time together.
She says it’s because he makes her laugh, they enjoy doing the same kinds of things together (like taking me along with them to see a play); he doesn’t care if she shaves her legs or under her armspits; he doesn’t expect her to cook or clean (he’s neater than she is and so he often does the cleaning). Neither tries to make the other into something he/she is not.
But she also says that if they had met during an earlier stage of their lives, they would have hated each other. They could never have raised children together. But they are at that last partnership stage of life where it’s not necessary to agree on a lot of things. What one looks for is companionship, a sharing of everyday things good and bad, a good friend who makes you laugh and will travel with you even though he doesn’t really like to fly.
They both loved the play — which is full of wit and witticisms, has two strong women characters, and includes lots of relevant sub-themes, including homosexuality, religious censorship, and the complexities of male-female relationships. As the Shakespeare character demonstrates, talented playwrights do not necessarily good husbands make.
(I have to say that lately I am double posting what I write here onto Blog Sisters as well. These days, I seem to be inclined to turn my back on the big disturbing polictical picture — which seems so removed from anything that I can influence — and focus more on the small, personal and interpersonal interactions that, to me as of late, seem more real and ultimately momentous.)

I, personally, remember the WWII Uncle Sam posters emblazoned with “I Want You!” The above sure seems appropriate now.

On October 26, the day after his 33rd birthday, b!X will be marching in San Francisco to protest our government’s warmongering policy on Iraq. I hope that it becomes a birthday bash and not a head bashing for him.
So, if any of you are in SF at the same time and run into him, give him a big birthday hug and kiss from his Momma, who hasn’t had a chance to do that for years and years now.
And may all of you marchers and protesters be safe and successful. And so may all of us who don’t believe that waging war against Iraq is going to make life better for anyone but those who are already protected by power and money.

That’s my “familiar,” Calli. And that’s how I’m feeling these days.
The craft fair was a success for me. And, on top of that, the owner of a boutique near Vassar college bought two of the more funky versions of my spiral shawl and is going to contact me about selling them. She thinks the Vassar coeds will love ’em. I saw something similar in a yarn catalog, and they called it a “mananita.” Anyone ever hear of such a thing? I can’t find mucn on the Net. It might be a traditional piece of Swedish or Icelandic apparel.
Yes, I feel like Nero, fiddling while Rome burns.

Madame DeFarge knitted her way through the French Revolution. At least her knitting had a political purpose. I, on the other hand, am spending this weekend selling my crocheted “accessories for heads and shoulders” at a craft fair. As I sit there in my booth under a tent in the rain, crocheting, I can’t help thinking that I should be doing something more political than crocheting. But what can I do? What can I do? Unlike Madame DeFarge, I’m not a player with a capital “P.” And this is not a revolution. Yet.

OK. So Congress passed the resolution empowering King George to wage war. Now what do we do?
One thing we can do if we live near (or can get to) Washington D.C. or San Francisco on October 26th is to join the marches being organized by International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), a broad coalition of peace groups, religious organizations, student groups, anti-globalization, and anti-racism groups. ANSWER was formed to oppose war, support global justice and self-determination, stop racist attacks on Arabs, Muslims, South Asians and all people of color, and defend civil rights and civil liberties.
Detailed information about ANSWER and the marches is here.

Periodically, I get emails from various anti-war friends to sign an email petition or some such thing. Thanks to the education b!X has given me about separating the internet wheat from the chaff, I have learned to reply to such emails with a version of the following message — which I just sent to the dozens of people who also received the latest email and whose addresses were at my mercy in the body of the message.
You should know that this effort is bogus and is just a waste of your time.
There are several sites that you can check for the validity of similar
efforts and other rumors spread over the internet. One of these is
http://www.snopes.com/index.htm. If you go there and search for “United
Nations Peace Petition,” you will find an explanation of this untrue rumor.
Also, just a helpful hint for when you send out mass emails — it’s wise to
enter those addresses in the BCC: box so that all of those addresses are not
visible. (For example, I was able to send this message to everyone who was
on the mailing list along with me.)
Finally, if you want to keep up with all kinds of non-mainstream information
about “King George” and his efforts to propel us into a warring frenzy,
check out www.poxamericana.us.

Wednesday, 10/09/02
Pox American reports that
As of this moment, Senator Robert Byrd is having a fight on the Senate floor over the procedures currently set forth in the Senate rules for this debate. Under the pressure of Senator Daschle, they are heading towards a vote on cloture for 10:15 AM tomorrow morning — cloture being the end of the debate, and the start of the final hours leading up to an actual vote on the resolution itself.
Senator Byrd is requesting that by unanimous consent, the Senate remove that 10:15 AM vote on cloture, because they Senate has only been debating this issue since the end of last week, and that being too short a time for such a wighty issue.
Now is the moment to make your voice heard over the phone to your state’s Senators. Call and ask each to support Byrd’s request to remove tomorrow’s 10:15 AM vote on cloture. Or if the actual resolution comes to a vote, to vote against it. DO IT before it’s too late!