Hello goodbye

Sunday night, a few of us threw a goodbye dinner for my friend Shaun. Shaun's heading back home to Australia this week. :-( Ted made his wonderful Cap'n Crunch chicken and an apple pie. Did a little bit of everything that's been tradition with Shaun and the "TV night bunch"...watched some TV ("Wife Swap" - eee, Caprice...eee, wallabies running around the house!), had a bite to eat, and played a game. We tested out "Outburst! Remix"...think "Outburst using "Pyramid"-ish category titles. The big highlight of the night though was presenting a little goodbye video that a bunch of us put together for Shaun. The idea behind the DVD was to give Shaun a way to have the spirit of "TV night" (affectionately referred to as "G-TV nights" in our household) with him no matter where he is. The main centerpiece of the video was a parody of the "Amazing Race" featuring Ted and Larry, Tim and Tony, Davy and Jim, and Doug and me in the roles of the racers. 'Twas a lot of fun to do and to watch...Had flashbacks to my days doing "TCR," the sketch comedy show for Harvard TV. I just wish it didn't have to be a "goodbye" video...Our final goodbye before he leaves will be tonight. * sigh * I guess one way to look at Shaun's leaving is that it gives me another reason to visit Australia!

On the brighter side of things...A couple of great people this weekend became part of my life. A little backstory first...As you may recall, I've often touted the TV theme/video game music cover band The Hill Valley Preservation Society (who unfortunately happen to be disbanding). I've bounced a few E-mails back and forth with one of the members of the band, and in those coincidences of coincidences, he mentioned his mom and brother are out here L.A. this week. So after a few E-mails and IM exchanges, I got to meet up with them over lunch this weekend. And I have to say that they are the sweetest, most amazing people I've met in a long while. They're very active in fighting for a GREAT cause in Georgia. It's weird how this world works and how people get to meet each other...in this case, it all stemmed from a link to a website on Golden-Road.net, a GREAT "Price is Right" fansite.

Forgive me for getting on a little political soapbox here, but after meeting these wonderful people and seeing what a tight family bond they have, it saddens me that some ignorant people just don't see through the nomenclatures of sexuality...that what some people may see as nontraditional is equated with being a threat to the institution of family. Here is a loving mother and her great son and here she is having to fight for rights that he is entitled to. This is a pretty messed up time we live in. I'm sorry, but the amendment they're lobbying against and similar state amendments around the country are not right...they are contrary to what this country was founded upon. As one co-worker said, with all the war and hatred in the world, how can our government be doing something that's stifling one's expression of love? Though I've only gotten a chance to talk with and get to know them over two days, I feel like I've learned a lot and gained so much from the little time we've spent together. It really drove home what a politically charged year this is, and how REALLY important it is for everybody who has a vote to get out there and vote in November.

OK, I'll go step off my soapbox now and head over to say good bye to a very dear friend...