From a profile of Steven Goldstein, head of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s premier gay rights organization:

He meets with opponents to explain why marriage is important to gay people. He plans to dine soon with John Tomicki, who heads the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, which opposes extending family rights to same-sex couples.

“He can have a warm side to him,” Tomicki said of Goldstein. “(Two weeks ago), he came up and gave me a big hug. I gave him a big hug back. I then whispered into his ear, ‘For goodness sake, don’t kiss me.’ He laughed. He has a good sense of humor.”

People often make jokes to cover up their own biases.

But hey, you know those gay activists. They’re always trying to kiss straight people! They just can’t control themselves when there are new people around to recruit!

Wait a minute… which of the two men brought up kissing, again?

I’m happy to report that I have a new job. Finally. Right after the holidays, I’ll begin working as an editor for a large legal publishing company.

I think it will be a good fit for me. I’ll make use of my law degree without actually being a lawyer. Goodbye to the practice of law! And my salary will even be slightly higher than it was at the time I was laid off.

I actually got the offer a couple of weeks ago, so I’ve been having a nice holiday season. I’ve been able to enjoy everything and relax without having to worry about my future. When I start work, I will put an end to seven and a half months of unemployment. It seems like it’s been an eternity. I’ll admit, it’s been nice not having a job, but it’s been stressful at times. My unemployment compensation ran out just before I got the offer, so I’m dipping into my savings until I get my first paycheck.

It’s been quite a journey. I considered a bunch of different things during the last few months. I even applied to a master’s program in library and information science and got accepted for a January start, but now I’m not going to do that. I’m not sure enough about it to spend thousands of dollars in tuition once again, and anyway, I’ll soon have a job that can lead to a bunch of different things down the line.

So I’m happy and relieved.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

With regard to whether we’re “winning” or “losing” in Iraq, this excerpt from a letter in today’s Times echoes my thoughts exactly:

The terms “success” and “failure” are meaningless with regard to Iraq. It is high time that we stopped glorifying our Iraq endeavor as “a war.” It is an invasion, pure and simple, and there is no clearly discernible enemy whom we can defeat or to whom we can lose.

Every time the president or someone else utters the word “victory,” I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. “Victory” is as relevant to this situation as geometry is to English class.

It’s positively Orwellian.