Mayor Bloomberg said today that he believes gay people deserve the same marriage benefits for their partnerships that straight people get. I wonder how it feels for gay people to have this national "conversation" going on around them as if they can't hear what people are saying. I mean, there are many people going onto the airwaves and in the newspapers talking about gay people as if they are this "other" thing...almost as if they aren't people. I suppose on some level by me talking here about gay people as a "them" I am doing the same. I don't know. All I know is that this movement to give gay people marriage rights as they are enjoyed by straight people isn't stopping anytime soon. And last week, as I sat in that restaurant in LA with Mer and her friends and heard them talk about commitment ceremonies and wanting to get married, Jen waking up next to her wife, Lucien waking up next to his husband...well, I got excited for them. I mean, the irony is that I am allowed to get married and I have yet to meet a man I want to spend my life with. Rinat is, legally, not allowed to get married but she and Lianna are as committed to each other as I hope to some day be to a man...

Anyway, I had my interview at Haas MBA program today. I can't decide if it went well or not. The whole day was pretty overwhelming...I mean, session after session, the same questions and information over and over again. Not too much food. And in the middle of all that, an interview. I guess I can be grateful that my interview was at 1pm and not 3pm. I think I may have been kind of wilty by 3pm. Anyway, I don't know how they decide who interviews you but I found it fascinating that my interviewer currently works at Levi's! It made for interesting conversation as I had to explain my short, four month stint at the company. I also thought it was interesting how different a background she had from mine. She was so finance focused and, well, I am clearly not. But I think that turned out to be a good thing, actually. Because I think she would be able to tell the Admissions Committee how someone "like me" would fit into a program where there are certainly more people "like her" than like me. Hopefully she sees that I would add value and dimension to the class and the program. But if not, you know, maybe that means I am not right for the program...so we will see. They are sending out decisions on March 15, apparently. So, one more week of wondering about Berkeley.

I did meet a cool girl today so if we both end up at Berkeley, at least I know there is someone I already connected with. She told me she applied to Stanford in Round One and got rejected. I don't know what kind of application I have compared to other people but I do have to say...I got discouraged. Oh well. As I have said many times before...it's out of my hands at this point.

There is so much going on in the world - in San Francisco, in the US and in the rest of the world...Things suddenly feel hectic and I can't really put my finger on it. Perhaps the best thing to happen in a long time is the issuing of marriage licenses to gay people here in San Francisco. I LOVE IT! It is really the most appropriate place for that kind of civil disobedience to happen and I love that it is happening where I live. I hear people say, 'Now is not the time,' to force the gay marriage issue...And I say, "Fuck that." There is never a good time to force a difficult issue - there is always a reason to wait another day. And believe me, nobody wants to win this election in November more than I do. But to act as if this gay marriage issue would be the reason the Democrats would lose...well, I believe that is a view put forth by people who want to blame everyone else when they lose and not take responsibility for their own role in the failure. So I think it's great that we are issuing marriage licenses here in San Francisco. And now it seems they started doing the same in New Paltz, New York! NEW PALTZ? And a town in New Mexico said it would be willing to do the same. And Mayor Daley in Chicago said he would sign gay marriage licenses if Cook County began giving them out. And it will go on and on. And I think it's fabulous. I cannot, on any level, understand why gay people should not be allowed to get married. I simply do not understand how anyone can make a distinction between two men or two women committing their lives to each other and two people of the opposite sex doing the same. Especially considering that heterosexuals, who have been the only people "allowed" to marry, have done quite a job degrading this "holy institution of marriage" so that we now have a 50 percent divorce rate. So, I ask, what exactly are people so afraid of? Perhaos they are afraid that gay marriage might actually work...that gay people might commit their lives to each other in this way - an added piece of paper for many who have already done so - and it won't fail. And then people would have to see their relationships as legitimate commitments. And we know they don't want to do that.

Tomorrow is primary day. I think it will be a clean John Kerry sweep...and if so, I hope John Edwards bows out gracefully. I mean, I am not worried anymore about having a united Democratic Party - I think we will. I am, however, concerned that the longer John Edwards stays in the race, the less likely he will be to be named Kerry's running mate. And I think they are a winning ticket. Yes, I know, there are many other qualified men and women around the Democratic Party that Kerry could pick. But the Kerry/Edwards ticket seems like a great one...one that the pollsters and strategists would imagine as a dream team...But if Edwards doesn't leave the race soon, I think Kerry and his allies will grow weary of Edwards' nipping and he will squander his chances.

So did the U.S. kidnap Aristide? I guess I don't put anything past our government so I would not be surprised if we did. Crazy shit, though. And so strange because it is happening so close to our shores (relatively). I must say, the Aristide/kidnapped storyline is interesting...but, you know, Americans don't really care, for the most part, about what happens to black people. Harsh, I know. But true. Look at the difference between how Cuban's seeking asylum are treated when they come to Florida and how Haitians are treated. So I doubt the Haitian situation will really be a worry spot for the administration. But it does concern me...it seems just one more indication of the arrogance of our foreign policy...how we swoop in, force our perspective on a situation and use fists and guns to make change, rather than seeking diplomatic solutions.

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Crazy weekend...so much fun with Taylor and Rocky on Saturday night...it was one of those crazy evenings that happens maybe once every two years. The boy was cute...I think. The Jesus license plate around his neck definitely gives me pause...but he was lovely and fun. Not too many men are secure enough, in my opinion, to tag along with three women (he just met) to a fancy dinner and late night karaoke and let loose. But he did. And I think it's hilarious that he had to go home earlier than we did because he was getting up in the morning to restore a riverbed or something like that...he is on the board of some nonprofit conservation group! Anyway, fun all around.