Weekend Round-up

Maybe it's that the weather has suddenly turned from torrential gray to bud-bursting green, but whatever the cause, this weekend was a good one. Friday was the first day you could really feel a new season coming on, and after work, Jess and I jumped on a train to New Haven to spend the night with her brother and sister-in-law and their kids. 6:30 am on Saturday found the rugrats bouncing on our bed, and we spent most of the rest of the day playing outside with them in the yard, on the swing, eating bagels in the grass. Nobody will be shocked to learn that by the time we got on the train back to NYC at 4 o'clock that afternoon we were exhausted... I slept, mouth hanging open, pretty much from the moment we got on, until we pulled into Grand Central. So did Jess. We decided we'll definitely need a nanny when we have kids, just so we can take a few naps from time to time.

Tired as we were, we were able to rally that night for dinner at Mimi's (piano bar!) with our friend Katie; after that we headed over to Patrick Conley's near Grand Central to have a drink with Jess's friend Jen and her husband. We were home by midnight, which was perfect, because yesterday was Liz and Ingrid's baby shower and we wanted to be fresh. It's the first lesbian baby shower either one of us has ever been to, and for my money, it turned out to be the best baby shower I've ever been to. Why? Well, again, it was a beautiful day, so that never hurts. But mostly it's because it was an open house, and thus very informal--folks could come and go as they pleased. No forced games or merriment--and a great art project on hand that was fun for everyone (except Jess, who hates crafts). And also, just wonderful to see all the amazing community and love their baby will have when she finally makes her way into this crazy world. It sounds sappy, but it really did touch me. Sigh.

Now for the more worldly kind of news...

France on Course to Elect First Female President? This past weekend, France held its "first round" presidential election, which narrowed a larger field of candidates down to just two, who will participate in a run-off. One of the two candidates is Segolene Royal, who, if elected, will become France's first female president. Over at the NYT, though, it looks like they'd rather hang on to Chirac for another 50 years or so.

Sharpton Taking Complaints Straight to Shareholders: Employing a tactic first used by a woman (C. Delores Tucker) more than 12 years ago, the Rev. Al Sharpton has just announced that he will take his complaints about rap/hip-hop lyrics into shareholders meetings, to demand accountability for their content from the heads of the corporations that produce the (sexist, racist) stuff. How will he get into these meetings? By buying stock in the offending companies. It's an interesting idea, and I hope they record the proceedings once Sharpton gets into the room.

Wolfowitz, Out? It would certainly make my day, but it looks like it'll take a little more time for this particular deck of cards to fall. Still, I'm glad to see the MSM keeping the pressure on this little weasel. Anyone who is a friend of George Bush's--plus, largely responsible for this terrible war--deserves whatever ill-will comes his way.