Friday, May 23, 2003
Yesterday Chris De Lay sent me a link to a Wired News article about an electroshock jacket (www.no-contact.com). I fired him back a response saying it was almost like out of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash except that the outfit that YT wore was voice activated: "Do you have any relatives in Afghanistan?" I don't know who Adam Whiton and Yolita Nugent are, but their names are on the no-contact home page. I considered sending them my thoughts about the jacket but then decided it wasn't really worth it. The jacket is encouraging, but with a key flaw. It really should be voice activated—or in any case easier to activate than using a key. And their pitch Patrick and I found rather offensive: "The goal of the No-Contact Jacket is too call attention to violence against women and to offer an alternative response to the body's vulnerable space and boundaries that society, culture and fashion have created." and also "The embodiment of the No-Contact Jacket is created intentionally for being worn by a woman since women typically have more pronounced security concerns than men." Well, what about the violence against gay men? Focusing "the embodiment" of such a jacket on violence concerns against women only is insultingly short-sighted. And Patrick said, "So women aren't capable of violence?" What about violent women who buy this jacket? Are our good friends the police capable of restraining a woman so empowered? Probably not without shooting her—more violence against women. Where's the logic in that? Too bad they didn't make the jacket bulletproof as well. Telecommuted today. Spent the first half of the day reading about Web accessibility—Joe Clark and various other sites. Lunch at home by myself. Spent the second half of the day working on admissions changes and researching Web hosting. Patrick and I went to Don and Jenna's wedding this evening at Ralston Hall in Belmont, California (ralstonhall.com). The hall was built in 1840 and is part of the Notre Dame de Namur University campus. The parking lot and roads are a bit bumpy but otherwise the grounds seemed very well kept. We were instantly charmed with the building's many pleasing qualities: intricate hardwood floors, interior garage doors with frosted glass to separate many of the hall's ground-floor rooms, spacious yet cozy and comfortable. I saw plenty of old friends and acquaintances: David and Heather Howell, Aaron and Lisa Labowitz, Doug and Gloria Steckman, Matt Stave, Jeff Peters, Mike Sela, Steve Williams. We also met some new people for the first time: Dan and Shannon, who shared our dinner table with us; Dave and Heather (on the bride's side) whom we didn't get to talk with as long as we liked; Mary Blaser, the vocalist who performed with the evening's band, Mark Russo and the Classy Cats (www.classicsounds.net); Doug and Gloria's daughter, Sabrina. We didn't get to meet everyone that we wanted to. The ceremony was not too short, not too long. The minister, Reverend Edwin Holt, was perfect; he had a fine style of balancing the stress of the ceremony with humor, and I also liked the resonance of his voice. Dinner: pear, goat cheese, and walnut salad followed by buffet items (here's everything I can remember): tri-tip cow, three kinds of tortellini, spicy Asian rice noodles, potstickers, shau mai, ha gow, roasted boneless chicken breasts (perhaps teriyaki sauce?). Following dinner was dancing with the live band, the bouquet toss (which I missed), and the cake cutting. During the cake cutting Patrick chatted with Mary the vocalist and was offered a chance to sing a song with the band, so he did: It Had To Be You. He missed his cue midway through the song because Mary pulled me on to the dance floor, but nonetheless everyone was pleased, especially me. It was his first time singing with a live band, he later said. I'm so happy for Don—he seemed happier tonight than I've ever seen him. And Jenna was just as thrilled. Around 10:30 PM we had been getting sleepy from all the fun and started saying our goodbyes. By 11:30 PM we were on the wet road home. A light drizzle had come in with the evening's fog.