We conclude that, under this state’s Constitution, the constitutionally based right to marry properly must be understood to encompass the core set of basic substantive legal rights and attributes traditionally associated with marriage that are so integral to an individual’s liberty and personal autonomy that they may not be eliminated or abrogated by the Legislature or by the electorate through the statutory initiative process. These core substantive rights include, most fundamentally, the opportunity of an individual to establish — with the person with whom the individual has chosen to share his or her life — an officially recognized and protected family possessing mutual rights and responsibilities and entitled to the same respect and dignity accorded a union traditionally designated as marriage. As past cases establish, the substantive right of two adults who share a loving relationship to join together to establish an officially recognized family of their own — and, if the couple chooses, to raise children within that family — constitutes a vitally important attribute of the fundamental interest in liberty and personal autonomy that the California Constitution secures to all persons for the benefit of both the individual and society.

Furthermore, in contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual’s sexual orientation — like a person’s race or gender — does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.

Taken from PDF courtesy LA Times.

Luddie does this every morning.

I was inspired to start recording video of our cats after Heather sent me the kitty treadmill video. WARNING: If you watch it too many times your head might explode.

I’ve been reading tony pierce for pretty much as long as I’ve been reading blogs. I’ve purchased his books and rooted for him all the way from the xbi to laist to now the big time latimes. He still updates his famous busblog (where he writes about women, music, and sometimes politics, sometimes religion, sometimes his job.) As the blog editor for the LA Times, he oversees that entire section of the site. That’s kind of amazing, considering the fact that he wrote a lot of revealing stuff in his blog over the years. It says a lot about LA Times’ forward-thinking editors who clearly value and respect and understand blogging. Anyhow, seeing that we’re now working in the same kind of profession (overseeing and producing online content as part of a newspaper-branded site), I wanted to get his insight on some topics.

Me: Are there any new trends you’re seeing in the blogging world that bother you?

Tony: Most of the new trends I love: Twitter, Tumblr, FriendFeed, SocialThing, because they are helping bring back the idea that the individual bloggers’ lives matter and those tools make it easier for people to share their experiences with their readers.

The only trend that bothers me, as you say, is the ongoing obsession with people trying to make money off their blogs. I am speaking of the popularity of the Make Money Blogging blogs. These blogs don’t tell the truth about blogging which is: less than one-tenth of one percent of blogs make any real money. You’re better off playing the lottery or OMG getting a second job (or a better primary job) than thinking you can either tweak your blog into some sort of money-making machine.

There are over 100 million blogs out there and about 500 people making money blogging. You have a better chance being a starting quarterback in the NFL. So if you want to blog, blog and forget about the money. Do it because you want to express yourself. If you wanna make money: get a damn job.

Read more »

Today was an important day.

I woke up thinking it was going to be one I would just want to get through and be done with. I had an 8:30 appointment at the oral surgeon to look at a spot that has been on my pallette for at least a year. There was the possibility of a biopsy, but I was hopeful that it was nothing and he’d send me on my way. Then there was the memorial service for a friend of Matt’s.

Read more »

I took a few photos of Hospital Hill in Northampton last week. I used my 50mm for these shots. Some of them were manipulated and some were not.

• I didn’t mean for the first photo to come out the way it did. I’d had my camera’s White Balance setting on Incandescent (I think) and this is what happened. Pretty cool, eh? My favorite part is the look of the half-open window on the top row. To me it looks like an old photo you find in a history book.
• The second photo’s cyan was punched up a little to bring out the contrast of the sky and the roof.
• Neither of the smaller photos was manipulated, except I did some cropping to the one on the left.
• The 50mm is a beautiful thing.

Read more »

Inspired by Heather’s comment, I photoshopped (or rather “shopped” as they say) one of my parking lot images. I just quickly edited the image, without grabbing the original, so there could be some noise as a result. Check it out after the jump. Thanks for the suggestion, Heather!

Read more »

Just this week a new producer started working here. One of her hobbies happens to be photography. Before she started I emailed her about doing some photo safaris on our lunch breaks from time-to-time. She is much more experienced than I am, so I am somewhat shy about showing her my work. Plus, she is a Canon girl who enjoys making fun of my Nikon! But, whatever, it’s just a hobby and I can only get better with practice. We’ve already gone on our first adventure — the MassLive parking lot. Her jawdropping photos are here and a few of my less-than-awe-inspiring photos are below (and after the jump). I really want to learn her little Photoshop tricks. Maybe if I’m nice to her she’ll show me.

Read more »