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The Dean of Students at Gig Harbor High School reported the "strange" behavior of a student to her parents, prompting them to transfer her to another school. What type of behavior was the girl exhiting? She was kissing another female student.

GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- Restrictions on the use of school security videotape have been tightened after images of two high school students kissing were shown to the parents of one of the girls, officials say.

Keith Nelson, dean of students at Gig Harbor High School, said he saw the students kissing and holding hands in the school's busy commons, checked a surveillance camera and showed the parents the tape because they had asked him a few weeks earlier to alert them to any conduct by their daughter that was out of the ordinary.

They then transferred their daughter to a school outside the Peninsula School District, which lies northwest of Tacoma.

Both girls said their privacy was invaded and denied doing anything wrong. Neither was identified by name in an article published Thursday by The News Tribune of Tacoma.

The kiss amounted to a quick "peck," said the girl who remains at the school, a 17-year-old senior described as the daughter of a News Tribune employee.

"We weren't doing anything inappropriate, nothing anyone else wouldn't do," she said.

Nelson said students could not have any expectation of privacy in a crowded place and maintained that he would have taken the same action had the students kissing been a boy and a girl.

An internal investigation into a complaint from a student -- it was unclear whether the complaint came from one of the girls -- established that Nelson had not violated district policy, Assistant School Superintendent Shannon Wiggs said.

Even so, Principal Greg Schellenberg said, school surveillance videotape may now be used only for security monitoring and discipline for actions such as trespassing, vandalism and fighting.

Kissing and other public displays of affection were at the time and remain violations of school rules, but violators will first be given warnings and will be disciplined only for a second offense, Schellenberg said. In addition, school employees are barred from sharing surveillance video in response to an open-ended parental request.

"It's not our normal practice," Schellenberg said. "It's not going to happen again."

In the case of the kiss, he added, "the same information could have been portrayed to the family without the video."

Nelson said he respected the change in policy but added that he believes his first obligation is to parents.

"They're paying good money for us to make their kids good citizens," he said. "Whatever that means to the parents, I'll do it."

The father of the transferred student spoke on local radio earlier today, stating that they had found, "evidence of homosexual activity, which we believe to be an abomination." He went on to say that his daughter had been "transferred to a school that deals with this sort of thing."

I am totally disgusted with the Dean, the school, and the father of this girl, video or no video. Is it their policy to report heterosexual hand-holding and kissing to parents? I highly doubt it.

And way to go dad - I've been the "abomination" route and it sucks. Parental disappointment can be an incredible burden, and trying to find yourself while someone condemns you to hell for falling for the "wrong" sex doesn't help.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:26 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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THIRTEEN BOOKS I WANT TO READ (in no particular order)

1. Austenland - I sent my Mom the galley and she said it was fantastic.
2. Cat Women: Female Writers on Their Feline Friends
3. Through Deaf Eyes: A Photographic History of an American Community - I saw the documentary recently on PBS and it was fascinating. I really miss signing.
4. Slightly Married - Although I'm not a romance reader at all, this is the third in a very cute series.
5. True Porn - Ariel Schrag
6. Girls: Extinction - Oh. My. God. I'm chewing my fingernails off waiting for the conclusion in TPB.
7. The Noble Causes series (minus the first one)
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (duh)
9. Whatever Julie Powell writes next
10. Fifty Acres and A Poodle
11. The Parrot Who Owns Me
12. Eat Pray Love
13. PostSecret - which I just checked out from the Tacoma Public Library.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. (leave your link in comments, IÂ’ll add you here!)

Posted by: Ensie at 04:49 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I won!

I am the Buttock Champion of the World!

This is really cool, as the prize for knowing just who's ass belongs to who and the context of the bare-assedness is a bunch of DTWOF stuff! Stuff that Alison Bechdel discontinued some years ago, but I still have the catalog for, because I loved it so much.

You can see the various cheeks here.

Can't wait to see the "whatnot"!

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The Tacoma Historical Society will be hosting their 14th annual Historic Homes of Tacoma Tour on Saturday, May 5th and Sunday, May 6th. Saturday hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are $20 ($15 for Historical Society members) for access to eight homes.

Tickets are good for both days, but allow only one visit per house. Advance ticket sale locations includ the Tacoma Historical Society Exhibit Center, 747 Broadway; the Pacific Northwest Shop; Stadium Thriftway; Union Avenue, Fircret, and Westgate branches of Columbia Bank. For additional information call 253-472-3738 or visit www.tacomahistory.org.

Not to be outdone, the North Slope Historic District Walking Tour will be held Saturday, May 19th and Sunday, May 20th. Tours will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. each day and will cover different areas of the North Slope on each day (Saturday uphill, Sunday downhill).

This is a FREE event, to reserve your space contact Marshall McClintock at 253-572-5474 or marshalm@oz.net .

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How much better can a title get? But it's true:

Two teens, 14- and 16-year-old Kyle Adams and Ryan Adams, went to the Bentonville PL, AR, in February so the younger brother could look up material on military academies. However, they wound up looking at The Whole Lesbian Sex Book (registration required to view), by Felice Newman, a book their father said left his sons "greatly disturbedÂ… and this matter has caused many sleepless nights in our house." Earl Adams, according to The Morning News, has asked the city to pay $10,000 in damages per child, which is the maximum under the state obscenity law. While the library director, Cindy Suter, first moved the book to a less accessible location, the library advisory board subsequently agreed the book should be taken from circulation, saying they sought to find a more suitable book. "A more sensitive, more clinical approach to same material might be more appropriate for the library," one member said.

Somehow I doubt that the book traumatized the boys in any way. And since they were supposed to be looking at military academies...

I would be interested to know if The Whole Lesbian Sex Book was moved to an alternate area of the library while leaving books on heterosexual sex readily accessible. This title has been reviewed and recommended by the Library Journal for all public library collections. The father has stated that any attempts to return the book to the library will "be met with legal action and protests from the Christian community."

This story prompted a quick email between my boss and I:

Ensie: "Greatly disturbed"? This is my favorite story ever from the library journal.

Boss Lady: I knew you were going to come back with a comment. "Sleepless nights"? Yeah, I'll bet.

Posted by: Ensie at 01:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I managed to hit the number right on this evening when checking my blog.

It's not much when compared to some blog who average 250,000 hits a day, but I'm quite proud.

Top searches:

1. Jude Law (image)
2. boobs
3. Knockout plug garbage disposal
4. Blower's Daughter/Closer
5. Strained chest muscles

Posted by: Ensie at 08:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Hi, can I come in? Thanks. My kids are sick right now and I need something to bring their fever down. Do you have anything? Maybe 10 or 12 pills?"

"Hi, can I come in? Thanks. Do you have any NyQuill?"

"Hi, can I come in? Thanks. I'm having some money issues right now and need to know if I can borrow $10 to pay for my anxiety meds. I get paid on the 1st or the 3rd."

How do you say no to a neighbor you really don't want to piss off?

Until recently we called this family in the rental across the street "The McCreepys" because, well, they creeped us the fuck out. I did my best to avoid them, although it's hard, since they are often on their porch, drinking *many* beers, and they love our dogs.

A few months ago Mrs. McCreepy saw our mail get stolen. She told me about it, and I thanked her profusely for letting me know. Since then, she will randomly knock on the door, invite herself in, dump all her problems on me, then plays with the dogs and cats for a half hour before asking me for something she needs.

Not only does it really bother me that she invites herself into my house, but I don't care to hear about how her doctor won't prescribe her narcotics, or her kid has lice (ew) and got sent home from school, again (double ew), or even, that her older child's friends are not allowed to bring guns into her house - they have to leave them at home(!!). I'm glad she feels comfortable chatting with me, but I'm really not happy with the apparent level of intimacy that we seem to have instantaneously developed.

And the money borrowing thing. That really bugs. It's not the money itself - I have the $10 she needs - it's the fact that we hardly know each other and she is asking me to loan her cash for a couple of weeks. I know it was probably hard for her to ask, and I know it sucks to need money, but there are places that exist solely to assist with this sort of thing.

And the fact that she has plenty of cigarettes and beer while asking me for money...don't even get me started there.

Help me out - internets. Is this normal and I'm just being touchy? Or can I politely tell her to shove it?

Posted by: Ensie at 02:53 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I took this test two years ago, and thought it might be interesting to see if any of my conservative or liberal tendencies have changed. Apparently, I'm MORE liberal now than before, although the trend is to become more conservative as one ages. Interesting.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 15% Conservative, 85% Liberal Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Take it yourself here.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:50 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The 2007 Eisners were announced yesterday, and I am very happy to see Alison Bechdel's name all over them, as she writes my favorite strip, Dykes to Watch Out For. Her non-fiction graphic novel about her father, Fun Home, topped several "best book" lists this year, including being chosen as Time Magazine's #1 book of the year.

Alison/Fun Home is nominated for Best Writer/Artist, Best Graphic Album - New, and Best Reality-Based Work.

I, personally, would like to thank Alison for helping me survive my last year of college at Concordia University. Trying to come out at age 19 at a small, Lutheran college was terrifying, and her books made me feel far less alone.

Other books/writers/artists I'm rooting for:

Best Publication Design
Castle Waiting graphic novel, designed by Adam Grano (Fantagraphics)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Niko Henrichon, Pride of Baghdad (Vertigo/DC)

Best Graphic Album-Reprint
Castle Waiting, by Linda Medley (Fantagraphics)

Best Reality-Based Work
I Love Led Zeppelin, by Ellen Forney (Fantagraphics)

Best Continuing Series
The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard (Image)

Frinklin Sez: I like Robert Kirkman, and I read Walking Dead every so often, but c'mon, you might as well give All-Star Superman the win right now.

Watch that come back and bite me on the ass in a couple months.

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May 17th and 18th, the Lipizzaner Stallions will be performing their Airs Above the Ground at the Tacoma Dome. These highest level of dressage maneuvers include several natural positions the horses were once trained to perform in battle.

The true story of the flight of the Lipizzaner stallions from their famous riding school in Vienna to safety during WWII was made into a Disney movie, Miracle of the White Stallions, in 1963. One of my favorite childhood authors, Marguerite Henry, wrote the book White Stallion of Lipizza about a baker's son who dreams of becoming a riding master at Vienna's Spanish Court Riding School.

God, I'm horse nerdy.

Sarah, are you in?

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A nationwide march/protest is in the works to show pet food companies and lawmakers that pet owners are not happy with the low safety standards for pet food.

The protest is scheduled for April 28th, and pet owners in several cities can contact Pets Need a Voice Too if interested in adding a march in their own city.

While it comes at a terrible cost, I am pleased to see people taking an interest in their pet's health and diet. Frinklin and I feed five different foods to our four dogs in order to get what we feel is the best nutritional value to each. The Jeffrey gets a dry prescription food, Perdita gets her dry Wellness puppy food, Matchbox and Pharaoh get a mixture of Wellness Super 5 Mix and Active Care (for specific food ingredients and joint care). Pharaoh also gets Active Care wet food to entice him to eat, as he can be a reluctant eater at times. Our cats are fed Wellness wet and dry cat food. Wellness and Active Care don't contain wheat gluten, which is suspected to be the dangerous ingredient. Although now there are fears that rice protein and corn gluten may also be suspect.

If Chinese wheat gluten is the dangerous ingredient, pet owners may be picking a big fight with U.S. subsidized wheat farmers. We use Chinese wheat because it's cheaper to import than to buy our home-grown wheat. Processing the wheat overseas is also cheaper. It's horrible that our pets are suffering, and it raises the concern over human-grade food.

UPDATE: Old Mother Hubbard, which produces Wellness states that the only ingredient sourced overseas is lamb from New Zealand. They do not use any Chinese import products, and they use a human food auditing firm for plant inspection.

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From Sonya Dias, Leader of the Pit Bull BAND:

Our lawsuit to stop the Pit Bull Ban in Denver was just filed in federal court last week. Lead attorney for our court case is David Lane, one of the top constitutional lawyers in the region. The suit that has been filed has just three plaintiffs illustrating some of the constitutional violations, but more are going to be added. Our expert witnesses are all at the top of their fields ( the best canine geneticist in the country, experienced veterinarians and well-known animal behaviorists) with more to be added before the case is heard in front of the judge.

What you can do to best support our efforts is to send donations. As you can imagine, all of these witnesses and legal fees cost A LOT! More funding is needed to ensure we can afford to bring in every expert witness we need for the trial. The more factual evidence we provide, the stronger our case becomes!

If you can donate to strengthen our efforts, please send checks to the below address or use the paypal option located on our website:

www.pitbullband.com

The Pit Bull BAND Legal Trust
c/o The Progressive Law Center
2301 S. Wadsworth, suite 3H
Lakewood, CO 80227

Any donations you send will be strictly used for attorney fees, legal fees, expert witness fees, and court costs. We don't have an organization to support since we're volunteers, so 100% of all donations will go to the above.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:29 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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This evening while winding down from a day at work I received a phone call from my Dad. He told me an amusing little story about my 15 year old sister.

Apparently, two weeks ago, Nikki was grounded for talking on the phone with her friends after lights out and lying to my mom about it. She was grounded for two weeks, required to do an hour of chores each day, and was on all communication restriction (no phone, email, or IMing) during her grounding. She was warned repeatedly warned that if she lied again, she would lose the privilege of getting her driver's permit this summer.

Cut to today - her last day of being grounded. My Mom received her cell phone bill today, and was shocked to see that she owed $318 for text messaging over the last couple of weeks.

My mom has never text messaged anyone in her life (which explains why they don't have unlimited texting).

My dad immediately said, "Ask Nik."

She denied any knowledge of the text messages, to the point of insisting that she didn't know how to use the feature.

"I guess we'll have to ask the phone company for the transcripts." my Mom slyly added.

At that point she broke down, weeping and sobbing that she was sorry and admitting to stealing my Mom's cell phone every night to text her friends.

How many messages did she send, you ask?

100? 200? 500?

Oh no.

Over a two week period she sent 1100 messages, which adds up to 75 messages PER DAY. Considering she only had a couple of hours each day to use the phone, she's averaging 40 - 50 messages an hour. Impressive.

Nikki has now bought herself an extra 6 months of Mom's taxi service, another grounding, and has two months to pay back the $318.

Well done, Nicole. Well done, indeed.

Posted by: Ensie at 06:15 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Well that's just hilarious. I can imagine what the "transcripts" said about your parents

Posted by: Eden at April 18, 2007 07:38 PM (BDCWt)

2 My other sister, who is 25, even sat with her for 20 minutes telling her, basically, "Don't be dumb." after the first offense. Sadly, wisdom wasted upon teenagers.

Posted by: ensie at April 18, 2007 08:39 PM (6We+3)

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Published in the 4/18/07 Tacoma News Tribune. See it here.

Robert Shirley’s letter regarding dog attacks in his neighborhood unfortunately puts the blame on the wrong party – the dogs. He complains of loose, dangerous dogs, and asks that “aggressive breeds” be banned.

The problem lies not with dogs, but with irresponsible owners. Most cities currently have Animal Control laws in place that allow for the pickup of loose dogs, especially those that are aggressive. Any dog that attacks is impounded.

The idea of banning “aggressive breeds” is a slippery slope. Pit bulls are typically the primary focus of breed specific legislation (BSL). To some, banning the breed that statistically bites or attacks most often makes sense. However, it is only in this decade that Pit bulls have received this dubious distinction. The Center for Disease Control statistics show Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and even Great Danes have topped the list in previously. Labradors, Dauchunds, and Yorkshire Terriers also make an appearance.

BSL does not address the root of the problem - any breed can be made aggressive if mishandled and/or abused. The same dogs that are considered “aggressive breeds” in some areas are celebrated for their sensitivity and intelligence in others. German Shepherds are one of the three breeds used by Guide Dogs for the Blind.

At a time when a large percentage of adoptable shelter dogs are crossbred in some way with Pit bulls, banning “aggressive breeds” from one neighborhood and moving them to another makes no sense. Requiring spaying and neutering and strengthening current dangerous dog laws are better solutions.

Read the unedited version in the extended entry more...

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Congratulations to John Munn, owner of Tacoma's best comic book shop, Comic Book Ink, and his new bride Sarah.

We spent the day at their lovely wedding at the Temple Theatre and wish them many happy years together!

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THIRTEEN THINGS I MISS ABOUT SAN DIEGO (feeling a little homesick right now)

1. SUNSHINE
2. My family
3. Dog Beach
4. Off-street parking
5. Not having to bundle up - even inside the house!
6. Good Mexican Food
7. Pat & Oscar's breadsticks
8. Pick Up Stix House Special Chicken
9. San Diego Chicken Pie Shop
10. My horse

11. More good Mexican Food
12. In-n-Out
13. Balboa Park

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. (leave your link in comments, IÂ’ll add you here!)

Posted by: Ensie at 06:51 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 You have a lovely hourse, how great is it! I wish I have one as well. Happy TT.

Posted by: Xilly at April 12, 2007 09:43 PM (PxlIz)

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In my in-box today I received an invitation to the Beautiful Angle Artist's Reception at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle.

Details for the event taken directly from the eVite:

Host: Beautiful Angle
Location: The Gallery that happens to be at the School of Visual Concepts
500 Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, WA
When: Friday, April 27, 7:00pm

Join Beautiful Angle on Friday, April 27 in the unwashed lands of Seattle, WA. For the first time, we'll be showing a complete retrospective of our work outside of our own holy city. We'd love to see a strong contingent of Tacoma folks come up for the reception.

There'll be some free food, a cool crowd, and posters on the wall. It's at one of our favorite non-Tacoma places, Seattle's School of Visual Concepts. SVC and their wonderful letterpress program has long been a supporter of our project.

We'll be giving away a free commemorative poster on the spot. In regards to the displayed work, it's the same old posters, but we've got to say: the messages seem transformed when displayed in a foreign land. You just may look at them with a new perspective.

We hope to see you soon.

Lance Kagey, Tom Llewellyn, and the rest of the Beautiful Angle family

--------------------

Come out and show your support for local Tacoma art!

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What to do on a rainy morning in Tacoma but bake? Today I had the mad desire to whip up some bread, but had not the patience to wait for yeast to rise. If you have a similar yearning and would like to taste a bundle of oatmealy deliciousness, here is the recipe for you:

Irish Oatmeal Bread

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
1 - 11/2 cups milk

Sift together salt, baking powder and flour in a bowl. Add oatmeal and mix well. Beat the eggs, melted butter, brown sugar (or honey), and one cup of the milk together. Be careful that the eggs are not too cold and the melted butter not too hot or you will scramble the eggs. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet and add enough milk to make a soft dough.

Turn dough out to knead for 1 - 2 minutes. Shape into a round loaf.

Use a heavy, ovenproof plate for baking (or whatever you have at hand that will allow the dough to expand a bit - a cookie sheet will do in a pinch). Grease the plate, then flip the loaf over so that both sides are greased. Cut a shallow gash across the top of the loaf. I like to add butter to the gash - but that's up to you.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.

Bread is done when loaf is turned over and a hollow sound can be heard when you "thump" the underside of the bread. Or when it looks done - starting to turn golden brown. Yummy.

Best when straight out of the oven and spread with your favorite jam or jelly.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I've finally signed up for a Flickr account. Now the world will be overwhelmed with pictures of my dogs and cats.

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