I just got more time.

The gods smiled upon me and told my editor to give me till Monday.

I'm ecstatic. Now I have to be really smart and choose not to use it. Got to shoot for Saturday for a really clean edit. Rough draft tonight or tomorrow morning.

She said I should leave my house, and I'm toying with the gym, but I really need to crank this out while I can. Maybe at 10, not before.

Let's see what I can pull together.

This story is going to be SO GOOD!

Just remind me of that next week when she sends it back all cut up into little pieces and I'm bewildered. That's supposed to happen and will make it better, but at this moment, I proceed under the delusion that the draft I send Monday will be structural perfection, requiring only the lightest of airbrushing. I need to pretend that to get myself through this stage.

Ah, writing. I love the beginning phase and the ending phase. Too bad about that horrible part in the middle, where the story is nothing but my enemy.

For some reason, this system is supressing the most important post I wrote about Chip & Reichen or gay marriage.

Censorship!

Short of a vast homophobic conspiracy from the machines, I'm sure I'm doing something stupid, but I just can't figure out what the hell it is.

So the post, called "Not Yet! We just met Chip & Reichen" is here.

All the rest of my recent posts on Chip & Reichen are here.

Everything on gay marriage is here.

And I just created a special site devoted to the struggle to end the marriage ban, costarring our heroes Chip and Reichen. You may have noticed the new icon/copy there in the left column, under Special Features. You can click on the romantic picture of our boys any time to get to it directly. (And don't tell anyone, but there's also a wedding photo there.)

This just in, and only a month old--but still news to most of us, I'll wager:

Our buddy Reichen made a speech at an SLDN fundraiser last month. (That's Servicemember's Legal Defense Network, and it's the major advocacy group for gays in the military. They publish a report every year called Conduct Unbecoming that the Pentagon quotes, because SLDN has a better read on gays on the inside than they do. They also have a team of lawyers that defend soldiers, sailors and airmen under the gun. Great group. They helped me a lot with my Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Fall in Love series for Salon.)

Interesting to hear Reichen speaking so aggressively on the issue--I wasn't sure he would be so outspoken, given his rather reserved demeanor on the show. But the best part is the dirt on his adventures at the Academy. He rented an illegal apartment off campus with his boyfriend. Worse, he kept a plant in his room at the Academy.

Excerpt from Gay and Lesbian Times story:

"This is not about a celebrity coming here to visit us today," Reichen Lehmkuhl, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who spent five years on active duty, reminded the audience. "This is about officers and enlisted people and everyone else who is dealing with a policy that is absolutely disgraceful, and it has to end. We're here giving our money and time and networking and meeting people who can stop this."

Lehmkuhl went on to talk about his experience at the Air Force Academy, and his service in the military. He highlighted some of the other rules he broke while attending the academy which included watching TV, having a plant in his room and haveing an off-campus apartment (which, he pointed out, he shared with his boyfriend). Lehmkuhl went on to serve his five years of required service and left the Air Force shortly thereafter.

"When we lift this ban, and we will," Lehmkuhl concluded, "we're not just lifting the ban on homosexuals in the military, we're going to be lifting the ban everywhere else because the military is the leader in so many different things. It's going to affect so many parts of this country and . . . the world, and we are going to set an example."

All my recent Reichen & Chip posts here.

Lots and lots of great Reichen photos, in much larger sizes posted on this discussion board (see warning below before you go). And some of them even include Chip.

A sample. Aren't they just adorable? Hard not to love that pair. I sure hope they stay together. (I'm going to put together a Chip and Reichen photo page over at my other site later in the week, once I get my story finished. It will be at http://www.davecullen.com/gayheroes.htm -- but don't go there yet. I'll tell you when. (Adorable? Did I just say adorable? I feel a little weird using that word, but they are adorable there, aren't they? Especially Chip. Really nice shot of Chip. I actually like Chip a lot better, but Reichen is sure something to look at. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

WARNING: The site linked here is for an online gay video store, which also runs discussion boards. When you pull it up, you'll see ads for gay porn videos. It looks like the shots are all PG-13, meaning no exposed body parts below the waist. But there are suggestive shots of groups of guys, men grimacing, etc. If this is likely to offend you, DON'T GO!) The discussion there is titled, "The Amazing Race -- The Queers Made It!!!"

From page one of today's Boston Globe:

'Blogs' shake the political discourse

Not the greatest story ever told, but it's mildly compelling, and it's lengthy, and it's on the front page of a major U.S. media institution. I think that's the most interesting thing about it: that blogs are getting more and more major coverage in the major press

And of course they focus heavily on Dr. Dean, since his bloggers have been making things happen:

Dean is famously ahead of the pack, with an official blog (blogforamerica.com) plus dozens of unofficial sites dedicated to his candidacy. His campaign has even hired some well-known bloggers as technical advisers.

And I think the piece hits on a key reason blogs are popular with political junkies, even those focused on a particular candidate:

Many bloggers believe that their role is to supply fresh ideas, something official campaign websites don't, in a voice that tends to be more entertaining. Official websites can be boring, said Charles Donefer, 21, a recent college graduate from Washington, D.C., who helps with the Dean Nation blog. ''Everything's been vetted through 20 different people. Nothing written by committee is good to read.''

And one more interesting idea, from the campaign POV:

Of course, bloggers are also free to criticize their candidate, questioning decisions and debating every move -- usually without internal information. For someone accustomed to top-down, hierarchical campaigns, it can sometimes be hard to watch, said Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi. But tell a blogger what to do, he said, and ''it just suffocates the entire thing.'' ''You've got to be willing to let go,'' Trippi said. ''You've got to just close your eyes and let them do it.''

The Dean campaign is also excitedly reporting that they've surged to #19 on Daypop's listing of the most popular blogs on the net. For comparison, they cite The Drudge Report at #6, Andrew Sullivan at #10 and Michael Moore at #67.

And I'd like to point out that two of my own new friends and local bloggers made the top 100. TalkLeft is at #46 and VodkaPundit at #80. Both great reads. I link to both of them. (And more importantly, they to me!)