Interesting stats coming from AP on all the gay marriages in San Francisco:

More than 4,000 same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses in San Francisco before the state Supreme Court shut down the practice, a study released Wednesday shows.

Of the 4,037 same-sex couples who obtained licenses in the city starting Feb. 12, more than 91 percent came from California, according to a nonscientific analysis by County Assessor Mabel Teng's office.

The rest came from 45 other states and eight foreign countries, the analysis shows.

And this is no surprise:

The analysis also found that more lesbians tied the knot than gay men: Of the 4,037 licenses issued, 2,311, or 57 percent, were granted to women, authorities concluded by reviewing the first names of the applicants.

And now, a heart-breaking comment posted on this blog a week ago by one Scott N, that I've been meaning to share here:

My friend here in SF was going to get married this Wednesday, but the California Supreme Court halted it for now. That was really frustrating. People in the department here were planning her reception, and her parents and her partner's parents were going to fly out. She's still going to file the domestice partners forms and have a party. I really don't understand people's motivation for opposing gay marriage. Why are people so adamant about denying rights and privileges to other people? It really hit home when my friend was affected by the halting of marriages. But I guess people have had to fight for the right to interracial marriage, the right to vote, and countless other rights. I guess it's just in our nature to subjugate other people when we can. Well, the struggle for equality goes on!

Well said, Scott.

Really brought it home for me. What is it that makes people want to deprive other people of what they have?

Thanks for the comments, as always (link below).

I particularly liked this one from Joe this week:

I'm only liking Cathy at this point - the rest of them are...are...professional Survivor contestants?

That's the problem, this season. Been chatting with Joe about it awhile now, been meaning to comment on it. And oddly, Lex sort of did last night. I thought he was OK choosing his buddy to go, and right on the money calling it "business"--though I'm a little surprised MB allowed the comment onto the show.

Most of the early Survivors were motivated first and foremost by adventure, and winning the show was more about winning the glory than the money. (Just like Olympic athletes in certain fields know a gold medal may be worth several million, but they want the medal more than they want the money. No, this isn't the Olympics, but everybody has their own personal vision of a gold medal.)

This time, it's a business transaction. Plus the adventure, I'm sure, and the glory, but the priorities have shifted. And it shows.

Plus--as Joe has also pointed out--they all know the game too well. None of those unpredictable blunders, but more importantly, none of the magic of watching innocent young waifs go bug-eyed as they hurtle through something they were completely unprepared for had no idea how it would affect them.

For me, it's always been all about watching the lab rats. It's one great big psych experiment, run by humans, and the results are always surprising, often insightful. This season, the rats all know the maze by heart. Not much to be learned watching them slowly, carefully make their way through it for one last lap.

---

Hennyway. Shii-Ann. Kathy may be inching past her as my fave. But that may just be on account of all Kathy's poignant screen moments.

Then I think about Shii-Ann last night and I love her all the more. Did you watch her on the logroll? What a metaphor for her entire game. Entirely reactive, defensive, conservative. Refuses to make a bold, foolish move, watches her opponent like a hawk, matches her move for move, waits for a single mistep and BAM! nails her. And she took out amazon women twice in a row in a physical matchup. Pretty impressive.

And all I could think was: same thing she did to Colby.

My Survivor All Stars page.

Comments: Head here all week for Episode 8 (March 17) comments -- in comments for this post