penwing.site

So, yesterday I looked at what actions my uncommunicative MP had taken in the first day of the report stage and third reading debate of the Marriage (Same-sex Couples) Bill and I guess this means I have to finish up today.

...

All done.

Yep, according to Hansard, my MP did not vote - I'm guessing absent.

So, I've written several letters to my MP on the issues around Equal Marriage, including the consultation response. I have had no response at all from her. She voted in favour of Equal Marriage at Second Reading but the Bill is now doing Report Stage (where the House of Commons gets to make amendments) and Third Reading.

Oh goody, the Equal Marriage Bill (sorry, the Marriage (Same-sex couples) Bill 2013) is back in Parliament this week and the bigots and homophobes have been crying their usual bollocks. And, apparently, the government is considering some concessions.

Concessions? In a bill this basic and underwhelming? There's something left to cut?

I got talked into doing something I vowed I'd never do... I've *whispers* joined a gym.

At school, I hated PE in all its forms. It was all about competitiveness (really not my thing) and an assumption that you were just competent - for example the utter humiliation of the "cross country" sessions where I was in the "snails" group and expected to just do a "cross country" run.

My 30th Birthday is less than a month away, and as I start to do my bi-annual refresh of my Amazon Wishlists, I felt it would be a good time to import this HOWTO over to the new blog.

HOWTO: Buy a gift for penwing

DO NOT - Please don't ask me what I want... I hate trying to come up with an answer and I don't know your budget and you're making me embarrassed...
DO - Look to my Amazon Wishlists for inspiration - I do try and keep them pruned and recent at important times:

Today, two rugby players have come across my radar in a queer context. Both are straight.

The second straight rugby player of the day is Ben Cohen. This white, straight, ex-professional rugby player was on Channel 4 News talking about Jason Collins coming out as a black, gay, professional basketball player.

Every day I have to use the railways. A system which went from a nationalised industry to a set of "local" franchises running a specified set of routes, with a specified allowance of carriages and a specified share of revenue.

It works astonishingly badly. There is no night train between Manchester and Liverpool meaning that nights out are impossible. Overcrowding is rampant. Customer Service is a joke.

So, over the past couple of weeks another two high profile case of police investigating things said over Twitter.

First Up, Paris Brown, the appointed Youth Police and Crime Commissioner whose years old tweets apparently referring to hash brownies, underage drinking "pikeys" and "fags" have caused media to hound her and for her to lose her job as Youth PCC.

So, last weekend the BSFA Awards booklet (featuring all the nominated short stories) came through my door. Over this week I have read through it all and am now looking at what to vote for. Well, in two categories anyway: short stories and artwork. I have read a grand total of zero of the nominated novels (which is a step even further down than last year) and sadly am not as up to date on the blogs/non-fiction as I would like to be.

Short Fiction