mt turns 115

as a state at least. montana become the 41st state 115 years ago this month. after two decades and three constitutional conventions, mt finally achieved statehood following the passage of the enabling act of 1889, which split the dakotas, and allowed montana, washington, north dakota, and south dakota to enter the union. mt's population was 110,000 then. a century later, it's grown to a whooping 910,000.

according to the new york times (as quoted by the billings gazette):

There is little or nothing moderate about Montana, the fourth-largest state, stretching 650 miles across the northern plains and the Rockies, a region beautiful and grim, parched, windbeaten, lonely under its big sky and in its seemingly infinite distances. It is indeed an uncommon land.

i can't say i disagree.

thanksgiving in miami

no snow here ...



the family - my sister tanya with the kids at breakfast

florida was great. we all had a wonderful time, with beautiful non-northern weather. on the return home, however, thanks to the trusty service of united, i was able to take an 18 hour cross county tour of midwest airports in my journey from miami to billings. next year i'm only flying out of la guardia.

grove isle

here a few pictures from grove isle, where we stayed this year (in a room with a view of the bay).

[we also saw yoko ono, who checked in our floor two days after we did, presumably promoting her new release (and number one song on the u.s. dance charts), available in two versions - “every woman has a woman who loves her” and “every man has a man who loves him.” she re-recorded the songs to show her support of gay marriage.]


on the beach -- siddiq, amani and the grandparents


poppop and siddiq


mighty siddiq -- my elder nephew (click here to see more monkey boy in action)

first snow

has finally hit billings.



[in between bars -- going from our local martini bar to the loft (1/2 of montana's gay bars).]

blue skies

election tallies

for some fun with maps, here are my current favorites:

• robert j. vanderbei's purple america, explained here, which gives a more accurate representation of how the country voted than the pure red/blue map.
• some fascinating cartograms from u.mich -- maps skewed so that area correlates to population.

the bluest of red states

the success of montana's democrats, as told by the new york times.

signs of montana

now that i'm back in billings, i can start posting mt pictures again. here are a few sights from a recent night's drive around billings. note the prevalent themes.

gay marriage in mt

montana was one of the eleven states that passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage last tuesday -- along with arkansas, georgia, kentucky, michigan, mississippi, north dakota, ohio, oklahoma, oregon and utah (joining the merry company of alaska, hawaii, louisiana, missouri, nebraska and nevada). thirty-eight of our states, including montana, already had laws banning gay marriages, but apparently those were not sufficient.

[i am rapidly compiling a lists of states in which i plan never to live (it's a shame about alaska).]

in big sky country, the amendment passed by a "resounding" 66 percent (as compared to 86 percent in mississippi and 59 percent in oregon, which i guess makes us moderates).

now mt's gay couples that married in oregon are worried about losing benefits. montana state university is reconsidering its policy allowing gay couples married in other states to stay in family housing. in a fit of eternal optimism, however, four montana legislators have proposed bills that call for civil unions, next-of-kin partner rights, and changes to montana's human rights act and hate crime laws to include sexual orientation. so we'll have to wait and see.

san francisco

and some of the folks i got to see there. anthony, melvin and i in the mission:



ice cream with aunt cynthia

aftermath (in s.f.)