Sherry Chandler

This photo by David Perry is up at the Lexington Herald-Leader to accompany an article about a bill Republicans are pushing that would outlaw the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky from offering health benefits to domestic partners. It shows, on the left, Ernesto Scorsone, an opponent of the bill, and, on the right, David Bingham, a proponent.

I suppose in a Manichaean universe the question would break this neatly along class and economic lines but in the real world I hope this photo oversimplifies things a bit.

I consider this bill nothing but political grandstanding by the right, but the photograph certainly isn’t designed to take anybody out of his/her comfort zone, not going to challenge anybody’s prejudices.

Note: The link to this article will probably go behind the archival wall in a week or two.

A little late? Yes, but I like this photograph even though I took it myself. And besides, yesterday I got a surprise late birthday gift: Dylan’s “Modern Times” and Ry Cooder’s “My Name is Buddy.” Both are delightful. They make me grin. Neither is a piece of work you’d want to split up piecemeal for an iPOD. And I’m celebrating.

It was a good day yesterday. I had dinner with a friend I hadn’t seen for a while and then we went to hear the tenth annual Legacies readings at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. I think the quality of the entries is getting better every year. As my friend pointed out, “people are learning to write.” By that, she meant that many of the entrants are alumni of CCLL workshops and CCLL is teaching the Bluegrass how to write.

A friend, David Snell, won second place.

I got the gift of music and so did Poppysmatus, who found just the guitar he was looking for at the price he wanted to pay on E-Bay. A late birthday gift for him, too.

Music, literature, and friends. It’s what makes life good.