I talked my hair stylist into sharing her wireless code while Ledcat got a snip ...

One of my favorite gals, asked if It was ok to watch as her partner had her hair done. Sure Sue, I replied, and before I could say cream or no cream, her workspace was set up. Computers on, tweeter is tweeting, coffee is being consumed, do you mind if I create an office space in your entry way? This cyberspace, savvy computer queen is going to text everyone she knows about HairPeace, unless she is knocked out of the way by an incoming client who is blind!

To be fair, I did inch out of the way of the customer who was visually impaired.  I'm not a monster. 

Susan has a hilarious, touching memoir of her life "growing up in the hair industry" called Hair Peace (Susan is Buddhist). 

I am very much looking forward to being prominently featured in the volume II where she "matures in the hair industry." 

Check out Susan's new blog On The Fringe to catch daily updates from the salon where all the cool lesbians get their hair styled.  Her clientele is very intriguing ...

While I was sojourning this summer, I had the chance to get reacquainted with God.  God came to find me in a most unusual form ... a politically conservative Christian evangelical.  We became friends and he listened patiently to my questions.  We were able to agree to disagree and then talk about the things that interested us both, rather than get caught up in the obvious areas for snags. 

And I gained a new freedom ... a person that cared about this piece of my identity and didn't launch into tirades about Christianity and homosexuality (either direction). 

When I did social service ministry in Kentucky, I spent a fair amount of time with friends who were evangelical, pentecostals and some who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible.  Most were wonderful, kind, loving people who rarely uttered a bad word against anyone.  Some weren't.  But they embraced me even when they knew I wasn't interested in conversion and we had loving conversations that stay with me to this day. I feel a little ache when I think back to those times.

The thing my friend has said to me this year has been very simple ... just listen.  He doesn't try to change me or convince me I'm wrong or belittle me because I don't believe exactly what he believes.  He just urges me to listen and I guess he has faith in the message. And me.

I kept moping about wanting a liberal evangelical church.  Which led me to Jim Wallis and his God's Politics Blog.  If you follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed that I've been peppering my status updates with Scripture and inspirational quotes.  That is all courtesy of Reverend Wallis' daily email.  It has been amazing (and not) that almost every day, the scripture speaks to what is happening for me. 

Wallis is part of the Sojourners Ministry ....

Sojourners ministries grew out of the Sojourners Community, located in Southern Columbia Heights, an inner-city neighborhood in Washington, D.C. The community began at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, in the early 1970s when a handful of students began meeting to discuss the relationship between their faith and political issues, particularly the Vietnam War. In 1971, the group decided to create a publication that would express their convictions and test whether other people of faith had similar beliefs.

There is no Sojourners' community in Pittsburgh.  The closest are Akron and Altoona (go figure).  That makes me sad.  I've attended services at some of the local liberal churches and it doesn't resonate.  I appreciate the solidarity, but nothing has stuck yet.

So I stick with my daily email.

I don't get the chance to talk with my friend very often right now, but maybe that's necessary so I can *stop* talking and start listening. Maybe the time for me to talk/text/email about what I think has come to an end and I am going to have to listen. 

My friend isn't a fan of Jim Wallis ("Marxist"), but I guess that's whose gonna see me into this listening phase.

In typical me fashion, I have to get the last word and post the blog here on my site in the middle of a lesbian and feminist blogroll and tell the world that I want to be an evangelical. 

So ... bring it on, God.    

Openly gay, newly minted intern Daniel Hernandez is credited with saving the life (LezGetReal) of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords when she was shot Saturday in Tucson, Arizona.

Hernandez is a Junior at the University of Arizona and a member of  the City of Tucson?s Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues. 

Follow the link for compelling video interview with Hernandez.  I don't want to go on at length about this "gay" angle, but it is important to acknowledge him for his heroism and to remind us that all human beings are capable of great courage literally under fire.

This quiet story has popped up on all the major gay blogs, an example of the sad irony that a gay Latino man stepped forward in Arizona to literally stop the lifeblood of a community leader from flowing away.  He held her hand.  Her stayed by her side. He did everything an American is expected to do.  In Arizona a state that assails his community on a regular basis. 

From JoeMyGod courtesy of the Dallas Voice:

Hernandez, who confirmed that he is gay in an interview with Instant Tea on Sunday morning, is a member of the City of Tucson Commission on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues.

?She?s been a great ally to the LGBT community,? Hernandez said of Giffords during the brief interview across a bad connection.

According to the Arizona Republic, Hernandez was standing about 30 feet from Giffords during the ?Congress on Your Corner? event outside a Safeway store near Tucson. When the gunshots began, Hernandez ran toward them and began checking the pulses of people who?d been hit. When Hernandez got to Giffords, he used his hand to apply pressure to the entry wound on her forehead. He pulled her into his lap and held her upright so she wouldn?t choke on her blood. Hernandez used his hand to apply pressure to the wound until someone brought clean smocks from the meat department of the grocery store.

He stayed with Giffords until paramedics arrived, then climbed into an ambulance with her. On the way to the hospital, he squeezed her hand and she squeezed back

On a related issue, I got a little note from Lt. Dan Choi asking for support to have Daniel Hernandez invited to the State of the Union address.  If you think that's fitting, join the Facebook group here.

America is stronger because of men like Daniel Hernandez.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Hernandez as the one who was rescued, instead of Congresswoman Gifford.  Our apologies for the error.