SVU set on location aka "The Mariska Hargitay Birthday Project Mission"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GORGEOUS!


On Thursday January 20, 2011 Jess and I made our way to our first visit, (first of many we hope!) on location filming of our favorite show, Law & Order: SVU. Jess runs the website www.mariska-online.com. I know I have mentioned it before. It is a great website for Mariska Hargitay news and I started following her website a while back. We have been tweeting, blogging, texting, all this time about everything Mariska & SVU. We found that no one that we know shares the same obsessive behavior that we do for this show or our shared adoration and love of one of the stars, Mariska Hargitay! Every Wednesday night when our show is on, we are furiously tweeting and texing away about how much we miss our little Calvin and how much that look that Elliot just gave Olivia SO means that he digs her. Oh yes...E/O for sure! HA! I know...It's an unhealthy fixation. I need to get a life. But it is such a damn good show!



Through Jess's site, she rallied together a collection of fans and pulled together this project that all of Mariska's little devotees have been working on for a while. The Mariska Hargitay Birthay project 2011 was started well in advance back in 2010 and in the end she collected 171 submissions of scrapbook pages, including mine. A video was also made by some fans through this project.






(My scrapbook page submissions. I love scrapbooking.)


The first time I met Jess was the morning of the 20th of January after my bus from Philadelphia dropped me off in Manhattan of New York City. We met up offically at Penn Station and started to walk to the subway since the filming was in Brooklyn. And so started our adventure.
We make our way to the subway and bought our metro cards which are not bad in price when you consider taking a cab to Brooklyn. $2.50 for a single ride. I passed my card through the card swipe and the gates unlocked. Then Jess did. The gates were locked. So here we were, still in Manhattan, me on one side of the gate and her on the other. She called the service box to which he was giving her several varying instructions that were so hard to hear with each passing train. He had told her about a red or black door to which we were both so confused to what he was talking about but we figured it out later. (You'll see what I mean) She finally jumped the gate and we found our way to the E train. Haha. I cannot tell you how many times to and from we got lost, going the wrong way uptown or downtown, and on the wrong line, both to and from Brooklyn. I had a handy iPhone app all about New York and the transit feature in that app saved us so much! I love technology. Except by midday with a fully charged camera after leaving the set, the battery decided to die, and my phone finally died by the time I was on my way home back to PA. Ugh Electronicals!
We finally made it off the train and started walking down the streets to where we saw from a distance, set lights and some traffic cones. We rounded the corner with such excitement not only realizing that we had found the right place, but that all that walking was actually for something and we did not get lost. It was like the ultimate achivement. The promise land. Haha.















Two very sweet and friendly girls with charming Australian accents walked up to us and introduced themselves and began excitedly chatting about how they had just met and took a picture with Christopher Meloni aka. Detective Elliot Stabler. (swoon) We talked and girlishly giggled for a long while. They told us Mariska was filming in studio. Damn! And not minutes before did I mention to Jess I had a feeling, after all of this, she would not be there. Chris was not in his trailer at the time that we all were semi-stalkishly standing outside of it and around the entire street. The girls showed us around and where exactly they were filming. It was inside one of the buildings. They loved the book that had been put together by the fans. After talking a bit we were about to split off as I noticed a public bathroom right in the park on the corner of that street that I desperately needed to use. haha! Just then I look over at Holly, one of the girls, who is waving incredibly emphatically in our direction. I see three men far off walking towards us. I think to myself. "I recognize that man's head shape...OH MY GOD THAT'S CHRIS MELONI!"
He is nearing closer and closer and we quickly wonder who is going to say what and then he is almost right in front of us. I nudge Jess!
“Chris, can you take a picture with us?” She asks sweetly
“Sure.” Chris quicly agrees, probably more than used to it by now. He seemed extramly focused. He wraps his arm around Jess’s shoulder to which I’m sure her heart stopped or missed a beat, Ha. You’ll have to ask her.


(Quick quick! Someone get some handcuffs!)


The picture was snapped and he started to walk away. One of the girls asked me, “Didn’t you want a picture with him?”
But as he was walking away, that was not my number one concern. I look over at the heavy bag that is now weighing down my starstruck new friend and I start briskly walking after him.
I gulped hard. I had spoken to celebrities before, and I’m sure if I were talking to Mariska no words would have found there way out, but I managed to calmly and cooly ask, “Excuse Chris, I don’t mean to bother you, but we were wondering if you would be able to give our birthday present to Mariska?”
Half of his body now vivislbe outside of his trailer door. “What do you want me to do?” He asks shortly
One of the girls quickly responds that we have a birthday gift project from a collection of fans for Mariska.
Just as I thought I may have made a mistake by breaking his concentration or pissing him off as another SVU geekazoid, a woman walks next to me and Chris says, "She will be able to help you out more."
“Oh!” I said as I turned to the petite young woman who was talking into the walkie talkie device. I quickly turn back to Chris and say "thanks!" Haha! Thanks. THANKS! Like he had just given me directions to the next subway back to reailly. With my Thanks, he flashes me the biggest, brightest, smile that I swear stunned and dazzled me and lit my face up in an instant refleaxtion. I smiled my dorky and cheesy huge grin back as he ducks back into his trailer and I turn to our destined messenger. Jess explains the details and we finally make the hand-off and our mission comes to an end.
I finally get to use the bathroom. haha. (Very scary) We didn’t hang around too long afterwards. Chris was snug in his trailer, and it just kinda felt a bit awkward waiting for them outside their trailers for hours. Haha. I had a bus to catch just a few short hours later and we figured we had our fill and we were surly on some kind of adrenaline high that would last. We thought that with all the trouble finally getting to Brooklyn, we would need that margin of error because we were bound to get lost on the way back to Manhatten.
And we were right. Not only did we get lost on the subways but not even getting to the subways, we nearly got lost in Brooklyn. We made a big circle, square really haha, and when we saw the trailers from the SVU set and the park again we were like, “No, NO, NO!!!!” and started breaking out into hysterical laughter. We turned around and realized already That our margin of error time was obviously needed. But once we did get to the subway, not only could we not figure out which line to take, let alone transfer to the right one back, but our credit cards woulnd’t process our transactions at the kiosks, and the metropasses wouldn’t register. I love New York and most of the time the people are really nice. I am a person that loves to be nice and smiley and avoid confrontation if I can. But something about the subaways in Brooklyn that day brought out the bitch in me.(Not to Jess, of course. haha) I’m sure that the Metro tellers get about 100 annoying rings from the call boxes all over the city and we were just annoying call #101, but nothing was working and I seriously wanted to cry my feet were hurting so bad. Unlike myslf, I argued with the guy over the box about just opening up the black gate for my friend. I told him when we were in Manhattan, they opened the gate for us and I have a bus to catch. I don't have time for this! He told me to walk down two blocks to where he was to figure this out. When we finally made it down there, we showed him the metrocards we purchased, he just ended up opening the black gate anyway. What a waste of time and yelling. Something for Jess and I to laugh about though when we let out a big sigh when we knew we were finally on the right line to get to Manhatten. Realizing that it was almost 4:30pm and we had not eaten anything all day, we starting making eating plans. Probably running on a diet of sheer adrenaline, we probably didn’t even notice that we were hungry. I dind’t even eat the muffin that I stashed in my backpack for the day and wasted a dollar on a cup of coffee this morning I held on the train to Philadelphia that my stomach was too excited/nervous to handle. We made our way back to Penn Station and ate in one of the restaurant food courts. Cramming a personal cheese pizza down my gob, I had to remind myself to slow down as my stomach was just remembering how to digest for the day. We sat there and talked some more about our families and such. We mentioned how it was funny how this is the first time that we have met but for some reason, it feels like we have known eachother for a lot longer. After we ate I looked at my phone. It was about to die. We wandered around the station a bit trying to look for an open electrical socket to plug in our devices. Unfortunately we were running out of time. I wanted to give myself enough time to get to my bus, which turned out to be late anyway, (p.s. muffin finally came in handy) so Jess and I parted and said that we definatley needed to do this more often. Oh, and right after we parted I actually did find a ecetrical socket to plug my phone in for about 5 measly minutes. It still died on the bus and I had to borrow someones phone at the 30th Street Station to call home to let my parents know the bus was really late and I was catching a later train back. That was actually a funny story. Most of the people I asked to borrow a cell phone either didnt have one or didn't want to let me borrow it. I saw a man use his girlfriend/wife use it and then nicely asked and explained I needed to call home. He coldly said no and flew around and was off. Whatever, if you are in a hurry, I get it. People can be so rude though. A short few mintues later I'm at the pay phone and I'm digging through my wallet looking for some change to make a call. A nicley dressed young man, probably around my age, sweetly asks me for just two dollars for a bus ride. Before he is even finished telling me his desparate story, as I know it is not the first time he has had to recite it, I am already fishing in my wallet. Just getting rudely rejected by that guy, I didn't want to pass that on. The adorable kid thanked me and grined wildly.
"No worries." I said "I've been there."
As he walked away he turned to me, looked me in the eye and said. "Just gorgeous!"
"Thank you!" I bashfully giggled as I watched him walk away with a little bit off his shoulders.
Now it was only two dollars and I couldn't imagine him using it for anything other than for what he really needed it for. For some reason, in all the chaos that was that day, getting lost, running around the city, meeting Jess, meeting Chris, there was that one moment in the day that God told me to slow down. Call me crazy, but I could feel the truth through the goodness of his soul. I encourage everyone to make tiny connections like that everyday with people. Not particularly by panhandling per say, but embrace the things in life that encourage us to make connections to each other as compassionate human beings. Pass on a smile, ask someone how they are doing today and really listen to their response, or give two dollars to someone who may really need it. Hey, or even let some (Ahem!) borrow a cell phone to make a call home! haha. All I am saying is that I am so blessed when I look around at the people that pass through my life even in one day whether it is making a new friend like I did with Jess, or the boy at the 30th Street Station. Sorry if that got a little sappy but I love moments in life like that really catch you out of the blue. Plus if I could pay someone two dollars to call me gorgeous all the time, I'd be doing that a lot more often...and be broke. haha!
It was the first set trip for both Jess and I and we cannot wait until we visit again. I had so much fun making a new friend and thank her so much for allowing me to come along. Hopefully next time we will have the chance to spot Mariska? So being that the 23rd of January was her birthday, I hope she had a good one. We all hope that she recieved the book and video that was part of our mission. Haha. I watched a lot of YouYube videos of all different submissions that were made that way too. She is such an inspirational woman and is loved by so many. Happy Birthday MH!

Jess's website trip day details.

A birthday tribute video Jess put together that can be found on www.mariska-online.com




As Always...

Katie
OXOX

First Vlog!

I will post the blog entry about the New York SVU set trip soon. Meanwhile, hope you like my first vlog! Yay! (Check out my YouTube channels!) =D

July 2, 2010 *An Account of my 21st Birthday!*

Last week, on January 2, 2011, Promises, Promises preformed their last show at the Broadway Theater after 291 performances and 30 previews. The original Broadway production premiered in 1968. With the music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David, and book by Neil Simon. Last year’s revival which starred Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes, premiered on April 25, 2010. Directed and chorography by Rob Ashford, it featured such memorable songs such as, “I Say a Little Prayer”, “A House is not Home”, and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”




I would like, if you will, describe a very special day that now holds the fondest of memories, and a big part of it having to do with this special show. However, first and foremost, I went to see the show July 2, 2010, which was my 21st birthday. So like I promised before, here is an account of that day, those memories, and some funny little stories in between.

I love my Philadelphia and of COURSE my Philly sports, but New York City is a love affair that I just cannot deny. This beautiful city draws me back in the most intoxicating ways and I can never stay too far from it for too long. I plan to live there someday, if only for a while for I feel it has always been a second city, second home for me.


With that being said, my parents helped me plan a full day and night trip for my special 21st birthday. My dad drove us to Philadelphia to the 40th street station. Outside of the train station, are the Megabuses. The drive was nice. I was so tried so I had a nice little nap listening to some music. When we arrived, the Megabus staff helped us get our bags from under the bus. I immediately spotted a Starbucks across the street to which I knew had to be the first destination. We crossed the walkway and started to walk down the street. I passed a newsstand and quickly scanned the headlining gossip mags as we briskly walked by when all of a sudden, CRACK! Without knowing it, I stepped into the biggest divot in the sidewalk. My ankle rolled inside of the hole, just big enough for my foot, and fell hard on my knees and then to the ground in probably the most excruciating pain since I first broke my ankle years before. Now, I have broken my ankle twice before to where I had it casted and healed. It has been weak ever since with tiny sprains from time to time. I was hoping to God that it was not broken again. But the pain was shooting. And not only that, we did not eat any breakfast leaving that morning and with the partially lengthy bus ride, it was getting close to noon and my stomach was churning. The pain made my stomach take one rollercoaster dive. All thought of the embarrassment of wincing in pain on the sidewalks of New York City went right out of my head. A very sweet nice business type man that was walking by and had witnessed my fall was tending to me and asking if I needed an ambulance. I grabbed my ankle shaking my head and saying, "No, no, no, no, no, no." The man, my mom, and sister politely helped me up off the street. I needed to get up because I was in a high foot traffic area and also to see if I could stand. Just as I had stood up, my stomach took a major drop. I closed my eyes even tighter trying to push the thought of throwing up out of my head and the possibility of further embarrassment. I headed straight for the wall where I sat back down on the dirty street, which I didn’t even care at that point, and tried to let the nausea pass. Catching my breath and practically laying on the street, my mother thanked the man who had helped me and pleaded with me to stand up again off the dirty street. “C’mon sweetie. Starbucks is right here.” It literally was. I barely noticed that my fall had landed me a door away from my destination. Luckily it was not in front of the store of sipping onlookers. As I leaned against my sister and limped inside Starbucks my sister said to me, “Happy Birthday.” Ironically and sarcastically she scoffed which made me smile a bit. But I was determined NOT to let this ruin MY day.

My sister and mom helped me stand again and almost limp into the green and white caffeine oasis. I took a seat on one of the taller chairs close to the window and propped it up on the bench seating next to the window. My mom asked for a bag of ice and by the time they gave her the bag and she returned, tears had began to fall down my face. It was part pain part frustration and possibliy part sleep depreiviation? I can never sleep before an exciting event. But I couldn’t hold them back. I was not bawling, but enough for the warm tears make my eyes red and my face red hot too from trying to hold them back. My mom propped my ankle to position it comfortably on the ice bag, wiped my tears while fixing my makeup, gave me a kiss, and took our orders. A line at the counter was starting to form. Again, I didn’t really care about being seen in this state. Anyone could see I was in pain, so crying in public place is not so socially unacceptable…right?


After finally eating a nice breakfast at probably one of my favorite places ever, I hobbled my way to a cab and poured myself into the backseat. We made our way to the Novotel on 52nd street, literally right next to the Broadway Theater. We were there earlier than we were expected to check in but I could not imagine walking anywhere with how much pain my ankle was in. They moved us to another room than we had booked since that was available at the time. We unpacked, settled in, and I laid down to ice my foot. Erica and Mom go looking for a place to smoke, but I stay inside to rest some more. Then, as I am lying down, I hear a knock on my door. I open the door and there is hotel employee with a tray of gourmet chocolates and treats and a champagne bottle with two drinking flutes.
“Hello.” I greet, confused by the big display.
“Hello. Anniversary?” He asks in a one work question. He had a completely endearing accent and shy demeanor about him.
“Oh no I’m sorry, there is no Anniversary here. I think you might have the wrong room.” I explain.
His face dropped and I could see the process of thought run through his head. I think he may have even pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. He walked away quietly mumbling something about wrong room and room numbers. I closed the door and chuckled a bit to myself. The whole thing was utterly adorable.
Shortly after that, my sister and mom returned and I had explained the situation to them. I thought that they would get a kick out of it too until my mom’s expression changed and she quickly picked up the phone and dialed the front desk. The man happily returned, probably knowing he was not in trouble or wrong, and handed my mom the treats that were in fact intended for me. My mom closed the door and shot me a crocked glace with a smile as in, “thanks you almost ruined our surprise for you.” I laughed and said, “How was I supposed to know? He asked me ‘anniversary?’ and had two champagne glasses.” The treats were rich and on an amazingly beautiful serving dish that I wanted to take home.

I got changed and we decided to hit the streets. First we went out on the balcony outside the lobby restaurant and then while walking outside, a butterfly had landed on Erica’s shoulder and stayed there even going down the elevator and outside. It crawled on our fingers, and even our faces. We took some really cute pictures of her. I named her Alice. I think her wing was slightly ripped and that is why she didn’t fly away so quickly. Or she is just a city bug and loves the attention. Ha. I placed her on one of the plants the hotels had decorating the exterior and said, “Thank you and God Bless you little bug.”




We then went to the M&M factory, one of my most favorite places ever. (I also went to the one in Las Vegas last year. I guess that just leaves visiting the one in Orlando?) I love M&Ms. Haha. We walked up and down Time Square and had an overly priced lunch at TGIF Friday’s (New York! What do you want?) I actually wanted to get an alcoholic drink while I was there but Erica stopped me. She said, “Why not get your first alcoholic drink, first time carded, in the theater. Make it special.”


Erica’s legs were killing her and Mom was pretty tired. This was only a few weeks after her hip surgery. It was still a few hours before the show and I still wanted to do some exploring. They went back to the hotel and I went to the center of Time Square. I remembered this beauty shop I wanted to visit so I found a tourist spot in Time square where I asked someone where the nearest “Ricky’s” was. I got an address and phone number. The nearest Ricky’s was just a few walking distance blocks from our hotel. I walked the streets of the city, bought some beauty products, including a much needed, the much talked about SPANX. Haha. Worth the money. I can’t forget the sunglasses guy. On a street about a block and a half away from the hotel, there was a sunglasses stand on a nice part of the street. The very nice elderly black man that was selling them and I struck up a conversation about Sports, including my Philly sports and the trading of Vick as well as it being my birthday. On a side note, everyone I met that day was so nice. I’ve heard horror stories about the cruel City. Everyone EVERYONE I met that day was like a little gift from God. I made back in time for a shower and got all dressed up. We hung out at the restaurant inside the hotel, but our orders took way too long. We ditched dinner so we would not be late for the show.


And then Showtime! I cannot say enough about this show. Since I heard that Kristin was coming back to Broadway, my heart was all a flutter. And being the huge Will & Grace fanatic that I was and still am, I could not think of a more perfect match for the two of them to be together in this show. I have never been able to see Kristin Chenoweth perform live before, which has always been a dream of mine and something I was damn sure a goal I would accomplish before I died, no matter what. Haha. It was a perfect, and I do mean perfect show. Sean had us rolling ROLLING in isles. There was this scene where he walks into the office of his boss, and there is this very interesting modern looking chair. He is trying to figure out how to sit on it. He puts his leg through the hole and flips around so fast and then scrabbles himself back up to his feet as his boss walks in. I am a TOTAL sucker for physical/slapstick comedy and I was completely laughing like a four year old. Then a little later in the scene, the boss sits on chair the right way and Sean’s character, C.C. Baxter, stops mid sentence and goes, “Ohh” with a look of epiphany as in ‘Oh that’s how you sit on it.’ Died…laughing! And that was only like the second scene.



(See what I mean about Sean and the chair at 5 seconds into the video! LOL!)


The emotion was so real, every time. Kristin had me crying during the attempted suicide scene, which definitely pulled some heartstrings. She’s just a pip and I love her no matter what she does. She could be dressed as a sad clown and I’d be entertained. But the risk she took of not being “the funny one” or at least the center focus of being the “funny one.” Don’t get me wrong, she had her own hilarious lines, but when it came to bearing her heart and breaking in for us, (and over and over again for almost 300 times) she was totally committed. She should have least been nominated...and win. The whole show should have won. Listen, I'm no theater critic, and I admit, in this case I am quite biased. However, theater critics' are slowly loosing their place. (Sorry fellas) I mean thinking back to Wicked, it was not the critics that made that show a juggernaut, it was the masses of loyal fans that made it "Popular." (haha) Same thing with Promises, Promises. It was the fans that kept the shows sold out each night. And I am honored to be a part of one of those loyal fans.

I bawled like a baby as the lights came up for intermission. An overwhelming amount mixed emotions flooded me and my face and eyes. The lights came up as I brushed the tears away quickly with my palms. Trying to avoid any looks, as I’m sure my makeup was not how I put it on before I walked inside. I was praying there was no running mascara hoping not to frighten the adorable barely tweener that sat next to me, obviously getting her Cheno-fandom on as well.


(Kristin <3)


The show would advertise, “IF you like Mad Men, then you like of this show.” It is so true. I wanted those costumes very badly. Not that I would fit into any of them (certainly not Kristin’s by any mercy of God.) But my graduation project in high school was theatrical costume designing, and period/era clothing like that, I just drool over. Not literally, because then I’d never be able to give them back, but I have so much fun in the attics of our community theaters looking through old props and dresses. Same reason I love antiquing. It’s like transcending yourself to another time. Perhaps another time I had lived in before. My grandmother ralways says I’m an old soul. Anyway, we stepped outside at intermission and I felt very era. Smoking in one hand, I mentioned how I would love to have a martini in the other. How early 1960s? My mom mentioned, “Maybe when we get back to the bar at the hotel, you can.” My eyes lit up. Oh yea, stupid, you’re 21!


The opening of act II was the perfect comic relief after Fran Kebelik (Kristin) attempted suicide. Katie Finneran knocks it OUT! She absolutely killed it. She has a very short part in the middle, but rightfully won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a musical last year for her role as Marge MacDougall. And let me tell you honey, was I screaming, cheering, and crying when that happened. Her acceptance speech was beautiful. During the beginning of October she had a few last shows as she went on maternity leave. The ever hilarious, ever wonderful Molly Shannon filled her shoes until the very last performance. I would have loved to see Molly in that role, but honestly was so thrilled I saw it with Katie instead.




(Katie & Sean! Hilarious!)








Stage door time!


“I have never done this stage door waiting before.” I told one of the girls I was squished next to as we were preparing for a scramble of people stepping over each other for autographs. The two friends proceeded to tell me that they were high school students. The girls told me how this was something like their fourth show this week while they were visiting. Student rush tickets. We waited for a long time, particularly for Kristin. The door would open and there would be a sweep of tweener gasps hoping it was her. Of course people freaked when Sean came out, everyone knows him. Programs, playbills, memorabilia, were being hurled within a sea of arms. I shoved mine forward to get my Sean autograph, and alas, there it was. Each cast member really took the time to autograph each one as they went down the crowd. Katie came out and I jeered and shrieked with excitement. While she didn’t get the same frenzy as Kristin or Sean, I made sure she knew I was a fan. “Congratulations on your Tony win, Katie!” I said as I had thrust my program forward with probably the biggest cheesiest smile ever. She took the program in her hand, looked me dead in the eye and with the most sincerity and humbleness, said thank you. I mean, it sounds simple but you could tell that it really meant something to her and I felt so great being able to tell her that. As she left I heard a few people saw they were unsure of who she was. (She did come out blonde while in the show, Marge is a redhead.) Other people filled those people in who she was. And then, Of course it was Kristin time. We knew because her little dog Maddie came out first in some child/dog carrying thing strapped to one bodyguard’s chest. I thought it was quite comical that Maddie got a bigger fan fare than some other cast members exiting the stage door that night. If you know Kristin, you know her baby, her dog Madeline Kahn Chenoweth. That’s right…full name. And then there she was, looking like the fabulous diva she is stepping out in a cute tank and sunglasses. (The sunglasses are seriously not to look diva-ish, it’s really because, like me, flashes of light from say, a ton of cameras, trigger migraines very easily for her. I hear ya sister.) It all happened so fast. I might have said “thank you” as she came by to sign autographs, but completely dazzled, I only remember being star struck once again. I met her in April of 2009 when she was on her book signing tour. I just love her.


(Sean signing)


(KATIE THANKING ME!)


(Sorry. Best and only one I have of Kristin at the Stage Door.)


We went back to the hotel and drank a little and ate some food. The kitchen was not technically open but my mom had made arrangements. After that bust day, I had an easy night’s sleep and the next morning my mom and I had fun walking around the city before we had to catch the bus home. A bunch of streets were closed off for some sort of merchant’s fair. There were tons of stands with foods, crafts, jewelry, you name it. It went on for blocks too. My ankle still hurt those days, but I bought some sterile wraps and constantly iced it when I was not walking. Like I said, I was determined and did not let it ruin my special day.


(Me & NYC)


(Sissy & I)


(My beautiful Mama!)



Another year older, another year to remember how blessed I am to recognize the wonderful people in my life and the great blessings that God has given me. I’ll never forget that day.
Love,
Katie oxox

DADT POLICY REPELED!

During the 1993 Clinton administration, there was a policy set into place for the armed forces of the United States for those who enlisted not to disclose their sexual orientation. If they admitted that they were gay or someone else outed them out for being a homosexual, they would be discharged with the threat of being stripped of their rank, benefits, and most of all dignity. Thankfully, things are changing. The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Policy is repealed!

On December 19th the news had broken that on Saturday Congress repealed the policy as the Senate voted with a 65-31 count. On December 23rd, President Barack Obama signed the bill doing away with the policy completely. Obama said, "We are not a nation that says 'don't ask, don't tell.' We are a nation that says out of many, we are one. We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. We are a nation that believes all men and women are created equal." Obama recounted the story of Lloyd Corwin, an Army private during World War II who fell into a 40-foot ravine during the Battle of the Bulge and was "as good as dead." But a friend and fellow soldier named Andy Lee turned back and rescued Corwin. Forty years later the two friends had reunited and Lee told Corwin that he was gay. Corwin "had no idea. And he didn't much care," Obama said. "Lloyd knew what mattered. He knew what had kept him alive."And that is how it should be. If you are a good person, it should not matter if you are gay or straight, who you love, who you are, because someone else’s relationships do not affect you at all.

I don’t have an immense knowledge when it comes to politics. Perhaps that should be something to make a New Year resolution about, but I know what I am passionate about and learn as much as I can so I can properly defend and stand up for what I know is right. And Mr. President, I could not be prouder. Equality for all. That is how it should be and should have already been. Men and women fighting for the country they live in and love should not have to hide who they are in a country that ironically boasts that we are “the land of the free.”




Sometimes people cannot understand my passion for the gay rights issue and why I keep it so near and dear to my heart, even if I am not gay. And I say, how can I not be passionate. Equal rights are something that we all should be born with, and yet in this day and age, things like Proposition 8 are still around. It absolutely breaks my heart when I see some of my very best friends who are gay and the extra struggles that they must endure and have endured throughout their childhood and teenage. It makes me think of the horrible string of suicides that have recently been in the news. Blow after blow, I wonder to myself, how many more struggles must we inflict? What kind of message are we giving out to our influential youth when we raise them with the idea same Jim Crowe law mentality. Well, separate is not equal and this is no longer the sixties.

The very existence of this policy made it a free ticket for bigoted and ignorant people to continue their poisonous and contractible violence and hate. And why does this happen? Because having a policy like this makes the masses believe that behavior like this is acceptable. Even inside the military and armed forces, just allows more of this violence acceptable. I once heard in a personal story told by a member of the military who was discharged because he was gay. But before anyone knew he was, a friend as well as a fellow core training student, said to him, “I think we should hang gay people out front so they know that they are not welcome.” You have to imagine that heart wrenching stories like these are not extremely rare. There are ignorant people no matter what. But now I believe that they will forced to see how the utter hypocrisy and cruelty of their words and action.




What an exciting time it is. For the first time in eighteen years, the brave men and women will be able to serve with honor and integrity without losing the benefits they have so rightfully earned, and without having to hide under some ridiculous policy for the sake of keeping their job when they are already out their protecting our freedom without the freedom they deserve. Brave souls who are fighting on the frontlines and defending our borders with their own lives. Because gay or not, the armed forces involve the highest level of bravery and discipline imaginable and I am so sure I would not be able to do what they do.




God made each one of us are marvelous individuals who are different. God does not make mistakes. You can try to change people’s minds about tough hot button issues like religion, but the least you can do is try to change someone’s heart a bit, open it up and remind them of their own human compassion and sympathy and how they would feel if the tables were turned.

I honestly could write an entire book right now on my feeling about how overjoyed and proud I am that this has finally happened and all the feeling in between. I have so many gay friends and it breaks my heart when I see yet another unjust, unfair, and inhumane way to separate and discriminate. This happens because often there are those who do not understand, do not wish to understand, or just simply display horrible acts of sadistic violence. This will be a long road. A victory indeed but just like any major change, adjustments are made and needed for their to be freedom and equality that protect everyone . My fear is that gay bashing will find its form in other ways and in higher amounts because of the disagreement so may have over the repeal of this policy, but only time will tell and we will have to cross that bridge when we get there but try to prevent further harm from being done.

It is all one day at a time, and December 19 will be the day that that we as human beings, gay or straight, took one step forward in being a more unified nation and proving by actions what America is, should , and will be. To any gay readers of this blog post or my blog in general, firstly um…thanks for reading my blog of course. =D Haha! (Please follow!) But mostly, stay strong and keep fighting. My heart bleeds for your struggles because I can only imagine that it cannot be easy at times. There is good and there are good people out there. Have hope, dear ones. One day, someday things will be different and we will look back on these time and say, “Remember back in the day when we had ridiculous things like proposition 8 and the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy.”

You are loved.

Happy New Year, Especially to our brave men women who are fighting or have fought to protect freedom and lives. We thank you and God Bless.
All my love from the bottom of my heart,
Katie Ciarlone
OXOX



(Obama quotes from http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/23/nation/la-na-dont-ask-20101223)