So it seems that Prop 8, banning gay marriage in California, has passed. Thank you, bigots and homophobes and fear-mongering cowards of all stripes, for fucking up California for everyone who already moved here to GET AWAY FROM YOU.

But the next step is heavy litigation. From the Daily KOS: Since the court ruling that led to this proposition found that marriage was a "fundamental right" under the state constitution, you cannot take that right away by simply amending the constitution; you would need to revise it.

While an amendment only needs a simple majority vote, a revision requires a constitutional convention, which itself requires a two-thirds legislative vote -- something highly unlikely to happen in California. I've seen some suggestions that can also be accomplished with a two-thirds popular vote as well, but I've been unable to determine if that's the case, and doubt they'd ever get that on this issue.

In any case, this might be a temporary setback, but it is NOT permanent defeat.

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It seems Michael Crichton, author of myriad science & thriller novels, has died of cancer. He was 66, so young! How very sad. I've actually never even read a Michael Crichton book, but I've watched "ER" (which he helped create) and seen both "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World" and I have meant to pick up "The Andromeda Strain" for some time now. Rest in peace, sir.

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And finally (in other, completely unrelated news) do I have any Civil War buffs on my f-list? I'm looking for books that provide a really good overview of not just the battles of the Civil War, but what it was actually like for someone LIVING during that period of time in America—what the economy was like, what they might've had in their house, what the newspapers were like, all the day-to-day stuff. I'm headed to the library today to check out "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara and "The Civil War for Dummies," and I've requested "Battle Cry of Freedom" by James McPherson, but I'd like to hear anyone's recommendations.