turtles, rivers, mitochondria, figs, all this resinous, unretractable, earth. the next reader is summer brenner. . >> i'm going it read today an excerpt from anana, queen of heaven and earth. i wanted to say a few words about anana. this is the oldest literary work that we have. these are the cuniform tablets that were excavated in the late 1880's and early 1890's by the university of pennsylvania. tens of thousands of fragments of cuniform fragments. the story of anana starts in her adolescence. it travels through her journey as a queen and a goddess, and

much of her story is devoted to the love, a very passionate love, for dimusi, who is a shepherd who she takes as her husband, lover and king. and this is called the return. a lament was raised in the city. my lady weeps bitterly for her young husband. anana weeps bitterly for her young husband. woe for her husband, woe for her young love, woe for her house, woe for her city. dimusi was taken captive in aruk. he will no longer bathe in aradu. he will no longer treat the mother of anana of his mother. he will no longer perform his sweet task among the maidens of

the city. he will no longer raise his sword higher than the kugar of priests. great is the grief of those who mourn for dimusi. anani wept for dimusi. gone is my husband, my sweet husband. gone is my sweet love. my beloved has been taken from the city. oh, you flies of the steppe, my beloved bride groom has been taken from me before i could wrap him with a proper shroud. the wild bull lives no more. his shepherd, the wild bull, lives no more. dimusi, the wild bull, lives no more. i ask the hills and valleys where is my husband. i say to him, i can no longer bring him food. i can no longer serve him drink.

the jackel lies in his bed. you ask me about his reed pipe. the wind must play it for him. you ask me about his sweet songs. the wind must sing them for him. satur, the mother of dimusi, weeps for his song. once my boy wandered so freelly on the steppe, now he is captured. once dimusi wandered so freely on the steppe, now he is bound. the ewe gives up her lamb, the goat gives up her kid. my heart plays the reed pipe of mourning. in a place where he once said my mother will ask for me, now he cannot move his hands, now he cannot move his feet. i would see my child.

the mother walked to the desolate place. she looked at the slain wild bull. she looked into its face. she said, my child, the face is yours. the spirit has fled. there is mourning in the house. there is grief in the inner chambers. the sister wandered about the city, weeping for her brother. gestanana wandered about the city, weeping for dimusi. oh, my brother, who is your sister? i am your sister. oh, dimusi, who is your mother? i am your mother. the day that dawns for you will also dawn for me. the day that you will see, i will also see. i would find my brother, i would comfort him, i would share his fate. when she saw the sister's grief, when anana saw the grief

of gestana, she spoke to him gently. dimusi is no more. i would take you to him, but i do not know the place. then a fly appeared. the holy fly circled the air above anana's head and spoke, if i tell you where dimusi is, what are you give me? anana said, if you tell me, i will let you frequent the beer houses and taverns. i will let you dwell among the talk of the wise ones. i will let you dwell among the songs of the minstrals. the fly spoke. lift your eyes to the edges of the steppe. lift your eyes to arali. there you will find gestanana's brother. there you will find the

shepherd, dimusi. anana and gestanana went to the steppe. they found dimusi weeping. anana took his and and said, you will go to the underworld for half of the year. your sister, since she asked, will go the other half. on the day gestanana is called, that day you will be set free. anana set dimusi's hand in the and of the holy, great is your renoun, holy aristagal. i sing your praises. thank you.

i'm the president of friends of mclaren park. it is one of the oldest neighborhood community park groups in san francisco. i give a lot of tours through the park. during those tours, a lot of the folks in the group will think of the park as very scary. it has a lot of hills, there's

a lot of dense groves. once you get towards the center of the park you really lose your orientation. you are very much in a remote area. there are a lot of trees that shield your view from the urban setting. you would simply see different groves that gives you a sense of freedom, of being outdoors, not being burdened by the worries of city life. john mclaren had said that golden gate park was too far away. he proposed that we have a park in the south end of the city. the campaign slogan was, people need this open space. one of the things that had to open is there were a lot of people who did a homestead here, about 25 different families. their property had to be bought up. so it took from 1928 to 1957 to buy up all the parcels of land that ended up in this 317 acres. the park, as a general rule, is

heavily used in the mornings and the evenings. one of the favorite places is up by the upper reservoir because dogs get to go swim. it's extremely popular. many fights in the city, as you know, about dogs in parks. we have 317 acres and god knows there's plenty of room for both of us. man and his best friend. early in the morning people before they go to work will walk their dogs or go on a jog themselves with their dogs. joggers love the park, there's 7 miles of hiking trails and there's off trail paths that hikers can take. all the recreational areas are heavily used on weekends. we have the group picnic area which should accommodate 200 people, tennis courts are full. it also has 3 playground areas.

the ampitheater was built in 1972. it was the home of the first blues festival. given the fact that jerry garcia used to play in this park, he was from this neighborhood, everybody knows his reputation. we thought what a great thing it would be to have an ampitheater named after jerry garcia. that is a name that has panache. it brings people from all over the bay area to the ampitheater. the calls that come in, we'd like to do a concert at the jerry garcia ampitheater and we do everything we can to accommodate them and help them because it gets people into the park. people like a lot of color and that's what they call a park. other people don't. you have to try to reconcile all those different points of view. what should a park look like and what should it have? should it be manicured, should

it be nice little cobblestones around all of the paths and like that. the biggest objective of course is getting people into the park to appreciate open space. whatever that's going to take to make them happy, to get them there, that's the main goal. if it takes a planter with flowers and stuff like that, fine. you know, so what? people need to get away from that urban rush and noise and this is a perfect place to do it. feedback is always amazement. they don't believe that it's in san francisco. we have visitors who will say, i never knew this was here and i'm a native san franciscoan. they wonder how long it's been here. when i tell them next year we'll get to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the park,k,

>> the person i am excited to meet her. her book is called, my miserable, lonely lesbian pregnancy. please, partake our free pens.

andrea. >> thank you for wearing my buttons. it comforts me to see sad faces. my miserable, lonly lesbian pregnancy. tonight i am going to read, to snip or not to snip. >> conception. i drive to the california cryo bank. there's no waiting room. just a glass window. a woman changes me $350.

a vile half the size of my pinkie encased. this way up. i head to the clinic. i carry the sperm box inside. it's unwieldy. this is my second attempt. so i know the routine. the first time, i brought my friend. even some crouch shots. most people don't get good shots of conception. i feel confident this time, like i'm doing my part in the

world. the war in iraq started. may be this kid will be a piece maker, a modern day jesus christ as this jew understands jesus. i don't know what does. week 21, everyone thinks i'm having a boy. by everyone, i mean the waiter and my grandmother and neighbor across the street. i was getting out of my car and she yelled "your having a boy". week 22, my family is involved in an all out campaign on the names i'm considering.

she mocks the mothers calling after their sons, sebastion. i didn't realize lisa is racist. makes me like the name more. i say good, because i'm hoping for a fag. week 25, it's 4:00 a.m. and i'm give up for an hour. who do i do for circumcision.

it's a covenant with god. it seems like they feel plenty of pleasure. may be we should reduce a man's pleasure. may be this was god's way of reducing a man's libido. may be my son is not going to study the torah. we need to identify proudly. but then, am i imposing my will on my child? i can't have a child. week 30, i have an appointment at the hollywood birth center where i will have natural

childbirth, which i don't recommend. alex is my primary caretaker today. i read your medical records, do you want to know if it's a boy or girl? yeah, but don't tell me. i ask if she had children. not yet i said. i said it sucks. then i try to be funny. do you think epidurals have contributed. she opens my chart. is says you're having trouble holding urine. i pee every time i sneeze. may be i should wear depends.

are you doing your cagels? let me teach you a way that will be fun. i think she's about to make a joke. as you squeeze, save, i love my body. four counts hold. notice your vaginal area tightening. i love my body. squeeze a little harder. i love my body. good. that does make it fun, i say. alex presses on my belly and

says seven pounds. how am i going to get it out? i am hoping for a super wide vagina. i will have one after the birth. i know this is not sexualy, ideal. i think lesbians like a super wide vagina on their partner. the more she can shove in, the more sexual. you shouldn't sircumicize. do you have any articles about

the benefits of circumcision marks a jewish boy. i know she's not a lesbian. then you don't understand. week 31, i'm not going to sircumicize. i heard on the radio that thomas jefferson owned slaves. he bowed to cultural pressure. some things are just wrong. week 32, i make the mistake of telling my mom i'm struggling

with circumcision. i don't think so. i think of the stuff that can get caught in the vagina. that's not nice. andrea. if this child is jewish. he needs to be sircumicized. you don't want your boy to feel strange. that's true. i think my anxiety is fear of having a boy. i am terrified of boys. they are wild and smelly.

i said, there is no way to know that. well i know for a fact you don't need it. like i wanted to talk to my dad about his penis. week 34, i don't have the double wide vagina i was hoping for. with just six weeks to go. instructions for peroneal massage. lock hands. apply lubricant. extra virgin olive oil.

hold the thumb in place for two minutes or until it becomes numb. slowly massage over the vagina. it's best done with a partner. instead, i take a back door approach and use my finger. i have a lot of stretching to do. week 41, 3:45 p.m. it feels like i have to pee and poo.

she says long contractions indicate early labor. she says call in a few hours. >> dana comes over. she feeds her tea while i'm having contractions. i am in active labor. i am surprised you're so calm. i say, i'm surprised you're so calm. 11:30 p.m. dana drives to the birth center. i tell her right now i am not sad to do this. this is a solo expedition.

i dark brown blob of slim e falls out. the mucous plug has to fall out. it's the mucous plug. i am in awe of dana. 1:30 a.m. i am naked. i modified downward dog. i think of the view everyone is getting. no one cares. 4:00 a.m., i am nine centimeters. i am pruned and exhausted. you are doing great dana says, i am not interested in being

great. it's still nine centimeters. it's not time yet. she says me to blow out with my mouth. i say i might barf. 5:45 a.m. still nine, i hate dana. dana breaks my water. after 15 hours it's time to push. when you are this desperate, it's almost over. push, your pushes are excellent. 7:17. i can feel the baby's hair. you see your baby's head.

7:40. i do what she says. we rehearse. dana is guiding my baby's head. this is called ring of fire. okay. push hard. i moan like a walrus. my vagina tears to my ass. but i don't care. dana puts the baby on my chest. the cord is still attached. i am still shaking. the baby's eyes are wide open. i cry, the baby cries. i have a baby. it's a girl. [applause]