Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)–No, It’s Not Really Mexican Halloween

Some people think that El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is something like Halloween because it falls so near that holiday that was brought to America by European immigrants.
From what I’ve learned, it has more in common with Memorial Day than Halloween.  I suppose the connection between these two “dark” holidays comes [...]

What’s Matthew Mitcham Up To These Days?

 
The hits on here indicate that a lot of people are still very into Matthew Mitcham, the Olympic gold-medal diver from Australia.  It seems like he’s been a very busy guy since winning the diving championship last year in Beijing.
According to an interview done by afterelton.com: “A year after shooting to worldwide fame, Mitcham isn’t [...]

Grandma’s House and A One-of-a-Kind Photo Collection

For a kid, my grandma’s house wasn’t the most fun place to visit, especially if you went there almost every day. It was pleasant enough on summertime evenings, when the grown-ups sat on the front porch and we kids sat on the “stoop” or ran down into the ravine (which wasn’t really a ravine, but [...]

Vicuña, Chile–One of Those “Magical” Places

I was sorting through the box of photos that I have, both tonight and last night, remembering old friendships and re-visiting past trips.
It makes me wonder, in these digital days, whether in the future people will be able to enjoy this kind of collection–either in the hodgepodge of envelopes still from the developer like I [...]

Eurovision Competition To Be Held in Moscow in Ten Days; Check Out the Competitors from Your Favorite Countries

I mentioned the Eurovision competition a couple of times before. This annual song contest, pitting the winners of national contests, will be held in Moscow this year, with the finals on May 16th. I’m not sure how they determine which countries get in–I mean it is called Eurovision–because a few of the countries, [...]

It’s Official! Vermont Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto To Approve Gay Marriage Equality; In Less Than a Week the Number of States Making Marriage Equal for All Doubles

Vermont through legislative action this morning overrode the governor’s veto of gay marriage in the New England state. 
Vermont joins Iowa, which gave its approval to gay marriage just last Friday, Massachusetts and Connecticut as the four U.S. states which have leveled the marriage field ground for all their citizens.  Read more on today’s vote here.

Snowy Denver Trip Brings a Change of Pace

Over the past few days, a work-related conference took me to Denver . The trip was busy, fairly tiring, but overall worthwhile.
I hadn’t been to Denver since going to see Fleetwood Mac at Mile High Stadium back in the late 70s. Plus, the day after my arrival, the city was hit with what everyone there [...]

Typical Small-Minded Thinking and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Get Kansas National Guard Member Kicked Out of the Military

This morning when I read about the Kansas National Guard discharging one of its members for being gay based on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, I was once again launched into the “push-pull” relationship that I have had for a long tim2  with my home state, Kansas, and some of its people. (Though I have lived [...]

Happy News from Asia: China Allows Gay Marriage

Even if it is a penguin marriage. According to reports in the Brit paper, The Sun, a pair of gay penguins, who had previously been banished from the colony for trying to steal eggs from the heterosexual paired penguins, have now become the pride and glory of Polarland, a zoo in Harbin, China.
Urged by zoo [...]

Holiday Gifts For You (From Triptotheouthouse)–Wishing You All A . . .

The thermometer says 48 degrees this morning, probably not very crisp for some of you in the more northerly climes, but a mighty big change here in H-town from the 80 degrees that my car thermometer read about 7:30 last evening.
With my green sweatpants and red jacket, I probablylooked a little like one of Santa’s [...]