Yesterday I had no energy for musings; hence, no “Sunday Morning Musings”.  The move to my new house is ongoing, although I definitely am living there.  Last week at this time, I couldn’t say where I lived;  I was just too tired from lifting and toting and pushing.  Then too, I was sleeping on the sofa in the new place.  It all felt like camping or the numb feeling after Hurricane Ike.

Now I feel like I’m living again even though much of the house is in total disarray (todo un desmadre).  I still have several loads of possessions to collect at my old apartment, which I have to be out of by a week from today. 

Satellite was hooked up on Saturday; this means that now all of the communication devices are working.  So with a shiny, new TV, I was set for Sunday football, but most of the day, I spent on the necessary weekend chores, plus settling in some more, making one more trip to the apartment, and even painting a bit.

So by 8:30 PM, exhausted as I was, the Bears vs. the Eagles held even less interest for me than the Bears vs. the Eagles normally would.  I switched over to the American Music Awards, then went into the kitchen to do some more sorting and putting away, only to hear Janet Jackson singing Michael Jackson, sounding like Michael Jackson:  maybe they really were/are they same person.

After the ho-hum of more unpacking was interrupted by a phone call, I decided to give up the ghost for the night at just before 10 o’clock. I checked out  the NFL game, then started flipping through the channels.  At the moment I got to the local ABC station, up popped the AMA once again, announcing Adam Lambert.

Truly, I don’t know much about Adam Lambert, only that he was the runner-up on American Idol, that he’s got this 80s glam look goin’ on, and that he hasn’t been shy about his being gay.  Actually, I admire him for having that “I’m gay, take-it-or-leave-it” attitude so early in his career.  I admire that same attitude in a lot of young people these days, that they just can be who they are without stodgy conservatism trying to make them hide themselves.

That’s why while watching Lambert’s performance, I was amazed to see him dancing and prancing on stage in front of a national audience, the likes of which I don’t remember having seen since the days of David Bowie.  Oh, we’ve seen similar dancing and hip-thrusting, but with female stars like Madonna and Janet Jackson.  Then when he pulled one of the male dancer’s head to his crotch and soon after kissed a keyboard player, I said to myself, “You go, Adam.”

To be honest, I didn’t care for the song at all, and I’m not really sure whether he’s got a voice or not, but when it comes to chutzpah (and I definitely mean the good chutzpah), Adam Lambert has it going on.  Lambert will find someone to write some decent music and he’ll get some voice training, but his gutsy performance last night on the American Music Awards is going to go along way for him . . . and for other gay people.

You see, Adam Lambert is not afraid to be himself . . . like a lot of gay people are.  Unless gay people act like themselves in public, straight people are forever going to keep their blinders on and deny that we exist.  They can’t deny that mixed-race couples exist when they see them or they see their children.  But they still can deny gay people exist when they see two guys together or two women together even when they know they are together.  They can deny it because gay people help them deny it by not holding hands or hugging or giving a smooch in public, the same physical acknowledgement that straight couples give to each other.   How do we ever expect straight deniers from seeing that we really are just like them, unless we show them that we are?

Yeah, there have been those screaming their negative comments about Lambert’s performance today in response to articles about the AMA, but these are the same people that would have been screaming if it had been Madonna or Lady Gaga.  Let them scream; artists that want to make it big take it to the edge, and this is just what Adam Lambert was doing.  However, in doing so, he’s saying, “Hey, I’m gay and this is who I am.”

You go, Adam.

I just saw this article in today’s Wichita Eagle and almost peed on myself from laughing, so I have to share it:

Couple Arrested After Reporting Robbery

WICHITA — A man and woman notified police that robbers had stolen something from them at their Planeview apartment Monday night, and ended up being arrested themselves.

What had been stolen? Marijuana.

The 32-year-old man and 29-year-old woman said five armed men came to their place in the 3800 block of East Ross Parkway at about 9 p.m. and took marijuana. One of the suspects accidentally fired his gun, spooking the rest of the suspects, police said.

They ran from the apartment and fled in a white Cadillac, dropping marijuana as they ran.

More marijuana was found inside the apartment, police said, so the man and woman were booked on suspicion of various drug charges, including selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

Finally this child molester who hid behind religion will get his just metes.  Read more about the sentencing.

A short gripe, then I have to go . . . work. 

Veterans Day was created to honor those who served their country in the armed forces.  Great!  But why is it that so many who get to take advantage of the day are people who aren’t veterans at all?  Wall Street is closed.  I wonder how many of those money grubbers who are getting the millions-plus bonuses are veterans.  Most of the banks and credit unions are closed.  Likewise, many government workers at all levels have the day off.  What percentage of these people are veterans?

If the government wants to honor veterans, why don’t they make it mandatory that all businesses give their veterans the day off?  Otherwise, if they want to give banks and government workers the day off, why don’t they just implement bank holidays like they have in Britain?

There’s a hurricane–or “would-be” hurricane out in the gulf.  Her name is Ida, and she has come into the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan coast.  Check out the latest information on Ida at weather.com.  This is the first named storm to come into the gulf this year, but, of course, we all remember the horrible ”I” storm from last season–Hurricane Ike.

Hurricanes and other rough weather take on a new perspective now that I have my own house.  Even so, I’m looking forward to being inside the house for a good rain–something cozy and protective about that.

Actually, I’m in the midst of painting.  I got the utility room done, and the washer and dryer arrived yesterday.  I’m going to test them out today for the first time.  I’ll take Annie, a car-load of “stuff”, and a basketful of clothes.

The move is a slow one, and that’s just what I want.  I’m not going to kill myself by trying to do it all at once.  I haven’t called the movers yet to do the big furniture, but I expect to do that this week.

It’s a bittersweet time.  I’ve lived here for ten years, and my apartment is comfortable, and I like the feeling of having people near.  On the other hand, aside from the driving commute, I got the house I wanted, and the more time I spend there, I realize just what a nice house it is.

OK, now I gotta get hoppin’.

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 with all of the artistic images of skeletons (calacas) that are used in connection with El Dia de los Muertos.  When the conquistadores from Spain arrived, like many other of the natives’ traditions, the invaders tried to put an end to this ritual; however, the best that they could do was to get it moved to the date of the Catholic All Saints Day.

The traditions vary by location in Mexico, but, in general, El Dia de los Muertos has been celebrated since pre-Hispanic times, with people going to the cemeteries, decorating graves, taking food and other gifts that their deceased loved ones might enjoy, and even spending time near the graves; all of this as a way to remember or perhaps “reunite” with the dead relatives.

On a trip some years ago to Mexico City, I visited the Escuela Normal de Maestros (Normal School for Teachers) just to take a look at some famous paintings that are housed there.  It was just about this same time of year, and in one building on campus, the students had set up “Day of the Dead” exhibits, which showed a wide variety of rituals for celebrating this holiday across the whole of Mexico.  Everywhere in Mexico City, there were vendors selling little skull candies and ofrendas, which seem to me somewhat of the “Hallmark-ing” of the ancient event.

What I like most about El Dia de los Muertos are all the cartoon-like skeletons, almost always seeming to be having fun.  Maybe they are mocking death.  To me, these calacas make death seem much happier and bright, rather than the morbid, dark association that most of us north of the border have.

Why would anyone paint a laundryroom the color of a military jeep?  Not the Desert Storm sand-colored variety of jeep, but the traditional dark olive green.

I primed the walls twice with two coats of Kilz so far and the green still wants to come through.

This has been my first project in my new house.  I ordered the washer and dryer yesterday,  and this morning I carried my last loads of clothes across the complex to the laundromat.  I’ll wash my clothes next weekend at the house even though I don’t expect to be sleeping there yet.  My plans are to have the movers come in two weeks.  Then I’ll definitely be moved in.

Why so slow?  Besides the laundryroom, I also want to paint my bedroom before I set up my bedroom.  Yep, I’m one of those people that has and loves his waterbed, so once it’s filled up, changing its place in the room is not an option.

Annie went with me a couple of times and already loves having a backyard; the empty house doesn’t have so much appeal, but she hung out and laid on the sunlit carpet, while I applied the primer.

We’re both going to miss our evening visits with our friends, both human and canine, at our little neighborhood park, but we can come back for visits, especially on the weekend.

I was reminded how much Annie means to me (not that I haved to be reminded at all) when one of our park friends lost her dog.  We had just seen them on Wednesday at the park and heard that Sophie, a German Shorthaired Pointer, had passed out on their walk.  Then on Friday, she came into the room where her owner was and just collapsed again and that was it.  Apparently, she had heart problems.

Sophie was a sweet dog who just liked to sit and wait for any squirrel she might see in the tree.  Her owner is single and Sophie was her only dog.

There are quite a number of us, single, one-dog people, that come to the park.  And not that others don’t care for their dogs just as much as we do, but our dogs are such an important part of our lives, because we are single.

On that sad note, it’s time to go to bed.  The hour’s not that late, but with the time change and all the ups-and-downs on the ladder, I can feel that it’s time.

The funny thing is last night I slept better than I have in a long time.  I’m not sure why exactly; I guess I expected that it would all work out OK.  Yesterday, I had the final walk-through with my agent, and I thought that I would have the closing papers in my hand, or at least in an email attachment, and also the actual amount that I would have to take to closing.  That was what I had been told by the title company.

However, the flurries of activity by my agent, their agent, the lender, the people from HUD approving all my paperwork, and the title company all seemed to continue–or maybe not.  I don’t really know.  I felt like I was in the dark.  I waited patiently–I’ve been a patient waiter in all of this, having done what I could do myself, letting all those other people, do their jobs.  Then about two hours before the supposed closing time, with still no word from any of them, I made one call to my agent, and within about 20 minutes I had a call from the lender with the amount of the check I had to take for my closing costs.  But just to show how loose ends everything was at that point, during our phone call the amount changed.

I hurried from work, went and got my cashier’s check, and headed to the title company.  The seller’s agent was there, as was my agent.  The sellers weren’t, because they now live overseas, which just led to more complications because another agent was there who had Power of Attorney for the sellers, or shall we say, got Power of Attorney via long distance to the title company officer.

There were several other loose ends to be tied up, a lot of signing to be done mostly by me, but also by the sellers’ agent and the agent with Power of Attorney.

Then the signed papers had to be faxed or emailed (I didn’t see that) back to my lender’s office for approval, and, of course, some of the paperwork had to be redone.

It was almost a 3-hour session, but I totally enjoyed the experience, the culmination of all the driving to look at neighborhoods, all the worry about whether I would get the loan, all the weirdness of looking at houses filled with the stuff of people I didn’t know.

Though I’m back in my snug apartment tonight, with a cold rain blowing from the north outside, I’m happy with myself for having pushed myself to get my own house.  It’s going to be a big change, but I like the house a lot and I know that I’ve moved myself into another stage of my life, not something that I had to do, but something that I needed to do.

“Scurrying” and “a tiff” might be how I’d describe some of the goings-on today related to the final steps before closing.

The corrections asked for by the VA-approved appraiser appeared to have been made. My agent had talked to the appraiser and then made arrangements for the contractor (small-time, not big-time) to get everything remedied. All of the items which had appeared in the appraiser’s report that needed attention had been taken care of. I went out myself and checked it all, and everything looked OK. Even the removal of the spacers between the patio and foundation had been pulled out. (This has to be one of the weirdest rules I’ve heard of. Even though this long board was between the concrete of the foundation and the concrete of the patio, because this piece of wood was touching the foundation, which is part of the house, it was considered “conducive for termites”. Now there is an inch-and-a-half gap between the house and the patio that I will have to fill, probably with a spacer board; somebody has recommended redwood.)

Anyway, it seemed as if the house should pass on all the corrections, but when the VA-approved appraiser went back yesterday, did it? Oh, no. There were still a couple of corrections that had to be made, ones he said were obvious in his photos on his report. Obvious to whom, I don’t know.

It almost looks as if there might have been some sabotage involved. Between the time the contractor made the first asked-for repairs, some holes had been made in the siding on the garage very near the repairs. I know that Saturday when I looked at the completed repairs I didn’t notice any holes. Could this have been done by the appraiser when he came back to re-inspect? At $75 a pop for each re-visit to the property for just a couple minutes of inspection, maybe that’s what happened. I’ve heard that in these days of a slower real estate market, appraisers and inspectors aren’t getting so much work.

Therefore, a good deal of scurrying took place. My real estate agent went out to confer with the contractor. The contractor did some corrective repairs. My agent informed the finance company that the repairs had been made. Apparently, the finance company got the appraiser back out for the re-re-inspection (yep, that’s my new word).  All of this happened with in the expanse of a few hours.

I guess everything passed the re-re-inspection because within minutes of my asking the finance officer if the closing was still on for Friday and her telling me “yes”, my agent called me and asked if I could do the closing on Thursday afternoon instead of Friday.

There was scurrying and “a tiff” between the finance officer and my agent, both maybe anxious to get everything finished. It’s a little bit funny because when you get to this point in the buying process, most everything has been set in motion, and, unless for some reason you just decide that you don’t want to buy the house, there is not really much that the buyer has to do. You might have to provide a bit more information here and there, like your very last pay statement or an address that you didn’t know when you were filling out forms. Otherwise, all these other people are “scurrying” to get all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed.

The finance people, your agent, the seller’s agent, the title company people, the contractor–all of them are hurrying to get the whole purchase process completed.

In these last few days, I’ve felt a bit like I was watching a strange tennis match played among all these people, because now I know that in addition to the few phone calls and emails that I was party to, there were many others between these other “players” in this sale.

Why? Because when this whole deal is finished, they are all going to get a piece of the pie. And if for some reason, it all doesn’t go down, that pie is not going to get cut!

And what have I been doing? Actually, I’ve been doing a lot. Making arrangements to transfer utilities, finding someone to change the locks, checking out lawnmowers.

And to accomplish one of the first tasks that I want to complete in my new house–checking out paint strips.

It’s only one week until I close on the house.  Finally, I’m feeling that this is really going to happen and I’m getting anxious–the good kind of anxious.  The nervous kind of anxious I’ve been havin’  for so long that I can’t wait until I can sleep a whole night without waking up thinking about it all.

I’ve definitely told myself that I’m moving because today I made the arrangements to stop the utilities here and start them in the new place.

Today I also went out to the house to check on what the contractor has completed.  Because I don’t have a key yet, I could only check out the outside.

This brings me back to the inspections and appraisal.

I’m getting a VA-guaranteed loan, so I hope what I’ve experienced may help anyone in a similar situation, because no matter how much you read and how many questions you ask your agent, there seems like there are always surprises.  Here are some of the details about the inspections and appraisal that I had done ( none of which can really be done until you’ve made an offer and have a signed contract with the seller with a stated price):

The Home Inspection: This is done so you can know what problems there might be both inside and outside of the house.  Most likely a buyer will have looked over and discovered some of the obvious problems, but a good home inspector should know a lot more and have specific equipment to get into places (such as ladders and moisture-identifying meters) that a normal buyer doesn’t have no matter if he has looked at the house several times.  On inspection day, it’s good to hang with the inspector, ask questions, and just learn about all that house contains, both good and bad, after all, you are paying the guy!  My inspector was cordial and informative, and I felt comfortable asking him anything.  His inspection took about three hours, and then he followed it up with a 38-page detailed report, which included lots of photos.  He charged $275, which I thought wasn’t bad.  The price is determined by the size and age of the house, and all of the extra features it might have to be inspected (such as a swimming pool or lawn sprinkler system).

If problems are found, this inspection allows the buyer to re-negotiate with the seller for a lower price or to ask the seller to repair things.  What I learned is to ask the seller to fix everything that needs fixed.  Although the sellers I’m dealing with initially said they wouldn’t pay for any repairs, when my agent sent them an amendment to the contract, they agreed to everything we requested.  There were still a few things I hadn’t asked for, and now wish I had.

Although a copy of this inspection went to my finance company, surprising as it may seem, the VA doesn’t require that this inspection be done.

The Termite Inspection: Some home inspectors will also do a termite inspection, but mine didn’t but recommended another guy for this job.  I didn’t go to the house for the termite inspection, but my agent went to let the guy into the house.  It couldn’t have taken much time because the termite inspector called me to tell me he was finished about 5 minutes after their agreed-upon meeting time.  He didn’t find any evidence of termites, but he did find several problems, which he cited as being conducive to termites: some foliage too close to wood siding, a bit of rotting wood at the bottom of door frames on the garage, and wooden spacing boards that were put in when a new patio was laid.  The cost of this inspection was $80 and was required by the finance company and seemed to be required by the VA.  However, the information that I read about VA loans says that this is one of the items that “the veteran cannot pay for.”  We’ll see how that falls out at the closing, because, sure as the world, I did pay for it.

The Appraisal: After the home inspection is done and the buyer (veteran) decides that he really wants this house, that’s when all the real paperwork must be signed for the finance company.  (The buyer definitely has been approved for the loan prior to this and has already supplied the finance company a load of documents–at some point I’ll add a post about all the documents I presented to the finance company to get approved, but not now.)  Among all these papers is one document that gets the appraisal process started, and the buyer (veteran) has to pay for it; you can pay up front or even put it on a credit card.  It cost me $400; this may vary a bit state to state.

The finance company arranges for an appraiser from a VA-approved pool of appraisers.  I kept waiting for someone to contact me to say the appraiser was going out to the house to do the appraisal, but then, to my surprise and elation, my finance officer emailed me that the appraisal had been done and, basically, without any unexpected problems, I would be getting the loan and the house!

The appraisal actually has two aspects to it.  One is to determine the value of the property.  This is done to see if the house values more than the amount of the loan the buyer (veteran) is asking for.  If it doesn’t, the buyer will have to try to get the seller to come down or be willing to put in more money up front to cover the difference.

The second part of the appraisal is really another inspection.  The VA says that the house must be livable and that this inspection is for safety purposes not cosmetic problems.

My appraisal came out mostly positive.  The house appraised for more than the amount I agreed to pay for it, and as far as the inspection part, the VA appraiser noted basically the same problems that the termite inspector had.  Therefore, these have to be remedied, and then both the termite inspector and the VA appraiser have to go back out to house to give their OK.

That’s why I went out to the house today because the contractor has been working to repair what I had asked the sellers to do and also the areas that the inspectors required.  Some things look complete, but it looks like he has a bit more to do.  I’m hoping that it gets done tomorrow, as the termite guy and the appraiser are set to go back out on Monday.

I gathered up my laundry and traipsed it over to the laundromat, with my head full of all the changes that are coming with the move.  Yep, it’s almost most a done deal, with the closing less than two weeks away now.

For many, I suppose, there’d be no question about the choice between living in a large apartment complex and owning a home of one’s own.  For me, someone who has lived in apartments most of my adult life, there are things about apartment-living that I will miss.  I like being around people, and even though, in most large apartment complexes like this one, you don’t get to know most of your neighbors so well, there’s a comfort in seeing different people, saying “hello”, and at times, having a chat.  Another plus is that there’s not much responsibility; if something needs fixed in your place, you can call the management, and if the management company is a decent one, you get the repair done in a timely manner, no cost to you.  There can be negatives, of course, like problem neighbors and management that is either too lax or too “into everyone’s business”, but recently, I haven’t had many problems where I live.

Therefore, why make the move, especially a move that will entail 20 miles rather than 5 of driving commute to work?  Although it may seem like a minor reason for some, trudging my laundry back and forth to the other side of the complex gets to be more of chore every week.  Having my own washer and dryer within steps of my bedroom will be pure luxury.  Likewise, having a garage to keep my car out of the elements and away from a parking mate’s dinging car door is something I’ve wanted for a long time.  What’s more I’ll have a kitchen, a kitchen with a multitude of drawers, drawers which actually open without having to open up an appliance in order to pull them out; a kitchen with an expanse of counter space on which I can roll out dough and spread out pans for kolaches to rise.  (That’s going to be the first big baking that I do.)  Then there’s the yard, which, though not overly large, has incredible nooks around the house and garage to hang and set all the plants I have that have needed space to spread out, and which will be the perfect place for a little dog to romp and smell whatever there is too smell.

Indeed, I do have mixed feelings about moving, but the pull to do it has been inside me for a long time.

So that was on my my mind as I “traipsed” over to do my laundry this morning.  So was my mom.  “Traipsed” was a word Mom used.  She had a very colorful language, and I’m sure I picked up a lot of it.  However, being away for so long from the rural area where I grew up, many of these colloquial words and phrases have been pushed back into the recesses of my brain; though, sometimes, my colleagues will raise an eyebrow at some expression that has come out of my mouth and question the usage.

I’ve been thinking about some of these different expressions in these last few days because my sister has been in town to visit and attend the Houston International Quilt Festival.  On the ride back into town, after we had picked her up at the airport, she began to relate an incident that’d happened on the airplane, and she said, “. . . and these people from up front had to ‘high-tail it’ back to the bathroom.”  And “whoosh”, with those words, I was taken back many years ago; it had been so long since I had heard the expression “high-tail it”.

This morning, while I was folding my clothes (at the laundromat), I was thinking about my sister using “high-tail it” and remembered how “put out” she had been about these people needing to go to the restroom just when the plane was about to take off.  “Put out,” I thought; “does anyone use that expression anymore?”  These days, I think people mostly use “put out” with a completely different meaning, a usage neither my mom nor my sister would ever use.  I started laughing to myself, remembering something else my mom used to say.  Mom was a hard cookie, and could, in fact, say some pretty mean things, but it was a rarity for my mom or my dad to really cuss.  One expression that my mom used, though, when she’d lose something or something didn’t turn out right, was “Gosh all fishhooks.”  Thinking about that took me back a long time; in fact, it made me think of The Little Rascals.  “Gosh all fishhooks” sounds like something that Spanky or another of the characters from that old time show would have said.

I looked up “Gosh all fish hooks” but didn’t find any history of the expression, but I did find an interesting article from a small town in Minnesota (which I’d never heard of), which you might like, if you’ve gotten this far in my ramblings.

An exhibit of "tree" quilts from Germany at the Houston International Quilt Festival

Today was a crazy day, but I had already made plans to go to Preview Night at the Houston International Quilt Festival with my niece, and my sister, who is in town this week especially to attend the event.  I hadn’t been for two years, and it felt like it was time to go again.   I’m hoping to get some new ideas and new inspiration.

A close-up of applique work and quilting on one of my favorites of the show.

The fact is all three of us didn’t have much stamina tonight and about an hour browsing through the main quilt exhibit area and a run through a couple of rows of the merchants’ booths was enough.  All three of us complained that our “dogs were barking” after walking around on the hard floors of the George R. Brown Convention Center.

A quilt from the exhibit from Russia.

It’s really a great show, especially for first-timers, and there are people who come from everywhere.  There were lots of quilts from Japan and other countries.  This year there was even a special section of quilts from Russia.

Because Preview Night only lasts three hours, when I bought my ticket, I got a free one for another day.  I hope I can go back, but the rest of this week probably will probably prove to be no less hectic than the first three days, so if I have the time, I’ll try to go back.  The show runs through Sunday, October 18th.

I’m not religious and I don’t mind admitting it.  I’ve never had any meaningful conversations with god or felt any kind of emotion enveloping me when I enter any kind of church, temple, or mosque, be they a small roadside chapel or a huge medieval cathedral.

On the other hand, I can feel a spirit in trees.  I can’t say whether it’s anything really spiritual emanating from a tree or just the incredible ornateness that I see in their trunks, limbs, and leaves.  I think I’ve felt a kinship with trees ever since I was a boy climbing up into their boughs or walking among the ones that grew alongside the banks of the Smoky Hill River near our farm.  With my siblings older and basically out of my everyday life, I often played or just spent time watching the quiet world with trees around me, mostly elms and oaks.

There’s a wonderful grove of live oak and other trees in the triangle near the swimming pool, which I always feel a connection with each time Annie and I walk by.  I have the idea of making a quilt that would be a representation of those trees, but how I can transform pieces of fabric into the spirit of these tress just hasn’t come to me yet.

A couple of these trees were damaged last year by Hurricane Ike, and a great many more wered downed by the strong winds of the storm thoughout the park.  People who live near the park have told me of the loud booms that exploded from a number of huge pine trees when their trunks cracked and broke, finally falling onto the ground.

In our small, Camp Logan Park, which is only a short, couple of blocks from Memorial Park, the trees withstood Ike’s torment, but most of them, for a long time, appeared to be in a kind of shock.  Of course, some had lost branches and had their leaves battered, but they seemed to be reviving during last winter.  Then came the long dry spell this spring.  Several months back, it was obvious that a couple of the smaller trees were dead, maples, I think.  But the other trees seemed to have deep roots, and even though, the grass in the park became dry and brittle, the bigger trees appeared to be doing OK.

Then about a month and a half ago, the biggest and probably oldest tree in the park began showing brown needles on some of its branches, and little by little the entire tree turned brown, still with hundreds of dry cones attached.  I’m not a dendrologist, so I have no idea why this majestic pine tree died, maybe the dry weather, maybe because of the hurricane, or perhaps some kind of disease.

All I know is an orange X recently appeared on its thick truck, a sure sign that the city soon will come to cut it down.  I know too that the living spirit that breathes out of other trees no longer comes from this glorious ghost.

Post Mortem

It was lucky that I took the pictures of the tree when I did; the tree was cut down the next day (yesterday).  I don’t know what happened to the main trunk but a lot of large branches and limbs are still laying in the ditch awaiting pick up.

Today (October 15th), I counted the rings as best I could and aproximated 100; another park-goer said he had counted 95.  That means that this tree was here when the Camp Logan Riots took place and before this was a residential area.

Even though the tree was big, many of the rings were very narrow.  I took my measuring tape and the diameter of the stump is 4 feet 8 inches at the widest point.  Here, two of the neighborhood Westies, Luke and Lexy, are sniffing out the edges of the stump, which obviously had absorbed a lot of varying types of moisture over the years.

The crowds at the National Equality March in Washington, D.C.

I wish I could give credit for the quote in the title for this post, but it was given by one of the speakers at the National Equality March for LGBT rights, that’s taking place today in Washington, D.C.  Between checking out the NFL scores, I couldn’t find anything on CNN or MSNBC that showed the event.  Then with a mistaken click, there it was, right on C-Span.

I think going to the march would have been a great experience, but like so many other people, the cost of time and money just seemed too prohibitive.  Watching the speakers, though, on TV has been heart-stirring.  When I clicked on C-Span, actress Cynthia Nixon was speaking, and she, in turn, introduced, Judy Shepard, mother of murdered Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard.  A number of lesser-known local and state officials were just as inspiring, especially an openly-gay state senator from Utah.  (I’ll have find out more about him later.)  Lt. Dan Choi, the Arab linguist, who was kicked out of the Army because of DADT, and Lady Gaga, the pop diva, exemplify the range and demeanor of the speakers, but both demanding that President Obama take action on his promises.

Lt. Dan Choi, Army Arab linguist, who was kicked out of the military because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Maybe watching from my comfortable sofa isn’t the same as being part of the multitudes of participants there in D.C., but still I could feel the emotion of the event.  It gives me hope that change will happen.  But just like what people are asking of Obama, there has to be action, not just words.

Pop singer, Lady Gaga, speaking at the National Equality March and asking President Obama to take action.

I’m starting by writing to my conservative congressman.  It may not be worth it; I’ve done it before, and somehow his people now think I’m a republican.

It looks like this is moving along.

Today was a big day in many ways.  First, during a break at work, I walked the three blocks down to the county tax assessor’s office to renew my car registration.  It’s gotten hot and muggy again in Houston, more like August than October.  We’re supposed to get some relief with a cold front this weekend, and most everyone is anxious for that, but today, my short jaunt was a hot one.

Another deed I got taken care of was my flu shot, not the swine flu one yet, but just the normal one.  It’s something I’ve been doing for the past several years and I think it works.  The nurse who gave me the shot commented that the flu shot is one of the best medical inventions since penicillin.  I don’t know if I’d go that far, but, like I said I think it works.

My agent sent me several emails.  One was that the sellers’ agent had remedied a couple of the electrical problems we had on inspection.  Then he said I needed to arrange for a termite inspection, so I did.  It’s set for tomorrow, and my agent is going out open up the house for the inspector.  I’m still feeling pretty positive about my agent.  He’s been on top of most things for me, even though I’m pretty sure that normally he’s involved with higher-dollar properties than my little purchase.

Then I got a whole slew of documents from the finance company.  Among the many pages was the Good Faith Estimate.  I was really pleased because the money that I will need to take to closing is less than half what I had expected.  Of course, the earnest money that has gone to the title company will help count against the closing costs, and that is my money too.  I was even more surprised because I have to pay for a survey and also a year’s homeowner’s insurance, but the finance officer said that was already included.  The big thing is that as part of the offer contract I asked the sellers to contribute to my closing costs and that does reduce the amount I will have to bring to closing.

Having the sellers pay something toward the buyer’s closing costs, in my view, is a bit of a double-edged sword.  On one hand, it does help reduce the closing costs for the buyer, but, in reality, the seller may have kept the negotiated price of the house higher, and because the price is higher, what is really happening is that the buyer is just financing the amount of money that the seller is contributing toward the seller’s closing costs.  But it can help the seller too, becaue he doesn’t have to come up with as large of chunk of money to bring to the closing.

What I finally did today was go over to the finance company and sign all the papers, rather than sign them and either scan them or fax them back.  With that many documents to be signed, it was a lot easier and quicker, not too mention, the finance officer was able to explain some of the points that I was unclear about.

The next and most like the last big step will come with the appraisal.  It seems like the big question mark because with so many foreclosures, the county tax valuations have fallen quite a bit from 2008 to 2009.  Also because my appraiser has to be VA approved, I don’t know how that will play out.  Some people have said these appraisers are more strict than others.  Because I only did all the paperwork for the finance company today, I’m not expecting that the appraisal will be done until next week–just another thing to wait for.

Yeah, that photo at the top is a teaser–it’s of the front of the house.  Keep your fingers crossed.  I am.

This is going to be short; it’s past bedtime, but here’s where everything stands.  Last Thursday, the offer contract finally got the buyers’ signatures and my final signature on one point that I finally caved in on–the number of days on the termination option.  I wanted 14, but they only would go for 10.  As one of my friends said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”  It really wasn’t such a big deal, anyway so far.

Fortunately, I was able to get an inspector, who had been recommended by a colleague, to do that job on Saturday.  Also, fortunately, unlike the first agent I had, who had also been recommended by a friend, the inspector turned out to be great.  I went out and pretty much stayed by his side for most of the 3-hour inspection.  He was both informative and helpful, showing me not only problem areas, but also making suggestions for various types of maintenance to keep up the house.  He had no problem answering my questions, even, I suppose, as naive as some of them probably were.

There weren’t too many surprises because most of the problem areas I or my agent had spotted on two previous visits to the house.  A number of problems relate to electrical aspects, because the current owners seemed to have done a lot of jerry-rigging of various electrical lines and connections, especially in the garage and to some “ambient” lighting outside, but there inside electrical problems as well.  There were quite a variety of other issues, maybe the biggest one being the roof, which is getting toward the end of its life.  Even so, the inspector told me it wasn’t going to leak.  That means it’s something that I won’t have to do right away.

I was pretty beat (and feeling kind of beat up too) Saturday after the inspection; there was a lot of information to take in, and I seemed to be able to think about just the problems, even though there are so many things about this house that I really like, especially, the upstairs bedrooms and the 2 and 1/2 baths.  Yeah, one guy with 2 and 1/2 baths!  What a deal!

Today my agent called and wanted to talk about the inspection.  I thought, “Oh, no, there’s some problem.”  However, when I got to his office, he told me that the sellers’ agent had been pretty amenable to some of the things that we had previously wanted, so we made a list of repairs that I want to be done, and we made an addendum to the original paperwork.  Hopefully, the owners will agree to repair or pay for the repair of some of these, and that will be just that much less I will have to worry about doing or paying someone to do.

My agent recommended also doing a termite inspection, but he is also going to ask the other agent about what has been done previously.  Then the “biggie”–the appraisal.  The finance company has to get a VA-approved appraiser to do it, and, of course, that’s something I have to pay for.  If the appraisal all works out OK–meaning the house is valued at more or at least the amount of money I am borrowing to buy the house–then basically, everything will be a go.  The last thing will be a survey, something else I have to pay for, but which is required by the title company.

Sometime soon, my finance company will give me a “good faith estimate” of what my total loan will be, what remaining closing costs I’ll have, and what my monthly payment will be.  I’ve already got a quote for the homeowner’s insurance and it’s less than I had expected, so that will make my monthly payment a bit lower than I had thought.

If you’re new to this as I am, here’s what’s included in monthly payment:  payment on the actual loan (principal and interest), taxes on the property, including any Homeowners Association fees; homeowner’s insurance, and PMI (which is a type of loan insurance that lenders require).  However, with a VA loan, there is no PMI, because that is actually what the VA is doing–insuring your loan to the lender.  On the other hand, there is a VA funding fee, which is paid to the government and now is at 2 percent.

Here’s is the mortgage calculator that I have been using.  It has really come in handy!

Sorry I haven’t been posting much on here, but there’s too much mental and emotional energy being expended in all this to have much left over for blogging.

OK, so maybe that wasn’t so short.

Matthew Mitcham and his partner Lachlan Fletcher enjoy the time they have together between busy schedules.

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 just training for his next diving competition, but is also studying science at Sydney University.”  If you haven’t done so yet, you can read more of the article “Catching Up With Mathew Mitcham” here.

Squidwho also has many photos and links for Matthew Mitcham fans.

Acquiring a house takes up a lot of energy–mental energy that is.  There are emotional highs when you find a place that you really like, lows when barriers get in the way, and there’s lots of waiting, which gives you time to think even m0re, which can be almost all-consuming.

This coming week will be a big one I think.  We’ve agreed on a price and most everything else.  If the offer comes back signed from the sellers, then the finance company must give their first OK and let me know all the details of my closing costs and what my monthly payment will be.  The sellers also have to get the utilities turned back on, so I can get the inspector. They had someone in the house when I first looked at it, but they moved out and now the utilities are off.  The inspection is one of the biggies.  To the inexperienced eye, there doesn’t look to be many problems, but that is why you have an inspector check it all out.  Then if there are no major problems with the inspection, and I still want the house, there will have to be an appraisal done to ascertain if the place is worth what the finance company will be loaning me.  Also, the sellers don’t have a survey, so that will have to be done.  Finally, I have to get hazard insurance (home owners insurance) as the finance company requires that you pay for a year of insurance in advance.  That’s four fairly good chunks of money to pay.  Fortunately, the second one won’t have to be done and paid unless the first works out OK, and, of course, the third and fourth won’t need to be done unless the first two work out.

I hope it all works out.  I think the house makes “a good fit” for me.  It has all the main features that I was looking for: nice, but not too big outdoor space, a big, very usable kitchen, and a shower in the master bath.  Even though it’s located out just a bit further than I would have liked, I’m hoping the drive won’t be too bad, and the neighborhood has a nice feel to it.  It’s also close to stores and necessities: a Walgreen’s, a dry cleaners, and a vet, just up the street, barely a quarter mile away, and two of my other favorite destinations, Barnes and Noble and Petsmart are just a mile down the road.  I went to check out the Barnes and Noble yesterday, and, yes, it’s definitely out in suburbia: they have row after row of books relating to religion and tons of educational materials that make it look like there must be a lot of home schooling going on out there, but they have only two shelves of gay and lesbian books.  Oh, well, I’m sure that they can order anything I might want.

I guess now I’ll have to pay less attention to “House Hunters” and “My First Place” on HGTV and take a better look at the decorating shows.  In fact, I’ve already found several paint companies’ sites where you can play around with different paint colors in various rooms.  The master in this house feels like someone loved pumpkin pie; that’s the first one that is going to have to be changed.  Oh, well, that can happen after all the papers have been signed and I actually have the keys in my hand.

So if anyone who reads my blog has wondered what has happened to me, all I can say is this house-buying process is such a big thing that it outweighs almost everything else right at the moment.  I just haven’t had the energy to care much to write about politics, history, or even the weather.  I know that all that will come back, and there will be many other things about which to give my two cents.

Since it’s been so long since I’ve posted, I guess I had better put something.  I haven’t been jazzed enough to write, but life otherwise hasn’t slowed down.  Work pulls me along, and I enjoy the routine of the days even though what happens moment by moment is only routine in that something similar has happened before.

The house hunting/buying continues.  I put in an offer on one that was good in price and commute, but not great in neighborhood, and definitely weak in kitchen.  (I might mention that this kitchen had only two drawers, one of which won’t open unless you open the oven door first.  I have a small, but better kitchen in my apartment.)  Actually, the bottom line was that the houses are going for a good price (good meaning low) in this neighborhood, but this seller wouldn’t go down to the range of the comps.  In the end, I was worried that even though I could afford the house, that the finance company’s appraisers wouldn’t appraise it high enough for me to be able to finance it.  I guess too the neighborhood and the house just didn’t feel right for me.

After I had put the offer in on that place, and while the seller wasn’t going down but baby steps in price, I found another place in a neighborhood that I like a lot.  Yeah, it’s out in the “burbs”, but it has a great kitchen.  The appliances do need updating (Do I sound like those first-time homebuyers from HGTV?), but the work space is great!  And I think I might even have to use even my toes to help count all the drawers!  It’s going to mean getting up earlier to get on the road to work, but did I mention the great backyard with even a pergula?  I’m not even sure I know how to spell it.  It’s one of those backyards that won’t take a lot of mowing–just enough to say you did it–and will make a great place for a little papillon dog to play and sniff and human folks to sit and drink ice tea, or whatever, and enjoy the evenings.

My new realtor has been great through all of this, helpful but not pushy, and I will soon add another post to follow up the previous one about what makes him good.  But for the moment, this isn’t over because we still have to put in an offer, negotiate, do the inspection and appraisal, finish the paperwork on the financing (My finance people have been great from the beginning; I guess that should be another post too.), and hopefully do the closing close to Trick ‘r Treat time.

If this all works out, there will be pictures!  And, of course, a PayPal link for donations for new furniture.  Just kidding, folks!

Oh, yeah . . . dig the new banner.  There are lots of toadstools, or mushrooms, whatever you want to call them, now that we finally have had some rain.  They are popping up in many places and seem to be big!  I guess they were just waiting to get through all that dry weather we had for so long.

There hasn’t been much activity on this site for awhile, I mean on my part as far as writing anything new.  I’ve had a break from work, which rather than energize me, somewhat put me in a state of lethargy (deservedly so or not),  a slovenliness,  which, among other things, folded itself into a kind of writer’s block.

What’s been causing all this I already know: when I have a big decision to make, I also get stuck accomplishing other things.

Anyway, if you’ve read some of my earlier posts, you know that I’m in the process of buying a house, my first house.  It’s been an ongoing challenge for awhile now because I’ve been so methodical about it all, trying to be smart and make the best decisions.  I’ve already got my financing, with help from the VA and the expectancy of the $8,000 tax rebate to boot.

After I had secured my financing, I found a house that I really liked through har.com, and I wanted to check it out,but I didn’t have an agent, so I contacted one, based on a friend’s recommendation.  Even though I put in offers on two different houses with this agent, I never felt really comfortable working with her, and for a number of reasons, just didn’t trust her.  She didn’t help much with checking out the condition or value of the houses; instead, she advised me to offer the limit of my financing, and, in fact, told the seller’s agent what my limit was.  In the end, she seemed only to be pushing me to buy so that she could get her commission.

After that experience, I just have held off for awhile, knowing that I had to find another agent, but I felt like I had a block, just like writer’s block.  After hearing about my experience with this first agent, several friends and acquaintances told me about agents who they thought could help me, but I haven’t wanted to do that because now I have an uneasy situation with the friend who recommended the first agent, because he knows that I had problems with her but she is also his friend too.

So I did what I should have done in the first place.  As part of my whole process of buying a house, almost a year ago, I took a couple of Leisure Learning classes about financing and buying a house.  All of the instructors were good, but I felt one guy was really knowledgeable and down-to-earth.

Just a few days ago, I broke out of my lethargy and called him, and he was just as informative and helpful on the phone as he had been in the class.

Yesterday we met to look at a place.  It isn’t going to be “my first place”, but I realized that I had made the right decision in contacting him.  He’s much more of a “people person” than the first agent, and I feel that he understands someone like me, who’s buying for the first time.  Even when we got to the property, he didn’t rush me into looking at the house, but chatted first about other interests that we both had.  We looked at the place together, discussing the pluses and minuses.  And there was no push to buy or not buy.  Then we agreed to look at some other places that I’m interested in sometime next week.

So how do you find a good realtor?  I still don’t have an easy answer.  Here’s a site that gives some good questions that a buyer should ask a prospective agent.  I have read through them and even printed them out to put with all my “house buying stuff”, but I’m not sure whether most new buyers would just pop into a real estate agency and start interviewing an agent.

One thing I’ve learned is that some agents may have you sign an exclusivity agreement, which is a sort of contract.  However, in that case, you can put a time limit, so if I were unsure about how well I liked this agent, I wouldn’t make the agreement for more than like three weeks or a month.  If you don’t get a house in that time, but you decide you like the agent, you can always extend the agreement, or if you don’t like the agent, you can find another.

I think buyers, especially first-timers, are really at a disadvantage in the home-buying process.  After all, both agents get a larger commission the more the house sells for.  The seller too has already been through the same process at least once, when he bought the house, and he wants to get as much money as he can.

So I think the best buyer’s agent has to be someone that you can feel some connection with, some rapport.  Probably, a guy will have better luck with a male agent, and any other similarities, like age, and like in my case, sexuality.  (Yeah, I thought he might be gay when I took the Leisure Learning class, but I think I have probably the worst gaydar in the world.)  The more the buyer and the agent have in common, the more likelihood that they will look at a property in a similar way.

I’m still not to the end of making a determination about real estate agents.  In fact, I haven’t veered far yet from my initial impression that they are not much less greasy than car salemen.  Likewise, though you know they have to drive around a lot in their line of work, you also get another question mark sprouting out of the top of your head when they drive up in big black European cars.

This topic hasn’t been one I’ve written much about before, but when I see them on TV, I just wonder what country I am living in. How did so many get so crazy and so uninformed that they will say anything, especially the completely disrespectful slogans and images about the President.

Even though many Americans disagreed with Bush’s policies and, in particular, going to war in Iraq and its continuance thereafter, GWB was never treated in such a disrespectful way. I’ve heard conservative pundits and blog writers say the liberals did that to Bush, but I’ve been paying close attention to politics for quite awhile, and if someone can give evidence that Bush was treated in such a way, I’d like to see it.

These people have been angry and now egged on by conservative lobbyist groups, as well as Republicans in Congress, have become more emboldened, even carrying guns to these meetings and protests.

They keep crying out all of the nasty Nazi stuff, but what I see is that they are acting more like some in Germany did pre-World War II, spewing out hatred and vile slogans.

What gets me is how did so many people in this country get to be so dumb and uninformed? If they would just read a bit, they would know that the claims they are making about what the health care bill would do (i.e. promoting euthanasia) are completely beyond the pale.

And when they do go to these town hall meetings, they don’t seem to want really ask questions to find out what the program would do, they just want to be vile and nasty. Some Republicans and other conservatives are praising this, saying that these people are exercising their right to free speech.

It looks to me, though, that these people have been taking lessons from Fred Phelps and his family in being mean and nasty.

I think there are very few people in this country who can look at all this nastiness, and say, “Oh, they make me proud to be an American.”

Proud, no–embarrassed for my country is more like it.

Finally, though, Rep. Barney Frank from Massachusetts did and said what others should have been doing all along, and many of us have wondered why it hasn’t been done before.

All I can say is, “You tell ‘em, Barney!’

Watch it:

(Yes, it’s 2:15 AM, and luckily, tomorrow starts my vacation, and I will only have to wake up to take Annie out to do her business, and then I can crash again if I want. But someone posted a comment to one of my old posts, and responding to took enough time and effort that I decided to add a bit and use it as its own post.)

Beliefs. When it comes to beliefs, we have to make some distinctions.

If I put a pan of water on the stove, add some salt, turn on the burner, and wait until the water starts to boil at 212 degrees fahrenheit, I believe that if I dump the linguini into the water, it will be cooked a little more than al dente in about 8 minutes. On the other hand, maybe I’m cutting the grass, and I spy a four-leaf clover at the edge of the sidewalk, and say to myself, “Hey, I believe I’m in for a bit of good luck. Then, if some positive happens, I can attribute it to finding the four-leaf clover; however, if nothing significant takes place, I can just forget about it, and say, “Oh, well,” and wait until another “sign” like another four-leaf clover comes along.

That’s my take on beliefs, and if I haven’t drawn a clear enough picture for you, you’re not ready for Philosophy 101.

So that’s what applies in my comment below. (If my transition is weak, now it’s 2:30 AM.)

I always get tickled when religious people want to come back and say to me, “You’re angry.” Obviously, you haven’t read much else here on the blog.

You say you’ve made sacrifices. Most people in their lives have made sacrifices, but there is a difference between rights as a citizen of this country and whatever personal sacrifices people make to have the life they want. Just because some people have certain personal religious beliefs should not mean that others in this country should be prevented from having the same rights as everyone else. You as a married person have a whole slew of rights granted to you by the government besides the most obvious–marriage itself, but also the many spousal benefits that go along with it, not to mention being able to be open about who you are in the military, or even more simply to give blood.

When you start to add god into the picture, I say, “Whose god?” There are many denominations that have no problem accepting gay marriage and full equality across the board. We don’t have a theocratic government system in the U.S. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran have governmental laws based on Islam, and whatever side of the political fence you sit on in this country, I have heard few people advocating they would like a government like that in this country.

You say: “I don’t think gay people are less than others, I never said that, so I don’t know where you got that. I think that gay people choose to believe that God is okay with their choice and I believe that they are mistaken.”

I “get that” because you chose to comment to my post and indicate that you are against gay marriage. What is inherent in what you say is that you think your beliefs are the correct beliefs and based on those beliefs, gay people shouldn’t be allowed to get married in this country. You say “they are mistaken” and that indicates that they cannot have what you have–marriage–which indicates you do think gay people are less.

This is really no different than in theocratic countries where women are treated as “less”. Based on those laws, the wife has to walk behind the husband, cover her head and most of her body, and in some countries not be able to drive a car. Oh, but sure, he doesn’t think she’s “less” than he is, does he?

One thing that always gets me and every other gay person I know is that when people tell them being gay is a choice. I just don’t buy that you have any gay people whom you are really close to; otherwise, you just would not say or even think that.

Did you make a choice NOT to be gay? Chew on that a moment, and you have to realize that gay people don’t make a choice NOT to be straight. Are you left-handed or right-handed? Did you make a choice about that? Back in the good ol’ days, especially in parochial schools, left-handed kids got their hands whacked with a ruler or even had their left hands tied behind their backs to force them to use their right hands because being left-handed was thought to be wrong by some people. I guess in your way of thinking being left-handed wasn’t in god’s plan.

There’s no fork in the road of life where people choose to be left-handed or right-handed. Likewise, there’s no fork in the road where people choose to be gay, straight, or even something in the middle. Like being left-handed or right-handed, it just how we are wired.

The problem is that some religions and some people want to attach some kind of moral significance to that wiring.

Where there is a choice, however, is in what people choose to believe. As part of their beliefs, the Aztecs sacrificed other human beings; the people of Salem believed that some of the local women were witches and burned them to death; some people from Latin countries believe that if a pregnant woman looks at a full moon, the baby will have a mark on its face; some Hindus believe that cows are sacred; and the Pope of the medieval church believed that the earth was flat, and, thus, Galileo was a heretic and driven out of the church.

Through the ages, beliefs have changed. People learn, people grow, people use logic and knowledge. (Others, however, keep on with the same ol’ superstitions and fairy tales.)

But just what is it with christians and homosexuality anyway? The bible really doesn’t say that much about it, and the lines there are come from way back in the part where there are all sorts of weird old Jewish rules, like not letting dwarfs or invalids anywhere near the altar and not touching the skin of a pig. There’s a bunch of stuff like that back in Leviticus, but nobody, even those people who say they take every word of the bible literally adhere to any of that, but somehow they pull out homosexuality as being just about the worst thing anybody could be.

Never mind that it’s not on the top ten list of biblical no-no’s. I mean shouldn’t adultery be written into U.S. law? I’m pretty sure it’s there on that big ol’ tablet that Moses came down the mountain with. But I didn’t see any christians advocating for any laws against adultery when Governor Sanford was/is having his fling with his Argentine “soul mate” or after Senator Vitter got caught cheating on his wife with prostitutes. Why aren’t all the christians up in arms about that? (Remember that ol’ song “Things That Make You Go Hmmm”?)

Why did the Aztecs believe they should sacrifice other humans? Why did the people of Salem believe some of the local women were witches and burn them to death? Why did people believe the world was flat?

(But based on your thinking, not those sacrificed by the Aztecs, the women put to death in Salem, nor even Galileo were “less”, because, of course, the Aztecs, the people of Salem, and the medieval church were all just following the laws based on their beliefs.)

And I think this should be a question for you. WHY do you believe what you believe. (I heard that ol’ Sunday School song “Cuz the Bible Tells Me So” many times, but that just doesn’t cook the linguini any more than the four-leaf clover cooks it.)

In the end, you can believe whatever you believe. If you want to believe a rock is a hairbrush, you can believe that, especially if some church elder has convinced you that a rock is a hairbrush. And would you dare question that with a “Why?”.

In the same way that some parents’ religious beliefs should not prevent their child with cancer from being treated, your own and others’ religious beliefs should not prevent gay people from marrying the person whom they love.

Finally, you need to read this book: “Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality” by John Boswell.

Calendar Plate--The Citizens State Bank, Dorrance, Kansas from 1911--I probably admired this plate so many times that my grandma finally gave it to me. It's one of my treasures.

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 a low place where the water ran when it rained) to catch lightning bugs.

But other times, when you had to be inside, there wasn’t much to do. Grandma was quiet and serious, and kids were expected to behave. There were no toys to play with at Grandma’s. Thinking back on it, I wonder why the folks never left a few of our toys there for us to have something to do when we went there, but they didn’t.

I say there were no toys to play with at Grandma’s, but there was –”the wheel”. The wheel was a miniature tire, about 6 inches in diameter, and had probably been a promotional give-away from one of the local filling stations, most likely originally with a glass ashtray in the middle. So when a very small child came to Grandma’s, she dug out “the wheel” for them to play with. And even when you got older, the wheel still had some fascination when it was gotten out for a younger relative.

But when you got older, there were other things at Grandma’s house to get your interest, if you had sense enough to keep your adolescent mind focused.

Grandma’s house had a parlor, and the parlor, indeed, was treated as that, a special room. In fact, it was on the other side of the house from the front room (living room) with a bedroom in between. It was not often that Grandma would “open up” the parlor. Opening up the parlor meant pulling back heavy, velvet, dark burgundy drapes that closed off the bedroom from the parlor. In the spring and summer, in order to help the air circulate, it also meant opening the parlor door, which was a second entrance to the house.

There were some odd pieces of furniture in the parlor: a library table with photos of grandkids on it, and a leather and wooden sofa, which was the hardest thing I’ve ever sat on. The biggest attraction in the parlor was the secretary, one of those old-timey pieces with a tall cabinet with a glass door on one side and a pull-down writing desk on the other side. Inside the cabinet, there were various knick-knacks and pieces of glassware, but the real gold mine was the two velvet-covered picture albums that held family photos, some so old they were tin-types.

I remember sitting with my mom looking at them. Grandma never had the desire to sit and look through a whole book, but she’d help to identify unknown faces. After Grandma’s death, some of the relatives got the albums and I have never seen them again. Fortunately, I do have a lot of old family photos given to me by my mom or other relatives.

Maybe I’ve got “the cart before the horse” in my memory lane narrative, but a discovery I made last night has got me thinking about those old photos.

I’ve mentioned my hometown–Dorrance, Kansas before. You can take the kid out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the kid. Well, that’s me, not a kid, except at heart, by any long shot these days, and I’ve lived in one of the biggest cities in the U.S. now for almost half my life. But Dorrance will always be a part of me, even as I get older and Dorrance’s population dwindles even smaller and smaller.

Dorrance is very lucky, though, and, unlike many small towns, has a way of keeping its history, thanks in part to a young budding photographer, who lived there a hundred years ago. His name was Leslie Halbe, and for a period of about four years–1908 to 1912, he took pictures of the people in and around Dorrance, both in portraits and in daily activities. This was done with one of those old cameras that used glass negatives. Although Leslie moved away from Dorrance in 1912, by luck and maybe some foresight, most of these negatives finally ended up in the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka. There have been different exhibitions of Halbe’s work through the years.

The Citizens State Bank, Dorrance, Kansas, May 26, 1909, by Leslie Halbe. This building is still standing on Main Street in Dorrance. It was the office of the Dorrance Telephone Company when I was a little kid and more recently was a barber shop. Notice how the negatives of the old photos had two images. This is the bank my plate came from.

Sometime back, I discovered that part of Halbe’s photos were available on Kansas Memory (click in the sidebar or below). Then last night, I found that they now have all of the 1500+ photos online. I still haven’t looked at them all. But I will.

I know that some of Leslie Halbe’s photos had to have been in those album’s kept in Grandma’s secretary. I remember also that one of the “Halbe boys” had been one of my mother’s elementary school teachers. One of the articles said Leslie Halbe’s parents ran a candy shop. If what I remember is correct, it was the drug store, which in the early days might have been called a confectionary. The drug store closed in Dorrance when I was in grade school, but not only did they sell over the counter drugs and bits of what a Walgreen’s might have today, they had a soda fountain, where you could buy ice cream, soft drinks, and sandwiches.

Halbe’s photos leave a record of the people and life of not only my hometown, but really of small town America on the Great Plains during the early 1900s.

• If you’re interested in learning more about Leslie W. (Winfield) Halbe and his photos, read here and here.

• If you want to access the Halbe Collection photos and Kansas Memory, go here.

These are some of my favorite photos from the collection, so far:

Dorrance, looking at Main Street and southwest, circa 1910

Dorrance Telephone Operators and Office, Nov. 6, 1909. This photo is probably one of the most popular from the Halbe Collection.

Belle Bickell and Miss Browne, June 3, 1911

Harvest Crew, July 7, 1912

9-millimeter Handgun (I had no idea either.)

This is not my usual type of post, but I couldn’t resist passing this along. It’s one of those stories that makes you think, “Now has that ever happened before?”

Here in Houston, when someone is arrested they are usually taken to the Houston Municipal Jail, and then if they are not let loose or immediately bailed out, they will be transferred to the Harris County Jail in order to wait for a court appearance or other procedings.

According to a Houston Chronicle article, it seems that one guy who was arrested for bootlegging illegal CD recordings was able to keep a gun on him even though he was searched several times both after his arrest and before entering the city jail and then when he was transferred to the county jail.

George Vera is 5′10″ and weighs more than 500 pounds so he was able to hide the 9-millimeter handgun in the folds of his skin during the various searches. It wasn’t until he was taken for a shower that he revealed to a guard that he was hiding a gun.

He is now out on $10,000 bail for both the original bootlegging charge and also for possessing a gun inside a correctional institute.

OK, now go munch on that for awhile.

An interesting surprise from tonight’s Rachel Maddow Show is a new poll out from Gallup, which is based on people from each state and their political party identification. I’m not going to paraphrase or quote, because if you’re really interested in the relatively short article explaining the poll and its results, just click over to it here at the Gallup site.

There are some results which do surprise me though:

• The results from this poll are very similar to those of last year.
• Texas, where I’ve lived for so long, and Kansas, my home state, both of which are traditionally conservative and vote Republican, now show a competitive balance in party association.
• Oklahoma, which had no (yes, that’s zero) county give a majority of its votes to President Obama in the 2008 election is shown as leaning Democrat.
• Only five states are shown as strong Republican or leaning Republican.

One thing to note is that according to the article, the survey was taken of adults 18 or older, not necessarily voters.

If you like politics and demographics, take a look and check out where your state and the country stands politically, at least, based on this survey.

Nathan Adrian--his speed in the final split helped pull out the win for the U.S.

Sunday TV usually doesn’t have much. I never have the stamina to get into “Meet the Press”. Otherwise, until later in the evening it’s just old movie re-runs and infomercials.

By chance though today, I turned on NBC in time to watch part of the World Swimming Championships taking place in Rome. The highlight of the day for the U.S. swimmers was the 4X100 meter relay. Even with Michael Phelps back into competition a year after the Beijing Olympics and his little misdirection with marijuana, the team to beat according to the commentators was France.

Phelps led off the U.S., but only managed to keep the team in third place. The star of the day for the American swimmers was Nathan Adrian, the fourth man in the relay, who really kicked it. He finished the relay with the fastest split of anyone to touch in 3 minutes, 9.21 seconds for the U.S., beating out the Russians, who finished second, and the French, who got only third.

Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps, and Matt Grevers watch as Nathan Adrian swims the final leg of the 4X100 relay.

The ESPN article had this to say: “The French were the ones who cracked. The Russians touched second in 3:09.52, while France — which sent out four of the world’s fastest sprinters, at least on paper — were relegated to the bronze at 3:09.89.”

Check out all  about the Roma09 Swimming Championships here.

  The jury has come back with its verdict in the Tony Alamo case and he is guilty on all ten charges.

Tony Alamo Found Guilty of Transporting Minors for Sex

Latest News:

Here is the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: “Jurors on Friday found evangelist Tony Alamo guilty on all 10 counts of transporting five young girls across state lines for sex.

The jury of nine men and three women found Alamo guilty of transporting girls as young as 9, in violation of a nearly century-old federal law. He was accused in a 10-count indictment. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The jury returned a verdict shortly after entering its second day of deliberations. The seven-day trial included testimony from Alamo’s accusers for the prosecution, and his common-law wife and a mother of an accuser for the defense.”

Read the entire article here.

The jury has started its deliberations to decide the fate of televangelist Tony Alamo in Texarkana today.  Alamo has been accused of transporting children across state lines for sexual purposes.

You can check out Little Rock reporter Charles Crowson’s Twitter for ongoing updates as well as Little Rock TV station KHTV’s website for the latest news articles.

UPDATE: Tony Alamo has been found guilty on all ten counts.  Read more here:

"Meet me behind the hotel at 11 o'clock, and we'll see what other conniving we can do."

Knowing a second language has a lot of benefits, and for far too long, most Americans have stuck their heads in the sand and thought because they know English, they have an advantage and don’t have to learn another language.  However, being fluent in two or more languages opens up so much more of the world.

Personally, I read a number of foreign language sites every day; some are news sites and some focus on some topic or interest that I have.

Usually at night time, I check abc.es, an online news site from Spain.  That way I can see what is happening in the world, usually before sites like cnn.com or msnbc.com pick it up.  Reading the news out of another country also gives a different perspective and often there is news that isn’t even highlighted by the U.S. media.

Such was the case in an article I read last night: Arranca la gira de Lieberman para frenar la expansión de Irán en América Latina, which tells about Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s 10-day visit to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia.  (Read a similar AP article in English.)

What I didn’t realize before reading the article, but have since corroborated through other sources is how much influence Iran and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, which Iran backs, have in Latin America.  Apparently, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have become BFFs and anyone who has been paying attention knows that both of these guys have found ways to manipulate the systems of their countries in order to stay in power. Hezbollah, for its part, because of connections with Lebanese immigrants to countries like Venezuela, seems to have gotten involved in that old Latin American standby–kidnapping; and not unlike other rebel/narco-terrorist groups (i. e. FARC in Colombia), uses the ransom money extorted from victims’ families as a way of supporting itself.  (Check out this in-depth article for more details.)

Chavez and Ahmadinejad negotiated a number of deals, and it’s not difficult for those who keep up with current events to see what is going on.  Chavez already has his emulators in office in several of the Latin American countries, the latest being Zelaya from Honduras.  And although there are those who are decrying the coup that pushed him out of the country as being un-democratic, what Zelaya was doing was trying to circumvent his own country’s constitution in order to allow himself to stay in office longer, nothing different than what Chavez did a few years back.  These guys don’t really want democracy built upon a long-standing constitution; they want to create their own “democracy”, which in effect validates their dictatorship. 

As for Ahmadinejad, anyone who is not aware of the corruption in the last election in Iran is walking around with blinders on, but what goes for democracy in Iran is only pretense anyway; there is no democracy when a malevolent theocracy is in place.

As citizens of this world, we need to remain informed, as having as much information as we can is a big part of maintaining our freedom and a way to make decisions about who we support or don’t support as leaders in our own countries.  And with the Internet, we also have the ability to access many sources besides our daily print newspaper.  Of course, we must also be able to judge the veracity of these sources and extricate the biases inherent in them.

Lest you think I have some kind of slant here based on religion or otherwise, let me say, “I don’t”.  From my own personal viewpoint, I see that these guys are bad guys, bad guys who want to have power and control over millions of peoples’ lives.  And, yes, the U.S. government doesn’t like these guys either, but in reality, they are not so different from Pinochet or Marcos, whom the Reagan and Thatcher governments supported only 20-some years ago.

A dictator is a dictator is a dictator and they are like noxious weeds in the gardens of this planet.

Fifteen-year-old Thomas Daley of Great Britain wins the 10-meter at the World Diving Championships

For all those enamored with the golden boy of the Beijing Olypmics, out diver, Matthew Mitcham, there may be a new name in town. 

The new guy hails from Great Britain and is just 15 years old.  He’s Thomas Daley, and today the young man defeated a couple of Chinese divers and Australian Mitcham to win the gold in the 10-meter platform at the World Diving Championships at the Stadio Del Nuoto in Rome.

According to KXMB News, “Daley received three perfect 10s and three 9.5s for his final dive Tuesday, barely rippling the water as he sliced through. His winning total was 539.85 points.  Then he watched his main rivals falter on their final attempts.  Qiu Bo of China had a poor entry and finished second with 532.20.

Mitchem, winner of the gold in Beijing, dropped to fourth after botching his dive.

China’s Zhou Luxin took bronze with 530.55, just ahead of Mitcham at 529.50. American David Boudia was sixth.”

Mitcham had this to say about Daley in an article in a Sydney Morning Herald article,  “I really do [support him]. He is a very talented and very well-mannered, polite and friendly young man. . . . I think he could take over the world if he wanted to. He is something I have never seen before. I respect him.”

Britains seem all agog over their new diving star and are hoping for a gold medal in diving in the 2012 Olympics, which will be held in London.

Mitcham fails to medal in the 10-meter dive.

The Galveston Seawall, built to protect the city from hurricanes

Hurricane Ike hit on September 13, 2008, just a little more than 10 months ago. Preparing for the storm to come through Houston, going through the dramatic ordeal first-hand, and waiting for life to return to normal afterward are experiences I won’t forget.

But in these past 10 months, I haven’t gone to the coast, where the worst of Ike’s fury was felt.

I’m not a beach person, except for walks in cooler weather, but a day trip to Galveston has always proved a good diversion, whether for a jaunt through a few antique shops or a leisurely lunch at some seafood restaurant.

I knew that the worst of Ike’s devastation had been on the part of Galveston Island which is unprotected by the seawall and along Bolivar Peninsula, a short ferry ride to the east. I had seen news footage and photos of lot after lot, where homes had been completely washed away.

I had heard that the Galveston Seawall, built in the very early 1900s, after the 1900 hurricane, had protected most of the original part of the city from the horrific damage from which other areas had suffered, but I also knew that much of the city had been covered by water and getting the brunt of the Category 2 winds head on had to have had some effect.

So when I started heading down Broadway, which is what I-45 becomes after it passes over the Galveston Causeway, I was surprised that most everything looked the same as the last time I had been there. Galveston, though a popular spot for vacationers, has never really been much glass and glitter. Broadway has a lot of fast food restaurants, local seafood and Mexican places, and antique and thrift stores. Many had new roofs, but, otherwise, there weren’t many changes.

Nonetheless, a couple of things caught my eye. The most obvious is the price of gas is about 25 cents less in Galveston than even the cheapest stations in Houston. The second difference took me a moment longer to notice. Looking down the streets, something made me think of winter. Then I realized what was so strange. Most of the hardwood trees, the majority of which are Live Oaks, are dead. The streets and boulevards of Galveston are lined with these old majestic oak trees, and it appears that only about 5% are still alive. It must have been the salt water covering the land that killed them. It makes the city streets look bleak, all these big, old trees without leaves. I suppose they will have to be cut down, then how bleak will everything look?

I spent a little while along the seawall. Most activities appear back to normal, at least to my eye. Surf shops selling the requisite T-shirts and other touristy items are open, restaurants with outside decks spill over with customers, and bathing suit-clad vacationers stream in and out of the hotels and motels, many of which look completely refurbished. Yet, there is evidence of the storm: metal railings grotesquely twisted lead down from the seawall to the beach, and only rough pilings remain from the once notorious Balinese Room, other restaurants, and fishing piers that jutted out over the beach and water before Ike hit. Likewise, the Flagship Hotel, built upon concrete pilings out over the water stands damaged and forlorn, probably never to re-open. But there is also new construction, evidence that there is money to be made from those who come for a day at the beach, those who want an uncomplicated getaway, and those who just want a pleasant meal next to the rolling waves.

The Flagship Hotel, once a popular destination, now sits damaged and empty.

A pelican rests on a piling of a washed-away pier.

Construction of new buildings over the beach next to the seawall.

Miller's Landing Seafood Restaurant, re-adorned in Victorian style after Hurricane Ike.

U.S. Marshals Excort Alamo from the Texarkana Courthouse on Tuesday.

The jury and alternates have been selected in the trial of accused sex-offender evangelist Tony Alamo and opening statements were made today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes said that “Alamo preyed on his loyal followers’ young daughters, once taking a girl as young as 8 as his bride and repeatedly sexually assaulting her.”

According to a release by MSNBC, “A woman whose parents and grandparents followed evangelist Tony Alamo testified at his sex-crime trial Wednesday that “Papa Tony” had so many partners that he scheduled how often he would have sex with them.”

Latest Trial Update:  MSNBC reports on one witness’s testimony–”The Texas woman said that Alamo ran her husband out of the church and took her as another of his brides. She told jurors that, while sexually assaulting her the night of their marriage, Alamo screamed out: ‘The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is against you, Satan.’ She was 17 then, Alamo was age 59.”

Ground-breaking ceremonies were held to inaugarate the beginning of construction of two new light-rail lines in Houston.  Work will be starting on the Southeast Corridor Line and the Northline Corridor Line.

Both of these will connect more commuters to downtown and the present line, which goes from the University of Houston Downtown on the north to beyond Reliant Stadium on the south.

According to Click2Houston, “(F)ive light rail projects were selected nationwide to receive federal grant money. The two new lines METRORail lines are two of those projects. The north corridor and the southeast corridor will receive $150 million combined.”

Read more here about these and three other new Houston METRORail lines, which will soon be part of the Houston Metro System.

I am in the process of trying to find and purchase a house–my first one. It doesn’t matter how many times you watch HGTV’s “My First Place” and “House Hunters”, going through the actual process has many more details and, in my opinion, many more aggravations. The best information that I got was through a couple of home-buying classes that I took through Leisure Learning here in Houston. However, they didn’t prepare me for this lesson. There have been other lessons that I want to explain, but since this is the first that has cost money, and the most recent sore spot, I’ll start here.

Also be aware that I’m doing this in Texas, so the laws and the ways houses are bought and sold where you live might be different.

Anyway, here goes. When the buyer finds a house that he likes, he makes an offer to the seller. If the seller agrees to the offer, the seller and buyer sign papers which make a commitment for you to buy and them to sell. (It’s kind of like getting engaged. The marriage is the closing.) When that commitment is made, the buyer must put down some money as security that he will continue the buying process; the big chunk is called earnest money and goes into an escrow account at a title company, and a small chunk, called the termination option, goes to the seller. Both of these “chunks” will be applied to the buyer’s closing costs if the buyer doesn’t back out of the deal.

Now here is the lesson–my $116 lesson. As a buyer, do not give checks for either the earnest money or the termination notice until the seller has signed all of the necessary papers to finish his side of the commitment. My agent had me give her checks for these the day I made my offer; then the name was incorrect on one check and the sellers wanted more earnest money put down, so I had to write two more checks and took them to the seller’s agent’s office because it is near where I live.  There’s no legal reason why you have to give the agents that money yet; they just want you more emotionally committed to the sale.

It’s supposed to be a buyer’s market, but the sellers of the house I wanted would not budge on anything. In fact, the straw that broke the camel’s back for me was that they wanted to stay in the house for several days after closing without paying anything and didn’t want to put anything in writing about when they would move out. Therefore, I withdrew my offer before they had even finished with their part of the commitment papers.

However, at that point, I had four checks hanging out there with people I don’t really trust, so immediately upon making my decision about not purchasing that house, I went to Wells Fargo and put a stop payment on each one–at $29 a pop. Though I now have gotten the checks back, at that point I wasn’t sure if I would.

In the end, the lesson for the buyer is: don’t put out earnest money or termination option money until you have all of the papers from an offer (the commitment) which you and the seller have both signed.

While most of the attention to Christians and their so-called “morals” has been on Senator John Ensign of Nevada and Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina for their sexcapades and other questionable activities, there continues to be many more lesser hypocrites committing sex crimes. This is a continuing topic on this site as it’s important to keep up the pressure and make what’s these creeps are doing known as far and wide as possible.

Dunn

The first of these moral hypocrites is from the Houston area. Darrell Dunn, principal, teacher and pastor at Living Praise Academy and Church of Crosby, was arrested for molesting two of his male students. According to local news sources, the Harris County District Attorney’s office also is accusing him of sending sexually explicit photos of himself to one of the victims via text message and the internet. Local authorities are seeking information about other possible victims of this predator.

Brock

The second hypocrite is also a religious school principal. Daniel Charles Brock, 36, the principal of Silver State Christian School in Morrison, Colorado has been arrested for sexual assault on one of his students and attempted sexual assault on another. Apparently this guy was definitely sexually harassing his students in other ways before finally being arrested; according to the Denver Post article, Brock often asked students about their personal sexual relationships and talked to them about what he and his wife did intimately.

Nies

Another “moral” Christian predator is accused of having a sexual relationship with a pre-teen girl. Gregory J. Nies, 56, was the victim’s youth group leader at Lititz United Methodist Church in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Nies is also accused of contacting the girl for on-line sex. According to local sources, he girl met Nies’ family through the church and he began molesting her when she visited with his own children in his home. Not only that, Nies is married with his own children and was previously a Republican candidate for mayor the the town.

Horvath

Let’s don’t think all of these “moral pervies” are men. Cynthia Horvath, faculty member at Warner Christian Academy in South Daytona, Florida, was arrested for having sexual relations with a 17-year-old student at the school. Coincidentally, Horvath, who is 45 and married, has a 17-year-old son, who attends Warner Academy, “a school with scheduled prayer times for the faculty, students and their families”.

It seems that Horvath and her other “moral” Christian cohorts spend more time “preying” than “praying”.

Mr. A-List (that’s A for Adultery), Republican Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina was forthcoming with even more revelations about his relationship with Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentinian woman with whom he has been having an affair. It seems, though, that his current mistress is not the only woman he has been involved with during his marriage to his wife, Jenny. “Oh, what a tangled web . . .” If you’re into the details the South Carolinian newspaper, The State has the most.

Actually, I’m not that interested in what Sanford or other straight people do in bed; it’s just that when so many of them give out this “holier than thou” attitude, laying it on thick about the sanctity of marriage and how gay marriage and homosexuality are just about the worst thing that anyone could be part of, you want to sit there and say, “Hey, Sluggo, maybe you might want to re-think your position on love and who can love whom, and maybe your love isn’t really any different than anybody else’s love.” (Wow, that was a long sentence; I got to take a breath myself.)

Anyway, ya gotta dig these cartoons:

HPD officer enjoying himself big time with the "Hello Kitty" Brigade

After all of the discussion about the Houston Chronicle story about the woman being trampled by a police officer’s horse at the Pride Parade and all the seeming interest in the “Hello Kitty” entry of the Gay Asians and Friends entry in the parade, I thought I needed to add another post. From the pictures, it’s very evident that at least one member of HPD was having the time of his life. Also, the “Hello Kitty” group was one of the most unique of the whole parade. (Thanks to Asians and Friends Houston for a couple of the photos.) Check out more of the parade and other Houston Pride events here.

Resting Kitties before the parade

Getting ready to start the parade

Finally, going down Westheimer

Houston Police Department leads the parade, members definitely in a festive mood with sirens going and bullhorns asking for noise from the crowd. Totally positive attitude from HPD, definitely different from years ago--shows how far everyone has come.

Apparently, there was a woman trampled by a police officer’s horse down near Stanford Street during the parade last night. The comments to the Chronicle article are saying all kinds of things, but I was quite a few blocks from there, so I can say nothing about what happened in that incident.

However, nothing I saw done by the police last night was negative; most everything was positive and then some. They had a great contingent leading off the parade. The head car, in fact, was one they use for recruitment and several of the officers walking alongside were gay (based on my “gaydar”). The police cars had sirens going and the lead car driver was trying to liven up the crowd, shouting things like, “Let’s make some noise” over his bullhorn.

These HPD officers acted very cordially with everyone as they patrolled the parade.

The couple of street patrol officers who were in the area where I was standing often let people cross the street between floats in nice, easy-going way. They kept people off the street, but most of the time while they were near me, they were chatting about “nothing”, not saying anything about the parade or the onlookers. One of them seemed bored, and was engrossed in text-messaging for a good, long while.

I was paying attention to all that because I can’t say I always have had a “love” for the police, and sometimes at past parades, I had seen them be somewhat aggressive in their crowd control.

But I thought the involvement of the police, the firefighters, and even a group of city employees says a lot about how far everyone has come since the early years of the gay pride parades.

The problem is that almost every entry in the parade throws out beads or some other kind of small, cheap favor and half of the people scramble out into the street to pick up dropped ones or even go up to the float riders begging for more. On top of that, many of these same people have no sense about their own safety, because they are so intent upon getting these trinkets, and for quite a few, the alcohol factor can be added in.

I thought to myself as I watched last night that I had never seen so many adults acting like children when they were going after these little bits of cheap nothings, and the meaning of the parade itself was only secondary in their frenzy to grab anything that might be tossed toward the side of the street.

Read more about Houston’s Pride Parade here.

At dusk, before the start of the parade--surrey tram bikes carrying parade-goers around.

View before the parade--Bambolino's Pizza--the big crowds are always further down--near the intersection of Montrose and Westheimer

Houston’s Pride Parade took place last night ( Saturday, June 27th).  Nothaving gone last year, I decided to endure the heat and parking difficulties to go take it in. I’ve missed a few since my first parade in 1983, but not many. They changed through the years, but not so much. Houston’s Pride Parade is a typical parade of floats, marching groups, dignitaries, and commercial entries. Thousands of people attend, but the large majority watch from curbside rather than throng into the street as they do in some other cities.

Mayor Bill White gives me a wave.

Some differences from years gone by: fewer drag queens, fewer floats with muscle guys, fewer bar-sponsored floats. However, there are more marching groups of all kinds, more exuberant participation by public officials, police and firefighters, and many more business and corporate entries.

Likewise, the atmosphere has changed. What used to be a more raucous, festive parade with heavy-beat dance music pumped from the floats (there’s still a little of that) has become a sporadic frenzy of bead-grabbing, as almost every entry has colored chains and other chucherias to toss into the crowds alongside.

Part of the police contingent

These crowds are definitely different from years gone by when it was mostly gays and lesbians and others of the “artsy” kind. Now it’s definitely a mixed crowd, and not exactly easy to always identify who is gay and who is straight or even “whatever”.

In my opinion, though, this Mardi Gras-like bead-tossing, while definitely bringing in a wider variety of people takes something away from the parade’s significance. So many people are jostling and running for the favors thrown out that they really could care less about the significance of the organization or people throwing them the “goodies”. Maybe this attraction helps make the many non-gays in the crowds more gay accepting. I think only the future knows if this is so. Anyway, the parade is a chance for everyone to have a good time and and enjoy the culture. Yes, it’s a culture, not a lifestyle, and a pretty fun culture if you get to know it.

(Check here for more about Houston Pride 2009.)

Some of the South Beach guys having a good time

One of the more unique entries

Gay Asians and Friends and "Hello Kitty"

PFLAGHouston always gets a huge response from the crowds

Guys from the Club Cristal float

The Bunnies on the Bayou entry

One of the many business and corporate parade participants

Impact Houston--one of the large number of activists groups participating

Taking in the sights in the heat of the day at Houston's Pride Festival

Pride Fesival just beginning near the corner of Waugh and Westheimer

Impact Houston members holding down the fort at the group's booth

More of the festival on the Lovett Esplanade

Just after noontime, I went down to the Pride Festival . The start time was 11 AM. There were lots of booths of all types, lots of gay organizations for every interest and various vendors. All I can say is “Hot, hot, hot.” And I am talking about the temperature. The car thermometer said 98 when I left home, and out there on the radiating pavement, it had to have been much higher. Some groups were passing out hand fans. Though, I’m not sure what effect they were having. Despite the heat, the number of people increased during my short 20 minutes there. I talked to some great people at the Impact Houston booth, and then as I was leaving a street evangelist tried to make some headway with me. Ha! No luck there. I can’t imagine how people are standing it now in the hottest part of the afternoon. I’m planning to go back for the parade tonight. It starts at 8:45 PM; here’s hoping there will be some relief from the heat by then.

The Pride Festival runs until 7 PM in Montrose, just south of Westheimer near Commonwealth. Admission is free for all kinds of entertainment, including music and exhibits.

The unique night parade begins at 8:45 running down Westheimer from Dunlavy to Crocker.

For details about these and other Houston Pride events, check www.pridehouston.org/events/ .

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, another one of the "A-List" Republicans

“Lost” Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina has come back to the States from Argentina, and upon his return admitted to having an affair with an Argentinian woman whom he had met some eight years ago.  This is the same Republican governor who made such a big fuss over the stimulus package and didn’t want to take money for his state, which in the end the state legislature accepted.

We probably should start making some tick marks on the calendar to see how many weeks in a row, these Republican big-wigs are going to “come out” admitting to breaking some biblical rule.  It was just last week that U.S. Senator John Ensign admitted to having had an affair with an employee, who was also the wife of one of his top aides.

These types are the same ones who rail against gay marriage and espouse the “sanctity of marriage”. 

Just once I’d like to hear from any of the bible-beater and have them show where that book says there is anything wrong with love, either gay or straight.  What I don’t understand is where they get all so quiet and seem like the shyest little girl in the corner, when one of these conservative Republicans breaks one of the 10 commandants from their own holy book.  I mean, one of the 10 commandments, that’s should be like really a big deal, but they’d rather go on harping, campaigning, and spending money trying to tear down gay people based on a few debateable verses.

According to the Greensboro News-Record, today, the House of Representatives of North Carolina passed an anti-bullying law, which includes race, religion, physical appearance, sexual orientation, and gender identity.  The Governor of North Carolina, Beverly Perdue, says that she will probably sign the bill, which narrowly passed by a 58-57 vote.

North Carolina will join 11 other states that have anti-bullying statutes that protect gay students.

John Ensign, Republican Senator

The situation surrounding the admitted affair of Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign is getting even more damaging for Republicans.

Doug Hampton, the husband of the woman who was involved with Ensign, says he wrote a letter to that favorite network of the right, Fox News, informing them of the affair and asking for their help. Both Hampton and his wife Darlene had worked for Hampton, and their 19-year-old son had also been given a job during the affair.

In the letter, Hampton also said that Hampton’s roommate, Republican Senator from Oklahoma, Tom Coburn, knew about the affair. (Please tell me–why do U.S. Senators need roommates?)

Fox News claims that they didn’t get a letter from Hampton, but strangely enough, it was not soon thereafter that Ensign publicly admitted to the affair.

Ensign’s Republican colleagues are saying nothing more than it’s a private situation and they feel so sorry for his family.

What short memories they have! How much time and taxpayers’ money did the Republicans in Congress spend trying to force President Clinton out of office after the Lewinsky revelations? For months on end, basically all other congressional work stopped so that they could force every little detail out. But now with Ensign, they want only to say, “It’s a personal situation.” What hypocrites!

One of those giving support to Ensign is beleaguered Governor of Nevada, Jim Gibbons, who is in the process of divorcing his wife. The Las Vegas Sun says this about Gibbons’ response to Ensign’s admission:

Ensign’s admission comes on top of a string of disclosures and allegations about Gibbons. Since his election in 2006, Gibbons has been accused of sexual assault, sending love notes on a state phone and improperly firing a state employee. In recent court documents related to divorce proceedings, his wife, Dawn, accused him of a history of infidelity.

This is the same Gibbons who recently vetoed a domestic partners bill in Nevada. Fortunately, the Nevada Senate was able to override Gibbons’ veto.

Aren’t these two Nevada Republican politicians the true posterboys for the sanctity of marriage? How many more closet doors will be cracked open before people realize the true hypocrisy in the actions and words of these leaders of the so-called “moral” Grand Old Party.

John Ensign, Republican Senator

Interesting, interesting, interesting. Don’t those Republicans just personify the “family values” they so glowingly espouse. (Thanks to The Rachel Maddow Show and the Las Vegas Sun for this one.)

A couple of days ago, Senator John Ensign, the Nevada Republican, admitted to having an affair with the wife of one of his top aides. Yes, interesting, because Ensign was one of the Republican senators who had called for President Clinton to resign after the Monica Lewinsky affair. This same “forgiving” senator also had demanded that his fellow Republican senator, Larry Craig from Idaho, resign after he was arrested for trying to do some hanky panky with an undercover cop in a restroom in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Up to now, though, Ensign himself has only found it fit to step down from a senate committee chairmanship.

Since Ensign’s admission of his breaking the 7th commandment (wonder why he didn’t say it that way?), it has come to light that the woman with whom he was having this affair was also on his payroll, but even worse (great for her I suppose), her pay was doubled in both of the two jobs that she had as his employee. (Now it sounds like it was really three.)

What’s even more gob-smacking is that during the same period, her 19-year-old son was being paid for doing “research policy consulting”. Yes, that sounds like something a 19-year-old is really qualified for.

So onward go these moral Republicans, who never seem to have to pay in any way for what they get caught doing. People like Craig continue in office until the term ends, feigning being wronged, liked the meadowlark feigns being wounded to distract you from her nest of eggs. Others like prostitute hiring, David Vitter, U.S. Senator from Louisiana, smile and act they have done nothing and that everyone should pat him on the back for just being a man. And now Ensign.

Well, as for Ensign, I’m waiting for these moral Republicans, especially these evangelical christian types to come out and use their holy book literally, like they always do when they try to condemn gay people and homosexuality.

I mean here it is:

( Leviticus 20 verse 10 and Deuteronomy 22 verse 22). Moses had said both the adulterer and the adulteress had to be stoned. Where was the adulterer? Where was the man that had been found in the very act of committing adultery with the woman? Why had they not brought the man to be stoned together with the woman according to the law of Moses? Both adulterer and adulteress caught committing adultery had to be stoned according to the law of Moses. To stone the woman alone would have been wrong. (Here’s my source, in case somebody wants to mess with me.)

No, these hypocrites only want to use their morality and their religious beliefs, and their literal use of the bible when it suits their purpose. So, of course, they are not going to say anything against people like Craig, Vitter, or Ensign.

Let’s see if these hypocrites’ acts can somehow be blamed on gay people, like, for example, “if those gay people in Massachusetts (because that was the only state where same-sex marriage was legal when Ensign started his affair) weren’t able to get married, I would never have have wanted to cheat on my wife and sleep with my employee who just happens to be the wife of one of my top aides.”

issues in the news: the ramifications of the elections in Iran and equal rights for gay people in the U.S. These may not be on some people’s hottest news items, but for me they are.

I can give only my perspective on them, but actually, they seem to have quite a bit in common despite taking place half a world apart.

First, they both concern people’s equal rights: in Iran, that every person’s vote counts no matter whom the candidate was that he or she voted for; and here, in the U.S., that each person has the right to pursue whatever job or establish a marriage without discrimination no matter what his or her sexual orientation is.

There is another obvious similarity: “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Because the people are protesting so adamantly, things are going to change in Iran even if the same government stays in power. The current leaders know that there are just too many people who are demanding change.

The same is true in the case of gay equality here. Finally, because so many people reacted to the lack of any action on gay issues as Obama had promised to do in his presidential bid, not to mention the derogatory, demeaning language put forth by the Department of Justice last week, the President today gave some–though minimal–benefits to some federal employees. He also mentioned that he was in favor of getting rid of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); however, he did not say anything about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).

The key in both of these countries is that those in power do not make changes on their own. In one way or another they have to be pushed by the people, and in both of these situations, they should and must be pushed hard. In both situations, the people will have to continue to let their voices heard in order to get the results that they want.

I just finished watching a segment of the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. As part of tonight’s show, which included a lot about the events in Iran, she reported that tomorrow President Obama will award benefits for partners of gay federal employees. The few details which were given came from NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd via telephone.

It seems that this action might be in response to the amount of negative reaction to the Department of Justice’s defense against a case that might have gone to the Supreme Court against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which basically denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages that are legal in some states and also says other states don’t have to recognize those marriages either. There are lots of details about this whole controvery on Americablog, Pam’s House Blend, and Towleroad, so go to these sights if you want more on this.

I can’t say I haven’t ever watched gay adult videos, but I can say I’m really unfamiliar with the names of the performers in them. Are there any that use their given names? Most of them tend be less than realistic, something like “Harry Crankshaft” or “Bart de Reeaire”. Yeah, I made those up, so they’re up for grabs if you’re thinking about going into the porn industry.

That’s why I was just surprised just now. After going over some of the videos in my collection on Vodpod (check out my Radical Vid Box in the right sidebar), I started watching one I had collected awhile back by a guy named Dean Monroe called “Closer To You”. It’s typical club music, but the whole take is gay: gay singer, gay dancers. No doubt about it. And the guy has a good voice.  The song is what they used to call Hi-NRG or, in Spain, bakalao, which I have no idea why, because bakalao means codfish.  I don’t know whether he’s ready for American Idol yet, but this song and his voice are just as good as what I’ve seen come from Eurovision.

So, anyway,  yeah, I was surprised when I started looking for other music by this guy. Turns out that his main gig is in adult movies. He’s got a blog if you’re interested in his singing as well as other talents, and a myspace (you do the search).  It’s clean, so you can take a look even if the kids are in the same room. (I don’t know if you have kids, I’m just sayin’.)

Anyway, I like this song and video. If you want to try out some of the other videos, check out my Vid Box.  It’s stuff I like–mostly music but also short films.

In Berlin, a new poster campaign, trying to counter homophobia,, especially among the young in that multi-cultural capital, was revealed by the openly gay mayor, Klaus Wowereit. The campaign is being sponsored by a myriad of gay, women’s, and immigrant organizations.

Berlin's Mayor Wowereit with members of some of the groups sponsoring "Love Deserves Respect"

The posters feature different couples kissing: a gay couple, a lesbian couple, and an opposite sex couple, all with the message Love Deserves Respect in German, Turkish and Arabic. The campaign started in response to an increase in attacks on members of the gay community.

See www.zeig-respekt.de for more information about the project and other topics of interest.

the owner of a legally operating business, just because you don’t like what that business does and you want to close down that business and other similar businesses. In my books, that is terrorism. That’s exactly what happened in the case of murderer Scott Roeder, who killed Dr. George Tiller. This is pure domestic terrorism. Worse yet, in Kansas, this is not a capital murder case, so the taxpayers are going to have to pay for the keep of this diabolical killer for the rest of his life. Hopefully, he will croak soon. And hopefully so will some of the wacko commenters to the article about it.

And now today, we have another killing, this time in Washington, D.C. by another right-wing extremist–the murder of an innocent guard at the Holocaust Museum.

When will it stop? Who is next? We know there will be a next because people like Rush Limbaugh, Shawn Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Bill O’Reilly want to keep their pots of hatred bubbling, inflaming these crazies into the “Chicken Little Syndrome”, making them think that the sky is going to fall just because the political pendulum in this country is moving in the other direction.

Some people want to blame extremists on both sides, but think about it. During the last administration, even when Bush’s popularity was at an all time low, would anyone have ever conceived of an anti-gun proponent going into an NRA meeting and shooting someone? After the Proposition 8 vote against same-sex marriage when so many people were upset at the Mormons for loading the coffers of the Prop. 8 measure, would anyone have ever thought that some gay activist would shoot the leader of that Utah-based sect? And even though many people on the left truly hated Bush’s war in Iraq and what it had done to the country, would anyone have imagined some left-leaning extremist trying to assassinate him?

I doubt that even those vile news commentators who spill out so much hatred against our President and his administration today would have expected that “lefties” would try to murder any of those they disagreed with.

But with the killings of Dr. Tiller and now the museum guard, Stephen Johns, these TV and radio inciters have to be held accountable. They are causing violence and death in this country, and it must stop! If you are one of their listeners, you must stop. Because if you are listening to them and keeping them on the air, and in your own way, you support these inciters, and , thus, support murder. Think about it, and just stop.

I’m from Kansas originally, but I’m not all that familiar with the state’s largest city, Wichita. I’ve been there a few times, just to go shopping. Otherwise, I’ve driven through it, flown into the airport on the west edge of town, and, more than anything, taken the bypass around it. I’m sorry, you nice Wichitans who may look at this blog, but your fair city needs a PR campaign–big time.

For years, the story of the ominous BTK killer hung around, and then the conservative politicians and wacko religious nuts couldn’t let Dr. Tiller or his clinic alone.

Worse, though, is how the Wichita Eagle, the air capital’s newspaper, grinds at these stories day after day, dissecting them to the nth degree. Even after BTK was caught and sentenced, every so often out comes another top of the front page story, and it’ll probably be the same now with Tiller and, for sure, his murderer, Roeder.  But it’s not just the big stories that are full of doom and gloom. I click on kansas. com almost every day, and what are the top stories? Shootings, killings, and drunk drivers hitting children. These are not stories that would make a blogger want to buy a retirement home there.

So come on y’all. Put that loose change together and fork out a bit for some positive PR for your city.

I mean stories like this one from today’s Eagle, well, even though they might raise questions that would make a Mennonite chuckle before going to the liquor store right before it closes on Saturday night, they don’t do any good for the city’s image.

BY STAN FINGER

The Wichita Eagle

WICHITA – A 43-year-old man faces criminal charges after neighbors told police they saw him having sex with his roommate’s dog in south Wichita early Saturday morning.

Witnesses told police they heard the dog barking and yelping shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday in the 2000 block of South Santa Fe.

When they looked to see what was going on, they saw the man with the dog in the backyard of the house across the street.

The dog, a mix of labrador and German shepherd, belonged to the suspect’s roommate, police said.

The dog apparently was not injured in the incident, Lt. Troy Livingston of the sex crimes unit said.

Investigators are looking into whether there have been similar incidents at the house or involving the suspect elsewhere, Livingston said.

Investigators will be presenting the case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, which will determine what charges will be filed in the case, Livingston said.

Yes, there just are a lot of questions here. One way or the other,  the roommate will have some But who are these people up at 2 AM, peering into other people’s backyards? Mr. Finger may fill us in with more details in tomorrow’s edition.

The last time I ever read anything from the bible was back in my college days when I was taking a World Lit. course, and during the section on Ancient and Medieval Lit., I figured out that a lot of what was written in a supposedly holy book was hardly different than the fantastical stories and sagas of other writings of those times.

Tonight after thinking about Betty Bower’s video (check it out below), I got to wondering about Adam and Eve, and especially their children. I only remembered about Cain and Abel, and that “Cain slew Abel”, but then tonight I found out that there was Seth, who was born like 130 years later, because people lived such a long time in those days. Yeah, right. Life was so easy back then, I guess.

But what I was really wondering was how all these anti-gay-marriage people explain all this. Well, now I know. Just like they say in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, “Incest is best!”

I mean, they always say, “The bible says marriage is between one man and one woman.” But why are they so closed-mouth about incest?

They say that what the bible says about marriage has always been the same, but shame on them; they’ve been holding out. Now I know because “Bible Study Manual” told me so.

Read on. I’m sure you’re going to be busting a gut at how all this is explained–yeah, “explained” nudge, nudge; wink, wink.

As marriage in the Bible specifies one man for one woman for life, this means Christians have to be able to explain how Adam and Eve’s sons could marry and have children to propagate the human race. Thus we need to be able to answer the question concerning Cain’s wife.

One can actually answer this question with just a little Bible knowledge. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve ‘begat sons and daughters.’ Josephus, the Jewish historian, states that ‘The number of Adam’s children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.’ The point, of course, is that Adam and Eve did have many children.

Therefore, brothers must have married sisters at the beginning. Remember that the law against close intermarriage was not given until the time of Moses – e.g., ‘none of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him’ (Leviticus 18:6). There was nothing wrong with brother and sister marriages, originally. If you think about it, that is the only way to populate the world, starting with only one pair. Notice that Abraham married his half sister with no condemnation from God, even though this was later forbidden.

Also, as Adam and Eve were created perfect, their genes would have been perfect. As the curse God placed upon creation started to operate only after they sinned, their descendants would not have had many mistakes in their genes. These mistakes (harmful mutations) add up only after a long period of time.

So brothers and sisters (Adam and Eve’s children) could have married and not had the problems of deformities in their offspring as might well happen today, if such close relatives married and had children. This is because today humans have lots of mistakes – because of the curse – in their genes. This may cause problems when matching pairs are inherited from both parents, as much more likely with close intermarriage.

Some people, though, say that there must have been people other than Adam and Eve, because Cain went to the land of Nod and found his wife. First of all, the Scriptures quoted above make it obvious that there was only one man and one woman from whom came all other human beings.

Secondly, the Scripture says that Cain went to the Land of Nod and ‘knew’ (had sexual relations with) his wife. John Calvin, in his commentary on Genesis, and most other conservative expositors, make the point that Cain was married before he went to the land of Nod.

Don’t you like how they can use science when they want to throw in the idea of “genes”, but then ignore it when comes to how long people lived.

So there you go. If you don’t have a good answer, just make one up, and “That’s the way it is.” End of story. No discussion.

Last September, I began posting about religious hypocrites and their criminal acts. Among the highlighted rogues was Ted Haggard, the head preacher of New Life Ministries in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and friend of James Dobson, de facto leader of the ultra-right, super anti-gay, Focus on the Family.

One thing learned in this quest to “out” these hypocrites is that many of these perpetrators are Baptist clergy, the Southern Baptist Convention has chosen not to make any kind of predator check list, which might help individual churches in that denomination avoid hiring these guys. A site that does keep people aware of them is stopbaptistpredators. org.

However, even with the exposure of such predominant figures, the victimization by other supposed men of the cloth still continues as can be seen by these updates and new cases:

Cortes

Salinas, California–Father Antonio Cortes, pastor at the Saint Mary of Nativity Catholic Chirch has Been Arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a teenage boy. Cortes is facing two counts of sexual molestation, one count of sodomy, and 20 counts of serving alcohol to a minor. Despite the abundance of child pornography found in the priest’s residence, some church parishioners are still trying to blame the victim who came forward.

Asheville, North Carolina–Roy Mace Honeycutt II, preacher affiliated with the Bethel Baptist Church of Asheville, NC, and the Trinity Baptist Church of Mars Hill, NC, was arrested for sex crimes against children over a 30 year time span. UPDATE: Honeycutt was sentenced to six years in prison.

DeKalb County, Indiana–Lane Andrews, pastor of New Life Ministries in Garrett, Indiana for 15 years has been charged with molesting his 7-year-old granddaughter.

Carfrey

Buckeye, Arizona–Charles Lawrence Carfrey, pastor of the Lord’s House Church, was charged with running a criminal syndicate, sexual conduct with a minor and sexual abuse. It appears that he manipulated and controlled church members so that the police had not been able to make a case against Carfrey until some of his flock finally left the church.

Jacksonville, Florida–Darrel Gilyard, pastor of the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, was arrested for sending lewd messages to underage girls, after 20 years of accusations of indecent conduct. Gilyard was purported to be one of the up and coming leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention. UPDATE: Gilyard has pleaded guilty to two charges and will be sentenced to three years in jail.

Mabank, Texas–Joshua Neal Ponder, Youth Minister of the First Baptist Church of Mabank youth minister was arrested for sexual assault of a 16-year-old male victim.

Masters

Kilpatrick, Alabama–Billy Masters, a 66-year-old preacher at Harvest Baptist Church was charged with first-degree sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy who is a member of the church congregation. Previously, Masters had been convicted in 2001 and was in prison until 2007 for sexual crimes against three male victims.

Watertown, Minnesota–Dennis Hayes, pastor at St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, was charged with sexual contact with a minor and possession of child pornography.

Ted Haggard from a recent TV appearance

And what of Ted Haggard? He hasn’t shown up on TV for awhile, but he does appear he’s a fairly active Twitterer. By looking at his thoughts there, he’s trying to stay in the spotlight and considers himself a celebrity. He doesn’t seem to acknowledge that he gets most of that attention from his fall after his relationship with Mike Jones, the male hustler that he hired for sex, came to light.

Tony Alamo awaits trial

Tony Alamo is sitting in jail in Texarkana, Arkansas on juvenile sex charges. At the same time, some of his lawyers are fighting the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which has taken 36 children from Alamo’s followers for their protection. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Alamo as the leader of “a cult that thrives on criticism of homosexuals, Roman Catholics and the government”. This group’s fight with the government is quite messy, but there is an entire website devoted to working for the conviction of Alamo and the other cases surrounding members of his group at tonyalamonews.com

Again, why spend the time researching and writing an entire post on these creeps? Because they are the leaders of their churches, and week after week, they preach to hundreds and thousands of people who hold them up in other. They use their power and status to control their followers’ lives in almost every aspect. They are evangelicals and other religious hypocrites who help keep homophobia and and anti-gay legislation going. They need to be exposed for what they are: liars and hypocrites.

Change has come to the Kansas landscape: the Smoky Hills Wind Farm, Ellsworth and Lincoln Counties

Some complain that Obama and the Congress aren’t doing enough to bring about changes for gay equality. But for real change to happen when it comes to beliefs and prejudices, it has to happen in people’s hearts.

I was raised in a part of the country where big changes don’t seem to happen very fast–no matter what kind of change we might be talking about. That place is western Kansas (central Kansas if you think of the state as having 3 regions), where the wind never seems to stop blowing from one direction or the other.

I read an article today that reminded me of an event I had wanted to write about before. Both of these show that changes in the way others feel toward gay people are being made.

In my little ol’ hometown of Dorrance, the biggest event of every year is Memorial Day weekend. It’s the time when alumni go back for school reunions and other get-to-gethers on Saturday and Sunday. On the Monday holiday itself, there is always a parade that goes from downtown out to the flower-filled cemetery, and the local American Legion post puts on a moving service and tribute. That particular event is so much a part of our local heritage. (And me too. You know, I can’t even explain; it’s something that maybe only people from small towns can understand, but I’m getting choked up as I write this.)

But, anyway, back to the point. I don’t think I have ever been so proud of my hometown and its people as a couple of years ago when I went back for the holiday weekend, and the main speaker at the Memorial Day service was the youngest sister of one of my old friends, who is now a university professor and an out lesbian. I had met her partner the year before at the same event, but I was completely overwhelmed with happiness to see how my hometown of not even 250 people was so accepting and welcoming.

Today an article from the Garden City Telegraph also made me proud, proud of a young gay kid from Kansas. A senior at Garden City High School had taken it upon himself and gotten a GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) started. Even though GCHS is one of the largest high schools in the state, the town of about 25,000 does sit out in the flat southwest Kansas plains, surrounded by farms and feedlots full of cattle. By reading the Comments to the article, we find that not everyone is accepting: his father kicked him out of the house. However, all but one commenter had very positive things to say. Except for his father, this young man seems to have a good support network and a very positive attitude. Hopefully, there are some PFLAG people in the area that will help the dad get some better understanding of his own feelings and that the two can once again have a relationship.

Only a few years ago, people thought that tall wind chargers would destroy the unique beauty of the rough Kansas pastureland, but once put in place, the wind farms have seemed to add their own beauty to the landscape, not to mention their benefit as clean energy producers.

I think that’s also what happens with people’s prejudices too: get to know what you fear and you find there’s really nothing to fear, and more possibly there’s something even more to endear.

An American christian woman, Betty Bowers, clearly explains why the bible is against gay marriage.

After sending the same-sex marriage bill back to the New Hampshire Legislature for “tinkering” last week, Governor John Lynch signed the bill into at 5:20 PM (EDT) today. Earlier this morning, the state senate passed the bill by a 14-10 vote, and this afternoon, the New Hampshire House approved the legislation by 198-176.

Lynch had wanted more explicit wording about how the law would protect religions. Now according to the Manchester Union-Leader, “HB 73 clarifies the rights of religious organizations and their employees to refuse to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies or celebrations. It states that religious groups have exclusive control over doctrine, teaching and beliefs on who can marry within their faiths.” Unless there is some hidden meaning here, this doesn’t seem like it will do more than the obvious. It’s unlikely that any couple–gay or straight–would want to be married in a church that doesn’t want to marry them.

Supporters of marriage equality celebrate after the bill passes in the New Hampshire House. Among those in the group is the Rev. Gene Robison, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, who can be seen at the lower left.

With the governor’s signature, New Hampshire becomes the sixth state to establish marriage equality for its citizens. The state joins four other New England states–Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont–and the mid-west farming state of Iowa in approving gay marriage.

Out of the Pocket
Bill Konigsberg
Dutton Books (Hardback)
 ISBN-13-9780525479963

A couple of months ago when the Lambda Literary Foundation’s 21st list of awarded gay books came out, I promised to read some of them and post my personal reviews.

I found one from the LGBT Childrens/Young Adult top picks at my nearby Barnes and Noble: Out of the Pocket by sports writer Bill Konigsberg. I immediately read it, and forgot about it.

Since then, I’ve read and been reading on several other books and posted reviews of a couple of them. Then a couple of days ago, I saw a new posting of the Lambda book list and realized that Konigsberg’s novel had been the top choice in the LGBT Childrens/Young Adult category, and I thought to myself, “I’ve read that book and got it somewhere.” I looked a bit and thought maybe I was mistaken about having read it; then while uncovering a pile of papers on top of my printer, I found it.

Last night, I re-read it, and now wonder why it is the top selection in its category. I must admit, though, I haven’t read the other contenders yet.

What Konigsberg has written (and maybe this is why the book has been ranked 1st) is a “safe” book. The theme is not a new one: it’s the coming out story of a high school guy; in this case, though, it’s the story of a star quarterback of a highly rated football team being somewhat pushed out of the closet.

Konigsberg’s writing is smooth and suits the storyline of his jock main character, Bobby Framington. But whether it was part of the writer’s intent or not, I felt little empathy for Bobby because Bobby shows very little empathy for others. This jock is part of the top click that many high schools have. He and his “sort of” girlfriend have an on-going role-play, in which she is “Annette” and he is “Biff”. In a lot of ways, though, Bobby is a “Biff”; he lives a comfortable life, has party-boy football jock friends, and is supported by school mentors before and throughout his coming out.

Actually, his nemesis, the high school news reporter who outs Bobby, comes across as a more honest and real character, one some readers will identify with in this dialogue:

Finch shrugged. “You jocks have no idea what it’s like to have a bad time.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Bobby, everyone likes you. You think being gay will stop people from liking you? I bet it didn’t. I wrote that article, and for like a day, people came up to me and made me feel like I was something. Then it was over. It was like I didn’t write it at all.”

The laugh came from deep in my gut. “Poor Finch,” I said. “That must be hard for you not being popular.”

It’s clear that Bobby is one of the popular kids, and even though after his outing, a couple of gay students from outside his group try to make a connection, Bobby seems not to really identify with them. Konigsberg’s story would have had a greater appeal had it taken chances with characters outside of Bobby’s “safe” world.

I’m not sure what Konigsberg’s real purpose was in writing this book. On one hand, because of the click in which he has placed his main character, I don’t see that a lot of gay kids who are struggling with their own coming out, especially with the pressures from both inside and out of school, will find someone to identify with. I guess there may be some comfort and guidance for some young gay athletes who might be trying to figure out what coming out might be like, but the fact that Bobby comes out “OK” with every difficulty he encounters will be hard for many young readers’ (athletes or not) to believe.

Despite the story’s problems, I’m sure that school librarians across the country will be able to “stay in the pocket” with this book, because it’s a “safe” gay book for teens. The most intimate the story gets is a kiss, and yes, that’s one kiss, and even though Bobby manages to get a boyfriend almost before he has come out, the relationship seems much more like a friendship than romance.

When it comes to teen coming out stories that deal with sports, for my two cents, these books are better reads:

• Rainbow Boys (and the other books in the series)–by Alex Sanchez (basketball and swimming)
• Pins–by Jim Provenzano (wrestling)
• Clay’s Way–by Blair Mastbaum (surfing)

Help add your support (not financial) to helping end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” here.

Drew Barrymore in support of Unite the Fight

Last fall, immediately after the Prop. 8 loss in California, there were rallies across the country, but it seemed like after a day or two of outrage and speeches, the steam went out of the engine.

But now after the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the proposition against same-sex marriage, it feels like people are getting organized in a way that will continue until change in the laws in California and across the land will continue.

In the recent past, organizations like the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) have really proven impotent in making changes. But now new spokespeople for the fight are emerging: people like Justin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for writing the screenplay for the movie MILK and Dan Choi, the Army First Lieutenant, who was recently kicked out of the Army, are making themselves known, and becoming the new leaders of the fight for gay equality.

This is what has been wanted for so long; since Harvey Milk there have been few with the determination and willingness to lead in this cause.

Today, in California protesters marched the fifteen miles from Selma, California to Fresno, California in support of same-sex equality, and since arriving, according to the Fresno Bee, there has been a rally of several thousand in front of the Fresno City Hall.

The rally, part of the new campaign called Meet in the Middle 4 Equality, has been streaming live for several hours. I’ve been watching and this definitely has the feel of the real beginning of a true, winning campaign.

Robin McGehee, the Lead Organizer of Meet in the Middle 4 Equality, has just given a moving speech finishing with a very emotional challenge to President Obama to follow through with his promises to the gay people who supported him in his campaign for office.

You can also see the rally live (if you read this today) and clips from the march from Selma and the rally itself at the Unite the Fight website.

Valle de Elqui (The Elqui Valley)--if you look closely you can see the tops of some of the buildings of Vicuña. It may not look "magical" but it is.

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 have or in nicely arranged albums that others have. I just can’t see much pleasure involved in pulling out DVDs and slipping them into the computer as a way of enjoying photos. And what about all those images that just got deleted? My photo box contains lots of “mistakes” that I can enjoy today and some, not necessarily mistakes, but ones I might like to cut someone out of. But this dilemma is not really my point here. Let me share some of the photos from my box.

Grape vines and the Andes Mountains near Vicuña, Chile.

Amongst all the others, I have a couple of full envelopes from trips to Chile. I’ve been there a couple of times, the last in 2000. Chile, that long thin country in South America, has as its border with Argentina the Andes Mountains and its other limit the cold Pacific Ocean. Because of its geography, it’s an absolutely beautiful country, which goes from almost arid desert in the north to cold and wet the further south you go.

Chile is a country with so much unspoiled nature that it’s almost hard to believe. I was fortunate enough to have friends whom I had met through internet chat to welcome me there and show me around.

There is a place there that has to be one of earth’s “magical” places, something like what I’ve heard about Sedona, Arizona.

Vicuña is a town that lies a good day’s bus ride north of Santiago up in one of the many valleys of the Chilean Andes, where the run-off from the snow flows from the mountains in a westerly direction, eventually into the Pacific. A lot of this water is used for irrigation. In the Valle de Elqui, where Vicuña sits, much of the water is used for the grape vineyards, but other fruits and vegetables are also grown in the area. Vicuña is a center for the production of pisco, a brandy-like liquor that is processed in several distilleries in the area. I had a chance to visit the Capel pisco plant there. I still can make a mean Pisco Sour, one of those drinks that tastes so good, but might have your socks knocked off after just a couple.

The church and the old German Bauer Tower sit in the center of Vicuña.

But let me get back to the “magic” of this place. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like it before. I guess I might attribute this feeling partly to the quaintness of the town itself. It has a unique old tower that was originally built in Germany but was brought in pieces by immigrants and re-constructed in the center of town. But I’ve been to many other quaint towns, so I really don’t think that’s it.

It could be because the sky there is absolutely clear, and the view goes on for miles. In fact, there are at least two observatories that have been located right in the area just because of this clear, clean air.

Maybe it’s the quiet, slow-paced atmosphere of the place, where even the dogs on the street couldn’t be bothered to lift their heads to bark at an intruder trudging down their narrow street.

One of the quiet streets of Vicuña.

I really can’t say what gives Vicuña this special feeling, but I do know that I felt it when I arrived and felt its absence later. I doubt, too, that I am able in any way to convey this magic through a few photos, but I remember it well and I have the urge to experience Vicuña’s special magic again.

The California Supreme Court sent out a mixed message today when it upheld last November’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriages, but, on the other hand, did not make make the proposition retroactive, which means that the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place previous to the election are still legal.

While those opposed to gay marriage may be celebrating today, they must realize that the sand in the top of their hourglass continues to drain into the bottom: eighteen thousand gay marriages remain intact despite the millions they spent. The court’s ruling only says that the proposition made a legal change in California’s Constitution; the court did not say gay marriage was wrong; in fact, just the opposite is the case in allowing the 18,000 marriages to stand.

The effect of allowing the 18,000 marriages to remain legal will be much more enduring than the upholding of Proposition 8.

Except for under the G. W. Bush administration (with various interferences to privacy and to the writ of habeas corpus), it’s hard to think of civil liberties, once granted, that have been retracted. How willing would African-Americans be to go back into slavery? Would women say, “Oh, we’re just so happy with the way men run the government that we’ll just stay at home on election day”? Can you imagine Jon and Kate or any other inter-racial couples thinking how “unnatural” it would be to get married and have kids? When it comes to civil liberties, it’s very hard to get the toothpaste back in the tube once it’s been squeezed out.

And gay people are not going back either.

Because of these 18,000 marriages, gay marriage will become legal for other couples, one way or the other. It may be through the court itself or through the ballot box. It may come about through more people realizing that equality counts for all, not for just some. It may come about when a financially-strapped state understands the boon of same-sex marriages.

Whatever way–things will change. Look at the difference between now and barely a year ago. Until May 15th of last year when the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, only the state of Massachusetts allowed it. In spite of Proposition 8, 18,000 couples were legally married in California, and . . . same-sex marriage became law in Connecticut (since October 10, 2008), Iowa (since April 27, 2009), Vermont (starting September 1, 2009) and Maine (starting September 14, 2009). And it appears some of the “New” states–New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire will approve gay marriage soon.

So for all the NOMers and other nay-sayers out there, imagine a “storm” of fluffy clouds, spring flowers, and the most delicious wedding cakes out there, because if you think you’ve won something today in California, most gay people see a silver lining that’s going to be found in more and more tuxes and wedding gowns all across the land.

In just looking at the Declaration of Independence, I see again that it says that one of the unalienable rights is “the pursuit of happiness”. Nothing in there that I can read says that working to make other people’s lives unhappy is an unalienable right. But, thank goodness, people like Maggie Gallagher, James Dobson, and Jerry Falwell are a dying breed. Oh, sorry, Falwell’s dead already, isn’t he?

Annie Resting on the Bench

Having a dog means walking, or at least, it should mean that. I’m so fortunate that I live within “spittin’ distance” from what I think is one of the nicest parks anywhere, Memorial Park in Houston. Annie and I are out the door, and within five minutes we can be to the edge of the park. For the both of us, there always seems to be something new to see, or in her case, to sniff. This evening she got to sniff, and I snapped some photos.

Here are some of the highlights of our walk this evening.

Bright Yellow Trumpets

Dwarf Magnolia Blossom

Orange Trumpets Along the Road With the Park Behind

Tiny Purple Flowers with Seed Pods Like Miniature Bananas

A Shiny Pot and Palms Near the Esplanade

The Majestic Oak Tree Shading the WOW Roundabout

Flowering Vines Overhanging the Yellow Gate

The Wonderful Century Plant Crowding the Walk

Growing up, I always saw my country as the one which was the most inventive, the most progressive, the one with the most forward-looking people. I mean aren’t we the country that put the first men on the moon, the country that fought in wars so other people could live in freedom?

What I see now is a country that has so many people that are not only afraid of being on the cutting-edge in all aspects, whether in science and medicine (think stem cell research), inventions (think new forms of energy), or social progress (think equal rights), but also people who want to live in the past, rather than help move the country forward.

I’m really amazed when I see what is happening in some “so-called” third-world, or developing, countries when it comes to equal rights, especially in terms of gays in the military. While President Obama has been waffling on his campaign promise to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, President Tabaré Vázquez of the South American country of Uruguay announced that his country would no longer deny entrance into their armed forces to someone who is gay. In a meeting with Vazquez, the President of the neighboring country of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, agreed, saying his country will follow suit because Paraguay does not discriminate in any manner, including on the basis of religion or sexual orientation.

Additionally from South America comes the news of the first same-sex couple to receive spousal benefits through the Armed Forces. Based on the decision of the Constitutional Court (Supreme Court) of Colombia, the gay couple of Fabián Chibcha Romero and Javier Osorio will be able to take advantage of these benefits because one of them is a member of the Public Forces (includes both the military and civil police). After processing their Union Marital de Hecho (which formalizes common law marriages after two years of cohabitation for both heterosexual and homosexual couples), Romero and Osorio sought the spousal benefits and were the first same-sex couple to be granted them based on military membership.

However, here in the U.S. even with the change to a new administration, valuable members of the military are still being drummed out based on their sexuality.

Lt. Dan Choi, discharged Arab Linguist

Less than two weeks ago, the U.S. Army told Lt. Dan Choi, a member of the New York National Guard, that he would be dismissed for being gay. Choi is a graduate of West Point, and an Arab linguist recently returned from Iraq.

Today, the Service Members Legal Defense Network said the the Pentagon is ready to kick out another highly-skilled, veteran service member for being gay. SLDN says the U.S. Air Force is about to discharge fighter pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Victor J. Fehrenbach, after 18 years of service to his country. Among his long list of accolades is that he was especially selected to fly sorties over the U.S. capital after the 9/ll attacks. (I’m not going to do a “cut and paste”; read more about Fehrenbach’s illustrious career here and watch the eye-opening interview and report from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show.)

It is really a sad situation that we have in this country when we are ready to kick people who have given so much of themselves for their country out of the military just because of their sexuality. Is this what kind of country we are? One that judges people based on antiquated social mores? Are we a country that would rather let some people’s bigotry get in the way of having able-bodied and well-qualified service members protecting our country?

I don’t get it. Our forefathers came to this land with the idea of making a better life based on the principles of individual freedom and strove to be the best. They and their descendants were creative and worked to invent the best and newest, whatever that might be.

Now we have become a country of too many stick-in-the-muds. They only want to hide themselves in their “moral values” because, in reality, they are scared of the future. How did we ever get so many of these who are so filled with their own self-interest–yes, really these political and religious conservatives are really very selfish people; though, they would claim otherwise–that they cannot see that this country has to be progressive and future-thinking in order to be the country that we used to be.

Alfred Kinsey first introduced the Kinsey Scale, which said that a person’s sexuality fit somewhere on a range from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively homosexual), way back in the 1940s. Of course, the deniers , groups like Focus on the Family and other religious organizations, continue with their ignorant tirades against this.

HBO’s documentary, Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She, explores this rainbow of sexuality. From the synopsis: “Researchers cite examples from the natural world, where species display a wide range of sexual variation, and point out that humans show more diversity than the strict male-female dichotomy.” This will certainly bring about more shouts from those are determined that only 100% heterosexuality is natural.

One of the most telling segments takes a look at homophobia and suggests as many others have before: that many homophobes are really just repressed homosexuals. Take a look at the clip:

Update (June 3, 2009)–New Hampshire has approved gay marriage.  See story here.

The governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch, says that he will sign the same-sex marriage bill into law, if the legislature includes stronger language that says people won’t have to violate their religious principles. According to him, the laws granting gay marriage in Vermont and Connecticut do that. If the bill becomes law, New Hampshire, nicknamed the Granite State, would become the 6th U.S. state with marriage equality. In addition to Vermont and Connecticut, New Hampshire would be included with Iowa and most of the other New England states of Massachusetts, and Maine in having marriage equality in place. Rhode Island would then be the only hold-out state in New England not to have approved of marriage equality.

For anyone who is interested in American politics and demographics, and in particular, the results of the 2008 Election, there is a wonderful interactive map from the NY Times.

You can select from a list of demographic variables (age, economic, employment, etc.) and then adjust the percentage bar, which is located above the map. Move the little tabs to change the percentages. I didn’t get it at first, but it’s fun. You can see, based on which factors you enter, the counties which gave their majority of votes to Obama and which to McCain. At the same time, you get an output of the overall national percentage based on the factors you’ve used.

It’s a very informative little gadget!

Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspendents Dinner (Photo/ Brendan Smialowski)

There have been many gay activists, gay bloggers, and others who have been complaining that President Obama hasn’t done enough or said enough about gay issues during his first 100 days in office. It seems to me that if we have entrusted this man to lead the country through these difficult times, we need to give him a little slack when it comes to social issues.

But if anyone has any doubt about whether President Obama is sympathetic to gay people and their causes, he should be aware who was featured entertainment at the White House Correspondents Dinner last night–and I did say featured entertainment–none other than out gay actor and comedian, Wanda Sykes.

There may have been other out entertainers invited to perform at White House events by past administrations, but nobody so “out there” as Wanda Sykes, who came out publicly last November.

I love watching Wanda Sykes perform; she is one of the funniest people around these days, but her humor can be both gut-busting and raw-nerve-hitting. Anyone can be the butt of her jokes, and she doesn’t mince words. Her performance at the dinner roasted not only the President and some from his administration but also took aim at former President Bush and other Republicans, in particular, Rush Limbaugh, former Vice President Cheney, and Sarah Palin.

If you didn’t get a chance to see Wanda’s out performance, take a look here. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as you’ll see the President enjoying it when you watch.

Part 1:

Part 2:

First of all, I can’t say I am whole-heartedly in favor of the hate crimes bill in Congress. For my tax dollars spent on social issues of this kind, I’d much rather see Congress, first, get rid of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) and the “Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

The bill, which if enacted, would be called the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. (Click to the bill from the Library of Congress. Read it; it’s just one page.) After reading it for myself, I’m getting sick of all the christian whiners all over the net crying that they are going to lose their ability to spew out hate. The bill does basically these things:

• Gives the necessity for having such laws
• Defines what hate crimes are
• Says the support, both financial and otherwise, can be given to state and local jurisdictions, especially when the crime involves more than one state or in rural areas, basically in the form of grants
• Gives more specifics on what hate crimes are (those involve bodily injury and death)
• Explains in what situations the federal government can get involved
• Explains what evidence is admissible
• Explains that the Act follows the Constitution, which gives free speech.

In fact, the bill directly stipulates that speech, including religious speech, is still protected; read from Section 10:

• (3) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any constitutionally protected speech, expressive conduct or activities (regardless of whether compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief), including the exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment and peaceful picketing or demonstration. The Constitution does not protect speech, conduct or activities consisting of planning for, conspiring to commit, or committing an act of violence.

• (4) FREE EXPRESSION- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow prosecution based solely upon an individual’s expression of racial, religious, political, or other beliefs or solely upon an individual’s membership in a group advocating or espousing such beliefs.
  

If someone says that his religious speech will be limited because of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, he hasn’t read it, or he is just lying and trying to stir things up for others who won’t bother to read it.

How do you like my new banner photo? It’s not so easy to take (or find) long, horizontal photos to fit. I’m sure some of you will recognize the jogging trail that goes for three miles around Memorial Park, with the golf course just visible inside. The bluebonnets from the previous banner are already gone but there are still some Indian Paintbrushes and other red posies filling some of the open spaces. They’ll soon be gone too with the heat coming. It was near 90 degrees today, but I’m sure it made it there or higher in some places north and west of town.

My Christmas cactuses have just wanted to keep putting out blooms. I posted earlier about some coming way after Christmas. Then just this past Saturday I noticed that the red one and the yellow each had a single bud. With the heat, they opened quickly. The red one has already dropped off and the yellow one is going fast. This evening it’s already starting to fold up. It looks white but is a shade of pale yellow.

Pale Yellow Christmas Cactus, May 7, 2009

I have a tiny little fuschia plant that I was given more than a month ago with a few flowers already in bloom, but they didn’t last. These plants usually don’t take the heat here, but this little plant is staying strong with sprinkles of water every day, and now is just full of buds. I hope they open soon, and if so, I’ll share a photo here.

Governor John Baldacci signed the gay marriage bill, which the Maine state senate had passed earlier in the day, making the Pine Tree State, the fifth state of the nation to bring marriage equality to all of its citizens.

The Maine senate had passed the bill by a vote of 21-13.  The state house of representatives had also favored passage of the bill on Tuesday, voting 89 For to 57 Against.

Maine follows Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and Iowa in leveling the playing field for all its citizens.  All of these states are in the New England section of the U.S., aside from Iowa, a farming state, which sits between the Mid-West and the Great Plains.

Opponents have vowed to seek signatures for a referendum to deny marriage equality to people in Maine.

Waldo's People of Finland will compete in Eurovision 2009 with "Lose Control".

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, like Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Israel) are located in what I learned in geography to be Asia.

Gayclic has provided a great post where you can conveniently access all of the videos from each of the competing countries. Just click on the name of the country to watch its song. If the page happens to open in French, click on the little British flag in the upper right corner for translation. (Gayclic is a nice site, and you don’t have to be gay to enjoy it.)

The songs are definitely a mixture of different genres and styles but lean toward ballads; however, quite a few are throwbacks to the 80s or even earlier. My favorite is “Lose Control” by the group from Finland, Waldo’s People. Their sound is that of ABBA, updated for ‘09. Germany’s entry is very slick. The song is “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang” done by Alex Swings Oscar Sings, with Oscar being a Ricky Martin “knock-off”, who will keep your attention, even if swing music isn’t your style.

If you have time on your hands, check out the songs from all of the countries; you’re to come up with your own favorites.

(The following post is from a few months back, but it hasn’t gotten much mileage, and it’s one of my favorites. Now that people are writing and reading more about equality, I thought I’d re-post it.)

The Center Pinwheel for One of the Stars

I’m piecing together another quilt.

Sometimes when I’m working on a quilt, I wonder how many other guys out there might be doing the same thing. I doubt very many. I’ve met a few others at quilt shows and guild meetings, but I’d say for every 300 women who quilt, there might be 1 guy who does it, maybe fewer. There are several out there, though, who make a living as quilters and quilt artists.

When I first started quilting eight years ago, I felt somewhat awkward going to fabric stores, but that didn’t last very long. Because I was so intent on getting what I wanted, I soon got over feeling out of place in a quilt store, where the only other guy was some husband standing near the door, ready to bolt when his wife had finished checking out at the cashier. The good thing about being a guy quilter is that everyone who works in the fabric store gets to know you very quickly. I say “the good thing” and mostly it is good because the large majority of the women quilters and those who work at quilt stores are really curious about what I’m working on, and, of course, want to make suggestions. There are a few, though, that give me the impression that I’ve invaded their space; these are certainly the minority. I suppose they are like some firefighters or macho truck drivers who don’t think a woman should be a part of their professions.

In thinking about this tonight, I remembered how lucky I am to have had the parents I had, and unusually amazing, for the humble, Republican-voting people that they were–to give me (well, “Santa gave me”) the Christmas gifts I asked for back in those Eisenhower years–whether it was a tool set or a baking set, an electric train or that little red metal sewing machine (or even the child’s set of China that I still have in its original box)–they never said, “No, you can’t ask for that, because it’s a girl’s toy.” I wonder how many boys’ parents have said that because they didn’t think some toy was “gender appropriate”.

But my parents were part of that group of neighbors and hometown people scratching out a living on quarter-section farms and small town businesses–people that didn’t judge the farmwife who got out on the tractor to plow the fields or on the combine to harvest the wheat because “that is man’s work”. To them, the work just needed to get done, and whoever did it, it didn’t matter.

I don’t know–economic hard times might not be such a bad thing; if some people had to work harder, maybe they’d have less time to be judgmental about other people’s lives.

—————————————————————————–

You can see one of my quilts here.

Appalled is the only way to describe my reaction yesterday when I saw the C-Span clip of Virgina Foxx, the Republican Congresswoman of North Carolina’s Fifth District during the debate of the hate crime legislation. This former college president and English professor said that the fact that Matthew Shepard was murdered because he was gay was a hoax. (She has since tried to backtrack on her words.) The fact is gay people in this country are attacked and killed because of their sexual orientation here in the U.S. In some cases, gay people are targeted because they seem to some to be “easy pickings” and the real motivation for the attack is pure harassment or robbery or even rape.

There was a rash of attacks on gay people here in Houston in the 90s, one of which was the murder of Paul Broussard, which happened near where I lived. If you’ve never read about this case, I recommend that you read this article or for a slightly different perspective look here.

It only takes reading the gay press online to know that these attacks are still happening today. I can’t say what percentage of gay people have experienced physical attacks or the threat of being attacked, but I would guess that it’s a high percentage, from attacks in schools to attacks in the street to attacks at home.

In spite of all these attacks (I’ve experienced it myself as I’ve mentioned on my about page), I don’t really support hate crimes legislation. If someone is attacked, they are attacked and the perpetrator should be punished. If someone is murdered, the killer should be tried and punished according to the law, not because of who was killed but because murder is murder no matter who the victim is.

I agree with some in Congress who ask how do we determine which groups should be covered under hate crimes. Ours is a democracy and everyone should be treated equally, no slippery slopes.

And that is the rationale of those people who are against hate crimes legislation: they do not want to have to give special treatment to certain groups.

But where is that rationale when it comes to Marriage Equality? Those who are against marriage equality certainly favor the idea of a special status for heterosexual people. And those against same-sex marriage are not just limited to the evangelicals and other Republicans.

How would all of those who voted in favor of the hate crimes bill have voted if the bill were for legalizing same-sex marriage? I doubt that the majority would have voted for it. While many of these representatives may feel they are doing the right thing, this type of legislation is not the answer to stopping the attacks and murders of gay people, nor of any other group of people. It’s no different than putting that metal plate over the construction hole in the street. You can drive over the hole, but it’s still there and eventually needs to be fixed.

The only real “fix” here is to change the attitudes of individuals and of society as a whole. It’s very hard to change ideas when they have been pounded into someone’s head from an early age.

But the government can do that by making laws that bring equal rights to all citizens. (We’ve seen this when slavery was abolished, when women were given the right to vote, when mixed race couples were allowed to marry.) I don’t know if people who have not been denied rights can understand this. I’m pretty sure that most women can understand this; I’m pretty sure that people of many ethnic minorities can understand this; I know that almost every gay person knows this. Even with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of our elected officials are still heterosexual white men, and most of them do not understand what it means to be discriminated against and do not want to understand it. Because if they were to make the playing ground equal for everyone, they might lose some of their power.

Putting specific groups into hate crimes laws does not make people of those groups any stronger. It weakens them by saying they need special protection, and in reality, is a way of keeping them second class citizens.

Instead what the government needs to do is enact and enforce laws, such as for marriage, labor, and immigration, that give all citizens their due rights under the Constitution.

We can only hope that people like Virginia Foxx, who are against giving special status to any citizens through hate crimes legislation, would also realize that by expressing that viewpoint, they are advocating equal status for all citizens and, thus, would support bills that provide that equality: legislation in favor of same-sex marriage and the elimination of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

With the main entrances to I-10 West still closed at evening rush hour, it seemed like there was only one or two ways to head in that direction.  After maneuvering my way on crowded streets in the courthouse area, I finally got back on Washington near the Post Office.  Why, oh why did my old habits of my daily routine override my common sense?  Instead of staying on Washington and just enduring all of  the stop lights, I turned and took my regular Memorial route, and what normally takes me about 12 minutes to drive a little more than five miles took me nearly an hour and a half.  Because of the water covering Memorial near Shepherd (which in the back of my mind I knew it would be), everyone had to exit on Waugh.  So there we were, bullies, wimps, and others–three lanes of us all finally squeezed like dried toothpaste onto the bristles of Waugh.

Compare shots of the frequently flooded Travis Street Exit.

Travis Street Exit 8:30 AM, April 28, 2009 (The water here rose more after this.)

Travis Street Exit 5:15 PM, April 28, 2009

Buffalo Bayou and Allen Parkway near downtown Houston (KHOU weather cam)

After leaving home late this morning, when the rain seemed to finally have stopped (It was dry enough that I finally got Annie outside to pee; an earlier, unsuccessful attempt at the usual time only got us both wet), I made it to work without any problems, except for slow traffic.  Although the major ramps into and out of downtown on I-45N and I-10E are flooded, I was able to get to work by taking the McKee Street Exit.  Milam and Travis are definitely flooded right now, and Buffalo Bayou has already covered the lower parking lot behind  the Spaghetti Warehouse and the water has risen even more in the last 10 minutes.

Thank goodness, the rain seems to have stopped, but it is still very grey outside.  I brought my camera with me this morning and have taken some amazing pictures (well, the high water is amazing; I don’t know about the pictures), but I didn’t bring the USB cord.  I’ll post some pics later.  I saw a rescue boat going up the Milam ramp just a few minutes ago; alas, I didn’t get a photo.

There are some views from the TranStar traffic cams that show some of the high water, though.  Look at I-45N at I-10 (submerged cars), 59 Southwest at West Loop (high water), and I-10 Katy at Gessner (deep water under 1-10).

If you know Houston, the heaviest rains were in the Katy, Bear Creek, and Spring Branch areas–the west and northwest areas.   In these areas, up to a foot of rain was reported to have fallen in the past 24 hours.  When I was getting ready for work, the TV said they were evacuating people from houses in the Bear Creek area.  Both Buffalo and White Oak Bayous are watersheds for that area, so I don’t expect these bayous to go down soon.  (Buffalo Bayou is actually the waterway that eventually becomes the Houston Ship Channel a few miles further down from Main Street.)

The Houston Chronicle reports some drivers were swept away in the rushing waters and are still missing and that homes were flooded in several areas.

The Maury Povich Show helps quench the thirst for personal dirt.

I had a chance last week to watch some daytime TV. I like to get my dose of the “judge” shows every once in a while; then I’m good until my next time off comes along. Even a few of the “DNA-who’s the daddy” Maury Povich Shows can glue me to the sofa for a bit.

The daytime talk shows, though, do nothing for me. Years ago Oprah might have been OK, but in that time slot, I will take Judge Judy over Oprah with or without the exclamation point.

Last Friday, my flipper finger did pause a bit and left The Ellen Degeneres Show stay on for a moment. As I said, I’m not really into daytime talk shows, not even Ellen. She’s funny as a comedian, but her talk show, even the dancing, doesn’t make me want to watch. I really haven’t seen her for maybe six months, so what has happened to her look? Why is she wearing all that makeup? Actually, she looks like Twiggy’s twin–today’s Twiggy, not the young Twiggy of the 1960s. All that makeup and pixie haircut on Ellen just doesn’t fit her personality. And it makes her look old.

Is somebody telling these high-profile lesbians that they need to “priss up”? I mean everybody knows Ellen Degeneres is not the lipstick lesbian in that family; her other half is Portia de Rossi after all!

And just now I was watching MSNBC, and there was another “not a lipstick lesbian” Rachel Maddow with her eyes all mascaraed up, cheeks blushed out, and lips over-evident with gloss. I watched The Rachel Maddow Show just last week and her makeup wasn’t shouting out through the TV screen.

I have nothing against makeup, but it needs to be done right and be appropriate for the person. I don’t see that with Ellen and Rachel.

Greek comes on at 7 PM on ABC Family.

Monday night two of my favorite shows are on; unfortunately, they start at the same time. The Big Bang Theory on CBS has become absolutely my favorite half-hour comedy show. I suppose there’s something in me that can identify with all of the “nerdliness”. Greek starts at 7 PM (CDT) also, but is an hour-long show focusing on college life, not so much on the study side, but more on the party/relationship side. In Greek on ABC Family, Calvin (played by Paul James, is an out gay fraternity brother, but so far this season, the story lines have given little focus to him. Loyal viewers have been left waiting for any kind of relationship for Calvin to begin.

When it comes to relationships, this past Sunday’s episode of my favorite show, Brothers and Sisters over on ABC had almost all of the romantic relationships ripping apart. The most stable relationship is that of Scotty (Luke MacFarlane) and Kevin (Matthew Rhys), despite last week’s reappearance of Kevin’s hot, ex-boyfriend Chad (Jason Lewis) and the big lip-smacker that he laid on Kevin on their encounter in the street. Actually, there are so many loose ends in the show that it makes one wonder how many of them will be tied up before the season finale, or whether we’ll be left hanging on many fronts over the summer.

Will Chad cause some kind of trouble in Kevin and Scotty's relationship? (Jason Lewis and Matthew Rhys of ABC's Brothers and Sisters)

______________________________________________

(Also check out “I Want My Gay TV” Part I, Part II, and Part III.)

Melisa Keeton and Shelley Wolfe became the first same-sex couple to exchange marriage vows under the new Iowa ruling. (Des Moines Register photo)

Today is the first day that same-sex couples can apply for marriage licenses in Iowa, and in some cities they are lining up at county courthouses to do it. Some couples, who have had the usual 3-day waiting period waived, are already getting married.

Couples line up waiting to apply for marriage licenses at the Polk County Administration Building in Des Moines, Iowa. (Des Moines Register photo)

According to the Des Moines Register, at least 360 same-sex couples had applied for marriage licenses on the first day. There also have been petitions by anti-marriage groups asking courthouse officials not to grant licenses to gay couples, but, in general, there was very little visible protest against those waiting to make their applications.

I’m not a movie goer. Maybe because I’m such a channel flipper. When I get into that theatre, there are no remote controls, so if the film is less than exciting, I either have to sit there waiting for something to happen, or if the whole thing is more than I can stand, I just walk out. So I’m not a movie goer.

I don’t really like Hollywood movies much either. No matter what the story-line might be, most American movies follow a predictable pattern: introduce the situation, bring in the conflict, resolve the conflict; audience goes home.

The movies I like are generally in the “foreign film” genre, and many of them never make it to the local theatres, so I have to hunt for them. I found this trailer (When did they start calling them trailers instead of previews?) for a Spanish film shown at a sneak preview for the 2009 Latin Gay Film Festival in Miami. (Take a look at the site. If the festival is as attractive as the site, it’s sure to be “festive”.)

The trailer for Spinnin’ (6000 Millones de Personas Diferentes) is almost like a short film itself, and definitely worth the 6 or 7 minutes it takes to watch (sub-titled for the Spanish-impaired).

No matter which side of the political fence you sit on, or even if you just sit on the fence, everyone has something to say about the government.

Politics aside, the government does do some “good stuff” with all those tax dollars that get squeezed out of people, and some of that good can be found right here, by clicking on that keyboard a little more.

One really good site that has a lot of information is at irs.gov. That’s right–the Internal Revenue Service. One thing in particular that might interest you is your tax refund. You can actually track your IRS refund by accessing a link on the main page on the left side. You’ll need to give your Social Security number, your filing status, and an exact refund amount. And it’s free!

There’s also lots of other “good stuff” too, like information about tax breaks on new cars, downloadable forms, and even how to apply for IRS jobs.

Another federal government site, that might interest some of you is that of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency. If you are a homeowner or a prospective one, at fema.gov, you can use your address to find flood plain maps and check where your property sits in relation to the different types of floods (i.e. 500-year, 100-year). Click on “Flood Insurance, Maps and Information” on the right side of the main page. This site also has lots of other information, including how to apply for disaster assistance.

Someone is going to comment that this is what happens when a country becomes too socialistic, but this is so much more fun than the Perez Hilton–Miss California USA cat fight.

It doesn’t really matter if your Swedish doesn’t go any further than “lutefisk”. but I’m sure if it goes as far as Swedish meatballs, some of you reality show junkies will get a kick out of this past week’s show of Sweden’s Got Talent. (One of you will really like this, and I think you know who you are.)

OK, so I wasn’t going to get my blog involved in something that’s being done so well, both on television and on the Internet: countering the propaganda that the National Organization for Marriage (which is a total misnomer, because they’re really against marriage, except for their own special interest group). In fact, if you want to see a lot of great vids parodying NOM’s what some are calling a “cult classic” (And, yes, “cult” is the operative word here.), just do a quick youtube search for “NOM parody”, and you’ll see how creative gay people can be.

But anyway, this one is the best I’ve seen so far, and the people in it are actually who they are, unlike NOM’s agitprop.

This accompanies the video on the youtube page:

Love Not Laws is a coalition of people of various ages, races, and beliefs, who came together to show solidarity and support for same-sex marriage. In response to videos that are circulating the internet that use fear and falsehoods to promote an offensive agenda of ’separate and unequal’, Love Not Laws created a video that was grounded in compassion, emotion, and heart.

If you oppose same-sex marriage, we hope that this video will cause you to examine your own biases. If you are in support of same-sex marriage, we hope that this video inspires you to act. And if you feel that you are too small, or that your efforts won’t matter, we ask you to remember that we were a group of people who, individually thought they could do nothing… but together, were able to accomplish something bigger than all of us.

“Meloncholic” is how I think about tango music, not really a genre that I’m pulled towards very often. But just like in the previous post, which focused on some of the music coming out of Australia, I “stumbled” again, this time onto how gay artists in Argentina are bringing “new life” into that classic style of song and dance.

Gerar Flores and Agustin Rombola make up Kurdha Tango Gay, which is giving a gay flavor to some old tango classics; the one they are performing in the video is called “Los Mareados” (I’m not going to bother going to my dictionary, but it means something like “The Seasick Guys” or “The Guys with Hangovers”–take your pick or have a laugh at my translating.) The original comes from the 40s, but these guys are giving it, what some are calling a “gay tango fusion”.

When it comes to dancing the tango, another pair of dancers, Augusto Balizano and Miguel Moyano, are steaming up the dance floors in Buenos Aires, putting their own personal style into the dance that is thought to have started in rough port neighborhood of La Boca (that’s the area of the city we think of when we envision the old, multi-colored buildings).

One of the first “real” albums that I ever had (not cassette) was Neil Young’s Harvest, and I’d play “Heart of Gold” countless times on end. By chance, this morning, I found a cover of that song done by Australian Lior and Canadian Serena Ryder. It’s a rendition that will give a shiver to any Neil Young or Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young fan.

I stumbled upon a little bit about Lior, who is an Israeli-born, Australian singer-songwriter, who seems to play mostly in concert, so there are not a lot of videos that are not just from concert takes. One, “Superficial”, which is what I’d call more “Indie” type, I like a lot, so I put in my Vid Box, which you can click into on the right. It’s not an “official” vid but it’s pretty cool, nonetheless. If you want more of Lior’s stuff, check out his “Burst Your Bubble”, which you can find on youtube and also myspace.

I say “stumbles” because I was looking to see what has been happening with our Australian diving guy, Matthew Mitcham. At the moment, he is competing the FINA Diving World Series; the most recent leg of this competition was held at Pond’s Forge, Sheffield, English, where Mitcham placed fourth in what appears to have been an event loaded with the world’s best divers.

Nathan Hudson, lead singer of Faker

Another of this morning’s “stumbles” landed upon the Australian band, Faker, who for a better description, I’d call “the 80s done up in an ‘09 ‘do’”. Check out a couple versions of “This Heart Attack” on my Vid Box; the Miami Horror Remix is definitely worth a couple of listens. Also check out Faker’s myspace page. And yes, Faker’s lead singer, Nathan Hudson, is another gay Australian who came out about a year ago.

As I said in a previous post, if I were back in high school, I’d have Matthew Mitcham’s pic slapped somewhere inside my locker; I’d also go out and buy some of Faker’s music (latest album is Be the Twilight), but, hey! maybe I’ll go to that today–and I’ve been out of high school along time.

If you’re tired of getting call after call from telemarketers, you can substantially reduce the number of unwanted calls by getting your number put on the “Don’t Call List”, set up by the federal government at www.donotcall.gov.

Putting your number on this list won’t completely stop all of the telemarketing calls, but it will make a big dent in the number that you get. Any company that you have an account with, political campaigns, charity organizations and similar groups can still call. However, you can file a complaint against unwarranted solicitations by random companies.

If you live in Texas, you can get double protection (well, sort of) as there is also a state “Do Not Call” registration site. Even if you are not a Texas resident, this page has more detailed information about who can legally still call you and how long it takes “the no calling” to go into effect.

I have a Bank of America credit card, which has a zero balance on it (hurray, me!), but Bank of America would like me to do more with it, so every couple of weeks recently, they have called with some kind of offer or another.  I usually don’t wait to hear what the offer is, though, before hanging up.

I guess they are trying to make back some of the money the government gave them (well, really, we the taxpayers gave them) in stimulus money because they seem really stimulated to call me.

The most frequent offer they come on with is for identity theft coverage.  They, however, are part of the problem when is comes to the possibility of someone stealing my identity because along with the phone calls are all the offers and other correspondence I get from them in the mail.  The most hazardous mail from them comes in the form of personal checks they send to me about every month, which would be payable from my credit card account.  They are not alone among the credit card companies doing this, but at least for me, they do it most frequently.

When I growl at them over the phone about calling so often, the telemarketer tells me they will take me off of their call list, but, of course, that hasn’t happened yet.

I guess some of you might be saying, “Why don’t you just get caller ID?”  I suppose if I did that I’d just growl at AT&T every month when the bill came.

The phone rang around lunchtime today. A very polite man asked for me by name, and in that first utterance, I knew it was someone wanting money in some form or another. Because he actually seemed like he had “a little snap” (most telemarketers that call here probably would have a hard time at McDonald’s), I let him proceed longer than I usually do before hanging up the receiver.

This time it was the Human Rights Campaign wanting me to re-up my membership; actually, re-upping isn’t quite what I would have been doing, if, indeed, I had responded positively to the call. I joined HRC for one year in 2004, if I remember correctly, and since then they call me and send me requests for money in the mail several times a year. They’ve probably spent more in trying to get more money out of me than the initial amount I gave them in the first place.

Human Rights Campaign is actually a euphemism. In reality, it’s a Washington, D.C.-based gay lobby. (They must feel it would make people uncomfortable if it were called the Gay Rights Campaign.) When I first joined, I was hoping that there was actually some kind of national gay rights organization that worked at the national, state, and local levels, some kind of group that I might be able to take part in. But HRC is not that kind of organization. They do have a sort of local connection in large cities like Houston, but these are, as far as I can tell, made up of some “upper-crusty” gays, who put on a Black Tie Dinner every year, another way of getting big bucks to funnel into the Washington lobbying group. This means HRC is just like any other lobby that tries to get congresspeople interested in its cause by putting dollars into their coffers.

When Bush was President, HRC’s message was that they needed money to counter the Conservative Right. It doesn’t seem to me that much was gained or lost as far as gay rights go during the Bush administration–with or without HRC. Now in their most recent mailout asking for money (yes, a phone call and an HRC letter all within a week), they say they want money because with a more gay-friendly President in office, HRC can do even more. It’s very difficult to see that whatever HRC does will have much influence.

If HRC and the money donors sends it were so effective, more should have been accomplished by now. And where’s the oversight? Where are all the donations that gay people make going?

One thing is for sure: a heck of a lot of it is going to Executive Director Joe Solomonese’s pocket. According to a recent article in the Washington Blade, in 2008 Solomonese received $338,400. For that, a lot more should be happening that just a few CNN and MSNBC mini-debates with conservatives.

A more effective national gay political organization would be one in which people can participate at all levels, and not one that just wants money, and more money. HRC could take the initiative and become that organization, but at the moment, all that it seems to want to be is a money funneler.

Downtown Houston enshrouded in rain and clouds. (Doesn't this look like RKO Movies or something like that?)

The afternoon of the last day of the work week got eerily dark as a front came through downtown Houston around 4 PM. It took awhile for the lights with night sensors to turn on. For a few minutes, there was so much darkness that came with the thunderstorm that it could have been midnight instead of afternoon. You can hear the thunder on the video.

Check out the downtown Houston weather cam here.

My Most Excellent Year–A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park
Steve Kluger
Dial Books (Hardback), Penguin (Paperback)
ISBN-13-9780803732278

Last night I finished Steve Kluger’s novel, My Most Excellent Year–A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park. Since I have set out to review some of the books I am reading, this morning I’ll have at it before I forgot too much to be able to write about it.

The title extension, “A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park” gives the reader some definite clues about what might be found in this fanciful story, and “fanciful” this novel is indeed. The plot centers on the closely interwoven lives of three high school freshmen: T.C., a Red Sox-loving, future politician; Augie, a soccer-playing, musical showman, sparkling in his own gay self-awareness; and Alejandra, a hob-nobbing diplomat’s daughter, soon-to-be stage ingenue.

Kluger creates the storyline of these teenagers by devoting each consecutive chapter to the point of view of one of the main character’s in a variety of narrative means: essays for class, emails, and text messages. This unusual style takes a bit of getting used to, but Kluger manages to keep the story smooth and cohesive throughout.

I keep coming back to the idea of “fanciful”; there’s no better way to describe this story. These three 15-year-olds lead such active lives that not even the most adept soccer mom could keep up: they play sports, create and perform elaborate shows, excel in school, and even have time to bring a deaf orphan into their lives. Moreover, if some problem does come into their idyllic lives, one way or another it’s solved, faster than Proactiv on a Jessica Simpson pimple!

This book has been out for more than a year (March 2008), so I wondered what other reviews might say; everything I’ve read so far is glowing. Powells.com says this: “Steve Kluger is an acclaimed author of novels for adults, and this is his first crack at writing for teens. And in case you were wondering, he totally nails it.”

When I went to Kluger’s own website, I realized I had read a couple of his books before; I don’t remember much about them, though.

The big question in my mind is really, “Who was Kluger’s audience when he wrote this book?” Powell’s thinks he “totally nails it.” For teen readers, I’m not so sure. This book is replete with references to show biz, political, and sports notables, mostly of the 60s, 70s, and 80s–Liza Minelli and Julie Andrews, Jacqueline Kennedy and JFK, Bucky Dent–not the most common figures these days.

Language-wise, My Most Excellent Year–A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park is written for young readers (I found it in the Juvenile Literature section of the library). There is no strong language and the most intimacy between the characters is hand-holding and a couple of kisses. I suppose someone might get upset that one of the kisses is between two teenage boys.

But once again who is this book written for? There’s not enough sports competition for teenagers into sports to be really pulled into it. Aside from at one point, when Augie’s boyfriend wants him to act more masculine, his sexuality is fully accepted by everyone– his parents, teachers, and classmates, and after he realizes that he is gay–by he himself. There are several romantic relationships that do keep the story moving and cohesive, but once again, this story is so “fanciful” (and predictable) that the outcome of each is a foregone conclusion.

This is not a book that is going to assuage the bullying that some gay kid is getting in school, and this is not the book that is going to give a kid some glimpse of how to deal with un-accepting parents and friends.

However, this may be the “fanciful” book that allows that same kid a way to escape from some of his own “reality” for a few hours.

But with all of the historical references that are part of it, though, I’d say this novel was more likely written by Steve Kluger for Steve Kluger.

Haggard--Back in his "glory" days

These guys just keep giving Colorado Springs a bad rap. From that Pike’s Peak city first came (or should we say came out?) Ted Haggard, the onetime head honcho of the evangelical New Life Ministries Church, one of the big wigs of the entire evangelical movement, and a guy pal of George W. Bush. Since his “big reveal” as a meth-head who likes to get it on with gay hustlers and even members of his own congregation, Haggard seems to have made his way into selling insurance and promoting himself on TV shows such as Oprah and Larry King Live.

Juan Ovalle--orange suits him

Now it’s one of James Dobson’s own Focus on the Family guys who has been arrested on felony charges of soliciting a teenager for sex over the internet. According to the Denver Post, Juan Alberto Ovalle tried to arrange to have sex with a girl under 15, but was actually communicating with undercover police officers of Jefferson County, Colorado. The Post says Ovalle does religious recordings in Spanish for Focus on the Family, which like New Life Ministries is located in Colorado Springs. Focus on the Family is one of the biggest promoters of the anti-gay agenda in the U.S.

Bartleson--Has been charged 5 times with sexual assault since 1982

In another Colorado-connected case, police in Pueblo arrested a former manager of the McCain for President campaign for sexual assault of a child. Unfortunately, this is not a case where the perpetrator was only in contact with undercover cops. The Colorado Independent article states that Jeffrey Claude Bartleson was arrested for two different assaults, one in particular being on a 5-year old boy.

Once again, more cases can be added to the previous ones connected with those political and religious organizations that are the most outspoken promoters of their “so-called” morality.

Gay couples in Vermont will be able to legally "stick" themselves together in wedded bliss.

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.

Iowa--Now Not Just a Land of Corn, But Even Better--A Land of Equality!

Now what are “they” going to say? It’s not just those New England Yankees or those West Coast liberals.

Today the state of Iowa gave equality to gay couples to marry. Iowa is now the third state in this country to put marriage on an even keel for everyone. The ruling by the Iowa Supreme court was a unanimous decision. Iowa joins Connecticut and Massachusetts to become one more state that gives marriage equality to all of its citizens. Legislation in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine is also moving in that direction, but like that of the decision of California’s Supreme Court over Proposition 8, which took away marriage rights, the outcome still hangs in the balance.

Read the entire story in the Des Moines Register, including links to the official ruling.

Bougainvillea and a Mailbox

Annie and Azaleas

On This Side of the Path

What great days we have been having here in Houston since I got back from Colorado–nice clear afternoons with a cool breeze. Annie and I took our walk through part of Memorial Park, starting out just at 5 PM. In my pocket, I carried my new little camera (Nikon Coolpix S230) to try it out on some of the sights we might see.

Flags Behind the Fence (Yes, I know they're irises, but we always called them flags on the farm.)

Color Pops

Jay Brannan’s lyrics are at once poetic and everyday. I’ve seen a number of his videos on youtube, and his laid-back, sweetboy demeanor entices your ears. He’s not big-time yet, and maybe that’s a good thing, but one thing’s for sure: he’s a gay guy’s gay guy (but I think you’re going to like him no matter who you are).

I’m just taking a break from my “have to do” tasks of the day, and this song makes a great little afternoon snack, so I decided to post it here rather than my vidbox in the sidebar (but, hey, you can go there too, for other goodies). Also take a look at Jay’s myspace page for more about him and more links to other songs of his.

The street below my window during the storm.

This has some of the image scraped off, but it's a very descriptive illustration warning about falling on the ice.

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 said was the biggest snowstorm of the year. Therefore, I can’t say how much Denver has changed in all those years.

One of the many people walking dogs out in the snow.

However, despite the hectic schedule and the winter elements, Denver seems to be a clean, people-friendly city. The downtown is easy to maneuver on foot, the people are friendly, and I felt safe walking around. Sixteenth Street has been made into a pedestrian area, with the only vehicles being free buses, which traverse its length in both directions. They stop for riders at every block making it easy to get around, even in the cold weather.

A scene of the street from the skywalk from my hotel. Some of the dots are snowflakes; others are melted flakes on the outside of the glass.

The city and the private sector do a great job of clearing the snow from the streets and sidewalks even in the midst of the storm. Another big difference that I noticed is how “green-friendly” the city is. Compartmentalized trash containers everywhere are set up for recycling.

On the other hand, even the snow was an exciting change (I didn’t say an “enjoyable” change) and the city looks to be very livable, the cold was not pleasant at all, and even worse for me was the dry air. I began to notice how much water I needed to drink to keep my mouth and lips from drying out, and even though my skin sponged up every drop of creme that I had taken along, it still feel like sandpaper.

Saturday morning on the 16th Street Mall. There is an almost festive atmosphere, with lots of people, including street muscians and vendors.

I really didn’t have the chance to take very many scenic pictures, though when I did get some glimpses, the mountains covered with snow were a beautiful sight. Therefore, these more “artsy” shots (well, “artsy” might be a bit of a stretch) and the little video will have to do.

Now both Annie (she stayed in Houston) and I are back together, and both of us are recuperating from our stay away from home .

Checking Out the Bluebonnets

Last week I put up a new banner photo, but I didn’t mention where it’s from. Actually, during a rain shower, I jumped out of my car and took a few shots of the bluebonnets on the esplanade on Washington near the entrance to Memorial Park.

It’s the time of year for bluebonnets (the state flower), which grow wild in the meadows of Texas, especially in the Hill Country around Austin. For a few weeks each spring, these elegant sprigs pop up with rows of miniature “bonnets” on them, producing a lush blanket of blue along roadsides and in the adjoining pastures.

Getting a Good Whiff

These days, many Texas roadsides are seeded with bluebonnets and other native wildflowers, which all started with the Highway Beautification Act of the 1960s, a project spearheaded by then Lady Bird Johnson, wife of a Texan, President Lyndon Johnson.

A Burst of Color

Today I went back to the esplanade with Annie to try out my new digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix S230, which I just got yesterday to replace my old one, a Canon Powershot S410, which had started having lens problems, making every photo look psychodelic. I had been holding off getting a new camera, using the still setting on my JVC Everio Camcorder, but I’m glad I got it. The best thing about it is that it has a touch-screen menu. Actually, that’s not the best thing; the best thing is it’s easy to use. I figured out how to take both still shots and video and get them loaded onto the computer the first day! I have to say that I never really understand how to use all of the functions of the Canon.

(Here’s a little video I took with the same camera.  As you can see, it took lots of coaxing to get some of the other shots.)

I feel sorry for Grandfield, Oklahoma, its people, and its school. I’ve never been there, but I feel like I know it. I doubt that it’s much different than many small towns dotted all over the Great Plains.

Bigger than many similar little prairie towns, Grandfield has a population of around a thousand people and sits out in what some would call “the sticks” between Wichita Falls, Texas and Lawton, Oklahoma. The high school itself is a small one (74 students in the 2006-2007 school year).

But now this small town and its school are getting national attention because of the dismissal of one of the high school’s teachers, whose students were working on a production of “The Laramie Project”, the story of Matthew Shephard, the Wyoming college student brutally murdered in an anti-gay attack a decade ago. (Read the story from the Lawton, OK newspaper here and here.)

If you look at the school district’s website, you realize that Grandfield probably has a good school. The fact that a school this size even has a website is evidence of this, but aside from the fact that some of its sports pages could do with some updating, the school’s site is well done.

From what I’ve read about the main players in this controversy (the superintendent–a Mr. Ed Turlington, and the dismissed teacher–Debra Taylor), it seems likely that there probably have been some “philosophical differences” between them. Added to that, by looking at the school’s schedule of classes, it’s not difficult to see that there could have been some varying points of view among the faculty members about what should be taught in classes in this school.

In most small schools, the teachers generally have an overlap of the subjects they teach; for example, a math teacher might have to teach some of the science courses too, or the physical education teacher might also teach history and driver’s education. Sometimes, because of class size or lack of funds, even the superintendent or the principal (who might also actually be the same person) has to teach a class or two.

On the other hand, because of the small size, teachers who have a special interest may be given the opportunity to teach more topic specific courses. By looking at the class schedule again, this looks as if what might have been the case in Grainfield. Ms. Taylor’s schedule includes an Ethics class and a Street Law class, not your run-of-the-mill courses generally taught in small rural schools. Likewise, there is a class listed as the Bible as Literature, taught by a C. Turlington, (whom we can assume has some relationship with the superintendent), also not a course that we’d find in most small public high schools, nor for that matter, even large public high schools.

Just looking at those course listings, at first one might think how lucky the students are to have such choices. But courses like those are not instituted without some push from somebody who wants them to be taught or who wants to teach them. When you see the outcome of the teacher’s being dismissed, it’s seems like there probably was some undercurrent of discord because of differences of opinion about what should be taught in this school and in these classes long before the “Laramie Project” situation.

Even so, this problem seems to be one that should stay a local one. The biggest story about this small school should be one about a sports team winning a championship or an FFA member taking a Grand Championship ribbon at the state fair.

PFLAG groups getting involved on the side of the teacher and the Phelps family coming to town to rail against “The Laramie Project” should not be what brings attention to this school and town. Issues in small towns are small town issues, no matter what they are. In the end, it is the locally-elected school board that decides what is best for the school.

Outsiders getting involved only exacerbates the conflict and will make it much harder for those in the town itself to come back together. Because come back together they will have to, one way or another. You just can’t avoid people in a small town like you can in a big city. People who do not grow up in a small town just have no understanding how close-knit the people who live there are. People from outside trying to favor one point or the other are going to be looked at as “meddlers”. That’s why I feel sorry for the people of this community. They don’t need all of that interference.

But even I am taking a side here. First of all, there is no reason for a class like “The Bible as Literature” to be taught in that school or any public school. If students need more literature than they are getting in their English classes, the school should offer AP (Advanced Placement) Literature to get them ready for college. I’m sure Grandfield has a number of churches that have Bible Study classes, Sunday School, and Summer Bible School, from which anyone interested could get all the Bible Lit. they wanted.

On a more personal note, years ago, I had a “Debra Taylor” as my English teacher. Her name, though, was Mrs. Anna Herman, and she was my English teacher for all my years at Dorrance (Kansas) High School. Not only was she the English teacher, but she started a speech and debate program in one of the smallest schools in the state at that time (about 40 students in grades 9-12). This gave us the opportunity to compete against schools much larger in size, something that sports usually doesn’t do.

What makes this situation in Grandfield seem so similar is that when I was a senior, Mrs. Herman suggested that my classmate and I do a piece from Edward Albee’s play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”. At that time, this controversial drama had just come out as a movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton cast as the leads. The cutting that our teacher wanted us to do was from some of the Taylor-Burton scenes. However, before we could work on the piece, she asked that we get our parents to go watch the movie at the theater.

Back in the 60s, the film’s subject matter was considered raw and the language strong, but when compared with today’s films, or even TV shows, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” would  seem fairly “tame”. But in 1966, it was a cutting-edge movie, and not an easy one for 17-year-olds to watch with their parents, let alone 17-year-olds with farm parents from a town of about 300 people .

The 15-mile drive home from the show was a very quiet one.

However, we got to do “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” as our speech competition piece because our parents trusted and believed in Mrs. Herman. To this day, after all these many years, I’m proud to say that we got a first place in every speech contest that we entered, including the state competition.

We also presented our piece in front of the school and parents a couple of times, and always got a positive reception; even though the people from my little town were both conservative and religious, they also were the type of people who recognized the importance of their kids’ getting an education that would prepare them for life beyond the farm and our little town.

And you know what? Mrs. Herman wasn’t some sort of liberal interloper from the outside. She was a farmer’s wife who had gone back to school later in life to get her degree and teaching credentials, but she was a teacher who gave her all so that her students would have more opportunities and realize that the world goes a lot further than just the county line.

I don’t know Debra Taylor, but I have an idea that she might be the same kind of teacher.

This may be the problem with some of the people in Grandfield, Oklahoma: that narrow-mindedness is interfering with giving kids an education to help them prepare for the world beyond their town.

(Just for the record: Anna Herman was the sister of Johnny Locke, who coached basketball for many years at Natoma High School in the 1950s and 60s and was one of the winningest coaches in Kansas high school history.)

EIGHT SECONDS
Jean Ferris
Harcourt Brace
Young Adult ISBN: 0152023674

Just like movie trailers, some book reviews give more information than I need, especially if they are not that long and involved. I would prefer that the review entice me rather than give too much information and spoil the story.

Let’s say this about Eight Seconds: the story is one of those that keeps the reader intrigued throughout the entire story. Of course, it’s aimed at the teenage reader, and obviously, being reviewed here, it has a running gay theme, but I’d actually call it gay “light”.

The story centers on John, a guy’s guy, growing up on a working ranch, who is learning to be a rodeo cowboy. Underlying the main storyline of a teenage boy growing up on a his parents’ Rocky Mountain ranch is John’s own journey of self-discovery.

Teenagers, whether gay, straight, or uncertain are going to relate to John’s own experience in figuring out who he is. Although the book’s central character is an 18-year-old guy, girls too will be pulled into the story’s constantly changing (and realistic) relationships. Librarians and parents should not have any problems with their kids even as young as 11 or 12 reading Eight Seconds (unless they are completely hostile towards the topic of homosexuality) because the text contains no strong language nor any type of direct sexual activity.

John’s sense of “innocent self-discovery” during his late teens is one of the most attractive elements to this story as compared with other similar “coming out” novels, which frequently revolve around teens in a school environment and the difficulties they encounter. This particular “slower” coming out process will be one that many readers will be able to relate to. Another positive aspect of this novel is that while we are able to empathize with John through his personal evolution, we also see other characters in the story at varying levels of acceptance of homosexuality.

If you are interested in reading Eight Seconds, check your local library, your local bookstore, or order it on line.

You can find out more about the author Jean Ferris at her website.

With so many of us with our eyes glued to our monitors these days, it’s no wonder that bookstores are closing their doors and even some big city newspapers are shutting down their presses.  However, there are only so many websites and blogs that a guy can strain his eyes on until he wants to just back off for awhile and say to himself, “Move away from the keyboard.  Move away from the keyboard.”

Unusually chilly and wet, this past weekend was the kind that makes a person just want to curl up under a fuzzy blanket and read a good book, and that’s exactly what I did.  (Because of that, I’ve decided to start a new category on my blog: Gay-themed Book Reviews.)   I try to get my hands on any book that has some connection with gay lives, but to tell the truth, these days it isn’t as easy as in the past.  Big cities used to have at least one gay bookstore (I’m not talking about the adult-video-type bookstore), but many of these have closed in recent years.  Houston’s Hollywood used to have a good section of gay novels and non-fiction, but what they have now is a few shelves of not very current material.  The Barnes and Nobles usually have a few shelves, but the selection there is also hit or miss.  If these large mega-stores have any new gay-themed novels, you might find them mixed in with the regular fiction, but in that case, you have to at least know that the book is out and also know  the name of the author.  These days it’s very hard to find new gay fiction without a lot of hunting, either in a bookstore or online.

Fortunately, the 21st Lambda Literary Foundation Award finalists have just been announced.  I’m not sure how books are nominated for this award, but I’m going to continue looking for some source that gives some listing of new gay books that are being published.  If and when I find a good source, I will definitely post it.

Here are the nominees for Gay Fiction:

• Stray Dog Winter, David Francis, Mcadam/Cage Publishing
• The Torturer’s Wife, Thomas Glave, City Light Publishers
• We Disappear, Scott Heim, HarperCollins
• The Conversion, Joseph Olshan, St. Martin’s Press
• The Boomerang Kid, Jay Quinn, Alyson

Check for other GLBT-nominated books here.

I’m going to try to get my hands on at least one of these books very soon; then I’ll add another review to the new category. (Sorry, this post took a left turn or there would be the first review in it already.  That may come later this evening, depending on how far Annie wants to walk after all these past days of rain.)

There’s a pretty amazing little story coming out of Florida today, not that it’s the first of its kind, but every time I read about a case like this, I think, these kids are going to do it; they are making a difference.

It’s another case where a school district is trying to prevent a group of its students from starting a Gay-Straight Alliance organization in one of the high schools. The courts have already determined in case after case throughout the country that if a school allows any extra-curricular groups, it must allow students to form and use school space for organizations like Gay-Straight Alliances.

In Nassau County, Florida, the school district administrators said that they wouldn’t allow the group to form at Yulee High School unless they changed the name from Gay-Straight Alliance because it violated the district’s abstinence-only policy. Freshman Hannah Page and junior Jacob Brock are taking the district to court and are being represented by the ACLU. Today the judge hearing the suit ordered that the students be allowed to meet even though the final decision hasn’t been made.

These kids are pretty amazing–just a freshman and a junior–and there are so many others out there like them. Among them are more than likely the Barney Franks (U.S. Rep.–MA) and Tammy Balwins (U.S. Rep.–WI) of tomorrow. But these young people already are out and know what they want. They are not going to have to be pushed out of the closet door, and finally, after they are, then start working against discrimination. Here they are, just a freshman and junior in high school, and already demanding the rights that really are theirs!

These are the kind of kids that really make me proud.

All those holy rollers, baptists, morons (oops), and other so-called christians will be railing once again about what the bible says about what is and is not “natural”, in spite of their total lack of understanding of the meaning of the concept of “natural” a couple of thousand years ago. (If you want to read a very good book that deals with this concept and much more, I recommend finding in the library or bookstore John Boswell’s Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality. Be warned this is a lengthy, well-documented, scholarly work, so be prepared to wrap your brain around it.)

But anyway, after the commercial interruption, back to the story.

It seems in England, a couple of ducks have fallen in love. And these two ducks are Ben and Jerry–that’s right two boy ducks. The sticky wicket (Writing with an accent is fun!) is that first, Ben, and later, Jerry were brought in for blind dates with a girl duck, Cherry, though neither Ben nor Jerry wanted much to do with Cherry. (The name “Cherry” makes me think of one of Barney Fife’s rough girlfriends.)

Anyway, when Ben met Jerry, it was like–well, like “New York Super Fudge Chunk”–the perfect combination. And Ben and Jerry have been getting along like ducks and water ever since.

Well, now some people are in a pickle about this (or else they want a pickle with their ice cream) because these ducks–Blue Ducks they are–originated in New Zealand, and these are the only three ducks left in Merrie (or is that “gay”) Ol’ England. And if these ducks don’t have ducklings, who’s going to do the queen–I mean who’s going to save the Queen?

Read more about these cute Blue Ducks from the London Telegraph.

________________________________________________

Read about the gay penguins.