December 2002 Archives

ok... excuse me while I have a "Sylvia Plath moment"... LIFE SUCKS!!!

There, I feel better now. Well, a little.... I'm tired of this damn back of mine. On Christmas day after dinner, I pinched a nerve. Pain doesn't really describe how it feels. It's really something you have to experience for yourself. Ever since, I've been taking Vicodan and Darvocet like there's no tomorrow. Hummmm... maybe the meds are making me irritable?? Never thought about that. Then, last night, I drove all the way to Suffield to visit Sean. I waited in line for thirty minutes (it was killing my back), only to be told that his parents had come to see him and I couldn't go in. It would have been nice if he had told me and saved me a trip.

Today is my birthday and I'm practically older than God, so we won't go there. We are going out tonight for a nice dinner at The Depot in Mansfield. After that, if my back holds out, we are going to a New Year's Eve party at some friends.

I enjoy the articles of Molly Ivins. I think we share a lot of the same personality. In her article yesterday, she was recapping some quotes previously printed from others. I thought I'd share some of the highlights with you:

"Any idiot can face a crisis: It is this day to day living that wears you out." -- Chekhov.

H.L. Mencken on the prose of one of another of our presidents who had some difficulty with English: "Setting aside a college professor or two and half a dozen dipsomaniacal newspaper reporters, (Warren Harding) takes first place in my Valhalla of literati. That is to say, he writes the worst English I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean-soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad a sort of grandeur creeps into it. It drags itself out of the dark abysm of pish, and crawls up to the topmost pinnacle of tosh." Huh???

Bob Eckhardt, on the occasion of the Texas legislature voting to cut off aid to illegitimate children: "I am not so much concerned about the natural bastards as I am about the self-made ones."

Abbie Hoffman: "Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger."

"The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those your are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence, a lot of other people have got to be willing -- for the sheer fun and joy of it -- to go right ahead and fight, knowing you're going to lose. You mustn't feel like a martyr. You've got to enjoy it." -- I.F. Stone. I've often felt that way about gay rights legislation. How many years did we have to try only to get turned down in adding "sexual orientation" to the list of groups that cannot be discriminated against in Connecticut? We kept trying and trying year after year until we finally got a governor who would sign the legislation. When that happened, suddenly a lot of lawmakers (should we call them "spineless wimps"?) decided to switch their votes and side with the governor.

"Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature." -- Samuel Butler.

The enemy is not conservatism. The enemy is not liberalism. The enemy is bulls -- -." -- Lars Erik Nelson.

"Status quo is Latin for 'the mess we're in."' -- A Texas farmer.

And finally, a quote from someone I very much admire:
"A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world." -- Dr. M.L. King Jr.

ok... the Darvocet is now working... Time for me to catch a few winks. See yall later!

I've taken a few days off from writing for a couple of reasons. First, I've really enjoyed sitting around and just vegetating and resting. I've done a bit of web site work. You will notice that you can now leave comments on what I write if you'd like. I liked the idea because it gives you the chance to dialogue and offer your opinion on why I'm full of beans on what I write about! In short, it makes the blog more interactive. We'll see how it works out, but I think I have all the kinks worked out of it.

As I write this, I'm waiting for the Darvocet (pain pill) I just took to take effect. After we had Christmas dinner, I was walking across the living room and the next thing I remember was being on the floor flag on my back in a lot of pain. I needed Kent's help to get up and hobble off to bed. It seems that I've pinched a nerve in my lower back. I don't know if that's ever happened to you, but let me tell you, there isn't much I can imagine that is as painful. I called the doctor and he called in the Darvocet. It does help, but I'm trying not to take it because it's so habit forming. Now, it's gotten much better just in the last day and I was able to take less Darvocet, except for now. I woke up 15 minutes ago with my back aching like a toothache through my body. So now, I'm waiting for the pain killer to do it's thing once again. The really weird thing in all of this is that my left leg is now numb to the touch. I guess the nerve that got pinched gives feeling to that part of my body. Strange stuff. If I knew half of what was going on in my body, it would probably scare the hell out of me... ignorance is sometimes bliss. And of course, Darvocet is bliss...

We just finished Christmas Dinner and as I'm writing this, I'm sipping on the last of the Chardonnay that we had with dinner. It was all delicious but the real treat was the magic of the two of us sharing such a wonderful day together. It was totally perfect. There's something about a winter storm howling outside while at the same time, sitting at our dining room table and enjoying a feast with so much to be thankful for. The rest of our day will be spent reading and perhaps watching one or two favorite movies. I hope you all the best and will be hoping for peace in this very unstable world we live in.

How the new faith-based executive order will work.
By Timothy Noah

"There isn't much one can do about the large discriminatory loophole religious groups have managed to carve out in the private sector. But it's infuriating that this loophole will now be subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. And it it's especially galling that the man responsible for opening that loophole is currently basking in praise for taking a brave stance against bigotry."

This is from the Chatterbox on MSN. Kent pointed this link out to me.

I just noticed this on the net: California to review whether judges can be Boy Scouts. Looks like the Boy Scouts of America are in for more bad press once again.

ok... I'm totally psyched! I just got set up to play my ReplayTV videos on the computer. So now I can play any movies saved through my ReplayTV server stored on my hard drive. What does this mean?? It means I can watch a movie or TV show while surfing the internet or reading my email! Why would I want to do that? I'm not sure, but it's cool!!!

We have to decide today if we are going up to Ogunquit for Christmas. We have no plans and it looks as if Brandi and Jeremy will be busy with family and away to the cape for Christmas. After Christmas, I'm taking a few days off but will probably just stay in the area. I'm looking into taking a cruise with the Atlantis Cruise Lines. It sounds fun and since I've never taken a cruise, would be a new experience.

I got my drivers license renewed last week. I have to say this time the picture turned out pretty well. Only thing is, I checked that I wanted to be an organ donor in the event of my death. She gave me a list of "issues" that would make one unacceptable as an organ donor. One of them was being a gay man. So.... not only can I not donate blood, I can not donate sperm (not that I'd want to do that), but now I can not even donate my organs if I should die. Ahhh it's so much fun being a member of a despised social group. Now, if they'd just do the same thing with my taxes!! Something like... "we won't accept tax money from gay men!". Yeah, that would rock!

Senator Lott stepped down today. You can read the story here if you'd like. I wish I could say that I feel good about it, but I don't. Lott's replacement (Senator Bill Frist) is just as bad on many issues as Senator Lott is. I've summarized the voting record of Senator Frist if you are interested in reading more. Sometimes I feel as though our country is at a stand-still when it comes to extending equal rights to all Americans. As a member of a minority who seems to be lacking of equal rights, I just wish they would tax us according to the level of equal rights we have compared to the "other part" of society (getting off soap box)...

This just happened today! It looks like New York state will be the next state to follow the lead and take a step forward in granting equal rights to homosexuals.

A couple of weeks ago at Strom Thurmond's 100th-birthday party, Trent Lott said:
''I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.'' Mr. Thurmond ran a one-issue campaign: ''We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race,'' declared his platform.

June 15, 1998
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) equated homosexuality with alcoholism, sexual addiction and kleptomania. After characterizing gays as sinful, Lott said, "You still love that person and you should not try to mistreat them or treat them as outcasts. You should try to show them a way to deal with that."

The sad difference between the two remarks is this: When Senator Lott made the comments about gays in 1998, no one stood up and demanded an apology or his resignation within the administration. No one really cared because then (and now), it is still socially acceptable to dehumanize and degrade gay people. Today, that is no longer acceptable with African-American people or society at large. Hopefully in my lifetime, a time will come when homophobes such as Senator Lott are made accountable for the hateful remarks they make towards gay peopls and the actions others take in reaction to those remarks.

The remarks by Senator Lott show further what this man is all about and what he believes. He has no business representing this nation and it's people. It's time for him to move on and resign. This nation is changing all the time (mostly for the better). It's time that people who want to live in the "good old days" when this kind of behavior was acceptable move on. We do not need the hatred and bigotry they espouse.

Hi everyone! I've been busy as heck getting ready for the holidays. It seems like there's more to do each passing year, or maybe it's just me getting slower?? At least we managed to get the lights out. They look nice. We didn't go overboard this year. I never got organized enough to get our Christmas cards done. My hope was to take a picture of us, and have our own cards made. I did get some pictures, but they were all bad (try coordinating it with two impatient cats!). Then Kent had so leave on a trip, and before you know it, it was too late. Maybe next year.

I went to a great party at the university last Saturday night. I'm not really into parties (yeah, I'm a "home body-type"), but I have to say that this was fun. It had great food (very important for a party), and free drinks! I didn't know too many there, but everyone was in the holiday spirit and very friendly. I met some nice people. Afterwards, a few of us came back to our place and we watched a couple of movies.

We are trying to decide if we will stay home over Christmas or go up to Ogunquit for a day or two. I've never been there in the winter, but I guess a fair number of people do it. Also, we have snow on the ground! We get a storm now about once a week.

Perfect music to listen to while having your teeth cleaned = a fight scene from a Verdi opera.

"Unlearn all that you have learned." - Yoda

I had a nice brunch yesterday with Brandi, Jeremy, and Nicholas at Monet's Table. It was nice to see them again. The rest of the day, I stayed home and worked on a new project for my website. I'm putting together an online photo album of people who have been most influential in my life. I'm finding it to be more of a project than I thought. When I see the pictures again of long ago, new thoughts keep coming into my head about different things that happened. It will take some further time to figure out all that I want to say and how to say it. Hopefully, I won't upset anyone. I am determined though that this website will be an insight into my life and therefore must be absolutely honest with past events.

I went to see "They" (a movie) this afternoon. I guess I should have listened to what the critics were saying about the movie. I hardly ever listen to them, but this time they were right. After seeing the entire movie, I'm still not sure what the point of it was. Bad sign! I suppose I should have guessed that something was wrong when the movie started. I went to the right theatre. I sat through all the previews and then, when the movie started, they started showing "Harry Potter". I thought I was in the wrong place, but they had the wrong movie on.

I took a bit of time off from online stuff, basically because work has been more hectic lately, but I'm back now! As usual, I'm full of opinions about current happenings in the news. Such as this story.....

Vatican Official: Gays Unsuitable For Priesthood
This was an article in the Hartford Courant today. People who know me know where I'm at on this issue. There should be ZERO TOLERANCE for indiscretions from priests where children are concerned. This entire issue has nothing whatsoever to do with the sexual orientation of the priest. It has everything to do with the power the priest has over those he works with. In these instances, he is abusing that power and trust. The Catholic Church would like you to believe that this is a "gay issue" and the way to solve it is to just exclude and kick out gay priests. That's nothing but a smoke screen. What they need to do is to start being accountable for their own actions. If a priest is accused of abusing a child, and there is evidence to support that, the entire issue should be out of the hands of the Catholic Church. It should not even be an option that it go unreported. A crime has been committed and it's not up to some cardinal to decide if it is "appropriate" to tell the authorities. The only thing the church should have the authority to decide is if they want a convicted felon serving in their church. Every person is different. Would I hire a convicted felon? It would depend on the crime and what has been done for his/her rehabilitation. I treat people with compassion and I do think that very good people do some very bad things. We learn from our mistakes and go on with life. The Catholic Church needs to deal with this issue head on and stop trying to scapegoat any one group of people by saying it's their fault. Only then will they gain forgiveness from people and regain some credibility.

On the Iraq situation....
Am I the only one who is worried where all of this is going? It seems to me that President Bush is hell bent on going to war with Iraq if we find weapons of mass destruction or not. Maybe I'm missing something here. I'm not saying at all that Iraq is an innocent lamb. But what if the inspectors come up empty? Will we go to war anyway (without the support of anyone else in the world, with the possible exception of Great Britain)? As an American I do hate to admit it, but I'm beginning to believe what others in the world have been saying about us for many years. We are arrogant and we do feel a sense of superiority over other peoples of the world. Does that make us better and will that attitude solve anything? Will we still hold our resolve when the first 10,000 body bags of our sons and daughters come back to us? I hope we do, because we will have paid for this war with our dearest blood. I think September 11th has something to do with this also. We want someone to kick around. We are angry at the tyrants of the world and we've had enough. That's completely understandable. But the target must be the right target. If we are going to lose lives (and we will), it has to mean something and to achieve something. We are acting like a bully on the block and in historical terms, bullies have no faired too well throughout history.