On October 11, we’re supposed to be celebrating being out and set an example as a happy and successful gay adult.  Instead, we  find ourselves saddened by yet another gay teen suicide.  19-year old Zach Harrington committed suicide after, his parents say, he attended a divisive c… Read full post »

A thousand tiny ball peen hammers were assaulting my frontal lobe.  At least, it felt like that. Better still, the alarm sounded vaguely like Yoko Ono was trying to hit a Mariah Carey high note.  I was consumed with the desire to jab an ice pick into my ear drum, but… Read full post »

Nine years ago today was horrifying and ugly. Nine years later our country is still in an emotional and financial tailspin. While not all of those problems can be blamed on the insane chain of events the terrorist attacks of 9-11 sparked, it certainly looms large in our national psyche.

Nine… Read full post »

When I look back on it, I can trace it all back to spending hours in front of my parents’ HiFi system.  I’d spend hours, huge headphones weighing my tiny head down, listening to the Beatles: Captain and Tenille; KC and the Sunshine Band; Michael Jackson; ABBA and a host of… Read full post »

As we’ve all heard by now, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned California’s same sex marriage ban last week.  Walker’s ruling found that Proposition 8 violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution as well as due process.  I’m really not sure WHY t… Read full post »

So last week.  Whew!  Insanely gay wasn’t it?  First the Target and Best Buy furor and then Prop. 8 was overturned.  Here’s an update on the Target/Best Buy front.  I’ll handle the Prop. 8 bit in a separate post.

First, here’s the response I got to my… Read full post »

The following is an email I sent to Target regarding their campaign contribution to Tom Emmer, anti-equality candidate in the Minnesota Governor's race.

Really Target?  Really?!  I swear off Wal Mart and now you go and do something as boneheaded as contributing to the campaign of homophobi… Read full post »

Coming in from work, I was greeted at the door by a wriggling, wagging mess of dogs.  I took a deep breath.  Our pups spend the day in the back part of the house, behind a baby gate.  This keeps them out of the trash.  Fortunately for me, they aren’t smart… Read full post »

The shrill shriek of a child caused me to wince and grip the cart handle harder.  I dodged a young mother, deep in thought over which green beans to buy.  Then I ducked out of the path of a distracted senior, zeroing in on a can of Bush’s Black Beans.  The… Read full post »

“How did you two meet?”

I always cringe at this question.  People want to hear some mushy, romantic tale about eyes locking across a dark room and instantly falling love.  Ok, if you’ll just join me back in Reality Land now.

Put simply, it’s all… Read full post »

The Tall One sighed heavily from her chair, a thick stack of medical paperwork in front of her.  “So the marital status section has no category I qualify for.  My choices are married, single, divorced, separated or widowed.”

I sighed heavily in return.  It’s… Read full post »

I was preparing to read my poetry on stage when my phone started vibrating in my pocket.  I pulled the Crackberry out to see the display and saw that my Dad was calling.

“Your mother has been having chest pains for two days.  It got pretty bad so… Read full post »

It’s wicked hot here in the Ozarks, so I get it.  It’s time to bust out the cool, comfortable clothing.  But by “bust out” I certainly do not mean you should be “busting out” of your clothing.  Given the amount of exposed ass I saw this weekend, we c… Read full post »

None of us likes to schedule that yearly visit to the doctor’s office.  You know, the annual female “Lube, Oil and Filter” visit.  While unpleasant, it is necessary so I picked up the CrackBerry and hit send.

“Doctor’s office.”

“Hi… Read full post »

“I think I was born an era too early,” I told the Libratarian.

“Or even an era too late?” she replied.

She generally knows what I mean even when I screw it up.  I suppose that’s why we’re such good friends.

I took a much needed break… Read full post »

I was responding to a text message when I absent-mindedly stuck my finger in a pot of boiling water.  I winced, resisted the urge to throw the phone and pulled it together enough to pull the burned digit out of the pasta pot.  I decided I’d better focus on cooking dinner… Read full post »

I like to buy vintage and slightly inappropriate t-shirts at the thrift store.  It’s a nod at trying to be greener but more importantly it causes the Maternal Unit’s head to spin around … and that’s entertaining.  On my last foray at the thrift store, I found a grea… Read full post »

As it turns out, lake mud is slick.  This fact is probably obvious to most people, but apparently I learn things the hard way sometimes. 

The Tall One, her father (Chester) and I arrived at Bull Shoals Lake under gray skies.  It rained buckets on Friday and the dank… Read full post »

It’s been a rough week and it’s only Tuesday.   I’m still recovering from some undefinable malady.  When I got home from work this afternoon I was greeted by a yard that needed mowing, piles of laundry needing put away and a dishwasher full of dishes needing dealt wit… Read full post »

Preparing for an Open Poetry Night in my near future.

Hell’s Closet

I see her standing there,

The half light of the bar glinting off her golden hair.

Her smile stirs me in ways I struggle to understand,

But I sense… Read full post »

This post may make some of you angry.  It should.  If you aren’t angry you either don’t care or aren’t paying attention.

I used to attend church regularly.  I belong to a church with a strong social justice mission.  My church also welcomes and accepts me for wh… Read full post »

I'm usually fast asleep by now.  I'm an early riser and therefore an early bedder ... probably not a word, but you get Word Maker Upper Whistlepig this time of night.

I'm infinitely jealous of the Tall One and our cat, Captain, who lie next to me contentedly snoring away.  My… Read full post »

The subtle rattle of the Metro was lulling me to sleep.  It had been a long day, a combination of a rough day at the office and yet another bad date.  I pulled a book from my bag to keep me awake for the rest of the ride.  I glanced up and… Read full post »

The first day of Spring started with a cold rain that developed into a messy, wintry mix.  Parts of the state got hammered with a foot of snow.  I had wanted to spend the day at Ha Ha Tonka State Park giving the new camera a workout.  Instead, we spent the… Read full post »

March came in like a lamb here in Missouri, allbeit a cold one.  It would seem this winter isn’t going to let go with more snow forecast for our area this weekend.  To be sure, I’ve had enough so the Tall One and I decided to spend my birthday in Eureka… Read full post »