Life in the key of E flat minor

When I saw this news story , I immediately filled up with anger. A gay senior citizen patriot is bludgeoned with a pipe. The alleged assailant is described as a light-skinned black man, no more than 23 years old. Before hearing more about Andrew Anthos, I was appalled that a black man could commit such a heinous crime of hate. Only 50 years ago, white men would lynch black men, women and children simply based on the color of their skin. Now, this light-skinned black man is paying the hate forward on gay men, based simply on whom they love. No justice, no peace. What is wrong with this perpetrator that he doesn’t know his own history of injustice against him and he violently attacks another human? Hate is a sick emotion, and acting out on hate is abhorrent. I followed the story when it was first reported that he was a patriot who was gay-bashed. Living on a disability check, Mr. Anthos held his country in high esteem and believed that illuminating the dome of the state Capitol in Lansin...

I can't take credit for this. Jen, wrote this to the Catholics and lapsed Catholics last Ash Wednesday when I headbutted Natasha to get ashes on my forehead. Bagel for breakfast (body of Christ): $.50 Lean Cuisine Mac N Cheese lunch (no meat): $2.50 Glass of Wine after work (blood of Christ): $15 God’s Love From Natasha’s Forehead: Priceless Mocking Ash Wednesday: Costly So costly, that I now have Catholic guilt and will be sure to make it to mass this evening to get my ashes the old fashioned way, earning them… I'm going to forward the original e-mail to the original recipients.

I was asked what I was giving up for lent, and immediately I quipped: guilt. So I stopped to think about it. What do I love so much that would be a sacrifice? Well, there are quite a few things, but I stuck with basics -- food. I thought chocolate or ice cream, but my birthday is during lent and I think that I should be allowed to have chocolate and ice cream. Diet soda, maybe? But I've been cutting that down, so I'm already doing that. Is it truly a sacrifice if I'm already doing it? Not, really. I pondered and pondered. Then it hit me. Beer. I'm going to give up beer for Lent. I love beer, and I drank two great ones tonight: Yard's Love Stout and Magic Hat's HI.P.A. So in addition to getting into work by 9am, I am going to give up beer for Lent. God help us.

I had one of the sweetest Valentine’s Day in a while. Alex, Aliza and Ainsley had made plans to do (matzo) balls, beer and brownies, as a cover for Ainsley’s man, Ben, to fly into Philly from New Hampshire and surprise Ainsley for the day. Lo! and Behold! the weather didn’t want to participate and Ben’s flight was cancelled. However, dinner was still on for Alex and Aliza. So, all four of us got together at Alex’s, hung out with the dogs and had really good food. I was excited because I got to bring the J Winery Pinot Gris that I got in California to enjoy with dinner. It’s sometime the quiet events that are more memorable that the glamorous ones. All of us, in jeans or pajamas, relaxing in the living room, eating cheese and crackers, drinking beer and wine, taking in the smells of rich chicken broth and of brownies makes with fudge syrup, cocoa and chocolate chips, chatting about past dates, and watching highlights of the 49th Grammy Awards show saved on DVR made the evening so much ...

There was a city called Pittsburgh, in a state called Pennsylvania. There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies. With great anticipation, I headed to the airport to make my flight to the other side of the state. I had no delays, and the flight even left the gate early. As I commonly joke about these short-haul fights, the flight gets to cruising altitude, the flight attendant serves refreshments from the head of the plane to the tail, she goes back to the head of the plane to collect the trash, and then we are told we were making our final approach to Pittsburgh. It’s a 40 minute flight. We followed the Allegheny River toward the city. I looked down and spotted the Squirrel Hill tunnel – a hole in the ground absorbing and spewing traffic. I was happy with the recognition. Then we were just north of Oakland and outside my window was Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning reaching upward. I had remembered hearing stories about a project to sandblast the Cathedral to clean the y...

(aka Traveling's the fun.) During my flight to Pittsburgh, I thanked God that I didn’t drink too much the night before and that I successfully packed my carry-on bag before I went out drinking. Unlike the time I flew to Australia… Hilary took me out for drinks to wish me a bon voyage as well as to thank me for delivering a baby gift to her kin, Dee, David and Clark, in Surrey Hills. After a wonderful happy hour at bump and beer and wings at Moriarty’s, I returned home in a buzz. My laundry was done, and I compared the pile of clean clothes with the check list I made in the weeks before. I always whip up a check list for my trips. For long trips, I plan on having at least 3 more pairs of underwear than days I’m gone. There were still t-shirts, shorts and the fun daily things to pack only after they were washed. Earlier in the week, I prepared some of the specialty items for the suitcase. I had a nice pair of dress shoes, pants and shirt all stowed away. My bathing suit was neatly p...

I am packing my new duffle bag for my trip to Pittsburgh, and I'm easily distracted. I came across a blog under which one of the entries was a map of everywhere this person has visited. I remember doing it a while back, before I went to Trinidad and Tobago. So now, having visited 19 countries (8% of the world's sovereign lands) I updated the map and linked to it my page. create your own visited countries map I want to make this map all RED! In order of visiting... United States (1973) Israel (1992) Czech Republic (1995) Slovakia (1995) Austria (1995) Ireland (1999) United Kingdom (1999) France (2002) Japan (2002) Panama (2002) Canada (2002) Germany (2003) Russia (2004) China (2004) Mexico (2004) Australia (2005) Singapore (2005) Chile (2005) Trinidad and Tobago (2006)

The last time I drank alcohol before noon was Hey Day of my junior year at Penn, 1994. This morning, I meet up with a friend of mine who work at the Dark Horse at said bar to watch the Six Nations Championship Match between Ireland and Wales. I paid my $20 to the rugby sports monopoly, Setanta Sports , and perched myself at the bar. I missed Ireland's first try and Wales's penalty, but that was the first 10 minutes. I order a Boddington's and realize that I am a green jersey in a sea of red . Maybe, the next time, I should go to Fado. I spy the bar during the half-time break and see there are Irish jerseys in the bar, too. I eavesdrop and find out the lady next to me is from Swansea, Wales. She eventually moved from her seat to let a couple rooting for Ireland to sit together at the bar, so I couldn't find out more about her. The match, though not the 42 to 20 England v. Scotland of yesterday, was still a nailbiter until the 60th minute when it was clear that ...