Tuesday, October 30, 2001

Wow! What a great editorial; here's an excerpt: The White House's home-front failures are not sudden, unpredictable products of wartime confusion but direct products of an ethos that has been in place since Jan. 20.

I love this article, and why shouldn't I with a headline like this:
Reese trying again to be kingmaker-- Ha!

And quotes like these:
Reese's trademark hit pieces are back, too.
I think a lot of people thought Reese was dead meat . . . but he has amazing resilience.
-- Sure do! Just ask the men of the Castro.
Reese did not return calls for this story.-- Yeah, like, why should I?
That prompted Reese's opponents to dismiss him as a washed-up political kingmaker. But Reese could prove them wrong.--Oh boy!
Despite claims in the last election of a Reese-free Richmond, the campaign is down and dirty like never before.-- Reese-free?
Over the years, Rogers has been endorsed and attacked by the Reese camp, and he lost every time Reese countered him.-- Ha!
Reese retains his power despite several setbacks.-- Yeah boy!
The mailer accusing Butt of ratting on Reese to the FBI... Why that dirty rat!
"I think it's unfortunate more people are not willing to stand up to him...I ignore Reese not because I can afford to. I'm not wealthy. I just don't care."-- He doesn't care? How sad. All I ever wanted was to be loved. Is that so wrong?

There is an election in many parts of the country, including here in San Francisco (and other places like New York City (for mayor and more) and statewide elections in Virginia & New Jersey (for governors and more)), on next Tuesday (November 6th). Don't let September 11th, the terrorists, or the craziness that ensued afterwards keep you from the polls! Voting is the most important patriotic act we can do right now to show our solidarity in the country's ideals and future.

And now for another excellent excerpt from the Simpsons' Daily Calendar:

Marge: A dishonorable discharge. It's the best we coulda hoped for.
Homer: You can't spell "dishonorable" without "honorable"!

Monday, October 29, 2001

Scary... ...police can now secretly search a person's house without telling the homeowner for up to three months. During one of these so-called ``sneak and peek'' searches, authorities would secretly implant a hidden ``key-logger'' device....The key-logger, hidden inside a computer, secretly records everything a suspect types on it. The device lets authorities capture passwords to unscramble data files in otherwise-unbreakable codes.

Noticed a sign up at the big Macy's store in downtown SF that the new Calvin Klein underwear model will be available for a meet meat and great greet at the store on November 10th. Now what could anyone possibly have to say to an underwear model?

Sunday, October 28, 2001

Got a chance to sit down at Cafe Flore in the Castro and read through the whole Sunday paper today with a good cup of coffee. Nice.

Talk about putting your own self-interest before that of the cause and your fellow human beings Ms. Silverstein.

Saturday, October 27, 2001

Just got off the phone with a member of my "second family." Years ago I worked with my-now-great-friend Nathan and eventually got to know quite well the various members of his immediate family-- girlfriend, sisters, and even mother-- became close to them, had holidays with them, visited often and so on. Nathan and his girlfriend Julia are finally getting married in May of 2002 in Savannah, GA and I'll be there for the wedding. How'd I get so lucky as to have not just one but two families?

Friday, October 26, 2001

Conservatives have spent years criticizing liberals for sticking with failed government schemes. In the case of airport security, we confront what can only be called a failed privatization scheme. We decided to keep it in the private sector, only to discover from study after study that farming out airport security to the lowest bidder leads to lousy security.....What's not debatable is that the public is demanding a more active government. It wants more protection from threats and more confidence that the authorities will deal effectively with the consequences of threats that materialize.

Another great excerpt from the Simpsons' Daily Calendar:

Dr. J. Loren Pryor: Public school can be intimidating to a young child, particularly one with as many flamboyantly homosexual tendencies as your son.

Thursday, October 25, 2001

A seance for the September 11th victims? You've got to be kidding!

...[the] president and his party are exploiting a national tragedy for the benefit of the wealthy.

Thank you SF Chronicle for being so visually and unnecessarily explicit: Although heterosexuals also use poppers, some gay men say they use them because they relax muscles and reduce pain during sex.

How true and hilarious, now if only the San Francisco Board of Supervisors could understand this: Mayors don't listen to (city) council resolutions anyway. They're pretty meaningless.

My sincerest sympathy to all sufferers of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Wednesday, October 24, 2001

Speaking of bringing it all home and making it personal, my dear friend Martin just told me that he had been working in the post office that has now been sealed off due to anthrax. He hasn't been tested (apparently no one will pay for it), but he was given some Cipro-- he notes he was given a 10-day supply even though a 50-day supply is necessary for any effect. My dear sweet friend Martin!

More than ever, Americans need credible information and advice. To the distress of many, however, the Bush administration appears to lack an authoritative spokesperson.

So much for security. It's time to make airline security a federal jurisdiction.

I know I haven't posted a Simpsons' Daily Calendar excerpt in quite a long while, but there really haven't been that many of late post-worthy. But today's is a really great one:

Sideshow Bob: Attempted murder. Now, honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry?

What an ego.

Here's your concrete symbolism for you: While pictures of the closure of Congress showed mostly rich, white males escaping the threat of anthrax, photographs of the Washington post office where the anthrax killed two people showed mostly African American postal workers. Nobody warned them. Nobody tested them. Nobody thought to protect them, even though the anthrax aimed at Rep. Tom Daschle's office passed through their hands and machines. Postal workers are taken for granted, much like the soldiers who will die in Afghanistan. They aren't rich men's sons. Unlike members of Congress, they don't have power or money, hard or soft.

Tuesday, October 23, 2001

Want to see model Americans who refuse to let terror stop them? Who maintain their beliefs, their values, and keep on doing what they know is right no matter what? Meet Debi Jackson and the staff of Cincinnati Women's Services. Meet Vicki Saporta and the North American organizations that comprise the [National Abortion Federation].

"The Fast and the Furious" Fatalities

Reality does bite, doesn't it, babycakes....

Monday, October 22, 2001

What a loser. Falwell has gone from apologizing for his hateful remarks to trying to cash in on them.

How tragic. They just thought he was doing his scene. But he wasn't doing his scene – he was dying.

I'm back at work today. I'm back at work today. I'm back at work today. I'm back at work today.

Very sadly, I missed seeing my friend Don whilst he was in the area this weekend. Stupid bicycle accident got in the way. Next time he's in town, neither sleet nor snow nor bicycle accidents will stop me from seeing my friend.

Sunday, October 21, 2001

Well I'm growing a beard. I kinda have to since my face is all injured and shaving would be akin to raking away the necessary new skin. So look for a new me-- beard, disfigurement, and all-- in the neighborhood drugstore scouring for bandages, beard trimmers, anbesol, and more neosporin.

Saturday, October 20, 2001

I'm healing, people. Slowly...., but I'm healing. I can at least type again without major extreme pain because although my wrist is still in pain from the sprain (the pain in sprain lies mainly in the plain...) it's better than it was. I'll be back to blogging regular-like soon enough. I wanna bike and go to the gym and stuff, but I'm not able to do it yet. Sadness falls across the land.

Wednesday, October 17, 2001

I am in so much pain! At least I sprained my left wrist so I can still function as right-handed, but unfortunately it really hurts to type. For those who would like to see how I look, Jessie was kind enough to take and post a few pictures. Unfortunately, it looks a little worse in person.

Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Stupidity and embarrassment is: falling off your bicycle on your face on your first day of biking again and having to go to the emergency room.

Monday, October 15, 2001

WHEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so butch! I just got out my ol' toolbox (actually, it's more of a toolbag filled with a billion tools my Dad gave me over the years that I don't know what to do with most of the time but props goes to my Dad for being so forethoughtful) and installed my lock onto my NEW bike for easy transport. And then I even attached the water bottle holder. Man am I butch or what?!? WHEEEEEEE!!!!!

What remains is for the media group to request the data set.

I didn't get around to mentioning this last week, but while I was in Tahoe for the work conference last weekend I actually won a new bike. Yes, that's right kids, I WON A NEW MOUNTAIN BIKE!!!!!! You see, they had a raffle at the conference and my name was drawn from the "hat" for the grand prize. WOO-HOO!!!!! I was so excited; I was jumping up and down, shaking people, and yelling. It was very cool. Anyway, I just picked up the bike today and rode it home. Cool!

Friday, October 12, 2001

If Clinton were still president or Gore had properly been sworn in as such, why do I feel as if we would have a completely different type of national "unity" during this September 11th crisis. I fear that much of the "unity" would not be so because right-wingers would simply not be able to wrap themselves around a Democratic president and instead would spend much of the time blaming the administration. Note the lack of any blaming of the Republican Administration during this time, even though it was on their watch. Note the lack of any questions relating to Bush's setting up of a new cabinet-level administrator (under a Democrat I'm sure it would have been called a stupid waste of federal resources, funds, and a figure-head), giving complete flip-flop communication from the federal government as to how Americans should feel or worry, or the destruction of the economy. Now, I'm not saying that any of this stuff is not necessary or appropriate; I'm simply saying that right-wingers would have been screaming about them and labeling them nonsense if Clinton or Gore had been president. In fact, they're doing much of that post-facto regarding the former Clinton Administration anyway. Such hypocrisy.

Hollywood's Elite: Is there nothing that they can't do?

Words of the day: steganography, drayage, and therefore dray.

Poor Bert, he's so misunderstood.

Berkeley continues to crack me up: this regular vendor just outside campus calls himself "Joe of the World."

Woo-hoo! Sistahs are doin' it for themselves!

Thursday, October 11, 2001

My sunglasses (prescription-wear) broke. Boo-hoo.....

Why are all of the suggestions from the federal government right now so full of complete dichotomy? "We asked everyone to be on the highest alert and we're asking everyone to do that again," said Tucker. She added, in words similar to Ashcroft's this week, "Americans should go on with their lives, there's no reason people should live in panic."

I'm sorry people; I know I haven't been keeping up my blogging duties lately like I should. I've been so busy and out of town and out of it that I just haven't gotten around to it. Sorry. But I will get back into it right now! I can't let down my people.

Tuesday, October 09, 2001

Regardless of its use or reasonings, I HIGHLY doubt that Jesus Christ would have ever cradled a weapon of mass destruction:

...a specially made black T-shirt depicting the bomber cupped in the hands of Jesus...

Saturday, October 06, 2001

Gay surroundings and people do provide me a definite sense of comfort and normalcy, wherever I may be. I'm in Tahoe this weekend, as you know, and last night the conference participants were allowed to go enjoy Tahoe on their own. Great idea and we were given some options of gambling in Reno or a dinner cruise on the Lake. All I kept thinking about was where the gay bars/clubs are in the area because I missed my people. Now, mind you, I never go out clubbing/bar-hopping when I'm home in San Francisco, but whenever I take a trip it's one of the first concerns I have to find my people.

So last night I searched on the web and found really nothing in the remote area of Tahoe, however there were a number of gay bars in Reno (about an hour away) so I decided to take my rental car and drive into Reno (not for the gambling but for the gay scene). The first place I found was closed down and the second bar was a total dive where I walked in and out pretty quickly (I always feel bad doing that to bars I'm not interested in, but it's not my scene). Finally I found the one gay nightclub Reno has to offer and hung out there for a couple of hours. How lame it was. If this is the gay scene of Reno, then I must say Reno has very little in the sense of a gay scene. And this commentary is coming from someone who knows what small gay scenes are like, being originally from Kansas City.

In any case, I always have more of a sense of courage when I'm away from home, so I go and sit right next to this really cute guy at the bar and start chatting. He's very nice and cute and we bond quickly. Unfortunately, I then learn that he's straight, at the bar with his gay friends, has just recently broken up with his girlfriend who jilted him at the altar, and is now proceeding to literally cry in his beer. And I mean major crying. Well, now what do I do? I want to be compassionate and sympathetic, but then hanging out with a sad straight guy was not why I came to see the gay scene in Reno. Ugh. We hang out for a while longer and I kinda mosey around the bar some, but it is quite lame and eventually leave and head back to Tahoe.

It's probably ironic that I never go out clubbing or bar-happing in my hometown of San Francisco when it does have probably the best gay nightlife of any city. But I know that the real reason I don't is because living in San Francisco is having my gay community and surroundings constantly around me without having to be in the dark nightscene. One of the reasons I love San Francisco is because I can be openly gay and not have to live it through the bars, but can actually live it constantly in my everyday life by just being surrounded by my brethren in my home community. I'll be home soon and happy to be around my people again. Hasta luego!

Friday, October 05, 2001

Aloha everyone! I'm writing from the cybercafe at my work conference in Tahoe. I've never been to Tahoe before and I must say that it is absolutely beautiful country. I should visit more often. I only wish there were more cute guys.... haha. Well, I'll keep you guys updated when I can.

Thursday, October 04, 2001

I'm off to Tahoe for the weekend (for work, mind you) so I'll try and update when I can. Adios!

Wednesday, October 03, 2001

In order to afford a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, you'd have to earn $33.60 an hour -- nearly $70,000 a year

What is wrong with people?

... a man wearing a feathered rooster mask, sequined shirt and . . . nothing else... standing in the middle of the street masturbating -- in full view of onlookers, including several kids....
On Monday, a woman walked into the lobby of 1145 Market St. -- a building that houses a number of city offices -- pulled down her pants, and in front of the security guard, began urinating in the building's U. S. Mail box.

Tuesday, October 02, 2001

Buffy Tonight Buffy Tonight Buffy Tonight!!!!!!!!

Japanese Americans are bonding with Muslim Americans right now because they've been through this before.

So the reviews say that tonight's Buffy season opener does not live up to its great past and that it's basically only for die-hard fans. Well, being one of those die-hard fans, I will be there anyway. But I have been a little underimpressed with the change over to the new network in general, especially in light of the embarrassingly bad commercials and artwork for the new season. What are these people thinking? Regardless, don't try to reach me tonight between 8 and 10pm because I will be glued to the television.

When we let terrorists scare us into relinquishing freedoms that define our society -- such as getting to take potshots at the president even at inappropriate times - - then they truly undermine us. And they start to win.

Monday, October 01, 2001

Every once in a while the camera perfectly captures the amazing beauty of my husband. I'm glad he's in my life and such a great friend. (I don't know about this other guy with his arm around him........ hehe.)

Just got the new IPAQ for my office today. Pretty cool.

I do appreciate it Gerard.

Love at first sculpt.

Well, that's San Francisco for you. One minute it's hot and then, the fog rolls in and it's cold again. And the beat goes on.....

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wants to extend his current term of office into 2002, postponing the inauguration of a new mayor for several months. This is a terrible idea. Neither New York City nor the nation has ever postponed the transfer of power because the public was convinced it could not get along without the current incumbent. The very concept goes against the most basic of American convictions, that we live in a nation governed by rule of law.

I told you it was hot. San Francisco's weird; our summer is in the fall.

There are parts of this city that are just incredibly disgusting. Human waste has so corroded the elevator's working parts that they'll have to be replaced as well.

Lately I've been learning that "acts of patriotism" include such easy things as buying, shopping, eating, and now even taking vacations. Who knew citizenship was so easy? Now about voting.....

The American public is rediscovering the role of government -- indeed, of much-reviled "big government" -- in our lives.

So first I make a reference to how I'm glad Hollywood's mainstream doesn't make crappy overly religious pseudo-drama and then I go and rent the Kim Basinger headlined Bless the Child. I obviously spoke too soon the other day.