Not That Guy

I watched a lot of the Kavanaugh hearings today in between trying to work and found it all interesting. I didn't make it through all of Ford or Kavanaugh's testimonies, but I saw a lot of both. I have no dog in this fight, but I found Ford credible. Kavanaugh just strikes me as the kind of guy who was a douchebag in high school and college. The kind of guy who was accustomed to getting what he wanted and being treated like a master of the universe. So to see him broken down and crying as he moaned about how unfairly he'd been treated was somewhat refreshing because you know he just wasn't accustomed to being treated like the "other." Here's a guy who you know had never been treated so harshly in his life and suddenly he's branded as a sexual predator and a drunk. The golden boy was now the predator. Kavanaugh tried to convince everyone that he's not that guy, but I think maybe he IS that guy or he was that guy. My question is do we really need another Clarence Thomas on the court? Thomas never got over the Anita Hill accusations. He's still bitter about that and about a whole host of other things in his life. Despite being given many opportunities in life for a poor black boy from the South, he excelled yet he can't appreciate it. At least that's my take on him after reading both his autobiography and another book written about him by two journalists. Bitter is the only word I can use to describe the man. I suspect Kavanaugh, if allowed to be on the Supreme Court, will end up the same way and that's not the kind of person we need making decisions about our laws.

Three Cakes

My new short story, Three Cakes, is available now at JMS Books (http://www.jms-books.com/) and elsewhere.

When Chicago ophthalmologist Patrick Holt meets transplanted Southerner Clayton Teal at a dinner party, the attraction is immediate and mutual and the two men bond over Patrick’s love of food and Clay’s love of cooking. But Patrick and Clay soon realize that tasty dinners and delicious desserts sometimes aren’t enough to make a relationship work. Three Cakes is a story about food, sex, and trust.

Wow

I heard today that a former co-worker had passed away back in July. He was only in his early 50's, so the news was surprising. I don't know if he had been ill and I couldn't find any information in the obits I found for him online. I didn't know him very well and only worked with him for probably a year or so before he changed jobs, but I thought he was a nice guy and he told great stories, often funny ones. I remember him talking about how he and his sister bought their mother a sweater from Lane Bryant for Christmas or her birthday and his mom was upset when she saw the gift. To her, a gift from Lane Bryant meant she was fat and the gift made her burst into tears. My co-worker and his sister felt terrible afterwards. They hadn't meant to upset their mother. They just found a sweater they thought she would like and bought it for her. My condolences certainly go out to my co-worker's family and friends.

Ugh

Why did my air conditioning go out and it's burning up outside? Had it gone out when the temps were cool, I wouldn't care, but tonight I'll be sweating it out until my down-on-the-job landlord gets around to fixing things. Which brings me to another point. I'll soon not have to deal with having a landlord. The time is coming (soon) when I'll be in my own place that I own. I can't wait. In the meanwhile, I'm left waiting for someone else to take care of business. Ugh.

In other news, I was talking with one of my co-workers about books and she made a comment that I read a lot of books about gay men. I told her, why, yes, I do because I find many of the stories interesting. My co-worker made her statement with disdain which kind of surprised me because she never struck me as a homophobe, but you never really know people, do you? Ugh again. I read what I like and I don't GAF about someone else's view of my reading habits. Thankfully, my co-worker will be retiring soon so the countdown is on until she's on her way out of the office.

Single Author Sale Day

All of my titles published by JMS Books are on sale today so if you haven't read my work, now's your chance! See details at: http://www.jms-books.com/

Speaking of books, I am working on something new. It's been a slow go, but I hope to have it finished this year. My short story Three Cakes comes out September 22. More details later!

Anonymous

With all of the White House intrigue as people wonder who the anonymous NY Times op-ed writer is, I have a theory that falls in line with the plot of Murder on the Orient Express. (If you haven't seen either movie version or read the book and don't want any spoilers, read no further.) In Murder on the Orient Express, there isn't one killer, there are several. Many people kill the murder victim. The line up and stab the guy one by one (at least in the movie versions I've seen). So my theory about the anonymous op-ed writer is similar: it wasn't written by one person but by several individuals. The VEEP provided a few lines, Kush a few more, Kelly, and the list goes on. That way it doesn't have the nuances of just one person, but the nuances of many to throw everyone off the trail.

In other news featuring anonymous writers, I saw the movie Love, Simon over the weekend. This rather wholesome coming-of age/coming-out film was interesting to me. Are kids today really nostalgic about the 1980s? The kid, Simon, in the movie dresses up like John Lennon circa 1980 (or late 70s), he sings a Violent Femmes song during karaoke at a party, and there's a whole dance sequence featuring Whitney Houston's song "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (that was actually one of the highlights of the film for me). Also, while I commend the filmmakers for including a diverse group of students as Simon's friends, I did notice that they all seemed to be mixed race kids. I doubt any of the biracial kids had any problems passing the paper bag test. I guess that made them more appealing to the audience the filmmakers were trying to reach (i.e. white suburban kids). I was also surprised when Simon's anonymous love interest was revealed. I didn't see that one coming so good job, filmmakers!

Surprising and Not Surprising News

I was surprised to hear that Rahm Emanuel won't be running for a third term as Mayor of Chicago. I thought for sure he'd go for another term. When Rahm ran for and became Mayor, I always thought he was trying to be Chicago's version of Mike Bloomberg. I figured he saw himself as Bloomberg's Midwestern doppelganger and that he'd be praised in the same way Bloomy was as a transformative big-city mayor. But that didn't happen. With the constant drumbeat of violence in Chicago along with a host of other problems (school closings, police shootings, etc.), there wasn't much to praise him for. Whenever people compare New York and Chicago in my presence, I'm always quick to note that the situations in both cities are very different. New York is largely gentrified and it has a great economic base unlike Chicago. Yes, New York has violence, but it's a lot more concentrated than what you see in Chicago. Businesses and people want to move to New York. Chicago, not so much. You can't attract people and businesses to Chicago when double-digit numbers of people are being shot on any given weekend. The gun violence has to get under control before the city can move forward. Maybe the next mayor will be able to get things under control and start to get Chicago back on the road to prosperity.

In non-surprising news, how many more books do we need to read to understand that Donny T. is a dope. How many times do we need to hear the same adjectives used to describe Donny? Idiot, moron, imbecile, stupid, petty, unhinged, dumb...and the list goes on. Every time a new book publishes with "insider" information that tells most of us what we already know (that Donny is a dope), the denials start up again. This person didn't say that. This person was misquoted. This book isn't true. It's a work of fiction by people out to get Donny. Blah, blah, blah. All of these books have a common theme: again, that Donny is a dope. They're written by different people, but they all say the same thing. And they're all wrong??? I don't think so.