Friday, January 29, 2021

The Page Has Been Turned

It's been nice for the past week to hear about the Biden Administration or POTUS Biden and not about Donny's tweets or whatever foolishness he imposed upon the world. What a delight it has been. The page has indeed turned and I'm glad it has. Are things perfect? No. We're still dealing with Covid and everything else that's awful, but at least everything's a little less-awful since Donny's not at the helm anymore. 

My father called me last night and, during our conversation, he asked if I was planning to get the Covid vaccine. I told him I believe so. I've been on the fence, but I think I'm ready to jump that fence and commit to getting the vaccine when it's available to me (whenever that time comes). Like a lot of people, I have reservations about it, but I ultimately think it will do more good than harm. I also feel my father should get the vaccine when available and, at his age, he is eligible to receive it now in his state. However, he's choosing to wait until the summer. That's his prerogative, but I really think he needs to rethink his plan and get the vaccine earlier. I'm no spring chicken myself and I have to wait to get vaccinated. My father can move close to the front of the line, yet he's choosing not to? Oh well. Baby steps.

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Thorns in My Side - Now Available!

My new book, Thorns in My Side, is out now!

 

When Tim Whittaker’s best friend Jake Thorn announces that he’s getting married to his girlfriend Jenna Riley, Tim tells him he’s making a mistake. Tim, who’s been in love with Jake for years, wants his best friend to be with him instead.

 

While Tim and Jake deal with their issues, Jake’s older brother Caleb is dealing with issues of his own as he enters into a secret relationship with Jenna’s newly-divorced father, David, who wants to keep his homosexuality hidden from his daughter.

 

Thorns in My Side explores the secrets, lies, and love between brothers who grapple with friends, lovers, and each other while trying to keep their lives, and the lives of those around them, from spinning out of control.

 


Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Turn the Page

This is the last night we'll have Donny T. as POTUS. (It certainly had better be the last night!) Finally, the page is going to turn on this jerk, his awful family, and his stupid minions. It's been a long four years. Even before Covid came into our lives, a significant amount of mental and emotional damage had been done to us. Just having to hear about Donny's tweets, his temper tantrums, and whatever stupid/foolish/insulting thing he said about some other person or nation was enough to make me want to stop watching the news and reading anything on the internet. I long for the days when I don't have to hear about something the POTUS tweeted or read about the White House press secretary refusing to do his/her job. I'm tired of having everything coming from the government dialed up to a 10. I need lower noise levels, like around 2 or 3. 

With so many people dealing with Covid, unemployment, depression, it will be nice not to have to deal with a POTUS and administration who lack basic empathy. No government can be all things to all people, but can we at least get back to having one that at least tries to serve the needs of its people and makes an effort to care about their well-being?


Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Saved...or Not

Back when I was a regular church-goer, I believed that all people could be saved. I no longer believe that. And I don't just mean saved in the Christian sense, I mean saved/redeemed/whatever as a person. Some folks can't be saved. I came to this realization years ago and seeing stuff like the Chaos at the Capitol last week just reaffirms my stance. Some folks are beyond saving. They're just gone spiritually, mentally, ethically and they can't be helped and I don't believe in wasting time trying to change someone who doesn't want to change him/herself. Some people are just evil. They may not have always been evil, but they're evil now and see nothing wrong with their behavior when they abuse others or commit crimes. And I'm not just talking about Donny's Band of Idiots who wreaked havoc last week, I'm also talking about people like the guy who went on a killing spree in Chicago and Evanston last weekend. I'm talking about the guys who carjacked and killed a retired firefighter who had just gone out to buy some popcorn in the Chicago area last month. Shooting and killing innocent people and having no remorse whatsoever about your actions shows you're not worth saving in my book.

Some time ago, my stepsister's son was considering a move to Chicago to work in a position where he'd be a counselor to young inner-city kids (or something like that). I remember telling my father that this kid would probably end up crushed by the job mainly because he didn't grow up like a lot of the kids he'd be counseling. He grew up in a nice, middle-class Southern home with two working parents. He didn't come from the streets. I doubt he could even understand the mentality of a kid from the South Side who had no role models, little (if any) parental guidance, a poor education, and no hope. Thankfully, my stepsister's kid didn't get called for an interview. He probably dodged a bullet on that one. 

I'm all about helping those who want to help themselves, but I won't waste my time, money, or mental health on people whose goal in life is to harm others.


Saturday, January 9, 2021

Cockles and Mussels

In a more light-hearted post (because I've said what I had to say about the Chaos at the Capitol this week), I was watching an episode of the 60s show "Wild Wild West" earlier this week and Artemis was singing the song "Cockles and Mussels" at one point. I learned (or was forced to sing) "Cockles and Mussels" while in elementary school, which raises a question for me. Why were Detroit Public School kids, like myself, in the 1970s forced to sing songs like "Cockles and Mussels" (alive, alive oh)? Who thought it would be a good idea to have these kids, the majority of whom were black, sing a song about an Irish woman (Molly Malone) selling her wares on the streets? Strangely, I recall the song being a huge crowd-pleaser in school. Everyone seemed to enjoy singing it, particularly the chorus, so maybe the school system powers that be were right in making "Cockles and Mussels" part of the music curriculum. 

We sang other songs in school that I now consider odd such as "Little Houses" (made of ticky-tacky), "Nana Kru" (jump into my canoe / Nana, I paid my dowry for you), "Eleanor Rigby" (lyrics not necessary). I was talking with someone I work with a few years ago who's a year older than I am and we were discussing songs we had to sing in school and he told me he was forced to sing John Lennon's "Woman" in elementary school. Huh? That takes the cake. This guy grew up in Boston. Wow. And I'm complaining about "Cockles and Mussels." 

The 1970s were a strange time to be a kid, for a variety of reasons.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

This Is NOT What Democracy Looks Like!

WTF is going on in Washington, DC??? Donny's minions have taken over the Capitol! I didn't even know this mess was going on because I was out at the bank and didn't hear about the drama until I was back and someone from my day job emailed me. (I don't normally have the television on while working from home because it's distracting.) When I saw these yahoos and thugs and some rando guy sitting in the speaker's chair in the Senate chamber, I wondered, Am I living in a banana republic? Is this Venezuela? But what really annoyed me was how ill-prepared DC was for this. Did they not think these nutjobs were going to show up today when the election votes were certified? They've been talking about it for weeks! DC should have been on lockdown. 

Many years ago, I went to the Capitol and did the tour, walked through the Rotunda, and sat in the gallery during sessions of the House and Senate. (I had a cousin who was a Congressman at the time, so that's why I was able to get a pass for all of this. He's no longer in Congress, so those days are over!) After the tour and everything, I went to see my cousin and security was no joke throughout the entire visit. It amazes me that Donny's thugs just overpowered the security forces and stormed into the building. Whose ass needs to be kicked for allowing security to be so lax today? Who needs to be fired for this? Seriously. 

I was watching some of the news coverage and the reporters were talking about how Donny should come out and make a statement to condemn this violence. Yeah, right. He doesn't care. He finally did come out and make some weak-assed statement that was too little too late. 

This is what happens when you elect an idiot. This is what happens when that idiot acts like a pseudo-dictator. This is what happens when conspiracy theorists go off the cliff. This is NOT what democracy looks like. This is what chaos looks like. 

Friday, January 1, 2021

Happy New Year?? (Also, Some Movie Reviews)

 As we walk into 2021, I am trying to enter the new year with hope and optimism that it will be better than the dumpster fire that was 2020. While I realize the problems of last year will certainly follow us into the new year, my approach is to appreciate improvements in the new year, no matter how small they may be. Baby steps may be small, but they still enable that baby to move forward. No, Covid won't disappear overnight and we'll all still have obstacles and hurdles to jump, but we have to appreciate the small victories in life.

In other news, given the kind of fiction that I write, I like to watch gay-themed movies and I've watched a few over this holiday weekend:

Eating Out: Watching this movie caused me to lose 1.5 hours of my life that I'll never get back. I can't believe they actually made a number of sequels either. The story was ridiculous, the guys weren't cute, and pretty much everyone involved was awful. 

C.O.G.: What a depress-fest. Jonathan Groff did the best he could here, but this movie was just one bad situation after another.  I can't believe it was based on a David Sedaris short story (that I'm sure I read back when I used to read Sedaris's stuff before I realized about 70% of it was bullshit). 

You and I: A German movie about two friends (one gay, one straight) who go on a roadtrip and then pick up a hitchhiker who gets in the middle of things. This one wasn't bad. The last 15 minutes were particularly good when the simmering pot of emotions just boils over.

Say Yes: A woman dying from cancer wants her husband to hook up with her twin (fraternal, not identical) bisexual brother after she dies. And they do. Interesting, but I didn't buy it and the actors didn't have any chemistry (male and female). Also, the actors playing the brother and sister didn't even look related to each other. I know siblings don't all look alike, but the casting could have been better on this one to at least get two Latinos who resembled each other a little more closely. 

This list has a lot of duds, but I have seen some really great gay-themed movies also. For example: Four Moons, 1:54, Mario, Shelter, Giant Little Ones. There's good stuff out there, but you have to get through a lot of crap to find it.

Happy New Year!