What You Gonna Do When They Come for You?

Quoting Erykah Badu seems appropriate today after the SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade. What's next? According to Clarence Thomas, same-sex marriage and contraception are up for consideration. For every two steps forward that this country makes legislatively, we seem to take one step back. I wasn't surprised by the ruling today. For people who were, what did you think the right-wing appointees were being appointed for? The more conservative the SCOTUS became, the closer they got to overturning Roe. The Court was being stacked for this. Kavanaugh, Barrett, Gorsuch...the writing was on the wall with each appointee. 

Today they came for Roe v. Wade. Next year it might be contraception. The year after that it might be same-sex marriage. With the current crop of SCOTUS judges, I wouldn't be surprised. 

Ray's Friend

My new story Ray's Friend is publishing July 2, 2022. Finally, right? (I'm a slow writer these days. What can I say?)

Here's the blurb:

Is blood thicker than water? Twenty-four-year-old graduate student Jonathan Crawford finds out after he makes a play for his uncle Ray’s boyfriend, Case Larson. From the moment Jonathan meets Case, he’s immediately attracted to the handsome realtor. And the fact that Case and Ray are seeing each other doesn’t stop Jonathan from trying to secretly hook up with his uncle’s friend. But things quickly fall apart when Ray finds out what his nephew has been up to and confronts him about it. Ray’s Friend is the story of family and friends who clash when jealousy, sex, and secrets intersect.

Too High (and Other Stuff)

Prices are so out of control right now. Gas prices are ridiculous. The Citgo station down the street from where I live is charging nearly $6 a gallon for now. I paid $4.99 the last time I filled up my car when I was driving through Indiana on my way back from Michigan on Memorial Day. I'm glad I don't have to drive much these days. Groceries are also ridiculous. A big bottle of Coffeemate is over $7 now and a bag of McCafe coffee set me back over $10 earlier this week. Some months ago, I started going meat-free two days a week, mainly as a weight-loss thing, but now it's also because of food prices. Meat costs too much to eat 7 days a week. I try to buy meat from Wild Fork now that will last for some time. 

In other news, I watched a fascinating movie on Prime the other night called Georgetown about a con man who married a much older female journalist in Washington, DC and proceeded to run his con on her and her friends with tragic consequences. The movie was based on a real story. Con man/woman stories are fascinating to me. It's amazing to see how people are duped into believing these folks. And everyone who's duped isn't an idiot. Some are smart people who simply got conned or were blinded by love. Sad.

I'm glad the Queen's shindig is over. I'd had enough of hearing about that. As an American, I'm just not interested in the Royals. All of the William/Kate/Harry/Meghan stuff is eye-rolling for me. Watching the royal offspring throw temper tantrums and pick their in front of everyone noses was funny though. 

Post-Memorial Day Greetings

I went to my home state of Michigan over the Memorial Day weekend and I couldn't believe the changes that have happened in downtown Detroit. That area is so different than how it was when I grew up in the city. (The techno Movement Festival was also going on while I was there, much to my surprise!) Downtown Detroit was a virtual ghost town after business hours when I was growing up. No one hung out down there. Now there are new restaurants, Campus Maritus Park, techno music festivals at Hart Plaza, and KAWS sculptures (see picture below). Wow. But, for all of the success the downtown area is having, things don't seem to be trickling down to help the neighborhoods. Some areas were as blighted as ever. I drove downtown via Woodward Avenue from the suburbs. Change is slow for places like Detroit, unfortunately. I always enjoy going back to Michigan to visit, but would I live there again? I doubt it, but never say never, right?

In other news, why, oh why, did I waste my time half-watching the latest comedy special from Ricky Gervais on Netflix? I think I laughed out loud two times during his set. So many low and lazy (and not funny) jokes on everything from AIDS to cats. I don't know why I thought his set would be funny. I've never been a huge fan of his. I remember watching the original version of The Office that he created and starred in and I thought it was one of the most depressing shows I've ever seen. My manager at the time loaned me her set of DVDs so I could watch the series. She loved it. I wanted to cry after watching it. The combination of awfulness and the fact that I worked in an office and could relate to so many things in the show just left me feeling depressed. I never watched the American version after that because I was too traumatized from the British version.