This is a special news report from Mike Wallace called CBS Reports: The Homosexuals from 1967. If you have 45 minutes, watch it. It has interviews with Gore Vidal, various members of The Mattachine Society, politicians, prosecutors, law enforcement, and both closed and out in the open gay people.
It’s been a while since I’ve put anything here. Just keeping up with other people’s stuff and spending TOO much time on facebook when I AM in front of the computer, and then also just doing real life things to amuse myself, I guess this blog thing takes a back seat much like I’ve seen it has with countless others.
We were supposed to get some snow today but like the rest of the winter, looks like we’re out of luck. They’ve downgraded expectations to 3-6 inches….and that’s really alright with me. We’re usually due 60-70 inches of snow a season but so far, we had that snow of 6 or 8 inches in early December and a few small snows since then, but really nothing. It’s been COLD though, OMG! I hate it. This year has had only 5 days over 40and only 9 over freezing. Can you tell I just watched the weather guy? This is Casey wanting to jump onto The Mohawk River after a bird
This is Lake Champlain from a road trip a couple of weeks ago. We had never been all the way to the very northern part on Vermont so we made our way Plattsburgh, NY and took the ferry over to Vermont and then to St. Albans where we ate here (and they freaking had everything) and then to northern Vermont and then to Canada. We made our way into the Canadian countryside where where we explored for a while and then set the GPS to come home. THIS is where we entered the United States again. I would have taken pictures but I think they may frown on that especially considering we had a remote starter hidden under the seat because it looks like a bomb and the fact that Duncan had a hard time finding his license on the way back through so I was sure we were were about to get detained and stripped searched in this cabin they called a security checkpoint.
And finally, if you haven’t seen this great Google commercial, take a look.
The reason you haven’t heard from me in a while is because we’ve been to Vegas and beyond and had a great time. OMG! We got to see Cher at Caesars Palace! Must I say, she was just spectacular. Her truly live performance was unflawed. The show chronicles her life and everything is costumed and perfectly choreographed.
OMG! We saw Mystére! It’s a Cirque du Soleil show and I(we) loved it. We saw another last time and it was great so there was no way we were not going to se another while we were there. It’s too hard to describe one of these in words, you just gotta go.
We went to the south rim of the Grand Canyon on our last trip and it by far has the best views and it is the most traveled and visited. This time we decided (literally at the spur of the moment) to visit the south rim. It was also beautiful and home to the skywalk. The last 15 miles to the entrance is a gravel road and it can be somewhat discombobulating but the destination is worth it. The first moment on the skywalk is (can be) scary but after that, take in the view.
Another adventure was Red Rock Canyon, literally right outside of Las Vegas. Breathtaking views, hiking, and rock climbing if you’re into it. We mostly just went sight seeing.
All and all, a nice and thankfully, restful trip (I love sleeping in). When we got home at 1:00am, we had 10 inches of snow on the car at the airport but when we got home, a couple of our neighbors had cleared our driveway. That was nice.
I now hear a snowplow going down the street…nice…and we saw burrows by the way…
Took the in-laws to the Macy’s Parade on Thanksgiving and had a pretty nice time. Last time I went, the parade went down Broadway and it seemed very organized with the street closures. The traffic signals and street lights were designed to spin out of the way for the balloons but this year, Broadway has been redesigned and closed to traffic in some spots. They actually had to take down all the posts the lights were attached to and then put them up after the parade (very quickly) but many of the streets still remained closed to pedestrians and it was very hard to walk through the city after the parade. Hopefully by next year, they’ll have a better plan. Still had a great time…..got home and did Thanksgiving dinner about 8:00. Oh, and the band-aid finally came off today.
Forgot to include pictures from our road trip through the Adirondacks last weekend. It was gorgeous. Glad we did it because it looks like this weekend isn’t gonna be so nice…and I gotta work…yuck.
A couple of interesting stories out of the south today. First, a lesbian senior in a Mississippi high school will not have her picture in the yearbook because she took her picture in a tuxedo instead of the piece of material they throw over the girls and pretend it’s a dress.
Veronica Rodriguez describes her daughter, 17-year-old Ceara Sturgis, as a perfect child: a straight-A student, goalie on the soccer team, a trumpet player in the band and active in Students Against Drunk Driving.
She also is gay and feels more comfortable in boy’s clothes. So, Rodriguez said she supported her daughter’s decision to wear a tuxedo, rather than the drape customary for girls, when she had her senior portrait made in July. But Rodriguez said school officials at Wesson Attendance Center, a K-12 school in the Copiah County School District, were not as supportive and have refused to include the picture in the school yearbook.
Never understood those schools that had all the students wear the same thing in their senior pictures anyway. Fake dress or tuxedo? Who cares?
A little further to the west, a Louisiana justice of the peace refused to marry an interracial couple on the grounds that he’s worried about the children’s future. And it’s not the first time the judge with 34 years on the bench has done this, it’s pretty routine.
Keith Bardwell, a white justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish in the southeastern part of the state, refused to issue a marriage license earlier this month to Beth Humphrey, who is white, and Terence McKay, who is black. His refusal has prompted calls for an investigation or resignation from civil and constitutional rights groups and the state’s Legislative Black Caucus.
Sometimes, it just makes me speechless the things people do for no sound reason…just speechless.
I just came across this, not watching a lot of news this week, this may be old news. Barack Obama has named gay civil rights pioneer Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King as two of 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
President Obama said, “These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds. Their tremendous accomplishments span fields from science to sports, from fine arts to foreign affairs. Yet they share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way. Their relentless devotion to breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to which we all should strive. It is my great honor to award them the Medal of Freedom.”
Other awardees include Nancy Goodman Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure; Stephen Hawking; Sen. Edward Kennedy; Desmund Tutu; Chita Rivera; Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland; and Sidney Poitier.
I started making my way back home today via the back roads and I’m hunkered down somewhere in VA right now. Tomorrow I’ll hit the interstates for the rest of the way. Had a great time in NC with the folks but honestly, the road tripping part is much funner with a partner. Needed Duncan along for help navigating and somebody to make sarcastic remarks to or just for walking around with. Mt Airy was cool but would have been better with him, and where in the hell WAS the Natural Bridge? More later….bed time.
The building in the picture is where my folks met more that 60 years ago when they both worked at Valley Furniture in Spencer, NC.
Downtown Wilkes-Barre, PA looks very much like I assume it did in 1955. When I was there today, the downtown streets were crowded with people and it appears to be thriving with quite a bit of old retail such as this Boscov’s store despite the huge amount of development on the nearby freeway.
Hittin’ the road tomorrow to NC to see the folks and get some NC lovin’. Haven’t seen them in almost a year so mostly I’m gonna hang with them and help them out with some stuff they need. Can’t rule out a nice side trip though. Can’t wait…
Somehow, while doing something totally unrelated, I came across this picture on the web and it happens to be one of the places we ate on our cross country trip in 2001, The Square Shooters Eating House, in Rawlins, WY. I had my first and only buffalo burger there and I remember vividly the stuffed heads all over the walls. I accidentally deleted all of our pictures from this trip and it still makes me a little sad…but memories live on…until dementia and alzheimers sets in that is…
My new Adidas, minus the kankle that’ll appear later today once I’m on it a while. My doctor says it’ll be swollen for about a year.
We saw sheep (I think they were sheep) as we road tripped into The Adirondacks yesterday. FYI, there are NOT many bathrooms in The Adirondacks.
I’m getting excited about going to NC later this month. I haven’t seen my folks in almost a year. I put it off then broke my leg and wanted to get well enough to have a good time when I did go plus be able to help them out, so…. and I think it’s gonna be a pro-family time this time rather than trying to drive everywhere. ..we’ll see. Me and Duncan still have to plan a getaway for ourselves.
Gotta go enjoy the nice weather now, it’s actually not supposed to rain today.
Except for yesterday, I haven’t posted any original pictures in a couple of months so here’s a few from today’s semi-road trip to Canajoharie and the Amish country.
It’s cool just how large to signal is compared to the spotlight.
This one dates back to 1928. If you’ve seen this one before, I actually took it in 2003. It’s still there and it’s one of three remaining in the US.
I love it when Duncan cooks. Beth and Alaura are up for the holiday and I’ll just say, I’m full.
