JP First Church

JP First Church

Traffic home

Traffic home

Go see "Milk"

If you haven't gone to see "Milk" yet, go. I found it a remarkably moving film about Harvey Milk, poltical activist, politician and martyr.

It worked for me on a number of levels. First, it illustrated quite movingly, how far we've come in the Gay Rights movement in such a short period of time. Second, it had a number of parallels between the Anita Bryants and the Dade County anti-gay legislation of 30 years ago with today's reaction to the California's Prop 8 legislation today.

We need more politicians of conscience and after the eight years of the second Bush presidency, we'll get them.

Wow. That's some yard.

Wow. That's some yard.

I Hate Good-byes...

These days thanks to the ubiquitous nature of email, IM, and social networks physical proximity isn't as required for friendships the way it once was. But even with that said, I still hate saying good-bye both when I leave and when friends leave. Part of it is my own chickenshit nature: my inability to directly face adversity. I would much rather take my leave quickly and out of sight than work a room of friends.

Which is probably why I'm glad that I have friends that won't let me get away with that sort of thing. But I think that's what makes a friend a friend -- their way of pushing you to be more than you can be.

Posted with LifeCast

Christmas is coming

Christmas is coming

Have yourself a Cthulhu holiday.

Have yourself a Cthulhu holiday.
Emily the great young one.

Archangel Michael Triumphant

Paris

Posted with LifeCast

At least they honk when crossing...

At least they honk when crossing...

More pix of the rally

More pix of the rally

Anti-Prop H8 Rally here in Boston

Anti-Prop H8 Rally — According to the people on stage, they said that the crowd was over 5000+ people by Boston's City Hall.

From where I was sitting, it seemed to be predominantly young people (you know you're getting old, when that means anyone younger than 30) with a few gray hairs now and again. There was a lot of energy to the crowd and some of the speakers were very good.

The take aways were that we should check out JoinTheImpactMA to find out what to do next and that our Democratic elected officials will be trying to use their new muscle to push for a repeal of DOMA and push for a Federal Hate Crimes bill that includes protections for trans folk.

Blackwell Footpath at dusk

Blackwell Footpath at dusk

Sinfest - Nice Metaphor

Yes, I realize this makes me the biggest geek online, but...

Alert Tippi Hedron

Alert Tippi Hedron

Police line to keep the party in control

Police line to keep the party in control as they sing "This Land is My Land". Not sure how needed it actually was.

Victory Rally in Copley

Passing Copley and the victory rally on the way to the T. (I'm too old and crotchety for being up this late.)

Change dawning.

Election day. Off to vote.

Update: I set the alarm and stumbled out of bed, as soon as the polls open to get to the school down the street where I vote. It was already hopping. A crowd of kids with 'No on One' signs -- our let's abolish the income tax ballot question -- and members of the firefighters local were already there.

I got there maybe ten minutes after the polls opened and the polling station was already full with a couple of people queued up to get their ballots and then wait for a desk to open up, so that we could fill them in for the scantron machine.

The actual voting was kind of anti-climatic. Just putting pen to paper and filling in my oval for Obama/Biden, but the elderly poll worker was great. As I was about to put my ballot into the machine, she asked me if I remembered to mark both sides of the ballot and if I had any problems.

I smiled at her and shook my head. I did notice that I was the fiftieth voter, which makes me hope for some impressive turnout today.

As I headed out into the sunshine, I probably should have said something witty like it's going to be all right or something, but this is before coffee. It's going to be a long anxious day while I wait to see how this is going to turn out.

Vote!

No, not just on Tuesday, but you're not voting then I will hunt you down and chastise you vociferously.

But also on Stuff at Night's Best Bodies in Boston contest. I threw myself in the ring as the anti-candidate to all those gym honed hard bodies. Semi-suitable for work - but not before you've eaten.

Thank you for your votes. (And huge thanks to Mark for actually making me look reasonable.)

Ashes to Ashes

While I was in London, I picked up the first series of "Ashes to Ashes". I just had a chance to watch the whole series over the last few days. It was only eight episodes -- UK series tend to be shorter than we have here in the US -- but it was absolutely incredible.

I loved "Life on Mars", the original, and I had heard that they were going to be doing a sequel. At some point, it'll come to cable over here, but I've never been very good at waiting. So when I saw the series, I had to pick it up.

It continues with some of the same characters: Gene, Ray and Chris, but they've moved from the outskirts of Manchester to the crime infested city of London. They've continued with the great fish out of motif of the modern day liberated copper dropped into 1981, where many of the social changes that we've taken for granted haven't happened yet. The cops then are rough and tumble: racist, homophobic, alpha males that don't fit into the way we see the world today.

And as we saw in "Life on Mars", the main character (Keeley Hawes as DI Alex Drake) is struggling to understand what's happening and the rules of the new world that she's in. There's also an interesting mystery element throughout the first series having to do with Drake's personal history.

I recommend it highly. I can't wait to see the next season.

Unemployment

Oh, the joy that is a bureaucracy. I got a recorded message yesterday telling me that due to an unexpectedly large call volume people with the last social security number's digit as I had to call on Tuesday. I gave them a call as soon as things opened up this morning. They said that there could be up to a ten minute delay until I spoke to someone. It was closer to forty.

Then I had to call the arbitrator to deal with some other problems and that was another forty-five minutes. Ugh.

I can't wait until this is behind me.

Eurotrip!

Apologies: This post will be edited, when I get home. There will be links to restaurants and photos.

Coming back to a city where you used to live is a little like pulling on an old sweater in Autumn. It's comfortable, but there's a certain pull about things that aren't quite as you remember them to be. It was a little surreal, but much of that might have been due to the little sleep that I had managed to get on the flight from Boston. London still felt like home. The tube was hotter and more crowded than I remembered, but certainly familiar. The free daily, the Metro had stories about the global economic crisis and talked of possible sanctions between Iceland and England over bank collapses. I put that aside and rushed to meet with old friends. I dragged them to Soho to go to Garlic and Shots, it's a divey little Scandinavian bar that's a home to two things that I surprise myself by liking: the honey rum garlic shots and the garlic poppers -- a roasted garlic battered appetizer that I can't get enough of. I met another friend for breakfast, the next morning, before my train to Paris and we talked US politics and the news from the previous day about the economy. He was upbeat, but being unemployed, I was more worried.

Paris, however, felt a little worse for wear. The streets seemed grubbier, there were more homeless and lurid red headlines at the news stands that I couldn't understand only made me feel more anxious. The only word I could make out was 'Crisis'. The first day, when I arrived, I wandered around a little, but didn't do anything major. Had a bite to eat (how could you not eat in Paris?) and wandered. Did my best to fight off jetlag with more sleep. The second day was for sightseeing. I saw the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the city in Quasimodo vision from the towers; it was definitely something to remind you of your nascent fear of heights. The cathedral is absolutely spectacular. It is a tourist trap and a wonder of Christendom all in one. Climbing the bowed marble steps to the towers, you can feel the sometimes oppressive weight of history upon you, but the sight of the city on a clear day makes it all worth it. Fantastique. More of the marvelous French food and walking along the Siene. Relaxed in a French coffee house and coughed on the French cigarette smoke.

That brings me to Brussels. My first view of the city scared the hell out of me. Unlike Paris and London, the train station wasn't in the middle of the city. Here, it's off in a nondescript warehouse district. Looking around, I thought I had made an awful mistake coming here. Rather than walking, I decided on a cab to the hotel, which I thought might be a tiny little hotel, similar to where I stayed in Paris. (Not that the place wasn't clean or the staff very nice, but it was tiny.) The hotel that I found online was an enormous Marriott, under a different name here. The room is ginormous with all the amenities that I've been spoiled by in the States - including in room Internet and an on-site jacuzzi. After a day of walking around the city center and taking in the sites (and more than my share of Belgian fries), I used the jacuzzi to help with the sore muscles..

Insomnia continues to plague me. The only reason that I'm writing this now is because I woke up after three uninterrupted hours of sleep. I feel rested again and will try again to sleep. Slept for another seven or so hours, which made me wake up feeling fantastic. I'm going to miss the big comfy bed full of down pillows. Boy, do I feel pampered. The only problem is that I found out on Monday that all of the museums that I wanted to go to were closed on Monday. Another day of wandering around the city, getting architecture and municipal sculpture pictures and now I can go curl up on the bed and read. Heaven.

Managed to make my way into the city on Monday night. Had dinner in the gay quarter. Found a Chinese restaurant, mostly because they had pictures on the menu so I could point and nod. The Bear Bar was closed - I assume it's only open on the weekends, but I couldn't read the sign. I went to a tiny little bar called Homo Erectus. Saw a handful of very cute young men chatting with older men and drinking soft drinks. It's probably a sign of encroaching age-related pessimism that my first thought was that they might be rent boys. I couldn't make myself understood, when I asked for a cider, but the bartender understood beer. I had the local bier: Jupiler. It came in a small glass, rather than the pints I had in England and Ireland and it was good. Really good. Who knew that my friend was right. It's not beer, it's American mass-produced swill I don't like. Now I just have to find out more about it and find out if there's a microbrew like that at home.

Off to Amsterdam next. I have my travel documents and passport ready at a moment's notice. Time to saddle up and head down to the lobby to check out and wait for my taxi.

Do'h. There is a disadvantage to not speaking either of the local languages. They changed the track that my train was on, but I was blissfully unaware of it. I could have paid a little extra to get on the next train, but I had a book and an iPod, so I was perfectly happy to wait a little longer and take a free train to Amsterdam.

I got to Amsterdam without a problem. Happily, everyone here was used to tourists and they all spoke English. (Unfortunately, I kept lapsing into my meager French and kept saying 'hello' and 'Pardon me, do you speak English?' which didn't endear me to anyone. The bed and breakfast that I was staying at gave me clear useful directions, which helped me get right to the door without much trouble.

The B&B is spectacular and the room enormous. It was right in the heart of Amsterdam. A short walk from their equivalent of the flea market, or to the original gay hub, as well as being a longer walk from anywhere else I might want to go. Didn't go to half the museums that I wanted to, but had a lot of fun. I met a local and was squired around to the gay bars. The next day, I checked out the red light district and saw some scary stuff: prostitution is legal, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a rough job that takes a lot out of the people doing it. And some of the women that I saw working the day shifts definitely looked a little rougher than otherwise.

There was one surreal moment, when I was wandering around with my guide book in the drizzle and turned a corner to try to get my bearings. I didn't realize that I was up against one of the red light windows and a woman old enough to be my mother was inside tarted up and doing her best to try to entice me inside. Alas, some Oedipal fantasies I just don't understand. Sadly, the look on my face must have let her know that, because her face grew chilly and she waved me off.

Then there was a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris. There was an older man working on an academic paper with a gorgeous twenty-something boy that looked nothing like him. Again, my mind went into the gutter and I felt guilty about it. Once I got to Paris, it was a mad dash to the Eurostar gate. Twenty minutes between arrival and exit cut it a little close. Especially, with a labor strike at the train station. I got on my train and in my seat with only a few moments to spare. This leg of the train ride was a blast. I ended up sitting next to an Australian woman that was over in Europe on holiday. We chatted for the three hour train ride back to London. As always, I managed to put my foot in my mouth. She was talking about how much she wanted a nice shower, so I mentioned that I was going to my hotel to settle in, and asked if she wanted to pop over to take a shower before meeting her friends. I didn't mean it as a pick up, but unfortunately...

The next two days were in London, seeing friends, relaxing and in general having a blast. Then it was back home to Boston on Sunday night.

OMG. Leg room!

OMG. Leg room! Thank you, BA.

Halloween Candy!

It's my favorite time of the year and two of my favorite Halloween candies are in the stores now:
candy corn and Tootsie Flavor Rolls (tm).

They're fresh to the stores and not stale and hard like they are at other times of the year.

The word for the day is nom nom nom....

Sinfest: The Webcomic To End all Webcomics

Sinfest: The Webcomic To End all Webcomics

I Love Boston

I love Boston
Where else do you see stuff like this?

Halloween is Coming

Halloween is coming
This is my favorite time of the year and I missed the insanity when I was in London.

Fear and Loathing on the Job Hunting Trail...

At the moment, I am out of my previous company. It was my choice and I'm glad I made it.
Today, I'll check with unemployment to see if there's a way to collect while I look for something else and figure out what I'm going to be doing next.
That and a haircut and lunch with a friend at 2.
Babysteps.

Flickr Photo Download: Staff wanted

Flickr Photo Download: Staff wanted
I don't know when. I don't know how, but I do know that at some point I will go into Murder Burger.

Whole Sordid Story...

Here's the story about things that I've been whining about:
http://blog.me-invest.com/

Angry, Disappointed, Apathy

Work has been crazy for the last couple of weeks.

I'm unsure if I'll have a job pretty much day to day, everything is falling apart and I think what I need to do is to just slow down a bit, take care of me and try to relax. Gym in the afternoon, in and out at specific times.

And with my free time, figure out my Plan B.

Google Chrome - Eh...

Got an installer error...

Aw... And they had such a good record for everything...

Update: Actually loaded, fast, miss ability to easy reload multiple tabs but am impressed. Wished they had this for the mac, though.

Thank you, MythBusters

The MythBuster have brought us... Leonardo - a ... Well, it's best if you see it...

It's really awesome.

Ryan in the News

WGGB, the local ABC affiliate in Western, Mass., covered a fund raiser for Autism that the family had for my nephew, Ryan.

http://www.wggb.com/Global/story.asp?S=8892621

Best Commute Ever

One advantage to going into work on insomnia mean time, plenty of seats.

Bolt Bus

Yesterday, I checked out the Bolt Bus. I have to say, I was kind of impressed. It was fairly cheap — my ticket was only $18.50 each way. Not horribly fast, but certainly within what I expected; four hours each way between Boston and New York City. But the nice thing was that they had Internet access on the bus.

I lucked out in that I had seats to myself on both parts of my trip back and forth from NYC, but it looked like it would be a little cramped with a full bus.

The staff was courteous and seemed to know what they were doing.

Definitely worth the money.

Remember When We Didn't Live in a Banana Republic?

Thank you, Sy Hersh.

Sinfest

Sinfest

Sadly, this is my dream morning.

It Begins!

Dr. Horrible is among us:

Act One

Hilarious!

Comment to a Question About Birth Control

At the moment, homosexuality is my birth control of choice. But that said, there was a time when I was younger and confused. We used condoms, birth control pills and the rhythm method: all in hopes of being sure that we didn’t get a surprise.

That said, there was still one memorable occasion when I remember running out at 11pm to try to find an open drug store that had pregnancy tests, when she realized that she was late.

Even as someone that loves kids, I was still absolutely terrified. I had a job that was barely keeping me in an apartment, student loans, and many months until I would be done with my college degree. And that’s just the living situation, there was still deep-seated fear of being a parent. To call my family upbringing challenging would be charitable bordering on abject denial. With that parenting example, I was terrified of repeating the behavior I learned.

Getting that pregnancy test and bringing it home left me with way too much time alone with my thoughts and fears.

I brought home several tests, unsure which one was best. While I was gone, she had been throwing back coffee and water so she’d be ready. Once the drying sticks were lined up in the bathroom sink, there was nothing to do but wait.

Too tense to talk to each other, we settled onto the futon to watch TV. I don’t remember what was on. The only thing that comes back to me after all these years was how far we sat apart.

How much of this is accurate is left as an exercise to the reader...

Insomnia

Does it count as insomnia, if you're wide awake and have been for hours?

Twice this week, I've woken up at 2:30 or so. (Okay, I think each time was 2:28am, if you want to be pedantic.) The other morning, I rolled over and went back to sleep, though without the CPAP machine. This morning, I tried to be productive.

Either way, though, what the hell? Bing, I'm awake is not how I wanted to spend my early early morning. I had dreams of evil clowns and cabana boys planned.

*shrug*

We'll see how the day goes. If three hours sleep doesn't make the Friday go by faster, I don't know what will.

Asus EeePC actually intelligently planned

By just hitting the F9 button repeatedly, you choose to reset the device to the factory defaults. The downside is that you lose everything. The upside is that all of your mistakes all go away. All in all, a pretty handy feature for something with such a tiny harddrive.

Movie Reviews

This weekend, I went to see a few movies:

First, Wanted. It was an adaption, which—of course—means things that I loved about the comic series were changed for the film. That said, I enjoyed it immensely. There was action, there was incredible special effects, there was eye candy, there were actors I liked, I had a comfortable seat and popcorn. In short, I had everything that I liked in a Summer block buster.

It wasn't spectacular, but it was enjoyable. The plot was interesting and the silliness didn't detract too much from the plot that that they gave us. I recommend it to anyone looking for something to watch. With the effects and the cinematography, you'll probably need to see this on the big screen rather than something tiny at home.

Secondly, we went to see Wall-E and the Pixar short that opened it, Presto. First, Presto. Quite possibly, this was the best Pixar short that I've seen. It was a hilarious romp.

Wall-E was also a fantastic little movie. An enivironmental message hidden in a robot love story. As always Lassiter and Pixar brought the inanimate to life in a way that strums the heart strings.

So recapping, really enjoyed Wanted, Wall-E and Presto.

Asus EEE - Al's Alienware curse?

Finally got it set up just the way I wanted it. Then I rebooted.

Big big mistake.

The EEE didn't recognize my password and then it just started cycling, seems to have a problem with X starting up and restarting again, over and over and over again... Hello, Best Buy... What's your return policy? :(

Ptown Monument at night 2

I just love how creepy this looks.

Ptown at night

Ptown at night

Wild Weather

What the hell was up with the weather today? I was walking across town to my writing group and the weather went nuts. The clouds gather, the sky goes dark and then rain pelted down. Once I'm thoroughly drenched, I notice the temperature had dropped like 10-15 degrees (or at least it felt that way) and then comes hail.

This is not the New England weather that I'm used to!

The new Bruce Willis movie is filming

The new Bruce Willis movie is filming

Rainbow

This is what I saw on the way home tonight.

I think the coolest part was that there were two rainbows. One fading as the other became more pronounced, but as always the human eye is much better at picking out vague patterns than a freebie cellphone camera.

Best Father's Day Ad ever...

Asus Eee Pc redux

I've been playing with it for a few days. It mounts thumb drives in Windows format, but seems to have problems with an iPod formatted for the Apple. I'll have to explore further.

USB keyboards and mice seem to work without a problem.

Sunset over the Charles

A group that I'm in had a picnic on the Charles here in Boston and I really liked how this came out.

Note: I'm trying to use the wayback machine to post his on the day I took it, rather than when I posted it.

KatrinaRitaVille Express

KatrinaRitaVille Express is in Boston by Boylston T stop on Sunday and Monday to illustrate FEMA's failure.

For more information:

• http://www.FindingOurFolk.org/


• http://www.KRVExpress.org/


• http://www.uusc.org/katrina/

Ryan's Birthday Party

Ryan's Birthday Party
Update: The party was at a laser tag arena. It was a lot of fun. Though running around in the dark was inadvertantly painful at least to my knees and shins.

A question of scale

The Asus Eee is as big as a hardcover.

Bonus!

I love when Karma works my way. I was looking for some place to kill some time before my memoir workshop started and found out that the class will be right next to Doyles, an institution here in JP. The food's always been good here, so I'm really looking forward to it.

And to think this is the first time I've been here without someone driving. The nice thing about being clueless is that the world has many more welcome surprises that way.

The food didn't disappoint. The garden burger frozen and adequate, but then hand-carved garlic fries and crisp lettuce and tomato on the top were fantastic. Even better was listening to the two men next to me handicapping the democratic Veepstakes like they would a racing form. Clearly, my kind of bar.

Asus Eee PC

I was looking for something tiny to take on trips and my father was looking for something cheap that he can't screw up.
This might fit the bill on both counts. It'd be a little easier if the keyboard wasn't built for hobbits, but it's not too bad.

Pictures will be coming...

Update: Yes, it's that small. Sadly, difficult, but not impossible to use with my big hands. I can only imagine it will be worse for my Dad. I can't wait to give it to him and watch him suffer. (Does that make me a bad son? Or just passive-aggressive?)

Book Reviews

A friend challenged me to write haiku reviews of the last several books that I've read:

Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine"
Friedman's neo-cons -
Crisis, exploitation, greed.
Perhaps, Keynesian?

James N. Frey's books on writing
Remember: premise,
character driven stories
for damned good novels.

Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys"
A modern fable,
entertains as it teaches.
The old become new.

William Landay's "The Strangler"
Boston terrified:
memorable characters,
weak plot - adequate.

Robert W. Cabell's "The Hair-Raising Adventures of Jayms Blonde"
Cliches, every page.
Vanity press - no surprise.
Dear God - Don't read this.

Update on the tv

Ta da. After all the trouble, we got it working.

Technology and Customer Service...

We got a new flat screen tv for the office. It's supposed to be used for watching client logs, etc...

We rush ordered the TV from Philips, paying extra to get it there right away. Unfortunately, they sent it to the CEO's home rather than the office. We had to jump through four days of hoops to get UPS to send to the right address.

When we finally got it, we opened the box to find a beautiful TV, but no screws, mounting brackets, remote or power cable. We called the manufacturer. The remotes were back ordered, so we can't get that any time soon. They did have the rest. But they can't rush order it to us, because of company policy. We've already paid for that, but that doesn't matter. The power cord is different than the TV, I guess.

We complained and they said they could put it in expedited, which will get it up to 3-5 days. Of course, that would assume that they wrote our name right on the box. UPS couldn't deliver it (but somehow the post office was able to deliver the post card telling us that UPS couldn't deliver to us, even though the postcard had the same information on it). A quick phone call. They now had our company name and they're ready to go.

Three more days later, the problem is that there was no suite number. There's no suite in our address only a floor. Sure, the company name is listed in the lobby and by the elevators on our floor, but that's enough reason not to deliver our package.

Today, we finally got our package. Power cord, but still no remote. (Still on back order, I assume.)  Unfortunately, powering up the TV, we can't get past the initial set-up screen without a remote. Wouldn't it be nice if the idiot on support that we talked to initially let us know that at the same time she was arguing that we didn't need a power cord for the expensive TV that we just bought?)

So today's recommendations are not buying Philips or using UPS if you need something.

FW: It's raining,it's pouring...

Ah,Boston. Pouring to nothing in the time it takes to set back outside from the errand that couldn't wait.

Train ride to NYC through Conn.

This is why I love train travel. You see the land you travel and if you're lucky, relaxation and comforl is interpersed with glimpses of beauty.

Boston Common

Best day yet, and all I want to do is sleep in the sun.

Monkey!

Monkey!

My desk... A blog test.

My desk... A blog test. As you can tell... I dig little monkeys.

You know who you are...

Aigh! Too many people

Claustraphobia too much. Left the cheering throng. Will visit when I can get in.

California Supreme Court overturns Gay Marriage Ban...

Woo!
California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban

Go, US!

Spring in Boston Common

It looked so pretty.

Spring Has Come, Klennex Stocks a Good Bet

The last few days have been allergy hell. Even with the allergy medicine in my system, my head is pounding and I'm stuffed up.

Gotta love the pollen.

At least one good thing is that next week, I'll be going to the allergist.

I can't wait to see if there's anything that he or she can do for me other than telling me to suck it up.

On the other hand, the sun and the flowers are a nice change from the grey and the rain.

Another Reason Why I Miss the NHS...

As my faithful (or bored) readers know I recently got a CPAP machine. I just got the insurance bill. The friggin' health insurance that I pay into won't pay for it, though my doctor says that I need it. The most they'll pay for health equipment is peanuts, leaving me with two grand for my very own. Friggin' jackasses.

This is what I love about health insurance. You get it, you pay into it and it still doesn't help you when you need it.

Happily, I do get to act out my frustration at work. I'm now the anonymous 'Jack', head of software development. A perpetually harried and annoyed character that gets to snap at the idiotic headhunters that cold call us with what we don't want or need.

It's very freeing.

Back of the quilt

Back

Ryan's quilt

Front