October 29, 2005
Searches
It's usually interesting looking at referer logs, seeing where people are coming from. But there's one search there now, that is disgusting enough that I'm not going to repeat it.
There's no way to block specific searches, is there?
Things that make you go hmm
Puttering around a little, feeling sorry for myself. Then I end up on this guy's blog, reading about how he felt when his daughter was born prematurely and died, and then how his ex-wife has been stalking him, and either has breast cancer or is lying about having breast cancer.
Yeah, I'm lonely, I'm too shy for my own good, and what plans I had for life 10 years ago are just shattered. But it can always be worse.... much, much worse.
Update: I think he's got comments at the top of the post, and permalinks at the bottom. Either that, or he only has monthly archives. I'm experimenting.
October 28, 2005
Bottle Rocket Blues
Public Service Announcement: Do not try to shoot a bottle rocket out of your butt. Side effects may include hot sparks raining down on your cheeks, and having a video of your hijinks posted on the web.
H/T: Fark
The Haunted House
Just in time for Halloween, comes this site devoted to Disney's inventive ride.
H/T: Carl
George Takei Comes Out Of The Closet
As Rocket Jones says: "best known as Mr. Sulu of the original Star Trek" [ie, can anyone name anything else he's done?].
More information at [no clue, I know I ran into a blog that had much more info, but I can't find it now. Oh well. ]
And in a similar theme, Ace discusses how the interactions between her parents and her significant other have been going. [short synopsis: they liked her as a roommate, had some difficulty with "our daughter's lover," but may be opening up some now]. Good luck.
Catholic School Bans Blogging
In what may be a legal, if stupid, move, a Catholic High School has banned blogging, saying it wants to protect its students from cyberpredators.
Maybe they should protect the students from priests, instead.
Ok, cheap shot. But eventually we need to understand the concept that we are much more likely to be killed or raped by someone we know than by a random stranger. The whole trust no adult message aimed at kids and parents has got to be doing untold harm, while not making the kid much safer.
H/T: Houston Chronicle's TechBlog. Which is pretty darn good.
October 27, 2005
Scott Adams Blog
There's a blog being writen by the creator of Dilbert. Some interesting posts talking about the process of making the script and seeing what he can get past the censors.
I especially like this policy:
If you notice a grammar, punctuation, or spelling error in my blog, and you absolutely can’t control your urge to tell me, please follow this process:
1. Research the Native American method for sending smoke signals.
2. Set your couch on fire.
3. Stand on the roof and use your “good shirt” to control the signal as it comes out of the chimney.
Or if you prefer, just enjoy the blog as if it were an e-mail from your friend who thinks he’s clever but isn’t as clever as he thinks.
Works for me.
Carnival of Liberty
Several different carnivals have happended in the last week, none of which have I linked to. Anyway, this week's carnival of liberty was over at Eric's. Some fine posts, as always.
Also, Eric's close to evolving, so go give him some love.
St Arnolds
Ok, I'm an idiot. I read the latest St Arnolds newsletter, read about the Divine Reserve, and saw the bottling date as Oct 17, missed the release date [Nov 1]. I went to 3 grocery stores and 2 Specs looking for the stuff. Oh well. I got a bottle of Wild Turkey [I was out], a sixpack of this year's Christmas ale, and a six of the octoberfest. Good stuff.
Two Christmas Ale Pub Crawls, one on Nov 18, one on Dec 9. Should be a good time.
Miers Withdraws
She withdrew her name for consideration for the Supreme Court, using as the reason the privilged White House documents.
Some information at Michelle Malkin, likely more to come later in the day.
H/T: LlamaButchers.
October 26, 2005
This Blog is Full of Anger
I've been a little irritated these last couple of weeks, probably, and did some karma dumping to a couple of friends over the weekend.
However, compared to Laurence Simon today, I'm filled with sunshine, puppies, and little chocolate smiley faces.
Let's see. We've got this post on the most recent Palestinian bombing ["Announce to the world that Israel accepts Palestinian Statehood with Gaza as the initial territory and Ramallah as its capital. It also accepts the Palestinian rules of engagement. Civilians on both sides are fair targets for any armed combatant, military or militia."]. We've got this post on Randall's ["When I got home, I burned my Randall's card."] We've got this post on his exciting job in IT ["When dealing with a customer, there are times you want to grab someone by the throat, rub their face in the monitor, and scream SHUT THE FUCK UP AND JUST FUCKING DO IT, ASSHOLE!"] . We've got his advice for the ASTROS ["Quit screwing with us, Astros. Quit struggling and fighting when we all know you just give up in the end."] And last and definitely not least, we've got his thoughts on Joe Morgan's comments on the racial makeup of the ASTROS ["So let me get this straight... Houston opens up housing, schools, jobs, hospitals, and social services for tens of thousands of poor black people from New Orleans (most of which won't be reimbursed by FEMA), but Joe Morgan is worried that we're not providing employment for another one or two spoiled rich black millionaire jocks? Fuck Joe Morgan. Fuck him up his race-baiting ass."]
I don't think he's having a good day. Or week, for that matter.
I just wish I could write coherently when I get that angry. Oh well.
October 25, 2005
Wrestling Slash?
Holy cow, there's an enormous number of stories on this site.
Anything to avoid the mess that is game 3. 11th coming up.
Vampires!
I've been playing Urban Dead, and have died and been revived several times. Brains.
I just signed up for Vampires! We'll see how that goes.
Both are MMOs, with a limited number of actions per day, so quite reasonable for the busy person that wants to spend 10 minutes a day chopping up zombies.
And Jay Is Games is a blog devoted to games reviews, mostly free flash games.
October 24, 2005
"How Not To Make Me Ex-Gay"
Via Red Letter Day, comes this post on Positive Liberty, in which a letter is contrasted with a photo essay [SFW, by the way, unless the word sex is a problem].
Nobody's specifically tried to change my sexual orientation yet, but I have gotten some religiously based attention.
San Francisco in Jello
I'm not sure if I think this is really cool, or completely silly.
I just hope there wasn't a 2 million dollar government grant attached to it.
H/T: Fark.
High Quality Stuff
Is it just me, or has the writing with various online comics gotten better? I mean PvP has Brent wondering if he would be a good father, Alien loves Predator has Abe verbally running through the 7 Deadly Sins in record time, and The Order of the Stick explores sacrifice and gender roles.
Not to mention, The Velvet Marauder just told Dr Quard to stick his job where the sun don't shine.
And let me make a prediction: without having read any of these comics for weeks, I bet Cathy is obsessing with her weight, and the pointy haired boss is doing something stupid on Dilbert.
Hmm. Oct 24, 2005 has Cathy working on her relationship with her boyfriend's appliances, Dilbert has a date which ends in a blocked good night kiss. Oh well.
Iranian GLBT Freedom Petition
Gay Patriot links to a petition for GLBT freedom in Iran. Sounds like a good idea, although I don't have a very optimistic view about this.
Maybe they could start with getting rid of the death penalty for consensual sodomy.
Needs
Drunken Wisdom has a simple meme. Google "[your name here] needs", see what you get.
But let's face it, with his nasal voice and owlish face, all he needs is a short-sleeved white shirt and a pocket protector to fit in at the math department's next faculty meeting.
Notebooks, mugs, clocks, everyone needs to kit their office out to their liking. Let Niki Owl help you decide!
Better to have weapons systems and not use them, than to need them and not have them.
The point is made several times that Kitty needs love, we all need love...
We need to be indoors before true dark, and curfew. "Go into any house," we've
been told.
But he also stresses that to make good, timeless music you need to be more than a geek. You must have an ear for rhythm and melody.
"If ever there was a group that needs to be able to laugh, it's this one," she says.
A time when she bought postcards produced by women's cooperatives to send to female friends, postcards that said things like 'A house doesn't need a wife' and 'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle'.
Food Network Star Quiz
Via TexasBestGrok [AKA Alton Brown]
Which Food Network chef are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
October 23, 2005
World Series, Game 2
Ouch. Thought the Astros could win a game, but apparently not.
The Strand area in Galveston is dead, in spite of possible game watching.
Spot the Black Helicopter
The Register had a contest, inviting its readers to send in Google Earth images showing various conspiracy theories. Fun stuff.
I Oppose the Harriet Miers Nomination
See N. Z. Bear for why I'm making this post.
Reasons? I agree with Eric that she's a crony, Instapundit is at best underwhelmed, and Hugh supports her. I like Jeff Goldstein's formulation that this is a battle between conservative pragmatism and idealism, and I tend to fall into the small government idealism category. I think she was picked by President Bush because he trusts her to vote to overturn Roe vs Wade; I think he trusts her because she's an evangelical Christian. I think she is unlikely to turn into a legal conservative. Other reasons that I agree with are articulated well at Right Side of the Rainbow, I'm just not sure how much weight I'm giving them.
And, it turns out, her family is politically connected enough in Texas to get a huge markup on land taken by the state via eminant domain. Not someone who would be looking out for the rights of the average american.
Not that any other nominee is going to be any better...
"I oppose the Miers nomination."
Piglet Gets a Reprieve
The group that had initially banned all pig related items, due to a complaint from a Muslim worker, is rethinking the ban.
Free Piglet!
Geek Tattoos
I've seen lots of tattoos, but this is the geekiest thing I can imagine.
Via Fark.
Hmm, maybe I should get a tattoo of an owl using ascii characters.
Using this ascii font generator? Dunno.
o--o
October 22, 2005
Texas Residents
confabulation has set up a map of Texas, that lets you input your zip code. That's assuming you want to. I linked with my current slogan. Which, I'm thinking, may be too anhedonic- I probably should go back to the old one.
H/T: FOC.
More Silly Games
From The Corner, comes comes this game, in which you try to bounce the panda onto fruit [sort of breakout]. My score first try, 10830.
And from the LlamaButchers comes Hapland 2, which is similar to the first, which I've completed [with a fair amount of help from FAQs].
October 21, 2005
The Effects of D&D on the English Language
From Naked Villainy, comes a scholarly work discussing the etymology of various words found in 1st edition D&D.
Plus, you can learn other words, like dwale [a stupefying drink, apparently].
Gun Bill
Hanging with a couple of friends this evening, watching the local news. The results of the gun bill passage is announced, they go "boo," so I go "yay." This doesn't go over well.
I can sort of understand how someone who is liberal could be for gun control. [ie, big government must save us from the evil corporations pushing a gun culture, by controling who can purchase guns]. But I really can't understand how someone who is Jewish, with a fairly large amount of institutional memory of the Holocaust, could be for gun control. Does the Holocaust simply have a different meaning? I don't get it.
October 19, 2005
Which General are you?
+Via the AnarchAngel:
| King Edward I You scored 72 Wisdom, 84 Tactics, 53 Guts, and 48 Ruthlessness! |
Or rather, King Edward the Longshanks if you've seen Braveheart. You, like Edward, are incredibly smart and shrewd, but you win at any costs.... William Wallace died at his hands after a fierce Scottish rebellion against his reign. Despite his reputation though, Longshanks had the best interests of his people at heart. But God help you if you got on his bad side. |
 |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Which Historic General Are You Test written by dasnyds on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
I'm back
Went to a wedding on Saturday, then to my parents' place. Spent a few more days there than I expected, but we got some stuff done [installed an air conditioner, reinforced some shelves, verified a chili recipe]. Brought back a nearly full truck of stuff, still a small amount back there. Time to catch up on 4 days worth of blogs, unpack. Whee.
October 14, 2005
How to Be a Happy Homosexual
A friend just got back from London, on a work related trip. She wanted to get me something from London, in exchange for the dog-sitting I had done recently, so she went to a gay bookstore, asked for some help, and ended up with How to be a Happy Homosexual, A Guide for Gay Men. [somewhat detailed, perhaps overly fawning review here]. And I'm torn.
The book itself is somewhat interesting, mostly from its use of British slang [reading about buggery in a medical context just doesn't work for me]. And random laws are jaring, like reading about whether or not the National Health Service will carry Viagra. And apparently circle jerks are illegal.
The content would be most useful if I was 16 and just figured out that I was gay. Except, it takes a fairly strong point of view that everyone should be completely out, all the time. Which, if you're a kid, living in your parents' house, and don't have any way of supporting yourself, at the very least, I would question.
So, I guess I'll just take this as a message: "We care about you, want you to be happy, and don't know how to help you be happy."
October 13, 2005
Miers, Take 2
Assuming these pieces are true, I've got to say: President Bush is a freakin' idiot.
First piece here, [yips to Llamabuchers], second piece here [with a yip and a heh to Instapundit].
Emperor Misha lays the smackdown on Hugh Hewitt here. Fun quote: "Listen, St. Hugh, we’re a bona fide, Bible-thumping Evangelical Christian, and we’re not particularly interested in Miss Miers’ church attendance record, which might, possibly, have to do with the fact that we’re not looking for a new preacher. For all that we care, she could’ve been a Viennese choir boy with a spotless record, and that still wouldn’t make her an ideal Supreme Court justice in our eyes."
Random bits of medical school wisdom: Very Important Persons get worse medical care, not better, because the doc is tempted to avoid things that might be unpleasant, like, say, doing a rectal exam, but would otherwise be standard. Probably not quite so true in the hospitals that get used to such clients, but still. If you have a process, go ahead and use that process unless there's a good reason not to use it. "I feel like I know her well" isn't a reason to abandon the process, it's a reason to go above and beyond the process.
I mean, I knew guys from Harvard were idiots, but I didn't know it was this bad.
October 12, 2005
The Exit
Via Instapundit, comes this interesting post. I have often heard that free societies produce more than slave societies. The post would make the claim that it wasn't true until a point near the industrial revolution, which led to ... Oh just read the post. It's interesting in a What IF? kind of way- what if America had been colonized by a slave society instead of the seeds of a free one.
While you're at it, read this post on why the industrial revolution was a good thing, and corporations arn't evil.
Carnival of True Liberty
Via Ogre, comes this carnival that's just starting out [#2], The Carnival of True Liberty. Which to me seems like the Carnival of Liberty, but with an anti-ACLU and pro-Christianity theme. Kinda interesting, although to me the name is a bit odd.
October 11, 2005
Spy Cameras
Protein Wisdom points to a pirate throwing star belt buckle, so of course I had to putter around the site. And clicked on their spy cameras. Hmm. So, pretty much, any time you are out of your own house, you should assume you are being videotaped. Scary.
Order of the Stick
It's been really good the last month or so. If you arn't reading it, why not? Start about here [the party has been taken captive, more or less, by a paladin]. If you don't have time for all 200 strips.
This one is for the lawyers.
The Invention of Design
An article talks about how we know things, what science is, and why Intelligent Design isn't science. Check it out.
My personal revelation is that the Flying Spaghetti Monster created Butter Rum Life Saver Holes, which were the perfect food, until mankind destroyed them.
Carnival of Recipes
While I'm doing carnivals, I should mention that the Carnival of Recipes #60 went up a couple of days ago.
Crockpot BBQ Beef Sandwiches. With the suggestion to use a non-stick spray before cooking. Good idea, cleanup is always the worst part.
And for the more discerning palate, we have slow cooker osso buco
Some smoothie recipes, including a mocha one.
Carnival of Music
#18 is up.
Random posts include "I'm Going to See Serenity," The uTopian Turtle Top wonders what your musical signifier would be, thoughts on what's really difficult playing in an orchestra, and the Fredosphere wonders about the perfect melody.
Unusual, but I had a burst out loud laughing moment reading Suldog-o-rama's post describing some of his experiences as the lead singer in a band. So put down the coffee before clicking over. And make sure to read part 2, in which a nosebleed covers a huge lack of talent.
Bonfire of the Vanities
Is up at This Blog Is Full of Crap.
Great posts include Coyote's take on the international community's attempt to take over the internet.
Carnival of Liberty
#15 is up.
The Picket line notes and partially fisks an interesting article-The Uses of Disaster.
Wouldn't it be interesting if the government acted as if the public consisted of reasonable adults? Oh, wait, then it might not have much reason to exist.
Eric's got a new plan for a new tea party.
Dave may not be there, but he's putting out a clear response to those who think we should pull out of Iraq in response to Katrina and Rita.
No Government Cheese has a post against government funding of art. A position for which I somewhat agree. I do think it will be interesting, if we as a nation get to the point that we are working much shorter hours, just what we do with our spare time.
The Unrepentant Individual notes a point of agreement between himself and someone strongly worried about the ecology.
And finally, Combs thinks Microsoft's HD DVD standard is better for individual rights than Blu-Ray. I hope you're right.
Lots of other interesting, meaty posts. Grab a cup of java, take your shoes off, and read.
October 10, 2005
Serenity Shindig
Jonathan Wilde at The Catallarchy has a Serenity Shindig, a summary of the movie , every individual episode, and the theme song. Spoilers present, spoilers for the movie are hidden.
I tend to see Jayne as a more sympathetic character, though. Based on (1) He was crying in the first episode, when they didn't know if Kaylee was going to live or die. (2) I think at the beginning of the series he has given his allegence to his captain, he just doesn't see any reason to support a couple of greenhorns. [He was offered a reasonable amount of money to sell everyone out, including the captain, and didn't take it] (3) "What are you going to tell the others?" He cares about what other people think of him, he just doesn't care if everyone thinks he's a mouth-breathing neandrathal.
Or, maybe I just think he's hot. Dunno.
Mirror, Mirror
Someone's editing bits of a movie, making a preview with a twist.
Titanic, as a horror flick.
West Side Story, as a zombie movie.
The Shining, as the feel good movie of the summer.
H/T: Wolf-Who-Sings.
Free Piglet
Looks like Pixy Misa and Little Green Footballs are posting a pig a day. Who knows how long it will last, but I'll do my part.
October 09, 2005
A 40 Year Old Virgin
Via Citizen Smash, we have a 40 year old virgin reviewing 40 Year Old Virgin.
Hmm. He's only got 9 D&D and GURPS books? Not nearly enough.
Seriously, making a drastic change in all areas of life sounds good, but it rarely works. Maybe he's had a breakthrough, though.
October 08, 2005
Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Underground-Mutton
Folk in this small British town are superstitious about the word "rabbit," as well as the animal. Sounds like the start of a comedy/horror flick.
H/T: Fark.
Diamonds Are Not Forever
Actually, a diamond will burn in a large housefire. It requires a fairly hot flame, but they're just carbon, after all.
And on the cool side of things, a materials scientist, who has been working on the problem in his garage, has created a process which makes gemstone quality synthetic diamonds. If you think the diamond industry isn't trying to figure out how to shut him down, I've got a bridge I want to sell to you.
He can't do it yet, but thinks 10 carat diamonds are doable within the year.
H/T: Fark.
Whether that's the same process as this, who knows.
October 07, 2005
10 Big Things
There's a meme going around, that was started at Searchlight Crusade, asking you to think strategically, not tactically, and several blogs have answered. So far, JohnL's is my favorite, by far. I wouldn't even add any GLBT specific issues to it- #3 (Opposing Religious Fundamentalism) and #7 (Shrinking the Nanny State) are sufficient for me.
He only did eight. Two more might be:
1) Is the US the only global superpower? If not, why not? If so, what abilities does that give us in foreign policy? How long is this state likely to last? Is there anything that would prolong or shorten this state?
2) The internet. In an Information Economy, perhaps as important as a road system. For generation Y, it has made the anchorman reading the national news for 30 minutes as useless as the buggy whip. For totalitarian states, it may be both a huge wealth generating vehicle and their greatest enemy. How can we help it continue to grow, largely free of government interference? Can we keep various states, most currently problematic China, from using it in ways that go beyond anything from 1984?
I'm also interested in seeing The AnarchAngel's list.
October 06, 2005
October 05, 2005
SciFi List
Pete at APCB takes a gander at a list of Boston.com's 50 Top Scifi Shows of all time. He's unimpressed, and makes his own list.
So, my top 10. I'm excluding superhero shows and horror from the start. The ranking is more in terms of which shows I would want to see again, rather than which I think had great impact on the future of mankind or were great artistic visions. Also, there are a couple of shows I've never heard of, much less seen [Nowhere Man?]
Honorable Mention: Andromeda, Sliders, Galaxy Rangers
10.Harsh Realm
9.Dark Angel
8.Earth Final Conflict
7.Star Trek [DS9]
6.Buck Rogers
5.Farscape
4.Dr. Who
3.Stargate
2.Star Trek [original]
1.Firefly
From IMBD: "Are you kidding me? This is Harsh Realm. Kindness is when your buddy robs you and shoots you and DOESN'T rape your woman. "
Update: Considering a couple of others, including Enterprise and Seven Days. Dunno.
Grrr
I am so glad all the moderate muslims have strongly condemned the recent crap that has gone on in the name of their religion.
Like the Bali bombing on Oct. 1.
Like the probable attempted suicide bombing at the Oklahoma-Kansas football game, which turned into just a suicide.
Like more executions in Iran for gays.
Like this:
Who the fuck in their right mind thinks that by banning Piglet in the workplace we can stop this?
Serenity, with spoilers
I ran into the Mad Ogre's site, and he discusses Serenity in general first, and then with spoilers.
I think he's missing something. This will continue in extended entry, with spoilers.
If you havn't seen the movie, DO NOT click through, even if you usually read the last chapter of a mystery novel first. Just don't.
You've seen the movie? Good.
Ok, 2 deaths of characters from the series: Book and Wash. Book's death is classic western- he killed the guys that gave him a fatal wound, he expires in the hands of the main character, he gives the main character a duty, a geas.
Then there's Wash. Sudden, unexpected, unjust. Never happens in a western, but happens all the time in the Buffy/Angel universe. Given the ending, he's not coming back. Such a death does 2 things: (1) It brings home the fact that the world isn't safe, thus making the attack of the Reavers that much more fearsome. (2) It has character effects [ie, in Buffy, Willow going super evil after her lover was killed]. Not enough time to really explore this in the last bit of the movie, but it could be quite compelling if the series restarted. Unlikely at this point, but we can dream.
Harriet Myers
In case anyone cares, the SCOTUS nominee has a paper trail with regard to GLBT issues. Vague, but at least not rabidly anti-homosexual.
H/T:IGF
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Just what the world needed. Complete scripts for the TV show, color coded by actor.
Via Fark.
October 04, 2005
Carnival of Liberty
#14 is up. Lots of good posts, but my favorite one so far is from Coyote Blog, on helping you to identify nannies, moralists, technocrats, and progressives/socialists.
Lots of meaty posts, so go check 'em out.
Free Piglet
Image Courtesy of Meg's Musings, Hat Tip to Pixy Misa, read this article or this post to understand why Piglet needs freeing.
A Truly Remarkable Post
Neanderpundit has a truly remarkable post, in which he vents a small amount of anger at idiot construction workers and bureaucrats who make his commute a living hell.
It is, of course, not G rated.
Japanese Subculture Quiz
Not completely true.
| You Are a Henna Gaijin! |
 You can use chopsticks with your eyes closed, and you've memorized hundreds of Kanji. You even answer your phone "moshi moshi." While the number of anime videos you've seen is way higher than the number of dates you've been on, there's hope. Play the sexy, mysterous gaijin, and you'll have plenty of Japanese meat. |
GLBT SciFi
Puttering around Gay Geek, someone pointed to this list of books with alternate sexualities in science fiction and fantasy. The list may be overinclusive, and is from '94, but it included most books I would have. And it has Bad Voltage by Jonathan Littell, which contains the most evil scene I have ever read.
I would add:
Metal Angel by Nancy Springer [the protagonist experiments with lots of things, including sexuality, and discovers how to be human]
Pretty much anything by James Alan Gardner, although Vigilant and Committment Hour fit the list the best.
October 03, 2005
More Reunion Crap
This stuff is bouncing around in my head, as random, disjointed thoughts. (1) Only one person besides me had any facial hair. I think only one other had glasses. (2) I made only one vaguely psychiatric comment, and it went over like a lead balloon [This guy was talking about starting a new job in a week, had absolutely no emotion in his voice or on his face. I made a comment like "You don't sound very happy about it." Instantly denied]. (3) Only a couple of the usual "You're a psychiatrist? X needs you." (4) They had a frozen margarita machine at one event. People were commenting on how "strong" they were. Lightweights. (5) Horrible beer selection: Bud Light, Dos XX, Heinekin. (6) One guy has died in the last 15 years; recently. I don't know the cause of death. I wonder about AIDS.
(7) I had a more enjoyable time at the first APCB Beerfest that I did at the reunion. Fewer expectations, no disappointments. Sorry I missed Blame it on Rita.
October 02, 2005
Pulling off your Shorts
The classmate's book is Pulling Off Your Shorts, which is designed to show high school students how to make a short film. Which is interesting in terms of empowering people to do things which took vast resources in the recent past. Full disclosure: I was the lead actor in a short film in college, a friend directed, and I sincerely hope all copies have been destroyed by this point.
I get no money from Amazon, so if you're thinking of actually buying the book do it from JohnL's page.
BlogCritics review here. Austin Chronicle review/interview here. VideoSystems review here. Article in Movie Maker. And a short note in TheatreBooks, with lots of ofther similar books noted.
High School Reunion
Ok, now I understand why gay culture exists- because straight culture has absolutely nothing to do with my life. Friday and Saturday were my 20th high school reunion, with the main dinner on Saturday. In all, probably about 30 guys showed up out of a class of 68. Most of the people who came live in Dallas now, although several have moved back within the last few years. Nearly everyone was married or in a serious, heterosexual relationship; most had kids, the largest number:6; the oldest 14. The vast majority of people who came are lawyers or in banking/investments. One guy's a pilot for Southwest, one guy self identifies as in the Entertainment Industry [writing scripts, etc, apparently making something of a living], one guy's a high school teacher who has writen a book and is planning on pursuing that fulltime. And one guy I think is a chiropractor.
Most were what I would have considered jocks or "the cool kids" back in high school; now, I tend to think they were more socially connected. Perhaps predicably, the guys that weren't as connected probably don't have as fond memories, and stayed away. Just a guess, but a partially educated one.
In hindsight, the hurricane was kind of useful, as I had a topic of conversation that didn't involve how my kids are doing in baseball, or which SUV I prefer for long commutes.
I remained firmly closeted. One guy was making a joke about why I wasn't working, saying maybe I had gone out with a female student. I came back with something like "It would be a better rumor with a male student." Both guys listening did exaggerated doubletakes and looked at each other. We left it at that. And then there's the joke: "What do gays use for chap stick? Preperation H." I didn't say anything.
If I'm not in a steady relationship in 5 years, I have half a mind to hire an escort for the next reunion.
And the one guy that has come out to me, from that class, wasn't there. Neither was the guy honored as "Distinguished Alumnus of the Year."
One guy [married, 3 kids] asked me for my telephone number, saying his law practice takes him to the area sometimes. I gave it to him. No clue if he'll call me, or if I want him to.
By the way, I went to an Episcopal, all male, 1-12 grades [although only 5-12 for me] private school. I got a damn good education. We'll leave it at that.