A Walk In The Garden Of Thought

Before I get into tonight's post, I must correct something I said in Wednesdays post. I told you about the video I received from Ted Trent saying that he was the producer. Actually he and his partner Drew were one of the family's in the film and it was brought to TV by the USA network, the producers of MTV's Laguna Beach series and sponsored by K Mart. Sorry for my confusion but Uncle Gerry has never claimed perfection only good taste in eye candy. Speaking of which is is not time for a good picture right now?

It has been raining all day in Dallas today except for short periods of time which I used to run an errand or two before returning in time to miss a thunderstorm of pretty good proportion. For those of you that do not live in the southern United States, winter thunderstorms are just like summer ones only colder. Not that the mid 60's is all that cold, but those of you living in the north lands would probably welcome temperatures in the mid 60's right about now. I was reading on another blog a while back about living in Southern California written by someone who had moved there from New England and he said that yes he missed the seasonal change, but if he wanted to experience it again, he would visit it and return to Cali to warm back up. That is sorta how I feel about living in Texas. Our winters here are not winter by most standard, we have few days that are really cold and they are usually compensated for by the return of 70 degree days in January and February so we really don't have any room to complain. The only really bad thing about cold weather here is when we do get ice storms. The people here have no clue about driving on ice, they are bad enough in the rain and the accident ratio goes way up. I stay off the roads on those days as I like staying in one piece.

It has been a slow news week but Presidential things have been in news. One of my favorite President's Gerry Ford died this week at age 93. As the only unelected President we ever had, I think he did a good job of bringing the country back to a semblance of order after the shenanigans of Tricky Dick in getting re-elected (remind you of anyone currently in the White House?). I liked President Ford, especially his views on gay rights as stated below:

Asked his position on lesbian and gay families and marriage: “I think they ought to be treated equally. Period.”

Asked whether gay couples should get the same Social Security, tax, and other federal benefits as married couples:
“I don’t see why they shouldn't. I think that’s a proper goal.”

— Gerald Ford, former president of the United States, October 29, 2001
in a Detroit News column by Deb Price

This man was a Republican but I think his party has veered a little from the path of inclusion that Mr. Ford was so in favor of. He was also a critic of W's current waste of men and money in Iraq, in which I am in agreement with. Speaking of which W is sitting on his but down in Crawford "deciding" on how much to escalate said waste and it was reported that he spent 3 hours in conference with his advisers on the subject. His decision won't cost him anything but it will cost our money and some of our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters or friends their lives in a cause that is eerily akin to Viet Nam and where our presence is resented more by the day. One wonder's if W listens or for that matter even hears (yes there is a difference) what his advisers or the American people have to say on the subject. For the sake of those lives not yet lost, I sincerely hope so, but I am not holding my breath.

In other Presidential news John Edwards announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. He made the rounds of all the am talk shows talking about it before he made his official declaration. Gotta get that publicity. While it is too early to jump on any ones band wagon, it is definitely time to abandon the Republican ship for safer shores. I like Mr. Edwards and will be listening to see if his views and stands will work for me. I think we all should pay close attention to this Presidential campaign cycle. I know we will get tired of hearing about it by November 2008, but we do have to do something about the lack of real leadership in this country and restore our name and standing in the world community that has been so utterly trashed by the present administration. (/end soap box)

I look forward to the coming New Year with great anticipation for good things. I start my new job on Tuesday in my return to the corporate office world where I can utilize my talents and brain power instead of my sturdy back and not so sturdy feet to earn a living and pay the DSL bill so I can continue to bring you all the good things you find here. I also look forward to improved relations with my family as Christmas provided the truce, now we just have to work on the peace treaty. There are things that will not change and some that will. I can only hope that by being open and taking the noble road to interaction will prove beneficial in the end result. I hope also to see a continued increase in readership here and have some plans in offing that could provide some interesting content and of course my archives will continue to provide the photography you have come to expect. I would like to meet some of my compatriots in the blogosphere aw well as some of my loyal readers who have been so helpful with their encouragement, advice and suggestions. After so many years of isolation, it is really good to feel a part of the community once again. The friendships that I have formed in writing of these pages are cherished treasures which I value highly. One can never have enough friends and the ones I have found I want to keep around for a long, long time.

Another thing I have discovered here recently is a new service by 365Gay.com which is an Internet radio service, 365Live, which provides thousands of channels with every genre of music included. My taste runs to classical music but you can find anything that you want to listen to. The service includes a player or you can stream the feed through iTunes like me or through any of the other media players available. I like iTunes for its ease of use, so I listen to 365Live with it. Your preference of player is up to you, but you should check out the service. I have not had the buffering problems that I have had with other live radio streams and the sound quality is terrific. 365Gay.com is my daily newspaper online which I enjoy immensely. The news stories cover many topics and their columnists provide excellent commentary. Wayne Besen and Libby Post write regular features and have a good feel for the pulse of the gay community. I wish Michaelangelo Signorile had not retired from his writing there as I enjoyed his pieces but he still writes occasionally in other venues, so I catch him when I can. If you want to read a year end article that is really funny, Michael Jenson of AfterElton has one there called The Best Gay Year Ever. He gives Towleroad a hard time all through the article because of Towleroad's seeming fixation on pictures of Jake Gyllenhaal. I found it immensely funny, you can read it for yourself and I promise you you will laugh!

I am taking the final tally of votes in the Header Photo Poll tomorrow so if you have not cast your vote now is the time to do so before it is too late. I hope to have the new header up next week sometime so look for it to be coming soon. For those of you who would like to receive Nichevo in your email be sure to subscribe through Feed Blitz in the sidebar and for work friendly reading of the articles in your newsreader you can get the RSS feed by subscribing through the link at the bottom of the page. So until next time as always, Enjoy!