Monday, April 09, 2007
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Old Friends And New Faces
As most of you know I spend a good deal of time surfing the web looking for relevant content to bring to you as well as receiving lots of data and leads from readers via comment or email. Well in the last couple of days I visited some old friends that I have not clicked on for a while. In my reading of posts and comments, I discovered some new faces in the blogosphere as well as some sites and articles that should be of interest to you. One of the new faces I mentioned yesterday is Undress Me Gently written by a Filipino immigrant to California. He writes both in English and his native tongue beautifully. He is a nurse and is just beginning his adventures in America. His excitement about his adventures and the candor with which he writes is refreshing, reminding me of some of the things we who have been here all our lives take for granted. Surf on over to pay him a visit and welcome him to our country.
While visiting Debriefing The Boys I was reading the comments on one of his posts from a newcomer to the blogosphere named Alex. Alex is a medical engineering student in Mexico City whose blog, Love In Mexico City, is likewise a refreshing read. Each post is written in English and Spanish which are only two of the four languages he is fluent in. His writing covers many topics to include his amorous adventures with his boyfriend and rants about things that disturb him. His post, Stop The Hate / Paren El Odio, was especially good and included a video showing a man in (I presume) Mexico City giving away Abrazo Gratis (Free Hugs). His style is witty and revealing of his willingness to tell his story. Give him a visit, say hello, and pass along some encouragement to keep writing.
The Advocate's online edition posted a story in their Gen Q section on The Trevor Project reprinting letters written to Trevor and his responses. For the past 10 years, The Trevor Project has been an outreach to Gay and questioning youth that has saved many lives through their hot line 866-4-U-TREVOR. If you or a friend have questions or need to talk to someone about anything do not hesitate to call the hot line which operates 24/7/365. Their work is invaluable to our community and our most precious resource, our youth.
In the March 26 edition of The Detroit News, columnist Deb Price profiled two of the Riders on this years Equality Ride 2007, Vince Cervantes and Vince Pancucci, who met at a Christian college in California. They survived exorcisms and other treatments to find each other and fall in love. Deb's article can be read here, in which she details their journey. Their's is a classic love story in which they meet, fall in love and join together under California's Domestic Partnership law. Only after the ceremony when they felt married in God's eyes did they become intimate with each other. They then joined the other 50 Riders for this year's Equality Ride. For more on this year's ride see the Soulforce website.
Don't forget, those of you who are in the Dallas area, tomorrow night is when HomoRevolution Tour 2007 will be stopping at The Brick in Oaklawn. Deadlee, Qboy and the rest of the artists will welcome your support and provide you with an excellent evening's entertainment. Come on out and see them tomorrow night at 8 at The Brick.
I enjoyed my visits with my old friends and meeting the new faces I discovered in my surfing. I hope you pay them a visit and show them some of the love you have shown to me here. So until next time as always, Enjoy!
All photos process with Picasa2
While visiting Debriefing The Boys I was reading the comments on one of his posts from a newcomer to the blogosphere named Alex. Alex is a medical engineering student in Mexico City whose blog, Love In Mexico City, is likewise a refreshing read. Each post is written in English and Spanish which are only two of the four languages he is fluent in. His writing covers many topics to include his amorous adventures with his boyfriend and rants about things that disturb him. His post, Stop The Hate / Paren El Odio, was especially good and included a video showing a man in (I presume) Mexico City giving away Abrazo Gratis (Free Hugs). His style is witty and revealing of his willingness to tell his story. Give him a visit, say hello, and pass along some encouragement to keep writing.
The Advocate's online edition posted a story in their Gen Q section on The Trevor Project reprinting letters written to Trevor and his responses. For the past 10 years, The Trevor Project has been an outreach to Gay and questioning youth that has saved many lives through their hot line 866-4-U-TREVOR. If you or a friend have questions or need to talk to someone about anything do not hesitate to call the hot line which operates 24/7/365. Their work is invaluable to our community and our most precious resource, our youth.
In the March 26 edition of The Detroit News, columnist Deb Price profiled two of the Riders on this years Equality Ride 2007, Vince Cervantes and Vince Pancucci, who met at a Christian college in California. They survived exorcisms and other treatments to find each other and fall in love. Deb's article can be read here, in which she details their journey. Their's is a classic love story in which they meet, fall in love and join together under California's Domestic Partnership law. Only after the ceremony when they felt married in God's eyes did they become intimate with each other. They then joined the other 50 Riders for this year's Equality Ride. For more on this year's ride see the Soulforce website.
Don't forget, those of you who are in the Dallas area, tomorrow night is when HomoRevolution Tour 2007 will be stopping at The Brick in Oaklawn. Deadlee, Qboy and the rest of the artists will welcome your support and provide you with an excellent evening's entertainment. Come on out and see them tomorrow night at 8 at The Brick.
I enjoyed my visits with my old friends and meeting the new faces I discovered in my surfing. I hope you pay them a visit and show them some of the love you have shown to me here. So until next time as always, Enjoy!
All photos process with Picasa2
Friday, April 06, 2007
Deja Vu And A Walk Down Memory Lane
I had one of those deja vu moments today. I was cruising around the web when something reminded me of Michael J. Fox and his role in the movie For Love or Money. That is the movie where he plays a Concierge in the Bradbury Hotel who dreams of opening his own hotel on Roosevelt Island in New York. It is a romantic little tale that has the happy ending we all look for in a movie such as this. It is one of my favorite romantic comedies. I continued surfing the web but around 4 o'clock I got up and turned on the TV to HBO and what do you think came on, of course it was For Love or Money. I watched the whole movie and enjoyed every minute of it. I have always been a sucker for a good romance for as you know I lay claim to the title of hopeless romantic. I believe I got that from my dad, who fell hopelessly in love with my mother and remained so until his death in July of 1996. The story of how he and my mother met will always bring a sweet tear of joyful romance to my eye.
As I was selecting photographs for tonight's eye candy section, I went into Picasa2 and started the selection process. In Picasa2 you can upload 4 photos at a time to blogger, so when I pick out the photos, I save each group as a draft by the date and a sequential letter of the alphabet, then combine them into one draft so that I can post them in the order I would like them to be. As I saved the first draft, 0406a, it struck me that today is my dad's birthday. If he were alive he would be 84 today. So I would like to tell you a little more about my dad.
My dad was born on this day in 1923 in San Antonio, Tx. He came of age during the great depression and attended Technical High School in Fort Worth, Tx, which I also attended, graduating shortly prior to the start of WWII. He too was a sailor, joining the Navy and serving in that war. He returned Fort Worth after the war, where he worked for a time at the old Lone Star Steel Company on Hemphill Street. Across the street from the steel company was a drug store where a pretty red headed girl worked. He was immediately stricken and wanted to find a way to meet her, he being a bit shy. You know how it is when you are awestruck around someone you are immediately attracted to. Well, my dad bribed the manager of the drug store with a steak dinner for the introduction to my mom, and it worked, sort of. My mom was only 17 at the time and refused to go out on a date with him until she turned 18. On her 18th birthday, they had their first date, beginning a whirlwind romance that culminated in their marriage 5 months later. He remained in love with my mother until the day he died. My mother is still in love with him to this day. When she passes, they will meet in heaven and continue loving each other for eternity.
In prior posts I have outlined many things with which I have disagreed with my parents about, but the fact of their love for each other was never a question in my mind. Their marriage had its ups and downs, but they saw everything through together with love for each other and their children. My dad worked hard all his life in the construction industry and provided for us to the best of his ability. He was a Christian man, having his conversion experience when I was a teenager. He was not a saint but he taught me many lessons just by the living of his life observing the tenets of his faith. He was always the one to seek me out and bring me back to the fold when I in my search for myself got lost wandering. He knew me and knew that I was Gay before I knew what sex was. Yet he never stopped loving me and before he died he told me he was proud of me. I still miss him and there have been many times I have wished he was still here to help me sort out some of the things that have occurred in my life.
My dad was strongly opinionated and somewhat stubborn in which I am like unto him. A staunch democrat who actively participated in the political process. He also worked actively in the church and with my mother supported all the activities we boys involved ourselves in. The one thing that got us in the most trouble as kids was sassing my mother or showing her disrespect. That was a sure path to the proverbial wood shed. He would find ingenious little ways to show my mother how much he loved her proving time and again that true love can bear all things. I have always hoped to find such a love in my own life though I have been eminently unsuccessful so far. That has not stopped me from being a romantic or lessened my hope that one day love will find me. So for this day, I just want to say "Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you very much and hope to see you again one day."
To close the post I found this video today posted on Undress Me Gently and it fits the romantic mood for today. It is scenes from Brokeback Mountain set to I Know How The River Feels by Diamond Rio. The eye candy section will immediately follow the video. So until next time as always, Enjoy!
All photos processed with Picasa2
As I was selecting photographs for tonight's eye candy section, I went into Picasa2 and started the selection process. In Picasa2 you can upload 4 photos at a time to blogger, so when I pick out the photos, I save each group as a draft by the date and a sequential letter of the alphabet, then combine them into one draft so that I can post them in the order I would like them to be. As I saved the first draft, 0406a, it struck me that today is my dad's birthday. If he were alive he would be 84 today. So I would like to tell you a little more about my dad.
My dad was born on this day in 1923 in San Antonio, Tx. He came of age during the great depression and attended Technical High School in Fort Worth, Tx, which I also attended, graduating shortly prior to the start of WWII. He too was a sailor, joining the Navy and serving in that war. He returned Fort Worth after the war, where he worked for a time at the old Lone Star Steel Company on Hemphill Street. Across the street from the steel company was a drug store where a pretty red headed girl worked. He was immediately stricken and wanted to find a way to meet her, he being a bit shy. You know how it is when you are awestruck around someone you are immediately attracted to. Well, my dad bribed the manager of the drug store with a steak dinner for the introduction to my mom, and it worked, sort of. My mom was only 17 at the time and refused to go out on a date with him until she turned 18. On her 18th birthday, they had their first date, beginning a whirlwind romance that culminated in their marriage 5 months later. He remained in love with my mother until the day he died. My mother is still in love with him to this day. When she passes, they will meet in heaven and continue loving each other for eternity.
In prior posts I have outlined many things with which I have disagreed with my parents about, but the fact of their love for each other was never a question in my mind. Their marriage had its ups and downs, but they saw everything through together with love for each other and their children. My dad worked hard all his life in the construction industry and provided for us to the best of his ability. He was a Christian man, having his conversion experience when I was a teenager. He was not a saint but he taught me many lessons just by the living of his life observing the tenets of his faith. He was always the one to seek me out and bring me back to the fold when I in my search for myself got lost wandering. He knew me and knew that I was Gay before I knew what sex was. Yet he never stopped loving me and before he died he told me he was proud of me. I still miss him and there have been many times I have wished he was still here to help me sort out some of the things that have occurred in my life.
My dad was strongly opinionated and somewhat stubborn in which I am like unto him. A staunch democrat who actively participated in the political process. He also worked actively in the church and with my mother supported all the activities we boys involved ourselves in. The one thing that got us in the most trouble as kids was sassing my mother or showing her disrespect. That was a sure path to the proverbial wood shed. He would find ingenious little ways to show my mother how much he loved her proving time and again that true love can bear all things. I have always hoped to find such a love in my own life though I have been eminently unsuccessful so far. That has not stopped me from being a romantic or lessened my hope that one day love will find me. So for this day, I just want to say "Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you very much and hope to see you again one day."
To close the post I found this video today posted on Undress Me Gently and it fits the romantic mood for today. It is scenes from Brokeback Mountain set to I Know How The River Feels by Diamond Rio. The eye candy section will immediately follow the video. So until next time as always, Enjoy!
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