Project Day/Truck Night

Yesterday was project day around the house and of course last night was the first of two truck nights this week.  Project day actually began Monday night before work and continued on into Tuesday when I returned home from  work.  What my challenge was  was to take a 4 x 2 x 1 box full of parts and make something usable out of it.  I would have to say I was infinitely successful when after I was done, I ended up with this beautiful piece of furniture:  

 

It is a rolling Kitchen Island with a Stainless Steel top, wine rack and an adjustable shelf inside the cabinet.  The door and both drawers actually work as they should.  The big rubber casters allow easy movement and lock down to hold the island in place for a usable work surface.  The expansion of our storage and counter space in the kitchen area is most welcome indeed.  My counter top was beginning to look like the gadget counter at the Home Goods store, so the extra space was definitely needed.  

After too little  sleep, I headed into work to find two trucks had already arrived and a third was on the way.  Nothing  like walking into work and being deep off into it before you even clock in.  But things settled down and we got everything done as usual in a timely manner.  So all in all a good day.  

Today has not been too bad so far but I need to sleep soon or I will be groggy again tonight.  So lets get to the Music and the Men, shall we?  Your musical interlude today features the Music of the most successful of JS Bach's sons, Carl Philipp Emmanuel.  Posted down below are his Berlin Symphonies 1-5 for 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings & continuo.  Today's performance is by the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra with Hartmut Haenchen as your Conductor.  Over on my tumblr, CPE Bach's Cello Concerto in A Minor is performed by The Academy for Ancient Music Berlin with Peter Bruns as the Cello Soloist.  

And now it is time for a little splashy skin fest which you will find frolicking about the page in this week's edition of Wet Wednesday posted down below.  Over on my tumblr, Your Hottie of the Day! is definitely all about 'Maxx Attitude'.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

In Remembrance

Last week, one of the pioneers of the Gay Rights Movement, Danny Garvin, passed away after a long battle with hepatitis and cancer.  In 1969, Danny, along with his partner Martin Boyce, were homeless LGBT youth living on the streets of New York City.  Danny and Martin were there on June 20,1969 when the modern Gay Rights movement was born out of the riots caused by the raid on the Stonewall Inn by the NYPD.  He was there when Miss New Orleans, the homeless trans girl uprooted a parking meter and used it as a battering ram to destroy the door of the Stonewall Inn, behind which the police had retreated in fear.  Many of the warriors who ignited our movement that night were homeless LGBT youths, who then, as now, made the West Village their home.  Danny overcame his homelessness and built a life with Martin, but he never forgot where he came from.  His time as a homeless youth helped shape the man who became a tireless advocate for homeless Gay youth working closely with the Ali Forney Center in New York.  

"I wish there had been something like the Ali Forney Center for me when I was on the streets. Maybe I would not have had to live so many nights of out lockers in Port Authority on 42nd St. Or sell myself for 8 dollars to have a bed to sleep to in and a place to shower. Just some place to be hidden from the world until the next day when it would all start all over again. I know I would have robbed less food from stores just to get something to eat."

Danny contracted hepatitis while he was homeless and it shortened the length of his life, but did not sap him of his resolve to advocate on the behalf of our young people.  Danny was featured in the PBS documentary Stonewall Uprising, speaking about the consequences of that momentous night:

"We became a people. We didn't necessarily know where we were going yet, you know, what organizations we were going to be or how things would go, but we became something I, as a person, could all of a sudden grab onto, that I couldn't grab onto when I'd go to a subway T-room as a kid, or a 42nd Street movie theater, you know, or being picked up by some dirty old man. You know, all of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters, you know, which I didn't have before. There was no going back now.... We had discovered a power that we weren't even aware that we had. "

Last June, Danny and Martin were welcomed to the White House Pride Celebration by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (see photo below) in honor of their many years of selfless advocacy over the many years since that fateful June so long ago.  In 1969, as in 2014, to be open about being LGBT put youths at terrible risk of homelessness. Then, as now, LGBT kids were suffering on the streets. Then, as now, many had to turn, like Danny, to hustling in order to survive.  The Stonewall uprising was the birth of our LGBT movement. That night the street kids and hustlers and scare queens helped create the space for the rest of us to be out, to be proud.  We should never forget those who came before us that led us to where we are today.  The journey is not yet finished, but we are so much further along because a homeless street kid helped birth the movement that has brought us from then to now.  RIP Danny Garvin, you will be missed.
(For original source article and additional photos: click here) 

Your Musical Moment for today features the Music of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach with his Concerto for Harpsichord and Piano and his Concerto for 2 Harpsichords.  Today performance is by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra featuring Ton Koopman on Harpsichord and Conducting and Tini Mathot on Piano and Harpsichord.   You may also hear C P E Bach's Cello Concerto in A Major with a performance by Ensemble Baroque Limoges featuring Christophe Coin as your Cello Soloist over on my tumblr.

Finally for today, to decorate out lives and inspire us is this week's edition of Tuesday's Temptations.  In my selections, I sought to once again choose models who while vying to lead you down the garden path are prime candidates for anyone's Erotic Christmas Wish List.  Additional inspiration may be found in your Hottie of the Day!, Kris Kranz over on my tumblr.  Thank you for the visit see you tomorrow for Christmas Eve.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!  

Of Note In The News

I enjoyed my day off, catching up on all my feeds, chores and rest in one fell swoop.  While checking out my feeds I ran across a few things to which I thought I would link you for consumption at your own convenience.  Here is what I found:

Hard for the Money: 10 Men in the Movies That Hustled Their Way Into Our Hearts

No, My 10 Year Old Son Isn't Looking  For A Girlfriend.  He Likes Boys.

Ex-Gay Celebrity Christian Shizzel Comes Out As Gay

Gay West Virginia Soccer Player Comes Out By Dancing With Homecoming King

Gay, Bi, Transgender: The 80 Most Powerful Comings Out of 2014

You Tuesday Musical Moment features the Berlin Symphonies of Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach.  Included in the play list are 1. Symphony for 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings & continuo in E flat major, H. 654, Wq. 179 0:00; 2. Symphony for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings & continuo in F major, H. 656, Wq. 181 11:17; 3. Symphony for 2 flutes, 2 horns, strings & continuo, H. 649, Wq. 174 22:14; 4. Symphony for 2 flutes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings & continuo in F major, H. 650, Wq. 175 31:19 and 5. Symphony for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings & continuo in E minor, H. 653, Wq. 178 41:39.  Today's performance is by the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Hartmut Haenchen. 

Back in the 70's there was a popular folk-rock storyteller by the name of Cat Stevens who wrote some powerfully good music.  In 1976, Cat Stevens almost drowned off the coast of Malibu. In his panic, he says, he shouted, "Oh, God! If you save me, I will work for you" — at which point he recalls a wave that came and carried him ashore. He converted to Islam, changed his name and left the pop world after one last album in 1978.  He resurfaced in 2006 with a new record, Tell 'Em I'm Gone. From that album of great blues covers and originals, produced with Rick Rubin, Yusuf plays some powerful new music, as well as the 1967 classic "The First Cut Is the Deepest".  Yusuf/Cat recently gave a 'Tiny Desk Concert' in the offices of National Public Radio which includes 'First Cut' as well as finishing up with my favorite of his songs "Father and Son".  You may hear the entire Tiny Desk Concert over on my tumblr. 

Then what would Tuesday be without some sultry studs lying in wait to lead you down the garden path into temptation?  I think you will find this week's edition of Tuesday's Temptations will provide plenty of inspiration for temptation.  Additional inspiration can be viewed over on my tumblr where Alex Santaniello is your Hottie of the Day!.  Thanks for the visit, see you again tomorrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!