O Holy Night by Andrea DeFrancesco

 My niece Andrea has a beautiful voice and has made two videos on YouTube of this Christmas classic.

Personally I prefer the video of her singing rather than the religious slide show, but musically and vocally, the first one with the religious iconography is "WOW" Beautiful.

Andrea, you are so talented. I hope you find a way into the larger music world.

Readers, please share.

I Dream of Cape Cod - Something Without Politics

 

 

 A little too long, but...

 

 

Off Season:

 

Thanks Debra

Pasta Grannies goes Pasta Papa

 One of my favorite YouTube channels is Pasta Grannies. I've learned so much about making homemade (from scratch) pasta and I'm amazed at the infinite varieties of shapes, dough bases and sauces.

But Pasta Grannies surprised me (and apparently several others) this past week with a video of a sexy fisherman, Guido and his son Pietro making Spaghetti ai' Frutti di Mar'.*(Spaghetti with seafood). 

This was the meal I had hoped to eat while we were in California. Alas, it did not come to pass. Yes we ate some seafood but nothing like this spectacular meal.

We cannot get anything like fresh seafood in New Mexico. Yes,  the markets will call it fresh, but really even it it were jetted in from the nearest coast on ice, it is no longer fresh when it gets here. The seafood menu in most restaurants here has basically five options: shrimp, shrimp, shrimp, salmon, and tilapia (which is technically not seafood).

So here are Guido and Pietro. Even if you don't cook, do enjoy the video:

 

*an interesting aside: Guido uses a colloquial "un spaghetto ai frutti di mare" - the singular "spaghetto" is unusual, but really cool. There is another colloquial phrase, "ci facciamo due spaghetti" - let's make two spaghetti - meaning just two strands of spaghetti - but really, "spaghetti for two".

Profiles in Love

This Speaks for Itself

WHY?OMING

So, after 32 years together, I underestimated Leon's powers of persuasion - again. I was content to stay home. 

But Leon had it in his mind to check out a camper that he'd seen on Craig's List. A used (2006) 24 foot Arctic Fox Fifth Wheel. They don't make them that small anymore and we have a limited parking spot across from our house.

I saw the photos and was unimpressed, but Leon saw the photos and saw his dream camper. "It will be good to get away. We really need a road trip. So sick of doing nothing this past year. It will do us good." And a number of other persuasive arguments.

Problem was, the coveted camper was in Wyoming. A seven and a half hour drive not counting eating, peeing and walking the dog.

The dog. That was problem number two. Benni is not doing great. The past few months he's been having a problem with his hind legs. The vet says it's likely a neurological problem. Apparently it's fairly common although I'd never heard of it. If we want to get a CT scan or MRI for $1300 plus the consulting fee we could get a better diagnosis. 

A better diagnosis will not provide any particular options for a cure. There likely is no cure. Something is obstructing the messages from Benni's brain to his hind quarters. He is not walking normally. He stumbles occasionally. He poops while walking and leaves a trail. We will take Benni with us of course.

We decided to drive about 5 hours and stay in Colorado Springs for one night. "Soul, Community, Planet" - SCP - an interesting hotel, dog friendly, environmentally friendly, liberal values. They donate a tree to re-forestation of the rainforest or something for each guest. Unfortunately there was only a paved parking lot to walk the dog. Not a tree on the property. Oh, well.

We checked out "Garden of the Gods Nature Center" before checking in. I guess I was tired from the drive. We didn't have the time or energy to hike the trails and Benni might not have appreciated a hike either, so we drove through.  So it was a lot of rocks.

Photos below of SCP - The hotel in Colorado Springs. 

We ordered pizza and ate in the hotel. We won't eat inside a restaurant, no matter what the state says is OK. Nice hotel, but I DID NOT SLEEP FOR A SECOND ALL NIGHT! Why? I couldn't tell you except that I was wired like I was on some kind of amphetamine or a gallon of caffeine. Horribly long night.

We drove another 3 hours the next day. The highlight of the trip for me was a stop in Denver to splurge at an Italian imports market. Capicolla, Mortadella con pistacchio, Prosciutto, Capa Cavallo,  Pancetta. Stuff I cannot find in New Mexico. Heaven.

Multiply this photo by 1 million = Wyoming

So, bottom line: the camper in Wyoming was not Leon's dream. We had planned to stay in Cheyanne overnight but did you ever read the reviews of hotels in our price range? Actually we would have chosen a better hotel but the good ones were all booked up. So we decided to just put miles behind us and head south.

I drove most of the way. Lucky I didn't fall asleep at the wheel. Leon drove. We made it to Pueblo Colorado by around 5 PM and went through the stress of finding a hotel. I stopped reading the reviews. Leon drove into the parking lot of one and went in and booked a room. I was exhausted from lack of sleep and didn't care anymore. I think it was a Best Western. Not cheap, but comfortable. 

The rooms were accessible from an inner corridor instead of my preference - door directly to outside - preferred both because of COVID and having the dog. Our room was on the second floor. We had to exit through the lobby to walk the dog. I worried that Benni might have to go out during the night. What if he didn't make it and pooped all down the hallway? So we walked him for a good hour before going to bed. Still I worried.

So our very needed getaway turned out, for me, to be a very stressful weekend. Pretty much a weekend from hell. The saving grace is that Leon and I get along, even under stress and he is always supportive (even though it was his idea to drive to friggin Wyoming and cause me all the stress in the first place).

Just an update: Benni had acupuncture today. Hey, I am a sceptic but we'll give it a try. Leon and I got notice that we can get our COVID vaccine #1 on Friday. That is a relief.

Benni walking.

WOW!!!

 This pretty much sums up how I feel (the actual Fireworks, not the song, as I cannot understand but half the words she sings...I think I have chronic "lyric impaired hearing" especially for voices like this that are shrill and piercing...and painful).

 

Now, Lady Gaga, I understand perfectly.  Her voice is gorgeous, and has a range that is pleasant and dynamic and filled with emotion. Probably the best rendition of the Star Spangled Banner that I've ever heard. No exaggeration.

Some Things to watch on Netflix

We haven't been watching a lot of Netflix lately but here are some picks:

The Queen's Gambit

The mini-series starts out slow and, well it's about as exciting as watching two people play chess. But it is both a pleasant change from murder mysteries and cop shows and a well written, well acted drama. 

It does draw you into the story after a few episodes and there is enough suspense in who will win the next Chess Tournament to keep you tuning in. The acting (and the relatively unknown-to-me actors) is really quite good. 

Ratched

A take-off from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The series focuses on Nurse Ratched, a new employee of a luxurious, mid-century Asylum for the mentally ill in a sea-side California locale. The doctor who runs the place is an egomaniac who imagines he has the miracle cure for every patient. This macabre series does get a bit beyond believable, and I found that I lost interest in both the characters and the plot after six  or seven episodes. For those who like bizarre stories and classic insanity.

 

 

Someone Has to Die

A Spanish series with dubbed English dialogue. Gay characters; nineteenth century Spain. We haven't gotten into this one far enough to give a review. But here's the trailer:

 

Indigenous New Mexican Man Does Dance on Central Ave, Albuquerque

Celebrating a Biden/Harris WIN in New Mexico!

Van Jones fights back tears: Result shows character matters

Yes, I too can feel the relief. It is palatable. I definitely understand the emotional abuse we've all suffered under the fascist would-be dictator. When he won in 2016 it was the beginning of panic attacks in the middle of the night ("No, it can't be, no not him"). And then the constant monitoring of the news blogs to see what his atrocities of the day would be. I dread the next two months. Can't wait until Biden/Harris take the oath. The first two minutes are worth watching:

CURED - Trailer

As I described in my memoir, I went through therapists like Kleenex. Fortunately I didn't have electroshock or other draconian "treatments" to cure me. But now, at 72, I consider myself, if not fully cured, nicely aged.

Explosive Easter Tradition - Florence Italy!

I'm not sure what to make of this...never heard of this Easter tradition, but it seems a bit bizarre. The history of Catholicism has many twists and turns.

"Truly Brave" (SFGMC Virtual Chorus)

Yesterday's Snow Will Be Tomorrow's Mud

How many times have I mentioned that one reason we moved to New Mexico was to get away from the snow in New England. Yesterday it found us.

We got hammered in our little village,but of course there was no snow at all in most of Albuquerque and friends in Santa Fe said they only had about an inch, most of which was gone by noon. 

Our share was 6 to 8 inches and will be around for a while. 

Then will come the MUD. I don't mind hiking with the dog in snow, but MUD here is another thing altogether. It's more like concrete, or should I say, more in keeping with the locale, adobe.  

Another day for that, but for now we're enjoying the white stuff.

 

 

For more pics see Benni's Blog

Rollin' In The Grass...What a Gas...Can You Dig It?

Our big boy Benni loves the grass...and our town green has the only real grass for miles around..

Pride Santa Fe 2019

Went to Pride Festival in Santa Fe with Denise and the dogs, Benni and Gilbert (our house guest while his dads are away).

New York it ain't...but....It is amazing that this festival takes place (or can take place) here and around the globe 50 years after the Stonewall riots. 

Stonewall...the protest that came as a result of so many years, so many centuries, of oppression. It is an oppression that we all carry within our collective and individual memory and in our consciousness and in our viscera. 

Liberation from that oppression is sweet. But we are definitely not there yet.

It is amazing that I can be there with my rainbow hat and a young woman comes up to me and says "I love your fedora!" and high fives me. We've come a long way baby.

I wonder if the youngsters know that the music they're dancing to is by Bronski Beat and released 35 years ago in 1984!

(Sorry for the delayed flip - it will go horizontal momentarily)

I remember going to Gay Pride in NYC in the late 80s or early 90s with a group of the kids from Your Turf - the youth support group I and Leon and Joyce and Robin facilitated. One of the "graduates" of the group had a job driving school busses and was able to rent a bus for the day. About 15 kids and 10 adults went to Pride on that bus. We never even thought about getting "parental permission" or whether we needed special insurance, or if it was illegal to transport kids across state lines. Most were in their late teens or early twenties, so I guess we were OK.

Me and Leon

I was moved when the "Gender Non-conforming" contingent marched by. 

I was thinking how wonderful that these individuals can express their "I Am What I Am-ness" and how they deserve the basic human right to be who they are and who they choose to be without some right-wingnut, fundamentalist christian judgmental bigot telling them otherwise and trying to deny them that right...so...

For the finale:

I Guess This Is A Bright Spot In The Week's News

Matthew Shepard's ashes were interred this week at the National Episcopal Cathedral.

A bright spot because the interment is not only fitting and respectful, but it also serves as a strong message to all fundamentalist christians that they do not speak for all people of faith. Especially in view of the fact that Matthew's parents legitimately feared that any grave or memorial site would very likely be vandalized.

That is a sad commentary on the state of our world.

Over the past twenty years we LGBT folks have seen so much progress: we've won Supreme Court victories, we've gotten marriage equality, we've had LGBT celebrities come out, we see sympathetic, multi-dimensional and mainstream LGBT characters on TV and in movies. We've gotten the sense that we've arrived, that we are not only tolerated, but accepted and even admired; that the world we live in has become safer and more enlightened and that our country's values have evolved.

UNTIL the new wave of hatred, intolerance and bigotry arrived on the heels of this current president's campaign, beginning in June of 2015.

The floodgates were opened further on election day 2016, when many of his supporters felt that their hateful opinions were given legitimacy and they became hell-bent on un-doing and destroying everything that Mathew Shepard and the LGBT community had fought for and achieved.

It is just inconceivable how we have arrived at this place.

It is wrong and discouraging that we should have to see our fortress being dismantled piece by piece, or that we should have to fight the good fight all over again.

And all those allies and friends sometimes really don't seem to fully get it. There is danger afoot in this administration and among it's rabid supporters. Stay vigilant.

We will not be shaken, we will be strong. Stay strong my friends, stay strong.

Leon & Frank - 4th Anniversary October 25th, 2018

This is for my hubby, Leon, in celebration of our 4th Anniversary and 30 years of sharing our lives with one another. So I am posting this little slide show of some of our moments together. It maybe a bit pretentious, but hey, it's my blog.

I, we, Leon and I, have been truly fortunate.

During my many years of self-doubt and anguish I never believed I would have a boyfriend, a lover, a partner, a spouse, let alone 30 years of friendship and love. Such things were not even in my realm of imagined possibilities.

But here we are. After 30 years, still going strong for one another.

Thank you Leon, with all my love:



Music: Jeff Krassner, I Will Be Strong For You from the album of the same name.

Popcorn Movie - Deep Water - Netflix

Sunday was a stay-indoors Netflix day: cold, wet and dreary. We decided to binge-watch an Australian 4-episode miniseries called Deep Water. 

Australian Detective Tori Lustigman gets deeply  involved in investigating the murder of a gay man near Bondi Beach. She and partner Nick Manning are led on a trail of evidence that goes back to a series of gay-bashing murders that took place in the 1980s and 90s that were never solved or pursued by the authorities.

Intricate threads of evidence and connections are revealed as the story evolves and the many loose ends keeps one wanting to watch and learn more. There is not only the mystery being solved, but also the many deeply emotional scars that the characters reveal during the investigation that make the story compelling. (not to mention some eye-candy) We had to watch it through to the end of the 4th episode to see how the many loose ends are finally resolved. Definitely recommended (but if you are anything like me when it come to other than American English), with this caveat:

USE YOUR CLOSED CAPTION OPTION because the Australian accent is very strong (especially that of Chief Inspector Peel). The closed caption made a world of difference as I was getting exhausted trying to translate Australian to English in my head and missing much of the dialogue. Did the rewind from the beginning after 10 minutes, with captions...much better.

The story is based on actual cases of a large number of murders of gay men that took place along the Australian coast in the late 80s and early 90s. *


After a whole day of cold, dreary rain on Sunday, we woke up to this, this morning:

Much too early in the season for snow and freezing temps in this neck of the desert. Hope I can save some of those tomatoes!

* Note: I have been irritable, angry, cranky, depressed and disturbed all day today (Monday) and I think it has something to do with after-effects of watching the "Deep Water" story. The fact that gay men were (and in many cases still are) bashed and murdered for being who they are, is disturbing to the core. 

As Wikipedia states "The drama is based on the historical, unsolved hate murders of possibly 30 to 80 gay men in Sydney's eastern suburbs and beaches in the 1980s and '90s."  A documentary was aired by Australian TV at the same time as the series.

Links to the documentary here: Part 1    https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5tq9ju
Part 2   https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5txh5s

I haven't watched the documentaries yet...I'm not sure I'm ready emotionally to watch.

What the Fuck Happened to the Age of Aquarius?

Remember the 1960s and 70s? Watergate, Vietnam, MASH, Free Love (for straights), Woodstock, civil rights, Kent State, LSD, pot, HAIR the Musical?

And they (our elders) thought we were all going to hell. But hey, it was the Age of Aquarius, right? But it was all Doris Day, Mr. Rodgers and milk-toast compared to 2018.

I have been very exasperated lately, addicted to the immediate news available on the internet...waiting, expecting, anticipating, salivating for the one, final, irrefutable treasonable act or past felony by our so-called president, that will finally end our collective nightmare.

Nothing.

If one tenth of his transgressions had been attributed to his predecessor, Obama would have been impeached and tried for treason. That this sad, embarrassing, wreck of a man, DT (I have refused to utter his name since the election) is allowed to remain in office is beyond incredible. But George Will has said it better than I ever could (see clip below).

But, yes, I've been exasperated, exhausted, frustrated, depressed. So beyond anger that I feel numb. So I've not had the energy or passion to write much on this blog, particularly about politics or the state of the world.

Also, please read an excellent post by my blog-brother Russ Manley: (George Will: This Sad, Embarrassing Wreck of a Man")

I am reposting the MSNBC segment with George Will (a former conservative republican) here:




And my comment here:

I agree with Michael in that scarier than DT alone, is the fact that he, DT, still has die-hard supporters who, in the face of all facts and logic still are adamant in their baseless, twisted, misinformed and erroneous beliefs. And that some of them will, I believe, violently fight anyone who threatens their world-view. 

Given Bannon's evil ambition to transform the world into a extreme far-right ideological monolith, and the fact that there are groups willing and able to carry his banner (no pun intended), I fear that the story has only just begun. That this "movement" is an almost world-wide phenomena (however small) is, in keeping with your latin references, a "mysterium tremendum et fascinans." i.e. somewhat of a mystery, both horrifying and fascinating.

In either case they, (trumpanzees or bannonites), are, perhaps (hopefully), in the throes of philosophical death, so they are mustering every conceivable means of hanging on to their identity and belief systems. And perhaps the only antidote is to continually badger them with light and truth.

We aging hippies believed in (or at least sang about) the Age of Aquarius...with "harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding." What the fuck ever happened to that?

And then there's this: 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, describing next week’s “Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom” [among more than 60 countries abroad] in an appearance on Tony Perkins’ (an SPLC designated hate group's) radio show: 

• “We expect for this to be far more than just talk. We’ll be laying out a path where we’re hopeful that the State Department here in the United States can lead a process where religious freedom is raised as a priority for the citizens of every country.” 

My reaction:
My stomach just flipped. This MUST be unconstitutional at some level. But they won't talk about civil rights violations or LGBT rights or the imprisonment and murders of LGBT persons in several of those of those countries. Beyond hypocrisy, this proposal is an insidious attempt at establishing pseudo-christian theocratic states here and abroad: it is the pseudo-christian version of fundamentalist islamic sharia law.

Matt Alber - End of the World (Director's Cut) (for the 4th of July)

Ok, so I don't really know what the lyrics are supposed to mean (I'm dense, I admit) but something about this song fits my mood today...partly because Independence Day seems like a sham.