ptree and north

this was the old first national bank's branch building (c. 1930) on the northeast corner of ptree and north---about 1960 it was replaced by the highrise building that they just tore down---

equality

equality formally arrived in south africa today----

In breaking with our past ... we need to fight and resist all forms of discrimination and prejudice, including homophobia,” Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told members of Paliarment earlier this month, when the bill was passed by the National Assembly.

ignorance

god---some people are such idiots----all this brou-ha-ha about whether the new muslim congressman has to swear his oath on a bible---this idiot dennis prager on cnn going on about it and how he ought to swear on a bible so as to "affirm [it] as our central text" and then he argues that it's not a religious test----and he actually talks about "the american bible"---god

another generation

so i'm a great uncle----alexis had her baby this afternoon about 5:15----big baby boy, so far nameless---she called me to tell me barely an hour after she had him---mother and baby all doing fine---

beautiful design

i'm not all into cars or anything, but this 1937 cord is simply gorgeous--

addiction

somehow i think i have avoided most substance addiction, which might not really be all that surprising, given the myths about drug addiction---alcohol and a doobie are great, together or seperately, but i don't have to have them to function and i can and sometimes do go for days without either one, especially when i'm traveling---even then i don't get a headache like i get if i go a day without caffeine---oh, but nicotine---i have not had any for going on three years, but last night at a party i came so-o-o close to lighting up---the host had laid out a box, conveniently filled with parliaments, for the guests, most of whom were young 20- or 30-somethings smoking like there was no tomorrow---nothing else has that pull---

only maybe 10-15% of people that use alcohol become addicted, and about the same percentage of pot smokers become "heaviliy dependent," although few claim it is actually addictive---and, believe it or not, way less than half of those that try heroin or cocaine become addicted---but nicotine? some claim near 90% can't put it down---i believe that---

getting around

now this would be a real public transportation system\

an attentive dog

the natural world downtown

so brian took this excellent pic of the red-tailed hawk that has been chowing down on the five-points pigeons---there are probably too many pigeons i guess but i just wish he wouldn't eat sitting on the window sill outside our office---he doesn't eat pigeon feet by the way----

relaxing

and licking

paying the rent

yul brynner in 1942

the meyer lemon

the first lemon from my balcony----not ripe but it was a lot smaller than the other two and i thought it wasn't going to ripen---but it was juicy and right tasty in a vodka tonic---

hershey is feeling ok but the vet told me friday i would have weeks, not months, left with him----

southern baptists

this is happening in north carolina---what a pathetic group of people---

While we fully recognize that other sins assail our members, there is no other sin that has a national advocacy group where people march and try to change laws and cultural mores to gain approval for itself. This particular sin is creeping its way into acceptability by virtue of this group's advocacy, and it is time for us to take a stand."
-- Baptist State Convention spokesman Norman Jameson, as the body moves to vote to further demonize its LGBT members of its flock by expelling tolerant churches

cat and mouse

awwwww---robert takes cute kitty pitchers

fall

me and the dog spent some time in the park today----a gorgeous day with leaf color as intense as i've ever seen----the "active oval," which was the driving club's race track in the 1880s, is open again after a thorough remodeling---

new times

is the dam breaking? now mexico city has legalized civil unions for gays----

harper's ferry

harper's ferry has got to be one of the most spectacular places in the east---located at the confluence of the Shenandoah and the Potomac rivers where they break through the blue ridge mountains---a ferry and subsequently a town were established there in 1761, but it's most famous as the site of john brown's raid, when he barricaded himself in the old federal arsenal firehouse

happy days are here again

---at least, if i don't think about you-know-what----in addition to the "democrat" congress, queer-baiting seems to have fallen on hard times (no pun intended)----the homophobic marriage amendment in arizona didn't pass at all, which is the first time one of the goddam things hasn't passed---in wisconsin, it kinda backfired----and in virginia, too, where the analysis of the vote is fascinating and totally encouraging----the total number of homophobes in those states didn't go past 60%, a percentage which i think can also be used as an ignorance quotient, although you might need to add 10 or 15% in georgia and other parts of the south for it to be really accurate---

joy

a democratic congress and no rumsfeld----what more could one ask for now?

colors

african violet show at the botanical gardens this weekend---an amazing variety of leaves and blossoms----it's a shame they only come in pinks, and purple and what not---i got three new ones anyway---











it's fall in midtown

will they get it this time?

andrew sullivan:

I'm praying for Haggard, as I hope he is praying for me and every sinner. But the lesson of this to the religious right surely is: go and sin no more. Stop the lies. Stop the bigotry. Deal with the reality of gay people, our souls, our wounded hearts, our humanity, our right to be treated equally by our own government. It's what Jesus did. And it is your true calling now.

i guess i'm not praying for him too much---feel sorry for his family but not for him----

hershey

so , i guess it's kinda sad

guess i'll get to test some of my "dying-with-dignity" theories again---

Haggard: adj., appearing worn and exhausted; gaunt; wild or distraught in appearance.

oh god---another jim bakker kinda thing----ted haggard, head of 30 million national association of evangelicals and pastor of a 14,000 church in colorado springs, has resigned amid allegations of doing it with a gay hooker for 3 years----this is just what the doctor ordered for the sanctimonious homophobic bigots out there-----

fat asses

According to a new study in the October-December issue of The Engineering Economist (one of my favorite reads when I'm not sticking pins in my eyes,) Americans are now pumping 938 million gallons of fuel more annually than they were in 1960 as a direct result of their big fat asses. According to the researchers, with gas prices averaging $3 a gallon, the tab for overweight people in a vehicle amounts to $7.7 million a day, or $2.8 billion a year. The numbers are added costs linked directly to the extra drain of body weight on fuel economy.

Apparently if we all went on a diet and brought the national average back down to 1960 levels, we would save nearly 1 billion gallons of gasoline each year.

Think about it. If not for McDonald's, we wouldn't have needed to invade Iraq.

gawd

maybe it's not so bad after all......
on a totally unrelated note, or maybe not, who knows, the biopsies for hershey's cysts came back benign----still waiting to find out if he's got butt cancer---which would be sad

odd man out

this should give all us queers something to think about---- i been all about the equality through marriage thing, but susie here gins it up into something bigger in an innerresting sorta way i think, but that's just me and what do i know, huh?