Who goes there? Please leave comments so (An Aries Knows)!
Famous Author Greg Herren and Almost as Famous as Rob Byrnes Author Timothy J. Lambert wind down with Rex the Dog after a long day. Lots and lots of ideas going back and forth over the previous twelve to fourteen hours, hopefully resulting in new and exciting projects for us all.
It was a good day.
They don’t really get me down, though. Rain rarely bothers me except that it bothers Margot so much. Even though I did have to get out in it this evening for a grocery store run, and I’m still all damp and icky feeling, the grocery store was a pleasure. I’m currently mad at Kroger, so I went to Fiesta, not the best grocery store in the world. However, the guys who rang up and bagged my groceries exchanged witty banter of the gay variety. Better than TV, always.
Also, Lindsey and Rhonda came by for a bit today, and what’s better than being safely inside with friends on a drizzly day? This time next week, they’ll be on their honeymoon, the Wedding Bitch will be decompressing, and Rex will be saying, “Can we go somewhere in the car, can we, huh, huh?”
Between bouts of writing today, I’ve been putting music on my computer. I’m the last person on the planet who has figured out how to transfer music from my CDs into an iTunes library and buy music from iTunes. I keep marveling over the wonder of it to Tim, who occasionally walks through and gives me another nugget of iTunes wisdom to keep me happy for a while. And Tom figured out a bunch of stuff with my clip art, so I have plenty of diversions to keep me from writing now.
Still, I must get back to it. Hopefully, my fiction is better than my UnLively Journal.
Bonus dog photos, just because.
Guinness: “If that’s a squirrel, there are pecans buried somewhere…”
Today, I think I’ll stay home and write.
This morning’s coffee cup is brought to us courtesy of Nan and Ron, my friend Steve R’s parents. I think the cup was probably meant to remind me of their beautiful white cat George. Steve always said that George was much more spoiled than Steve and his six siblings. And I’m sure George, like any cat, would say that was as it should have been.
I also included my breakfast as a reminder to Tim that there is still some Lindsey-baked muffinish goodness over here. Thanks, Lindsey!
Yes, it most definitely is a mountain, and one of the prettiest places in the country. Do you remember sitting on top of it and looking out over that valley while I took one of my favorite photos?
I’ve photoshopped before and I can do it again.
Yesterday, FARB made me laugh with this tongue-in-cheek blog entry about the gay media.
So we are launching the (fictitious?) “Reading is HOT!” campaign. WE WILL NOT BE IGNORED, GAY MEDIA!
At least I didn’t have to photoshop this celebrity enjoying the second-best activity ever on a rainy day.
Oh, no, typo! (Kidding, FARB.)
Gratuitous nature shot: It really did rain hard at The Compound today.
Today while taking a nap, I dreamed about my friend John. It was a silly dream, not worth repeating (as if anyone is ever interested in someone else’s dreams anyway), but it did remind me that John would have turned 41 on October 5.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, in October of 1996, Tom, our friend Amy (Rex’s first mom!), and I were in Washington, D.C., volunteering for what would be the last display in its entirety of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. I could write a book about those cold, amazing days in our capital, but I won’t do it here.
A brief history.
On October 11, 1987, the Quilt included 1,920 panels and was displayed for the first time on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. during the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The Quilt returned to Washington, D.C. in October of 1988, when 8,288 panels were displayed on the Ellipse in front of the White House. The entire Quilt was again displayed on the National Mall in 1992 and 1996, when it contained approximately 37,440 individual panels.
Five panels that I’d made with the help of my mother and Tom, as well as my friends Amy, Lynne, Lisa, Vicki, Nora, Shawn, and Shelley, were among those 37,440.
After we returned from Washington, John and James were over for a visit. We looked at photos, but John didn’t really want to talk that much about the Quilt. One of my panels was for John’s former boyfriend, Jeff. However John may have grieved the loss of Jeff, he was looking forward to his future with James in that October when he turned 31.
None of us had the slightest inkling that two months later, John would be dead. What had seemed an early diagnosis of Kaposi’s Sarcoma, and the promise of the new protease inhibitors, all happened just a little too late to save him.
I know a lot of people don’t like autumn. The days get shorter. The weather turns cold. The falling leaves remind us of loss and decay. I don’t know why I love this season so much. But overall, I’d rather think of all the friends’ and family’s birthdays I celebrate during autumn, all the good people who’ve been part of my life, and all the ways that dark times are always, always followed by rebirth in the spring, new friendships, renewed hope, and a planet that has so much to teach us if we only pay attention to its cycles.
From the NAMES Project Foundation web site:
Funds Raised by the Quilt for Direct Services for People with AIDS: over $3,250,000 (U.S.)
Number of Visitors to the Quilt: 15,200,000
Number of 12’x12′ Sections of The Quilt: 5,748
Number of Panels in the Quilt: approximately 46,000
Number of Names on the Quilt: More than 83,900 (The names on the Quilt represent approximately 17.5% of all U.S. AIDS deaths.)
Size : 1,293,300 square feet (the equivalent of 275 NCAA basketball courts with walkway, 185 courts without walkway)
Miles of Fabric: 52.25 miles long (if all 3’x6′ panels were laid end to end)
Total Weight: More than 54 tons
NAMES Project Chapters: 20
International Affiliates: 43
Recently, I was working on a poem, and I wanted to find some vintage photos of men with men. I’m not speaking of porn, just men together in earlier times. My search netted me not only exactly the kinds of photos I was looking for, but a new acquaintance with a gifted couple in North Carolina.
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This is my favorite photo of The Brides from their party this past Saturday night. Those pacifiers they’re sucking on were BREASTS (the theme of the night, as you may remember from the cake), and they lit up.
I told Tim if I ever finish this chapter I’m struggling with, I’m throwing a party for one. I think he’s in the same predicament. People will either love or hate TJB5, but at least please know the writers poured themselves into it.
Speaking of parties… Tom, Tim, and I left The Compound tonight to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of Rhonda and Lindsey at a party given by their bridesmaids. I took many photos but feel I should have permission before I go publishing any on the Internet. (I don’t know why this time is different from all the others, except my writing partners finally just gave up, beaten down by nine years of my asking, “Oh, was I not supposed to share that?”) It was great to be out, great to run into Tim’s exes, great to run into Tim’s future exes, great to run into Tim’s former coworkers–wait, who was this party for?
Seriously, The Brides have a fantastic group of friends, some of whom I’ve met before, others that I know only by reputation or comments on R&L’s Live Journals. A night out was fun and relaxing and informative, because breasts can be edible. Okay, ONE photo…
one is missing because Scott ate it
Jim is going to be in his second home this weekend and needed to take TJB5 material with him to read. I worked until after five this morning to add finishing touches to two chapters. I e-mailed them just before six a.m. and went to bed.
After I got up, I had several things to take of and a client to see. While I was away from the house, I realized what I did wrong in one of those chapters and what I needed to do to fix it. I rushed home and unsent it, snatching it from Jim’s e-mail before he could stop me. (And THIS, my friends, is why the TJB writers keep their AOL accounts. We must have this option to better torment one another.) Now Jim has nothing to read this weekend, and I have work I didn’t know I’d have.
This manuscript has to be finished SOON because I have three other pressing projects demanding my attention and I’m TIRED.
However, I always have enough energy to offer a little gift from The Compound:
