“Free condoms! Take as many as you like! Free condoms here!” A few times a year I hawk free condoms at Union Station in Chicago and the Intermodal Station in Milwaukee. I figure young adults traveling Amtrak for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Spring Break should be prepared. After all, some reunions are best served with latex.…
This week I am writing about giving and generosity. As the calendar year closes and a new year approaches, I often find that I review my actions and thoughts of the past several months. What have I done? Where did that notion originate? Did it advance me as a human? How? Why? One mental tool…
You cannot know what it means to see your incredibly handsome future spouse emerge from a cloud of smoke on stage, wearing white tights, and sporting the pseudo military dress uniform of a prince. You’d have to be sitting there in the Marcus Center waiting through the party scene of Nutcracker, hoping beyond all hope…
My mom stood over the open dresser drawer, a small portfolio of envelopes in her left hand. With her right, she shuffled them, each with its flap gaping open. She wanted different answers to her question: “How will I make ends meet?” There was nothing in the envelop marked Medical. The Vacation one was always…
In the mid- to late-1960s, I did what many of my friends were doing. We grew our hair long, met over coffee, sang folk songs, went to rallies against the war in Vietnam, and marched for housing and racial justice. Sometime during that decade, I met the Berrigan brothers in an apartment near Marquette University.…
Today I will receive an award from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee for LGBTQ+ Advocate of the Year. The mid-afternoon ceremony is a big one with more than a score of other awards being given for enduring contributions to the development of the University, excellence in teaching, distinguished service, research, academic staff service, academic staff…
This week I participated in a story telling event at the university where I taught for more than three decades. It is the same place where I earned a bachelors degree, a masters degree, and a doctorate. I earned certificates in teaching and in school psychology. I earned a fellowship in rehabilitation counseling. I worked…
I wrote a speech with sharing it aloud at Gary’s 70th birthday party in mind. The opportunity didn’t arise, and not wanting to interrupt an event Gary had so carefully planned, I didn’t deliver it. Instead I printed the speech and sent it to Gary right after the party. Then, after reading Gary’s Aug. 2…
Pete asked that I write more about my birthday now that the hoopla is over. First, I thought I’d write some random thoughts, things not sorted through nor — in the words of my friend Tom — sat with. Turning 70 is not better than the alternative. It is great all by itself. Sometimes celebrating…
Much of my adult life has been shaped by my thinking, or what approximates thinking in some circumstances. While I appreciate logic, I am not always its greatest adherent. I am a fan of congruence and cohesion, but I also find delight in random, weird thoughts that introduce some serendipity in my life and humor…
Creating Community for Everyone 