In the past couple years, I have noticed a shift among some friends when talking about the births of their babies — actually about babies they call theirs, like I call William mine, even though he is Patrick and Jason’s son. These babies are, as often as not, community babies, young people in whom many…
Who knows what will happen with the Republican Senate bill to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a plan of their own? We have been told that the congressional recess for this holiday weekend gives voters the opportunity to weigh in on the issues. Social media and other media outlets have been…
We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience. ― John Dewey The past eight years with my President have been really good. Mr. Obama is a brilliant man who shows himself again and again and again. Unlike many others who extol his praises in social media, I do not consider him…
For the past few weeks I have not written blog posts or meatier items on Facebook. I reasoned that anything besides kittens and kids would gain little traction (after all, we do need some respite from The Donald) or was being covered elsewhere by people more articulate than I (or at least wearing pants suits). Further,…
Lub, Dub. Nearly 50 years ago I went to a party wearing flip flops, fishnet stockings, and grapes. Period. Lub. Because it was very cold the night of that New Years Eve costume party, my thin trench coat did little to keep me warm as I knelt in the back of a car on the…
In the mid-1980s, the AIDS epidemic prompted me to take the pulse of rooms for a different reason than I had as a pre-teen before I first came out or as a young adult when I first went out as a gay man. I had earlier tested spaces to decide if I could come out and…
Advanced warning: I am not a religious person, but I have history. Lots of it. My family was Catholic during my childhood and at least for a generation before that, but has Jewish roots on one side and quite possibly on both. As a young boy I found great solace in church and its beautiful…
On Facebook I recently posted my annoyance with people who seem to require five or more feet of space around them while waiting in lines. I see this regularly in coffee shops, convenience stores, and ice cream shops. In the case of this last one, I saw a person next in line who was so…
From the time I first studied psychology as an undergraduate, I recall four things vividly. Likely the last to actually happen is the one that stands out most. I was ready to declare my psychology major at the end of my sophomore year when a professor told me in class that I could not be…
Last week after I was in class for well over an hour, I suggested we take a 10 minute break. I dashed to the restroom and, when I got to the urinal, I discovered that my fly was open. A minute later, as I was washing my hands, I debated if I were going to…
Creating Community for Everyone 