River Queen, Castaways, Circus-Circus, The Factory — these were the names of bars I went to when I first started socializing as a gay young adult. They were not the first gay bars I went to, however. Oddly, my first encounter with one of these was with my mother who was naive to the fact that…
By age 10 I had become pretty adept at taking the pulse of a room. I knew when my dad had too much to drink, when a holiday was in danger of being cancelled, when the cake would go uneaten, when my mom was fed-up and overwhelmed. Most of the time I tested a space…
You have served many, many freshman and sophomore students with warm, personal, and solid advice about their academic programs, just as you served many generations of English majors before your retirement. Advising is an essential, though usually unheralded, form of teaching. By continuing to advise students, you have continued to teach; and the College is…
Commit themselves to their own, each other’s, and the group’s well-being. An important mentor in my life used to talk about how essential it is for a leader to be able to think about a goal, the individuals in the group working toward it, and the group as a whole. Over the years I have…
Commit themselves to their own, each other’s, and the group’s well-being. Last week I saw James on Friday, having looked for him daily over the earlier part of the week. Just like the first time we met, James was wearing a cardboard sign hung by a string around his neck. It announced that he needs…
Commit themselves to their own, each other’s, and the group’s well-being. True: I cannot schedule a colonoscopy. I am apt to report that the challenge in doing this is the scheduling process itself, but I suspect that may not be the only reason. For the past several years I was reminded at my annual check-up…
Commit themselves to their own, each other’s, and the group’s well-being. Community is said to emerge when people engage in common practices, make decisions together, depend on one another, and commit themselves. I confess that it is this last word — themselves — that snags me most consistently in the definition. Perhaps a clue to…
Commit themselves to their own, each other’s, and the group’s well-being. This weekend I tried to remember the last time I promised to do something. I am not referring to showing up when I say I will or paying my bills. Both of those are promises of a sort, though I rarely call them…
One’s disturbed by stalled career, talking louder than the man he is with. Over coffee they lament their need to avoid the sad legless man. Their narrative calls unappreciated work “The cause of my pains.” One snaps his fingers — Was it the O of my mouth That brought his “Faggot!”? Or did my face…
Peck, scratch, flap. Birds dine, not alone, but with bird pals fluttering nearby. My bowl, mine. My food. Gobble, lick, chow down, wary until cleaned bowls swapped. Pottery in white sets off precious portions to tempt the man outside. Mothers lament why we will not cooperate, share what we are given.
Creating Community for Everyone 