Hunter Parish in "Spring Awakening"

I love this show-- this was my 3rd time seeing it. I was eager to see
Hunter (from "Weeds" on Showtime) in the lead. He was INCREDIBLY GRACIOUS at the stage door (always a plus in my book). He was amused when we asked him to sign this pic from the Internet using the 'Scribble' App on my iPhone.

Another AMAZING movie!

I absolutely loved The Reader. It is erotic, moving, disturbing, touching. I appreciate movies that make me literally feel the emotion welling up inside me.

Kate Winslet is one of my top-5 favorite actresses. It's her turn!

Merry Christmas

I received this link and thought it was quite cute... I couldn't help but smile, even in my "bah-humbug" state of mind this year. I definitely have not been in my "happy place," but I have a nice relaxing vacation coming up, and I plan to take myself away and give myself a good attitude adjustment.

B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T Movie!

"Slumdog Millionaire"

Please go see this movie!

Such a creative and compelling story about destiny and overcoming the odds to build a life for yourself when the world seems to be stacking the cards against you!

Happy Holidays

This is the Christmas card I got from my friend RonDeena. Best card ever!

This is the free sticker I got from MoveOn.org.

Liza's at the Palace

What a treat to see a living legend! Everything I have ever heard about Liza (and her mother) and her ability to absolutely give herself to an audience was so true! I was mezmerized from the first entrance, and through MULTIPLE standing ovations throughout the show! Brilliant!

Candace Bergen, Lea Delaria, and John McDaniel were the celebrities I saw up close in the audience. I'm sure there were more.

Life Soundtrack

I'm compiling a list of songs that would be on my "Life Soundtrack." Here's what I have so far.

I Know Your So Well (Harry Connick Jr.)
And You Tell Me (a-ha)
Cherish (Madonna)
Power Of Two (Indigo Girls)
Vogue (Madonna)
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
True Colors (Cyndi Lauper)
Be Good Johnny (Men at Work)
Who Can It Be Now? (Men at Work)
Down Under (Men at Work)
Don't Worry, Be Happy (Bobby McFerrin)
Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Nylons)
West End Girls (Pet Shop Boys)
Triad (Jefferson Airplane)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkle)
Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order)
The Voice Of Enigma (Enigma)
Sadeness / Find Love / Sadeness (Enigma)
I'm The Only One (Melissa Etheridge)
Scarecrow (Melissa Etheridge)
Come To My Window (Melissa Etheridge)
People Are People (Depeche Mode)
Keep It Precious (Melissa Etheridge)
Luck be a Lady (Frank Sinatra)
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston)
Angel (Sarah McLachlan)
Here You Come Again (Dolly Parton)
Me and Little Andy (Dolly Parton)
Calling All Angels (k.d. lang)
Why? (Bronski Beat)
Star (Erasure)
Little Shop Of Horrors (Prologue) (LSOH Soundtrack)
Suddenly, Seymour (LSOH Soundtrack)
Kiss From A Rose (Seal)
Finally (CeCe Peniston)
Gonna Make You Sweat/Everybody Dance Now (C + C Music Factory)
Supermodel/You Better Work (RuPaul)
Don't Cry For Me, Argentina- Disco Version (Madonna)
Make Your Own Kind of Music (Mama Cass)
Love Shack (The B-52's)
Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
The Colors of My Life Barnum Soudtrack)
Where Is Love? (Oliver Soundtrack)
Consider Yourself (Oliver Soundtrack)
Here Comes The Rain Again (Eurythmics)
Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics)
Wind Beneath My Wings (Bette Midler)
Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers)
If You Leave (OMD)
Pandora's Box (OMD)
Don't You Forget About Me (Simple Minds)
Things Can Only Get Better (Howard Jones)
Careless Whisper (Wham!)
One Night in Bangkok (Chess Soundtrack)
Suddenly (Billy Ocean)
Forever (Kenny Loggins)
Danny's Song (Loggins and Mecina)
Open Arms Journey)
Walking On Broken Glass (Annie Lennox)
Hallelujah (k.d. lang)
Constant Craving (k.d. lang)
Careless Whisper (Wham!)

Snuggle time

My Little Buddy

Paw Prints on the Punkin Pie

As I was cutting into a pumpkin pie today, I flashed back to a long-
ago Thanksgiving when mom made the pies to take to a family friend's
house for dinner. We woke up to find a kitty paw print in the one and
only pumpkin pie.

It's amazing what you can hide with well-placed whipped cream. We
were sworn to secrecy, and no one was the wiser.

Sent from my iPhone

I am downright GIDDY about this!

Purple Heart

Honk if you want to stop the H8

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PROPOSITION 8 IN CALIFORNIA, HELD ON THE HIGHWAY IN FRONT OF HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY.

Lots of honking with scattered "Drop dead you fucking faggots!"

Fleeing Heart

When I tried to take this photo, the wind blew and it started to fly
away like it was running from me, almost like it was teasing me. It
gave me a good chuckle.

Keith Olberman on Prop 8

THANK YOU, MR. OLBERMAN!

We have NOT reached the end of racism

Airport Heart, New Orleans

Willie Mae's Scotch House

I heard a radio piece about this place on All Things Considered on NPR over the summer and decided to check it out while I was in New Orleans this past week on business.

Let me tell you, the hype is worth it! You would never believe it from the outside (see below-- yes, that is a current picture, taken just after I ate inside, NOT after the hurricane as one would think). It was the best fried chicken EVER! It's worth seeking out when you're in the area.

Here's the link to the print version of the story.

The French Quarter at Night

"You Can Forget My Taxes" by Melissa Etheridge

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California—and she won't be paying the state a dime.

from the The Daily Beast

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won't have to pay their taxes either.
Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.

…Really?

When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and working side by side with all the citizens of California?

I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.
I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke. Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many "thems" back then. The blacks, the poor ... you know, "them". Then there was the immigrants. "Them.” Now the them is me.

I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the thems made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is no "them". We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you do to yourself. That "judge not, lest ye yourself be judged" are truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.
Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families. We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen. It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the American way.

Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too...

Melissa Etheridge is an Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.