Handful o' Hearts

Found all these in the woods near my apartment today.
Posted via moblog.

Dadoons

I was exploring the woods behind my apartment and literally stumbled upon a raccoons nest with three babies (really more like "young teens" I guess) all piled up on top of each other. It startled me a little, but they didn't scatter-- they just looked up at me. I fought the temptation to try to pet them and snapped these shots with my cell phone camera instead. Then I got to wondering where the mother was, and figured it would be better for me to go away in case she was not as calm about me being there.

Mom used to literally hand feed the raccoons in her back yard. She called them her "dadoons" and had names for them... Crazy. I have actually played around with a children's storybook called "The Legend of the Mysterious Raccoon Lady" based on it. It's about family and death, and attempts to put loss into a hopeful and uplifting light. One of these days I'll have to work it out and see if it goes anywhere.

Hearts

Marfan Syndrome Public Service Announcement

I'm trying to boost traffic to this Marfan Foundation's PSA on YouTube. Share it, email it, and otherwise draw attention to Marfan syndrome by showing peopel our PSA!

"Bush Sucks" humor

Unfortunate choice of words...

Hmmmm....

Random Humor

Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked members to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter and supply a new definition. Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole. ( My hands-down favorite!)

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating.The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Tequila- Celebration through Libation

Rachel's birthday -- we spent Saturday night in Mt. Kisco with her family-- lots of tequila-- and then came back to Long Island and she went about her day... Later, I stopped in to The Chalet for a beer and to watch the Yankee-Mets game. The barteder knew me and set me up with a shot. I took this pic with my camera phone and sent it to Rachel. It was enough to lure her back out for another night of birthday celebration through libation. MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmm---- tequila!

You Gotta Have Heart

At Starbucks.

And another...

It's hard to see this one, but it's a tiny sticker that was on the steps at Barnes and Noble.

Sent via cell phone to Moblog.

Another Heart

Sent via cell phone to Moblog.

Ah, Beautiful New York

(click to enlarge)

I was in a meeting at the American Heart Association's New York affiliate in their 18th floor Midtown offices. This was the view across the street from their terrace. I never saw the art deco detail up close before. I had sent this from my moblog, but I was with a co-worker that actually had her digital camera--- it was a better shot so I linked to hers instead. Beautiful!

Rest in Peace, Sweet Emerald

It couldn't be avoided any longer... I came home from work last night and Emerald let me know in no uncertain terms that it was her time to go.

She has been showing signs of her old-age for a few months, and I was preparing myself for when her time came, but as long as she was able to get up to her favorite spot on the cable box on her own (using the "stairs" I made from boxes and the coffee table) and was eating and drinking, I wasn't going to rush her out of this world. But the last few days she faded fast, and she couldnt' even walk when I came home last night.

Emerald was my first pet out on my own. She was the sweetest natured cat I've ever seen, and she's been with me through most of my adult life. Isabella joined us a year after Emerald came to me, but passed away about 5 years ago. It was so sad to see how Emerald mourned her friend. Now they're back together.

I'll miss her.

Cartoon by Mike Keefe of the Denver Post

Hangin' and shootin' Tequila with Cuz

MO FILM :: PRESS RELEASE

MO FILM :: PRESS RELEASE

Check this out! "Mo" just won the Audience Choice Award at the Malibu International Film Festival.

BACK OFF!!!

Can the Media PLEASE show a little restraint! I am fed up with the media leaping from one hysterical response to a news story to the next! What happened at Virginia Tech is horrific! But can we please, PLEASE stop reacting by feeding the media circus! I actually saw a reporter interview the mailman, (the MAILMAN!!!) of one of the victims this morning. Are you KIDDING me?!?!?!?

Faggots, and Sissies, and Dykes, OH MY! Wake up people!

Written by Harvey Fierstein, published in the NY Times Op Ed Page on April 13, 2007


AMERICA is watching Don Imus’s self-immolation in a state of shock and awe. And I’m watching America with wry amusement.

Since I’m a second-class citizen — a gay man — my seats for the ballgame of American discourse are way back in the bleachers. I don’t have to wait long for a shock jock or stand-up comedian to slip up with hateful epithets aimed at me and mine. Hate speak against homosexuals is as commonplace as spam. It’s daily traffic for those who profess themselves to be regular Joes, men of God, public servants who live off my tax dollars, as well as any number of celebrities.
In fact, I get a good chuckle whenever someone refers to “the media” as an agent of “the gay agenda.” There are entire channels, like Spike TV, that couldn’t fill an hour of programming if required to remove their sexist and homophobic content. We’ve got a president and a large part of Congress willing to change the Constitution so they can deprive of us our rights because they feel we are not “normal.”

So I’m used to catching foul balls up here in the cheap seats. What I am really enjoying is watching the rest of you act as if you had no idea that prejudice was alive and well in your hearts and minds.

For the past two decades political correctness has been derided as a surrender to thin-skinned, humorless, uptight oversensitive sissies. Well, you anti-politically correct people have won the battle, and we’re all now feasting on the spoils of your victory. During the last few months alone we’ve had a few comedians spout racism, a basketball coach put forth anti-Semitism and several high-profile spoutings of anti-gay epithets.

What surprises me, I guess, is how choosy the anti-P.C. crowd is about which hate speech it will not tolerate. Sure, there were voices of protest when the TV actor Isaiah Washington called a gay colleague a “faggot.” But corporate America didn’t pull its advertising from “Grey’s Anatomy,” as it did with Mr. Imus, did it? And when Ann Coulter likewise tagged a presidential candidate last month, she paid no real price.

In fact, when Bill Maher discussed Ms. Coulter’s remarks on his HBO show, he repeated the slur no fewer than four times himself; each mention, I must note, solicited a laugh from his audience. No one called for any sort of apology from him. (Well, actually, I did, so the following week he only used it once.)

Face it, if a Pentagon general, his salary paid with my tax dollars, can label homosexual acts as “immoral” without a call for his dismissal, who are the moral high and mighty kidding?
Our nation, historically bursting with generosity toward strangers, remains remarkably unkind toward its own. Just under our gleaming patina of inclusiveness, we harbor corroding guts. America, I tell you that it doesn’t matter how many times you brush your teeth. If your insides are rotting your breath will stink. So, how do you people choose which hate to embrace, which to forgive with a wink and a week in rehab, and which to protest? Where’s my copy of that rule book?

Let me cite a non-volatile example of how prejudice can cohabit unchecked with good intentions. I am a huge fan of David Letterman’s. I watch the opening of his show a couple of times a week and have done so for decades. Without fail, in his opening monologue or skit Mr. Letterman makes a joke about someone being fat. I kid you not. Will that destroy our nation? Should he be fired or lose his sponsors? Obviously not.

But I think that there is something deeper going on at the Letterman studio than coincidence. And, as I’ve said, I cite this example simply to illustrate that all kinds of prejudice exist in the human heart. Some are harmless. Some not so harmless. But we need to understand who we are if we wish to change. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should confess to not only being a gay American, but also a fat one. Yes, I’m a double winner.)

I urge you to look around, or better yet, listen around and become aware of the prejudice in everyday life. We are so surrounded by expressions of intolerance that I am in shock and awe that anyone noticed all these recent high-profile instances. Still, I’m gladdened because our no longer being deaf to them may signal their eventual eradication.

The real point is that you cannot harbor malice toward others and then cry foul when someone displays intolerance against you. Prejudice tolerated is intolerance encouraged. Rise up in righteousness when you witness the words and deeds of hate, but only if you are willing to rise up against them all, including your own. Otherwise suffer the slings and arrows of disrespect silently.

Harvey Fierstein is an actor and playwright.

Uh-oh!

I came across this little establishment while out running errands... This could be a problem if I discover that they carry the cheese-filled crumb cake. It's like crack to me.

[Posted via cellphone cam]

Mo Film

Here's the trailer for "Mo."

Mo Film

"Mo" is having it's premiere at the Malibu International Film Festival this weekend on April 14th. You can find out more abotu the project at www.mofilm.net. If the movie catches on, it has the potential to do a lot for Marfan syndrome awareness (my job).

Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes! I'm a patriot.

[click the image to go to their website]

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country." – Teddy
Roosevelt

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." – Teddy Roosevelt

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." – Mark Twain

"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." – Mark
Twain

Loving Ro!

Most recent news programs are taking her comments out of context and twisting her words! They are using soundbites to make her look crazed. If they show the entire clip, people woudl see a reasoned and rational woman getting pationate about her views. Right or wrong, she is coming from a place of good intention and I admire her for it!

Newest Jib Jab--- Perfection!

What We Call the News Send To Friends Funny Animations at JibJab

A particularly pretty one...

At the supermarket on the stainless steel surface of the checkout counter. (Sent via cellphone to moblog)

Unity 08- Take Back the Government

http://www.unity08.com/

This looks like an interesting concept. I'm checking it out to find out more.

Mysteries of WTC7

VIDEO: BBC WAS HALF AN HOUR TOO EARLY REPORTING ON WTC7 COLLAPSE
On September 11th 2001, BBC World reported at 4:57pm Eastern Time that the Salomon Brothers Building (more commonly known as WTC7 or World Trade Building 7) had collapsed.This even made the 5pm EST headlines, what is bizarre is that the building did not actually collapse until 5:20pm EST.9/11 was unusual enough, without BBC World being able to foretell the destiny of WTC 7.What is even stranger, is that the women reporter is telling the world that the building had collapsed when you can see it in the background over her left shoulder.Then at 5:15pm EST, just five minutes before the building did actually collapse, her live connection from New York to London mysteriously fails.So the question is, on 9/11 how did the BBC learn that WTC7 collapsed 23 minutes before it actually did.Building Seven was 47 storeys, modern in design with structural steel throughout, yet symmetrically collapsed in 6.5 seconds, was someone leaking information.No steel framed skyscraper has ever collapsed due to fire, before or after 9/11, most people who find out about WTC7, believe it was brought down by a controlled demolition, even demolition experts agree.Please Investigate 9/11 - Time is of the essence. (This is from http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=49f_1172526096.)

40 Years

Mom and dad would have been married 40 years today...

And another--that's 2 today...

(Here's the original story...)

Heart

I opened the drawer and there it was...

(Here's the backgroud on the hearts.)

WTC 7

She's been getting a bum rap in the media lately, but I think Rosie is brave and is asking the tough questions. Please see her post about the mysteries surrounding World Trade Center 7's collapse on September 11th. I have tried not to pay too much attention to all the conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11, but I have to wonder... I truly believe this administration is evil, and this scares me. The way they are controlling the media is criminal.

Bad choice of words...

Is it just me, or is this an unfortunate title for a book for Christian women?

No coincidences...

This isn't the same as finding "my hearts" everywhere, but it was a nice moment anyway...

I was at Barnes and Noble today and this book was left open to this page. Mom loved "Lady and the Tramp." And one of MY favorite Disney films is "Bambi." Hmmm....

"Mo"

I got an email this morning that a trailer for the feature film "Mo" is now on the film's website at www.mofilm.net. I posted about it previously here. Please check out their site and the trailer.

Another "sign"

The Truth is Out There...

I noticed the appropriate (and oh so RIGHT ON) positioning of these two postcards on a sales rack. I thought it worthy of a Moblog post via cell phone cam.

Another Two-fer...

Haven't heard the story of the significance of all the hearts yet? Read my original posting here.

Random Post-it Found...

Posted via cellphone.

Ellen with Clint Eastwood at the 79th Annual Oscars 2007

My favorite "Ellen" Moment at the Oscars. The show wouldn't have been so friggen boring if there had been more Ellen being Ellen, and less clip montages like the one featuring Foreign Languiage film winners through the ages.... ZZzzzzzzzzz.....

(Again, the embedded video disappeared... Here it is on YouTube.)

And The Oscar goes to...Melissa Etheridge

My favorite Oscar Moment last night. "I have to thank my incredible wife Tammy!" Her whole speech was wonderful -- I LOVE this woman!!!

(For some reason, the embeded video disappeared-- here'e the link to it on YouTube)

A Night out with Friends

Me with Stephanie, Danielle, and Victoria at Edison's Ale House in Manhasset. I discovered that they have my favorite beer, Hoegaarden, which is a crisp and refreshing Belgian White beer, best served ice cold with a slice of lemon on a hot summer day. It wasn't hot and summery here this weekend, but it still tasted great. Incidentally, Edison's is the pub that is featured in the memoir The Tender Bar which was so popular last year.

Britney WHO?!

Rachel lookin' hot.

Wonderful News!

Grandma was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, but, after a successful lumpectomy last friday and following up after pathology results, it looks like she's doing great. They are satisfied that they got it early, and minimal radiation will eliminate the need for more radical surgical intervention.

Her positive attitude, and the fact that there isn't a living person on the planet with more people who love them, I'm sure helped.

To quote the the man behind the curtain in Wizard of Oz: "The heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others."

Grandma truly has the biggest heart of anyone I know, and it shows the minute you meet her.

McCain Flip-Flops, Supports Immediate Reversal of Roe v. Wade (VIDEO)

In 1999, the “moderate” version of John McCain said that overturning Roe v. Wade would be dangerous for women and he would not support it, even in “the long term.” This morning on ABC, McCain — now aggressively courting the likes of Jerry Falwell — expressed his unequivocal support for overturning Roe v. Wade.



read more | digg story

Wake up!

'All That's Known'
from the new hit Broadway Musical "Spring Awakening"

All that's known,
In History, in Science,
Overthrown
At school,
at home, by blind men.
You doubt them,
And soon they bark and hound you-
Til everything you say is just another
bad about you.

All they say
Is "Trust in what is written."
Wars are made,
And somehow that
is wisdom.
Thought is suspect
And money is their idol,
And nothing
is okay unless it's scripted
in their Bible.

But I know
There's so much more to find-
Just looking through myself, and not at them.

Still, I know
To trust my own true mind,
And to say: there's a
way through this...

On I go,
To wonder and to learning-
Name the stars
And know their dark returning.

I'm calling,
To know the
world's true yearning-
The hunger that a child feels for
everything
they're shown.

You watch me-
Just watch me-
I'm calling,
And one day all will know.

I saw this show last fall and loved it. I posted about it then. You can read those posts here and here.

I've been playing this song on the soundtrack a lot lately. I have been so utterly disgusted by all the Anna Nicole Smith coverage (Larry King needs to just STOP!!!) and, once and for all, ENOUGH ABOUT BRITNEY SPEARS!!!!

People, WAKE UP! We are occupying an unstable country that is at civil war! Our president is insisting on sending another 20,000+ troops over (a "surge"), he SAYS "to stabilize Iraq." Does anyone really believe that he is not doing this to set up an invasion of Iran next??? Is he going to further reduce our standing in the international community by arrogantly and unilaterally furthering his unjustified and unpopular agenda?! We can't go this alone, and if we continue to pooh-pooh the UN, we are going to find ourselves isolated and unable to regain our position of respect in the international community. People are actually buying into his fabricated illusion that Al-Qaeda = Iran/Iraq. Singling out one or two countries is not goign to make Al-Qaeda go away.

I do not profess to be as knowledgable about all this as I probably should be. But I DO know wthat I am disgusted that Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears are leading news broadcasts, and Iran/Iraq are somewhere near segment 2-3.

The media is feeding us all this CRAP! But what's worse, is that we are taking it! Like the lyrics to the song say, it's as if we are being tought not to have our own thoughts! If it's written, we must accept it and never--ever-- question it. If we do, we are branded unpatriotic, or as not supporting the troops.

And still another...

Posted via cellphone to Moblog.

Haven't heard the story of the significance of all the hearts yet? Read my original posting here.

And another...

Posted to Moblog via my cell phone camera: This was a small cardstock heart that was on a shelf I was straightening at BN. Again, and as always, oddly out of place, as if put there for me.

Haven't heard the story of the significance of all the hearts yet? Read my original posting here.

More Hearts

Posted from cell phone via Moblog:

I work a 2nd job part time at Barnes and Noble, and I was straightening up my register area at the start of my shift and came across this random piece of heart stationary under a pile of paperwork. It made me smile.

Haven't heard the story of the significance of all the hearts yet? Read my original posting here.

A Heart that Heals

This one was stuck to the sidewalk, so I couldn't take it with me... Probably wouldn't have wanted to anyway.

Posted via cellphone to Moblog.

Haven't heard the story of the significance of all the hearts yet? Read my original posting here.

Good Thing

Moblog post- Seein' Martha today. Nobody terribly exciting on (biker guys from some TLC show and a lingerie fashion show-- ah-hem), but it's always fascinating to watch the show come together live. I used to go see the Rosie O'Donnell Show whenever I got the chance, and I've been to Letterman a few times.

For Mom...

Here's an email Dad sent this morning. The email (see below) had a bunch of other photos that I didn't copy, but there was one of a Mountain Pass that looked like Trail Ridge Road in Colorado. Dad said it was Mom's favorite place on earth. I had the photo posted for a while, but for some reason it stopped downloading with the page... Oh well. In your mind, imaging all those gorgeous mountains for the "Lord of the Rings" movies -- that's what it looked like.

Here are a few more images of Trail Ridge I got online...

Mama/Mommy/Mother/Mom

The young mother set her foot on the
path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."

But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she playedwith her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried,"Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the night came, and the storm, and the path wasdark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, andthe children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary.But at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there."

So the children climbed, and when they
reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you."

And the mother, when she lay down at night, looked upat the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for mychildren have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I've given them strength."

And with the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war, and hate, and evil. And the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said: "Look up. Lift your eyes to the light.”

And the children looked and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God."

And the days went on, and the weeks, and the months, and the years. And the mother grew old and she was little and bent.But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather. And at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them."

And the children said, "You will always walk with
us,Mother, even when you have gone through the gates."And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gatesclosed after her. And they said: "We
cannot see her but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence......."

Your Mother is always with you....

She's the whisperof the leaves as you walk down the street;

She's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks;

She's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well.

Your Mother lives inside your laughter.

And she's crystallized in every tear drop.

She's the place you came from, your first home;

and she's the map you follow with every step you take.

She's your first love and your first heartbreak,

and nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, not space...not even death!

____________

Dad also suggested we listen to "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" by the Moody Blues. Here's the video. It's right on! I know Mom's out there somewhere.

Here's a link to the video on YouTube, in case the embedded video isn't working (I've been having trouble getting it to stay up consistently.)

Thinking About Jerry's Family

My dear friend Jerry died 16 years ago this week. I took this photo of him about 2/3 of the way up Longs Peak in Colorado, about 16 months before he died. A small group of us set off to climb the "fourteen-er." Jerry didn't make it to the summit, but two of us did. This has always been one of my favorite shots. I still think about him a lot-- I posted about him a few months ago-- you can read it here.

Recovery Mode

In recovery from last night-- lounging with my baby boy Scutter. If he had been able to use my cell phone camera in this moment, he would have gotten a shot of me lookin' pretty much the same way back at him.

Belated Birthday Celebration

Sent via Moblog Saturday night: Some friends took me out for a belated birthday celebration (the actual day of reckoning was last week in Florida with my family, and involved many frozen rum drinks at Rumrunners in Ft. Myers). Many tequila shots and lots of Amstel Light later, I was dropped at home to sleep it off. It was nice to cut loose a little...

Holy NAKED WIZARDS, Batman!

Kids will never see this play anyway. It is one of my personal favorites, and I always had dreams of playing this part, but I wonder if he can handle it.... I wonder if they're exploiting the "Harry Potter Naked" thing to cover for his limited range?