Eventual Return of POZ

Alas, I'm preparing to back up to an external hard drive. Then my iMac is going to Arcata for a complete tune up. Luckily the extended warranty covers me until October, 2010!

I'll be back eventually....but before I go, check out this:

Presumed 2010 GOP presidential candidate Sen. John "Defender of Marriage" Ensign (R-NV), who has a 100% rating from the Christian Coalition, has admitted to an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer. Oh, and there's blackmail involved too.

Yes, another heterosexual defender of heterosexual-only marriage has sullied the sanctity of his marriage. If I married another man, could I possible do worse than this clown has done? I don't thing so!

I just bought a 1.5 TB FreeAgent Desk External Drive. The teenaged salesman assured me that this is what I need. Now I'm off on my computer-repair adventure. See you later!

One-day meds and African violet in dog dish.

Hey, Joe, I want my dish back!

Return of POZ--Eventually!

Alas, I'm preparing to back up to an external hard drive. Then my iMac is going to Arcata for a complete tune up. Luckily the extended warranty covers me until October, 2010!

I'll be back eventually....but before I go, check out this:

Presumed 2010 GOP presidential candidate Sen. John "Defender of Marriage" Ensign (R-NV), who has a 100% rating from the Christian Coalition, has admitted to an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer. Oh, and there's blackmail involved too.

Yes, another heterosexual defender of heterosexual-only marriage has sullied the sanctity of his marriage. If I married another man, could I possible do worse than this clown has done? I don't thing so!

I just bought a 1.5 TB FreeAgent Desk External Drive. The teenaged salesman assured me that this is what I need. Now I'm off on my computer-repair adventure. See you later!

One-day meds and African violet in dog dish.

Hey, Joe, I want my dish back!

The Day After a Robbery

.....and on the day after Joe was robbed 

of a constitutional right, Ruby rested.

Protest CA Prop 8 Decision at 6 p.m. Rallies!

Arcata and Eureka Rallies

On Tuesday, May 26, 6 p.m.

Humboldt will rally in two locations today at 6 p.m. to protest the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8.

Today the Supreme Court sent a mixed and troubling message. While upholding the legal marriages of the 18,000 same-sex couples who married in California, the ruling establishes that all Californians are NOT entitled to equal protection of the law. This is a sad day for our state and a setback for the cause of freedom and fairness.

Rally with the community to PROTEST this decision.

Rallies will be held on the night of the announcement in two places--The Arcata Plaza and The County Courthouse in Eureka. There will be some musical entertainment. Participants should bring their own signs.

The rallies will start at 6:00 p.m.

For more information click here.

Prop 8 Decision Protest Rallies Today!

Click here for Protest Rally information.

Humboldt Proposition 8 Rallies, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Arcata and Eureka Rallies

On Tuesday, May 26, 6 p.m.

Humboldt will rally in two locations today at 6 p.m. to protest the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8.

Today the Supreme Court sent a mixed and troubling message. While upholding the legal marriages of the 18,000 same-sex couples who married in California, the ruling establishes that all Californians are NOT entitled to equal protection of the law. This is a sad day for our state and a setback for the cause of freedom and fairness.

Rally with the community to PROTEST this decision.

Rallies will be held on the night of the announcement in two places--The Arcata Plaza and The County Courthouse in Eureka. There will be some musical entertainment. Participants should bring their own signs.  

The rallies will start at 6:00 p.m.

For more information click here.

Pick-Up Tonight

Pick-Up Is Waiting

I just finished reading five William Faulkner novels in a row. I need a break from heavy reading so tonight I will be diving into Pick-Up, the first of five American noir crime novels from the 1950's.

Here's part of a review:

In Pick-Up, Charles Willeford has created a work of psychological suspense that is at once poignant, terrifying, and utterly authentic in its depiction of alcoholic desire and destruction.

This is from the first page:

She had the figure of a teen-age girl. Her suit was a blue tweed, smartly cut, and over her thin shoulders she wore a fur jacket, bolero length. Tiny gold circular earrings clung to her small pierced ears. Her hands and feet were small, and when she seated herself at the counter I noticed she wasn't wearing any rings. She was pretty drunk.

American Idol for me tonight? I think not. Pick-Up is waiting.

$50 Bike and a One Horse Town

Yesterday I called Eureka a one horse town.

I did not mean it and I am sorry I said it. I was just frustrated.

My DSL modem went bad Saturday and I had difficulty finding a new one. The guy at Radio Shack said they were sold out and would have them "eventually". He called the Radio Shacks at Bayshore Mall, Arcata and Fortuna. No, sorry, sold out, on order, sometime soon.

He suggested Staples and I arrived there at 7 p.m. just as a worker was locking the door. That is when I said out loud that Eureka is a one horse town.

I changed my mind after I went to Target. The store had only cable modems (not DSL), but I spotted the above marked-down bike on my way out. It was priced at $50, $50 less than its original price.

The price was so low because it was a return and also because one of its decorative decals was upside down. I did not mind a little prior use and it looks better with all the decals peeled off anyway.

This is the bike I already had. It was a gift from my former partner, the one who sank into an alcohol and amphetamine quagmire.

I wanted a bike with a basket and a horn. He gave me a $900 Eddie Fisher HOO KOO EKOO with Rock Shocks. It has a thousand gears and one needs special shoes to ride it properly. I cannot even figure out how to get air into the tires. The valve stem is a funny size.

Eventually I will have the HOO KOO tuned up so I can have it for special occasions like riding in the Rhododendron Parade. Right now, though, I am busy looking for a black basket, bell and headlight for my $50 wonder.

I sure hope I can find them in this one....er, this fine little city!

My Life Without Television

Nearly seven years ago I decided to conduct an experiment with my life. I stopped watching television. 

The experiment was such a success that I have not watched any television since. The only TV in my life has been unavoidable, second-hand television in waiting rooms, the silent wall-mounted screens at the gym, department store displays.

A friend with good intentions showed up one day with a gift television. I have that TV nicely stored behind the closet doors pictured above. It has been resting there ever since I moved to Eureka. Before that it lived in a closet in Downtown Los Angeles.

I used to watch television nearly every evening. Now I read great novels; I enjoying doing that more than I ever enjoyed TV.

I just finished Faulkner's Snopes trilogy (The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion) and now I am reading his As I Lay Dying. I will follow that with Cold Mountain, Lie Down in Darkness, and The Painted Bird. 

I certainly have not tuned out the outside world. I subscribe to two newspapers and I buy The New York Times newspaper two or three times a week.

The paper above--The Times Standard--is Eureka's newspaper. It covers local news fairly well.

The other paper I receive daily is the San Francisco Chronicle. It is not a great paper, but it does have adequate coverage of state politics. The New York Times has the best national and international news.

I also spend time on my computer. I can find more news there and I like to research things such as HIV health topics. I also write on my computer.

Lying down here reading is what I will be doing in about 30 minutes from now. Ruby is already napping on a chair off camera to the left. There will be a break in a couple of hours for a nighttime stroll around the neighborhood. Then I will continue reading until at least midnight.

I would like to bake brownies too but I need two eggs and I have only one. I will buy eggs at Arcata's farmers market tomorrow so the brownies will have to wait.

I have heard people talk about celebrities dancing and talent contests and a great big wheel that sometimes leads to fortunes. For now, however, I am happy without those things. I will just leave all of that to others and continue to go peacefully through life without television.

Catching the Spring

I had a major choice last Friday. I could either catch the spring by planting a cool weather annual or I could jump start the summer by picking warmer weather seedlings. I decided to celebrate Eureka's beautiful spring by planting these violas.

My timing was perfect. Today's (and last night's) slow, long drizzle made the flowers so happy.

The primroses I had in there earlier served me well, but that last big rain finished them off. I was ready for a change too.

Hey, Ruby, what are you doing in the picture? Oh, I just remembered---the rain has stopped and we are heading out to Elk River Wildlife Sanctuary again. I saw a trail going off to the right that I want to explore.

C'mon, Ruby. Let's go.

Green Lace, a New Pot and Humility

I found this unique African violet at the Humboldt African Violet Society plant sale in Fortuna. One of the members had grown it from a leaf cutting and then priced it for $3.50. I would have paid much more for it.

The sale gave me an unexpected bonus. The plants were in the living room of a two-story Victorian house. I had never been in one before. The stairs of the house are right by the front door; when I stepped in I was able to look straight up to the ceiling of the second floor. I wonder if I will ever be lucky enough to live in a house like that.

I stopped by the pottery sale at College of the Redwoods after the plant sale. I needed a special pot to put my iron ball in. I found it there. That's the pot above with the ball in it. I found the iron ring on one of my walks with Ruby.

After the pottery sale I stopped at a roadside stand for cherries. I thought they would be local cherries, but the man at the table told me they were imported from Stockton. I bought a large basket anyway and they were great.

Then I rounded out the day by taking Ruby for a stroll through the Elk River Wildlife Sanctuary. That's where Ruby taught me one limitation of my Klean Kanteen. I had just pulled open the sippy top when she sped by and kicked sand over everything.

That evening I took the cap off the spout and spilled sand on the kitchen floor. I put the canteen on the counter, pulled open the spout and spilled sand again. Then I held it over the sink and unscrewed the top. Sand spilled into the sink. I pulled the container out of its carrying sling and sand flew everywhere. I ended up with one gritty kitchen.

Ruby keeps me humble that way. Just when I'm feeling really good about something new, she brings me right back to earth. Thanks, Ruby!

Ruby in the Rhododendrons

Ruby Becomes One

Of the Rhododendrons

Eureka's rhododendrons have gone to Ruby's head. First she watched the Rhododendron Parade; then suddenly she realized that she was surrounded by amazing, breath-taking heaps of red, pink and yellow flowers.

How could she not attempt to be a rhododendron? What bully girl could resist merging with the flowers?

Perhaps after the blooming season is over, I will be able to spot Ruby again. For now, however, I am not sure if I am looking at the rhododendrons, at the Rubester, or at both!

Maine Approves Marriage Equality

Maine's Governor Signs

Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Same-sex marriage became legal in Maine Wednesday, as Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill less than an hour after the state legislature approved it.

“I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage,” Baldacci, a Democrat, said in a statement as he signed the bill.

I'm Sipping From Klean Kanteen

 Water, Plastic and Steel

I guess old dawgs can learn new tricks. I have abandoned my Rubbermaid water containers (pictured in the righthand sidebar). Now I am sipping from stainless steel Klean Kanteens.

I made the switch partly because of new information about contaminates leaching from plastic into the water. Also, my supply of the plastic bottles had dwindled from 12 down to one. I left them in restaurants or gave them away or they just vanished.

I won't recycle the last plastic bottle. Those Rubbermaid containers helped me consume hundreds and maybe thousands of gallons of water. They were there when I needed them during gym workouts, sauna sessions, trips in the car, strolls through the city. That last one will stay with me whether I make active use of it or not.

I spotted the steel water containers at the Co-Op in Eureka. Then I shopped the web and found them for a much better price at Evergreen Canteen. Shipping was no extra charge and I paid no sales tax.

I even bought slings for the water bottles. Now I can wear one messenger-bag style and stroll around with one hand free and the other hand on Ruby's leash.

Starting now I'll be sipping from new containers while remaining true to my belief that form can and should follow function. Still, I won't forget those plastic bottles. They served me well.

Gay Marriages Begin in Iowa

I Do Pronounce You....

Same-sex couples in Iowa are filing marriage license applications Monday after a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay unions took effect. Gay and lesbian weddings have already occurred.

Melisa Keeton and Shelley Wolfe were declared "legally married" by pastor Pat Esperanaza during a ceremony in front of Polk County administrative offices in Des Moines. It didn't take long before they were referring to one another as wife.

“I take you, Shelley, to be my lawfully wedded eternal companion,” Keeton said, following the pastor’s lead. “I promise to love and comfort you, honor and keep you, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, and to be faithful to you as long as we both shall live.”

They exchanged rings. They smiled and laughed. Esperanza made the sign of the cross.

“By the power vested in me by God and the state of Iowa, I now pronounce that you are legally married. What God has joined together, let no one come between. Congratulations!”

They kissed. Wolfe’s twin brother signed the marriage license. The whole ceremony took less than five minutes.

Congratultions, Melisa and Shelley!

Johanna Sigurdardottir, First Lesbian Leader

Johanna Sigurdardottir has now been officially appointed the leader of Iceland. She is the world's first lesbian Prime Minister.

Sigurdardottir, 66, a former flight attendant and union organizer, is also Iceland's first female Prime Minister. She married her companion Jonina Ledsdottir in 2002.

Congratulations, Prime Minister Sigurdardottir!

Eureka's Rhododendron Parade

Eureka's 

Rhododrendron Parade

A week back I could not pick a rhododendron out of a police line-up. Eureka's Rhododendron Parade came along just in time for me. It swung by just three blocks away from my house.

This glamorous touch led me to think this would be the local equivalent of the Rose Parade.

Batman and Robin set things straight for me. Ruby and I settled in for a down home affair.

I shouted out "smile for the camera!" but this pretty girl must have been camera shy. She certainly did look good on that tractor.

Many military veterans came out for the parade. These guys proudly carried a gigantic American flag.

Finally, some rhododendrons showed up! Kids always have the right idea.

Here is the Dairy Queen with a sweet smile for Ruby and me.

What? The parade is over already? This band was singing Rubber Ducky and why not? The Rubber Duck Race across the bay is this afternoon. I'll be there for sure.

Eureka's Rhododendron Festival is turning out even better than I had hoped for!

Lilacs, Carnations and Faulkner

Lilacs, Carnations and

Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy

Miss North Carolina USA

....and we have a winner!

"I think that all couples should be able to be recognized legally, and they should be able to enter into a union."

Miss USA Kristen Dalton

Angie Zapata: Rest in Peace

Justice Was Served, Angie.

Rest in peace.