A few days ago I was talking with a good friend I haven’t seen since before the pandemic began. We were catching up and the topic landed on Pride. Neither of us have any solid plans for Pride, given that the pandemic has disrupted Pride season yet again. My friend told me he was celebrating Pride month by revisiting some queer cinema classics. We compared favorites and discussed the movies that were important to us in the past. For us, these movies were more than entertainment – they were an introduction to the queer community. They showed us that we […]
Credible Quacks and Minimizing Mayhem
It started about a year ago. I was outside with my dog one night when I noticed something strange –flashing lights peaking through the thick foliage of the forest behind my house. The forest is part of a wildlife preservation area and I wondered who or what could be in a rural, off-limits area at that time of night. A few moments later a drone emerged from the forest and my question was answered, or so I thought. The drones continued appearing, every night under the cover of darkness. At first I didn’t give them much thought. Yes, it […]
The Case of Close
Glenn Close is a legend. Her career is now in its fifth decade and, along the way, she’s racked up an impressive list of accolades: 3 Emmys, 3 Tonys, and 3 Golden Globe Awards. She’s also been nominated for an Oscar eight times, but has yet to win the entertainment industry’s most prestigious award. Vanity Fair has described Close as “one of the great actresses of our time” and, in 2019, Time magazine included her as one of its 100 most influential people. With a resume like this, it’s safe to say that Glenn Close is an A-lister and living […]
The Man in Photo 247
I have some big post-pandemic plans, but one of the things I’m looking forward to most is going to the movies. Specifically, I’m looking forward to Bob’s Burgers: The Movie. The animated sitcom that inspired the movie has become my own personal happy place during the pandemic and I’ve watched it literally every day. In my last column I wrote about how learning Spanish has become an important part of my pandemic routine; what I didn’t mention is that my Spanish lessons are always accompanied by a few episodes of Bob’s Burgers. It’s a warm, funny, progressive show where nothing […]
The Constant Anchor
Every day begins the same. I wake up, feed my dog, and brew a pot of coffee. Then I cozy up on the couch and begin my daily Spanish lessons, sipping coffee while my mind and body power up and prepare for the day. At first, I simply wanted to brush up on all the high school Spanish I learned and later forgot after years of disuse. It was a fun and easy way to start the day, with the added benefit of seeing tangible progress both within the language app and in my new ability to understand and comprehend […]
The Sound of Freedom
Can instrumental music be offensive? It’s an interesting question because most of our musical objections pertain to lyrics and controversial or objectionable content. Sure, you can think instrumental music is good, bad, or anything in between, but can it be offensive? It turns out the answer is yes. In 1944, Russian-born composer and pianist Igor Stravinsky received a warning from the Boston Police over his instrumental arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The police wrongly believed that there was a law against “tampering” with the national anthem, and Stravinsky pulled his arrangement from the program of upcoming concerts in compliance. […]
Red County Blues
We did it. We survived what has been called the most important election in our nation’s history and it seems the whole country is having a lot of feelings. Some of us are elated; some are devastated. And there are people somewhere in between. We all have our opinions, and we are each entitled to these opinions. It was our opinions that resulted in the last four years and that have decided what the next four years will bring. The big question, though, is how do we move forward in a way that heals deep divisions and unites millions of […]
The Haunted House’s History
The house has stood for decades. No one knows when it was built or what happened to its owners, whom haven’t been seen or heard from in our lifetime. Nature has reclaimed the land and house itself. What once was a porch is now a broken, sagging collection of boards. The beams of the roof have rotted, collapsing inwards to the heart of the house. A “No Trespassing” sign hangs on what is left of the front door. Perhaps the sign has served its purpose because there is no graffiti or any sign of vandalism to be found; or, it […]
In Light of Our Loss
The world changes quickly these days. I’m certain that the world will change several times during the days separating the writing of this article and its publication. As of now, it is less than two full days since the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and our country has entered into a new kind of turmoil. The loss of Ginsburg was felt especially strongly by our community, and we owe her a debt of gratitude for her contributions to gender equality and her notoriously astute dissents of Supreme Court decisions affecting the people of our country. Ginsburg was nothing if not […]
The Next Cycle
Do you remember 2012? If you do, you probably remember articles and memes making the rounds on the internet, claiming that the world would end on December 21, 2012. This is supposedly the last date of the Mayan calendar, regarded as the most sophisticated and accurate of the ancient world. Some took it seriously; others didn’t. After all, there’s always someone predicting the end of the world and so far everyone has been wrong. Even if you don’t remember 2012, you’ve probably heard about the Mayan “prophecy”. Over the last few months, an updated version has been making the […]