As I type this I'm sipping on a glass of red wine and listening to Jim Croce's Greatest Hits. He's one of those talents who was taken way before his time so I'm just jammin'. There are a number of songs on it that bring me back to previous times in my life - a LONG time ago - and a couple that have particular pertinence now. I love that kind of stuff.
What I will comment on tonight, however, is something near and dear to my heart. Or, more accurately, to my tummy. I've visited a number of "chain" hamburger places around the country during my travels - In 'n Out Burger, Fudddruckers, and Five Guys come to mind. I've also been to a number of local burger "institutions" (Hut's Hamburgers in Austin immediately comes to mind). Tonight was my first visit to "Mighty Fine" (visit their website here). Yum.
I realize that most wouldn't consider a big half-pound burger to be "health food" but I'd challenge that a good burger is good "soul" food. My son asked me to rank where our overall burger "experience" fell in relation to other places we've been and I'll admit that I enjoyed it a lot. His chocolate shake was tasty, too, but for me the key is the burger and this was good - not too "foofy" but not too greasy and goopy either. Yum.
The amazing thing about Five Guys is that there were very few of them anywhere just a couple of years ago and they seem to be everywhere now. It's amazing how fast they've grown. Anyway - our dinner tonight had no down side other than thinking too hard about the number of calories involved.
I learned today that one of my fairly recent talks, a talk I did on the Transgender Day of Remembrance in Nov. 2009 at Grand Valley State College in Michigan, is on iTunes. There are two parts and although the image is fairly small (it probably looks good on an iPhone or some other mobil device) it gives a flavor of the kind of speaking I often do. Every event is a little different but it's interesting to contrast this event to the Kodak video that we put online for HRC in 2007 (although it was actually taped in 2005).
Grand Valley State Videos (2009):
HRC Videos (2005):
One humorous thing I notice in the Grand Valley State video is my luggage in the background. It was another of those crazy trips....
I've had some wonderful conversations and reconnections recently with people who in one way or another have affected my life. One was with the woman who encouraged me to turn my notes and writings into a book, edited it, and played a huge role in getting it out there. It was SO wonderful to reconnect with her. We haven't seen each other in several years.
I also spent some time with someone who took care of my son when he needed it. Details are unimportant but this person went out of her way to help him at a time when he really needed an angel, and she was that angel. That was several years ago but her help is something I'll never forget and for which I'll be forever grateful.
And, there's a small group of people from Dell that I still keep in contact with - they were the first people I came out to when I was living here. Despite the fact that we only talk from time to time and that we see each other fairly rarely the warmth of their hugs and the genuine connection that we have is something I'll always look forward to when I get anywhere near them.
Reconnections seem to be a recurring theme in my life at the moment. I don't see that as a coincidence, or as an accident. Certainly, some of the opportunities to find people or do things from earlier in my life have had interesting timing but I've actively worked to keep these connections alive. And, at the same time balancing the future - where it leads, what it holds, who will be involved - remains an active component of my days. All in all - good stuff.
Finally - in keeping with the earlier theme about TV - my son called earlier and encouraged me to watch tonight's Family Guy episode. Apparently, one of the character's fathers has a "sex change". Family Guy is generally pretty raunchy so this can't be good.
It's just at the beginning so he hasn't told anyone yet. Apparently he's a Vietnam Vet and he wants a Cosmo so they all think he's gay....
The funny thing, when I was in college I used to drink Tequila Sunrises. All the other wrestlers ordered beer but NOBODY dared make fun of my colorful little drink. Anyway - this looks like it's going to be "interesting".....
The dad is promising his son that he's not gay. But he just told everyone that he's going to have a "sex change". Oy.
I can't help but admit that I've laughed more than once at this already. That's probably not PC to admit, but it's true.....
But there's a point where things aren't funny. I didn't laugh when they started calling her an "it", though. Or when she found a "friend" at the hotel who threw up for half a minute when he found out. Or when Quagmire got violent over it all. Sigh. Some things aren't funny. (Here's an article about it).
Apparently, the entire episode is already online on Hulu (watch it here).
Now that it's over - I'm glad I don't watch all that much TV.....
Onwards.
1 comment:
I highly recommend going out and renting or buying all of the seasons of LOST. There is a lot of crap on television but sometimes something special comes along and LOST was just that, special. I'm going to miss it dearly.
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