Posts - November 2005

From the other room last night, Matt yelled to me, “Hey, what’s that word I’m trying to think of when someone gets in a bad mood about something fun?” He was sitting at his computer, typing something.

“Um… sour grapes?” I replied.

“No, something else.”

“Spoil sport?”

“That’s not quite the one I’m looking for.”

“Party pooper?”

“Yeah! That’s what I was thinking of. Thanks.”

A couple of hours later I got around to reading his blog.

Yes, I have pink eye. I’m not quite sure how I got it, but I was a little sniffly a few days ago, and I must have touched my eye with a bacteria-laden finger or something. My eye started bothering me Monday night and I realized yesterday morning what it probably was. So I went to the doctor yesterday and he gave me antibiotic eye drops. It should be all cleared up by Friday, which is good, because on Friday night my chorus is going on a weekend retreat about an hour north of the city. Last year’s retreat was a blast, so I’m looking forward to this one.

Of course, I was nervous about my eye all yesterday, even after going to the doctor, because I’m paranoid and a hypochondriac. Matt responded, “It’s just a little pink eye,” a simple sentence that made me realize how silly I was being.

Anyway, so as not to spread it around, I decided to stay home from work today (any reason to take a day off, right?). That, and I’m self-conscious about walking around with a half-closed eyelid.

So, no – no photos. I’m sure you’re all disappointed.

Here’s an interesting post touching on Alito, gay rights, and Kennedy becoming the new swing justice. See the comments as well. Of course, Kennedy’s becoming the swing vote merely means that the Court will move to the right, not that Kennedy will move to the left, but Balkin notes that Kennedy “supports gay rights claims a bit more than O’Connor.” One of the commenters notes that in Lawrence, O’Connor’s concurrence was limited to the issue of equal protection, whereas Kennedy’s majority opinion was broader, focusing on due process and liberty while also incorporating O’Connor’s equal protection argument.

Another commenter thinks that Chief Justice Roberts might be a swing vote on gay rights.

Finally, here’s a piece on Alito and a couple of gay harrassment cases.

“My eyes must certainly be deceiving me. You look fabulous – and I’m not talking the makeup!” – Cindy Taylor, FEMA deputy director of public affairs, to [FEMA Director Michael] Brown, commenting on Brown’s TV appearance on the morning of Aug. 29, when Katrina hit.

Brown’s response: “I got it at Nordstrom’s. Email (FEMA spokeswoman Lee Anne) McBride and make sure she knows! Are you proud of me? Can I quit now? Can I go home?”

This is from some of Michael Brown’s e-mail correspondence, obtained by Knight-Ridder. At first I thought this was a joke. [via Aaron]

I couldn’t resist linking to this, a comment about Jar Jar Binks in response to a pretentious article about the Star Wars movies as postmodern art:

Lucas creates a (he thinks) cutesy character, which is such a major distraction that even his legendary aloofness to Star Wars fans is no match for the overwhelming outcry. He’s the Harriet Miers of the prequels. Lucas comes up with some phony reason to let Jar Jar linger a bit, so as not to have to admit that he was a complete mistake, then quietly lets him slip out the back door.

Jar Jar Binks as Harriet Miers. The mind reels at the possibilities.

Avenue Q is not doing too well in Las Vegas:

Steve Wynn, the casino and hotel magnate, paid $5 million for the exclusive North American rights to the Tony Award-winning show.

He built a theater especially for it in his new hotel, Wynn Las Vegas; hired, at very high salaries, several cast members from the original Broadway company; and revved up a nationwide publicity machine to hype its Vegas premiere last September.

The result?

An orchestra section in a 1,200-seat theater that’s half empty at most performances and a balcony section that Wynn hasn’t even bothered to open yet, theater people in Las Vegas and New York told The Post this week.

According to someone familiar with the balance sheet, “Q” either breaks even or loses money week to week. Advance ticket sales are well under $1 million.

One heavy-hitting Broadway producer, who’s sending one of his shows to Vegas, says Wynn has been grumbling about “Avenue Q.”

“He thinks it was a mistake,” this person says. …

One reason the show clicked in New York was that, from the very first preview, it had great word of mouth.

But theater people who’ve looked closely at Vegas say word of mouth is hard to generate in a town made up of people who are just passing through.

“There isn’t a permanent population,” says a Broadway producer.

“Q” may also be too sophisticated for Vegas audiences, whose tastes generally run to animal acts, Celine Dion and slot machines.

Alito will be great – for crosswords:

I mean, “Alito”? It’s a fantastic name for crosswords — a mere five letters long but brimming with regularly used consonants and vowels (and how generously alternating they are!). Alito, if confirmed, might find himself as the next Eero Saarinen (for years, the hottest architect on the crossword scene) or the next Ernie Els (the hottest crossword golfer, although Michelle Wie is creeping up on him).

Of course, cruciverbally speaking, everything would also have been just fine with a Miers appointment. Except that Miers, one could argue, was an even better find than Alito. Her last name, too, offers a compact, easy-to-intersect set of letters that would work well in crosswords, but the variant spelling of her middle name, Ellan, makes her the double threat that Alito is not.

From the Boston Globe, another article on how Justice Kennedy will be the new swing vote on the Court. This piece says that partial-birth abortion and affirmative action could go down the drain.

I went on our annual chorus retreat this weekend, up in Holmes, NY, about 90 minutes north of the city. We left on Friday night and came back on Sunday. Matt’s in the chorus, too, but he didn’t go, because he was busy with work stuff.

When I was at UVA, I sang with a men’s chorus, the Virginia Glee Club. Being in that group was one of the most emotionally fulfilling experiences of my life. Once I left UVA, I never thought I’d find an adequate substitute, but I seem to have found one in my current group – with the added bonus that we’re all gay. I moved back up north in August 1999 but didn’t discover this group until four years later. They weren’t as well-publicized as the famous NYC Gay Men’s Chorus (whose music is not my style), but two years ago I finally found these guys. And unlike the situation with a college or university chorus, I don’t have to graduate and leave the group. I can stay in this chorus indefinitely.

The retreat was a blast. I stayed up until 4:00 a.m. both nights, which I hadn’t done in forever. On Friday night we all arrived in our various carpools, and a few of us stayed up late playing a couple of games: first this game called Psychiatrist, followed by “I Never” – always a fun one. You learn a lot about the seamier side of people in that game.

On Saturday we had three rehearsal blocks interspersed with meals and free time. One chorus member and I saw a flock (group? pride? gobble?) of wild turkeys. We slowly approached them, and when they saw us approaching they slowly marched into the woods. We followed them into the woods as the guy with me made turkey noises. They weren’t fooled. Eventually the turkeys walked up to and across the nearby road, so we gave up. Why did the wild turkeys cross the road? (Ba-dum-pum.)

Saturday night, after dinner and a final rehearsal, we had an outdoor bonfire complete with beer and ‘smores.

We also had a special guest.

On Friday night, I’d been in the first car to arrive at the lodge, along with my conductor and two other guys. As we were setting up our blankets and pillows in various rooms that first night, this guy showed up to introduce himself and see who was in charge. He worked for the Presbyterian center that owned the lodge and was staying next door to us; he was there to keep an eye on things and see if we needed anything. I directed him to our conductor. After he talked with the conductor and left, the four of us conferred and decided that he’d mildly set off our gaydar. And he was young and kind of cute.

On Saturday afternoon, another chorus member saw him and invited him to that night’s bonfire. So he showed up. Eventually.

At first he lurked. He walked past us a few times while talking on his cellphone, as if he were afraid to join us. But some of our guys finally reeled him in. He was 21 years old and rail-thin with cute dimples. He was a dance instructor and mentioned that he’d once worn his Presbyterian shirt to a gay club. But only a couple of us heard that remark, so eventually, to get his message across, he told us that he was gay. He had this weird way of laughing – he’d collapse onto the ground and let out these high-pitched shrieks on his inhalations. During one laugh he even fell off a bench. It was really disconcerting. He’d been through three sets of foster parents when he was a baby and didn’t get along with his current adoptive parents at all. He’d self-pierced his ear and his nipple. Upon being asked, he said that he’d done sexual stuff before, “but none of that butt shit.” He basically spends his time living up there in the boondocks with no gay friends and not very many other people around. A few people mentioned that he smelled like he hadn’t showered in a couple of weeks.

It was all very bizarre. We’re pretty sure that he didn’t wind up hooking up with anyone. There was one candidate – the last guy to go to bed – but according to him, nothing happened. One would have had to get past the smell, I guess.

On Sunday morning we all had breakfast, packed up, and left. Our car nearly ran out of gas on the way back, but we managed to find a gas station in time. We got back to the city in the early afternoon.

The whole thing was a really nice break from regular life. It’s weird how you can take a week off from work and stay home and not feel like anything has happened, but on the other hand you can go away for less than 48 hours and come back home feeling completely refreshed. I only wish we did this more than once a year.

If you’re a NYC resident who hasn’t yet voted today, here’s a nonpartisan voter guide to tell you who’s running in your district and inform you about the four ballot proposals (two statewide and two citywide).

Interesting tidbit: on election night four years ago (the night both Mike Bloomberg and then-closeted Jim McGreevey were elected), I hung out with a group of people at Mike’s place and watched the premiere of the Buffy musical episode, “Once More With Feeling.” It was the first full episode of Buffy I ever saw. (Note my reference in that entry to James Marsters as “James Marsden.”) At that gathering, I also met my friend Dan for the first time. He’s “East/West’s Mr. 7500.”

Another interesting thing about reading that entry is comparing my old laments about my social life to my much-improved social life today. I’ve even found an “urban tribe” of sorts, just as the old me hoped I would.

This is one of the great things about recording your thoughts and doings: someday, they’ll make great museum pieces!

I’m stealing this from Matt in Chicago. It’s fun.

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears’s 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

We saw The Woman in White last night, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest Broadway show, which previously opened in London. I liked it more than I’d expected to (though to be honest, my expectations were not very high). The lead actress is recovering from cancer treatment, but I thought the understudy was great. The coolest thing about the show were the sets – they’re all computer-generated animated projections. As Matt put it, it was like playing a giant game of Myst.

Like most Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, this one basically has three motifs that are repeated over and over until you can’t get the damn things out of your head.

Damn you, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and your catchy earworms.

Matt’s probably ready to throttle me, because I’ve been singing songs from the movie Camp for the last four days. On Sunday afternoon, on the way back from our chorus retreat, a few of us zoomed down the West Side Highway in a car with the windows rolled down, enjoying the unusually balmy air, ogling rollerbladers, the Camp soundtrack blaring from our speakers. We couldn’t have been gayer. As soon as I got home I had to put on Matt’s DVD of the movie and watch a couple of scenes.

And even though I don’t have the soundtrack, I can listen to some of the music right on the web. I found this, which has three complete songs and a bunch of 30-second clips. I can’t get enough of “The Want of a Nail”… but I really wish I could listen to all of “Turkey Lurkey Time.”

Because I think that’s the one that’s going to drive Matt over the edge.

We’re going to be in Chicago next weekend for a wedding. Does anyone have any suggestions on places/neighborhoods/things that we should see while we’re there?

So it turns out that Underneath Their Robes, a popular dishy blog about the federal judiciary, is written by a guy. Who knew? (And I’m only one person away from him on Friendster, interestingly enough.)

Currently reading: America’s Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Amar. Amar, a renowned law professor, discusses the history of the Constitution almost clause-by-clause, from the Preamble through the most recent amendments. For American history/law nerds like me, it’s an absorbing book, although not a light read.

It’s amusing to read some people’s reactions to the news that the author of “Underneath Their Robes” (a.k.a. Article III Groupie) is actually a man:

This is terrible. I can’t read that site knowing the author is a man.

. . .

…I also agree that it is now kind of disturbing to now know that the pink cascade, and all the sight-ations, and “super-hottie” remarks came from a dude.

. . .

This could definitely be a joke. A3G goes out of its way to call John Robert’s dimple ‘cute’ and his son a ‘hottie’. I don’t think any straight guy would admit to all of this. I can’t decide if this is really funny or really disturbing…

. . .

Strange and/or disturbing = a knowledge of Prada and Gucci’s fall line of women’s shoes that was just a little too in depth … as well as the aforementioned hottie-isms.

. . .

Masturbating to A3G to cease immediately. Crying Game-esque vomiting to begin… now. I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

. . .

I feel as though I need to take a shower.

. . .

Well, this certainly makes this blog lose most of its appeal… now that there’s a face behind this whole charade, the formerly interesting character has vanished; instead, the author is now revealed to be a snarky, elitist, prestige-hoarding *dude*, none of which is endearing.

What a letdown, and what a massive miscalculation on your part. This blog has clearly jumped the shark.

It’s funny that one commenter assumed that since the author wasn’t a woman, it was a straight man. (Couldn’t possibly be a gay man, eh?) And there are clearly guys out there who are so uncomfortable with their sexuality that they’re disturbed by being cyber-attracted to an anonymous woman who’s turned out to be a man.

Some people still have a whole lot of learning to do.

My favorite comment:

I think the “outing” of A3G reveals more about us men who built up idealized fantasies about her than it does about Lat, who I presume had a few women advising him on the nuances of Prada and Italian undergarments. Kudos to Lat for pulling it off for so long.

I think I’m going to take up swimming. I need to get some cardiovascular exercise, and swimming could also give me some definition and tone without being hard on my knees like running would be. As part of Matt’s job, he can get a slight discount on membership at the local YMCA, and I should be able to join as well. I already know how to swim, due to numerous summers at camp.

Does anyone have any thoughts, comments or advice about swimming for exercise?

So Underneath Their Robes is now gone. Or at least made inaccessible. Interesting.

More on Underneath Their Robes (which apparently none of my readers are interested in, because nobody’s commenting about it, but it’s my blog and I don’t care):

- “How Appealing” interviews Jeffrey Toobin, who wrote the piece for the New Yorker:

Q. Was it David Lat’s decision to go public, or did you plan to reveal his identity whether he cooperated or not?

A. This was entirely David’s decision. I actually met with him once, and we had a discussion about whether he should reveal himself. He then decided to go ahead, and we had a formal, on the record interview on another occasion.

- Anonymous blog can’t find judicial funny bone (from today’s Bergen (NJ) Record):

It turns out the voice behind A3G is a 30-year-old assistant federal prosecutor in Newark. His name is David Lat.

Lat, who sounded uneasy with his newfound fame Monday, quickly said he would need to check with his employer this time around before talking. A few minutes later, he politely declined to comment.

Michael Drewniak, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, also declined to comment.

Then, at about 5 p.m. Monday, the blog had been removed.

What that meant for Lat was unclear.

Mystery of Gossipy Blog on the Judiciary Is Solved. Now that the New York Times has picked it up, I guess the story is officially Not Cool anymore.

Last night was the first episode of Commander in Chief produced by Steven Bochco (replacing the show’s creator, Rod Lurie), and changes are already visible:

- New theme music and a slightly longer opening sequence.

- Episode titles no longer begins with the word “First.”

- More humor – someone actually named Rubie Dubidoux?

- House Speaker Nathan Templeton seems slated to become less evil and more three-dimensional. It could have been done more subtly than showing him caring for his diabetic wife, but I liked that scene. I’ve always liked Donald Sutherland and I want to like his characters, and hopefully I’ll be able to like this one more.

I’m glad this show is doing reasonably well in the ratings. It’s not as witty as The West Wing under Aaron Sorkin, but neither is the The West Wing under John Wells. And since WW is probably leaving after this season, I’ll need at least one White House show to watch.

Nick writes about why he still identifies as a Mormon, even though he’s gay.

Reading over some work-related documents, I’ve decided I hate it when people use the word impact as a verb when they really mean affect.

However:

Usage Note: The use of impact as a verb meaning “to have an effect” often has a big impact on readers. Eighty-four percent of the Usage Panel disapproves of the construction to impact on, as in the phrase social pathologies, common to the inner city, that impact heavily on such a community; fully 95 percent disapproves of the use of impact as a transitive verb in the sentence Companies have used disposable techniques that have a potential for impacting our health. It is unclear why this usage provokes such a strong response, but it cannot be because of novelty. Impact has been used as a verb since 1601, when it meant “to fix or pack in,” and its modern, figurative use dates from 1935. It may be that its frequent appearance in the jargon-riddled remarks of politicians, military officials, and financial analysts continues to make people suspicious. Nevertheless, the verbal use of impact has become so common in the working language of corporations and institutions that many speakers have begun to regard it as standard. It seems likely, then, that the verb will eventually become as unobjectionable as contact is now, since it will no longer betray any particular pretentiousness on the part of those who use it. See Usage Note at contact.

I don’t care. I still hate it.

Next time: I rant again people who confuse effect and affect.

Last night on the TiVo, Matt and I watched the famous “Moldavian Massacre” episode of Dynasty. I’d seen that it was coming up on SoapNet, so I recorded it and the following episode. I’d heard all about that famous cliffhanger, but I’d never actually seen it – I started watching the show a few months later, in early 1986, when Sammy Jo kidnapped Krystle and replaced her with her look-alike Rita. (Now that was high camp – but at 12 years old I saw it as suspenseful.)

Now, Matt often makes fun of my fondness for soaps, but he walked in toward the end of the episode last night, sat down on the couch and watched it with me, and then, at the end, when everyone was lying on the floor of the church in a pool of blood, said excitedly, “Did you record the next episode?”

So we watched the first 15 minutes and then started Lost. Interestingly, Dynasty in 1985 aired on ABC on Wednesday nights at 9. Lost currently airs on ABC on Wednesday nights at 9. How TV has changed. Or not so much.

If anyone’s interested, SoapNet is currently airing Season 6, which includes the Krystle/Rita episodes. Next Wednesday and Thursday it airs parts one and two of the two-hour special episode that launched the Dynasty spinoff, The Colbys, which my cousin and I watched almost religiously for two years before it was unceremoniously cancelled, leaving Fallon abducted by a UFO.

Today we fly to Chicago. It turns out we won’t get to see much of the actual city – the accommodations, and the wedding we’re going to, are at a hotel near the airport. But at the very least, we do plan to go to the Chicago Art Institute on Saturday, and we’ll see what else we feel like doing in the time we have.

Enjoy your weekends!

We’re back from Chicago. We had a good time, although we didn’t get to do as much as I would have liked. We were in town (along with my parents, my brother and his fianceée) for the wedding of a family friend, which occupied us on Friday and Saturday nights, and our hotel was right near O’Hare, about a 45-minute ride from the Loop on the blue line. So we only had all day Saturday to spend in the city.

First we went to Millennium Park, where we took a photo of our reflection in the Cloud Gate sculpture. Then we walked down to the Art Institute, where we sought out Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (I could practically hear Mandy Patinkin singing as we stood in front of it) and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, in addition to wandering our way through much of the museum’s collection. But the very first exhibit we saw was the collection of Thorne Miniature Rooms, which I first saw ten years ago and is one of my favorite museum exhibits anywhere. (Here are someone’s photos of them that I found on Flickr; here’s someone’s photo from farther away.)

After we left the museum we didn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t have minded walking up Michigan Avenue and maybe going up to the top of the Hancock Center, but I did that 10 years ago and Matt didn’t want to do it. So I suggested we check out Boystown, the gay neighborhood, but because we’d planned poorly and I hadn’t bought a guidebook or done much research beforehand, I decided I wanted to find a bookstore so we could do some research for free. We soon stumbled upon Borders on State Street (right by the Ford Center, where Ana Gasteyer is currently starring in Wicked; we wished we’d gotten tickets for a Saturday matinee). I figured out how to get to Boystown, so we took the red line up to the Addison stop and walked over to North Halstead.

Halstead was pretty empty, except for the occasional boy-boy couple walking along. We soon found Gaymart, a store I immediately fell in love with. It has an amazing collection of action figures, including famous historical figures (how cool would it be to have Male Nurse, Oscar Wilde and Pope Innocent III go on an adventure?) and a “Crisis on Infinite Earths” collection, which practically made me explode in excitement.

We walked past Sidetracks and a few other bars/clubs, but as it was 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon they seemed mostly empty or closed. We continued walking until we got to Belmont, where we went back over to the train and then headed back to the Loop. After having a little snack it was time to head back out to the hotel for the wedding.

So, although we could have planned things better, it was a nice day. And it was great to get away for the weekend, spend a little time with the family, and go to a wedding of an old family friend.

Our next trip is coming up in less than two weeks – we’re going to Montreal for my brother’s engagement party. (His fiancée is from there.) I’ve never been to Canada, and I hear Montreal is great. We’ll probably have more time to see some sights, and we’ll definitely plan better this time.

An obnoxious letter appears in the most recent issue of the UVA Alumni News magazine, which I received in the mail today:

Content Questioned

It would seem there is a disturbing trend of pro-gay advocacy in Alumni News. In the class notes section, which I always look forward to reading, I was disturbed to read a proud “new parents” announcement of a girl to a pair of men.

Some on your editorial staff may think that this is progressive, politically correct and reflective of changing attitudes toward the family and marriage. To me, it is an insult to the core of society: the family. In the sad wake of the sexual revolution, there is already tons of data by sociologists that children raised in a home with a mother and father with whom they have a biological connection are the most stable, and less likely to fall into adolescent delinquency, substance abuse, teenage sex, etc. If the aim of the University is to serve society, then we need to foster an environment that helps strong citizens to grow and develop, and not just benchmark the steps taken by different persons as if any choice is equivalent.

I ask you if it is reasonable to endorse with normalcy the actions of a fringe of people that affect the foundations of society.

Barbara Ellen Spencer (Col ’83)
New Delhi, India

This makes me so angry. I’ve written the following letter, which I might e-mail to her. I think I need to sleep on it first. [Update: I emailed it to her and to the alumni magazine this morning.]

Dear Ms. Spencer:

I was greatly angered and offended by your shameful letter in the most recent issue of the UVA Alumni News.

How dare you, Ms. Spencer. How dare you exploit one family’s moment of joy as a soapbox for your own political concerns. Exactly who do you think you are?

I assume that you’re an expatriate and that India is not your home country. I would expect someone who lives outside one’s own country to be tolerant of the different types of people in this world – to be able to see the world through the eyes of someone other than yourself. But apparently that’s not the case.

It’s strange that you would see an adoption announcement by two men as an example of “pro-gay advocacy.” There are marriage and birth announcements in newspapers and magazines all over the world every day; should these be taken as examples of “pro-heterosexual advocacy”? No; they are simply a result of people wanting to share their joy with the world. Rather than trying to be “progressive, politically correct and reflective of changing attitudes toward the family and marriage,” it’s more likely that the alumni magazine merely received a notice of a family’s adoption and did what they would normally do – they printed it.

Your letter implies that children raised by same-sex couples are more likely than other children to “fall into adolescent delinquency, substance abuse, teenage sex, etc.” Funny – it’s always seemed to me that suburban teenagers from happy heterosexual two-parent families have no problem becoming delinquent, abusing substances, or engaging in sex. I’m not sure what studies you’re referring to, but for every study you cite, there’s another study showing that children raised in same-sex-parent households grow up to be just as healthy as children raised by parents of different genders.

Your statement that a “fringe of people [can] affect the foundations of society” is paradoxical and epitomizes the paranoia of those who, frightened by anything that seems different to them, exaggerate perceived threats. How can such a “fringe group” as gays and lesbians, who likely make up, at most, five to six percent of the population, have such a deep effect on society as you claim they do? You’re merely using gays as a scapegoat for the numerous problems that exist in American society today.

I fail to see anything about being raised in a same-sex-parent household that gets in the way of becoming a “strong citizen” who can “grow and develop.” On the contrary, it seems to me that you’re the one who has some growing and developing to do.

In your letter, you state that the adoption announcement is an “insult to the core of society: the family.” On the contrary, Ms. Spencer: your letter is an insult to me and the millions of gay men and lesbians in the world who are trying to form our own families and live our own lives just as everyone else in the world does, with all the daily challenges and triumphs this entails.

The male couple’s adoption announcement to which you refer is not an insult to “the family.” No, Ms. Spencer: your letter is an insult to their family.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Sincerely,
Jeff XXXXX
CLAS ’95, LAW ’99

I took the day off from work yesterday because Matt and I had matinee tickets to The Odd Couple. We ordered the tickets a couple of months ago and sat in the very last row of the balcony (which was fine, because the theater isn’t that big and we were in the center section). It wasn’t an earth-shattering production or anything, but it was cute. Matthew Broderick as Felix was unfortunately the weakest link – he basically reprised his Leopold Bloom shtick from The Producers (affirmed for me when I saw a commercial for the new Producers movie on TV this morning). It was a fun afternoon at the theater, at least.

I love this time of year. The day before Thanksgiving two years ago we saw a matinee of The Boy From Oz, and there’s the whole holiday thing in the air. This is the best part of the holiday season – the beginning.

Maybe it’s because I’m Jewish, but for me, the holiday season isn’t about leading up to Christmas – which, of course, is only a 24-hour holiday. The holiday season for me is about the season itself. We’re not anticipating a holiday – this is the holiday, a month-long holiday.

Soon we’re heading out to New Jersey to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Have a good T-day everyone – and a happy holiday season!

I just discovered this, which is being released on December 13: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Complete Recordings. “Released for the first time on CD, the complete score for the first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy contains more than 180 minutes of music on three CDs plus a DVD-Audio disc of the entire score in Surround Sound.” I am so getting this. I imagine the complete recordings for the other two films are forthcoming.

Just because: here’s the opening theme music to The Colbys, the 1985-87 Dynasty spinoff I recently mentioned. Note that the first few seconds are identical to the beginning of the Dynasty theme, but then it goes off in a completely different direction.

Rent, 10 years later.

It’s getting past time to recap my Thanksgiving weekend. I was off for five days, the longest vacation from work I’d had in a long time, and on Sunday night I was feeling something I hadn’t felt in a long time – sad. Sad to be going back to work the next day. (Fortunately I bounced back Monday morning.)

Wednesday afternoon, as I’ve said, we saw The Odd Couple.

Wednesday night I went out to dinner with Matt P. and his boyfriend Marc, then had drinks at their apartment.

Thursday morning we fast-TiVo’d through the Thanksgiving Day parade (the M&M-balloon debacle bumped off the scheduled pre-taped performance from Wicked on CBS).

Thursday afternoon we made trips to K-Mart and the Astor Place wine shop before heading over to Port Authority, where the DeCamp bus area was so crowded that we had to stand on the bus ride to New Jersey. Once there, we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, mainly cooked by my mom.

Friday afternoon we saw Rent, the movie. I missed “Today 4 U” because I had to step out and use the bathroom. I wasn’t too impressed with the movie; what annoyed me more than anything else was that certain lines that are sung during the musical were spoken in the movie, for no apparent reason. Also, nearly nine years after seeing the Broadway show, I realize how dumb the plot is. And what was with “Take Me or Leave Me” being sung at an engagement party? Why do people who adapt other people’s work feel the need to change things that don’t need to be changed? Despite generally being annoyed at the change, though, I did think the scene was cute. And I’m still in love with Anthony Rapp, and Adam Pascal looked kinda sexy.

Friday night I went out for drinks in Chelsea with my friend JP and his friend Duke. It had been ages since I’d last been out in Chelsea. I met them at Gym and we eventually went to G. After we parted ways, I walked home. I took great pleasure that I live close enough to Chelsea that I can walk home from there. I’ve officially been a New Yorker for five months, but I still don’t think it’s totally hit me yet.

Saturday I stayed in (Matt actually had to convince me that it’s okay to do nothing on vacation) and watched about five hours of classic Days of our Lives episodes on SoapNet featuring Bo & Hope. Matt alternately peppered me with questions about various characters and silently made fun of me. But for me it was a real treat to see characters and hear incidental music that I hadn’t heard since the mid-80s.

Early Saturday evening I had dinner with Jon, who happened to be in the neighborhood. Later that night Matt and I went out to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Jon, JP, Michael and Andy. It was my first Harry Potter movie (I’d read the first book several years ago but that was it). I enjoyed it. Rupert Grint is cute. So is Robert Pattinson. And Daniel Radcliffe has developed nicely. Three words: hot tub scene, which simultaneously left me aroused and disturbed. (Uh, he’s only 16!)

Afterwards, we went to XES for drinks.

Sunday I started out bored but at some point decided to finally watch some of the features on the two Return of the King appendix DVDs (I’ve only had them laying around for a year). Then I re-watched the first hour or so of the movie itself, trying to fight off end-of-vacation sadness. Then Desperate Housewives, more movie, some reading, and bed.

And now: only about 52 hours until we leave for Montreal!