Musical Dedications

I'm feeling for a little trip down memory lane, but in a musical way. These selections are inspired by those dedications you would hear from time to time on the radio.

For Marcos:


For My Students:


For My Good People:


For John & Sarah


For Luna:

Happy Halloween

Halloween rocks in my neighborhood. I just gave out the last piece of candy. I was thoroughly entertained by seeing all the kiddies dressed up. The highlight occurred when I told a group of young boys that my neighbors around the corner have turned their home into a haunted graveyard. The boys replied with the enthusiastic "Yessss!" and gave each other a high-five and quickly ran around the corner.

Lucky for them and the community that my good neighbors Donna and Eric (see pic below) create a spooky scene every year for all to see. The pics were taken with my digital camera. I'm sure there is an explanation for the eerie waves of light, but I'm saying it caused by the thinning of the veil on Halloween night, that separates our world from those that are on the other side. Break out the Ouija board and ask correctly. Never a good thing to offend the spirits.








This darling boy is Christopher. He is the son of Fernando and Mitchell, that live across the street. This is his first Halloween trick or treating. He was having a ball and loved being dressed up. Can't you tell? And I gave him his first piece of candy for the night. I had to bring it back to me. LOL

Lipstick On The Collar

According to Michael Musto and several folks I actually know, one should never tell a friend that their boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or husband is cheating on them. Michael believes at the end of the day, it is the messenger that gets shot (click on his name for the full post).

Catching your friend's significant other in some slide-off action really sucks. Unless you know for a fact they are in an open-relationship or not really serious. Telling them about an incident of infidelity is truly horrendous, because they will be devastated and embarrassed. Yet, I don't think helping with the lie is something a friend should do.

I think it is all about how you deliver the message and what sort of support you offer after delivering the bad news. The way I see it you would risk losing the friendship or feel like shit when he or she finds out you knew about it and said nothing.

Good people, share your thoughts with how you would handle this sorta situation.

Princess Rei Rei

Princess Rei Rei is a fierce, lovely, going places gurl! We worked together for a few years in very chi-chi jobs, at one of the largest media companies in the world. I don't say this to sound pretentious, but rather to lead into acknowledging what about her makes me dig her so much.

Like myself Princess Rei Rei came from a world where our mothers had to raise their kids alone, and at times didn't have two nickels to rub together. We also share the experience of being queer in an urban, poor, homophobic and drug infested environment. At the end of the day people like Princess Rei Rei and myself had the odds stacked against us.

Yet here she is, well educated, high level corporate position, property owner, mentor, advocate, campaigned for Hillary, well the list goes on and on. I also adore that she makes it her duty to get up in her drags every Halloween, and embrace her inner loca-diva-pussy-meowness.

She gave me the okay to share some of her pics from her recent outing in Key West. Please note the hot shirtless boy was all over my Princess Rei Rei. I started hating on her, jealousy is an ugly thing, but then remembered that she rocks. So all I have to say is you better kaishinnosaku mamita!

Worship Me!

"Platina Luna Blade Runner, an 18-month-old from North Carolina, won the Best of the Best award at the CFA-Iams Championship at Madison Square Garden, beating out 40 other cats and kittens that had been picked as best of their breeds from among 250 competing felines." Source: NY Daily News

I asked my cat Geronimo if he wanted to compete this year. He said "I would rather pass a hairball as big as your ass."

Evil! A simple "no" would have sufficed.

You Can Squeeze People But So Much

"Route 63 is closed in both directions between Beacon Valley and High Street after police said a man was shot at a gas pump and caused accidents.

At 7:34 a.m., the Naugatuck Police Department received reports of shots fired at the Sunoco Gas Station located at 1059 New Haven Road.

According to officials, a man driving a silver vehicle pulled into the parking lot and fired several shots into one of the gas pumps. The shots struck the side of the pump. No one was injured." Source: msnbc news

I can see Naugatuck from my roof.

My How Times Have Changed

Let's Handle This Old School Style - Updated

http://view.break.com/592648 - Watch more free videos

Hmm, what happen to this video? Is this an act of censorship?

I Got The Hots For Ming

I adore Ming Tsai. I find him to be handsome, smart and talented. Click on his site to get his recipes and learn more about him. I'm watching him right now on "Create." He's so dreamy.

I also dig the fact that he has other chefs come on his show and share their talents. This man is a life-long learner and an educator at heart. Me gusta!

Because I Care About My Good People

Times are rough out there and finding a new job is not going to be easy. Here's a little something to help you through these hard times.

I would also add, when things get better, never, ever stop looking for other opportunities. Sometimes the best thing to do with a shitty job, is to replace it with a new employment opportunity. Hey, the universe sends messages to help you move on. Pay attention!

A Fashion Fix

When I was a little gayling growing up in the ghetto, while attending the school of hard knocks, I would turn to Mami's fashion magazines for some temporary relief. Since Nov. 5 is no time soon, I needed me some fierce fashion to help me fantasize about beauty and what is possible. Enjoy!



Click here for more!

Clean Bill of Health?

Most of the folks running in the 2008 Presidential election have provided some level of information regarding their medical/health history. The exception is Gov. Palin:

"Nothing is known publicly about Ms. Palin’s medical history, aside from the much-discussed circumstances surrounding the birth of her fifth child last April. Ms. Palin has said that her water broke while she was at a conference in Dallas and that she flew to Anchorage, where she gave birth to her son Trig hours after landing.

Last week Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for Ms. Palin, said the governor declined to be interviewed or provide any health records."

Dang, she doesn't give much in terms of interviews, only speaks at rallies of supportive GOP members, doesn't want to answer questions posed to her in debates, and won't release information regarding her health status. Who is Sarah Palin?

Source: NY Times

Did You Know?

I had no idea that October is GLBT History Month. I thought our moment of reflection and appreciation occurs in June, but perhaps that is reseved just for pride. Funny that, you would think they would be combined because one supports the other.

Oh and I was surprised, maybe I missed the memo, but I didn't know Stephen Sondheim was gay. Well, I thought he was bi or questioning. See, I never assume anything or I'm just totally naive.

Well, check out the GLBT History Month by clicking here.

Deja Vu All Over Again- Addendum

"What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they are pro-America or anti-America," Rep. Michelle Bachmann(R)- MN (October 17, 2008)

"I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department." Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy(R) (February 9, 1950)

It's like the 50s all over again with scenes of overt racism and calls for a witch hunt. Pay attention good people, things are in a very bad place.

Hmm, I wonder who is going to be given the task of defining anti-American. Lord, knows it can't be based on somebody having an opinion opposite of yours, because, that is anti-American.

Addendum: Rep. Bahcmann, be careful what you wish for, because the "penetrating expose" would have to be focused on all, not just the other side of the room. It would wise for you to make your views fall in line, with the definition of pro-American! If not, repudiate them and just stop any form of free and inquisitive thinking.

Goodbye Luna - We Love You

Good people, our hearts are broken today. Luna was killed by an oncoming car this morning. She was all energy, loved adventure, and was the best cuddle partner. We miss her and will never forget her.

Knowledge Is Power - Snack Origami

I can never find my clip when I need it. No more wussy clips for me.

Freedom of Hate

I'll say this, the coverage of the McCain/Palin rallies put on display the overt prejudice and hate that is alive and well in this country.

I recently got an email from darling Izzy, with the image above. The back of this fellow American's t-shirt bodly announces "NIGGER PLEASE, It's a WHITE House

Oh, and by the way, this image was taken in the sunny state of Florida. Home of Mickey Mouse and Conch Fritters.

Who Caused the Economic Crisis?

So who is to blame [for the economic crisis]? There's plenty of blame to go around, and it doesn't fasten only on one party or even mainly on what Washington did or didn't do. As The Economist magazine noted recently, the problem is one of "layered irresponsibility ... with hard-working homeowners and billionaire villains each playing a role." Here's a partial list of those alleged to be at fault:

-The Federal Reserve, which slashed interest rates after the dot-com bubble burst, making credit cheap.

-Home buyers, who took advantage of easy credit to bid up the prices of homes excessively.

-Congress, which continues to support a mortgage tax deduction that gives consumers a tax incentive to buy more expensive houses.

-Real estate agents, most of whom work for the sellers rather than the buyers and who earned higher commissions from selling more expensive homes.

-The Clinton administration, which pushed for less stringent credit and downpayment requirements for working- and middle-class families.

-Mortgage brokers, who offered less-credit-worthy home buyers subprime, adjustable rate loans with low initial payments, but exploding interest rates.

-Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who in 2004, near the peak of the housing bubble, encouraged Americans to take out adjustable rate mortgages.

-Wall Street firms, who paid too little attention to the quality of the risky loans that they bundled into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), and issued bonds using those securities as collateral.

-The Bush administration, which failed to provide needed government oversight of the increasingly dicey mortgage-backed securities market.

-An obscure accounting rule called mark-to-market, which can have the paradoxical result of making assets be worth less on paper than they are in reality during times of panic.

-Collective delusion, or a belief on the part of all parties that home prices would keep rising forever, no matter how high or how fast they had already gone up.

The U.S. economy is enormously complicated. Screwing it up takes a great deal of cooperation. Claiming that a single piece of legislation was responsible for (or could have averted) the crisis is just political grandstanding. We have no advice to offer on how best to solve the financial crisis. But these sorts of partisan caricatures can only make the task more difficult.

–by Joe Miller and Brooks Jackson Click her for the full story.

Guilty Pleasure

CWOS - Closing Ceremonies

Well good people, to day is the last day of CWOS. It's been an interesting experience for me and Marcos. In the past years we went as spectators. This was his first year showing his work.

The response he's received has been very positive. I've heard words like, witty, intriguing, clever, vivid. I've also heard comments such as, very innovative, so trippy, a lot to get into, love your colors.

I'm happy he got another opportunity to show his work to a larger audience and get such immediate and sincere feedback. While his family and friends are very supportive of his work, I'm sure it's encouraging for him to get a thumbs up from a larger audience.

A highlight of the weekend was when a mother, from this blue-collar/working class neighborhood, brought in her nine year old son to see the show. She encouraged him to look at the art, and talk about which ones does he like the most. She also praised her son to me by telling me he's an emerging artist himself. I thought that was mad cool.

A low-light during the event is that many of the people of color in this neighborhood never dropped in to see the art in our space or the one across the street. I'm thinking perhaps they may feel this is something that one has to be invited to, or that it's for "other" types of people. I put out more welcoming signs to encourage local residents to come in and smiled as they passed by the front door. They pretty much kept going. Interesting that dynamic.

I'm not sure if they did or not, but next year CWOS should do more outreach and community involvement to get everyone excited about coming to see the shows. There is diversity in the artists showing, it would be nice if the event attendees were as well. I'll make sure Marcos says something when he's asked for feedback about the event.

CWOS Day Two - Updated

It's a beautiful day in in Fair Haven, CT. It's also day two of the CWOS. The traffic has been steady and Marcos is getting to connect with the community, and hearing great feedback about his work.

We also got better acquainted with artist Clymneza Hawkins, who is showing her work just down the street from us. Her medium is collage & assemblage with the use of her photography. Really cool vibe, I got off of her. I hope she does well. [Update: Just saw her work. A perfect match between artist and art. Really cool.]

Part of this experience is being able to not only sell your work, but meet other artist and art lovers. This building of community and connection is essential for an artist. Often they work so isolated. I'm happy Marcos is getting a chance to talk to perfect strangers about what he does, and how he does it.

I also appreciate that this year ArtSPACE organized the event, to take place in several neighborhoods, throughout the New Haven area. People are getting a chance to visit places and spaces they might not have gone to, if it wasn't for this event.

By the way all of the images you are seeing in the CWOS posts are pieces Marcos has on view during the event.

I'll keep you posted.

CWOS Up and Running

Well good people, ArtSPACE's 11th Annual City-Wide Open Studio (CWOS) is up and running. This is an amazing event that allows hundreds of artists to showcase their work. What you will see when you come to this event is a wide-range of ideas and use of mediums. Whether it is painting, sculpture, photography, well you name it, you will find something to intrigue you.

As you know, Marcos is showing this year (see below for details). After we set up camp I took some time to visit the neighboring artists spaces set up by the event. I have to say there is some great art laid out for this year's attendees.

Across the street from where Marcos is showing is artist William Meddick. William says this about his work as an artist, "While I paint, the anxieties of daily life fall into a logical and workable order. The painting process allows me to interpret my gut attraction to certain images. The painting captures the essence of how you see and feel at that precise time in your life, my own visual diary." Stop by and visit William, Marcos and all the other artist showing in the Fair Haven area. You won't be disappointed.

By the way, Marcos, has been receiving positive feedback about his work from today's visitors. A highlight of the evening occurred when two Lesbian artists stopped by for a visit. We talked about art, culture, last night's VP debate, and our concerns for the future. Believe it or not we managed to laugh a bit, and the consensus was that we had to make sure we continued to raise our voices. If not now, then when?

I'm looking forward to day two. And, I hope to meet some more local readers of this blog. I actually met a reader at the opening event the night before. Yes, it is a small world.

I'll keep you posted.

Marcos' One Man Show

Well good people, Marcos show is a go for the 11th Annual City-Wide Open Studios event, in New Haven, CT. His one-man show is taking place in the ARTE gallery, located at 19 Grand Ave & Front St., Fair Haven, CT. The opening is this Friday, Oct. 3, from 4 pm - 8 pm. The gallery will be open Saturday (Oct. 4) and Sunday (Oct 5) from 12 pm - 8 pm.

ARTE's location is number FIVE on this map.


I hope to see you there.