Bill and Kent's Place

College of Idaho Fundraising

2009-11-12T01:43:18Z

I can always tell when the College of Idaho calls for their fundraiser. They will call and the caller ID will say "C of I". I don't answer. Then, no more than one minute later, another phone call comes through. I presume the first one was for me. The second call I presume is for Kent.

I never answer. It's not because I don't like my former college. In fact, I have very fond memories of my college. It's all a matter of respect.

I respect that they have given me an education. I respect that there are a lot of experiences in my life that in indirect ways, the college has had an impact on. I respect that they have given me the foundation of the life I have today.

But they do not respect my life that I have with Kent. They respect me... to a point. And that point is what they want me to be, meets, what I am. Fantasy versus reality. It is as wide as an ocean.

To this day, they have done nothing for gay students at the College of Idaho. I don't mean to sound like a mean bastard with bad feelings, but I'm quite honestly sick and tired of them asking me for money when they give nothing what so ever in return to students who may need some support, if nothing more that they exist on campus. I'm not asking for much. I'm asking for an acknowledgement of three things:

that people like me exist
that people like me have indeed attended the College of Idaho
that they try to make gay students on campus feel more welcome (anything at all would be an improvement, A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G)

But this is not the case. So when I see them calling me, and see that the caller ID is "C of I", I don't answer. I suppose I could answer and unload my wrath upon some 18 year old volunteer student who would have no idea what the hell I was talking about, but that wouldn't really be fair. I'm a force to be reckoned with. And they are just starting their lives. I remember what it was like to be them.

Someday, perhaps, there will be truth that will shine through to people who don't want to acknowledge the existence of others who don't fall into their small view of the world. I guess we can hope. Until that time, I will continue to ignore the calls from people of lesser vision.

Home at Last

2009-11-11T11:58:02Z

It's always nice to get home. When we unpacked, we had some surprises. I guess we forgot our phone chargers (no big deal), and my exercise watch that syncs up to my chest strap to monitor heart rate (big deal), and Kent's chest strap for his Garmin unit that measures a lot more than mine (another big deal). Those will be expensive to replace I suppose. I think they were in the folds of the bedspread and just got overlooked. We have the hotel staff looking into it, but you know how that goes. We will probably never hear from them.

Other than that hick up, it was really a nice trip. It was the first trip since my bypass operation, and marked another milestone in my recovery; independence. On the last day, I took a taxi to the Lincoln Memorial, walked from there to the Vietnam Memorial, walked to the World War II memorial that I had not seen before in it's finished form, and from there to the Holocaust Museum, and on to the Jefferson Memorial. In all, I'd say 5-6 miles of walking! That's a lot for me.

That night we went to dinner and on the way back decided to walk back to the hotel, which was only five blocks. But after two blocks, I had to stop every block, grab hold of something, and just catch my breath and slow things down a bit. I had exhausted all my allotted energy for the day. I'm glad I don't do that too often.

And now, I face a mountain of work at my job, right after my cardiac rehab class this morning. I have nine more sessions to go and I officially graduate. After that, I'm declared rehabilitated, aside from having to see the cardiologist ever so often, but I can live with that. And of course, exercise every day.

I'm off to my class. Have a nice day!

Reflections on Washington, D.C.

2009-11-08T14:35:26Z

We took a few days off and went to Washington, D.C. for a few days. We left Hartford on Friday and will leave on Tuesday.

We're having a great time seeing all the sites again, but this time, it's not the first time we've been here, so we can pick and choose our favorite places. Oddly enough, one of my favorite places is Arlington National Cemetery. I know a lot of you are asking, "WHY?". Well, because of my life philosophy. I believe life is a mixture of a lot of things; happy, sad, wonderment, thoughtfulness, hard times and good times, friends, family, birth, and death, and what all of those mean to each person. It's different for everyone.

I know people who go through their entire lives being happy. Just happy. And when something bad happens to them in their lives, as it eventually will, surely God will take care of it. He won't. It's just you and your friends and your family. I'm actually good with that. I'm also good with the fact that they are happy and don't want to explorer anything out of that mystical sphere that they have going on. Good for them!

But everything in my upbringing, my life experiences; the loss of so many of my friends at an early age, so much death in my early years with my family, and this year, confronting the fact that this could have been my last year.... all these things have made me. I own then, whether I like them or not.

So I had no problem going to Arlington to be in the company of men and women who have shaped our nation, with the vast majority of them dying a horrible death alone on some battlefield. I don't talk much when I go there. Silence is for them. And also, I'm somewhat overwhelmed with a mixture of profound sadness; not for them, but for the fact that as a human race, war seems to be necessary for some insane reason. And, I'm grateful for them, that they "gave the last full measure of devotion". And as long as we remember, and people like me remember their sacrifice, they will not have died in vain.

We visited John F. Kennedy's grave site, and just a short walk away was Bobby Kennedy's grave, and just a short walk from that, the same distance, was Senator Edward Kennedy's grave site. It was hard to see that. People were there. No one spoke. Many were crying. I guess that is what we should tap into more. If we did that, perhaps we wouldn't be so cruel to each other as days go by.

Someone remarked online last night, "Why do you think our country isn't free?" I quickly typed that freedom isn't freedom unless every single one of us have the same rights as everyone else. That is the definition of freedom. We don't live in a country shrouded by freedom. We live in a country where the majority have their rights, and others don't. Some people like it that way, obviously. Just look at what happened in Maine last week. But, if that's the way you like our nation to be, don't call that freedom.

This is not what those men and women in Arlington Cemetery died for.

Marriage Equality in Maine

2009-11-03T12:20:08Z

I will be thinking of the people of Maine today. The legislature and Governor passed a bill making marriage equality for gay couples a reality.

Today, the voters show up at the polls to approve or veto that bill. I'm hoping the people of Maine will vote for fairness. I'm hoping they will vote for equality and allow gay couples to marry. I'm hoping they won't strip away the civil rights of a minority because of bias. I'm hoping they will allow gay and lesbian couples to achieve part of the American Dream.

On the ballot, Question 1 reads: "Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?" The answer MUST BE, NO.

Recovery

2009-10-23T21:29:03Z

I had an awesome appointment with my cardiologist this afternoon. He listened to my heart and lungs, and just said, "Ahh! WONDERFUL! STRONG!" He then asked me if I was working hard at getting back. I said, "You have no idea." He said, "I do have an idea. I can hear it."

I feel good right now!

Priorities

2009-10-23T16:57:41Z

It amazes me how one single event in a person's life can alter the priority list for that person. We all have priority lists; what is the most important thing to you, and the least important. And between those two extremes, are all the things that we do in our daily lives.

Take me for example. I used to love blogging and talking (bitching) about social issues. I still love blogging when I have time and feel up to it, but social issues have really dropped on my list of priorities. It's not like I'm in a lot of pain anymore, and my progress with my cardiac rehab program is going well. In fact, in the last week, after months of really hard work, I can finally measure that I have a bit more stamina at the end of the day. Today, I see my cardiologist. After that, I will go home, and it's entirely possible that I will feel up to taking a nice long, fast-paced walk after I get home. And all of this after I took my cardiac rehab class this morning, and worked most of the day. A month ago, when I got home after all of that, I would have been wiped out. So, I see progress.

But I've also noticed that what is important to me has shifted. It's as if I'm looking at the world now through different eyes. I'm online less now with the social networks. I suppose I should care about the social issues more. I am an activist after all. But somehow, my heart just isn't in it (no pun intended). I think some of that has to do with our society as a whole right now. We seem much more disconnected with each other and much more withdrawn individually. Perhaps that's because so many of us face a less predictable future with jobs and health care in general. With me, I think it's few things.

First and foremost, I could have died. That was a wake up call to me of all the things I took for granted and just how easily life can go out with the blink of an eye. Life is so fragile. I'm lucky. I have a doctor who picked up on warning signs that many doctors would have missed. Also, so much life can simply be missed by being angry at how society looks at you because of the color of your skin, your sexuality, or any other thing about you that is different. I'm tired of being angry because I don't have that luxury any more. Nor should I. The world will do what the world is going to do whether I like it or not, with or without me.

That being said, I am happy about the hate crimes bill that is now on it's way to the President for his signature. This was years in the making, and even today, there are many in Congress who wanted it to be it's own bill so it would die again. But this time, it's attached to the defense funding bill, and that has many on Capitol Hill bitching and moaning that they are being forced to pass a bill that will collect statistics and add time to sentencing if you beat up or kill a gay, lesbian, or transgendered person. In other words, we are no longer invisible. They now have to acknowledge that hate crimes are actually something that a large part of my community fear and have had to live with for a very long time. I also have hope that progress can be made on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the Defense of Marriage Act. Both of them should be abolished, and my hope is that will happen sometime in the next 3 years.

But happen or not, I think about myself and my family now first and foremost. Everything else is gravy. If that makes me a selfish bastard, I can live with that. I've paid my dues and I've done my fair share of marches and protests.

Remembering Baxter

2009-10-23T00:13:14Z

Baxter passed away last Friday. This is a tribute to him.

The Politics of Being Patient

2009-10-19T10:35:08Z

I thought awhile about what to call this entry. I thought "Circle Jerk Politics" would be appropriate, but might offend some. Or maybe "broken promises", or "Obama, just another politician."

I guess it doesn't matter what you call the entry. I've come to this conclusion: politicians are about as useful as pimple on the end of your nose. You can see it, it looks awful, and when you try to treat it, it hurts, but doesn't do anything.

Let's take this speech that President Obama gave to the Human rights campaign fund: On YouTube

Part I
Part 2
Part 3

The President showed up at a dinner sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and organization that hasn't been able to get the President to do ONE DAMNED THING for equality.

When the President entered office, he was asked how he was going to handle all the issues he faces. He answered, "I believe that The President ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time." So here we are months later. He's managing two wars, health care, and many other issues. This is why I didn't pressure him to deal with our issues immediately. After all, our community has always been a political football used to gain votes when necessary. I was sure this President was different. I knew he wouldn't use us to gain votes for the radical right, but I thought he'd do something, anything, to help us in some way.

He has done NOTHING.

And his campaign had the gall to ask me for money. I simply threw it back in their face.

And then he shows up to a dinner telling us to be more patience. Well, I'm done with the likes of him, Barney Frank, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, and all the rest of the so called "gay rights organizations" who can't seem to get jack shit accomplished. Yes, I will be cancelling my membership to all of them. I pay them to get results, and I see nothing.

The President has said he wants to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell as soon as Congress passes a bill. He's the Commander in Chief. He could do it within hours by this thing called an Executive Order. He alone has the power to enact it, and then tell Congress to catch up. But he won't. Why? Simple. POLITICS. He doesn't want to be seen as being too pro-gay to the right wing whackos that never want brave gay Americans to serve our country in the military. In other words, HE'S USING US.

On hate crimes legislation, it looks as if Congress may pass the first ever hate crimes legislation, and the President said he would sign it. What would the bill do. It would give federal officials the ability to track hate crimes on a national level. I haven't read the bill, so I don't know if extra sentencing time is mandated in the bill, nor do I know if hate crime tracking is mandatory for federal officials. But I do know that Congress did this with little help from this President. Who did the most work on advancing this bill? The late Senator Kennedy.

It will be the same for the Defense of Marriage Act. This President won't lift a finger to overturn it. Yet, during his campaign, he promised to help overturn the law. He said he would do it because, his words, "the law is unconstitutional", meaning, it violates the separation of church and state, targets a specific group of people for special consideration (in this case, the blocking of equality), and violates the 14th Amendment. And when he became President, didn't Obama take an oath to defend and UPHOLD the Constitution of the United States of America?

It would seem that this President can not walk and chew gum at the same time.

In terms of the President talking to the Human Rights Campaign Fund, while they all cheered on his little talking points of inaction; Barney Frank saying that our march for equality was a waste of time and that we would be better off calling our legislators, in light of that, I think this entry should be called "circle jerk politics". In the end we are all supposed to feel better, but nothing was accomplished.

You know what happens when you call your legislator? NOTHING. Someone will answer, you tell them what you believe, and they will tell you, "I'll let the Senator (or Representative) know. Thank you for calling." You then become a mark in a book (maybe). But no one will call you back, until they want money.

Well, I'm done with it, and I'm not going to give one more dime to any of the so called gay rights groups. I'm not going to campaign for another President or legislator. I'm a gay activist. Sometimes, that means making them earn your support. They haven't done that. None of them.

And when Don't Ask Don't Tell is repealed, the hate crimes law is passed, and the Defense of Marriage Act goes down in flames, ALL OF THESE BILLS will be passed because it made someone look good, or money changed hands, or it garnered votes because "now is the time for equality."

Is there ever a time when equality should not see the light of day? Apparently yes; when it won't be popular and no one will gain political points for it.

Bill on Oxycontin

2009-10-04T19:23:12Z

This is from a conversation I had with Kent three days after my double bypass surgery. I guess it's kind of funny to read now, but I was so doped up with Oxycontin, Morphine, and Percocet, that I could hardly type.

Date: Mon Jun 08 06:21:51 PDT 2009
Subject: Chat with Bill

9:09 AM Kent: Hey are you there?

Bill: ues
yes

Kent: Do you feel like Skyping?

Bill: kind of
o dpm
i don't think do

Kent: OK
What about a phone call?

9:10 AM Bill: bad day oday
i ould do that

Kent: I'll call right now

Bill: but i can' find my pnone
i don't kno where it iw

9:11 AM Kent: it should be ringing

Bill: it's ringing but I can
't

Kent: can you hear it

Bill: reac it

Kent: OK
Let's just chat this way

Bill: this dau is fucked up

Kent: What's the problem?

9:12 AM Bill: lots of pain thi morning
and they put me on a lot more pain management

Kent: Worse than yesterday? I guess so probably, because you didn't
complain about it too much yesterday
9:13 AM More oxy?

Bill: oy ande eougle percocet

Kent: Ohh!
You must be pretty groggy!!!

9:14 AM Bill: o
,i'm, so tied

Kent: Well, maybe I should let you rest

Bill: i yhink do
can'g gtype

Kent: If you feel up to it, visit our website. I made a couple of posts
and you'll see some nice comments there

9:15 AM Bill: o vsm
y
i can't

Kent: Here's a link. Just click on it
http://billandkent.com

Bill: they have billandkent.com blocked bycause they find it objctionabl

Kent: Really?
Oy vey!

9:16 AM Bill: ypi
yes
i'll show ou when you dome in

Kent: Well, I'll print copies and bring them to you when we visit this afternoon

Bill: they are Catholic and I am a gay man

9:17 AM Kent: Something to blog about....
When you get out

Bill: i', m noy surprised

Kent: In fact, maybe I'll mention it now if you don't mind

Bill: o
9:18 AM i'll ssent you he imag of it

Kent: Sounds good. I'm making a post right now.

Bill: mayb uf u =i can fugure that out

9:19 AM Kent: command-shift-4 will let you capture an image. It will
save it to your desktop as "Picture 1.png"

9:20 AM Bill: just sent it
9:21 AM to your uconn account

Kent: Got it

Bill: se what I MQN/
9:22 AM i can't type

Kent: Yep. I'll print out the post and any comments before I come too
You take it easy
I'm going to let you rest
but I'll keep Google open in case you want to chat later
I love you

Bill: ok
you coming up later/

Kent: Yes
9:23 AM We'll be by early in the afternoon
Dad thinks he may be able to join us

Bill: OK. I'll try and ge here'
they hae crap planned

Kent: Well if you're not there, that probably means they'll have you
walking around the floor
9:24 AM Take it easy and rest

Bill: yup

Kent: We'll see you around 1:00pm
bye

Bill: pl
ok

Graduation

2009-10-03T20:09:00Z

My next session with my cardiac rehab program will be my last. I will be graduating. I've had 20 sessions (the program is a 36 session program), but insurance will only cover 20 sessions. I could continue to go use the equipment, but they can't wire me up to the computer because then it would be "on record" that I was there. That's ok if I square it with the hospital, but the insurance company will not cover it at all after this point.

So, I will probably just get on my own exercise program at this point: walking, hiking, etc. And maybe eventually I'll join a gym again when I think it's safe. My problem is keeping in my target heart rate range without overdoing it. I tend to push myself too hard, they tell me.

Work is different now. I'm more on a flex schedule and work as I can. I think my days of working in one continuous period of time are over for me. I would get to work around 7:00a.m. and work until 6:00p.m. or so, non-stop, except for enough time to rush out, buy a sandwich to go, and bring it back to work. I never took breaks, and I usually worked through lunch.

Now, I work at home here and there. When I'm at home, I'm usually online with work at 7:30a.m. or so, and will work until around 10. Then I lie down for 15 or so minutes, and work some more. Around 4:00, my stamina is pretty much gone, but I don't feel so bad about it really. Working at home is more concentrated work. You don't get interrupted, except by the occasional cat that needs attention. And, if the weather is nice, I will take a walk around the block for exercise. So now I'm incorporating more activity in my day. That's a good thing.

I think things are changing in America in a lot of ways. People are still losing jobs and more and more people are just doing what they can do to survive. It's a hard time for our country and I honestly don't think Washington, D.C. realizes what it's really like out in the real world. And those of us who still have jobs are somewhat in limbo. Our jobs are different now. We take up the slack of those who were let go, or, we eliminate entire functions in the job. We become leaner, except in what we eat.

And speaking of eating, it's time for me to get ready for dinner. We are going to Max Amore for dinner tonight. It's a nice restaurant, but I only eat lean these days.

In Limbo

2009-09-21T00:20:38Z

You ever feel like you are stuck in a place, and can't get out of it? It can be a state of mind, or a physical place. I feel like that now. Physically, I guess I'm doing better. Cardiac Rehab is going along as it should be, I guess. Last Friday was the first time that they actually pushed me to keep my heart rate in that magical "target zone". Afterwards, I went to the restroom, changed into my business clothes, and went to work.

I'm trying to keep things normal, but it's all artificial to me. I still don't know my body anymore. It's like I'm outside looking at some man going through these motions. All the while, I'm thinking, "I could do that better.... faster.... stronger.... than him." Yet, it's no one else but me. I'm confronted with the reality that this stranger that I hardly know may be me for the rest of my life.

I should feel lucky, but I don't. I suppose I do feel lucky that my existence continues to be, that I literally go on. There's something to celebrate in that. The rest of my life remains the same: my home, my cats, Kent, work. Yet, it's as if this life belongs to someone else. This person who hurts every time I move, who has to be careful when he takes a walk as though he's an eighty year old man, is not me.

Today we went to Mashapaug Pond. Kent suggested that we go out to Rock Point, something that he wouldn't let me do until today. I wasn't sure about it either, but I did it. It took me forever, and I had to rest along the way, but I finished it. I thought to myself, "It's just like cardiac rehab.... one step ahead of the other." It was so nice to be outside again and actually going to a place that I love. It was both happy and sad for me.

I'm happy to be alive and able to do this again. I'm sad that I don't feel that I'm the same man that I used to be. Is this a case of male ego? I think it's more profound than that. It's my whole identity.

Our home is a colonial that has frames around the garage. Saturday I painted the frames again. It took me three hours, but I did it. Today, I could hardly move, and all through my chest, I felt like I had broken something. That's one reason I wanted to get out. I wanted to push ahead, as painful as it all is.

Onward....

After our Mashapaug hike, we went to Yankee Spirits up in Massachusetts. It's a very large liquor store that is open on Sunday. I treated myself to a bottle of 30 year old Pierre Ferrand Selection des Anges Cognac. It's one of the finer things in life that I afford myself from time to time. Life is to be enjoyed as much as possible. Don't you think?

Awful Night

2009-09-14T11:02:33Z

It's a rough Monday morning today. I had a bad night with nightmares, waking up in a cold sweat, and feeling like I was going to have a panic attack.

And unlike most dreams where you don't remember them after you are awake, I remember everything of this dream; the end of the world; being a witness to a brutal murder and having to lay with the body and pretend to be dead so they wouldn't kill me also. That's what woke me up.

I threw the covers off and just started breathing deeply because I could feel a panic attack not far away. I was able to avert that and after twenty or so minutes while Kent was in the shower, I started feeling a bit better. I took a Motrin for my splitting headache, which seems to have helped. And then took my blood pressure reading: 149/103, heart rate 83 -- not so good.

I'm getting dressed not for cardiac rehab and hope that I won't be turned away because of the blood pressure reading. Afterward, I swing by my cardiologist's office to drop of the BP monitor that I wore this weekend. And then back home.

I'll work from home today as I can. At least the weather is nice in the mid 70's.

Beethoven String Quartets Complete

2009-09-08T21:22:50Z

I am downloading from iTunes the COMPLETE String Quartets of Beethoven, ALL OF THEM. I figure I can spend a nice Fall afternoon out on my deck with a nice bottle of Chardonnay going through all of them. I wonder what this means? I know these works, yet, I find a necessity of going through them as a body of work. I think I'm trying to put it into context, kind of like my life... Does this make any sense?

A Restful Weekend

2009-09-07T17:33:24Z

It was a nice and restful weekend for us. We decided on the spur of the moment to take off Saturday morning and go to Cambridge, Massachusetts. We only stayed for one night, but it was nice to actually get away for a bit.

We stated at The Charles this time. We have a few places we like, but The Charles is right in the middle of Harvard Square with all it's excitement and so many people out collecting signatures for one cause or another.

We had dinner at Sandrine's Bistro in the middle of Harvard Square.

The next day, we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, and headed home. We were home by 2:00p.m. on Sunday and just rested the rest of the day. Sometimes, doing very little is just what the soul needs.

Special Olympics, et al

2009-09-04T21:54:33Z

I've come to believe in life that everything is connected. Nothing is an island, entire of itself. Everything is connected.

In the last few weeks, I've been receiving these very annoying phone calls from the "Special Olympics." At least, that's the name that shows up on caller ID. Let me just say this. I have nothing what so ever against the Special Olympics. Nothing at all. And I know that they are calling me for money. But I just can't. Here's why...

PRINCIPLE

I never forget anything, EVER. Here's a look at the past...

Dr. Tom Waddell, the former Olympian, who helped found the Gay Games, intended the Gay Games to be called the "Gay Olympics," but a lawsuit filed less than three weeks before 1982's inaugural Gay Olympics forced the name change.[2]
Event organizers were sued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) under the U.S. Amateur Sports Act of 1978, which gave the USOC exclusive rights to the word Olympic in the United States. Defendants of the lawsuit contended that the law was capriciously applied and that if the Nebraska Rat Olympics and the Police Olympics did not face similar lawsuits, neither should the Gay Olympics.[3]

Some, like Jeff Sheehy, coauthor of San Francisco's domestic partner legislation and former president of the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club, believed homophobia to be a motivation behind the lawsuit. They cite the authorized use of the word "Olympics" by the Special Olympics and other organizations as evidence of this homophobia.[3]

Others, like Daniel Bell, cite the IOC's long history of protecting the Olympics brand as evidence that the lawsuit against the "Gay Olympics" was not motivated by discrimination against gays. Since 1910 the IOC has taken action, including lawsuits and expulsion from the IOC, to stop other organizations from using the word "Olympics."[4]

A 2009 documentary film called "Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics on Trial" was created in the USA and has previewed at several film festivals. The subject was also included in a film by David Sector, called "Take the Flame! Gay Games: Grace Grit & Glory".

In the years since the lawsuit, the Olympics and the Gay Games have set aside their initial hostilities and worked cooperatively together, successfully lobbying to have HIV travel restrictions waived for the 1994 Gay Games in New York and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. (Source)

You know that old cliché that talks about the ripple effect a stone has when thrown into water. This is one of those times. I haven't set aside my hostilities. Today, I hear about, in my area no less, the "K-9 Olympics" and the "Frog Olympics". No, I'm not kidding. Yet, I don't see the IOC complaining about those. Every time I see the signs advertising these events, it's like taking a bullet. And that includes Special Olympics.

Bigotry is simple. It just is. It really is just as simple as that. And you either endorse it, or you don't. Or, you lie to yourself by telling yourself that you are really quite enlightened and sophisticated by supporting one cause or another, at the expense of another cause; all because of bigotry. It's one of those absolutes in life, just like pregnancy. You either are, or you aren't.

I don't endorse bigotry, and if that means that I have to turn my back on some worthwhile cause to uphold principle, so be it!

I'm sorry Special Olympics that I can't give you the time of day, let alone answer your phone calls, but I didn't do this. You should contact the IOC and find out why they find it such a need to hold such bigotry in their hearts for gay Olympic athletes. For some reason, they hold police dogs to have more dignity and worth than gay athletes.

Until they change, I WON'T.

Donation Request from Obama [Flickr]

2009-08-02T09:29:27-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

I received this in the mail last week. It was a requestion for a donation for the "blueprint of America", which I guess people like me are not a part of.

I thought I'd return the offer, with a few conditions.

Bill [Flickr]

2009-07-29T09:44:04-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Almost two months after double bypass heart surgery (June 5, 2009).

Campbells Falls [Flickr]

2009-07-15T14:49:08-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Campbells Falls [Flickr]

2009-07-15T14:48:41-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Campbells Falls [Flickr]

2009-07-15T14:48:09-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Campbells Falls [Flickr]

2009-07-15T14:47:38-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Campbells Falls [Flickr]

2009-07-15T14:47:00-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Campbells Falls [Flickr]

2009-07-15T14:46:13-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Rock Hall, Colebrook, Connecticut [Flickr]

2009-07-14T06:03:32-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

The tennis court in the distance.

Rock Hall, Colebrook, Connecticut [Flickr]

2009-07-14T06:02:55-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Looking across the yard, towards the orchards.

Rock Hall, Colebrook, Connecticut [Flickr]

2009-07-14T06:02:18-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

The front entrance.

Rock Hall, Colebrook, Connecticut [Flickr]

2009-07-14T06:01:43-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Of course, "Management" wanted to make sure the bed was adequate.

Rock Hall, Colebrook, Connecticut [Flickr]

2009-07-14T06:01:13-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

"Management" made a surprise visit to our room to check things out.

Rock Hall, Colebrook, Connecticut [Flickr]

2009-07-14T06:00:59-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

I hope it's still lucky. This was just an interesting artifact I spotted along the way back from the pool house.

Rock Hall, Colebrook, Connecticut [Flickr]

2009-07-14T06:00:49-07:00

billandkent posted a photo:

Down by the pool.