aQuaTIP

An E-mail to Some Friends

Having been raised in Iowa and voted in my first two presidential elections in the state, I am used to the presidential election season kicking up early, but this time around has been just ridiculously early and as a congratulations for jumping the gun the news media has rewarded Clinton and Obama with as much air-time as either of them could have hoped for.

I relocated to Minneapolis in 2005 and since then I've been wondering how I'd feel when the politicians moved in on Iowa and I was sitting on the northern sidelines.  I don't much care for it and one of the reasons is that when I talk to people in Iowa (and other states) there are only a very few who know of Bill Richardson.  I've taken it upon myself to raise his name recognition among some of my classmates from college and those in my hometown who have their hearts in the right place, but haven't been exposed yet to the best possible nominee.

To that end, I drafted a letter to send out to people that I knew to be politically progressive and likely to caucus.  I asked for their attention and spoke about Governor Richardson and why I support him.

My letter to family, friends, classmates and colleagues about Gov. Bill Richardson

Hi Folks: 

I've decided to stick my neck out a bit and tell you that I'm supporting Bill Richardson's initial push to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. Hopefully the words I've prepared for you below can convince you to take a closer look at Bill Richardson. With a boost from strong, bright people, Richardson can get a leg up and run a viable campaign for the nomination and eventually the Presidency.

The first time I heard his name, I was working in Santa Fe, the capital city of New Mexico, where Bill Richardson serves as Governor. I was told how he was working to build agreement between Republicans and Democrats in a conflicted state legislature so that, in the coming legislative season, he could get a bill passed that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Governor Richardson's success in getting that bill passed is just one example of his political and diplomatic skill and I think the people of New Mexico agree--he was recently re-elected with 68% of the vote.

"Appointed by President Clinton as the Ambassador to the UN, Bill Richardson worked with world leaders to build alliances and help prevent the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea. Bill Richardson has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the release of hostages, American servicemen and political prisoners in North Korea, Iraq, and Cuba. Governor Richardson recently negotiated a 60-day cease fire in war-torn Darfur following direct talks with rebel leaders and the President of Sudan." --drawn from the site for his exploratory committee.

We hear a lot about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but they each have relatively little experience when compared to Bill Richardson with his 15 years in Congress, his leadership of New Mexico and his record of service to the cause of international peace and cooperation.

People have said to me that they want to vote for Clinton or Obama because it is time that a woman or a person of color be President. It's hard to disagree with that inclination, given our history as a country governed by white men, but still others worry about the level of experience that either of the dueling Senators would bring to the Presidency.

Bill Richardson, a person of color himself, is not at the center of a media frenzy and perhaps that's because demonstrated competence as an international diplomat and a domestic political leader aren't sexy enough for the news. Does it make you uncomfortable that we've heard so much about Clinton and Obama, know what we know of Edwards mostly from the first time around, and we've yet to hear much of anything about the other people seeking the Democratic nomination?

Please consider talking about Bill Richardson as people begin or continue to ask you about what you think of candidates for the Democratic nomination! You can read more about Richardson's issues on his website.

Thanks for taking the time to read what I had to say!
-Addy

      

regarding life after graduation

Today is April 9th.  At this point still do not know what I am doing after graduation.  I've applied for several positions in Chicago, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Denver and still no strong bites other than a service job with AmeriCorp in Pittsburgh that I can't imagine taking.

At this point I'm close to making the decision to move back to Iowa City.  It was always good to me, while I've been at Cornell I've missed it, and during my summers in Santa Fe I've thought about how lovely it is to be in Iowa City.  Perhaps I just never got my fill.

The River City Housing Collective closes the deal on buying the Bloom County Boarding House at the end of the month and they start offering rooms there at the beginning of August.  I've been contemplating trying to get a room at Anomy House, but this sounds nice too. (Yes, it has a connection to the Bloom County comic strip, but I don't know what it is besides that Milo Bloom [the character pictured in that photo drawing] lived there.) I'd still need a place to stay until August 1 though and I'm not quite sure where that would be.

I have a second interview next week in Spring Green, WI at the American Players Theatre, but I don't think that I'll be offered the position.  that would have me in Wisconsin from just after graduation through mid-October.  Right now it's the ideal job in terms of the way it would fit and I think I'd like it all right too, which isn't half bad.

For a while I was also screwing around with the idea of just up and movign to Seattle, but I don't think I'd have a place to crash there long enough to find a job and a place.  That being said though, Willy Widmer is subletting a place in San Francisco this summer after his spring term there is over and Jeanne will be with him as well.  I may feel him out on crashing with him and Jeanne for a while--Jeanne seems to think that it is a good idea.

For now, the world is up in the air though and we'll see where it all lands.  I should have some solid plans by the end of the month.  We can hope. =)

Northern Exposure

Ed: You look tired Dr. Fleischman.
Fleischman: Well, Ed.  I was up all night trying to think like a shower.

I had forgotten how much I thoroughly enjoyed the Northern Exposure series. It came out just three years or so before I did.  I thought the vistas were gorgeous, not having seen a mountain that I could remember since we cross the Blue Ridge Mountains moving from Norfolk, Virginia to Ottumwa, Iowa.

Also though, as I watch this first season of Northern Exposure again (the college library just got it), I can see where a lot of my personal aesthetic for men developed.  There's Rob Morrow playing Dr. Joel Fleischman, with his pronounced nose and ears and his quirk.  And John Corbett who remained attractive, mind you, but in 1990 or 1991 he was hot as fuck--strong jaw line and a beautiful body with an appreciation for Whitman and a desire to note the artistry in the human intentionality.  I didn't get it at the time, but I get it now and there was something in how that character behaved that just riled me up.

Mission: find me a man like that.  Indeed.

Found Friend!

When I went back to Ottumwa for the first time after my grandmother's death, I mentioned my friend, jor kane (who used to be known as Josh Hurley). I've been on a three tiered approach to tracking him down for about two years now (although I've been wondering about him for almost four).  The first phase was to call his family and ask around the usual suspects for information--his mother besides being a totally rude human being was totally useless, claiming, either truthfully or in deceit, that she didn't have any of his contact information (good parent, obviously if she either can't keep track of her child or the child has been so mistreated that they remove themselves from their parents' world).

The second phase was tracking down people that I thought might have a connection to jor--people are Sarah Lawrence College in this case.  Many of them knew him in passing or knew people who knew people.  Not much came from that other than a general notion that he was still in Charlottesville, VA, the last location I had heard from him in.  I kicked off the second phase when it became apparent that my grandmother was going to kick the bucket.

The third phase came after I visited Ottumwa.  I decided I'd have posters put up in locations where one might assume he'd see them.  I even had the posters designed and some friendly folks I knew from the Santa Fe Opera, etc. who lived in NYC and near Charlottesville who were going to help with these posters, which surely would have been a little embarrassing and silly to see, but darnit, I wanted to talk to this guy! =(

Anyway, so all this time, to avoid having to mount my own manhunt, I've been checking Google, Friendster and Connexion every month, just in case.

Last night I discovered his recently adopted Friendster profile!  I've sent him messages with my e-mail address and phone number and I'm so excited to hear from my friend.  It would be nice if I didn't have bad news to give him, but, as Matt so ... honestly ... pointed out, the news shouldn't come as a particular shock, given her state the last time he saw her.

At any rate, I'm excited and relieved.  I was sure nothing bad happened to the kid, but it's nice to know that, as always, I was right ;)

Toys R Us

I think the moment when the children of the 80's lost the conscious awareness of the "I don't wanna grow, because if I did, I wouldn't be a Toys R' Us kid" song, when you stopped seeing Toys R Us and screaming for your parents to take you there and when your parents stopped actively avoiding the street it was on so you wouldn't pass it and start the screaming--that's the moment the children of the 80's were ... something different I haven't put my finger on yet.

Denver Trip

I've been back for a while and I'm getting picked on because I both haven't updated my blog in a while and have neglected to write about my trip to Denver, so here we go ...

This past Saturday I tried to go to sleep sometime during the early evening, but of course I couldn't so instead of did illicit drugs and drank.  Later, we left for the Quad Cities International Airport in Moline, Illinois (they have a rather nice terminal, but I didn't notice any international flights).

We were on Highway 1 between Mount Vernon and Iowa City when I noticed that the small crack in Clif's windshield was growing.  At one point I did a sort of half-scream when as I saw the crack shoot over several inches.  I mean, it's scary when the piece of glass between you and the fast moving cold air is cracking, you know?  Anyway, it continued cracking, but slowly and then eventually stopped after about ten minutes--scary start.

There had been talk of stopping at Steak & Shake, but it was apparent we weren't going to have time for that so we stopped at the Huge I-80 Truckstop near Walcott where we waited some twenty minutes for our food--perhaps we should have gone to Steak & Shake anyway?

Now, mind you, I haven't slept since the morning before and upon arrival in Denver where Jerid picked me up, I had plans until late that night.  I was ridiculously and almost deliriously tried, but I was very excited for my little mini-vacation to get started.

At one point Jerid and I were driving around and we stopped by his work to pick up a book of mine he had borrowed and finished.  He worked in a building that, in a previous incarnation, had been a very fine department store, complete with ellipsing central staircase with a wrap-around after the second flight of stairs--very nice building to have offices in, really.

I took a very brief nap and then we headed off to the Washington Street Grill for drinks (Jerid and I had lunch there during my September trip from Phoenix to back to Iowa via Denver and thought it was nice).  There was an entire section of the restaurant we hadn't noticed before, off to the left.  It had cool, low tables with ottomans and benches and we waited for the dinner and drinks partners to arrive.

Akiko was first to arrive and soon after, Hilary and Geoff came.  Arnaud, a new friend was last to arrive--fashionably late?  At first, earlier in the day, when I talked to him on the phone about directions to Washington Street Grill, I was scared that I wouldn't be able to understand him through his thick accent, but I caught on pretty quickly.  Beyond that though, Arnaud was HILARIOUS.  Drinks were a nice warm-up.

We then headed out to Pasquini's for pizza where the owner and her best friend sat at the table in front of the door and direct people around upon entering.

The pizza was.. wow.  It was wonderful and everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun.  The whole night was really full of laughter and good conversation and while I had previously been concerned that Arno would be a little left out since all of the rest of people at dinner were from Cornell, he was getting in on most of the conversations and being very entertaining.

I think that Arno ranks right up there in people I've ever met from on-line.  I'll be sad when he goes back to Paris, but until then, maybe I'll get to see him again this summer on the way from the Midwest to wherever it is I end up living.

Well, that was my Sunday in Denver.  Soon, I'll cover the rest of the trip.  For now, I'm off to Sanctuary with Jeff and Ellen.  It'll be a good night.

Amazon.com

From an Amazon.com book review I just read:

Predictable. Improbable. Funny. Full of cliche. The incessant baseball references were a bit over the top. I cried a little bit at the end but I'm taking Wellbutrin to quit smoking so you do the math.

Scissor Sisters: St. Louis

We got to St. Louis tonight and headed to the Pageant to pick up our $10.10 tickets for the Scissor Sisters concert (the show started at 1am) so we then headed for a leisurely dinner at Blueberry Hill in what seemed to be a sort of university town section of St. Louis.

As always, a fantastic live performance and Jon Levine, who I was with, was an instant convert.  The Scissor Sisters make it so easy to do little but love them with a very charming stage presence.  The crowd in St. Louis pretty much sucked it up, but the front section held its own--there was no way in fucking hell that those lame-o lozers were going to ruin the encore by lackluster enthusiasm caused by lack of both a decent musical acculturation and a need to have some fun.

Oh, let it me noted, Jonathan got pointed out and some pretty sustained eye contact from Ana Matronic twice during the show and at one point I realized that I was doing the fruege (spelling?) pretty hard core.

Tomorrow Jonathan and I will head to Kansas City, perhaps have some lunch with some nice folks and then I'll take a much needed and well deserved nap at the house of Glynnis.

If you haven't been, check out www.scissorsisters.com find out when they are playing near you and get your ass there even if you're not familiar with them.  You'll be glad that you did!  Right kids?  And no, Arnaud, I'm not Mr. Number One Fan, but that'd be an awful sweet title.  For now, I'll suit myself as an important sproket in their promtional machine.

Chicago

Our trip to Chicago was "fantastic."  Fantastic being the operative word apparently (and I'll get to that).

Prior to seeing the Scissor Sisters last night we went to the Hopleaf 5200(ish) N Clark, a Belgian establishment.  They had a great beer list, which, as some of you know, really pleases me even though I don't drink bear.  The food was great and I had a Morgon red which I had never heard of before--silly me.  Great stuff.  Dinner was with Matt and Joe.  Then Matt dropped Joe and I off at the Vic...

Yes, the Scissor Sisters were at the Vic (with VHS/Beta opening) last night.  The technical staff at the Vic was having some power failures (where as at the Bluebird in Denver they were just idiots) and so Jake and Ana were up there just entertaining the audience.  During the second of such incidents the backup keyboard guy started playing a little bit of the melody from the Golden Girls theme song, as Ana Matronic had just said something about good friends. Jake Shears picked that up and ran with it a few words and then Ana just busted out with the whole damned song.  We saw the Scissor Sisters, live in front of a thousand people, cover the Golden Girls theme song. They dedicated their next song to Estel Getty because she's now suffering from dementia, which I thought was very sweet of them. Obviously, a mostly gay crowd was appreciate of such Golden Girls revery.

After the show we wandered around trying to find our hotel to no avail.  I asked a lot of people if they knew where it was--all of them were oddly either European or gay.  Matt eventually came back down with Dave, took us to our hotel where we checked in real fast and then we headed to Delilah's.

Delilah's is noted, I'm told, as one of the world's best whisky bars.  I had an Elijah Craig and Boullien (spelling?), each on the rocks.  Then I had another Elijah Craig ... I could barely walk =)

Dave kept trying to get me to hit on this guy with really tight jeans a cute scarf, but he disappeared before my whisky saturated ass could get the gumption to hit on him.

This morning, after Matt picked Joe and I up, we headed to Toast in Wicker Park, which had been recommended to us by Dave, the liberal CPA who, when told of my gay, hispanic ex who wants to become a CPA, said that he should apply at his firm in an actively, and somewhat disarmingly optimistic tone.

Anyway, Toast was interesting.  A few interesting groups of gay guys and cute environment with the White Stripe's album "Elephant" playing at 10:30am--fitting really.

I initially thought our waitress was bitchy, but then I decided she was pleasantly surly.  When I gave her my credit card for the bill and she came back, she dropped my card on the floor and I said, "Hey, you dropped my card." (just to give her shit)  She was really on top of that comment and she said "It's good luck." and put it on the table.  Perfectly timed surliness is a highly respectable form of humor.  Now, if she didn't intend for it, it may be even better.  But, either way, I highly recommend a post-whisky bar breakfast at Toast.

Also on this trip, Joe Baker displayed an absolute inability to manage his own life and I wouldn't have to say this except that he mocked me mercilessly about my own need to plan and manage my life and situation. Ah, Joe.

good, hard laugh

Oh man, I've been laughing for about ten minutes straight now.  I stumbled across a list of proofreaders for erotica.  It has what they prefer to read, what they won't read, amount of time available, credentials and formats they can read.

You have to check this out.. some of it is sooo funny.

The Link  -- excerpts below

Credentials: Professionally, none. Thrown out of high school speed reading class due to outperforming instruction and with better comprehension. Aced college lit and comp classes, was informed by the Prof. the I write at a "publishable" level. Also know what "erudite" means.

Erudite?  That can't be a credential, I'm sorry!

Credentials: 6 mo. exp. proofreading for metaphysical publishing house. 6 mo. real-time editing/proofreading for scholastic publisher. Massive experience as personal reader. One full length novel co-written, 1/2 novel written. Fan of erotic and occasional writer.

Proofreading for metaphysical publishing house.  Was the house metaphysical or was the general content of the published work related to the metaphysical? =)

Credentials: Professional writer in corporate world (mostly legal and Securities and Exchange filings) - "as close to fiction as you can get in a legal document"