For the past few weeks, I’ve been enraptured by a distinct autumnal feeling. A very specific chill in the breeze gave rise to it after several months of gloomy, overcast weather. To top it off, last night I got the smell of a fireplace in my nose – the neighbors had a pit burning in the backyard.
Despite its position as a tocsin for winter, I love fall with its golden light, crisp air, and earthy colors. 
But the external application isn’t the only source of fall’s healing. It often signals a big change for me, for during the autumn months I have moved numerous times, ended jobs, started jobs, ended relationships, started relationships… The fall of 1992 was particularly productive as I became a vegan the day after Labor Day and a gay right around the election. (An OUT gay, to be specific.) Read More »
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Despite my seemingly calm and sane exterior, I often have strange thoughts, worst-case-scenario kinds of things. I imagine what I would do in this or that parlous situation if it were to arise. Even with dreams, I keep working out resolutions after I’ve woken up, sometimes at the detriment of getting more sleep.
One of my doomsday considerations is this: if I had to lose my speech, sight, or hearing, which would I forsake? 
I always go with speech. As a writer, I’m used to communicating non-verbally. Also, I love music and the sounds of nature far too much to give up my aural capacity; and to be sight-less just seems too vulnerable and dependent. I feel hamstrung enough as it is with my current myopic eyes as I squinny in the darkness of the night! I certainly don’t want the carceral experience of not seeing at all, even if so many people have done great things despite – or because of – that very hindrance. Read More »
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If oftentimes happens that a movie or a television show glamorizes and romanticizes a place to such an extent that I want to go there, live there even. Eat Pray Love made Bali look so stunning that, given the chance, I might visit despite the desperately long flight.
Music, though, doesn’t have the visual edge while making its case for a place. Still, one of the more evocative songs I’ve heard in a long time celebrates New York City. It’s Jay-Z and Alicia Keys with “Empire State of Mind.” Her soaring choruses really make me want to be right smack dab in the core of the Big Apple… and I’m not really a fan of that particular apple. Read More »
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