I returned to work yesterday. It was a daunting feat, but a necessary one. I'd submerged myself in alone-time last week to ensure I could feel the full gamut of emotions I needed to feel. I gave them their due. I kept busy but allowed myself moments/hours to feel what I felt. But by Sunday I was ready to go back to work—or at least be “out and among.” To be busy and distracted and productive sounded like a wonderful idea. And it was. A couple of well-wishers stopped by my des

(Ken booked ended by my folks on the left, and his folks on the right.) It's a funny thing to be gay and fall in love in one's early thirties. Your personality is pretty much fully "baked". You know who you are for the most part, and have an established group of friends. This was the case when I met kenan. We both lived in Chicago, away from our families (coincidentally) so it took quite a while for me to meet all the members of his immediate family, and likewise for him to

In a previous blog I lamented my iPad purchase, declaring it overhyped and underwhelming. So I happily returned it, thinking I was free from its touch-screen grip. However, it wasnt that simple. It never is with me. I am a lover of anything that "organizes." I had a Trapper Keeper in 1980. A DayRunner in 1990. A Handspring Visor Deluxe (Palm OS) in 2000. A Dell Axim (Windows Mobile OS) in 2003. A BlackBerry in 2006. An iPhone in 2008. My need for centralized organizatio

Last week, after finishing the first draft of my novel, I started writing about a bullying experience with a kid from high school. (To be clear, I was the one being bullied...I know...shocker!) Tonight, I just finished the fifth version and sent it to a writer friend for her input. I was so excited to send it off and get her esteemed opinion. But as soon as I hit "send," I could feel my heart beating heavily. The knot in my stomach that evokes this experience--reserved now fo

After saving the money, and waiting a year, I finally bought an iPad on Tuesday. And I returned it two days later. Although my Apple Store return experience was as easy--though less joyful--as purchasing something, I thought owning an iPad would be a transformative experience, but I just "didn't get it." Steve Jobs told me I needed an one! And no one wanted to believe him more than I did. I believed it when I converted to Mac. I believed it when I got my iPhone. But the iPad.

My parents owned a "variety store" when I was third grade--maybe after and possibly before, but I know for certain I remember going there in third grade. After school my sister and I would walk from elementary school ten minutes to the block-long business district known to everyone then as "uptown" to spend time there until Mom closed up shop at five and took us home. Sometimes my friend Marie would offer me a ride on her banana-seated bike, in which case my nine-year-old laz

Tina is a buddy of mine who I met back in 1997 while attending training at Second City . I think our friendship fate was sealed on the first day of improv class as he were tangled into a continuous, hand-holding "human knot" and were tasked with unknotting ourselves while not letting go. Shortly thereafter, I found myself behind Tina, hands cupping her...<ahem>...breasts. I was horrified, and she couldn't stop cracking jokes about it--and hasn't to this day. At that time Tin

There are fewer things I look forward to than a good work out. Haha. Just kidding. I probably don't dread anything more than going to the gym. At forty-two I've managed to join many, and attend few. It was a good system and it worked for my needs. Until a few years ago when I realized my waist size was keeping up with my age. Admittedly, it was convenient to have a mechanism for remembering my age, and likewise my waist size, assuming I'd never forget both at the same time.

Though I describe my childhood growing up in a small farming town in Indiana as idyllic, that perspective enjoys the distance of many years and many life experiences since. I was a shy, quite kid who always stuck pretty close to home, and as I entered high school that really didn't change much. I was biding my time, knowing the bright lights of a big city were in my future and that college loomed after high school graduation. A college town would certainly offer more to the c

I have been toying with the idea for a blog for a long time and as an aspiring writer I've read innumerable articles about the "must" have having a writer's website. Problem is, I've struggled with being able to offer compelling content. When people I know read it, I wanted them to have something positive (and honest) to say about it. So, I decided the following: 1.        to figure out my point of view which will reveal itself as we go and define it 2.        figure out if/