Tag Archives: writing

And So It Goes

Today is Sunday, December 21, the first day of winter. Brrr! The Winter Solstice for the Northern Hemisphere of 2025 was noted at 10:03 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). This marks the shortest day and longest night, when the Earth’s axis tilts furthest from the Sun, but also signaling the beginning of longer days ahead. I am not a fan of this season, so I definitely will look forward to more sunlight during the day, not less, as the months go by.

In the meantime, it seems as if the sun has definitely descended on this country as it reels under the supposed leadership of its 47th president. But there are some glimmers of hope, very minute, in the recent announcement of two resignations from politics from two of Grump’s most staunchest ass kissers, Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), who just announced her resignation from the party, saying she would not seek reelection at the age of 71.

Stefanik was poised to seek the governor’s post – God forbid – but she made the decision to suspend her campaign for governor to pursue motherly pursuits instead. This is so fucking ingenuous coming from a female MAGAt who would have done anything to kneel at the cross for her Supreme Leader, but she was recently put out of favor of Drumpf’s patronage for whatever stupid reason, and she knew this very well and that she instinctively understood she would not have had a chance in Hell to progress in the governor’s race in a blue state, especially with how dissatisfied many voters are with Dump right now and with MAGA, both Republicans and Democrats, as well as Independents. Her decision to withdraw from the race came less than two months after she launched her campaign in November. She will also not seek reelection for her House seat in 2026. All I can say to her is “Good riddance!”

Another breaking story concerns the continuing “cover-up” of releasing the notorious Epstein Files that was mandated to be carried out on Friday. Which was not done in good faith, and because of this disappointing disclosure of some – and not all – of the files, I’m now hearing that bipartisan Congressional members are seeking to file inherent contempt charges against Bimbo Bondi, the Attorney General. I just wish this finally happens without too much discussion about it. Congress is out of session until January 2026. So nothing is going to happen here now – until then.

Even a Republican, Thomas Massie, from Kentucky, is supporting such a measure to file contempt charges against Drumpf’s personal attorney general who doesn’t take a step without consulting her Anointed One. This is quite a big thing in that a repugnican is also talking about filing these charges against Bondi.

In three days, Elliot and I will be leaving for our annual Christmas trip to “Ralph” and “Sandy’s” home in Easton, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, December 24. We generally stay three days with them, and we’ll return on Friday, December 26.

Therefore, I’ll be posting two more blogs before Wednesday. I hope you enjoy them.

Have a good week.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, December 10, 2025. It’s late here, owing to Elliot and me watching a horror film from 2019 called Brightburn on Netflix. We also had dinner out at Diner Bar, in Rego Park and didn’t get home until after 8.

For those of you who like gory films, this is one is for you. I knew nothing about it other than the brief description of it on the screen. This film offers a counterstory to the origins of Superman, in which an infertile farm couple living in – of all places – the fictitious town of Brightburn, Kansas, Kyle and Tori Breyer, are shaken to the core when they discover an alien ship crash-land near their farm. Inside is a small fragile baby that they soon take in as their own and rear him as their own son. They name the human-looking boy Brandon, and everything is honkie dory until the boy turns 12 and the chaos begins.

We soon learn that this boy, Brandon, has superpowers that make him superior to any human on the planet. But instead of using his superpowers for good, he uses them to wreak vengeance on his supposed enemies. Soon people in the town wind up dead as a result of his supernormal abilities like X-ray vision, super strength, and levitation. The film stars Elizabeth Banks as Tori and David Denman as her husband Kyle who begins to suspect his son later on of committing murder. In the role of the evil Brandon, Jackson A. Dunn does a pretty good steely stare that is quite frightening. He almost looks like he’s from another planet at times.

Produced by James Gunn, written by his cousin Mark and brother Brian and directed by David Yarovesky, the film delivers a nice take on the Superman origin story but takes it to another level altogether. This is the screenplay that asks, “What if Clark Kent wasn’t such a nice boy?” There are several moments of gruesome and horrifying violence, though, that might turn off some viewers. I hereby warn you here. But I do recommend the film with some reservations. It seemed more less developed than it could have been.

The burgeoning boat attack controversy is not going away for this liar in chief, as well as the Epstein scandal, as the president backtracked over releasing the video of the September 2 attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea that killed two survivors, according to an ABC News article entitled “Trump backtracks on releasing boat strike video, distances himself from controversy,” by Hannah Demissie, Justin Gomez, and Allison Pecorin.

First the lying cheat said he had “no problem” with releasing that video, but is now reversing course and deferring to his Nazi Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth.

When pressed on Monday by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott about his December 3 comments, he claimed, “I didn’t say that.” He then added, “Whatever Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.”

In an interview with Politico, published on Tuesday morning, Dump further distanced himself from the controversy when asked if he believed the second strike on the survivors was necessary.

A number of Senate repugnicans said on Tuesday that they’d like to see the full video of the September 2 strike released to the public.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis said, “We’ve got to release the video. Look, we have got to get the Epstein files released. We’ve got to get any videos that do not in any way compromise mission integrity out there. Just get the stuff out there.”

Some Democrats and legal experts have suggested that the killing of survivors could constitute a war crime.

Members of Congress are attempting to pass new legislation to force Hegseth to provide lawmakers the unedited footage of the strike.

Tillis on Tuesday said that releasing the video would clear up discrepancies about what it depicts.

The September 2 boat strike is part of what this cruel administration has called its “war” on drug cartels without offering a shred of evidence to substantiate their claims. There have been more than 20 military assaults against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific, killing more than 80 people. I say this should enrage all Americans as this regime resorts to murder for no darn reason other than claiming these men were going to sell drugs to Americans.

Demonstrating more clearly that he’s out of touch with ordinary Americans, the billionaire president offered more of a stupid rant about nothing at a rally in Pennsylvania the other night. No one can believe what this idiot said in a rambling 90-minute discourse on what was supposed to allay the fears of Americans’ economic worries. Instead, he went off course as usual and made as much as sense as a inebriated dumb ass.

Thus in a Reuters online article, the babbling of this crazy man took center stage in “Trump veers off-script and does little to calm Republican nerves,” written by Anthony Zurcher.

Grump’s handlers expected him to address concerns around affordability and the state of the U.S. economy which he has tanked personally on his own since taking office.

Over the course of his cringeworthy address, he talked a little about the economy, but he also talked about immigration, his Democratic critics, Venezuelan boat strikes, windmills, and golfing.

“If some Republicans, and his White House aides were hoping for a focused message that the party could use to deflect repeated Democratic attacks over the economy, the president did little to deliver,” according to the article.

What it was was a typical “weave,” the term coined to indicate any of Dump’s longwinded, nonsensical speeches.

At first, he made a gaffe in calling his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, Susie “Trump,” when he said she instructed him to focus on the economy. So here he couldn’t even remember the name of his own fucking chief of staff.

When he did talk about the economy, he resorted to blaming his predecessor for the bad economy we’re in right now, which is another fucking lie since the economy was actually better under Joe Biden. Even though people didn’t believe so then.

Against all of the experts, Grump defended his dumb tariffs, even though some economists have cited them as contributing to cost-of-living woes.

Harkening back to ridiculous comments he made earlier, Grump repeated the dumb comment about getting by with fewer pencils and dolls as Americans deal with buying fewer cheap products from China. What the fuck does this have anything to do with soaring costs at grocery stores, department stores, gas stations, and wherever? Again, the idiot said, “You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter.” “Two or three are nice.” Who really buys 37 dolls for their daughter? one must ask.

I think I can’t continue with his comments here as I’m about to retch and it’s getting later. Just know that this dumb fuck let loose on refugees from “third world” countries, calling Somalia “about the worst country in the world,” as he brazenly gloried in his own festering xenophobia. He even double downed on Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant and naturalized citizen by saying “throw her the hell out,” and that “she does nothing but complain,” forgetting for the moment that this is what he does best – complain, complain, complain.

No wonder that this shit bag is the laughingstock of the world! How he has any damn supporters after this speech is totally beyond me!

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, December 8, 2025. We’re back from our sojourn to New England this weekend, visiting with friends “Laura” and “Richard.” I would say we had a very lovely and yummy time with Elliot’s Amherst friends. Laura prepared a very delicious dinner for us and one other couple on Saturday evening consisting of lamb shanks and mashed potatoes and a great dessert she baked herself like a blueberry galette. We also brought up our own banana bread that we baked on Friday. She made breakfast for us on both Sunday and Monday morning. On Sunday, she prepared pancakes with blueberries, and on Monday, she made a great spinach and bacon quiche.

The highlight was attending a dance class in swing dancing at a music venue in Easthampton, Massachusetts, called the Marigold Theater on Sunday. The lesson was provided at 3 and it ran an hour. After 4, a band came on stage called the Butterfly Swing Band and played for the next two hours. Therefore, Elliot and I swayed on the dance floor as long as we could before Elliot had enough. At times, I even picked up other partners after Elliot left the dance floor. I also danced with Laura several times when her husband, Richard, sat it out. After this workout, we drove back to Amherst for a delicious Italian meal at a local Italian restaurant called Pasta E Basta near their home. I had bruschetta and chicken parmigiana as my entree.

Returning to national news, I now refer to the White House arsonist being directly called out on CBS News’ 60 Minutes, where Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized this hugely unpopular president who now calls his former MAGA booster “traitor.” In an online Independent article entitled”MTG accuses Trump of ‘directly fueling’ death threats against her son by calling her traitor,” by Josh Marcus and Joe Sommerlad, the piece covers the long-ranging interview with Lesley Stahl. During the interview with Stahl, Greene accused the president of “directly fueling” death threats against her family.

Stahl asked the congresswoman who announced her intention to resign from Congress in early January about her decision “not to stay and fight” when Grump began to attack her on “Truth” Social last month, labeling her “Marjorie Traitor Brown.” Such an infantile response from an infantile man!

Greene stated, “After President Trump called me a traitor, I got a pipe bomb threat on my house. And then I got several direct death threats on my son.” The former MAGA cheerleader has two sons, aged 22 and 26, but she did not say which one was targeted. She did say that the president did put her life in danger with his inflammatory rhetoric. Stahl emphasized, “You say the president put your life in danger.” Greene responded, “The subject line for the direct death threats against my son was his words – Marjorie Traitor Greene.” She added, “Those are death threats directly fueled by President Trump.”

When Greene informed the toddler in chief and Vice President JD Vance about it, the latter promised to look into it, but the president said something along the lines of that “wasn’t very nice.” Which is a shitty remark, if you ask me! It’s obvious that this shit bag couldn’t care less now that Greene has received death threats since it was his own language that spurred the crazies out there to reach out to Greene in a very terrible way.

During the interview, Greene said she considered herself “America First” rather than MAGA, which she called “President Trump’s phrase,” and accused the Orange Turd of failing to deliver on his promises to voters by siding with corporate allies over regular Americans.

Suggesting that Dump has his priorities wrong, Greene said, “Those are the areas that are still getting everything they want, while the people, we’re still out here saying, ‘We want to see action on areas for the American people, not for the major industries and the big donors.'”

Throughout the year, the populist has hammered Dump and split with her party on a variety of issues, including surprisingly siding with Democrats to support extending Obamacare subsidies during shutdown negotiations and backing a bipartisan effort to force the government to release more of the Epstein files.

Greene even criticized her own members for actually mocking the Fat One behind his back but now pretending to be supporters out of a combination of political opportunism and fear of reprisals. She commented on how her colleagues went from making fun of him to now “kissing his ass” and deciding to put on a MAGA hat for the first time.

Greene made no promises as to her pursuing any kind of political ambitions in the near future. She told Stahl that she has “zero desire” to seek the White House in 2028, adding that she would “hate” being in the Senate and is not running for Georgia governor, as originally thought. She admitted, “I’m not your politician with a whole itinerary of plans or political ambitions.”

As for her split with Dump over the Epstein files, she recalled conversations she had with the toddler in chief over the Epstein scandal and where Dump claimed he wanted to prevent the release of those files because he said it would “hurt people.”

Providing the right answer to the president, Greene said, “These women were the ones who were hurt. They were raped at 14. They were raped at 16. I watched them stand in front of the press trembling, their bodies shaking as they were telling their stories, many of them for the first time.” She concluded, “These women deserve to be heard.”

It’s difficult to say what to think of this once robust Drumpf booster who has now received death threats because of her very dramatic severing of ties with him. I must say this once reviled Representative who spewed her own inflammatory rhetoric all throughout the first Dump presidency does have gumption in announcing such a public split with such an odious fellow. At the very least, we can admire the fact that she seems to have changed her views when she saw this president veering way off course from his own agenda and was not reluctant to air her opposing views when it became necessary to do so. The rest of America wishes more repugnicans like her could grow some balls to register their true contempt for this guy before it’s too late!

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, November 26, 2025, one day before Thanksgiving 2025. Sadly, we learn today – just a day before this national holiday – that two National Guard members were shot in an ambush-style attack in Washington, D.C., this afternoon. This breaking story is covered online by CBS News in an article by Cara Tabachnick entitled “2 National Guard members shot in D.C., suspect in custody, officials say.”

The two Guard members are in critical condition, but it was erroneously reported that the troops had died by West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey. He has since cited “conflicting reports” as an explanation for the error.

The Metropolitan Police Department said the crime scene was secured and a suspect is in custody. Police said the suspect was wounded and was taken to a hospital.

Now that suspect has been identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News. Law enforcement believes he has acted alone.

The shooting took place near the Farragut Metro stop, a few blocks from the White House, at 17th and I Street NW.

Eyewitness accounts suggest the gunman waited in concealment before striking as they stood outside a Washington, D.C., metro station. Multiple Guard personnel inside the metro station ran out to assist after hearing shots.

The attack, meanwhile, is prompting some concern among officials about the widespread deployment of National Guard personnel for domestic security. The shooting has been described to CBS News by several law enforcement officials as “devastating” and “cautionary.”

Of course, the idiot in chief did not offer words of consolation to the families who have been affected by this tragedy, but only stoked more fuel for the fire, saying the shooting was “an act of terror” and “an act of evil, an act of hatred.” He also decided to deploy 500 more National Guard troops to the area rather than pulling back as a result of this shooting. Let’s not forget who is responsible for deploying these troops to American cities in the first damn place? None other than Donald J. Grump and, it’s my belief, he shares some responsibility in this heinous act.

In addition, this cruel and irrational regime is now asking a federal appeals court for an emergency stay of an order from a federal judge to remove the National Guard from Washington, D.C. Last week, the judge ruled the deployment was unlawful.

Possibly, the only silver lining amid all of the terrible news coming out of Washington is a special election being held next Tuesday in all places, Tennessee, which is formerly a Grump bastion, but is now exhibiting remarkable progress made by a progressive Democrat who is running against Republican Matt Van Epps in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Republican Rep. Mark Green. The Democrat’s name is state Rep. Aftyn Behn and she is running almost neck to neck with her opponent. Van Epps is leading Behn by just two points, 48 percent to 46 percent.

The substantial closing of the gap suggests an even nastier political climate for Republicans than previously anticipated heading into next year’s midterms.

However, the expectation among strategists is that Behn will not win anyway, but her strong performance so far in a deep red state means that next year’s elections will be an uphill battle for repugnicans overall. This is music to my ears!

Dump’s approval in the district is completely underwater, a new poll shows. After winning the state by double-digits, only 47 percent approve of his job performance while 49 disapprove. The change has been driven by Independents, with 59 percent disapproving.

I urge everyone to keep their eyes peeled in next Tuesday’s race in Tennessee to see if there could be a surprising upset there.

Anyway, it’s time to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I hope you can enjoy the holiday with your loved ones without arguing about trivial and not-so-trivial matters. It’s time to bury our differences and be more understandable of others’ differences across the holiday table.

Tomorrow Elliot and I will be guests at our friend “Patricia”s West Side Tennis Club, in Forest Hills, for Thanksgiving. There will be a buffet around 1:30 and we’re going to meet her in the Club’s front room. We were her guests last year and everything was fabulous. It’s great not to have dishes to wash and no mess in the kitchen after hosting either one or two guests. So the same will be true this year, as well.

I’ll be with you on Friday evening.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Saturday, November 22, 2025, 62 years after the assassination of our 35th president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Kennedy was the third president to be assassinated in office since Abraham Lincoln and the first since President McKinley in 1901.

Today I did attend the Big Apple Comic Con Show at the New Yorker on 34th Street and 8th Avenue. I left the apartment around 11:15 and took the E directly to 34th Street, where I had breakfast at the Tick Tock Diner.

I entered the lobby of the New Yorker around 11:45 a.m. and was now on my way to the show and to my avowed intention to sell about 37 comics. I basically had no notion as to what to ask for the comics; I didn’t think any of the dealers would be interested in any of them. After going to one dealer and showing all of the books to him, he showed only interest in one, a Silver Age Batman. He asked me what I desired for the book; I said $20 off the top of my head, and he consented to pay me that amount.

I then went around to more dealers in the room. Most of them declined to buy any of the books – until I got to the other end of the room. I then found myself at another dealer who allowed me to show him the books. I was shocked when he offered to take the older books off from me for $60. When I showed him the more recent books, he offered me $15. I had emptied all of my books at this point. I couldn’t believe it! I had made $95 in less than an hour. This far exceeded what I made last year, when I only could sell a few books for only $5.

I felt buoyed by this success, so I went around other dealers and bought just five new comics. I tried not to spend too much money on any book since some books went for big bucks. Some of the prices being charged were insane!

After a while, I then left the site to have a bite at McDonald’s across the street. I had my blue band around my wrist, so I was able to return to the hotel anytime after lunch.

I waited for 3 to attend a lecture on Wonder Woman. There were two women speakers, Amy Chu and Alitha Martinez. After speaking for a while, it was evident that these two women were not really speaking about the drawing or genesis of Wonder Women. They concentrated on their careers in a male-dominated industry. They spoke about how they have carved their own special niche in an industry not known for being that progressive. One characterized her job as that of a writer, while Martinez stated that she was more of an artist/illustrator. I stayed for the whole lecture, even though it didn’t fit the description of the topic, in my opinion.

After this lecture, I stayed in the room for the next one, scheduled for 4. This one was moderated by one person, author Danny Fingeroth, who has written a biography of Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of JFK. This was more intriguing to me since I have some memory of that terrible day on November 22, 1963. I even asked the speaker, Fingeroth, a question concerning whether Ruby worked for someone who wanted to silence Oswald before he could spill the beans about whether he had accomplices in the killing of JFK. Americans sure love a conspiracy and this cataclysmic event 62 years ago illustrates that beautifully. Fingeroth then spoke about the type of man Ruby was. Of course, I didn’t know much about him. So his elucidation of Ruby’s character was quite interesting.

This time I spent more time at this event than any other occasion. I left the show at 5 and then walked to 47th Street to decide to see a play. I now became more exhausted from being at the show for so long. So, I resolved to just have dinner than see a show; it was also late. Most shows now begin at 7, not 8, on a Saturday night. I didn’t get to 45th Street until 5:15 or so. I thought I wouldn’t have time to both have dinner and see a play, so I abandoned the idea of seeing one.

I then walked to 45th Street and 9th Avenue to have dinner at the Westway Diner. I read my book A Life of My Own, by Claire Tomalin, while eating my chicken salad melt and cup of chicken noodle soup. I actually finished the book before leaving the diner. It is so satisfying to be able to finish a book, I feel. And this memoir was so fascinating. I’m sure none of you have even heard of this writer; I know I hadn’t heard of her until I saw her book at the Vanderbilt Bookstore in Nashville. In more than 300 pages, she discourses on her colorful life growing up in England and of her genesis as a biographical writer in her 40s. In the 70s and 80s, she wrote biographies of such diverse characters as Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, Samuel Pepys, and Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of Mary Shelley, the creator of Frankenstein, at the tender age of 18. She is married to writer Michael Frayn and has had so many tragedies in her life that would cripple someone less resilient than her. She has endured those calamities as stoically as anyone could in her circumstances; some of those events include the death of a child, the death of her first husband in a military accident, and the disability of one of her children, who has been suffering from spina bifida all his life. That’s enough heartache for an entire life, wouldn’t you say?

Now I still have to finish my gay men’s reading club selection for December: Disorderly Men. That might take some time since the book is a long-form paperback. I have read over 200 pages already, though.

It’s getting late, and I do want to read the comic books that I bought.

Have a good Sunday.

And so it went!

To me, this is the best costume, lightsaber down!

Here is speaker Danny Fingeroth on the events of November 22, 1963.

Fingeroth presented this page from a Superman comic that came out before JFK was assassinated.

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, November 19, 2025. It’s already late here because I’ve just returned from my very first meeting of Forest Hills Indivisible at a nearby church and also having a quick bite outside since I was unable to have dinner at home before the 7 p.m. meeting. This happened because I found myself waiting at my local ophthalmologist’s office for more than an half hour in order to be seen by a physician’s assistant before actually being seen by the eye specialist. My appointment was at 4:30, but I didn’t see (no pun intended) anyone until 5:15 or so. I actually got up at least twice to ask when I was being treated. Both times I was informed that the doctor would be seeing me in a few minutes and it still took awhile before I was called into an office.

But that’s not the reason I’m writing this. I wanted to provide some details about the anti-Dump meeting I attended right here at a church within five minutes of my house. I was very heartened to discover that the meeting was attended by about 40 people; all of the pews were occupied by people of all stripes – young, old, female, and male. When I entered the sanctuary before 7, I meekly asked if this was where the Forest Hills branch of Indivisible would be meeting. I was greeted by a well-dressed, bearded older gentleman who said, “Yes.” I entered the church and found a seat.

Soon more individuals walked in and took seats. I recognized a young man from my own building who lives in the adjacent section of the cooperative. However, he didn’t acknowledge me. I just knew him visually since I’ve seen him enter the Alden part of the building in times past.

A very large part of the meeting was devoted to listening from a representative of some immigrant rights group who talked very movingly about how this regime is illegally taking people off the streets. She stated that she herself is an immigrant – after emigrating to the country at age 6 from Mexico. She provided the group with details about recent ICE raids of various neighborhoods throughout the city and also handed out a small flyer covering what our rights are and what steps activists could take when ICE agents are observed lurking around. Basically, what we could do is just blow a whistle and take videos of their unlawful actions. This young woman also passed around pictures of men caught in an ICE raid on Canal Street. She also took questions from audience members before yielding the stage to one of the organizers who is friendly with our friend “Patricia.” Her name is “Joan.”

Joan then began speaking about strategies the group could adopt in lieu of having massive demonstration after demonstration. One such plan she talked about was having small groups of people ring doorbells of home owners in the neighborhood to give them a lawn sign that is clearly anti-ICE in essence. What Joan is encouraging us to do is engage in conversation with these individuals and see if they wouldn’t come over to our side. She also mentioned the possibility of holding signs aloft on pedestrian overpasses to get our message across to motorists. Joan did say that signs would be provided; we wouldn’t have to design our own.

The last speaker was the man who greeted me at the beginning of the meeting. His name was “Ian.” He mentioned that he would like for us to provide the group with our own ideas as to what next steps to take. Instead of coming up with their own ideas, people just asked Ian more questions.

In conclusion, Joan stated that the group will send out emails to those in attendance. The meeting was adjourned a little after 8:30 and some of us stayed talking about the asshole in charge of the government. One woman named “Dora” said she is involved with another group called Beacon that meets in front of MacDonald Park every Thursday for an hour at 4. I’m not sure what this group does, but I wouldn’t want to get involved with too many groups and spread myself too thin. I’d rather just stay with Forest Hills Indivisible and see if it meets my activist needs.

One funny moment came when the guy from my adjacent building made a case of using social media more frequently. At that point, the room was scanned for the white heads of both males and females sitting there until one older woman chimed in, saying that she could handle the social media aspect of getting our message out to a broader cross section of the population.

After the meeting, I walked to Queens Boulevard with someone from the group. She said her name was “Betty,” and she was from Ridgewood, Queens. She said she was a member of the Ridgewood chapter, but still wanted to attend the meeting here tonight. I informed her that I had to eat dinner out since I had no time to dine home before the meeting. We said our goodbyes near the subway station and I made my way to Shake Shack for a hamburger and fries.

As I type this, Lawrence O’Donnell is conversing with Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu about the outrage caused by a fucking ICE raid at a Boston car wash. ICE is this president’s equivalent to Hitler’s Schutzstaffel, or SS. The more we grasp this reality, the more we can push back against this.

Tomorrow Elliot and I are meeting with “Rebecca” and “Taylor” at 7. Again, I might not be posting here tomorrow night, depending on how late we stay out with these two young individuals.

Have a good Thursday.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Sunday, November 2, 2025, the end of Daylight Saving Time. I always rage against this worthless practice that we engage in year in and year out without any attempt to correct it. Which would mean that this do-nothing Congress would finally put an end to changing the clock and letting nature do its part in giving us natural daylight.

The literature on this phenomenon always points to its negative health impacts, such as increased risks of stroke and obesity from disrupted circadian rhythms. Proponents of permanent standard time argue it aligns better with human biology. Permanent standard time could reduce health risks associated with time changes. Permanent daylight saving time could result in more evening sunlight in the winter months and may provide a benefit in terms of public safety, as studies show there are fewer fatal car accidents with more daylight in the evening. It appears that many researchers agree that the current system of changing clocks twice a year is the worst option from a health perspective, regardless of whether permanent standard or daylight time is chosen. As for this ever happening, don’t expect it to take shape during this terrible administration that cannot even pay federal workers now during a month-long government shutdown, but an attempt to make daylight saving time permanent did pass the Senate in 2022, but did not advance in the House of Representatives. Public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans favor eliminating the time change, though support for permanent standard time versus permanent daylight saving time is more divided. That is why I begrudgingly move the clocks back now and ahead an hour in March.

Yesterday Elliot and I spent a lovely evening in Jersey City at Temple Beth-El attending a gala for the dedication of a new social hall, funded in part by Elliot’s late aunt’s legacy. We used mass transit, taking the F to 34th Street where we transferred to the PATH and took the train to Journal Square. From there, we took a taxi to the synagogue on John F. Kennedy Boulevard. We were directed to take the stairs downstairs and we descended the steps to the designated area. Outside there was a table set up with the names of the invited guests and a wall with plaques designating the donors who generously donated to the renovation of the social hall. Elliot’s aunt’s name was etched on a plaque honoring her foundation. Then we walked into the dark interior of the room that was set up for dinner and dancing. We looked around for a table and we found one in the back. We then took some hors d’oeuvres that were proffered to us by a number of servers. The rabbi of the synagogue met us and thanked Elliot for his backing.

It was at this event that I shook the hand of Jim McGreevey who is now running for mayor of Jersey Center. You remember who Jim McGreevey is? He was the former governor of New Jersey in 2001 and was forced to resign the position after it was revealed that he engaged in an extramarital relationship with a man. There was that infamous press conference where he appeared with his wife, Dina Matos, in which he stated he was a gay man and that he was resigning his office. A divorce was granted the couple in 2008.

So it was this Jim McGreevey whose hand I shook. He and another candidate for mayor were at this event, and the other one is someone I wouldn’t know if I fell over him. The other candidate’s name is William O’Dea. Anyway, the brief engagement I had with McGreevey was quite funny. He doesn’t know me from Adam, as they say, but when he took my hand, he uttered that he thought he knew me from somewhere. I said that I’ve never met him before; I’m not even a New Jersey resident, I told him. That’s when he turned to talking to someone else who was at least a New Jersey voter. That was the extent of my brief conversation with him.

Here we also met another gay couple who are members of the shul. In fact, as soon as we entered the room, it was “James” who took my hand and talked very amicably throughout the evening. I didn’t even know who he was at first. And I couldn’t understand why he seemed so touchy-feely with me. The longer the evening progressed, it became clear. He started talking of his husband, “Morris,” who was at the event and where they enjoy traveling to. It was practically inevitable that we would exchange telephone numbers and emails. With the end of the gala looming, I finally met “Morris.” I didn’t have time to speak to him, as Elliot yearned to leave; it was a little after 10.

Unfortunately, the commute home took forever. We got into an Uber outside the synagogue and then took the train back to 33rd Street, where we transferred to the F. However, the ride to 33rd Street on the PATH took forever. The only distraction we had on this interminable ride back to New York was seeing the hordes of young people boarding the train in Halloween costumes. Both girls and men were decked out in weird and colorful getups. Even though it was November 1, a day after Halloween. People were still going to parties, it seemed, as many got off at Christopher Street.

We got home, finally, a little after 12. Much later than I thought, but heck, it was fun looking at the Halloween revelers. I even took a respite from reading Surviving Autocracy, by Masha Gessen, who writes incisively about the first Dump term. She uses the term “kakistocracy” to describe the kind of government we had during Dump’s first term, and here we are all over again during his second, worse term. I’ve even went back to rereading It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis, inspired by this Orange Turd’s second term. This novel is about fascism coming to America in 1935. Well, maybe it didn’t way back then, but it sure emerged in 2025.

Anyway, it’s getting late here.

It’s time to wish everyone a good week.

And so it went!

I forgot to mention that I baked today: an apple walnut cake. Here it is!

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, October 8, 2025. Yesterday I was attending my gay men’s reading club meeting along with my friend “Harvey.” I did go to Julius’s afterward for some libation and conversation. Even though I’m more of a coffeetotaler, I relented and had a glass of beer.

I took the F train to West 4th Street around 3 and got down before 4. So I walked to the Jefferson Market Library where our meeting is always held and went to the second floor to comb the books on the shelf to purchase. Of course, I definitely didn’t need any more books; I am close to finally finishing Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an entertaining read and this book is surely that!

Don’t worry, folks, I didn’t buy any more books yesterday. I then started walking back to the IFC Center where I got a text from Harvey saying he would be on time. He had called me earlier to say that the train he would have taken was cancelled and that another train was scheduled for a later time; he expected to be late then, but he wasn’t.

When we met, Harvey indicated he was hungry, so we discussed where we might dine. I heard about a Chinese restaurant called Steam located near the library, but we never got there. Harvey spied an Italian restaurant called Osteria 57 and examined its menu outside and suggested we eat there. I did say that we just dined on take-home Chinese food the other day and said I would be amiable to eating Italian food.

The place was quite empty since it wasn’t even 4:15 yet. But we chose a nice table near the window in the front to sit. We were given two menus: one for lunch which actually ended at 5 and one for dinner. We preferred to choose from the dinner menu, so we selected some nice dishes from that listing. I eschewed an appetizer this time to select spaghetti cacio e pepe, which is basically spaghetti with Pecorino Romano cheese and pepper. Harvey chose some fish entree, fritto misto that included Montauk shrimp, local calamari, and zucchini tempura.

Harvey’s hunger was not slaked until he had dessert which turned out to be gelato. I decided against having my own dessert and helped myself to two spoonfuls of Harvey’s gelato.

Then it was time to stroll toward the Jefferson Market Library, but not until we spent a little time in a bookstore opposite the legendary gay bar called Three Lives & Company. I made the conscious decision before we entered that I would not purchase a book from this lovely little bookstore. But Harvey did! He bought a new hardcover book called 38 Londres Street (which I never heard about) by Philippe Sands that chronicles Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his involvement with a fugitive SS officer. Harvey thought the book would be a nice present for his Chilean wife, “Sofia.”

Now it was time to walk toward the library after Harvey paid for his book. When we got to the room in which we hold our meetings, we already saw an almost full room of sitting avid book readers. When it was time to begin the meeting – at 6:30 – the room must have close to 60 guys.

We started the meeting by discussing one cultural thing we did this month. When it came to my turn, I spoke about seeing The History of Sound. That was last Saturday.

Then it was time we dived into discussing Guapa by Saleem Haddad. All of us dissected the book with erudite analysis; however, Harvey and I had trouble hearing many of the men’s comments. We whispered this to each other during the 90 minutes the meeting ranged over.

Later, I took this up with our organizer, “Jerry,” at Julius’s. He listened to me as I made the suggestion that he announce that members speak up during the next meeting. I do hope he will do this – if not, I’ll remind him of this in November.

I then went home by myself since Harvey did not stay for a drink or to schmooze with the other members.

When I got home, I eagerly went to try out our restored television set which was delivered to us after 5. I took the two remotes and clicked the “On” button. And the set came on and I was able to watch regular TV.

However, when I pressed the button for my apps, the streaming services, I was unable to connect to the services – like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc. The screen where the apps appeared looked very different from what I used to have. And when I clicked on an app, I got nothing. Thus I decided we’d have to call “Ernest” today and ask him to return to get these apps working again.

So I spent another night in the bedroom watching the Ed Gein series on Netflix. This time I don’t think our upstairs neighbor banged on the ceiling as she has since I went in there after the Sony died. Boy, what a victory!

In the meantime, in our fascist American moment, the news just gets worse and worse, with today’s arraignment of former FBI director James Comey for charges of lying to Congress – which is definitely a spurious charge since we all know that Comey was on the Orange Turd’s enemies list and he publicly sicced his lapdog of an attorney general, blonde bimbo Pam Bondi, on him. A trial date was set for January 5, 2026, which is an ironic one, since the next day, January 6, would mark the fifth anniversary of that second infamous date in U.S. history. Comey’s lawyers have rightfully claimed the charges are just the result of a sitting president’s vow of vengeance against the former FBI director. The arrest of a public official like Comey should outrage every American who is shocked by this fascistic regime and to what measures it would take to overthrow the rule of law. I should hope this case will be dismissed outright before any evidence is ever presented in such a kangaroo court in this country.

The news gets even worse as the Supreme Leader calls for the jailing of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Democratic Governor JB Pritzker because of their opposition to the Orange Turd calling in his private army, ICE, into Portland, Oregon, and Chicago. This is what the Orange Turd actually wrote: “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice [he couldn’t even capitalize ICE here – the idiot!] Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” He wrote these incendiary remarks on his stupid “Truth” Social.

After these developments, all I can say is, “Are we living in America right now or in a banana republic?” I can’t wait until the protest scheduled for October 18 to express my disgust of what is happening under Dump and his evil regime.

Maybe tomorrow Ernest will fix the television set once and for all. He’s set to come after 5. In the meantime, I’ll sit one more time in the bedroom to watch another episode of Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

And so it went!

Here’s a great sign from one of the protests I participated in that says it all!

And So It Goes

Today is Sunday, September 28, 2025. Well, today Elliot and I successfully went to West Babylon, Long Island, to plant our feet at the New Montefiore Cemetery and Wellwood Cemetery in order to pay our respects to our two dear friends interred in both. Thus we have fulfilled the mitzvah of visiting a cemetery before the conclusion of the High Holy Days. Not that we ever intended to; it was just that our friend “Gene” desired to do it this weekend and we said we’d drive out there to meet him at one since we couldn’t find the grave of our recently departed friend, “Mark,” who died in 2023 the last time we ventured out there which was over a year ago.

Before we left the borough at about 12:45, I walked over to Austin Street to take a quick look at the fair taking place there. My intention was to find the booth where newly formed Indivisible of Forest Hills was located since our friend, “Patricia,” sent me an email indicating that they would be there today. I waded through the food booths and commercial stalls lining both sides of the street. We woke up rather late, so I didn’t go out until close to 11. I just had time to have coffee and a croissant at La Boulangerie.

By golly, I did find the culprit, the newly formed anti-Dump organization that now has a chapter in Forest Hills. I began conversing with some members there; I had a particularly interesting conversation with “Beatrice,” who was sitting by the main table. At one point, she claimed that Kamala Harris did win the 2024 election, but that she and the party consciously decided not to contest the results because they feared a MAGA war if they had. Of course, there is no proof of this, I know, and I’m just spreading what seems to be a conspiracy theory like the nuts on the right. But I like to believe this is the truth. Otherwise, we have to accept that there are many morons living in this country.

There was a sign-up sheet, so I left my name, email, and cell phone number on it. I can’t predict if they will call me at any time, but I can hope. Also, I was given a flyer about the October 18th demonstration right here in Forest Hills, at McDonald Park. I indicated I was partial to attending the rally in Manhattan; their protest is scheduled at 10 through 12 that day. The one in the city starts at 11 and runs through 1. Now you know why I prefer to take the subway down to Father Duffy Square, at 47th Street and Broadway, a new location for these demonstrations. They’ve usually been held outside the 42nd Street Library at Bryant Park.

We make good time driving out to West Babylon: we arrive around 1:40. We head for the cemetery office where we are supposed to meet up with Gene and see he’s not there. I enter the office and ask where his husband is located and the staff person hands me a map which I can never read. I am geographically compromised. I can’t distinguish west from east, north from south.

We finally get in contact with Gene who informs us he is in the other cemetery – Wellwood Cemetery which is down the block. The cemetery we were in did not have “Keith,” his husband; it only had our friend “Mark” interred here. Already very confusing!

Therefore, we leave this cemetery to find the other one and the facility office, which is quite difficult to find as well. When we ultimately find the office to the second cemetery, we look for our friend who is not there either. What to do? Finally, he does call us and tells us he’s by the grave of his husband where he has been trying to find his husband’s parents for over a half-hour. He took his electric shears with him to prune the top of the shrubbery growing by the gravestone. We exit the office area and drive down various streets and blocks when we finally catch up with Gene’s electric blue Civic.

Whooo! At least we have met up with Gene. Even if we don’t find anybody today, we still have live Gene with us. When we see Gene, he’s sweating and complaining about not being able to find Keith’s parents – until now. We proceed to accompany Gene to two gravestones marking Keith’s parents’ remains and we wait until he cuts the hedges.

We then pile back into two cars and follow Gene to Keith’s burial spot. It’s a long, winding path to where Keith is buried, but we find him and we exit our cars, to say the Kaddish (prayer for the dead) at Keith’s elaborate gravestone. Gene sheds a tear for his departed husband, who died on December 24, 2018. Elliot whispers into the air, “I miss you, Keith!” We put stones on top of Keith’s headstone and then leave.

We then follow Gene back into the first cemetery where Mark is buried and look for his place of rest. This we find somewhat easier, but I know if I were here alone with Elliot, it would have turned into a nightmare of circuitous turns and wasted gas.

Voila! We find Mark’s tablet, not a tombstone, so we conjecture that’s why we might have missed him the first time we came out to pay our respects. We recite Kaddish again and say how much we miss him too.

With our task done, we pile back into both cars and head for West Babylon to a restaurant called Brixton, located on Deer Park Avenue. This time I drive since Elliot intends to call his daughter back at 3.

I plug the restaurant’s address into Waze and start exiting the cemetery. I maintain a measured distance so as to not lose Gene who is a good distance in back of me. In less than 20 minutes, we head for this neighborhood eatery and start looking for parking spots. Gene parks a little ahead of us.

We get out of our cars and look for Brixton, which I find with my eagle eyes across the street. We cross the street and go in the side entrance and ask to sit down. We’re told the place is closed and won’t open until 4. We’re too hungry to wait, so we say, thank you, and walk out.

We cross the road and find a novel place, Babylon Social, that looks quite busy. It’s located directly opposite Brixton and it seems to specialize in comfort food, which is what we were definitely in the mood for at that moment. To me, it looked more like a sports bar with several television sets blaring a football game and people screaming their appreciation of their favorite team winning a touchdown or whatever they’re supposed to do. A middle-aged man and what looked like his son, maybe, were sitting at the table adjacent to us.

A young waitress by the name of Clarissa waited on us. Since we were all ravenous, we decided to order some appetizers first like cauliflower bites and a chopped wedge salad for Elliot and Gene. Gene and I ordered an eggplant parmigiana pizza to share with the table. For my beverage of choice, I ordered a coffee.

For dessert, Elliot treated us all to ice cream delights at Kilwins Ice Cream up the block. I almost wanted to bring home some chocolate, but the prices were indeed not too sweet.

We did find a bakery along the way where I asked for four apple cider donuts. Don’t ask what I was charged for these sweet treats.

We said our goodbyes to Gene on Deer Park Avenue. He is going back to Provincetown before Yom Kippur and then he flies back to Florida on November 4. We said we might come out to the Sunshine State sometime in March to be with him.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Thursday, September 25, 2025. I was going to write about the ongoing train wreak known as Donald J. Dump who, just two days ago, delivered the stupidest, most insulting speech to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly which is still being assessed for its insane, incoherent substance, but something personal in my life has been acutely felt, and that is the death of a friend on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah this past Monday. Today was the funeral service on West 91st Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

I received the terrible news from his husband, “Jeff,” just around 4:40 p.m. while Elliot and I were having a holiday dinner at our friend’s house on Monday. Something told me to answer the call and not let it go to voicemail since “Larry” had been suffering from an aggressive case of leukemia for over two years, I believe, and he was definitely not doing well this past week or so. My suspicions were confirmed when Jeff announced that Larry had just died and that he was going to text me the information concerning the service, which couldn’t be the next day because of the holiday on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thus I went out today at 8 a.m. to get to the West Side to attend the last rites for Larry. The chapel was overflowing with mourners, many of them friends and relatives, and even coworkers of Larry over the years. Larry served with distinction, first, as a teacher in Brooklyn, then ascended the pedagogical ladder at one elementary school by becoming an assistant principal and then ending up as principal of the school. He began his teaching career at almost the same time as Elliot did – in 1967. Elliot began his career of teaching over three decades in 1968.

After retiring in the early 2000s, Larry found his true passion: first volunteering for the CSA – the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, and then becoming a unit chapter head. Those who spoke at the service recounted how dedicated he was to those he came into contact with at the council and how heconsidered everyone an equal. Speaker after speaker recounted how informative he was about union regulatory rules and would share that information unhesitatingly with others.

Larry received accolades from everyone who spoke. He was primarily described as a generous, kind, gentle, soul who had a complimentary word about everyone. This I can attest to in my association with him over the years. I met him through his soon-to-be husband Jeff who Elliot and I first got to know at the gay/bi dads group at the LGBTQ+ center on 13th Street.

Jeff offered the first eulogy which was spoken in a half-whisper about his loving husband and how he was forever altered for the better through knowing Larry. At one point, he mentioned that Larry told him – on his deathbed, literally – to give up petty grudges, which, I hadn’t known at the time, was actually addressed to Elliot and me. You see, our friendship with both Larry and Jeff was frayed after 2021 resulting from a misunderstanding between Elliot and Jeff. Because of the seemingly petty nature of the grievance, I won’t even mention it here. Thus for close to four years, Elliot was persona non grata in Jeff’s mind. I recently decided to renew the connection between Larry and Jeff when I heard from a mutual friend, “Gene,” that Larry was seriously ill.

Therefore, when I would see the pair generally in Midtown near where they lived, Elliot would stay behind. I never felt good about this, but I went along with this arrangement to not ruffle any feathers, even though I instinctively believed it was wrong.

Today the situation was put into stark perspective with Larry’s untimely death – he was 79 and would celebrate his birthday on the same date as I, which is November 8, but he was 10 years older than I – when I stood in a line of bereavers to hug Jeff in the hallway and he started to say through tears, “Did you hear what I said up there – about giving up grudges?” I said I did, and said something so cliched, like “Life is short!” But it’s the damn truth! I hugged him as he tearfully said he would get in touch with both of us when things settle down. That’s all I needed to hear.

How many of us know about situations when family members don’t talk to one another over some conflict or misunderstanding that occurred over decades ago? How many of us know people who never had the chance to repair broken relationships with sisters, brothers, aunts, cousins, or friends? I would say that number is quite large. So all I can say is life is unpredictable and, if you have the chance to repair a strained relationship with someone you once held very dear, now is the time to do it before it’s too damn late. I’m sure Jeff became cognizant of this very life lesson as his husband’s life was ebbing away.

So if any of you see yourself as being described in the above-mentioned paragraph, you know what to do. Go out and mend those fences – if you can. Time is of the essence.

And so it went!