My Blog

This I Believe

Eikon — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 08:33:01 GMT

This is what happens when I work the midnight to 6 am shift; I think of inane things like formulating personal creeds. This all was prompted by a discussion in anthropology class about the notion of world view and that silly NPR series So here goes. ~~~~~~ I believe in one God; and that said God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. I believe that God is protean in nature. That s/he is shaped by context to suit the limited needs of humanity and that this shaping is to the greater adoration of God. I believe in context. I believe that there are universal truths but that those truths are ultimately valued in different ways in different settings and that those truths remain undiminished. I believe in the benevolence of God and that creation in whatever form it may have occurred or is occurring was/is an act of love. This being said I believe that the love of God is not limited to the act of creation and is in fact limitless. I believe in a hierarchy of being. I believe in glory. I believe that the echoes of past glory sound down the corridors of human consciousness and that the pursuit of glory is a road to the divine; I believe there is truth in glory. I believe that mankind is glorious, that every person has the capacity for greatness and that glory can be found in any place. I believe in the value of hope. I believe in looking to the horizon at all times. I believe in prayer. Regardless of its origins, execution or actual potency I believe it is integral to humanity; it is what we do. I believe in love in all its forms. ~~~~ Everything else I believe in stems from these statements. I think I would have burned a few centuries ago.

Puppy!!!!!

Eikon — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 02:58:02 GMT

We got a Puppy!!! His name is Elias and he is beautiful.

MY Adorable Baby Amongst the Ruins of Pompeii

Eikon — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 23:32:24 GMT

Could that man perhaps perchance be Mac the Knife?

Eikon — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:32:25 GMT

Sharks. Oh heavens above and all the realms below I hate sharks. Now for an exegesis on what the shark is please consult the song "Mac the Knife" Hey that shark has pretty teeth dear and he shows 'em pearly white Just a jackknife has Macheath dear And he keeps it way out of site When that shark bites with his teeth dear Scarlet billows they begin to spread Fancy white gloves has Macheath dear So theres never, never a trace of red Sharks prey on the weak. Oh and they are so charming, ever so charming. My greatest rage is reserved for the gay shark though. The man who preys on the weaknesses inherent in the queer male condition. The man who refers to men as meat. The man who hunts for new prey. Better to spend the night inthe arms of a predator than alone or so the thought process of the meat goes. That is of course if he realizes that he is being hunted. The most disgusting thing about the shark is the level of deceit. After all its just a meaningless fuck right? There is no Meaningless fuck. Callous? Yes. Self Serving? No Doubt. But meaningless? Never. I hate sharks. I detest anyone who refers to "new meat"

Eikon — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 19:59:47 GMT

Dear semper augustus posted this to his blog. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Open Sexuality Posted protected on 2006.04.12 at 09:44 I find I do not express my sexuality openly, through clothes, speech, or in my hot-button issues, as most others, who identify the way I do, do. While some of this comes from my natural reticence to display sexuality amongst strangers, I find it mostly comes from a strong sense of my identity. I refuse to let my sexuality be a primary-characteristic! I find that other touchstones serve better when it coes to discovering who someone is. Do they like hugs? What books do they read? What is their overall aesthetic sense trying to create in their lives? What are their choices of friends? What do they do with their free-time? To proclaim sexuality as a primary-characteristic of one's public identity, I find, is a poor indicator of who one is. The question them remains, why would one do this, as so many do? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN RESPONSE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm a faggot and a queer. I prefer those terms to gay because they are less apologetic. My sexuality is as important as any other descriptor about me. You're voicing the same opinion as many of my closeted at work friends. My dignity demands that I be accorded the same respect that any straight boy would get. Should I not mention JM the most important person in my life for fear of reprisal? Excuse me if I don't play Uncle Tom to the hetero majority. Have you ever been persecuted for the sake of who you are? Most of our faggot brethren have been. Life is much easier coming from a liberal house in the suburbs. Ponder for a while what it must be like to be a gay man from a poor minority background that rejects him, to be scorned by your family for who you love and by the majority for who you love and your complexion. Why should one do this? You ask and I will awnser. Because it has been denied us for so long. Look up the sodomy laws, recall the pink triangle, take a long deep breath and see the persecution that is heaped upon gay men the world over. In over 60 percent of the countries of the world it is illegal to engage in male/male sex. Look to the eighties when Legionaires Disease got swifter attention then HIV. While young men died by the thousands and tens of thouands and bigots bearing crosses prclaimed that God had finally struck down the sodomites. BECAUSE WE CAN BE QUEER. Not just hiding in the shadows and furtively feeling for signs of others like us but open, honest, and proud. I know men who did not have the capacity to be open. I know a man who buried his partner of 40 years last year. He sat opposite his partners family in church and in the entirety of the funeral no one mentioned him. 40 years of devotion and love shat on because the family were assholes, the priest didn't dare speak out, ad my friend saw no reason to make his sexuality be a primary characteristic of his public persona. They lived on 17th street and never were part of the gay community they lived there before 17th street was gay. David still has never been to a pride parade and is 72, it has passed under his window for twenty years. We just got him to go to Dignity recently and as I understand it it was the third time in his life that he had been to a gay event, the other two were in France in the 60's. Silence denies us our place in history, it denies our communities ever knowing us, and it denies us as actual human beings relegating us to the level of animals in hiding. That is why this one proclaims my sexuality as the primary characteristic of my public identity. I will not be silenced.

The Coal Region

Eikon — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 06:09:20 GMT

I lurk this week in the coal region of Pennsylvania ; it is a nice break if intensly boring in nature. Luke and Dan are always fun. I suppose I should gird myself against boredom as we will be in Minnesota in only 2 months.

I'm Being Dumped For Cosi Fan Tutti

Eikon — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 16:05:30 GMT

Apparantly JM will be quasi directing another opera :(

An Eventful Weekend; New York and Cuddling

Eikon — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 04:48:53 GMT

Since last friday JM and I went to New York. In rder to avoid the expense of a hostel we took the 3 am us from DC. Arriving at just after 7 we took the subway down to St. George's cathedral in the East Village on 7th off 2nd Avenue and caught a lowwwwwwww mass. Cantored by an obnoxious ukrainia baritone while little old women tried to sing along; JM gets upset when he doesn't know the language. Alas the Kiev was not et open and so instead of getting pierogies we wandered up to the Strand which was also not open Having realized that we were in town far to early we went for a walk across town to the Village and ate a lovely little cafe for breakfast. We then went to a yarn shop known as the Point on the reccomendation of Corbeau. JM got two hanks of Misty alpaca blend and I got two hanks of manos in the colour "Fire"; we are both working on scarfs for them and have started to learn how to cable. After the yarn store we wandered up to Times square and were terrified by the line along the TKS booth and so opted to visit theatres; Sweeney Todd had standing room; and a girl mislead us into thinking that there were rush tickets available for the Color purple; the rush tickets were for the evening performance and so upon learning this we left. Up Broadway we wlaked into the Met and got tickets for the afternoon performance of Cosi Fan Tutti which gave us an hour and a half to wander. I wanted to see the natural history museum but when we got there did not want t spend 28 dollars to walk arounfd for 45 minutes and so contented myself with the rather stunning dinosaurs in the foyer. We then went to the opera which was standing room because in JM's zeal to save money he neglected to ask what the next pice up would be; still three hours of opera for 20 dollars is rather nice. I disliked the opera, there wasn't any particularly impressive music, though the staging was fabulous and the Met is a wonderful space (see picture) Standing room was cordoned off by an usher who informed us that management did not want us to take a seat during the perfirmance; she then clipped a raggedy rope across to prevent us from taking such liberties. If we had not alread walked a few miles it would have been a more enjotyable experience. We ate Thai on the way back from the Port Authority and were whisked back to DC via Greyhound. The reason for the trip was oour 2 year anniversary which was today. We watched movies and cuddled the majority of the day and now JM is beckoning for me to go to sleep. Silly baby.

Men Knit

Eikon — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 03:04:44 GMT

Today was the once every two weeks meeting of Men Knit at Caribou off Logan Circle. As per the norm the knitting was good and the wit was acid. A new fellow popped up named Jason whose punk/emo/indy/queer (very ambiguous really) style and Mario Brothers ring tone I found most endearing. Hopefully he will return. Dan posted this very amusing picture of John Mark yesterdayy where in he pretends to be an orchid. Corbeau nearly called down the wrath of Aubergine via the repetition of a interview between said eggplant and CBC in the midst of the coffee house. I found the exchange quite amusing; they are both dears. Tommorow I go to take care of my research paper for this block with AALEAD.

Orchids

Eikon — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 01:18:43 GMT

I love orchids; and according to the lovable Corbeau a code word for queers ages ago was to mention orchids because the word is derived from the greek for balls. "Does he eat orchids?" We went to the US botanical Garden today to view the orchids which are showing there and it was a rather impressive showing. We then ate at the Native American Museum where I had a lovely trout sandwich. Apparantly the largest pyramid is in Mexico whereas I thought it was in japan; however I still think that the stone pyramids of Giza are more impressive. Ask yourself pile of quarried rock or pile of dirt?

Radical Fairies and My kids

Eikon — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 03:34:51 GMT

So starting after I left the opera I went to AALEAD and played with the kids for a few hours. My job basically entails making sure they do their work. Then we play board games; today I ruled the contest of Jenga and triumphed over 3rd and 6th graders alike. Faeries was at fritters with him, myself, snowbal, baba, chauncey, Heaven aka Bazooka, Potpourri, and a southern gentlemen who's name escapes me. We had a show and tell after dinner that was quite amusing. I knitted a wash clothe in the process. The southern gentleman is a follower of Slyvia Brown and so read us her predictions for the coming year. It was rather fun, Baba showed us religous kitch, fritter showed us pagan religous kitch, and Potpurri showed us a odd garmet he had knit on straws in the style and method of the Ivory coast where he spent time in the peace core at the behest of a vision from the Goddess on the metro. Fun times. Tommorow JM and I will go for coffee with Corbeau and play with Roofus.

Overpriced Dining

Eikon — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 16:21:00 GMT

I am doing temp work at an opera company. Now the employer of this job is a third generation Washingtonian (red flags go up) Republican with a architect husband who designs houses for wealthy suburbanites. They are nice people (as far as wwealthy republicans go). Today my task is to assemble a list of the most expensive restaraunts in DC And to then proceed to get their managers name (via phone) so we can ask them to donate to ourr silent auction. In mentioning he costly nature of these places (over 150 for a couple to eat easily) Deanne casually said "Oh last week my husband I and another couple spent $600 on dinner, of course we had two bottles of wine." This is what I like to call scary. There are villages that don't use that much money in a week in some countries. God Bless America. This fine dining exerience was brought t them by Citronelle, a french restaraunt in Georgetown and this is their current menu; Chef Richard's Dinner Menu (Jacket Required): 150 PROMENADE GOURMANDE AMUSE BOUCHE, egg surprise, mushroom cigar, haricot vert tartar PORCINI-GREEN LENTIL SOUP, poached egg FOIE GRAS BRULEE SALMON, onion carbonara LOBSTER MEDALLION, citronelle sauce, japanese eggplant SHORT RIBS, braised 72 hours, potato napoleon, syrah sauce IMPORTED CHEESE SELECTION CHOCOLATE MUSHROOM VACHERIN PETITS FOURS Due to the complexity and the length of this menu, the Promenade Gourmande is only available for complete tables and for reservations seated between 6 pm and 9 pm. Thank You 3 Course Dinner Menu AMUSE BOUCHE FIRST COURSE MOSAIC, "surf & turf" PORCINI- GREEN LENTIL SOUP, poached egg TUNA NAPOLEON "NICOISE" FETTUCCINI, VIRTUAL, cuttlefish, vegetable, trout caviar FOIE GRAS CARPACCIO LOBSTER "BEGULA PASTA" OYSTER SHOOTER SCALLOP, butternut sqaush risotto, egg porcupine CAVIAR PENGUINS, 1 oz, osetra, caspian sea, vegetable mousse- 60 SECOND COURSE SALMON, onion carbonara LOUP DE MER, tomato concasse, spinach pasta HALIBUT, tournedos, foie gras nuggets, green peppercorn sauce ROCKFISH, blooming, roasted, wild mushrooms SEA BASS, austrailan, santa fe style SQUAB, three ways DUCK, asian style, served medium rare, spring rolls, potato fried rice BEEF chateaubriand, chanterelles, porcini flavored diced yukon gold potatoes, syrah sauce LAMB crusted colorado rack, black bean sauce, rice bean gratin- 10 VENISON, chestnut risotto, brussels sprouts, celeriac-red wine sauce DESSERT SELECTION OF IMPORTED CHEESE- 15 PETITS FOURS MENU- 85 Rich people give me a headache sometimes.

A Thought on Tradition

Eikon — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 14:23:18 GMT

I am an extremely critical person. That may very well be an understatement. Last week good Corbeau and I were having a conversation and the point arose that if one is expected to apply critical thought and weighing of intrinsic values to traditional religion then by the same token non traditional religion is fair game. Don't mistake me, I thoroughly enjoy people making up religion and liturgy and I also enjoy tradition, but I differentiate between the two sorts of spiritual actions in a quantitative manner. A newly founded spiritual act has value for and individual and MAY have value for others whereas an act from a spiritual tradition has proven that it has or had value for many people and will likely continue to do so. In this way I don't say that traditional practices are better than personally discovered ones but rather that they have proven themselves to have a greater applicability to people. Personally I think that something becomes a tradition after two generations; so 30 to 40 years. If you are pulling things out of your ass that's ok; religions have done it from the dawn of time. But don't posture; instead be known as the founder of a new practice. The Chinese scholars of the Pre Communst era had an annoying tendency of signing a better known spiritual leader from before their times to a scroll or work and then proclaiming that it was in fact found in the archives and written by Mencius or some other noteworthy thinker. Some of these faked "" writings are amazing and propelled the advancement of philosophy forward but no one knows wo is responsible. So take credit for your innovations so people can claim you as the founder of one of their traditions instead of shrouding new practices in old ones. Because it doesn't take a genius to notice the difference between 10th century B.C.E and 10th century C.E.

Wheaton Bookstores of the Jewish and Used varieties

Eikon — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 03:23:23 GMT

Today I went with Baba to Wheaton to two bookstores. The first is one of the local providers of Judaica run by two rather orthodox individuals of an interesting level of peculiarly Jewish insanity. Apparantly there are Hassidic who propos that women constantly have their hair covered. So the woen in these communities cover their heads by cuttign their hair short and wearing wigs. Which begs the question...What is the Point? A kerchief I can understand a thousand dollar wig not so much. Baba got a few prayer books for his students and we then proceeded to the Friends of the Library of Montgomery County bookstore which is a delight and tempttation. I bought a few borkish books including one that rouunds out the first Forgotten Realms trilogy (The Moonshae Trilogy in case you were wondering) and then as I was wandering through the children's section in search of a presentfor my nieces (one currently alive and the other on the way) and found a 16 volume set of the Childcraft encyclopedia 1988 edition which I remember quite fondly from my youth. With such titles as "About Us" and "Time to Read" they were a mainstay of my early school year (K-2) I remember making crafts out of the "How Things Work" and the "Make and Do" volumes. I pan on waing war against the media for the intelectual development of my nieces and nephews. So I am stocking up the library so that they are surrounded by books from an early age. Also added to the the growing children's library at my parent's library are the "ABC of Egyptian Art from the Brooklyn Museum" and "And Tango Makes three" a book about a gay family of penguins in the central park zoo. Good times are had by all persons concerned.

Ok

Eikon — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 05:24:45 GMT

I am going to try to use Tribe as opposed to livejournal because I simply prefer the format. I need to get in touch with the northwoods fae as I wll soon be joining that tribe. ~Jason

Christmas in Iowa; Moving to Minnesota

Eikon — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 23:01:10 GMT

I have decided that on the occasion of spending Christmas in Iowa that this is in fact an oportune time to resume the long delayed process of blogging ang jornaling. It also gives me an excuse to avoid the watching of the Feilmeyer family movies form the early nineties. People tend to be terribly confused by my reluctance to go home for the holidays and when the confusion clears they seem to assume that my family is somehow disfunctional. They are. I love them all dearly but ahve found that the safest means of doing so is from a distance. Hence Iowa. On tuesday we made the six hour trip to St Cloud Minnesota and I am happy to report that my man's interview and audition went quite well with the result that he will be recieving a 100 percent scholarship to the University of Saint John for the pursuit of a Masters of Sacred Music. Needless to say I am terribly proud of his accomplishments and it looks like we shall be moving to Minnesota in May. It will be something of an adjustment to make compared to livng in DC but it will be an adventure and JM will be there with me so all is well. I am looking into getting certification to teach high school in Minnesota and have been in touch with the University of St Cloud. If possible I will probably place my Masters on hold in hopes of being able to transfer some credits towards it. Time will tell. We are going to rent a house as it is possible to rent a three bedroom house in St cloud for less than our apartment was in DC. We also intend on getting a puppy and a canoe which we will christen the HMS Eucharistica. Said proud vesel will be adorned with the most garish image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that we can find. We will then paddle about the lakes of Minnesota confusing Lutherans and straight folk. It will be great fun. I am told that it is neccesary to plug your car into the wall when the temperature drops below zero which is an idea that I find distressing. So we may very well require a garage ; plus it would be nice to have a place to do carpentry. But we will have to gauge the fiscal situation. Maeery Christmas to all persons reading this and a good Solstice, great Hannukah, and whatever other things you would wish to celebrate. Hugs, Jason

Won't Somebody think of the Children???

Eikon — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 12:14:01 GMT

So I have been employed at a charter school in the district of columbia and have decided that for the sake of entertainment and posterity I should make an account of all the odd things that occur here. First dear readers I must tell you that our school has no proncipal and proceeded to fire the entirety of the former faculty from last year. Unfortunately it appears that they were not actually teaching the children anything. The board has been attempting (futilely thus far) to hire a principal. To get anything done I am forced to request the benevolence of a three person board. They must then seek the approval of an executive head. It gives me quite the head ache. My poor innocent children are subjected to what can only be described as an utter travesty of curriculum as a result. Now this would be an unnacceptable development if I were dealing with the carefully nurtured sons and daughters of the bougousis however my kids come from the deepest darkest corners of the District's Ghettos. Of a class of 58 I have at least twenty with learning diabilities. The best of my readers is at a sixth grade level with the majority hovering around a 4th grade level. So let our Journey into alternative education begin though of course for the sake of legalities names will be altered or not used.