fiction and musings from a gay black dude with delusions above his station
A horrid highway accident occurred this week in Tennessee, killing eight people. The National Transportation and Safety Board will not be investigating it because all of that department’s employees are furloughed. The US Geological Survey is in partial shutdown mode. They posted this on their earthquakes website: Due to a lapse in Federal funding, the…
[Dedicated to Barry. RIP.] Hollywood, some time in 1976 I left the theater alone. He never showed up. It was a shitty movie and I almost left early. I didn’t because I kept hoping that maybe he would show up. Also, too, he cowed me into waiting. The last time he was late, and I…
Last year, I posted that I mainly wanted to see President Obama reelected to ensure that the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, took effect on schedule in 2014. I said that I had family members who would potentially benefit from the program. This need has grown tremendously in the past couple of months. One of…
[Originally published September 2012.] “When I woke up in a different room than I remembered falling asleep in, I knew it was going to be one of those days.” That’s a line I normally associate with the morning after I had a few too many. But that wasn’t the case, not this time. I went…
[Originally published in March, 2012.] The magic, they say, happens after the lights dim and the images begin to flicker on the screen. In this case, though, for most, there would be little magic as the story was already known. But for others who were young like me, black like me, and torn asunder by…
Art Spiegelman’s masterpiece Maus deftly illustrates the slow descent into chaos experienced by European Jews as the Nazi menace took hold over their lives. The nightmare did not hit all at once, but in slow, dreadful paces. During the descent, everyone tried to live as normal a life as possible. They went to the store. …
I have read a variety of views on the nine-hour detention of Glen Greenwald’s partner David Miranda at London Heathrow Airport last weekend. Unfortunately some can’t seem to separate their disdain for Glen Greenwald from the detention of his partner and what that detention signifies. They somehow think that the issue is overblown or fear…
[Originally published in August 2012] For a 12 year old, Clayton Simmons maintained the most peculiar habits. By a calculus all his own, he computed the precise number of movements and amount of time necessary to complete his morning rituals so that he ended up looking fabulous for the day. Teeth brushing required one minute,…
[Originally published on the gar spot in January 2011.] The fantasy started that night, in the shades of black he wore and the shades of tan that made up our skin as we stood together in the wings overlooking the orchestra. I stood behind him and allowed my hand to brush against his, allowed my breath…
(Originally published in October, 2011) I’ve always liked older boys. One summer day long ago my mother took me to the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round. I don’t remember if it was my first trip to a merry-go-round, but I remember how excited I was to be able to ride on it by myself. I felt all grown-up….
