Friday, December 20, 2013

Health Care for the Holidays

There is no reason not to be insured. I am struggling with a number of health issues as this year comes to an end. All of them were a surprise with no symptoms. I am very grateful that I have a great medical plan and doctors (Kaiser Permanente).

Enjoy this sexy video and signup for insurance if you need it.

Link: http://youtu.be/azoWedQH8zQ
Out2Enroll is a coalition of organizations who want to help lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people stay healthy by making sure that one of the major benefits of the Affordable Care Act -- access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance coverage -- reaches LGBT communities. Get Enrolled is a holiday parody, produced by our friends at Full Frontal Freedom, which aims to bring awareness to the final week of health marketplace enrollment. For more information, go to http://www.out2enroll.org
or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/out2enroll.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

The War on Christmas 2013

TMI Questions Meme:
1. Which religion or faith do you belong to, if any?
As a kid, I was brought up in the Christian faith.  Every time my parents moved they joined a different Protestant denomination. I have been Congregationalist (UCC), Methodist, American Baptist, and Presbyterian. When I came out and met my husband, I decided to convert to his faith, Judaism (Reform).  I no longer celebrate Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter. At first, my family wasn’t too happy about it but either they have resigned themselves to it or have accepted it.

2. What is your opinion of Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays?
This is a manufactured/made up seasonal controversy contrived by conservative talk radio and FOX News. The whole point is to draw in listeners and viewers in order to sell more advertising. The phrase “Happy Holidays” is an attempt to be more inclusive to include non-Christians such as Jews.

3. Holiday music on the radio? When and how much?
I love holiday music especially Christmas music. There are not very many good Hanukkah songs but there are a ton of great Christmas songs, many of them written by Jews.
Some of the best Jewish written Christmas songs are: Silver Bells, Winter Wonderland, Santa Baby, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, A Holly Jolly Christmas, Let It Snow, (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire), Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Run Rudolph Run, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, and White Christmas.
I like it when holiday music on the radio starts after Thanksgiving and goes through the end of the year.

4. When do you start decorating? Do you?
I no longer decorate. We travel instead and are not home.

5. White lights or multi colored?
I like both. It is nice to have a change once and a while. Alternate every year.
When I was in my 20’s and 30’s, I always had a string of colored lights hung around the ceiling of the living room or den. I would plug them in and turn them on when ever I wanted to create a cheery or festive mood. You could say it was my way of being gay while still closeted (I didn’t come out until I was 40).

6. Gift cards, cash or actually shopped-for presents?
I passionately dislike gift cards. I prefer cash or shopped-for presents. Gift Cards are poor and lazy choice of a gift and in many cases a waste of money. A number of surveys estimate that nearly 1 in 4 Americans don’t even use their gift cards. They also have a plethora of other problems: fees, bank charges, expiration dates, wasted balances, and bankrupt/out of business retailers. I would rather someone make a donation to a charity in my name than give me a gift card.

7. Christmas cards and or family update letters are...
…greatly appreciated, especially the older I get. In some cases, it is the only time in the year I hear from old friends and distant family members. Not everyone is on Facebook.

8. Snow is...
…over rated. I am glad I live in an area where I don’t have to deal with it. It was fun when I was a small kid but I would hate to deal with it as an adult.

9. Have you been a good little boy or girl this year?
As Mae West said, “When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better. ”

10. Rapid Fire Favorites:
     1. Food: my husband’s latkes for Hanukkah
     2. Dessert: fancy Christmas cookies
     3. Drink: spiked eggnog, Cosmopolitans, and Champagne
     4. Holiday movie: all the new Oscar potential movies released during the holiday season.
     5. Holiday music: The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (300 men!) holiday show.
     6. Holiday tradition: Spending the holiday vacation at a gay men’s resort. Our favorite place is Pineapple Point Guesthouse and Resort in Fort Lauderdale. We also enjoyed our stay at Island House in Key West.

Link: http://youtu.be/IHVzwyG7_1k

Thursday, December 05, 2013

Paris yet again

We spent Thanksgiving holiday in Paris again. But not the Paris we vacationed in August and I have written about here and here.
No, this was my husband’s hometown of Paris, Tennessee, located in the northwest corner of the state.  We primarily went back to see his ailing mother that is convalescing in a rehab nursing facility. His mother’s younger sister traveled back with us from California. We had Thanksgiving dinner with his brother's family (steak and lobster tails, an annual tradition).

Here are some pictures of Paris:



Paris, TN was in the news recently because of a horrible hate crime. A week before we traveled there, the owner of a health food store was beaten unconscious by three masked men who used anti-gay slurs before robbing him, writing “fag” on his forehead and finishing by trying to torch his store with gasoline.  http://www.parispi.net/articles/2013/11/22/news/local_news/doc528e43486bc9e253584711.txt

Scene of the hate crime in Paris

Did you know that Paris, Tennessee has a winery too? For the last three out of four years, my husband has hosted a party there to catch up with all his grade school and high school friends he has reconnected with on Facebook. We had an enjoyable evening there.

We spent one afternoon visiting antique stores in nearby Murray, KY.

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