I’m expecting some blowback on this one. Click on the image to go to the blog, and see what the commentary looks like.
I wonder if there will be any disagreements with my blog?
December 14, 2012
Personal 2nd amendment, Adam Lanza, gun control, Newton, NRA, school massacre, school shooting, Visalia Times Delta blogs 2 Comments
And a fourth! Perhaps the most spiritual of all!
December 7, 2012
commentary, Personal church of the latter-day dude, dude, dudeism Leave a comment
My third ordination
December 7, 2012
commentary, Personal flying spaghetti monster, fsm, high priest, lgbt ceremonies, minister, pastafarians, rituals, Temple of Earth, universal life church 1 Comment
The actual certificate will be here in a week or two. This makes the third ordination I’ve received. The first was as a High Priest in The Temple of Earth, the second is a Minister in the Universal Life Church, and now as a Minister in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It would appear my spiritualism knows no bounds! If you need a non-traditional minister or High Priest for some ceremony, let me know. I work cheap. 😉
Eviction done, but will he stay away?
December 6, 2012
commentary, Personal eviction, tulare county sheriff, visalia police department 4 Comments
The Deputies from the civil division were here today, and served the final eviction. They arrived about 3:30pm, and by 4pm he was out the door and down the street. I fully expected to see him back before very long, and sure enough, by 6:15pm there he was.
It appears he went to the nearest store and bought some beer, because he was very much more drunk when he came back than when he left. He tried for a good ten minutes to get his key to work in the lock, but that wasn’t happening, since I changed the lock immediately after he left. He plopped down in a chair on the porch and just sat there. I had told him as soon as he started messing with the lock that I had called the police, but that didn’t seem to impress upon him at all.
The Visalia Police arrived within a few minutes of my call, and were confronted with a drunk, uncooperative mess.
Something else I learned recently
December 2, 2012
commentary, Personal Apple, christmas tree ornaments, eden, tree of knowledge Leave a comment
I was roaming around the Internet recently, looking for information on Christmas trees for a potential blog post, when I ran across something I was totally not expecting.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, “The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime.”
Alternatively, it is identified with the “tree of paradise” of medieval mystery plays that were given on 24 December, the commemoration and name day of Adam and Eve in various countries. In such plays, a tree decorated with apples (to represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and redemption) was used as a setting for the play. Like the Christmas crib, the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced by round objects such as shiny red balls.
I hadn’t heard of the wreaths and garlands histories before, but what really caught my eye was the hanging of apples on the branches of the Christmas tree.
I didn’t get the fashion gene…
December 2, 2012
commentary, Gay, Personal dancing gene, decorating gene, fashion gene, gay dna, gay gods 1 Comment
December 1, 2012
I’ve never been sure about this whole suit-jacket-jacket-over-just-a-tee-shirt thing, it always seemed a bit… well, incomplete, I suppose. Most everyone I’ve seen doing it, however, has looked fine, so I thought I’d give it a try. It seems to work, for a picture anyway. I’m still not sure about wearing one with blue jeans, although, again, everyone I’ve seen out and about that way looks good (that may have more to do with them looking fine no matter what, than it does with anything they happen to be wearing at any particular moment. I’m looking at you, Ted).
I’m a bit annoyed with the Gay Gods for sending me down with incomplete DNA. No fashion gene, no decorating gene, no dancing gene…. I feel a bit like a rainbow flag with several colors missing!
BTW, the red marks on my neck don’t indicate anything more than my electric razor irritates sometimes, and I had just shaved. And for some reason, I get two spots on my chin when using digital cameras to take pictures. From my Kodak camera, to the iPhone, splotches show up in the strangest places, and are generally not visible to the naked eye. I’m not sure where all that gray is coming from that shows up in my hair in these pictures. It doesn’t seem to be there in my mirror!
The things I didn’t know
December 1, 2012
commentary, Gay, Personal AIDS, hiv, how to survive a plague 1 Comment
On Friday, November 30, I attended a special showing of the documentary “How to survive a plague”, shown in Fresno. Using archival video, the film showcases the efforts of ACT UP and TAG during the early years in the battle against AIDS.
I think what amazes me the most is how much of this battle I was oblivious to, even though I was a young adult at the time. I recognized some of the media coverage of events from having seen it on television while it was happening, but I was unaware, even as recently as Thursday last, that most of the impetuous that drove research was due to pressure imposed by these groups.
Presented in a chronological progression, the challenges faced by those infected, as the community struggled to deal with this mysterious new killer, are laid out for the viewer. The continuing dismissal by those in power of the victims of this illness, the slow movement in funding and research as the death toll climbed, and the clear impression given by many that those infected with HIV simply got what they deserved, are all things of which I was aware.
What I didn’t know, and now completely changes my outlook on a history that I lived through, is how the protests and actions of ACT UP and TAG were instrumental in forcing government and the pharmaceutical industry to respond. It becomes clear that thousands, hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions more would have died without the concerted efforts of a relatively few people, many of whom were also suffering from AIDS.
Eviction process in final stages
November 24, 2012
Personal court, eviction, family issues, relatives 2 Comments
It’s down to the wire on the eviction of the relative who just won’t leave. I have two more documents to file with the court, the proof of service and a request for a Clerk’s judgement. I’m not sure what happens on the Court side of things once I file those forms, either I have to wait for them to process a judgement, or the clerk I file them with may be able to approve them on the spot (that’s what I’m hoping). If that’s the case, then I’ll take the paperwork over to the Sheriff’s Civil Division to be served. At that point, it’s less than 2 weeks before I have my house back.
He’s been here ten years, put four holes in various walls, broke the lid to the toilet tank (how the hell do you break a toilet tank lid??), probably ruined the carpet in his bedroom, knocked the closet doors off their runners (I’ll probably have to replace the whole closet door assembly), More
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
Dinner, and a downtown stroll
December 8, 2012
Jim Reeves commentary, Personal downtown visalia, family, fox theatre, fugazzi's, main street stroll, rio grill Leave a comment
I have some wonderful friends. Last night three of them drove down from Fresno (well, only one of them actually drove, the other two just rode along) to pick me up for a dinner date here in Visalia. We went to Fugazzi’s, one of Visalia’s favorite bistro style restaurants. (It was packed!)
I tend to eat in places like Quiznos and Subway, so I seldom have occasion to dine at a fancier establishment. Fugazzi’s is comfortable, you don’t have to dress up, but nobody was in shorts and flip-flops. I did see a couple of tshirts with blue jeans, but most of us were dressed nicely. Black seemed to be the choice of the evening, with many men in black shirts and pants, and the women in black dresses. (Some of those men looked really hot in black!)
I ordered the salmon, and this is what they brought me:
I don’t recall getting a flower in my food before. Pretty, though, isn’t it?
More
Share this: