The Buck and Mike Blog

Recently read book: A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut — loved it
Also reading: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion — absolutely amazing
On my nightstand: A Maimonides Reader — thought-provoking

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Vonnegut, Didion, Maimonides

Ellen, Buckley and I checked into a room at the Sportsmen’s Lodge on Friday, Sept. 15. That’s our mom’s birthday, so Ellen and I called her up — and found that she and Dad were in the room three floors directly beneath ours. Buck, Ellen and I went to meet Mom and Dad at the coffee shop, where they were visiting with my mom’s brother and sister-in-law, Al and Anne. It was fun catching up with everyone, but we’d only just begun.

After a short visit, Ellen, Buck and I drove to the grocery store. We got a birthday cake for Mom, and another for our sister Marsha, who had a birthday the week before. We drove to a nearby Chinese restaurant called Bamboo where about 25 or 30 family members had gathered, and we sneaked the cakes to the hostess. The restaurant served a wonderful dinner, and we got to catch up with siblings, parents, nephews and niece, aunts and uncles and cousins. » Read the rest of this entry »

Buck and I flew to San Francisco on Tuesday, Sept. 12. My youngest sister, Ellen, had flown in from Australia and asked us to meet her in San Francisco. It happens that one of my oldest friends, Beth, lives in San Francisco and had just celebrated her birthday, and had been bugging me and Buck for at least five years to come visit her in her home town. We arranged to meet Ellen and Beth on Wednesday morning, and we all spent the day together.

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San Francisco, Australia

Today, September 19, is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. So…talk like a pirate, matey!

Talk Like A Pirate Day

I saw this post online on J. Max Wilson’s Sixteen Small Stones blog, and thought the view was very interesting and compelling, even though Mr. Wilson seems to retreat from his position in a later comment. I’m quoting an excerpt below, and urge readers to view the full post. — Mike

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Even in this Age of Globalization, when economic and cultural borders are melting, we tend to forget how diverse our world is. Our minds cannot accurately compare populations in the millions and billions and hundreds of thousands. Worse, when viewed on such a scale people cease to be individuals, becoming mere statistics.

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I got an e-mail from my mom earlier today. She was wondering how Buckley and I were fairing with the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto, which is now churning over DC. She also commented on an article I’d sent her from the Salt Lake Tribune a couple of weeks ago. I called her on the phone and asked if she’d mind if I quoted her on our blog, and she said it would be fine. The part of her e-mail which means the most to me:

I hope more and more will be accepting and realize that the person hasn’t changed when he or she tells you that they are gay. The only difference is sexual orientation and that is really none of our business anyway. Everyone should be able to love the person they want to.
Love,
Mom