The Buck and Mike Blog

“Nessun Dorma” is my contribution for Story Salon Saturday. It is a story rooted in my past but very much about what matters to me today: love, beauty, and family. I recorded it today here in Washington, DC. Enjoy the podcast! (Note: Be patient, as it takes a couple of minutes to load.)

Puccini, Turandot, Nessun Dorma, Story Salon

In honor of Story Salon and Story Salon Saturday, and the fact that the idea of standing in front of people to tell a story scares the heck out of me, I’ve recorded my story and have my first podcast!

Tell your story this Saturday!

From the Story Salon site:

STORY SALON began in a North Hollywood coffee house in 1996. The rules of the show are simple: Five to seven minutes of original material performed by the writer. This open policy, embracing a sort of “free-range” writing, results in one of the most eclectic hours of performance available.

Story Salon

Evenings on the S-1 are quite different from mornings. For one thing, there are less than half as many evening buses but usually the buses are not very full, I think because most people don’t know there is an evening bus on this route. Also, since I work about four blocks from the beginning of the line, I can usually get a seat.

Today was unusual and I figured out why when I got off the bus. Right behind the bus I was on there was another S-1. That explained why there were so many people on my bus: it was fifteen minutes late. » Read the rest of this entry »

I decided this morning, on my bus ride to work, that I would start writing about riding. The transit system in the DC metro area is pretty amazing, with the Metrorail (subway), Metrobuses, and several county and regional bus and rail services that coordinate fairly well. I don’t own a car, though Buckley has one that he drives to his office in Maryland. Mostly, I ride the S-1 bus to work. When it works wells, it’s incredibly convenient. When it doesn’t work well, it’s a nightmare. » Read the rest of this entry »

Metrorail, Metrobuses, S-1 bus

This Thursday. October 11, is National Coming Out Day, an annual reminder that gay people help themselves and others when we are completely open about our identity. It is a chance to think about the areas of our lives where we have not been fully honest with others. If our families don’t know, then we are not allowing them to be close to us. If we permit our employers to assume things about us that aren’t true, then we are being dishonest with them. » Read the rest of this entry »

gay

My favorite (and only) older sister Marsha and my favorite (and only) niece Skylar both belong to L.A.’s Story Salon. Marsha sent me a flyer about this cool Story Salon event for the whole world:

Story Salon invites storytellers around the globe to fill the world with stories on Saturday, October 20th: Story Salon Saturday. Pick a time on that special Saturday to tell a story…to friends, to strangers, in a coffeehouse or your living room. Then send an e-mail to storysalon@gmail.com and let us know what, where, and when you’re going to be joining storytellers around the world.

Listen in to Story Salon’s series of special podcasts to be posted throughout the day starting at 12:01 A.M. Saturday, October 20th (GMT) during which we’ll give a shout-out to every individual participant in the event.

Story Salon, Story Salon Saturday