23 March–19 April 2015 microblogging

Microblog posts of mine that only made it to Twitter and not to Google or Tumblr.

Just another visit with my oral surgeon. —23 Mar.

A consultation with the surgeons. —25 Mar.

I’m still getting over a gastrointestinal bug I first noticed Wednesday when I preferred to stand in the hospital waiting room than sit. 🏥😷 —27 Mar.

Ensalada con pollo. —27 Mar.

House of Cards ≠ “Oscar’s Farts,” a rarely seen episode of The Odd Couple. 📺 —1 Apr.

Chef salad. —2 Apr.

With participants from the gay men’s discussion group. —3 Apr.

Una otra ensalada con pollo. —9 Apr.

At the Persian Parade. —19 Apr.

At the festival after the Persian Parade. —19 Apr.

With five participants (plus the facilitator), the gay men’s discussion group Friday was quite well attended compared to how it’s been recently. The introductions and preliminary talk about ourselves led into an organic discussion about addiction. As it turns out, I was the only one without an addictive personality; everyone else present has had true addictions to alcohol or to recreational drugs or to sex or to overeating. Gripping a discussion as it was, I had difficulty relating to it for that reason, but also for one other: Multiple participants were happy to attribute their strengths to God and take credit for their accomplishments away from themselves in order to hand it over to a Deity. Even those who saw the benefit of praising and recognizing merit in human accomplishment still tempered it with God talk. (God gave me the tools the overcome my addiction but I had to use them.) The facilitator even attributed human ethics to God, saying that he truly believed that our internal voice that knows right from wrong (to which we do not always listen) is God. Another participant compared God to the sun and humans to the planets which revolve around it. Nevertheless, this was an exceptional discussion in which I learned about their strategies for overcoming their issues and I got to briefly discuss the adjustment disorder I feel I had in the early Aughts.

It was the first night of Passover and I had no seder to attend, but I went out to eat with the men’s group participants to a local diner and had a Passover meal of chicken cordon bleu, a garden salad and side vegetables (no bread).

16–22 March 2015 microblogging

Microblog posts of mine that only made it to Twitter and not to Google or Tumblr.

I felt sorry for the ḥalal truck guy because he looked so cold. I wanted to cuddle with him to keep him warm. 🌡 😈 —16 Mar.

The crazy song mash‐up in my head: “Sweet, Fast Hooker Blues,” “Rock This Town” and “Polythene Pam.” 🎵 —16 Mar.

The @KeyFood “Louisiana style” hot sauce I get from Global Supermarket is quite bland; my food sooner tastes too vinegary than pungent. 🌶 —16 Mar.

Each day for breakfast, I have a makeshift nargesi: scrambled egg, spinach, mushroom, garlic powder, black pepper and hot sauce. 🍳 𓆇 🍄 —16 Mar.

No one phoned me all day. Within five minutes of my stepping into the shower, the phone rang. 🚿 ⚞☎ 😣 —16 Mar.

Thinking to mix tuna salad with a garden salad. —16 Mar.

I had to convince and push myself to begin my daily constitutional today but returned with a spring in my step, bounding up the stairs. 🚶→🙋 —16 Mar.

❝ “Building your dream has to start now. / There’s no other road to take.” —⁠John Farrar, “Magic,” 1980. 🖊 —18 Mar.

🌬 34°F, wind 13 m.p.h., feels like 25°. So much for my “daily” constitutional. Novruz and the equinox are on their way. Right? 🚷 —18 Mar.

Rubbing elbows with important persons after the film festival. —19 Mar.

Every discussion group participant (other than the facilitators) is here with me! —20 Mar.

Having keys duplicated. —21 Mar.

Remembering Queens Pride House’s “Night of Gratitude”

📷 Remembering Queens Pride House’s “Night of Gratitude,” December 2010. #QueensPrideHouse #volunteering #gratitude #award #JacksonHeights #NYC #gaynyc (at Queens Pride House)

📆 “Night of Gratitude” at Queens Pride House, 76-11 37^th Avenue, Jackson Heights, 9 December 2010. (Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

More of my pictures of that event can be viewed on Facebook.

(Also available on Tumblr.)

http://www.instagram.com/p/TvhX3KtWwS/

Overweight, Bearded Gay Men, Who Call Themselves Bears

Photograph by Valerie (ucumari), under a Creative Commons license.

Three of my favorite local Queens organizations were mentioned in a New York Times article last week. Unfortunately, it was about how Congressman Anthony Weiner had to cancel appearances at events organized by two of them—the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee and Queens Pride House—and it referred, unnamed and described rather unflatteringly, to New York Bear Den. Reporter Dan Bilefsky wrote

On Monday evening, Mr. Weiner…canceled an appearance at a forum at Queens Pride House in Jackson Heights on the implications of health care reform for the gay community.

On Sunday, the congressman…did not appear at a gay pride march in Queens.

Pauline Park, President of Pride House, said Mr. Weiner, a proponent of gay rights, would have found a sympathetic crowd at the community center, which has hosted events ranging from Nepalese dance troupes to support groups for H.I.V-positive mothers and fathers and mixers for overweight, bearded gay men, who call themselves bears.

Related

• Dan Bilefsky, “Weiner Cancels Another Public Appearance, at Gay Forum,” section of “Weiner Says He Sent Photos and Lied, but Won’t Resign,” City Room, The New York Times, 6 June 2011.
• Christopher Dufault, “Someone Needs a Bear Hug!,” Internals Plural, 6 June 2011.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/5zTas6CGB (and based upon Fb).
• Additional comments on this article may be available on Google Buzz, FriendFeed or Facebook.

November 2010 micro-content.

📷 See my pictures of the Queer Rising night march in Chelsea and Greenwich Village, and Rockbar thereafter. http://on.fb.me/bIs3Y9 —1 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the New York Bear Den Halloween gathering at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/bIs3Y9 —1 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…learned what the term “Morton’s fork” means from this article about the proposed New York City Charter revision. http://nyti.ms/9EoE8L —2 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

…suggests installing the free Symbola font because he likes using emoji characters newly supported in Unicode 6.0. 😉 http://bit.ly/2d7HeU —2 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

…was “helped” to vote by someone with an invariably befuddled look on her face who confused the surname and given name of everyone on line. —2 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) She even “informed” a registered voter she was not registered, until her coworker, who was probably used to the ineptitude, caught the error before that voter was turned away.

💣 Islamic terrorists addressed a parcel bomb to a gay synagogue, although it was not intended to reach its addressees. http://bit.ly/cV8Ymt —3 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] desi spiderman official song – SPIDERMAN SPOOF —3 November (FF, Fb)

My photos of Queens Pride House volunteers at Friend’s Tavern; Peter’s “Fashion Night Out” party, Music Box, Queens. http://on.fb.me/9gHto9 —3 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…bids farewell to songwriter Jerry Bock with a gorgeous song oft performed by old friend Miss Understood. http://youtu.be/PoaDq2ROHqA ♫ —4 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] Test Yourself: Stroop Effect —5 November (FF, Fb) …hopes you have a fun viewing this.

My photos of the “Garage Classics: What Can You Do for Me?” Dance 208, the LGBT Community Center, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/9gHto9 —5 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

🔥 Šabbāt šālôm and happy Dīvālī. Did you light your lamps? —5 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

[Video favorite.] Rachel Maddow Explores Right Wing Lying Echo Chamber —6 November (FF, Fb) ▴ Republicans and conservatives are so evil that they feel they can lie anytime they like in order to promote their agenda. The world is a scary place on which to live when their constituents ignore the truth because lies make them feel better. ▴ Some idiots believe that merely disagreeing with someone is an infringement on freedom of speech. Some idiots also believe that freedom of speech means that every person’s beliefs or anything that can be read in a book, a periodical or on the Internet is of equal validity. Thus they believe anything to be truthful if said by someone whom they support. They believe their choosing from any sources whatsoever the ones that make them feel best will result in finding unquestionable truths, especially if other idiots go along with it. This is not how reality works, numbskulls. ▴ The conservative leaders are evil, their constituents are at best misguided, and the “middle management” just know how to echo the rhetoric. … Don’t get me started on why gays or anyone would want to support the military and its genocidal policies against Arabs and Afghans! Do you have any idea how much gays are suffering in ʻIraq since the US came in?

[Video favorite.] Bill Maher on John Stewarts FALSE EQUIVALENCY Nov 5, 2010 —6 November (FF, Fb) As comedians and television personalities, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert did even better than I had hoped, but ultimately, I agree with Bill Maher.

…dreamed that, in a pinch, the leftover liquid from a can of Spam could be used to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West. 💤 —7 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

📷 See my pictures of Queens Pride House’s Stonewall history talk by Rich Wandel on “Spirit Day,” Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/9gHto9 —7 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

[Video favorite.] BBC Middle East Business Report: Designer Dishdasha —8 November (FF, Fb) Saudi fashion that mixes traditional and contemporary aspects. Thanks to Gay Middle East for a link to the video.

…can’t spell “intergenerational” without “rational.” 👴 —8 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

After anti-gay bullying, fourteen-year-old Brandon Bitner ended his life in front of a tractor trailer in Pennsylvania. http://bit.ly/aNUfX3 —8 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

📰 A violent attack in Jackson Heights steps from my building on an employee of a business I frequent. http://bit.ly/bzAO62 —8 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…commemorates the birthday of Carl Sagan, gone from the universe fourteen years now. http://youtu.be/wupToqz1e2g 🌎 —9 November (FF, Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

⛤ Activities for Kifkif’s “Moroccan National LGBT Day” (اليوم الوطني للمثليين المغاربة) were held in Rabat last month. http://bit.ly/bNSsTe —9 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] Surprise Unfriending! —10 November (FF, Fb)

[Video favorite.] Bollywierd Clips – WTF —11 November (FF, Fb) ▴ The song “Idhi oka nandanavanam” from the 1985 Telugu movie Adavi donga. When you have had enough of the original, take a look at a parody of it: 🔗. ▴ Yes, the video is a fairly accurate depiction of a typical street scene here in Jackson Heights, except that on 73^rd Street they’d be singing in Bengali. (Not a lot of Telugus in this neighb.)

…notes another great contribution Near Eastern people made to Western culture. 🔗 —11 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…suspected even before reading this article that Yiddish meşugas משוגעת should probably be spelled ‏*משוגעות. http://bit.ly/COGc8 📖 —11 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…thanks Sally for a great Ambassador Program event in Astoria last night that truly fostered appreciation of the depth of Egyptian cuisine. —12 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

“Michele Bachmann Totally Looks Like Bat Boy” —12 November (Fb, FF)

…saw a screening of La Mission at Queens Pride House and really liked it (and thought Benjamin Bratt was gorgeous). http://bit.ly/bLbdY6 🎦 —12 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the cast and crew of BearCity at the Rockbear “Underbear” party, Rockbar, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/b0n2g8 —13 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…is excited an Amalgamated Bank will open in his neighborhood. —13 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) It is a labor bank in which I have had accounts for decades when I lived in the Bronx. Once the branch in Jackson Heights opens, I will no longer need to travel to Long Island City or Manhattan for transactions that need to be done in person. There’s a 24-hour a.t.m. closer to where I live that doesn’t charge me fees, but when it’s broken or empty of cash, I can trot down to 78^th Street for a no-fee alternative.

…is winding down from a fun weekend that included the FurBall and Bear Den’s great Thanksgiving event. 🔗 🐻 —14 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the Queens Pride House Halloween Extravaganza in Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/b0n2g8, http://on.fb.me/cGM6Ou 🎃 —15 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

Content on Delicious. —16 November (FF)

🚗 The FBI secretly placed a tracking device in the car of a young Egyptian-American for undisclosed reasons. 🔗 —16 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

🍒 The Jackson Heights Greenmarket will now be open year-round. 🔗 —17 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

…has finally, now that autumn is drawing to a close, finished uploading his New York pictures from the summer. http://on.fb.me/9F42Sa 📷 —18 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) ▴ On DSCN4054 2010.08.29: It turns so‐so photographs into masterpieces. Some stunning photographs of me and friends have the view from this park in the background. And there was a time in my life when I’d visit this pier nearly every weekend in warmer months. —31 March 2012 ▴ That’s a good idea. I have not been to Gantry Plaza State Park, although a friend of mine shot some lovely pictures there. (Judy K., “Gantry Plaza State Park,” The Outdoor New Yorker, 8 May 2011.) —31 March 2012

“There can be no honor…serving in a shameful war. [G]ays deserve civil rights. But Iraqis deserve them just as much….” http://bit.ly/aDvdTY —18 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

My photos of the Dance 208 Halloween Ball, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/d2IP9S —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

☠ “Utah leads the nation in suicide among men 15–24,” including gay youths David Standley and Tim Tilley, and others. http://bit.ly/bbs5zI —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF) … See also http://bit.ly/csItmL.

☠ Eighteen-year-old Josh Wilkerson was bludgeoned to death after purportedly making sexual advances toward his killer. http://bit.ly/bPJiEv —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

⚔ “Does Opposing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Bolster US Militarism?” 🔗 —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF) ▴ If only the gay movement or any movement could truly be “ending discrimination in all of its forms,” but there are so many issues affecting us that we must pick our battles wisely. Gay people face poverty, inadequate health care, workplace discrimination, elevated suicide and addiction rates and staggering violence. (Recently here in New York City, gay men were abducted and tortured in the Bronx.) However somewhere along the line, self-styled gay leaders decided that getting married and serving in the military were the issues that should get the most money and attention. The gay community should only be too happy to temporarily put DADT on the back burner so we can fight our biggest problems rather than contribute to these obscene wars that have killed thousands of people and are based on greed and the dehumanization of Near Eastern peoples. ▴ … Had we somehow bundled (the repeal of DADT) with ENDA from the beginning, because ultimately it is an issue of employment discrimination, we might have avoided the glorification of the military, especially when people of color are so disproportionately employed by the military, and when the situation of gays in ʻIraq has deteriorated so dramatically since we took down their government. ¶… The gay movement could, for example, have made health care reform our biggest fight, putting our energies into obtaining a public option and securing health coverage for the large number of us who are dangerously underinsured. Instead we ignored it and made believe we would get health coverage if only we were allowed to marry, a ridiculous middle-class presumption that the gay uninsured are in committed relationships with people who already have coverage.

…knew he liked Australian pop music for a reason. http://youtu.be/Qho9o4zRwtE —19 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

♪ And so it was that later … the face of Alice Ghostley turned a whiter shade of pale. 🔗 😄 —21 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF)

[Video favorite.] Aga biyahe to mani bazaara (Khalil Sohrabi) —21 November (FF, Fb) I think I saw the back-up dancers voguing on Christopher Street a few weeks ago. The song is in the Balochi language, closely related to Kurdish.

📷 My pictures of Halloween in Jackson Heights, including the Beautification Group’s parade. http://on.fb.me/d2IP9S http://on.fb.me/90mGdZ —22 November (Jk, Bz, FF, FF)

The latest news on Víctor Mejía de los Santos, whose skull was broken with a metal bat three four blocks from my building. http://bit.ly/azrqp9 —23 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF) See also 🔗.

…wishes a happy “Ḥag hā-Hôdāyâ” (חג ההודיה) to all his friends and is thankful they are a part of his life. 🍴 —25 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb)

[Video favorite.] You Can’t Gobble Me —25 November (FF, Fb)

📷 See my pictures of the Ambassador Program enjoying Egyptian cuisine at Cherry Café شيري كافية in Astoria. http://on.fb.me/h5cWs2 —27 November (Jk, Bz, FF)

…misread “donated” as “detonated” in an update: “I went to a local church…and d[et]onated 2 turkeys and plenty of sides for the homeless.” (🔗) —28 November (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) I hope they weren’t still frozen!

[Video favorite.] Leila Forouhar – Bigharari | لیلا فروهر - بیقراری ‎—28 November (FF, Fb) ▴ …may sound surprisingly old-fashioned but remembers a time exemplified by this 1998 video when women singers could drown themselves in glamor without feeling obliged to act like strippers or pole dancers. The title “بیقراری” “Biqərari” means “restlessness.” ▴ Also view some of her later videos: http://youtu.be/UEBMh1UA1Q0 and http://youtu.be/kKZDpDBk3Q0.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/5w8s9e21F.
• Additional comments may be available on Google Buzz, FriendFeed, Facebook, and Jaiku (and FriendFeed and Google Buzz).