Blog Master G

Making national and even international headlines this week is someone close to mine and Jen’s hearts. She’s not exactly a long-lost friend or a family member, but someone who played a large role in our lives once upon a summer day in Poughkeepsie.

Prosecutor weighs charges in latest same-sex ceremonies: “Reverend Kay Greenleaf, one of two ministers officiating (New Paltz weddings) Saturday, said the ceremonies were like ones she has performed previously, although shorter. However, she said she also signed an affidavit for the couples and considers the ceremonies civil.”

Yes, Virginia, same-sex weddings are like heterosexual weddings. Except there are either two brides or two grooms. And wait, what’s that? Could that be the very same Rev. Kay Greenleaf who has officiated heterosexual weddings, and is now facing the possibility of criminal charges? Why yes, Ulster County District Attorney Donald Williams, it is. You should be ashamed of yourself for wanting to charge someone who’s committed no crime, and is guilty only of making official in the eyes of the state the love between two people.

Donald is supposed to make this decision today and I urge you to call him and suggest otherwise — in defense of human rights. His office number is (845) 340-3280, and the office hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Jen and I are incredibly proud of you, Rev. Greenleaf, for what you’re doing. We’re honored to have been married by someone with such sound moral dignity, beliefs, and conviction. We stand behind you.

“I see only the good in every person.”
– Ruth Pritchard

It’s been two years to the day since my amazing Nana passed away. Ruth Cory Pritchard was an incredible person and affected so many lives. She’s still very much a part of our lives, and she lives on forever in our hearts. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two years since she passed. So much has happened in the past two years…Happy Dingo, marriage, cross-country move for starters.

Few words can express what an important part of my life Nana was, so instead, I’ll share an anecdote. This text, written August 7, 2000, is taken from the introduction to my old writing site:

I published my first book at the age of three. There was only one copy — written and illustrated by hand — and the press was my Nana’s sewing kit. Nana, AKA Ruth Pritchard, was then, as she is now, a veteran of the publishing industry and one of those who instilled in me the thirst for writing.

My parents had gone on a cruise to the Carribean and, to make the most of our time together, Nana decided that it was about time I learned how to write and publish a book. So we did. I wrote with pencil and illustrated with crayon. When all the pages were in place, we published the masterpiece between two pieces of cardboard, held together by a hand-sewn spine.

Nana was fascinated by the world and loved to observe people and the goings on around her. During her final years on this planet — when Jen and I were living on Treasure Island — Nana would often visit us from Sacramento. She would ride Amtrak. The following is an email from her on March 16, 2001, the day after Headlight went under (hence the opening paragraph):

Gabe,

Just got home from Santa Cruz at 10 pm and found your message. So sorry
it came and so quickly. I know you will miss all the coworkers but, knowing
you, you will keep them as friends for always. Also, knowing you, you will
land on your feet and do well.

I came home on the train and was fascinated by the pasengers. From San
Jose and Great America the train filled up with high tech commuters with lap
tops and bicycles. There must have been two dozen bikes and everyone had a
lap top and most used them. They got off at Oakland and Berkeley. So if you
want to find out where the jobs are, ride Amtrack.

I had a great visit in Santa Cruz, the weather was perfect, my bed was
comfortable and we worked every day on Suzanne’s book accomplishing much.

Come over this weekend or whenever it works for you.

Let me know of there’s something I can do.

Love,

Nana

As I did on this day last year, I will leave you with the remarks I gave at Nana’s memorial service — and a pink site in honor of a great woman.

This weekend I became the proud owner of a growler from the Olde Saratoga Brewing Company. I can get refills for only five bucks. (Thanks, David, for introducing me to this awesome concept.)

This weekend I got my 33,446-mile oil change.

This weekend I met a couple of Jen’s cool new friends from work.

This weekend I had lunch with Jen, Jack, and Kim in Albany.

This weekend I saw The Cooler with Jen and Alex at the Spectrum 8 in Albany. We also ate and drank at the Pump Station in Albany (another brewery). There I drank Kick-Ass Brown. Yes, that was the name of the brew and yes, it did kick ass.

This weekend I slept in and fought a sore throat.

This weekend I ran a classified ad in The Saratogian for capitalregion.us.

This weekend I did some contract work, including some 100 Faces layout.

This weekend I had dinner with my wife and my mother-in-law.

This weekend I will watch the new episode of The Sopranos on my schedule, not theirs.

First came San Francisco. Then New Paltz. And now those crazy Portlanders. It’s chaos, I tell you. Run for the hills.

Where Is My Gay Apocalypse? / Over 3,500 gay marriages and, what, no hellfire? I was promised hellfire. And riots. What gives?: “I have been staring with great anticipation out the window of my flat here in the heart of San Francisco, sighing heavily, waiting for the riots and the plagues and the screaming monkeys and the blistering rain of inescapable hellfire. I have my camera all ready and everything.”

Update (3.24.2005): With the launch of Craigslist Albany, I’ve taken capitalregion.us down and have put the domain up for sale.

Today I officially launched my latest project: capitalregion.us, a community resource for New York’s Capital Region. It was inspired by craigslist, of course, and is the result of taking matters into my own hands due to the lack of a regional craigslist for those of us living anywhere north of New York City.

There’s not much to the site now, but if you’re a resident of any county north of New York City, then please check out this new resource and spread the word.

[ capitalregion.us ]

Bush’s new campaign ads feature references to and footage of the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Is it just me, or did he promise way back when not to use the attacks for political advancement? A similar debate emerged after the announcement was made that the Republican National Convention would be held in New York City this year — in September, conveniently.

Hmm…sounds to me like yet another attempt to leverage 9/11 to get Bush reelected.

[ Sept. 11 victims’ kin angered by Bush ads | Bush v. Kerry | RNC Not Welcome ]

And now for something completely different: How to make some ducats by leveraging something I already do.

You see, lately, I’ve been thinking a lot and hearing lately about people who have their own businesses or make some pretty good money doing this or that. Sure, I have my consulting business, but how can I grow it even more? So I think: I can do that, too. Why not? I have the smarts and the desire, but maybe I’m just lazy, or don’t know how to monetize. In college I provided Mac technical support both in my official role in the campus computer store and in my unofficial role as a founding member of the Mac Macks. The problem was I only made money by working in the store and provided free tech support to countless people around campus. OK, so maybe it was a way to meet chicks, but they were mostly chicks who probably would’ve kicked down some dough for my services. The point being: I sometimes kick myself for not having turned that service into a full-fledged business at the time, or at least trying to make some money doing it.

So, for the first time today (partly to redeem myself for missed opportunities of the past and more importantly to seize the moment today), you will notice a new section in my sidebar. It’s called Support This Site and it contains three links:

• Amazon.com
• OneCall Audio/Video
• Paypal Donation

It probably doesn’t need much more explanation, but just in case, here we go.

I figure hey, I love to blog, I’ve been doing this for a while, I get some pretty good traffic — upwards of 600 unique visitors per day and around 17,000 to 19,000 unique visits per month across all archives — so why not try to make a little dough in doing this? It’s not totally unheard of. If you look at the sidebars of some of the more popular blogs, there’s often a similar attempt to cash in on efforts.

And it’s really quite simple. If you want to support this site (and please don’t feel any pressure or obligation; I’ll continue to blog and love it regardless of whether you do or don’t), place an Amazon.com or OneCall Audio/Video order using one of my links and I’ll get a small percentage of your order total. Or if you’d rather kick down a dollar or two or more, simply make a Paypal Donation to the site.

Here’s to the American way. And to paying the bills. Cheers. Thanks in advance for your support and, more importantly, for being such a great group of readers.

It’s funny to live in a town so small that the 9 percent of Saratoga Springs votes that went to Kucinich yesterday translates to just more than 100 voters. There were 1,162 Democratic voters who went to their polling places yesterday. Had Jen and I not moved to town, that number would’ve been 1,160.

[ Kerry drives Edward out ]

And speaking of yesterday’s voting, what’s up with the medieval New York voting machines? Maybe they’re just in counties upstate, but these things are crazy: You walk into this giant metal booth, grab a red lever, shove it to the right, watch the curtains close you in and present you with the mechanical ballot. Then you flick these metal switches corresponding to your selection, and slide the red lever back to the left, which registers your vote and releases you from behind the magical curtains. I just stared in awe at the thing for a while before casting my vote.

I was cracking up. In California we had a little marker and a giant ballot that got sucked in by a scanning machine.

Here’s the latest MoveOn.org campaign — this one to beat Bush in November:

Dear friend,

President Bush is going on the air with his first campaign ads of the season. I’ve joined MoveOn PAC’s campaign to fight back — a massive grassroots-driven effort to take back our country in November. I’m hoping you will, too — you can sign up right now at:
http://www.moveon.org/pac/pledge/?id=-1834571-zino9l._c4FLSeJsfM0UFQ

President Bush has already raised hundreds of millions for his bid. Our great hope is in our collective power to get out the vote. We’ll work via the Internet, the telephone, and face-to-face conversations with voters. And we’ll take back our democracy, city by city, block by block, and voter by voter.

Are you in? Please join me and thousands of others in pledging to help defeat Bush this fall:
http://www.moveon.org/pac/pledge/?id=-1834571-zino9l._c4FLSeJsfM0UFQ

Thanks.

I voted for Dennis Kucinich today. Here’s why:

• He represents my values and the way I feel on issues from war (no) to gay rights (yes) to U.S. involvement in NAFTA and WTO (no = more American jobs) to health care (universal) to education (for everyone).
• It’s important to send a message to the Democratic Party that there are members of its party who care about these issues and do not necessarily fall toward the center, as do Kerry and Edwards.
• I admire Kucinich for sticking in the race even though there’s no way he’ll win the nomination. He believes so strongly in the issues that he’s willing to spend the time and money to stay in the race.

Of course I’m going to vote for whichever Democrat (Kerry) is chosen to go against Bush, and I know that Kerry has a far better chance of defeating him than does Kucinich.

The nomination (and New York) is basically in the bag for Kerry (and surely will be after tonight), but I’m proud to be a Kucinich supporter — if only for a short time.

On Saturday afternoon, Jen and I were pleased to see a group of other Kucinich supporters in downtown Saratoga Springs — holding signs and handing out literature. We joined them for a bit, and were yelled at twice by passersby.

This made me realize that it’s much easier to be on the left in a place like San Francisco. The far greater challenge is coming to a place where not everyone is liberal and attempting to get out the message to those who are willing to listen.