I began my life in the South and for five years lived as a closeted teacher, but am now making a new life for myself as an oral historian in New England. I think my life will work out the way it was always meant to be. That doesn't mean there won't be ups and downs; that's all part of life. It means I just have to be patient. I feel like October 7, 2015 is my new birthday. It's a beginning filled with great hope. It's a second chance to live my life…not anyone else's.
My profile picture is "David and Me," 2001 painting by artist Steve Walker. It happens to be one of my favorite modern gay art pieces.
Here’s a question for my fellow southern transplants to the frigid north: have you found an appreciation for how hot hockey players are? I know nothing about hockey, but I’ve known a few hockey players since moving to Vermont, and they are a sexy bunch. Growing up in the South, I always found football and baseball players hot, and while they have football and baseball up here, hockey is to the North what football is to the South.
Nick Schmaltz (Arizona Coyotes)Ryan Murray (Free Agent/formerly of the Edmonton Oilers)Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)Alexander Wennberg (Seattle Kraken)Elias Lindholm (Calgary Flames)
Last but not least, Tyler Seguin, who I have always thought was hot even before I knew anything about hockey except that Tyler Seguin is hot!
Fridays are usually my work from home day, but I’d planned to take this Friday off because I expected a reaction to the Covid vaccine. Yesterday, I had gone to my doctor to get my flu and Covid vaccines, but when I got there, I found out that they had not been able to get in the Covid vaccine. I was a bit aggravated because no one had contacted me to let me know that they did not have the vaccine, so I could schedule it somewhere else earlier. A lot of places have run out of the vaccine, and it was difficult to find a place that still had the Covid vaccine. I finally found a place but won’t be able to get the vaccine for two more weeks.
Since I wasn’t able to take the Covid vaccine, I decided to work from home as I was originally scheduled to do today. I have some work to do for my class. Their midterms were due yesterday, so I have to finish grading those and get my lectures ready for next week. Needless to say, I have enough to keep me busy.
First things first, I did not want to get up this morning. Isabella woke me at 4 am, and after she repeatedly tapped my shoulder with her paw, I got up and fed her. I had every intention of going back to bed, but I was as hungry as I suspect she was (even though she always has dry food). Anyway, I made some toast and a cup of tea for breakfast and sat down to watch the new episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Second thing, I had my Botox treatment with the new person yesterday. She was very nice, but I miss my former neurologist. The new one was not as quick and efficient as my old one. When my previous neurologist did the Botox injection, she was quick and it felt like just a few tiny pricks (38 to be exact). Now that I’ve started the injections again, they went back down to 31. The new person was much slower and thus the procedure was much more painful. I just hope it was worth it.
Finally, I go this morning to my regular doctor’s office for my influenza and Covid vaccines. I never have much of a reaction to the flu shot except a sore arm. However, I tend to react badly the next day to the Covid vaccine. I run a fever, get chills, and have body aches for about 24 hours. I should wake up feeling fine by Saturday morning, but I dread tomorrow. Hopefully, I won’t react too badly to this current vaccine. Nevertheless, I’ve taken tomorrow off work as a precaution.
About a year ago, my neurologist and I decided I should take a break from the Botox injections I was getting every three months for my migraines. She said that sometimes the Botox needs to stop for a while and later started up to give the treatment a reset. I had an appointment for my first Botox injections as part of this new round of treatments. However, the Headache Clinic called yesterday and rescheduled for today. I was ok with this, but disappointed because I was supposed to see my neurologist, who is moving to another state, for the last time. She had helped me so much and I wanted to tell her goodbye. When they rescheduled my appointment, I was scheduled to see someone else. I hope this new person is as good as my neurologist at giving the injections quickly and efficiently.
By the way, the picture above is of a model whose advertising MISTR, a service that will send you free PrEP through the mail. You have to fill out an application/survey, meet virtually with one of their doctors, and use one of their pharmacies. However, the STI testing required to get a prescription is completely free if you use their at home testing. It’s a really great service, and they are great to deal with. If you need/want to take PrEP or know someone who does, I highly recommend using MISTR.
From MISTR:
Have you heard of MISTR? You can get your PrEP prescribed online and delivered for free. No doctor visit, no needles and no paperwork. Save $20 with my promo code JOS44. https://heymistr.com/referred/?ref=JOS44
If you follow this link, I will earn a referral fee of $20. The referral bonus is not the reason I’m adding this to today’s post, I’m adding it because I think it’s a great service and the model in the picture is hot.
O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. The crows above the forest call; Tomorrow they may form and go. O hushed October morning mild, Begin the hours of this day slow. Make the day seem to us less brief. Hearts not averse to being beguiled, Beguile us in the way you know. Release one leaf at break of day; At noon release another leaf; One from our trees, one far away. Retard the sun with gentle mist; Enchant the land with amethyst. Slow, slow! For the grapes’ sake, if they were all, Whose leaves already are burnt with frost, Whose clustered fruit must else be lost— For the grapes’ sake along the wall.
In this poem, the American-born poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) considers the state of nature on an October morning, asking that nature beguile him and his fellow humans into believing things are not hastily moving to a state of waste and ruin by slowing down the process of decay and demise that October brings, with the falling leaves and harsh winds. Frost uses October, the autumn season, and its natural beauty to portray his idea. He then suddenly changes to the winter season following it, to show the genuine fondness of the magnificence and that each moment should be experienced to the fullest.
Joe
The Closet Professor 