Author Archives: Joe

About Joe

Unknown's avatar
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.

Doc

My doctor may not be this hot, but he’s pretty damn good looking. I saw him on Monday for a check-up. He changed up some of my medicines, and he’s sending me to a sleep study and a headache clinic. These were all things I needed.
We also had a good talk about my health. And this may be hard to believe, but I came out to my doctor for the first time, something I should have done on the first visit. However, in my past, I had a really bad experience with this, so I had been hesitant to do so.  I knew though that it’s been a while since I’d been tested for STIs and I knew it was time. I needed to have this talk with my doctor. I did, and it went great. I go back next Thursday for the lab work and tests we decided on.
Overall, I’ve never been happier with a doctor’s office visit.

Pic of the Day

img_6687


We Need a Change

img_6670

Time and time again, we think the Trump administration can’t sink any lower, yet they do. Last week was one of those moments. When The Trump administration took its hardest line yet to legalize anti-gay discrimination on Friday and asked the Supreme Court to declare that federal law allows private companies to fire workers based only on their sexual orientation.

An amicus brief filed by the Justice Department weighed in on two cases involving gay workers and what is meant by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination “because of sex.” The administration argued courts nationwide should stop reading the civil rights law to protect gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers from bias because it was not originally intended to do so.
I won’t go into all the specifics of the case though honestly it isn’t that complicated. The Supreme Court will hear the cases October 8. If the Court sides with the government, it will set LGBT rights back 50 years, because there will be a snowball effect.
Excuse my language and anger in the next paragraph, but while the first part of this post could most definitely affect me, the second part of this post directly affects now. And I am quite angry about it.
In other Trump disasters, those idiotic motherfuckers denied my Public Service Loan Forgiveness application for my student loans, because I haven’t made 120 payments while working for a non-profit. I was clearly told to apply now to get into the program so I could make the 120 payments required for loan forgiveness. I was told by the loan company, a subsidiary of the government, that one must apply, be accepted into the program, make the required payments, then ask for forgiveness. Now they are saying that you have to make the payments first then apply. What bullshit! A coworker was denied because the Department of Education said she did not work for a non-profit, which we clearly do. Now they are telling me something different. What they hell! This is so fucked up. We need someone who knows what they are doing at the DOE, and to just one of Trumps floozies.
Trump has got to go and we need to make sure he and his cronies never influence American politics again.

Pic of the Day

img_6668


Ode to the Happy Day

img_6588-2

Ode to the Happy Day
by Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)
This time let me
be happy.
Nothing has happened to anybody,
I am nowhere special,
it happened only
that I am happy
through the four chambers
of my heart, walking,
sleeping or writing.
What can I do? I am
happy,
I am more uncountable
than the meadow
grass
I feel my skin like a wrinkled tree
and the water below,
the birds above,
the sea like a ring
around my waist,
the Earth is made of bread and stone,
the air sings like a guitar.

You, by my side in the sand,
you are the sand,
you sing and you are a song,
today the world
is my soul:
song and sand,
today the world
is your mouth:
Let me
be happy
on your mouth, on the sand,
be happy just because, because I am breathing
and because you are breathing,
be happy, because I am touching
your knee
and it is as though I am touching
the blue skin of heaven
and its pristine air.

Today let me
and me only
be happy,
with everybody or without them,
be happy,
with the grass
and the sand,
be happy
with the air and the earth,
be happy,
with you, with your mouth,
be happy.


Pic of the Day

img_6671


Pic of the Day


Share

img_6592-1

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (KJV) ( Proverbs 4:18 )

Our lives have so much potential.  When we choose to live godly lives we have the chance to tell a beautiful story that grows in impact up till the day we meet Jesus face to face.  Choose the path of the just and watch and see as God uses you to be His light in the lives of others!


Pic of the Day


Moment of Zen: Wine