The tone for the day was set with the shock and delight of seeing my name in print; my letter to Newsday was published on Saturday, 24 October 1998. I was quite pleased to see that it was printed almost in its entirety, the only line that was cut, from what I can tell, was my opening line--that I appreciated their coverage of gay issues and that I have been reading them for twenty years. God, I am just creaking into middle age when I hear myself saying stuff like that. "In my day..."
I also suspect that my letter, so clearly anti-Giuliani, appealed to them. Newday has never missed the opportunity to criticize the Mayor. Every photo of him in Newsday is unflattering, which pleases me no end. Most of the time he looks like he just said, "Fuck you" to someone, but sometimes he is poorly lit or looks like a fleshy skull, which I think is pretty hilarious.
Well, after buying the paper, I went to do my first volunteer stint with Out of the Closet thrift shop, an AIDS charity store on East 81st Street, between Third and Second Avenues, in one of the oldest buildings in the vicinity. It was built in the 1840s. It has an eclectic collection of books, clothes, bric-a-brac, housewares, and antiques. Of course, I wound up setting aside a wee stack of books for myself (like I need any more books), which I bought at the end of my shift. It's a great little place and has a lot of buried treasures if you look around carefully. Items are on sale from a quarter to thousands of dollars.
Out of the Closet was started up by a quartet of concerned folks about eight years ago. The proceeds are divvied up to 27 different charities.
The night before I went to Little Neck for a birthday dinner with my parents, brother and sister (in law), and my aunt. We went to Il Bacco, a very good Italian restaurant on Northern Boulevard. I must say I really hate the term "in law" so I am just going to call her by the French term for it, la belle soeur. Well, she and Sandy got me a card so ridiculous and funny we laughed ourselves silly. It was intended for a child, and with the message, "I hope your birthday is as happy as happy gets." Not exactly a boundless sentiment, is it. But we had a very good laugh over it.
Well, on Saturday night I went to dinner with a local gay media figure, who was kind enough to indulge me and my questions about what's going on in the New York gay political scene. Some conclusions were drawn: complacency and comfort often quells activist proclivities. People also get tired and lose initiative. Leaders in New York tend to get yelled at a lot, so it's difficult to get things done.
I was also encouraged to perhaps consider writing for one of gay papers here in New York. We shall see what happens.
On Sunday I went to the American Museum of the Moving Image with Laura to see Hairspray, and to hear John Waters talk afterward. He was very interesting. Gave insight into how his films got made, and he is very funny. Laura and I skipped the second feature, Female Trouble, and went to Jackson Heights, to the Jackson Diner, which has moved to spacious new quarters just doors down from its previous location. The service was a little sluggish, considering the half-empty state of the restaurant in its twice-as-large quarters, but the food was quite good as always. As ever, Laura, one of the original Book Grrrls, is a delight. She's a good egg and a good one to have on your side.
While I had slowed down on the writing front, I did start up this Keyboard Activist page, chronicling my efforts to get more involved.
Previous entry...