What a great theme we have this year for our Pride events: “Liberty and Justice for All.” The Supreme Court decision giving us all the right to marry certainly gives us extra reason to celebrate. So get out and join the crowd beginning with the Hillcrest Block Party Friday July 17. If you want a…
The mostly positive comments and support concerning Caitlyn Jenner are encouraging. Seniors remember the different reception which greeted non-rich, non-celebrity Christine Jorgensen. The announcement in 1952 that she was now a woman and had been (gasp!) surgically altered stunned us all. Not the first, but certainly the first one anyone had heard about. There she…
TV programs now feature teen pregnancies and schools offer kindergartens. We seniors remember girls suddenly going to live with grandma, their names never to be mentioned. Obviously, they had ignored “the talk” which I encountered in the 6th grade. First, the girls were sent to the nurses’ room for a mysterious enlightenment and then we…
At a recent meeting the mention of today’s topic brought hardly a flicker of recognition. A sad response to the work of lesbian partners and pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. All they wanted to do in 1955 was to dance together in their favorite bar. The problem: it was against the law! Fed up,…
My briefs are aimed mainly at seniors, the retirees, but I try to interest everyone. To get different generations to interact, I often make a joke or a point requiring younger readers to “ask a senior” (from now on AAS). But we are all seniors to somebody, so whom do I mean? I think of…
Alone at night and trying to sleep, we travel the road of memories often focusing on the mysteries and puzzles of long ago. Many of mine torment me even unto the present as my mind wanders to the deeper and more esoteric bugaboos of my early years. Will I never discover what a diddely squat…
As this is my 200th brief, I want to use it to thank my readers for their support. I enjoy the challenge of juggling senior oriented advice and humor. Naturally, I write from my viewpoint as a senior gay man, but I try to make the comments and examples enjoyable and pertinent to the entire…
A serious topic today. You younger readers, think about an older person you love. A friend fell recently and, although not hurt, simply could not get up. Luckily the people downstairs heard her fall and called 911. When I thought of what the result might have been, I realized the importance of those alarm systems…
As my partner Yohei and I entered the lobby of the Bangkok Airport, I reached for my passport and realized it was still on top of the hotel bureau. Yohei had forgotten it. Not one to cast blame, I began by telling him not to panic: words guaranteed to panic anyone and it did. He…
Reluctantly, I replaced bungee jumping with Mama Chan’s cooking class consisting of two very masculine German women, a snooty French couple, two giggling Korean girls, a wizened Swede of undetermined sex, my partner and me. Once we had arrived at Mama’s house, I upset all with an ill-timed witticism involving the dogs out front on…
