Worlds Collide

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

...When I Least Expect It

The woman with whom I came out purposefully and lived with for two years and eight months in the '80s had an undergrad degree in English from Princeton, a Masters in English from the University of Michigan (where we met) and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Chicago (right after we broke up). She also had a subscription to "People" magazine. And we rented the latest film-videos from the nearby store on Broadway near Roscoe and watched "L.A. Law" and "Cagney & Lacey" every week.

She had a thing for Cagney. I didn't get it. She definitely had a thing for pop-culture and ultimately, she became a Sociology professor. That made sense to me.

Our first summer after my undergrad. graduation -- she was a year older than I and had just completed her English Masters -- we pitched a tent at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. It was the last camping experience I ever had. I hated the camping, though I liked how there were women, women everywhere.

She picked up shigella from the spoiled food that was served. Her grandparents, to whom she was not out prior, put it together when they read the "Detroit Freepress" the following Monday and learned that a bunch of lesbians had been food-poisoned the prior weekend.

Worlds collide. Last night, after a fun meal with a Montclair friend, I came home to the latest issue of "Vanity Fair," which Pat left on the hallway steps for me as a treat, since Angelina Jolie graced this month's cover, and since Pat was at a 92nd Street Y program.

Flipping toward the feature on Angelina Jolie, I passed a multi-column grid the right-most column of which featured the Michigan Womyn's Music Fest...right in the middle of the magazine to which my ex-girlfriend no doubt has graduated by now from "People." It made fun of it, the way "Vanity Fair" makes fun of whatever ends up in that section. No doubt, the magazine thought it was being anti-hiply hip by publishing it.

Talk Radio Doesn't Fully Express Itself...

I'm reminded of driving home, listening to WNYC-FM this evening. How cool that NPR is hosting an "LGBT singles event" this month. I had several moments, where I felt warm, thinking about it...and then I recalled other ads for non-LGBT WNYC singles events:

For the heterosexual versions of the event, they have always said, "Join so-and-so and so-and-so" (at least one or two radio personalities) at the event. This one did not say, "Join so-and-so." Maybe I'm thinking too much, but why wouldn't an on-air personality or two be visibly affiliated with this event?

I went hunting just now on the radio's web site and found that there is a host listed, Richard Hake, but I wonder why they didn't name him during the announcement. I don't want to be ungenerous, but let's put it this way: WNYC-FM, you're doing such a lovely thing in acknowledging the humanity of the L, G, B and T among your listeners. From now on, please do include the host's name, so that the chip on my shoulder doesn't get any bigger. Thank you.