Ancestral Connections

My maternal family comes from the peninsula of Inishowen in Donegal. We're mostly from the eastern part of Inishowen around the townlands of Ballyrattan, Ballylawn, and Muff. Yes, Muff, a village on the border of Donegal and Derry, where I grew up. Here is the Chemist's in Muff.

Larry Kramer's Speech at Dallas Gay Pride: Read

(Wockner Wire exclusive) :-)

LARRY KRAMER'S REMARKS AT DALLAS GAY PRIDE CELEBRATION, SUNDAY, SEPT. 20, 2009

We must never forget that everything we have won can very quickly be taken away from us. We have seen this time and again. Presidents come and go ignoring us. This president is no different. Once again he is not doing it for us and once again we are letting him get away with it. This President is another loser for us and I predict he will remain this way.

We must remember that we do not have the freedom to marry, to inherit, to adopt, to share our health insurance, to learn about our history in our schools. To learn that our two greatest presidents, Washington and Lincoln were gay. We do not have the freedom to live as straight people have the freedom to live. We do not have the freedom to have our bars not raided by police and officers beating us up with such fury that we land in hospitals.

We have not learned to fight back with the same fury with which they fight us. You do not get more with honey than with vinegar. There are over one thousand benefits from our government that straight couples get that we are denied. This is not freedom. This is not equality. America's Bill of Rights says we are meant to be equal.

You must know, we must never forget, that every single treatment for hiv/aids is out there because of gay aids activists, led by ACT UP chapters across the country and Project Inform in San Francisco. They did not come from the government. They came because gay people fought like tigers and screaming banshees to get the system that hates us deliver them to us. If you want to read how we did it get my book The Tragedy of Today's Gays. This achievement, the obtaining of these drugs, I believe to be the single greatest achievement gay people have accomplished in all of history and we must be remembered for it.

The lesson should be clear. The lesson should be obvious. It should show us what we are capable of achieving when we put our minds and hearts and brains and bodies together and work together all together as brothers and sisters and one big family. There is not one person here today who is not capable of being such an activist.

We get what we fight for. And we are not fighting. Every single one of us is not fighting. They fight better than we do. There is a concerted and never ending vein of hate in this country and in this world dedicated to keeping us in our place. It is evil to force people to be what we are not -- free. We are not free.

I love being gay

I love gay people.

How can I say this without offending everyone else, I think we're better than other people.

I think we are smarter.

I think we are more talented.

I think we are more aware.

I think we make better friends.

I think we make better lovers.

I think we're more tuned in to what's happening, tuned into the moment, tuned into our emotions, and other people's emotions.

Yes, I think that gay people are better than other people.

I think the only thing we are not so good at is fighting back.

I hear talk of the new generation of gays and the old generation of gays, and how different we are. That is not true. We are all one generation. We are all related. We are all each other's brothers and sisters. We are all one family, the gay family.

And I passionately and desperately want all my brothers and sisters to stay alive and well and on this earth, with total equality with every straight person.

Being gay is the most important thing in my life.

I love being gay. I hope you do, too.

Good Quote on "Striving for Morality in Our Actions"

"The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life." Albert Einstein

Saint Homobonus is the Patron Saint of Businessmen

Ok, so you all know I grew up under the most glorious protection of the Most Holy and Roman Apostolic Church, my local being Saint Eugene's Cathedral in Derry, Northern Ireland. But I never knew there was a patron saint for Belgian Airlines Flight Crew. Who knew? Here are a few more from the exhaustive list at Catholic.org where you can "Meet Singles and Grow in Faith Together." Wow, sounds hot. I'm off to mass, already, or maybe Confession first. Here's just "A" and "B" from the site. Well worth a visit, and you never know, you might find that special someone to say the Rosary with.

AIDS care-givers Aloysius Gonzaga

AIDS patients Aloysius Gonzaga, Peregrine Laziosi, Therese of Lisieux

Abandoned children Ivo of Kermartin, Jerome Emiliani

Abbeville, France Wulfram of Sens

Abdominal pains Erasmus (Elmo)

Abingdon, England Edmund Rich of Abingdon

Abortion, protection against Catherine of Sweden

Abruzzi region of Italy Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

Academies, Roman Catholic Thomas Aquinas

Acadians, Cajuns Our Lady of the Assumption

Accountants Matthew

Accused (falsely) Raymond Nonnatus

Achaia Andrew, Apostle

Actors Genesius, Vitus

Advertisers, advertising Bernardine of Siena

Advocates Ivo of Kermartin

Africa, Central The Most Pure Heart of Mary

Africa, North Cyprian of Carthage

Africa, Southern Mary, on feast of her Assumption

African Catholic Youth Action Charles Lwanga

Agirone Sicily of Agirone

Air crew Our Lady of Loreto

Air crew, Belgian Our Lady of Loreto

Air crew, French Mary, on feast of her Assumption

Air crew, Spanish Our Lady of Loreto

Air force, Argentinian Our Lady of Loreto

Air travelers Joseph of Cupertino

Airborne (Paratroopers) Michael the Archangel

Alabama USA Our Lady of the Gulf

Alaska USA Our Lady of the Kodiak and the Islands

Albania Mary, Mother of Good Counsel

Albi, France Cecilia

Alcala, Spain Justus and Pastor

Alcira, Valencia, Spain Bernard, Gracia, Mary

Alessandro, Italy Trifone

Alexandria, Egypt Cyril of Alexandria

Alexians Alexius

Alezio, Italy Our Lady of the Assumption

Algeria Cyprian of Carthage

Alpine troops Maurice

Alpinists Bernard of Montjoux (or Menthon)

Altar servers John Berchmans

Amalfi, Italy Andrew, Apostle

Ambassadors, Argentinian Gabriel the Archangel

American Indians, Native Americans Anthony of Padua

Americas Our Lady of Guadalupe, Rose of Lima

Ammunition/Ordnance /explosive workers Erasmus (Elmo)

Ancona, Italy Judas Cyriacus

Andalusia John of Avila

Anderlecht, Belgium Guy of Anderlecht

Andorran security forces Our Lady Help of Christians

Anesthetists Rene Goup

Babies The Holy Innocents, Maximus, Nicholas of Tolentino, Philip of Zell

Bakers Elizabeth of Hungary, Nicholas of Myra, Honoratus

Bankers Matthew, Bernardino of Feltre

Banking Michael the Archangel

Barbers Cosmas and Damian, Louis, Martin de Porres

Barcelona, Spain Our Lady of Mercy

Bari, Italy Nicholas, Sabinus

Barra, Scotland Finbar

Barrel makers Abdon and Sennen

Barren women Anthony of Padua, Felicity

Basket makers Antony the Abbot

Battle Michael the Archangel

Baume-les-Messieurs Drogo

Bavaria Hedwig, Killian

Bee Keepers Ambrose

Begerin, Ireland Ibar

Beggars Alexius, Martin of Tours, Giles

Belgium Joseph

Bellmakers Agatha

Benedictine oblates Henry the Emperor

Benevento, Italy Arthelais, Barbatus of Benevento

Bergamo, Italy Alexander of Bergamo

Bergen, Norway Sunniva

Bible scholars Jerome

Birds Gall

Bishops of Latin America Turibius

Blind people Raphael the Archangel, Thomas, Apostle, Cosmas and Damian, Lucy

Blood banks Januarius

Blood donors Our Lady of the Thorns

Bodily ills Our Lady of Lourdes

Bohemia Joseph, Adalbert, John Nepomucene, Cyril and Methodius, Wenceslaus

Bolivia Francis Solano, Our Lady of Capucdana (Virgin de la Candelaria), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Virgin de la Candelaria, Virgin of Copacabana, La Virgen de Copacabana (Virgin of Copacabana)

Bolivian navy Our Lady of Charity

Bologna, Italy Petronius

Bombay, India Gundisalvus Garcia

Book trade John of God

Bookbinders Celestine V (pope), John of God

Bookkeepers Matthew

Booksellers John of God, Thomas Aquinas

Bordeaux, France Simon Stock

Borneo Francis Xavier

Boston, Massachusetts, USA Botulph

Boy Scouts George

Boys, young Dominic Savio

Brazil Nossa senhora de Aparecida, Peter of Alcantara

Breast-feeding Basilissa, Giles

Brescia, Italy Faustinus

Brewers Augustine of Hippo, Luke, Nicholas of Myra, Amand, Wenceslaus

Bricklayers Stephen

Brides Nicholas of Myra

Bridges John Nepomucene

Brigands (danger from) Leonard of Noblac

Brittany Ivo of Kermartin

Broadcasters Gabriel the Archangel

Brussels Michael the Archangel

Builders Vincent Ferrer, Barbara, Thomas, Apostle

Building trade Stephen

Bulgaria Cyril and Methodius

Burgos, Spain Adelelmus

Bursars Joseph

Business people Homobonus

Businesswomen Margaret of Clitherow

Button makers Louis

Byzantine Eparchy of Van Nuys, Arizona, USA Holy Protection of the Mother of God

Recent Art Work

My Sculptures

A Bruised Pear

My Left Eye

Thanks to the fiery, challenging and astute tutelage of Dick Greene, I've been making art again.

Portland Cutlery Brass Band

Some of the lovely outfits in Portland Pride

This picture is of PFLAGZ (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gay Zombies)
Portland General Electric had this frightening "plug" character to make sure our nightmares are vivid and traumatizing.
And there are Sisters of a Different Order on parade

All tastes are welcome and celebrated

A lovely Coupe celebrates pride

Pride: "Don't ask Don't Care"

Portland Pride, June 14, 2009, Oregon

The Beginning of the Parade on Broadway

LGBT Pride Portland Oregon

Student Graphically Pens Me

 

Moira, Fergal and Barney, our father, circa 1965

 

A Candlelight Vigil in Hillcrest, Nov 1, 2008

On what is official "Day of the Dead" in Roman Catholic and Pagan culture, Hillcrest came to life, moreso than at any recent Gay Pride Rally.   A gutteral roar came from a crowd of 2,000 outside the LGBT Center on Centre Street, as Mayor Jerry Sanders announced his opposition to the initiative to change the California State Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage.   The communities around Hillcrest came out in force.   By 9:15 pm, we marched westbound of University Avenue, the crown growing so large that all traffic in the zip code was brought to a standstill on a busy Saturday night.    The crowd cheered, carried candles and signs reading "No on 8."   In the picture above, demonstators hold a sign reading the Obama Campaign chant, "Yes We Can" with a bar in the background adding to the levels of meaning:"Yes We Can Have a Cocktail."   

Take Better Photographs - wikiHow

Take Better Photographs - wikiHow

Overcome of the Internet Isolation Through the Technology

As a teacher of writing, I am honored to occasionally read stunning sentences. Stunningly brilliant or baffling or unwittingly cryptic, I welcome them all equally. Here are some that I read this week. Together they read like the poetry of a heartbroken herdsman from Uzbekistan whose cell phone has forsaken him. I imagine him standing outside U.S. Legation, tears of rage and frustration streaming down his face as he cries out at night, the quarter moon waning:



I come to school each day and I am surrounded by cell phones all over the place.

Contact is being used by cell phones all over the place.

The same goes for computers and ipods.

The face of the people are lost in this technology.

I would Force them to make trips with no technology.

National Parks can help get them in touch with another.

This can help different groups get into touch with each other using just one voice.

Camping can be a solid way to bond because of the atmosphere of fire and cooking. Better than the couch and the tv and the family.

Many people go to the beach and go swimming. No one wants their cell phone destroyed, so they do not take it in the water with them.

I remember you wanted a job, you met a person. In a room.

There isn't any face to face or anything.

Here's what I'm stating. Everyone is open to becoming more isolated. We need an aid in the conversation with the other.

In today's society the existence of the human face is being covered up with technology so people can be close and stay in touch and know each other.

In California, Californians have a tendency to be more laid back but when its comes to texting their number 1.

Of course people of this generation still use the old and traditional way of communicating: talking, cell-phoning, and, obviously, writing letters, and receiving it too.

The last way of meeting the people is on the internet.

When people put a picture on the internet, they are looking for a trouble to start.

Have you made a new friend in the past?

To avoid the isolation, you should have the party many times.

You might go to a house or something.

Danger: Old People

Danger: Old People
Originally uploaded by VirgiliusDerriensis

This sign, on the Isle of Bute, off the coast of Scotland, warns of marauding pairs of elderly people in the area, armed with walking sticks. What is the woman's hand doing on the man's bottom?

The Wedding of Peter and Liz on the Isle of Bute, Scotland

In a modern incarnation of ancient celtic "Pre-Nuptial Purification Ceremony," Peter is captured and held on his Uncle's bed by his cousins, Brid and Clare the night before the wedding.   The groom is symbolically imprisoned by his female relatives to ensure good fortune on the day of the wedding.   Liz, the bride, in another undisclosed location, is imprisoned by her male relatives in a similar manner.   The anthropologist, Margaret Meade discovered the ritual among the Pictish tribes of Scotland and Ulster, the northern province of ancient Ireland.

he arrival on Bute of an Electric Bakery is the cause of much celebration by the locals who have suffered under the tyranny of gas for centuries.  

The women of Rothesay gather outside one of the numerous Menswear shops to protest the lack of women's clothing shops on the Isle of Bute.  The sale on menswear only fuels their rage.The Haggis Shop is licensed deal in game.  I fear this may involve Bambi and Co.  Do not ask what is involved in the preparation of haggis.

In good ol' Amurikay, it's called a "Barber Shop" but oh no, on this island that have to call it a "Gents Hairdressers," without so much as a nod to the conventions of proper punctuation.

They couldn't find another name for the local hardware store?  Have they no idea that some perverse Americans might visit the Isle once in a while?

The Carpet Warehouse needs no commentary.

One of the finest drinking establishments on the Isle is the Buteman.

Bute has every modern convenience, including rest room fittings.

Day One:    Arrival at Glasgow International Airport; meet brother, Muredach, his wife, Anne , and their daughters, Brid and Clare.  We get into rental car and drive to  Bute.
I'm happy to be finally here on the island, off the ferry from the mainland near Greenock, which is near Glasgow, which is in Scotland. The wedding will take place tomorrow at Rothesay Castle. The journey here has been thusfar filled with long
delays at Chicago, O'Hare and London, Heathrow. Then the ferry over to the
island in a strong gale, driving rainy sleet (it's 34 degrees this morning,
barely above freezing). My brother, Muredach, his wife, Anne, and their daughters, Brid and Clare, drove as a team from Glasgow Airport to the ferry near Greenock. On the Isle of Bute, the locals all look like characters from Beckett. I asked an old man walking a tiny dog (that looked like a rat) for directions to the hotel. He said, "I'm concentrating on the
dog at the moment, but let me think....will you hold the dog's leash
for me while I go across the road and ask my wife, for she's sitting
in that car yonder and she knows the isle better than I do?" So
there I stood with this wet little rat that looked up at me gingerly,
imploringly, in the driving sleet, while the old man tottered across
the icy road to a shape in a car that was, apparently his wife. I
watched them talk through the car window, which was steamed up, for
nigh on ten minutes. He nodded to her. The window was rolled up,
and the old man, with his walking stick, tottered back while I looked
at the small dog with a mixture of pathos and terror. The old man
told me that the hotel is on the hill. "Is it on the hill?" I
repeated. "It is," he affirmed, "on the hill." The hill is singular
on the island. The hotel was on the hill. I was sure of that. I
drove to the hotel. It is built from stone. The wind comes through
the gaps in the stone, as does the rain.  I'm sharing the lovely old room with Peter,
Moira's of son, on his last night as a single man.  There are two beds. There is a woman who brings food.  She does not talk. The man talks incessantly. About the weather.
About America. He asked me questions but answered them himself. I
didn't need to talk. I just drank tea and ate my scone and listened
while crumbs fell from my lips.    It was lovely and easy.

Spring Flowers and Blossoms in San Diego

My new splurge this year has been a Canon EOS Rebel, 10.1 megapixel digital SLR camera with an EFS 18-55 mm lens.   It's so light that I was able to take it with me on the morning jog down Florida Canyon with Rory.   While he peed on shrubs and tried to dig out gophers, I snapped away.  The canyon was bedecked with California Poppies (the State flower), lillies, and cherry blossoms on the first sunny Sunday we've had in ages.   The rain has helped the flora and probably also the fauna.   Red-tailed hawks called to each other from the tops of the nearby eucalyptus trees.   I was vividly reminded why I chose to live here.

(click on picture to enlarge)

When Rory Speaks, Cody Listens

Here's Rory, shouting for his dinner, while Cody waits patiently.   Some dogs are loudmouths (like owner, like dog) and others are well-mannered. Cody and Rory have been friends for four months now, and are beginning to show signs of pack behavior, like defying the orders of their masters. They sleep together in "Rorschach Inkblot Test" position: paws perfectly synched, even as they jerk and whimper in their dreams.

Rory and Cody at Play with coveted Squeaky Toy

Milton Park at Bamboo Lounge in Hillcrest

The Milton Park band rock the Bamboo Lounge on Saturday, January 12, 2008, with "Bring it on home."    This local watering hole in Hillcrest is turning out to be quite the spot for the local sophisticates.    Alex, the proprietor, and Yvette, the wine bar pourer, plied us with delicious treats and sumptuous, fruity wines served in generous portions.   To add to the kaleidoscopic quality of the evening, Frederico Fellini's "Satyricon" played on the well arranged video monitors.   Could we have enjoyed the evening more?  I think not!

60th California Men's Gathering at Pathfinder Camp, Anza, California, November 23-25, 2007

After the auction, Ken seems please with his winnings: Modern American literature to cultivate his mind and soul

The less than silent auction gets under way with bidders raising their cards

Fergal finally finds someone who appreciates his didjeridoo playing

Fergal wins an Oscar Wilde Action Doll in the Auction.   But can it eat cucumber sandwiches?

Paula Idrool powders her nose before going on stage and tries to thin herself down.

John, Garrick and Al-Binky welcome the new arrivals

Fergal and Bobby, two of the newbies to CMG, shiver in the cold as the sun sets on the first evening of camp

Camp Pathfinder, a few miles up the hill from the town of Anza, on the road to Idyllwild, California, the site of the 60th gathering.

A woodpecker soars over our cabin

Eric enjoys the raucous auction of precious items to raise money for scholarships.  Randy is not so sure.

 A musical group called "The Boys Who Go Down, Under" performs a hip-hop version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, little Star" on home made didjeridoos. Gyan (standing in rear) is playing an "authentic" didjeridoo made of real wood. (thanks to Eric for this picture)

The glitterati shine: judges Simon Scowl, Paula Idrool and the inimitable Dame Edna, who took great pains to join us from her native Australia.

Paula Idrool make an unscheduled performance of "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked. While the diva was unsuccessful in her endeavor to defy gravity, she did provide us some levity.

Paula, poor creature, showing signs that her constipation is worstening

The Boys Who Go Down, Under, are (from left) Ross, Randy (Fez by Dior, vest by Tom of Finland, Puffy Shirt by Captain Sparrow), Steven, Gyan and Fergal. (Didjeridoos by Home Depot).   (Photo by Eric)

Men receiving unwarranted applause for making rude noises into one and one half inch PVC water main pipes