Limping Towards Surgery, Part III ~ “You’re a worrier, aren’t you?”

Recently I was telling an acquaintance that Rick and I had gone in to NYC to get a marriage license and that next week we would be trekking back in to seal the deal.  I explained that we’re doing it now because I want to be married before my surgery.  Married.  Not domestically partnered.  Not civilly unioned.  Not any of the lesser options we’ve been forced over the course of our relationship to accept because they were what was available to us at the time.  Now that DOMA is dead, and since I’m having my surgery in New York (where marriage equality has been the law of the land for over two years and where, as far as I can tell, Western civilization has yet to crumble, at least not any more than it [continue reading...]

A Matter of Respect

I’m tired.  Tired of being told to respect differences of opinion.

This week I watched from afar as someone I don’t know ~ a friend of many friends ~ sounded off on FB regarding what marriage is and isn’t.  This person, who spent a lifetime in the theatre, riffed on religion, God and Jesus; ranted about bloodlines and how nothing other than one man, one woman marriage would ever be “real” marriage.  While infuriating, her tantrum wasn’t interesting or creative enough to have brought anything new to the table. Her posts merely exposed her ability to regurgitate the same bullshit we’ve come to expect from those who are suddenly more concerned with penises fitting into vaginas than with the fact that it will take the gays generations to destroy the institution of marriage with quite the same panache that heterosexuals have [continue reading...]

Limping Towards Surgery ~ Part II, Are We Married Here? Are We Married Here?

As we all know, history was made yesterday when the Supreme Court struck down section 3 of DOMA ~ the section which was specifically designed to keep the federal government from ever recognizing those yucky, immoral, dirty, non-sacred gay relationships.  I laughed.  I cried.  I celebrated.  It was a huge day ~ a huge step towards full LGBT equality.  But as the sun rose this morning, the overwhelming emotion of becoming an almost full citizen of this country began to dissipate and reality set in.  Yes, it was a HUGE step, but ultimately, it was just a step.  There are a lot more steps that need to be taken.

As I watched DOMA become an embarrassing chapter in American history, I told Rick that before I go under the knife this summer I [continue reading...]

To My Husband on Our 13th Wedding Anniversary ~

Ricky ~

Our 13th wedding anniversary!  You know I’ve always had a thing about making it to ~ and past ~ 13 years.  Silly, right?  It’s not logical.  And anyway, longevity in and of itself is meaningless.  Still, I’ve always wanted to be your longest relationship.  I just have.

And now here we are.  I don’t really remember my life before you.  Yet I can’t quite account for all that time together.  Thirteen years.  Thirteen years?  Thirteen.  Years!

I don’t know what I envisioned we would be at this point.  Maybe I thought we’d be older.  Maybe we are older and I just don’t see it.  Maybe as we march towards old age our eyes have stayed fixed on some more youthful date in the past.  Maybe I thought we would have all the answers [continue reading...]

Flashback Friday ~ My First Time, & He Laughed at Me

My Broadway debut was on a Wednesday night.

Although it was nearly a decade ago and although my memory for dates and events is deeply flawed, to put it mildly, I do remember that.  I remember because I was swinging “Fiddler” and we were still in previews.  I had no costumes ~ only shoes and skins ~ and one of our bottle dancers was deathly ill with the flu.  Pasty, cold, sweaty, shaky and barely able to keep his head up.  Management told him we weren’t yet in a position to put on a swing and he, somehow, white knuckled his way through the first show, sleeping in the green room during every break.  It was clear, however, that a second show that day was not in his future.  There was no [continue reading...]

Laurie Beechman ~ The Music That Makes Me Dance

A little Sunday morning star making song performed by a star gone too soon brought to you by Laurie Beechman.

Side Show ~ Alice Ripley & Emily Skinner

A little Sunday morning incredible brought to you by Alice Ripley & Emily Skinner.

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic

A little Saturday morning mad funk brought to you by George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic.

Tony & Carmela

A little Saturday morning RIP James Gandolfini brought to you by the great acting & writing of The Sopranos.

Vivaldi’s Summer, w/Itzhak Perlman & Some Unbelievable Kids

A little summer brought to you by Vivaldi, Perlman & the kids in the Perlman Music Program, 2003.