Category Archives: Uncategorized

Oh My Goodness!

I took a little time off school after completing the first semester of my junior year at the University of Notre Dame. After being out for about a year, I realized I should start making a real push to finally graduate before I was out for so long that it’d be difficult to go back. To help the process along, I enrolled in a class at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame’s all-women sister school across the street run by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. The classes were cheaper there when taken one at a time, and I was able to transfer the credits easily to ND upon completion.

Even though I went to school right across the street (and spent nearly every fall of my childhood driving from West Virginia to Indiana for Notre Dame football games), I’d never really spent much time on the SMC campus. To avoid looking like a clueless tool on my first day of class, Carey and I decided to take a walk around the quaint campus on a beautiful late-summer afternoon before the start of the semester.

After wandering around for a while and then camping out on a bench to smoke an offensive amount of cigarettes—how our walks usually ended up—we headed back to the car. We’d parked in a small lot in front of the sisters’ convent, and although the lanes between cars were two-way, only a single car could drive through at a time without causing an accident. Continue reading

Beware the Gym Rep

After my sophomore year of college, I spent the summer of 2004 as one of two editorial interns hired by The Advocate newsmagazine. The other intern, Steven, was a student at Kent State University and had been hired on full-time. I applied late (no shocker there) after the position had already been filled, but the hiring team was impressed by my resume and LGBT activism and decided to bring me on anyway part-time. Continue reading

Artica

In the summer of 2004, my ex-girlfriend Ana and I were on a cross-country road trip on our way from my parents’ house in West Virginia to summer internships we had in Los Angeles—hers at the Feminist Majority Foundation and mine at The Advocate newsmagazine (back when it was still in print form, as well).

As is bound to happen on long car rides, we got bored, and somewhere on I-40 while crossing the barren landscape of northern Texas, we decided to play car games to keep ourselves occupied. Continue reading

The Bowl of Destiny

I’ve never been good at making decisions. Big ones, small ones. It doesn’t matter. I’m usually so focused on what I might be missing out on that I’m nearly incapable of settling on something. It’s not a personality quirk many people, including myself, find charming.

Case in point: Years ago, my future wife and I went to the grocery store to buy pancake mix. She had some other things to pick up, as well, so I volunteered to grab the mix while she shopped. Continue reading

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The Best Part of the Winter Olympics Was … Men’s Biathlon?

Just as quickly as it seemed to come on, the time of year—well, the time of every other year—when I’m patriotic has already passed. To be more specific, that time every two years when I’m patriotic for approximately two weeks has ended. Yep, the Olympics are over.

Normally, I’m not a big rah-rah American. Sure, I love living in this country, but you won’t catch me adorning my property with the stars and stripes, either. I’m just not that kind of person. But man, put a bunch of people representing different countries in one location and have them vie for the same honor and, all of a sudden, I’m getting teary eyed when the American men sweep the ski slopestyle event. Or when Meryl Davis and Charlie White win a gold medal for ice dancing, during which they had to do some ridiculously tricky move with the unfortunate name of “twizzle.”

What surprised me most about the Sochi games, though, was how invested I got in a sport I had never cared about before: men’s biathlon. Continue reading

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The Tree of Misfit Ornaments

As is the tradition, right after the days of fall rolled into December, my wife and I got out the Christmas tree. After it was set up, we began pulling the ornaments out of a box and placing them on the branches. Continue reading

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As Hayrides Change to Sleigh Rides

Fall, my favorite time of year, is coming to a close. As opposed to most of the other seasons, fall encompasses every one of the senses. You can see it in the trees and feel it in the air. You can smell it and hear it as the withering leaves drop and skitter around on the ground. You can taste it in candy and pies and turkey. I know it doesn’t officially end until about a month from now, but with the first snowfall hitting last week, I can feel it slipping away fast. Continue reading

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The Game of Life

One of my wife’s favorite games as a child was the Game of Life, so when she found out I had never played it, we immediately went to the store. After we set up the newly purchased game on the dining room table and my wife went over the basic rules with me, we began to play.

All was going well at first. I had successfully made it through college, was debt free, married, and had begun a successful career as a doctor. I had even just bought my first home—not exactly the one I was hoping for (the farmhouse), but a home nonetheless. I decided firmly against the family path and had chosen to focus on my career on the life path. I was happily cruising down life’s road, taking in the scenery with my wife at my side. Until everything fell apart.

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Where the 40-somethings Go

Part of my 30th-birthday road trip was a one-day stop in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Neither my wife nor I had ever been there, and it’s something we’ve wanted to see. We both love history, and I love learning about haunted locations, so it was a natural choice.

I heard parking inside the Quarter was an absolute nightmare, so we parked on Canal Street and walked in. Our main goals for the day were to learn a little history, do a little shopping—especially antiques and oddities—and take a ghost tour we read about online. We were unsure of where to start exploring, though, so we decided on Bourbon Street, the area most commonly associated with the neighborhood.

As soon as we turned the corner from Canal to Bourbon, it was like we entered a whole different world. Continue reading

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Iowa Nice

I moved to Iowa almost a year ago and have fallen in love with it. The scenery is beautiful. I love my new house and neighborhood. My job and coworkers are great. And I’ve had a lot of fun discovering my new city. Some things did take getting used to, though. And one of those things, as crazy as it might sound, is how nice everyone is. Seriously. Continue reading

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