Leslie's Back, Helping to Keep Austin Wierd

I was overjoyed tonight to see on the news that Austin's resident cross dressing, homeless, former mayoral candidate Leslie Cochran had returned. Seems that Leslie had been on a little train/road trip to Iowa (huh?), Colorado, Nebraska (what?) and New Mexico. From what he said on the news, he had a nice trip although the cops in an Iowa city didn't seem to understand his unique fashion sense and threw him in jail for 7 days with a charge of Public Intoxication.

Now, for those who don't know, Leslie Alicia Cochran (who was born Al "Leslie" Cochran), is a resident celebrity and tourist attraction in Austin. Leslie is known for wearing a thing/bikini bottom and little else while hauling is cart of belongings around Austin. There arent many guys who can wear a bikini bottom quite like Leslie; his skinny, saggy, tanned rear end is, well, one of a kind. He usually also wears a nice matching pair of high heals that would make Tina Turner envious although on the news segment he was wearing pink slippers. His feet musta been hurting after all that hitchhiking.

I had the pleasure of sitting and having drinks with Leslie once. It was during his third run for mayor in 2003 (he got 1.9% of the vote that year, 3.5% in 2001 and was at his peak in 2000 with 7.7%). I had gone to local bar Charlies to meet a friend who ended up not showing up. I was about to leave when in walked Leslie, wearing a blue flight attendants uniform. I must say, it was a good color and he looked rather fetching. Rather than leave, I decided I shouldn't pass up an opportunity to have a drink with a mayoral candidate and celebrity so I offered to buy him a cocktail. My recollection is he chose some type of brandy concoction.

We chatted and drank for about two hours. Of course, all the queens that were at the bar looked at me like I had absoluteley lost my mind or was really, really hard up. Leslie was actually an entertaining chat. He's not dumb by any means; indeed he went to Florida State University although he never graduated. He is, however, a couple of rounds short of a full magazine. This may be a result of the coma he was in in 1977 but it may also have to do with Leslie's fondness for any type of mind altering chemical. I ended up buying him 3 drinks that night and chatting about his life (interesting to say the least), homelessness (chronic and, at times, dangerous), the election (he felt he had a good platform), sex (Leslie is omnisexual.....'nuff said) and his clothing (he likes to accessorize).

Welcome back Leslie. Glad you're home.

I'm Liberal and Damned Proud of It!

As the upcoming elections approach, we'll begin to be inundated with an onslaught of campaign commercials. The attack ads against Democratic candidates will almost certainly include an announcer who will use the term liberal, saying it with a tone that is dripping with acidity and a pejorative tone. In many areas of the country, this tactic will work as Republican candidates have been allowed by the Dem's to use the term as if it's a bad thing! The public has been conditioned over the last 20 years to hear the word in a negative light. I'm going to admit that I, too, have used the term progressive rather than liberal.

George Clooney, recent Oscar winner and producer of the film Good Night and Good Luck, recently wrote a column in which he came clean and, GASP!, admitted his liberalism. He stated "Too many people run away from the label. They whisper it like you'd whisper "I'm a Nazi." " Clooney said, "I am a liberal. And I make no apologies for it. Hell, I'm proud of it." Well George, make that two of us. *

What does being a liberal mean? Being a liberal means one prefers a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals. It means favoring limitations on the power of government, religion and, yes, corporations. It means recognizing how vital the rule of law and the free exchange of ideas are. It means working for a system of government that is transparent. It means recognizing that dissent when your government is doing wrong has nothing to do with disloyalty. It means that individuals are entitled to some basic level of well being and that this takes precedent over the freedom from taxation. It means that the wrongs perpetrated by government will be addressed and changed (think slavery, think suffrage, think denial of civil rights). It means evolving as a society. It means progress as a nation and a people. It means, per the dictionary:

-Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
and
-Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.

So recognizing what the word means, my profile has now been changed to "Just your average, middle aged, gay, LIBERAL, recovering individual with a sense of humour and a passionate sense of politics." It's time to take the word back and use it in the proud way it should be.

Yes, I'm a Liberal!

*News item today (3/16/06) states that Clooney is disputing the blog posting with Arianna Huffington. There is no indication he retracted comments about being a liberal

A Constitutional Right to Avoid Procreation? Maybe a Right to Keep Your Pants Zipped

The gall of some guys. This dude in Michigan got a gal pregnant and is suing contending that men have a constitutional right to "avoid procreation." His attorney states that the case is the first to assert a constitutional freedom to "choose not to be a father" under the equal protection clause. The National Center for Men apparently had been planning this kind of legal challenge for more than a dozen years and recruited this shmuck as the plaintiff. "There's such a spectrum of choice that women have--it's her body, her pregnancy," Mel Feit, the group's director, told the Associated Press. "I'm trying to find a way for a man also to have some say over decisions that affect his life profoundly." Or maybe exercise a little personal responsibility?

Now Mr. I Been Wronged states that in the fall of 2004, he had a discussion with his then-girlfriend. Stud Boy told her he wasn't ready to have kids, according to the legal complaint. That's fine; I'm infertile and I'm using birth control just in case, she allegedly responded. When the woman found herself with child, she was unwilling to terminate the pregnancy. She gave birth to a baby girl and then obtained a court order requiring Mr. Oops Now I'm a Daddy to pay $500 a month in child support. Dumb Ass thus joined the ranks of men who argue they were duped into having children they never wanted and then forced to assume financial responsibilities for which they were unprepared.

I believe the way this dude could have a say over things would be for him to have kept Mr. Winkey behind the barn door or slapped a raincoat on him when he let him out. This guy knowingly engages in mutually consensual sex with his then girlfriend, she gets pregnant, chooses to have the baby and he whines "not fair"! I think not Sir. You play, you pay dude. That baby girl has half your genetic code because you needed to have an orgasm. Expensive moment of ecstasy huh?

I hope the courts not only rule against this jack ass, I hope they order him to have a very painful vasectomy, maybe even a penectomy and fine him $100,000 for unmitigated gall and extraordinary stupidity.

The Slow Beating Drums of Impeachment

Cities across the United States have taken up resolutions calling for W's impeachment, most notably San Francisco. The sentiment has rarely spread to rural America but the Vermont town of Newfane joined the chorus yesterday. Newfane voters called on Vermont's lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives, independent Representative Bernie Sanders, to file articles of impeachment against the president, alleging Bush misled the country about Iraq and engaged in illegal domestic spying.At least four other Vermont towns, spurred by publicity about Newfane's resolution, endorsed similar resolutions during Tuesday's meetings: Brookfield, Dummerston, Marlboro and Putney.

In the US House, a total of 25 US House members have co-sponsored Resolution 635 to create a select committee to investigate the grounds for impeaching President Bush. Now this will not happen as long as the US House remains in Republican hands but you may have noticed that the R's are running scared this year what with Abramoff, the port fiasco and, well, all that other stuff (I could go on and on but I'm tired of listing all the different scandals). November holds the promise of just such a change.

2006 looks to be a good year.

Meetings

I've been attending 12 step meetings regularly for over 7 months now (yes Virginia, he's been sober for 7+ months) and I've recently thought about things I like and what I get out of them. For the uninitiated, let me explain what takes place at a meeting.

The meeting begins with a call to order which, at the meeting I attend, takes the form of a small bell. The Chair of the meeting then reads a brief reminder of what AA is and recognizes individuals to read the 12 Steps and the 12 Traditions of AA. The Chair then usually suggests a topic and may read from the "Big Book" or some other source. They generally will share their experience and then turn it over to the floor for open discussion. People may address the topic raised by the Chair or they may raise a subject of their own that they choose to talk about. This goes on till about the half hour at which time a basket is passed for donations. Then discussion is continued until the end of the hour at when time is reserved for last minute comments people need to make ( a "burning desire"). After that, chips marking different lengths of sobriety are passed out and the awardees have the opportunity to speak. The meeting ends with all in attendance gathering in a circle, arms around each others shoulders, reciting the Serenity Prayer or perhaps the Lords Prayer.

When I first attended a 12 Step meeting, I knew for sure that I was in the presence of members of a cult who would surely brain wash me and make me perform their strange rituals. When someone would go to speak and say, "My name is John and I'm an alcoholic/addict" and the people in the room would respond, "Hi John", I'd cringe and think how incredibly strange this all was. Funny how now it's a comfort to me when I say, "My name is Gudpackage and I'm an addict" and they respond, "Hi Gud" (ok, so in the meetings I dont go by Gudpackage, but the idea is anonymity, right?). The motivation behind this is the fact that so many addicts/alcoholics feel so terribly alone and isolated and by greeting a person in such a way, the hope is that they will feel welcome and embraced by people who share their illness. At first, I just felt strange; now, I feel a part of an important group.

As I listen to people speak, I almost always find something useful in what they have to say. Whether it's the story of what it was like when they were using, how they got clean, their continued struggles with sobriety, their frustration of the day or, conversely, their fantastic moment of they day, there is almost always something I can get out of it. Rarely am I bored and sometimes some of the things people have to say or stories thay have to tell are sidesplittingly funny. Inebriated behavior, while often tragic and sad, is also often hilarious and one just has to be able to laugh at things.

Attending these meetings reminds me that the disease of addiction cuts across all socio-economic lines, all racial lines, genders, sexual orientations, religious affiliations and virtually any other dilineation one might care to make. I'm not the only one, I'm not unique and no matter how bad things may have gotten for me, there is always someone who has an even worse situation. One also experiences a camraderie among people with this same experience.

I haven't been able to attend meetings as often as I would like due to my lack of transportation. I've depended on Cap Metro and a thoughtful friend who lives close by and attends the same group. But that's about to change and my attendance will increase. This is important as I need to hear people's stories, tell my own and always be reminded of why I never want to go back to the way things were just over 7 months ago.

Some Days It's Best to Just Start Over

Most days I find myself in a pretty darned good mood, sometimes referring to it as having Prozac Moments although I'm not currently taking an anti-depressant. It can be downright annoying to some folks, particularly at my 12 step meetings when I speak. It's almost as if some of the other attendees are like, "Oh god, here goes Little Mary Sunshine again, all cheery and looking at life with rose colored glasses. Blech!". But really, life is good! Really!

Yesterday, however, I got up in a rather foul mood. Now maybe it was the fact that, for some unexplainable reason, I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep but usually that just makes me tired, not grumpy. That was not the case March 1st though; everything seemed to be an irritant. The a/c kicking on, the dog barking downstairs, the a/c staying on too long, the silly car jingle on tv, the drippy kitchen sink, the fact that I'm out of my favorite juice, my slow computer, having to change rolls of toilet paper. You name it, I was bugged by it. Then I get to work where we're holding double digit numbers of calls and the calls I'm getting are each convoluted, messed up situations with whiney, not rocket scientist callers. They had the I Gave You My Bank Debit Card Number To Buy A Policy But I Didn't Mean For You To Really Take My Money And Now I'm Overdrawn And I Need You To Refund My Money And Fix Things kinda problems. OK.

I was being less than my usual pleasant self. Indeed, I was getting a bit surley with callers and fellow employees. I kept trying to take a deep breath and renew my attitude but it just wasn't working. When you have to make a Herculean effort to keep from telling a caller how sorry you are that they are so incredibly inept, it's a sign that your attitude ain't quite what it should be. I made it four hours, called the leave early line, grabbed a cab, came home, tried not to answer the phone and just hibernated.

Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and wait for the new day.