Melinda Herron & Spencer Lord

Yes, yet another pic of Melinda Herron and Yours Truly. When to the sessions of sweet silent thought; I summon up remembrance of things past; I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought; And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste; Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow; For precious friends hid in death's dateless night; And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe; And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight; Then can I grieve at grievances foregone; And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er; The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan; Which I new pay as if not paid before; But if the while I think on thee, dear friend; All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.

The Motherhouse In Calcutta

This was after I left Kalighat, the Home for the Dying. The foreign affairs editor for Der Spiegel is kneeling down in front of Mother for a picture. I probably ended up in photos all over Germany looking sick as a dog. Mother's private quarters are through the blue drapes directly behind me.

Indian Students

Here I am with Varunesh and his brother Chintan. They were two of my students in Calcutta, both of them had grown up with Mother Teresa at Shishu Bhawan. It was shortly after this picture that I was transfered to Kalighat, the home for the dying. I ended up with more strange diseases than I could count, happily all of them curable.

Scott Klein & Spencer Lord

Here I am with one of the coolest people on planet earth, J. Scott Klein. This is the time we went to the Hamptons with Wendy and Tina, and Tina met that guy with the black truck, and did you know what, he was the straight guy with the perfect eyebrows. I miss the Hamptons, and Tina and Wendy, but not as much as I miss SCOTT. HEY KITTY! xoxoxoxox

At The Grave Of Maria Von Trapp

Perhaps I had a wicked childhood, perhaps I had a miserable youth, but somewhere in my wicked, miserable past there must have been a moment of truth... Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could, so somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good. Maria Von Trapp is buried here, in Stowe, Vermont.

Christmas in Manhattan with Melinda Herron

Me and Melinda at The Plaza in New York City. Melinda used to always spend Christmas in Manhattan, while I was high as a kite in Chicago, but this time we went to the Big Schmapple together, and, wow, what a blast. All sorts of swanky parties and excellent food made for one of the better holidays I've had. I vaguely remember the end of this trip though, as I ended up getting drunk with Denise Rich and forgetting myself altogether. (Wasn't that the party on your patio Robby Brown?) God I Love New York.

Joy in Vallarta

Here's me with my mom, Joy, in Puerto Vallarta. After spending so much of my life there, I finally started taking my parents in the late nineties. Here we're standing on Olas Altas, Descanso Del Sol is somewhere on the hill behind us, the beach to our right, and Paco Paco behind us. My mom is a clinical therapist, and a total fucking Rockstar.

Greg Jarvis & Spencer Lord

This is the only huzband I ever had from Florida. I introduced him to my lawyer just before I flew off to Thailand in the mid-nineties... and they've been married ever since. Here's a pic of us in his bathtub with a trompe loeil of the Tuscan countryside behind us. Rodger was in the tub to my left, but he might sue me if I publish his face. Just kidding Rodger, I love you, you fucking artist you. Greg is making a funny face in this pic, he doesn't always look like that, he's actuallyl very handsome. Here's his site.

Emily Mosley & Spencer Lord

Emily Mosely (Emily Mosley) where are you? I went to film school with Emily. Emily, you are totally insane, but I totally miss you, and crickett, and the whole gang. Remember that horrible movie we made called The Beach House? ugh. Where are you woman?

Chanel Scarved Vallarta Scarlett

Scarlett O'Hara on the roof of Paco Paco (somewhere on the hill behind is Descanso Del Sol). Ms. Scarlett was having a nicotine fit, thus the need for three marlboros at once. I think this was on the same trip when we met Jack and Stewart. Are you out there Jack and Stewart? Miss you!

Grand Cayman

This is the beach at Grand Cayman. I'll never forget the first meal I had on Grand Cayman: a mediocre cheese- burger, fries, and a CAN of beer (yes, actually IN the can)... only $16.oo. Wow. It pays to cook your own food on this island. Oh, and bring your own trade... there is no gay scene to speak of. Ugh. (Thank God I was with someone I was madly in love with, xo)

Vashist Manali in Himachal Pradesh, India

This is in Vashist, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. I had just finished working in the Dalai Lama's visitor center in Dharamsala. I love the northern parts of India, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in Srinigar through another election period. Yikes.

Doctor Zhivago & North by Northwest

I think I'm in love. Is this man evil? Am I being had? I would marry him if he asked me. It would be like having a talkng law library on the pillow next to you. Mind you--I had my share of marriage proposals from doctors and lawyers--but I usually chose the guy with a motorcycle and no checking account. So my taste in men is not to be trusted. Which means Mr. Roberts is probably not to be trusted. I'm just so afraid he's The Great Satan. Please don't be Satan Mr. Roberts.

I'm trying a new blog--called Streaming Weltanschauung. It will go deeper and tougher--wear a cup.

Narcissistic Mutual Masturbation & Morons Exposed

Few things are as amusing as watching stupid famous whores interrogate a genius. These Roberts hearings are delicious. Roberts' extemporizing is smoother than the congresspeople's prepared questions. Yes, he makes it up on the fly better than they can READ. Ugh. I cringe in anticipation watching idiots trying to outwit clever people. I would have one question for Mr. Roberts: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE THAT FUCKING SMART?" I probably wouldn't understand his answer, and I wouldn't further expose my ignorance by asking a follow up. [Sessions' voice makes me want to shoot myself in the head. Someone please rivet his mouth shut.] Also WILL SOMEONE please tell me, is this Mr. Roberts a sincere guy or a big bag of bullshit? I find him so charming it's alarming. But I don't have any idea what he believes (read: "does he hate faggots?") I can't wait to see what he becomes in 20 years. It's all so thrilling to a SupCt junkie like me. Roberts will either be Fantastic Superhero, or The Great Satan. I have no idea, and can't wait to read his first opinion.
P.S. I'm taking beads, liquor, and no underwear to Nawlins this year for mardi gras. I apologize for writing the city was "dead". It merely had a stroke. This is the underdog blog. Nawlins will never die.

A Richard Dowling Afternoon

I've been listening to my Richard Dowling CDs all day. If you don't have Richard's two Chopin albums and his piano rags, you should order them TODAY. Richard is one of my dearest and longest-time friends in New York. Handsome, educated (Yale, of course), and sublimely talented. I miss you Richard... xoxoxo to you an Jim.

You Just Donated

$52 billion is $600 from every single family in America.
You've just been VERY generous whether you wanted to be or not.

Hilarious Barb Bush quote. (thanks to Miu for the pic)

Bush's "Culture of Life"

June, 2005: Bush cut $71.2 million from the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers.

September, 2005: Bush asks for $52 billion to pay for Hurricane Katrina's damage. Federal budget surplus now negative $330 billion.

Ms. Dowd reflects: "The administration's foreign policy is entirely constructed around American self-love - the idea that the U.S. is superior, that we are the model everyone looks up to, that everyone in the world wants what we have."

"But when people around the world look at Iraq, they don't see freedom. They see chaos and sectarian hatred. And when they look at New Orleans, they see glaring incompetence and racial injustice, where the rich white people were saved and the poor black people were left to die hideous deaths. They see some conservatives blaming the poor for not saving themselves. So much for W.'s "culture of life."" - M. Dowd, NYT

"The first rule of the social fabric - that in times of crisis you protect the vulnerable - was trampled. Leaving the poor in New Orleans was the moral equivalent of leaving the injured on the battlefield." - David Brooks, NYT

Can't a Sistuh Get a Bottled Water in a Red State?

"Out of the rubbles [sic] of Trent Lott's house - he's lost his entire house - there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch"... - George W. Bush

WE SHOULD HAVE ANNOUNCED THEY WERE DISCONNECTING A BRAINDEAD WHITE WOMAN'S FEEDING TUBE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUPERDOME. The Congress would have passed a bill on Monday morning and entered with Marines on Monday night.

Shame will be this honky's legacy. Shame.

Absentee Diety

“As we face the devastation wrought by Katrina... we turn to God for strength, hope and comfort. I have declared August 31, 2005, a Day of Prayer in the State of Louisiana. I am asking that all of Louisiana take some time Wednesday to pray. Pray for the victims and the rescuers. Please pray that God give us all the physical and spiritual strength to work through this crisis and rebuild. Please pray for patience for those anxiously waiting... Pray for the safety of our hard-working rescuers and those they are bringing to safety. I know, by praying together on Wednesday, that we can pull together and draw strength we need; strength, that only God can give us. In my prayers, I will also thank God for the strong and resilient people of this state and how they are working to meet this challenge.” [- Louisiana's Governor Blanco]

"Well, I have this to say: Shut the fuck up. Where is your god, Governor? Where is your benevolent, omnipotent being? Is he busy being thanked by the starving survivors who sit on their rooftops as the odor of their rotting neighbors wafts over them? Is he busy being thanked by the critical-care patients who avoided the bullets of the snipers that tried to kill them as they were being evacuated today? Is he busy being thanked by the evacuees who have returned to southern Mississippi to pick through the piles of matchsticks and memories that cover the ground their homes used to occupy? He must be busy, because he’s nowhere to be found. It’s not god providing the cots and MREs for 45,000 refugees, it’s the city of Houston. It’s not god picking people off rooftops, it’s the Coast Guard. It’s not god stopping the floodwaters from Lake Pontchartrain, it’s the Army Corps of Engineers."

"In the worst case, god is culpable. In the best case, he’s powerless to help. In actuality, he doesn’t exist. He’s not testing you. He’s not punishing anyone. He’s just not there."

"I wish more than ever for the last couple of days that he were. I wish there were someone to hear the faint cries for help in the pitch-black night. I wish the brave and selfless rescue workers who are risking their lives to save total strangers were securing their places in an eternal paradise. I wish I could trust that he’s taking care of fellow blogger vjack in Mississippi, who’s either without power or…"

"Oh, the wishes I’d wish if wishing made any difference."

... "The absence of god is so staggeringly obvious in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that hearing you even say the word makes me sick to my stomach. "

Source: The Evangelical Atheist

"The Culture Here Is We Don't Evacuate"

This warning was published on JULY 18th of this year. Eerily prescient or just plain ol physics and good sense? AOTA. The point is we knew this was coming--we knew it, we knew it, we knew it. The Big Easy is Dead. And who would rebuild a CITY in a HOLE between the OCEAN and a LAKE? Why not rebuild next to Mount St. Helens?

Article excerpt:
"If that sounds far-fetched, consider this: New Orleans sits below sea level and is locked in by an extensive levee network, like a giant flood-prone bowl; a modest Category 3 storm could deposit up to 27 feet of water in some neighborhoods. A few years ago, the American Red Cross ranked the prospect of a hurricane's hitting New Orleans as the country's deadliest natural disaster threat, with up to 100,000 dead. Still, many Big Easy denizens insist they'll stay put for the next one. "There's a reason New Orleans has a drink called the hurricane," says Jeanne Hurlbert, an LSU sociology professor. "The culture here is 'we don't evacuate.'" " - Dan Gilgoff, 7/18/05, USNews

H.L. Mencken responds: "Nature abhors a moron."

Globally 30,000 people died from starvation yesterday. 30,000 will die of starvation today. 30,000 more will starve to death tomorrow. Oh wait! Those aren't Americans! Those are Africans. How DARE the government allow tax payers to die in Nawlins! Oh wait... the only tax payers left in Nawlins are African Americans. Do you think Louisiana gives a shit? Illinois just opened its public schools to any and all children affected. And you all get mad at me for calling them Slave States. Do you think it would have taken THREE DAYS to get drinking water to white people? Welcome to the South. This whole thing is so disgusting. Read: "passive lynching". Shame on whitey.

Civilizations will be measured by how they treat their insane, their powerless, their weak, and poor.

Louisiana, you are a failure. America, you are a failure. And another 30,000 dead the next day, and 30,000 the day after that, and 30,000 the day after that...

G8, YOU ARE ALL RADICAL FAILURES. Shame on our civilizations. I'm so embarrassed to be an American. And I don't fucking trust white people.