ACCEPTANCE IS THE KEY: Tomorrow I will have experienced 34 years of continuous recovery away from active alcoholism!

My life is still coming into sharper focus and my sobriety date is December 13, 1978

My anniversary being/living sober is tomorrow.  Each year, at this time of year, I review my life in sobriety that has manifested itself before me in the form of ongoing adventures, clarity, character revelations, choices made, chances (both taken and not), sadness, happiness, boredom, depression/glee and general self-accountability. Things done wonderfully well and things that I could have done better while learning how to ¨be¨ fully present in my own life.  You know, *everyday living* events, emotions and outcomes that I would have not have seen, or participated in, if I had continued drinking heavily -- way past heavily -- and if I had not lived the 69 years I now have lived.  

I am dazzled, not dazed, yet still sometimes out of focus, when viewing/evaluating the results of so many years away from my active alcoholism disease.  I know myself quite well now.  At 34 years sobereve, I've noted there is still much to be done as NEW, maturing, growing older experiences have challenged me.  There is no place to hide, which is a good thing, but still takes some getting used to, when sitting/running around in the front row of my own life. Some of the physical edges of life are starting to delay/decay a little.  Older people always said that.  Now I am starting to understand what ¨getting old isn´t for cowards¨ meant.  I am actually HAVING a, fully/mostly, typical vertical life experience.  Born, grown, primed up and out, educated/played, hard worker, well traveled, retired and now it's the time of for aging into mature adulthood process.  What a trip it has been, gracias a Dios (for the lifting of active alcoholism -- I couldn't not drink) but, naturally, true to my disease, I want more of all the great beauty and adventure that has been gifted to me...more or everything that I love (addictively). 

Acceptance is the key.

I have deep oceans of thanksgiving for the endless life adventures that have come my way in sobriety.  I have HUGE depth of/first hand knowledge of the world and many of the people living in it in their various cultures and social circumstances.  People, places and also things that have abundantly woven themselves into my very custom life journey in sobriety.

I am grateful.  I am grateful to all of you, living and beyond this life, who have touched me, liked me, loved me, helped me and sometimes sternly fought with me, in order that I find my way in reality.  For me, sobriety almost equals reality. There must remain my willingness to see things as they really are and not just as I wish or insist or even still pretend that they must be.  I am quite dazzled with my everyday witness as I see both you and me better...on a clear day I can see forever.

Mil gracias for being here with me.  I love my family and I love my friends and billions of other human beings too,

Leonard Clark/Leonardo Ricardo
Guatemala, Central America

ATTENTION MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT -- UGANDA: ¨God does not discriminate among our family¨ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Archbishop emeritus of South Africa and Nobel Laureate

Nelson Mandela said, “No one is born hating another person” If people are taught and can learn to hate, they can learn to love.

¨Uganda’s Parliament is – unbelievably – on the verge of considering a new piece of legislation that would have the effect of legalising persecution, discrimination, hatred and prejudice in that country.

Should the Anti-Homosexuality Bill be voted into law, it will criminalise acts of love between certain categories of people, just as the apartheid government made intimate relations between black and white South Africans a punishable offence.

Members of the apartheid police force charged with the upkeep of “morality” would rush into the bedrooms of suspected offenders to gather evidence, such as warm bed sheets. Those found guilty were arrested, put on trial and punished. What awaits the people of Uganda?

One thing that Ugandan legislators should know is that God does not discriminate among members of our family. God does not say black is better than white, or tall is better than short, or football players are better than basketball players, or Christians are better than Muslims… or gay is better than straight. No. God says love one another; love your neighbour. God is for freedom, equality and love...¨ please read it all, HERE

Thanks to Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Thanks to President Nelson Mandela
Thanks to The Daily Monitor, Kampala HERE
Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin, sidebar

¨COMPLEMENTARITY¨: Sexual Body Parts (and assorted other mind boggling ´proper use´ pontifications)

¨Innies, outies, complementarity and other mind boggling foolishness about men and women.¨

By Mark Harris

 

¨The Church of England has produced a very odd paper on marriage and the reasons for having marriage be about men and women and not other relationships. Titled, not too cleverly "Church of England responds to PM’s same sex marriage statement" it includes a number of references to something called "complementarity." This notion includes the following: (underlines mine). Following each I have a comment or two.

"However, the uniqueness of marriage is that it embodies the underlying, objective, distinctiveness of men and women. This distinctiveness and complementarity are seen most explicitly in the biological union of man and woman which potentially brings to the relationship the fruitfulness of procreation."

The marriage service, at least in the Episcopal Church usage, does not dwell on the distinctiveness of men and women from each other, but rather on the equal nature of the two in making this commitment / contract / covenant, noting that together, if it be God's will there might be procreation and raising of children. "Biological union" is called a variety of things, but it is, let us say fleeting and not particularly a useful model for committed relationship. Biological union has little or nothing to do with the union of man and woman in marriage, except to say that sexual activity is part of the package. The pledge of being "faithful" only to the partner in marriage is the only reach into the question of the biological union and the marriage union. This first proposition also equates the distinctiveness and complementarity. It makes it seem that our distinctiveness is that we are different puzzle pieces that can be fit together. Ho hum.¨  please read it all, by the Reverend Mark Harris 
 HERE

Obsession with sex and the proper use of male and female body parts at The Anglican Church of Uganda HERE

"People should respect nature and the great creator who modelled man and woman. He wasn't blind and he knows why he created a man's parts and a woman's parts. Why should anyone try to undo that?"  don't miss a word, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi/Uganda,   HERE

Thanks to Preludium, sidebar
Thanks to The Reverend Mark Harris
Thanks to The Church of England
Thanks to The Anglican Church of Uganda

MAYA´S WERE RIGHT: The G.O.P. arrogant, uptight, entitled, bossy, retrogressive white guys era is ending!

¨The Mayans were right!

Maureen Dowd, The New York Times

"The Mayans were right, as it turns out, when they predicted the world would end in 2012. It was just a select world: the G.O.P. universe of arrogant, uptight, entitled, bossy, retrogressive white guys. Just another vanishing tribe that fought the cultural and demographic tides of history. Someday, it will be the subject of a National Geographic special, or a Mel Gibson movie, where archaeologists piece together who the lost tribe was, where it came from, and what happened to it.

The experts will sift through the ruins of the Reagan Presidential Library, Dick Cheney’s shotgun casings, Orca poll monitoring hieroglyphics, remnants of triumphal rants by Dick Morris on Fox News, faded photos of Clint Eastwood and an empty chair, and scraps of ancient tape in which a tall, stiff man, his name long forgotten, gnashes his teeth about the 47 percent of moochers and the 'gifts' they got. Instead of smallpox, plagues, drought and Conquistadors, the Republican decline will be traced to a stubborn refusal to adapt to a world where poor people and sick people and black people and brown people and female people and gay people count." - Maureen Dowd, writing for the New York Times.

Thanks to The New York Times
Thanks to Joe.My.God., sidebar

 

YIKES! HEALTHY CHARACTER ASSESSMENT/CHECK LIST: ¨Psychopathy - Factors, Facets and Items¨

 

Psychopathy Checklist

 

Main article: Hare Psychopathy Checklist

Psychopathy is most commonly assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist, Revised (PCL-R) created by psychologist Robert D. Hare. Each of the 20 items in the PCL-R is scored on a three-point scale, with a rating of 0 if it does not apply at all, 1 if there is a partial match or mixed information, and 2 if there is a reasonably good match to the offender. This is said to be ideally done through a face-to-face interview together with supporting information on lifetime behavior (e.g. from case files), but is also done based only on file information. It can take up to three hours to collect and review the information.^[3]

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised: Factors, Facets, and Items^[3]

Factor 1	Factor 2
Facet 1 Interpersonal Glibness/superficial charm Grandiose sense of self-worth Pathological lying Cunning/manipulative Facet 2 Affective Lack of remorse or guilt Emotionally shallow Callous/lack of empathy Failure to accept responsibility for own actions	Facet 3 Lifestyle Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom Parasitic lifestyle Lack of realistic, long-term goals Impulsiveness Irresponsibility Facet 4 Antisocial Poor behavioral controls Early behavioral problems Juvenile delinquency Revocation of conditional release Criminal versatility. Other Items Parasitic lifestyle Many short-term marital relationships Promiscuous sexual behavior http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy

HANUKKAH or FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS: Chanukah is an eight-day Jewish observance that remembers the Jewish people's struggle for religious freedom.

Chanukah gifts wrapped and ready to be given

What do people do?

Jewish communities in the United States celebrate the first day of Chanukah on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Jewish calendar. The Chanukah period lasts for eight days and is celebrated from the 25th day of Kislev to the second day of Tevet. The first night of Chanukah (or Hanukkah) starts with special blessings at sunset the day before the 25th of Kislev. Many Jewish people light the hanukiah (or chanukkiyah), which is a type of candelabrum.

Many Americans of Jewish faith also eat food fried in olive oil, such as potato cakes, and different fried breads. Chanukah dishes include sufganiot (Hanukkah donuts), potato latkes (pancakes), mandelbrot (this can be sliced like a hard bread), and rugelach (pastry that with different fillings). The first day of Chanukah is the start of a celebratory period in which a four-sided toy called dreidel is used for games. The first night of Chanukah is also a night when people sing traditional songs to celebrate Chanukah. Gift-giving is also popular at this time of the year.

Background

Chanukah commemorates the Jewish people’s successful rebellion against the Greeks in the Maccabean War in 162 BCE. A ritual cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple occurred after the Jewish people’s victory. It is believed that there was only enough consecrated oil to keep the lamp burning for one day but the small bottle of oil miraculously lasted for eight days. Chanukah, also known as Hanukkah, is referred as the Feast of Lights or Festival of Lights for this reason.

Moreover, the survival of Judaism over the many years is also celebrated during this period. The last day of Chanukah, which marks the end of Chanukah, falls on the eighth day of this period.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/chanukah

UNITED KINGDOM MARRIAGE EQUALITY QUEST: “I think that in exactly the same way that we shouldn’t force any church to conduct gay marriage, we shouldn’t stop any church that wants to conduct gay marriage.”

 
¨PinkNews.co.uk understands the government is likely to push for complete marriage equality, meaning religious organisations will be allowed to provide same-sex marriages, as part of its reforms, despite widespread opposition by senior Anglican and Catholic leaders.

Although the Catholic Church and Church of England is opposed to the measure, groups such as the Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Judaism support marriage rights for gay couples and have stated they would like to provide the ceremonies...¨ HERE

The London Evening Standard has revealed that the government lawyers has “devised a foolproof legal ‘lock’ to protect churches that oppose the reform from being dragged in.”

EXCLUSIVE: David Cameron backs gay weddings in church

Thanks to The London Evening Standard
Thanks to Pink News U.K., sidebar
Thanks to David Cameron, Prime Minister, United Kingdom

THE UNITED STATES OF MEXICO: Mexico Supreme Court strikes down ban on same-sex marriage

“opens the door to equal marriage in the whole country,"

¨The Supreme Court of Mexico on Wednesday issued a unanimous ruling in favor of three same-sex couples seeking to marry in the southern state of Oaxaca, paving the way for universal marriage rights throughout Mexico...¨  HERE

Thanks to The Supreme Court of Mexico
Thanks to The Southern State of Oaxaca
Thanks to LGBTQ Nation, sidebar

THEY WERE JUST HERE, THAT IS, JUST A MOMENT AGO: Remembering the beloved

Albert John Breen - Everyones Best Friend  (mine for sure)

Richard Tanner Boyer - My First Love (officially)

Roberto Sandoval - He Could Never/Ever Tell A Lie  (kind and sweet)

Robert Huth Jr. - Lived Nine Lives To The Fullest (over and over again)

Bob Mazzocchi -  The Handsomest New Yorker In The Land (my first new close friend after I got sober)

Phillip Stout - Many Of The Good Do Die Young  (Phil was one)

Jorge Cordova - The Music Plays On (Pianist extraordinare)

As I grow older I grow closer to the time that I will join the dear friends who have passed onward before me. I feel more glad, each moment of my life, that I knew them. As well as being everyday pals, my friends and loved ones, were especially gifted in all the very different ways of being Gay people and everyday human beings.  Gay people who in the mid to late 20th Century were striving to live lives in a NEW and productive  way...a ¨come out of the closet¨ way.  A brave way that few had learned how to ¨be¨ before.

We were and are quite a brimming batch of wonderful forward lunging personalities who will no doubt be remembered for some very colorful and visiable ¨acting up¨ as well as ¨out¨  behavior.  Silent no more while attempting to find our way and adjust to the world around us and more newsworthy, the world to us.  Finding our way out-from-under discrimination/marginalization by insisting on equality was/is the challenge.  Each one of us with strong personal character that truly did astound those who shared life and times with us/them.  Gay people who lived life on the edge, climbing under and/or over every barracade that was placed in our way.  There were/are many. Just saying NO but sometimes even saying YES and ¨I do¨ as we love one another and most everyone else too.

I offer prayers of Thanksgiving for being present and fortunate in sharing my time living with such outstanding persons/friends and accomplices in LGBT life and advocacy.  Just like the rainbow seeking balloon trip to a never-ending eternity featured in the photo above, I am humbled by the vastness of friendship and love...I am also overwhelmed by the justice-for-all gains that LGBT people, our families and friends have made with our fight for LIFE against HIV-AIDS and the ongoing opportunity to live even more emotionally and spiritually healthier ¨out¨ lives.

We are like you.  We are your Children, your Brothers and Sisters, your Coworkers, your Best Friends and Loved Ones. 

May God have mercy on all of us, now and before, and for all whom we love may we/they be granted peace and peace of mind. 

Leonardo Ricardo/Leonard Clark

Please add names of more of the beloved at the Comments section if you would like.

ALL-AMERICAN BIG DEAL: West Point Military Academy Chapel holds first *same sex* wedding

¨It is a happy weekend for Brenda Sue Fulton and Penelope Dara Gnesin. Not only are they tying the knot, but they're making history as the first same-sex couple to do so in military academy West Point's chapel, USA Today reports. Such an event would have been forbidden under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. HERE



 

 Check Out Photos From Fulton And Gnesin's Wedding At West Point

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/#ixzz2Dr0Uuapt