Dancing with Myself

Road Trip to the Virginias

As with many Americans, a goodly portion of my family's story begins in Virginia. My mother's father's great-grandfather, William Droddy, was born in Augusta County in 1754. His father, Daniel, was from Ireland, according to a list of Rangers serving under Captain Wm. Preston. He is listed as having joined on August 8, 1755. Next to his name is his height (5'5") and the fact that he was from Ireland. This was long before the Irish Catholic migrations to this country, and dab smack in the middle of the waves of Scots-Irish immigration. We assume that he was Scots-Irish rather than native Irish for several reasons. One, he named his first son William. Bear in mind the Battle of the Boyne was July 1, 1690, where William of Orange defeated James II and his Irish supporters. I don't think the native Irish used the name William for a couple of hundred years after that.

We know little about Daniel. In 1758, he was adjudicated a garnishee and he and his wife Elizabeth left Virginia and moved to South Carolina/Georgia. We're not completely sure. They took their youngest son, Daniel, and abscounded, leaving their three remaining children to be bound out. We're not sure if they were bound out because they had been abandoned or if they were bound out to work off their father's debt. That's one of the reasons we want to go to Virginia and do some research.

William has other mysteries. He would have been 22 at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but there is no record of his service in the American Revolution until 1783, when he served in the Virginia militia fighting Indians in the West. That qualified him as an American Patriot by the Daughters of the American Revolution. What was the doing the previous 7 years?

He claimed his bounty lands due him for his service in the militia in far western Virginia (now West Virginia). Along with Daniel Boone, he was one of the founding fathers of Kanawha County which was carved out of Greenbriar County. William was the one of the county's first coroners. Over the next 40 years, he bought and sold land and steadily moved west. He had children born in Virginia and the territories of Ohio, Illinois, and finally Missouri. He died in St. Charles, Missouri in 1824.

As much as we know about him, we don't know anything. We know even less about his wife, Ruth Ellison. A speaker at a genealogy convention once said that our ancestors want us to know about their lives and that they leave clues all over the place. This is a roadtrip for clues.

So, to celebrate my sister Michelle's 50th birthday, my mom, sister Gwen and I are flying to Pittsburg on November 3, renting a car and driving to Charleston, West Virginia to research William and his wife Ruth. We also plan to drive to Virginia and do some more research. If any of my blogging buddies live near this part of the country, be sure to let me know. I'd love to meet you.

And a Good Time was had by all

That Queer Georgia Boy and his roommates threw a party Saturdaya night. When I walked in and saw that half-gallon jug of Bombay Saffire, I said to myself, "We're at the right party." I wasn't supposed to be drinking because I'm just finishing up Phase I of the South Beach diet, but I was easily twice as old as most of the boys at the party, so I needed to relax 'toute de suite.'' You see, after one drink, people like me, and after two, I like people. I had three over the next 3 hours and we all liked each other well enough, and then I left. The boys chased after me throwing their underwear and phone numbers at me. Okay, I made that part up, but this is my blog and I get to make things up once in awhile.

I got to meet That Queer Georgia Boy. He's the first blogger buddy than I've been able to meet in the flesh. I also got to meet Mr. Sexy. He is, too. Georgia Boy is ... well, he's vivacious. Of course, he was drinking Red Bull and vodka, and that does give you a wired high. No seriously, Chris was charming and cute. And he can cook! Well sort of, he pointed proudly to a tray of Krispy Kreme donuts and said that was his contribution to the party's hors d'hoerves. Well, it was a pretty arrangement, and they were stacked three high. I was impressed.

Balls now in my court. It's time to throw a dinner party.

People, Get a Grip

A school administrator (probably an assistant principal, they were the most gung-ho idiots when I was in high school) at Grayson High School in Gwinnett County, Georgia, took Terrell Jones out of a classroom because he wore a shirt that read: "Hempstead, NY 516." For the geographically challenged, Hempstead is the largest township in the United states. Located on Long Island, it has 759,000 residents spread across 22 villages and more than 142 square miles. From SF Gate. The administrator thought it was some sort of code for marijuana.

As Forrest Gump would have said, "stupid is as stupid does."

Poetry on Fridays

Sonnet 29
by William Shakespeare

When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

I do think Will knew a thing or two about love.

Tolerating Hatred

"Arash Miresmaeili of Iran, a two-time world judo champion and a medal contender in the 66-kilogram class, deliberately forfeited his first-round match because his opponent, Ehud Vaks, is an Israeli. News of his refusal to face Vaks was met with jubilation in Iran. The chief of Iran's Olympic delegation, Nassrollah Sajadi, asked the government to give Miresmaeili the $115,000 reward reserved for gold medallists." Front Page Magazine

When John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their black gloved fists in Mexico City, they were barred from any further events.

Anyone refusing to meet his opponent for political reasons ought to be permanently banned from the Olympics. That's my 2 cents worth.

When is it okay to discriminate?

Joan Ryan, in her column in today's San Francisco Chronicle, wants to know why it was okay to ban South Africa from the Olympics for 28 years because its team had no Blacks, but no one mentions the banning of women by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Islam doesn't ban women from sports. Totalitarian regimes who use religion to enforce their own narrow-minded prejudice are the ones who forbid the participation of women in the Olympics. "Are certain types of oppression deserving of tolerance and others not? Is oppression acceptable when it springs from religious beliefs rather than social policy? Or should all oppression be condemned, no matter what the cause?" I'm with Joan on this one. Inquiring minds want to know.

A Salute to Christopher Isherwood

from a chattering, enraged monkey

"... If I fear anything, I fear the atmosphere of the war, the power which it gives to all the things I hate -- the newspapers, the politicians, the puritans, the scoutmasters, the middle-aged merciless spinsters. I fear the way I might behave, If I were exposed to this atmosphere. I shrink from the duty of opposition. I am afraid I should be reduced to a chattering enraged monkey, screaming back hate at their hate."

There's a great article about Isherwood in recognition of the 100th anniversary of his birth in the San Francisco Chronicle today by David Kipen. Well worth the read.

Reliving an Unremembered Past

The Farmer over at Corrente emphatically points to a column by Rick Perlstein writing for the Village Voice remembering the protests at the Democrat convention in Chicago in 1968 and warning the protestors intent on taking their message to the streets of New York of the dangers of being misunderstood. I second the Farmer's recommendation. Go read the article. I also heartily endorse the Farmer's idea for the most effective and most dramatic protest:

To be honest, if I had my way, if I were even remotely influential in such matters, I'd call for a silent protest in New York. Absolute silence. Let the GOP come to New York and wander around in a stone dead silence. Blacken your windows New Yorkers. If you do go out on the streets wear black arm bands. Don't go out at night to bars or shows or restaurants. Boycott. It's your city and it's your money. Close your galleries and your shops or hang a black flag in the window as a symbolic gesture. Declare a day of mourning. Just stay home. It won't kill you. Let the confetti pumped from the RNC shredder machine blow through the streets like so many leaves tumbling along the mainstreet of a plague bit ghostown. If drunken herds of fly-by-night goobers in cowboy hats and Free-Republic tee shirts want to stumble up and down Broadway or the lower east side at two am so be it. Let em do it all by themselves. Chill them with the sounds of silence. That would be the spookiest most powerful message I think New Yorkers and political activists could deliver. If the noisiest city in the world went stone cold quiet - well, you get my drift. Unfortunately I know thats way too much to hope for (especially at this point) and especially after reading what RP has to say.

I'm wearing a black armband that week.

Friday Fish Wrap

First things first. Beauregard is doing well. He's gained a little weight and is much more involved with his environment. He takes his medicine well enough, and I am getting more adept at giving it to him. He's still picky about food, preferring (like me) expensive to cheap. I'm indulging him for the moment. I feel like an Italian grandmother, "eat pumpkin, have some more, you need some meat on those bones."

The Olympics
I haven't been paying a lot of attention to the Olympics. They lost me back in the 80s when they had such a fit about Gays and Lesbians using the word. Fuck 'em. I have better things to do. I did notice the controversy around Aron Piersol's victory in the 200 meter backstroke. I also notice that Korea has protested Paul Hamm's gold for best all around male gymnist. I guess each athelete will bring his own lawyer to the next Olympics. I also don't care for all the nationalistic fervor generated by these games. That's just my opinion.

Homeland Security
I feel much more secure knowing that Senator Edward Kennedy and Congressman John Lewis are on the Do Not Fly list. Sheesh. "If they have that kind of difficulty with a member of Congress, how in the world are average Americans, who are getting caught up in this thing, how are they going to be treated fairly and not have their rights abused?" Kennedy asked Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson at a hearing Thursday. Of course, we all know that Asa Hutchinson is a prime asshole.

Hate is Alive and Well in Texas
This just in by way of the Beaumont Enterprise. Two teenagers were offered a plea bargain for defacing the grave of James Byrd. Byrd, you'll remember, is the African-American man who was chained and dragged to death by some of those Bush-loving, good ol' boys in East Texas. Joshua Lee Talley, 19, of Jasper, and John Matthew Fowler, 18, of Call, were arrested in May and accused of a string of crimes, including etching racial slurs and profanity into a metal plate covering Byrd's vault. Isn't that cute? The newspaper's calling them "teenagers" as if it's just some sort of prank. Teenagers that age get the death penalty in Texas on a real regular basis, but since this is just racial grafitti, they're just teenagers. Those kids!

My Bullshit Detector just went Haywire
"Never in my life have I had relations with a man, certainly not with this man who has come forward in the United States," Golan Cipel said in a statement faxed to the Associated Press. "I am a lone person fighting against a monstrous well-oiled machine of lies and manipulations operating in a methodical manner against me. . . . You have to remember who these people are," Cipel said. "I believe that in a few days new lies will emerge, even worse than before, lies and monstrous manipulations by the governor--paving the way for his lawyers...all to threaten me and shut me up," Cipel said.Cipel says he is straight and was subjected to humiliating sexual harassment by McGreevey. In a potential setback for Cipel, a New Jersey doctor, Michael David Miller, told the New York Post that he too had had an affair with the Israeli.

We report, you decide.

Kerry and the Gay Agenda
The Washington Blade reports that Kerry is equivocating on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Kerry says he wants to find a way for Gays and Lesbians to serve without threatening "unit cohesion." Horse hockey. I don't care what Kerry thinks about Gays and Lesbians in the military. He can be agin it, for all I care. On his worst day, Kerry will appoint better justices to the Supreme Court than will Bush on his best day. That's MY Gay agenda.

That's it for today, folks.

Let's Not be Distracted

This conversation began over at my buddy Jaye's blog, Winding Road in an Urban Area.

"New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey (D) is planning on stepping down from office after more than 2 years of service, the New York’s NBC station is reporting. It appears that he was forced into admitting his homosexuality at a threat of being outed; reports suggest that he is facing a lawsuit from another man.

McGreevey admitted in his 4 p.m. speech today that he was gay and has had an extramarital affair. He will resign effective Nov. 15.

“My truth is that I am a gay American,” he said.

“Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony,” said McGreevey, 47, the married father of two. “It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexecusable.”

McGreevey said the disclosure and a pending legal action, which he did not specify, could pose a “threat” to the government. “I am removing these threats by telling you about my sexuality,” he said.

McGreevey's mistake was not his extramarital affair. The governor put someone he was boinking on the payroll, thus sticking it to the people of New Jersey.

I felt bittersweetness at his declaration of "I am a Gay American." Well, good for you, I thought. I'd love to run into that stud in a social setting condusive to flirting and affaire. Damn, he's a fine looking man. I want to believe that this is a one time lapse in judgment and that he will learn from this experience and be with us for a long time. Afterall, the rule of celebrity says it doesn't matter how you came to be famous just as long as you are.

If this is the first time his wife has been made aware of his sexuality, then they have some work to do on their relationship. Everyone assumes she's a victim of his duality. Maybe. Maybe not. It's none of my business. There's going to be a lot of stress in that household. I sure do wish them luck this next year.

For the record, though. This is not a Gay story. This is a story about a guy who put his lover on the public payroll. That's wrong. He should resign. It's not that his behavior is so egregiously immoral, just illegal.