We’re off again! This time to New Zealand and Australia (not the whole continent mind you, just Auckland and Sydney) for a much needed holiday. It’s my second trip to the land down under, and Chad’s first. Joey, a friend of Chad’s since college, will be joining us as well. Finally we will have someone around to take pictures too.

As usual, the plan is to post pictures and write about our travels daily, (weather and energy level permitting), so hope you will check in often. To receive updates by email, click on the “Email Udates” link to the right to subscribe to the blog.

Until next time… Chookas!

Well, truth be told, we’ve been back for some time but it’s always difficult getting back into the swing of things.

For those of you who don’t know we decided to go domestic this time around and went on an “east coast tour.” We started in Atlanta and ended up in New York by way of Washington D.C. It was a fun trip despite the abnormally hot weather, and it’s always good to spend time with old friends. I’ve posted some pictures from the Washington D.C. portion of the trip, with New York and Atlanta to follow.

D.C. is a walking city, and there is much to be seen on foot. The architecture and monuments that surround you are both amazing and formidable, their scale more than a little symbolic. And it’s hard not to feel a sense of reverence for the history and sacrifice that envelopes every monument and every historical document, as you stand where MLK gave his famous speech, or look down on the fading words of the Declaration of Independence. For a moment you forget the politics and you’re filled with pride — pride in what we as a people, now and in the past, have accomplished.

That is, until you get back to the hotel and turn on the local news. But that’s another story…

Now, back to the swinging.

We did something a little a little unusual yesterday.

We participated in a protest called Beach Impeach III. Some of the photos I took during the event are available here.

I know many would have considered it a waste of time. And at one time we would count ourselves among that group. Always somewhere to go and something to do, and the bits in between spent trying to make sense of everything else. But I’m afraid that complacency is slowly killing us all, without so much as a blip on our collective radar.

The protest attempted to send a single unified message. It’s effectiveness will have to be judged by others but am hopeful it had some impact. I am sure many of you thought it was a bunch of naked, left-wing crackpots trying to spell out IMPEACH on the wet grass but too high to get the letters right. But it was nothing like that at all. Sure there were hippies, but there were also families, grandparents, brothers and sisters, partners, of all ages, colors, shapes and sizes. All trying to paint an image that represents the anger and frustration they carry, and participating in that act with others of like mind and spirit provides some level of ease.

And I think that was the key for us yesterday. It was more about participating then sending a message. And it was time to stop being complacent and do something. So we participated in a protest.

We were sad that no one we knew could join us, because it was an experience best shared. There was such a sense of community standing on that grass as helicopters floated by snapping photographs. For a moment the phrase “It only takes a village,” seemed to have more than a “bumper sticker” meaning.

But protesting is only one form of participation. Some volunteer. Others become politically active. All our equally important and have their place. Getting involved is key. Standing idly by is not.

Because while people work, consume and sleep, the freedoms we take for granted are gradually taken away. And while the dull thudding of a complacent media pounds what masquerades as truth in our ears, our resolve slowly weakens. It happens almost imperceptibly because we don’t notice the tortoise as it struggles toward the finish line, only the hare as it bounds by, drawing attention to itself. It’s this inexorable crawl we should be wary of, as it never exposes itself for what it truly is, and we never notice the damage it has done until it is too late.

I suspect this will not be the last protest we attend, and hope that others will join us.

There are many roles we can play. But playing sheep, shouldn’t be one of them.

Another San Francisco Pride has come and gone. Saw a number of good films at the festival, including The Bubble, Shelter and Semper Fi. And actually managed to head out to the parade for the first time in many years.

I must admit I have been jaded with the parade for some time. I’vet long felt that it has been hijacked by various interest groups that seem to have less to do with the gay experience and more to do with pushing some political agenda.

But there was one thing I saw at the Pride parade that I had missed. And that was the PRIDE. Pride in what makes us all the same. Pride in what makes us all different. Sure the media is going to focus on drag queens and the half naked dykes on bikes, but who cares. I can reflect afterward on the skewed focus on our community, but while I’m there, all I can see is how beautiful (almost everyone is, and how happy we are. Because this is our day.

At least that hasn’t been taken away from us… at least not yet.

Anyways, off my soapbox. I snapped quite a few pics. Some not for the faint of heart. Mom & Dad, you’ve been warned.

San Francisco Pride 2007 Photos