Pick-A-Day

March 2024
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Archives

23: Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard died 23 years ago today.

Another year has ticked by.

Another moment to pause and reflect on Matthew Shepard.

One remarkable thing about Matthew Shepard is that he continues to be present in society – I was scrolling through Facebook last week and I noticed that Indiana University Credit Union (my primary […]

Whatchamacallit 154: Love is Love

On June 12, 2020, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando was the site of horrific mass shooting: 49 dead, 53 wounded.

While I’ve already mentioned attending a memorial at Brandenburg Tor (Whatchamacallit 89: #BerlinForOrlando #LoveIsLove), this comic book is another reminder of that tragic day.

It was also a fundraiser, will all proceeds going to […]

Whatchamacallit 89: #BerlinForOrlando #LoveIsLove

Gosh, it was four years ago today that I met friends at Brandenburg Tor to remember the victims of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting.

The above heart was given to me by somebody in the crowd during the gathering to wear – I’ve kept it ever since.

I don’t know why.

Maybe I do: […]

Whatchamacallit 37: Pasta.

Back in February, when I started to realize that Covid-19 might become incredibly serious, I decided to invest in food with a long shelf life.

Yes, like many other people, pasta.

Happily, six weeks into the crisis, I have not yet opened any single package of pasta – I have my original supply, including […]

20: Matthew “Matt” Wayne Shepard – *December 1, 1976; †October 12, 1998

The Editors of the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s most important newspaper, sought letters, asking, “What does Matthew Shepard’s story mean to you?” I felt that I had to write a letter; I have no idea if it will be published. In case it is not published, I put it here, in full, on this, the 20th […]

19 years, but who’s counting?

Last weekend I was in Chicago, where I caught up with one of my early gay IU friends. We talked about a number of things – including the coming out process and what it was like to come out (whether to ourselves or to others) at Indiana University in the late 1990s.

But the thing […]

18 Years: Matthew Shepard

For 18 years, October’s cooler weather and shorter days is a reminder that the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s murder is fast approaching.

It’s somewhat daunting to pause and reflect – how much I’ve changed. How much America and the world has changed. And how much has not changed at all.

I want what I write […]

My Current Gay Anthems

This coming Saturday is Christopher Street Day in Berlin (for those lacking context: Pride, with the German word for Pride being “Christopher Street Day”) – and while I’m not hugely into attending CSD events (too misanthropic ; plus I’ve never really liked being in huge crowds), I’ll probably watch some part of the parade and […]

The Moment My Stomach Drops…

 

It was déjà vu: For a second time in my life, I heard the edge of a breaking news story and I instantly knew that the rest of the story was going to be painful.

This time it was that there had been another mass shooting, this time at a nightclub in Orlando. That […]

17: Matthew “Matt” Wayne Shepard – * December 1, 1976; †October 12, 1998

Matthew Shepard is a man who is often on my thoughts, with increasing frequency as early October rolls around.

It was October 6, 1998, when Aaron Kreifels had an accident with his bicycle, looked up, wondered about a scarecrow – only to realize that the scarecrow was a human being, Matthew Shepard.

Tuesday, Matthew Shepard […]