Last night's event at Actor's Express Theatre for GLBT in Iraq and Iran managed to be as several readers said last night, "political and sexual."
These days, those two are often one-and-the-same, yes?

I could barely contain tears, as Theresa Davis spoke eloquently about a love that was "problematic" in a poem entitled "Breathing Lessons"--this piece was a departure from her usually edg-y, politics-in-your-face.It was a vulnerable, tender, and ultimately heartbreaking, performance....
Collin Kelley, Cleo Creech, and Franklin Abbott were committed to making the night fantastic, and they surely did:
Franklin's musings on the why's of our(GLBT and others) committment to our brothers and sisters overseas, who need safehouses, and his lovely lovely words--I especially enjoyed his "You Cannot Kill Me" from our "Outside The Green Zone" chapbook..
Cleo's integration in his poem "N.Y. Tags", of what it means to be Southern, and how that mirrors the bigotry we see in the Middle East.
And of course--Collin Kelley's by-now-famous "Fatwa", by turns both brutal and tender, demonstrated a type of closure and an unusual kind of healing found in a one-night hookup with a Muslim man....

I was very excited to hear Reginald Jackson, who is rather new to Atlanta(from N.Y.),who read deeply erotic poems, and then finished with "This Is Not A Love Poem", about what he'd LIKE to see happen in this world--which included suggestions like no more "down-low" disrespect; fathers should be men,"not ...sperm-donors...".
He also spoke about wishing "white women not grab their purses tighter when they see me..."
That was painful to hear;everyone believes they are so "sensitive" to what others are feeling.I had no idea that people can still treat others like that, and that for many African-American men, this is the reality they often see---this ugly side of human beings(white human beings).
God Bless You for standing up, speaking about it, and in doing so, Reginald--offering a chance for understanding, and perhaps, healing.

Melanie Hammett closed out the evening with her lovely voice, and a chilling reminder of what hate is--in a song entitled, "175" which references Germany's "Paragraph 175", which made it easier for gays and lesbians to be dragged off, along with many other groups(Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Catholics) to the concentration camps...

THANK YOU TO ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, FREDDIE ASHLEY, OF ACTOR'S EXPRESS FOR ALLOWING US USE OF THEIR SPACE, and PLEASE DO GO SEE THE CURRENT SHOW AT ACTOR'S EXPRESS:
"Dark Play, or Stories For Boys".
Catch it before it ends!!!

In other news, I have been diagnosed with Vertigo--a really curious condition I believed only happened to "old" people.A few folks in my family have had this condition, at one time or another.
It's extreme queasiness, nausea, dizziness--think spinning like you're a child, spinning like a top--but WITHOUT the fun, and you'll get the idea. My bed feels like a boat, such is the sea-sick feeling of trying to lie down to go to sleep.
Hope these episodes end soon, as I MISS MY TRAINING SESSIONS!!!As I mentioned, weeks ago,I am training for the Team-in-Training Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Half-Marathon(Thanksgiving Morning, here in Atlanta), but have missed my sessions, because of this debilitating Vertigo.(sigh)

Won't you please consider a donation to finding a cure for blood cancers? The research for blood cancers led to using chemotherapy(standard treatment now for ALL cancers) and to the use of bone-marrow in treating blood cancers....Blood cancer research is very important in the fight against HIV/AIDS, too.

YOUR DONATION IS ENTIRELY TAX-DEDUCTIBLE--AND IF YOUR COMPANY MATCHES DONATIONS, PLEASE DO INCLUDE THEM!!

Thank you for all your support!!
You can find my Team-in-Training Website at the following address:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntga/tntgaLAllend

and you may make an online donation, immediately!
Again, Thank You for all your support!