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On the Map: Provincetown Paradise with a Side Trip to Wellfleet
On the Map is a feature at LGBTSr.com offering travelogues and recommendations. Narration provided by Wondervox.
By Mark McNease
As we come to the end of another annual trip to Provincetown, I’m reminded why we value our visits here. Frank has had a timeshare for 35 years or so, at a place called Eastwood at Provincetown. It’s like a sprawling motel complex on the far east side of town, and has been very lesbian-centric for years. Plenty of gay men, too, but a lot of women come here. This time I noticed several children with their opposite-sex parents, and I found myself hoping it’s not losing its edge. We’ll see.
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The Weekly Readlines July 19
Quote for the times: “Too many people hate the people that AIDS most affects: gay people and people of color. I do not mean dislike, or feel uncomfortable with. I mean hate. Downright hate. Down and dirty hate.” – the late Larry Kramer, true as it ever was
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Actors joined writers on strike, when SAG-AFTRA walked out over stalled contract negotiations.
Republicans assured defeat of the must-pass Defense bill by stuffing it with anti-women, anti-LGBTQ amendments meant to thrill the base but cripple the military. We predict the extortion will fail.
And California voters will have the chance to right a wrong by repealing Prop 8, the state’s same-sex marriage ban, with a vote in 2024. Be careful what you wish for, they could keep it.
LGBTQ NEWS
Idaho ‘Abortion Travel Ban’ Challenged By LGBT Group
FISM TVWhat’s A Tea Dance? The Fascinating History Behind These Unique Parties
GayCities -
New Video Promo for ‘Open Secrets: A Maggie Dahl Mystery,’ Audiobook Out Now, Narrated by Daniela Acitelli
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The Return of the ‘6 Questions’ Interviews! Author Bruce W. Bishop
This interview is shared from LGBTSr.com.
By Mark McNease
Welcome back to the 6 Questions interviews! I’ll be asking 6 questions of a wide variety of interviewees, from authors and artists, to cheesemakers and podcasters. This week, we bring them back with a bang, interviewing author Bruce W. Bishop. I just finished the second book in his series, Uncommon Sons, and loved it. But I’ll let Bruce tell you all about the book and himself in his own words. – Mark
A little about you: Who, what, where? What was it like being a travel and guidebook author, then switching to novelist? Are you planning to do both?
I’m a Canadian writer from the east coast of the country who lives in the province of Nova Scotia. I was born and raised in a small town here, and after university, moved to the country’s biggest city, Toronto. I stayed there for 25 years and then returned to Nova Scotia.
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The Weekly Readlines July 12
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Well, that didn’t take long. A hair salon owner in Michigan declared she won’t serve portions of the LGBTQ community who use pronouns that freak her out. The chances she had any transgender clients before this? Zero.
Revelations about Clarence Thomas’s grifts just keep coming. Mo billionaires, mo problems, to paraphrase Biggy.
The super important GOP whistleblower guaranteed to bring down the Biden dynasty turns out to be a spy for China. Oops.
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Gardening for the Mind and Spirit
Shared from LGBTSr.com
By Mark McNease
One of the things I’ve been proudest of achieving since we moved to our little house in rural New Jersey six years ago is setting up our raised-bed garden. It felt almost like an artwork, but a living one. It’s getting a little worn-down now, but we have at least one more year of a bountiful tomato, squash, zucchini, and (this year) lettuce harvest. I may tear it down and start over next year … or not. I’ll let nature and my own ambition tell me what to do next spring.
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Fun New Video Promo for LGBTSr!
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So What’s All This About AI?
By Mark McNease
This seems like a good time to address our most recent bogeyman, or should I say bogeyrobot? AI (artificial intelligence) is all the rage these days, with a great deal of misunderstanding and fear around it. Like every new technology – and AI isn’t really new at all – it can be used for nefarious purposes, such as impersonating people, their voices and images in service to someone’s agenda, and it can be used for the good in innumerable ways.
When we ask Alexa or Siri or Google to research something, we are essentially using AI. The technologies in our cars are reliant on forms of AI. It is, frankly, already pervasive in our lives and has been for a long time, and it will only increase. Autocorrect. GPS. Word suggestions when we type. Algorithms everywhere. These are all forms of AI, and we’ve gotten used to them. We will get used to its other, newer, forms too. It’s all about adapting and, for me, embracing these new technologies.
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CSA, You Say? Healthy Summer Eating with Local Food Co-Ops
Shared from LGBTSr.com
We’ve belonged to a local CSA for several years now, and from late-May through October we enjoy a bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables we choose ourselves on bi-weekly trips to the location just across the river in Pennsylvania. The one we joined is called Tinicum CSA, and everything they offer is grown by the owners. The way our CSA works is that you can by shares – a small share or a big share – and when you go to pick them up you are allowed an assortment of vegetables based on which share you paid for. We get the big share … and it’s a lot! Today we brought home two kinds of cabbage, a bunch of turnips, green onions, chard, arugula, and lettuce. The types of vegetables available depend on what is coming to harvest at that time of year. Later in the summer there will be more tomatoes that you could eat, potatoes, beets, parsnips, okra, you name it. We get so much, in fact, that we give some away to our neighbors. (One of those neighbors trades us eggs from her truly free-range chickens, and when we buy them off-season we pay $3 a dozen! We love getting eggs from chickens whose lives are spent outside who are given love along with their chicken feed).
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2 Big Gay Book Reviews: The Celebrants, by Steven Rowley, and Big Gay Wedding, by Byron Lane
Shared from LGBTSr.comWhat better way to review two books by married writers Steven Rowley and Byron Lane than together? It’s the start of Pride month, so let’s check out these reviews from husbands Rowley and Lane. – Mark/Editor
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez
The Celebrants, by Steven Rowley
c.2023, Putnam $28.00 308 pagesEverybody will say nice things about you when you’re lying in a box in front of them.
They’ll say you were everyone’s friend, you were funny and wise, even when you weren’t. You were the greatest person ever, just the best – and don’t you wish they’d say those things now, while you’re alive to hear them? As in the new book “The Celebrants” by Steven Rowley, those sentiments might completely surprise you.
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On the Map: A Two-Day Getaway to Jim Thorpe (PA)
On the Map is a feature at LGBTSr highlighting travel and events of interest to readers.
By Mark McNease
It’s not surprising that so many people don’t know Jim Thorpe is a place. Named after the legendary Native American athlete, the town changed its name from Mauch Chunk when Thorpe’s widow agreed to have him re-buried here in exchange for the town being named after him.
This is our second trip here. We’d visited a couple years ago during the pandemic, and I wanted to come back when the weather was warm and things were normal – although we’ve learned that the old normal will never really return.
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Health Beat: How Can You Tell If It’s Arthritis?
Cross-posted from LGBTSr.com
By Mark McNease
I’ve had some steady pain in my right arm for a couple years now. At first I attributed it to repetitive motion at my grocery store job, which I just retired from. But the doctor told me two years ago, when I had to be off work for two weeks because I couldn’t lift my arm above my waist, that it was probably arthritis, or a combination of the two. So how do we tell if that persistent pain in a limb or joint is arthritis?
The Signs of Arthritis
If you are over the age of 40 and are starting to notice that your joints feel stiff or painful, there is a chance that you may be developing arthritis. It can be hard to tell if these symptoms are caused by the natural aging process or something more serious, but it’s always advisable to speak to your doctor as soon as possible if you experience any of the following early signs of arthritis:
Joint Pain and Stiffness: One of the most common early signs of arthritis is joint pain and stiffness. You may notice that certain areas, such as your hands or feet, begin to hurt when you move them in certain ways. This pain can also be accompanied by a feeling of tightness or stiffness in the affected area.
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Rick’s Latest Listicle: Mer-Facts About Mermaids and Mermen
By Rick Rose for LGBTSr.com
Co-Host of The Twist PodcastMy best friend Leanza Cornett created and performed as the first Little Mermaid at Disney World, FL before she was crowned Miss America 1993. Recently, the live action version of the movie was released with Melissa McCarthy brilliantly playing Urusla. So here are my top 6 interesting facts about mermaids and their male counterparts.
6) The tourism board in Kiryat Yam offered a million dollars for a photo of a real mermaid. Something strange began happening in this seaside town in Israel in 2009 when one person than dozens of others reported seeing the same astonishing sight: a mermaid frolicking in the waves near the shore. Still no million has been given away.
5) How did this funny talk of man/fish begin? Scientists think that human-sized ocean animals like manatees could be the foundation of the mermaid myth. Manatees are definitely strange and mysterious creatures, and they could easily be mistaken for mermaids by someone who doesn’t know what they are. Right?