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On the Map: Still Life with Lunch in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
By Mark McNease
We made another of our favorite getaway trips to Strasburg, PA, to visit friends. I’ve always told people we were going to Lancaster, but this was actually the first time we took a several-hour trip to that city just a short drive away. You can read about a previous trip HERE, complete with a slideshow, sites to see, and our recommendation for the wonderful Carriage House hotel. We always stay there, and it just seems to keep getting better. We book the large suite adjacent to the office, providing us a comfortable bedroom and a second room with a couch, second TV, and table perfect for my laptop.
This time we made sure to go to Lancaster proper, and I was nicely surprised. For some reason I’d always assumed it was a small-ish town like Strasburg, but it’s much bigger. It’s a historical city that has both a sense of history, and modernity, and an almost college-town vibe. I have to make special mention of the restaurant where we ate lunch, C’est La Vie. The food was outstanding, and our server, Ben, deserves stars of his own.
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The Weekly Readlines June 21 (Now Every Wednesday!)
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a Wednesday roundup of news you can use.
NEWS FLASH! I will now be providing The Weekly Readlines every Wednesday, and sending it to our email subscribers as a stand-alone supplement. All other content will arrive in their virtual mailboxes on Friday as usual. – Mark/the newsroom team
Quote for the Week: “Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Anonymous
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESIn a bit of good news amidst the onslaught of hate, a Federal judge permanently blocked Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
Hunter Biden reached a plea deal on tax-evasions charges and a gun violation, causing right-wing head explosions nationwide.
The most recent one-term president was raked over the coals in an interview with Bret Baier on Fox, essentially admitting to obstructing justice. But will he soon have a jumpsuit to match the spray tan?
LGBTQ NEWS’Just Us’ Documentary Explores The Lives Of LGBTQ People
Colorado Public RadioBuilding Support, Celebrating Contributions Are Key to LGBTQ+ Pharmacists
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The Twist Podcast #229: Back from Spring Break! Indictments, Rainbow Rage, And a New Guest Interview
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose, back in the booth after a short spring break. Listen in as we talk indictments, rainbow rage, the perils of Pride merch, ongoing heinous headlines, and an interview with Rev. Isaiah Shaneequa Brokenleg. Fasten your headphones!
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
If you enjoy what you find here, SUBSCRIBE for regular updates.
Copyright 2023 MadeMark Publishing
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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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The Weekly Readlines June 16
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a roundup of news you can use every Friday.
Quote for the Week: “Our thing is this: If you come into this house, love one another. If you’re an a–hole, there are plenty of other places on Lower Broadway to go.” Garth Brooks, on continuing to serve Bud Light at his Nashville bar BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESDozens of supporters showed up to protest the former president’s arraignment in Miami, in a show of force unequaled since Attila the Hun led his horsemen down the steppes.
A Starbucks union reported that Starbucks pulled its Pride merch nationwide, before a corporate denial the same day. Avoid the controversy, support your local coffee shops!
President Biden showed he had the spine lacking in corporate America to stand up for LGBTQ people by flying the Pride flag at the White House, much to the dismay of the rightwing hate machine.
And the great Glenda Jackson, whose breathtaking portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I on PBS so many years ago, has left this mortal coil.
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Mysteries Are Bursting Out All Over! The Great June Mystery Giveaway
Sometimes the best things in life really are free! Enjoy dozens of great mysteries by top-notch writers at this spectacular Book Funnel promo. My own ‘Open Secrets: A Maggie Dahl Mystery‘ is one of them. The promo runs from June 15 – July 15, so head over and start downloading! You’re guaranteed lots of sleepless nights.
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This Week’s Mark McNease On Topic (Substack)
Click to subscribe to Mark McNease On Topic, a Substack original arriving every Monday
Well, it finally happened. Donald Trump was indicted, and not the kind of ‘nothing’s going to come of this’ indictment many of us thought was handed down in New York. This is some Espionage Act, serious prison time stuff, and it has left me … ambivalent.
As much as I loathe Trump (almost as much as I loathe DeSantis, and that’s more loathing than I can fit into a thousand Substacks), the idea of a former American president sitting in a prison cell still manages to shock my sensibilities. I felt no sense of joy, no thrill of revenge, when it happened. I felt like we were finally coming to the end of a grotesque tragedy America wrote, produced, and starred in for its own entertainment. American exceptionalism is all the rage, and what could be more exceptional than a trial-by-jury of the most catastrophic head of state we have ever had?
The only enjoyment I’m getting from this is knowing how absolutely out of their minds it’s making the right-wing nut-o-sphere. Their cries of weaponized justice and the criminalization of political opponents rings more than hollow, coming from people who chanted “lock her up” at Trump rallies, and who are currently passing vicious, cruel, draconian laws in Republican-run states in a brutal but doomed attempt to eradicate trans and queer people.
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Cover Reveal for ‘I, Warlock’ (The Warlock Wars Book I)
Coming very soon … Frank is reading it now, and I have just about four chapters left to finish it. Julius Tide will wait an eternity if that’s what it takes. His beloved Charlotte was stolen form him by the evil sorcerer Jathan Rubel, and Julius’s only reason for living is to get revenge.
This is Book I in the three-book Warlock Wars series. Arriving later this summer.
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The Twist Podcast #228 Encore Replay: Show 216 with Guest Brad Shreve, Author and Podcaster Extraordinaire
The summer crush continues! Rick is on assignment for another two weeks, I just got back from a two-night gorgeous getaway in Jim Thorpe, PA (read all about it), and we’re just getting started! Enjoy this encore replay of show #216 from February, when we spoke to Brad Shreve, host of the Queer We Are Podcast, and author of the Mitch O’Reilly Mysteries.
Brad’s life has been a series of adjustments.
He was 35 and had a wife and daughter when he came out, forcing him to adapt from living a lie to being who he is overnight. Freeing, yet difficult.
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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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The Twist Podcast #227 Special Edition: 3 Great Interviews with Torrey McDowell, Brenda Yang, and Lisa B. Lewis
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we offer a special edition Twist, with three separate interviews of three incredible people. Enjoy interviews with singer and songwriter Torrey McDowell, Dane County (WI) Supervisor for District 9, Brenda Yang, and Founder And Executive Director of Omnium: A Bold New Circus, Lisa B. Lewis. Fasten your headphones!
About Torrey McDowell
Singer & SongwriterWhat began as a love of choir and music in her youth ultimately blossomed into a life’s passion for artist Torrey McDowell. After picking up a songwriting habit in the second grade, it made total sense that Torrey would later earn a vocal performance scholarship at Piedmont University. Beyond the walls of academia, the Georgia-native’s musical mission became focused on healing, growth, and empowerment.