Derek Does Austin

Can the heat get any more hellish? If I didn't live in a place that allowed me to walk 14 steps out of my front door and then fall face first into a beautiful, cool swimming pool, I think I would move. And OMG how I have used the pool recently! My friends and myself are all about impromptu swim parties at the drop of a hat. Bring some liquor and sun block and we can get the party started! I've spent more time this summer poolside than I usually do because the heat has been so ridiculously thermal. I CANT WAIT for winter. I miss my clothes!

I think I'll go to Austin this upcoming weekend. It's Pride in Houston so any excuse I can use to get the hell out of dodge will be good enough when invited to the various Pride parties. I am SO OVER stupid ass parades that set us back 20 years each time they get media coverage. Everyone already knows that the 'broken' gays can drink a lot of booze and dress half naked while teetering on the edge of a phallic shaped parade float. I'll stick to the more mature HRC events and fundraisers for important community empowerment issues sans the spandex glitter shorts and feathery angel wings.

Content

Shit. It's been weeks since I have blogged. Forgive me father for I have sinned.

Life is insanely busy. Work is both ridiculous and fulfilling at the very same time. The Great Texas State Migration is still in full swing and Zack pretty much considers himself as keeping homes in Austin and Houston. He's cosmopolitan chic like that. Meanwhile, nothing has changed. I am content and happy.

Time To Act!

I landed back in Houston a couple of hours ago and my trip has been fantastic. I hope to blog more about my vacation in Israel but I have something a little more exciting to blab about for a few minutes.

This Tuesday at 10am - West Coast Time - The California Supreme Court is set to issue its opinion ruling on Prop 8. THIS! IS! HUGE! A victory in California will be a positive shot in the arm for human rights everywhere. It's true in this case that 'As goes California, so goes the nation.'

A bad ruling by the courts will, in turn, be a monumental setback for equality nationwide. While it will never "end" things for this civil rights movement, it will set us back greatly. Plain and simple, we need a victory in California and we need it this Tuesday.

If you do anything this weekend - engage everyone you meet with this important conversation. and educate them about these matters. Step out on a limb and find an evangelical, a Mormon, or any opponent of human rights for gay and lesbian Americans, and engage them in a civil discussion. PUT A FACE TO THIS MESSAGE! And just when you think they are totally tired of hearing about it, go to them again and reengage them.

In the words of any true Texan, "Wear'm out!"

If you feel like giving money to the HRC - DO IT!

If you feel like volunteering your time in the gay and lesbian community - DO IT!

Gays, lesbians, and our straight allies - Make! A! Difference!

Israel

Just a quick update. . .

*Things are fantastic and I have spent more time shopping than normal...if that is at all possible, and I have come to believe that it is. I have no idea how I am going to pack all this crap on the plane. I'll probably discard older stuff in place of the new clothes. Do they have Goodwill in Israel? This problem ALWAYS happens when I travel somewhere with my mother.

*We have been in Tel Aviv the entire time. It is BY FAR my favorite city outside of the USA. I totally dig the vibe of live and let live and I've always said that I could easily live here. It's still true. I also love that it's Sodom-by-the-sea. : ) I've spent a lot of time on the beach so I am tanned (naturally). A great deal could be said about the fantastic food and nightclubs, but because of the hedonistic excess with both, I'll skip the naughty details. : )

*We'll be heading to Jerusalem in the morning. We'll be staying there for the remainder of our vacation. From past trips to Israel, I fully recognize that Jerusalem is NOT Sodom-by-the-sea, or hill, or. . . anything for that matter. I'm still happy to include it in our trip. It's historic and important to the Jewish people and I'm not averse to the religious aspect that Jerusalem brings to the trip. I'm almost looking forward the Kotel since it's been years and years since I have paid a visit.

*I'll blog more...maybe. LOL.

P.S. - I MISS YOU, ZACK! : )

I attended a fantastic party a Henderson & Jeff's Casa yesterday and had a total blast. Henderson (Hend) is one of my old friends - from college and before - that I don't think I've mentioned in this blog just yet. Jeff is his cool ass partner that thinks he can dance better than me. Whatever! They threw one of their fabulous outdoor soiree's that they are famous the world over for throwing. Anytime they organize an event, they sink a small fortune into it so it always ends up totally over the top. Once again, they didn't disappoint. I won't share much about the festivities because the deets are possibly professionally problematic for many of us and in this poor job market, it just isn't worth it. We dined and danced and imbibed small amounts of alcohol. There. That's it. (PS - most of what you just read is a lie.)

Zack was in all last week which is pretty much our life story at this point. Some people have torrid love affairs that consist of weekend getaways while we settle in for sometimes mundane quasi-married life that keeps us together on the weekdays and separated on the weekends. But at least if asked I can truly say that we are ridiculously happy and I just don't know that many 7-day-a-week couples that can say the same thing. At this point, we keep a house in both Austin and Houston. In the future divorce, I'll get it all, as well as full time custody of our two adopted children. He will be entitled to Cha Cha, our *ahem*...HIS teacup Yorkie.

We still haven't heard much about his job transfer to Houston. Some things are going on with my own job that just may throw a few big changes in the mix so we are waiting that out at this point. Hopefully we'll get some direction on that soon.

I suppose I am still neglecting my blog but work/Zack is taking up so much of my week. I will either blog more often or I won't. We'll see. LOL.

Israel & Bali

Unless Israel attacks Iran and unleashes the furies of WWIII, I'll be in Tel Aviv in a month. It has been several years since I visited the land of Israel and even longer since I took a trip with my family (hurricane evacuations aside.) I decided to make the trip after a little prodding from my brother who will be getting married in July and wants to spend the last fleeting weeks of freedom with his family. One last time for old time sake.

Zack was going to go, and then he wasn't, but then he was again. Now he isn't. He'll be trading in a visit to Israel for a trip to Islamo-controlled Indonesia (Bali) in June. I hardly blame him though. I'd be trading in the same trip, too, if it wasn't for the sad fact that I am a little too pretty to travel to any locale without 5 star accommodations. While I'm sure Bali will be beautiful and grand, (in an Eco-touristy sort of way) the possibility of contracting a water borne illness that was eradicated in the civilized world more than a century ago sort of dampens the trip for me. If the "hotel" literature touts "new mosquito nets," then you can count me out.

The Secret

I need to rededicate myself to serious blogging. And when I say serious blogging I mean less about changing the outcome of the world and it's inhabitants by passing along earth shattering perspectives that will change the tune of public discourse, and more about blogging ridiculous stories about my quirky life and the amazing group of people that fill it.

It's not that I haven't had a million things to say - I have. As a matter of fact, since I first started this blog (in it's previous form while in Austin), I've typed hundreds of things that I never plan to publish or open to the public. Secret things - detailed things. Dirrrrty things. Okay...not so much dirty.

Anyway.

One day when I become famous for being so amazingly wonderful and married to Anderson Cooper, the unpublished writings chronicling even the most intimate details and thoughts about my daily life will become a scandalous discovery of biblical proportions. You're gonna want to stay tuned.