Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Life is in flux BIG TIME these days. I want to keep in touch with all of my peeps. The Internet is this beautiful thing. I can move to a brand new city and still stay in easy, near-daily contact with the people I love. When I feel connected to the people in my life that matter, I am unstoppable!

Peterson, Kitty, Lizzy-Poo, and More

By Abby at 11:54 am on Saturday, October 8, 2005

With less time to write, I have to cover more topics at once, and I’m not the most organized sort (I save all that for work), so bear with me.

  • Aaron and I got a chance to hang out with Peterson and his friend Ben last night. We met downtown and took a walk over to the North End, where we had a nice (albeit loud) dinner at Il Panino. I felt a bit guilty I’d chosen the place because the table next to us was SERIOUSLY loud. Ugh. I hate that. The food was good, and they made nice vegan treats for Peterson. He’s in town doing Queer 101, one of his one-man shows, for a local school. Peterson does the coolest thing. He’s an actor who spent 17 years of his life trying to not be gay, and then he came out. Now, he entertains and educates all over the world. He does pieces he write himself for all types of audiences, and then he often facilitates discussions afterwards. It’s such important work. He’ll be back for a performance of Doin’ Time at the Homo No Mo Halfway House on 10/25 at Northeastern. This is the piece I saw him perform in Memphis. It’s about his experience at Love in Action, the Memphis place (not a church or a mental health facility, but what is it?!) where he went to try to become straight. It’s a fascinating piece. I’ll make sure to plug it when the date approaches. Anyway, the Multicultural Educator in me just loved this show for so many reasons, and the theatre critic in me did, too. It’s soooo something you should see. (Read more about Love in Action if you’re interested.) Anyhoo, dinner was grand. Aaron got to talk about film with Ben, who actually runs a film festival – one I think that maybe my friend Poornima did once. And afterward, we went to Mike’s and got ice cream and sorbet and pastries. YUM!
  • The very sad news is that one of my parents cats, Kitty, seems to be dying. Mom is sad because Dad is soooo not a cat person, so she doesn’t really have anyone to commiserate with her. Kitty hasn’t eaten for 4 days. I suggested she give kitty some diluted wet food, and Mom just called and said Kitty took a few sip of some condensed milk, so that’s good news. Maybe it was just a really bad toothache, although Kitty is something like 18, so death is certainly an option. Makes me sad though. She’s always been a really strange cat, but I don’t care. I love her immensely.
  • Got a chance to talk to Elizabeth in Bloomington, which was really nice. I never call people. I don’t know why. I’ve just lost my interest in the phone over the last few busy years. It was great to hear her voice and to catch up with her. We may get to see her a bit in December, which would be grand.
  • It’s a very grey and windy day. We’re actually thinking of going downtown for a bit of shopping. Aaron says REI is having a sale.
Filed under: Boston,Friends,Kitties,Memphis,Stories From My Life,Zach/Love in Action/Refuge6 Comments »

Dad Loves Memphis Bloggers

By Abby at 8:36 pm on Saturday, September 24, 2005

Dad posts about his admiration for Memphis Bloggers regarding LIA/R. Check it out, y’all.
I love what’s been happening lately. Go QAC! Go EJ! Rawk!

Filed under: Memphis,Zach/Love in Action/RefugeComments Off on Dad Loves Memphis Bloggers

Zach Will Be Fine

By Abby at 10:11 pm on Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Zach is skirting the territory of accepting an invitation to go crazy, but he’s still doing pretty well considering. He’s online now, responding to the 500 comments he’s gotten on his first blog post since returning from LIA/R. I couldn’t even read it all. However he is feeling now will change, so I’m not one of the poeople who needs to hear him say LIA was bad or that he’s gay or whatever. I’m just glad that he sounds as feisty as ever and that he’s survived… alive and kicking. He will be just fine, I think.

Filed under: Ramblings/Brain Dumps/Opinions,Zach/Love in Action/Refuge1 Comment »

Zach Goes Home

By Abby at 1:36 pm on Wednesday, August 3, 2005

If you’ve been paying attention, you probably know that Zach has gone home, and he has posted on his blog again. I was impressed with his response. While amidst a sea of media attention, he said that he does not feel responsible to provide any answers to anyone. I think that’s as it should be. I’m not really concerned with his sexuality. That was never what this was about for me. It’s about allowing people to feel safe and supported while they are dealing with the harrowing identity issues of adolescence. Not just Zach, but anyone. LIA is violating the provisions set forth by my professional organization (APA), as well as many others. I hope people can give Zach some space. Some of the comments on his blog were really insensitive. I’m glad he seems to be coping so well.

The Queer Action Coalition said it best. Read their words.

Filed under: Memphis,Politics/Social Justice,Zach/Love in Action/Refuge3 Comments »

LIA/R Story in the New York Times

By Abby at 8:15 am on Saturday, July 16, 2005

Memphis Bloggers and the Queer Action Coalition (and my Dad!) ought to feel extremely proud of themselves. Zach’s story and the injustices at the Refuge and Love in Action are in the New York Times today:

Gay Teenager Stirs a Storm

BugMeNot gave me "curiousgeorge4" as a username and "opensesame" as a password to get in.

A few other articles:

Filed under: Dad's Wisdom,Memphis,Politics/Social Justice,Uncategorized,Zach/Love in Action/RefugeComments Off on LIA/R Story in the New York Times
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