Everyone has a family. Some of us are genetically linked to a group of people through our biological parents, thus giving rise to an arcane industry called ancestry. These are people we may or may not care about, let alone love.
We also surround ourselves with and immerse ourselves in communities of others with whom we feel some sort of affinity and identity with.
Either group of people can bring love and support to our lives; challenge us to support them; and as often as not, end up causing us grief as well as joy and happiness.
“Let’s go to lunch,” Tracy said, seeing how frustrated I was after discovering that I had miscalculated the distance needed to rough-in a door that I was helping her install in a newly framed wall. “Fine. How about chile rellenos?” “I know this restaurant,” she said, “but I don’t remember the name… down on…
Anyone who has lived or grown up on or near a farm in the midwest, will no doubt recognize one of these steel grain storage bins. They come in various sizes and are used to store grain destined for an area storage elevator or feed for livestock. We had several of these bins at…
I grew up in the small farming community of Colby, Kansas. Until I was 14 years of age, I lived with my father’s extended family on a wheat and hog farm a few miles north of town. There were so many Barnett families living within a half mile of each other that some people…
I found some old video recordings of the televised public hearings for Kansas City’s gay rights ordinance 20 years ago. Between the poor quality of the original VCR tapes and the transition to digital, they look even older than that. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dTZTuoWoQE&hl=en_US&fs=1&] You gotta’ love those glasses! City council committee hearings here are televised…
My artist brother Gordon helped me update my logo and avatar so it has a much more pleasing, stylized look for use online. The original tattoo can be seen in a previous post about how this particular icon, which I call “somos uno”, came into being. As much as I love the tattoo on…
I started this blog one year ago today. What a difference a year can make. After several years of self-imposed isolation–mostly due to the effects caused by being over-drugged by allopathic doctors–I started re-emerging as a participant in the world around me. Blogging was a part of that. I started blogging mostly for myself,…
Keep reading to find out why I just could not resist the headline. But first, there is a little discussion about AIDS vaccine research I need to get out of the way. I did a double take when I saw this report promising “further progress” in the search for an AIDS vaccine. Don’t worry,…
Michael and I have been together nearly 30 years. Most of those years we have had dogs. When our last dog died two years ago, we decided we needed a break from the responsibility and expense of pet ownership. I could tell Michael missed Lucy and Shadow and realized how much he had doted…
I just completed the third week of therapy for my left leg. A combination of compression therapy, using elastic bandages, and manual lymph drainage massage has produced some promising results. The swelling is gone, the infection has cleared and all the sores have healed… for the first time in years. I only wish now…
The HIV/AIDS story is being rewritten I’ve been anxiously waiting to see House of Numbers, the most talked about documentary dealing with AIDS this year. Now the film has been booked to show at the Kansas International Film Festival next month. To get an idea of the significance of the confusing and contradictory…
This site is no longer updated, but kept online for reference. You should not see this popup notice on future visits.
While much of the information on this site is no longer current, it represents almost a decade of my life. It was a period of considerable reflection and writing was my therapy.
I have moved on from that era and am now moving into what will undoubtedly be the last chapter of my life. My love for writing and telling stories-mine, as well as those of others-goes with me. Join me, if you will, at jondbarnett.com for the adventure.
