Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
The Real Threat of Gay Marriage – Redux
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/04/2009 - 08:00Well, New Hampshire became the sixth state to allow gay people to marry and we are now starting to see the fallout from this. My socially conservative friends warned me about how this would lead to the destruction of marriage, and now we are seeing it, first with Sen. John Ensign from Nevada and next from Gov. Mark Sanford.
Yet this is only the beginning. Yesterday, I read on Facebook
Maura Keaney is smiling through happy tears after hearing from Andrew McDonald that he and Charles Gray were married today on the 15th anniversary of the day they met. So proud of my good Senator and dear friend for leading the fight for marriage equality in CT, and so joyful that Andrew and Charles are finally married!! Wishing them many more sets of 15 years together.
Is it any surprise that the same day it was announced that Sarah Palin is resigning as Governor of Alaska? The whole social conservative movement could collapse if people continue to publicly proclaim long term committed love for one another.
Rate on NewsTrust
#followfriday Part 2.
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 17:34@jillmz, @sheilamc7, @jcnork Since I just put up a #followfriday post earlier today, I’ll skip the explanation. Read that post of you wonder what this is all about.
@jillmz has been visiting Woodbridge and we’ve been talking about getting together for dinner, coffee, or something like that. Jill and I met online when I started blogging about the Doninger case. We found that we had a lot of common interests and ended up meeting on election night at NPR studios in Washington as we blogged the results. She writes a wonderful blog, Writes Like She Talks.
When things started firming up for the Greater Woodbridge, CT Independence Tweetup, I contacted @sheilamc7. @sheilamc7 is the chair of the Woodbridge Board of Education and secretary of the Woodbridge Democratic Town Committee. We’ve often shared discussions about politics, education and social media and I thought she and @jillmz would enjoy meeting one another.
The next person I contacted was @jcnork. @jcnork is from the neighboring town. His wife is a teacher and I’ve often discussed politics, education and social media with him. He attended the first Greater Woodbridge CT Tweetup and we often share information online.
It was great that everyone managed to take a little bit of time out of busy holiday schedules to gather and talk and I look forward to the next Greater Woodbridge CT Tweetup. If you wonder what a Tweetup is, get the book Twitter For Dummies
Civility 101 - Woodbridge Town Politics
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:24
Woodbridge – Wednesday afternoon a person from Beecher Road Elementary school called to let us know that there had been a power outage at the school and to ask if we could pick up our daughter early. Kim drove over to the school and picked up Fiona. On hearing that large parts of town were without electricity she decided it might be prudent to head up to her father’s house in Bethany where she could work online with less fear of losing power. This would also give Fiona a chance to see her grandparents and their dog.
A couple hours later, I headed over to the Woodbridge Town Hall to attend the swearing in ceremony of those elected in the May elections. I wasn’t sure if the power would be back on or if the rain would hold off.
Gerry Weiner officiated and visiting dignitaries were noted. State Rep. Themis Klarides, Dr. Guy Stella, the superintendent at Beecher Road and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano were all in attendance. Attorney General Dick Blumenthal and State Sen. Joe Crisco could not attend because of other business, but Attorney General Blumenthal sent a letter of congratulations.
Anyone who has been to any sort of political event in the past year in Woodbridge would have been acquainted with First Selectman Sheehy’s speech. He spoke of his accomplishments over the past term and his hopes for the coming term. Perhaps most importantly, he spoke about the importance of bringing civility to local politics in Woodbridge.
Afterwards, people from Woodbridge gathered for light refreshments and to congratulate the newly elected and newly appointed officials.
The power was back on in Woodbridge. The rain had held off. Perhaps most importantly civility has prevailed and provided a strong contrast to other political struggles in our state, country and world.
#FRFF – Amy Speace, Girlyman, and Eric Lowen
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 23:03This evening I discovered that Amy Speace will be playing at Café Nine in New Haven next Tuesday. Last year, she was one of the 2008 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists. I liked what I heard of her online before I went and then enjoyed her performance at Falcon Ridge. I wasn’t surprised when she ended up getting the most votes to be asked to return this year.
So, this got me looking at the list of performers for this year’s Falcon Ridge. The first name that jumped out at me was Girlyman. If I recall properly, Girlyman was Miranda’s favorite band for a while and we went to see Girlyman perform in Hartford. From there, I looked for one of Kim’s favorite bands, Lowen and Navarro. The performer’s list included Dan Navarro, but not Lowen and Navarro. I quickly went to the LowNav website.
A black and white picture is front and center. There is a crack in the middle of the road leading off to mist covered mountains. Next to that are the words, “El Fin Del Camino”.
It's been just over five years since Eric Lowen's diagnosis with ALS, and after 250 performances logged since that giant day, we now find our shows this weekend in Annapolis Fri June 5 and Alexandria VA Sat June 6 must be our last.
I sit in front of my computer, trying to find words for my reaction. If I had known that that would be their last performance, would I have tried to make it to Alexandria? Would it have been too difficult? I don’t know.
As I prepared to write this blog post, I thought I would check to see who this year’s emerging artists would be. Ron Olesko has the list up. Last year, I listened to most of the emerging artists before going to Falcon Ridge and writing my initial reactions. I figured I would try to do the same this year, if I can work it into my writing schedule.
The first artist on the list is A. J. Roach & His Strange Pilgrims. The site is in Drupal and has links to ten different social networks. I’ve followed him on Twitter, and became his fan on Facebook after listening to a few of his songs on sonicbids.
It is late now. I will find time to listen to more of the emerging artists later, but now I should head off to sleep.
Bernie and Me
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 09:21This morning, I turned off the radio’s morning news program as I drove my daughter to summer camp. I’ve heard enough about Bernie Madoff. It was time to talk with my daughter. Off to the left a man was mowing part of the town golf course. The town bought the golf course earlier this year when it went into bankruptcy and has been doing a great job of bringing it back to life. I, too, have suffered economic hardships over the past couple years, but today, the sun was shining and Fiona was ready for camp.
This year, Fiona is attending the Woodbridge Recreation Department’s summer camp. It takes place at the local elementary school. The little island at the beginning of the school’s driveway was festooned with beach balls and a man sitting in a beach chair waving at each incoming camper. Brightly colored traffic cones provided a path for me to follow to another traffic island where Fiona jumped out of the car and was met by a camp counselor. “What group are you in?” she asked.
Fiona promptly replied, “Pumpkins” and the counselor whisked Fiona off to her group as I drove back home. We are now living in a small rented house in Woodbridge. Life has been hard for me. Years ago, I worked full time on Wall Street and that took its toll. Later today, I will go to the doctor to make sure that the current batch of medications is keeping my blood pressure in check. I will get some writing done, a little bit of consulting, and I’ll look out my office window at the trees, the rock outcropping and the wind chimes. I’ll take a break to pick up Fiona from camp, and we’ll both do chores to keep our home life in order.
Perhaps I should be working harder to get back the large Wall Street salaries I had years ago. I could work long hours, be miserable all the time, but my daughters could do more than just go to a municipal summer camp. On the other hand, the specter of Bernie Madoff looms, reminding us all of many great lessons in life. So many people lost so much investing with Madoff. It is a reminder not to store up our treasure on earth where thieves break in and steal. Madoff himself is a reminder. Would he have run his great scheme if he had thought that it would end him up with 150 year prison sentence; forever staining his name? I suspect many people bend the rules as much as they think they can get away with in their lust for worldly goods.
Today, I watched my daughter gleefully go off to join her group at the town summer camp. I don’t have $2.5 million of ill earned wealth left over after a scandal the way Ruth Madoff does. She can keep her $2.5 million as she watches her husband head off to jail. I’ll be much happier skipping spending $2.50 for a fancy cup of coffee on my way home from seeing my daughter off to camp.
