The Air in Me...Meets Mr, Matsurra and his friends

The Air in Me,

Mr. Matsuura and his friends come to Portland.  

On September 13 I took part in a conversation with a group of friends from Sage Gay & Grey that got together at Friendly House in Portland, Oregon. That meeting, for me, was one of the most exciting things to happen in my life in a long, long time.

From left to right…

Front: Ms. Masae Ido, Independent Literary Agent (former member of the House Counselors, the national Diet of Japan),  Ms. Haru Ono (Founder/Director, Rainbow Families Organization), Jo Hamilton, Sharon Messerschmidt, Mr. Daigo Matsuura (Director, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) First Chapter of Akita Prefecture District of the House of Councilors)

Back: Glen Ulmer, Peg Hackenbruck, Mya Chamberlin, Mr. Gon Matsunaka (Founder and Representative, Good Aging Yells)

We met in a rather large space that could have fit far more than the small group that gathered for that two hour meeting.

That's me, shaking hands with Mr, Matsuura

There we were meeting with a group of Japanese citizens from their LGBT communities, touring the United States as guests of the U.S. State Department. Their mission was to discover what was happening in America to advance the cause of the LGBT community.

Mr. Matsuura and his friends came to Portland, Oregon to specifically see what life was like for aging Gays and Lesbians. Sage Gay and Grey, a part of Friendly House,  was chosen because of its active and vital Elder Gay community outreach.

Members of our group shared their experiences in coming out for the first time, what it was like to secure safe and affordable housing, quality healthcare and lasting relationships. Some of the testimony from our group brought tears to everyone, including our guests.

Peg Hackenbruck sharing her experiences with Miss Ono, through a translator..

We were allowed to ask questions of our guests about life in Japan for members of the LGBT community and one thing that became quite clear was that in many respects, Japan lags behind the U.S. in how gays and lesbians are treated and playing a larger role in those attitudes are cultural differences that exist in Japan that young gays and lesbians in America will never have to face.

There were two things that I was left with. The first is that even though the LGBT community in America has made great progress in addressing and advancing equality issues in America, we still have a long way to go. The other thought I was left with was the ongoing struggle our Japanese friends have in the years ahead.

Having an opportunity to be in the room, make new friends and talk about common interests was a joy that I will not soon forget.

My new book is out and thanks to you it is starting to find room in your library. To find out more about my book The Air In Me, just follow the link below.

 https://www.createspace.com/4388287

In my next blog I’ll introduce you to one of my favorite independent writers in America.

Thank you, as always for reading The Air in Me.

Dan

The Air in Me...Has Arrived

The Air in Me … Has Arrived

 

I am pleased to announce that my second book is now available and I’m about as giddy as an old gay guy could get. How giddy is that? Well imagine how it would be to get a phone call from Johnny Mathis wanting to take me out on a date…that kinda giddy.

Yes The Air in Me is now available in this cute little paperback, now look to the left and you’ll see my book. The Air in Me is a collection of prose and poetry that I’ve written over the last five years and is now available for world-wide distribution.

The Air In Me can be found on Amazon.com and you can access the book by clicking on the link…go ahead, don’t be scared, while you’re there admiring the fine cover provided by Suzanne Deakins, the publisher of One Spirit Press, you can order the book and it will be gracing your bookshelf in no time at all.  https://www.createspace.com/4388287

 Now for a little excitement from the home front:

Well to be perfectly honest the last few weeks have been totally chaotic. It all began when my PC decided to have ‘issues’ if you know what I mean. The experts are saying two things. The first thing they say is; ‘I’ve never seen a problem like that’ then they want to know exactly what I was doing when the alleged problem occurred…well I didn’t spend much time talking to those guys, and then the other guys say; ‘we can fix anything’ we’ll just need your left lung to get started…then there’s the blokes that want to take my money and repair my beloved computer from the confines of some secure place in God knows where? I had a chat with one of these guys as he diagnosed the problem by accessing my laptop and all the time sending IM’s to assure me that indeed my PC was in dire need of repair and he could fix it “NOW” for more bucks than I could come up with so I said a definite “NO” but every time I said “NO” he lowered his price, I lost total faith in the guy.

As it turns out I’m going to have this old guy who lives just down the hall...make no difference that he's pushing 90 I'm gonna let him use his voodoo…he uses a divining rod and touches it in various places along its black and chrome case. Every time the rod drops on a spot, he rubs his chin, pulls out his notepad, scribbles something then breaks out into a chant of a few words in some unknown tongue and then walks around in circles for twenty minutes, beats his drums and then says, “OK kid, hang on this is going to be a bumpy ride.” Of course I’m only kidding, well sort of. Anyway he’s assuring me he can get my computer up and running, I just need to be patient.

In the meantime I have my laptop computer which is OK, but my fat clumsy fingers have a hard time navigating the keyboard, but at the end of the day my blog will live to face another day. Well that’s about all the air I have left in The Air in Me for one day.

Thanks to Suzanne Deakins from One Spirit Press for putting up with my antics.

As always thanks for reading and you’ll notice I’ve left the link to my new book in case you missed the first…Hey, I’ve got to go; I think Johnny Mathis is calling.


To order The Air in Me just click on the following link, thanks in advance. https://www.createspace.com/4388287

 

 

Dan