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Good evening, folks,
I just got home and checked the mail and found out that Citibank is raising the interest rate on my credit card (which I have NEVER been late on, and as a matter of fact have a balance about half of my limit) from a fixed rate of 9.99% to an APR of 29.99%. That's an increase of 20%. TWENTY PERCENT. Their explanation is that to continue to prove customers with access to credit, they have to adjust their pricing. 20% is, in my opinion, usurious charges. I closed my account to lock in the current rate that I have so I can pay it off. Oh, get this, they have a program that let's me get a credit for 10% of that interest if I make my minimum payment on time. Even taking into account that lovely little program, it's still a raise of TEN PERCENT.
I was told to have a happy holiday season.
Citibank can kiss my ass this holiday season.
Travis |
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Hiya, folks,
Well, Maine voters decided that gays shouldn't get civilly-married yesterday.
I don't know what horrifies me more ... that we lost another state, or that I basically just shrugged, and figured that's the way it's going to be all over the U.S. so I might as well get used to it.
Joemygod.blogspot.com linked to some craiglist discussions in Maine the day before the election, and I was a little floored at the vitriol spewed forth by the yes on Question 1 people. Apparently, all gays are "radical homosexual activists" and "selfish" and want everything handed to us. And that's the nice stuff. The not nice stuff isn't fit to re-print.
I was just reminded how much we are hated. And that makes me sad and pessimistic.
Travis
Travis |
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Huh?
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Nov. 2nd, 2009 @ 01:14 pm
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Afternoon, folks,
I called my health insurance company this morning to see if I could expedite the processing of a claim from my doctor because the insurance company has a hard time understanding that just because I upgraded my plan, that doesn't mean I wasn't insured by them last year; therefore, the "are you sure this wasn't a pre-existing condition" question is invalid.
Anywhosy. Every time I call them, they ask me about 10 questions. What's your name, your birthday, your address, are you insured with another company, etc.
This time they asked me if I wanted to do a language preference survey, which would apparently only take 4-5 seconds. Sure, why not. After all, I don't want to have to try to translate their already incromprehensible menu options from Swedish to English if they don't get my preference correct. The first question was, "what language do you prefer." "English," I replied helpfully. The second question was "what ethnicity are you?" "American." "I'm sorry, sir, that's not an option. White, caucasion, etc." I then told him, rather tartly, "I'm not answering that question because it really is none of you or your company's business." He said that he'd make a note of it on their files so they didn't ask me again.
My question is what the hell would they need to ask that question for? Is my answer going to change my coverage, or how they treat my claims or how they talk to me on the phone?
What do you all think? Was I out of line in refusing to answer?
Travis |
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Good afternoon, gentle readers,
As most of you know, Xie's mom, Kathleen, passed away. I find myself very sad about it. For Xie, because I know how much she loved her mother and how much she will miss her. But I'm also sad for myself.
I've known Xie's mom for as long as I've known Xie. 12 years now? Somewhere around there. Almost every time I'd see Xie, I'd see Kathleen. She was a lovely lady with a sparkle in her eye and a quick laugh that I've always associated with the Irish. She always had a smile and a great big hug for me. She's one of those people who seems to listen when in a conversation, and to care about what one says. She loved her dogs as much as Xie did, and I was privileged to be able to go on many walks with her and the dogs on the occasions I got to visit.
I must admit that I was always a bit jealous of the caring relationship Xie and Kathleen had. Now, I'm no fool, and I know they had their squabbles and differences on occasion. But they always seemed to be there for each other, and able to count on each other. A real blessing.
I once remarked to Xie that Kathleen was the only straight person I'd consider taking on a gay cruise because I was absolutely sure we'd have a BLAST!!
After hearing that she was sick and very close to the end, I had a dream, as I often do, given the medications I have to take. I woke in tears, and thinking that in my heart of hearts, I thought of her as "San Franciscan Royalty." Now, that didn't make sense at the time, but as I thought about it, it does. She and her family are native San Franciscans, and although I don't live in that end of the state, I always sort of look up to them as my link to San Francisco's (and therefor California's) old-guard. As far as the royalty part goes, one only needed to have spoken with Kathleen about her city to get how much a part of it she was, and how much a part of her it was.
Most of all, her passing, while sad, has given me yet another occasion to remember how much I truly love her daughter, and how grateful I am that she is my friend. One of my best friends. A special woman and friend that I look up to and honor every day. I hope she knows that.
Rest in Peace, Kathleen, you will be missed more than you know, and thank you for being a part of my life.
Travis |
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Afternoon, gentle readers,
I had an echocardiogram of and a stress test on my heart done this morning.
( Read more. ) |
| » Fall of Paul |
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Anybody recognize the judge? ;)
Travis
Aug. 26th, 2009 @ 08:49 am
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| » Did he just call me old? |
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Morning, gentle readers,
Oh no, he didn't!!
From the review of Snoopy, the Musical by Backstage West.
"Travis Terry seems a bit long in the tooth to be playing Charlie Brown, but after the initial impression, he nimbly captures the key elements of the fatalistic but resilient Charlie."
Travis
Aug. 21st, 2009 @ 06:44 am
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| » Monday ... |
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Morning, gentle readers,
I haven't journalled in a long time, mostly because I've been extremely busy, but also because I had gotten to the place where I'm a bit afraid of? wary of? uneasy with? sharing the stuff inside of me or letting it out of my head to other people. I'm not sure why though.
This is probably fatigue talking, but I'm a bit disturbed. It's Monday morning, and I feel like my nervous system is extremely touchy. Sounds annoy me. The clicking of my co-worker's sandals makes me insane. Her shoes have no backs, so it's click, click, click, click, every time she gets up from her desk. Also, I seem to be making more errors than usual. The last month's billing statements at work have many more errors than I'm used to making. Simple, stupid things. Things that show I'm not paying attention to detail as I should. I seem to get more and more annoyed with people standing too close to me, especially my bosses.
It also seems like it's harder for people to understand what I'm saying. This has been going on for a while. The problem is I think the words are all coming out in the correct order and are perfectly sensible, but I get a lot of "what?" or "huh?" or questions being asked about what I just said. I'm constantly thinking, "didn't I just say that?" after somebody asks for clarification. And it's beginning to scare me. I worry that my mind is going, and my ability to speak is lessening. I'm also finding that retaining stuff is more difficult. During the rehearsals for Snoopy, I constantly had to revisit material that had already been covered because I couldn't remember all the details. Now, granted, this had more to do with choreography and harmonies, both of which are not as ingrained in me as text memorization is, but it's still distressing. We've had two shows already, and I've made errors in singing and dancing that shouldn't have been made. Thank goodness for a talented ensemble that has managed to save my ass when necessary. The audience doesn't seem to notice, or has at least been kind enough not to mention it, but it sort of sticks in my craw.
Now, having said all that, I am doing my best these days to not go down the dark pathways in my brain. I think for a long time I was so intent on feeling what I was feeling honestly that if ever a dark or punishing thought or feeling came to me, I'd wallow in it for a while. Recently, I realized that I don't have to follow those thoughts or impulses. I can just not go to the "you really are a horrible person" pathway. Although there is part of me that worries that this is just avoidance, it seems to be working to keep me from the worst of the downward spirals.
On a different subject, I had an e-mail exchange with my mother this weekend. She sent me one of those right-wing propaganda-ish chain e-mails, which I HATE getting and which I've asked her not to send to me. When I received it, rather than just deleting, I wrote back "what a load of crap." She responded with, "I know we have our differences of opinions, but I hope you respect mine." I responded with, "I do respect your opinion, but that wasn't your opinion, that was somebody else's opinion. If you want to talk about politics, great, let's talk about politics, you and me, with our own words and ideas without the chain e-mails."
The thing I hate about talking about politics is that nobody ever changes anybody's minds. Nobody of opposite viewpoints, actually seems to listen to the other's viewpoint and nobody changes. The continual us vs. them mentality seems to perpetuate and widen the divide between people. For instance, I believe that I should absolutely have the right to marry a member of my own gender. Evangelical christians believe that being gay is a sin and that if I'm allowed to marry, their religious freedoms are being trampled on. How do we get past that? All that difference of opinion (and what an understatment) does is drive the wedge between us deeper and deeper until I don't want to even talk to anybody who identifies more than in just a passing way with being christian, and christians can barely talk to me without either the full-blown presence of their disgust or pity towards me.
It's a conundrum, and I get upset about the whole thing, which is why I try not to talk about politics and religion at all, especially with family or people that have opposing viewpoints. It's not worth not being able to sleep every night. Other friends of mine can seem to talk, yell, scream, argue and then sleep just fine. I just tend to obsess over it, and I hate obsessing over things.
****
Well, stepped away for a bit to get some actual work *gasp* done, and had a snapple. Feeling a bit more awake and less touchy. :)
One more thing before I sign off. I've been easily startled lately. Like I'm afraid somebody is going to come after me physically, or like somebody is going to take something away from me, and I have NO idea what the hell it is about.
I'm sure more will be revealed in time. :)
One thing that my mother said to me in our flurry of e-mails to each other this weekend that I've been mulling over was her staunch declaration that she earnestly PRAYS for our soldiers and our country, and I couldn't help but wonder that maybe the world situation will start to change when stalwart, faithful people of faith such as my mother start praying for the world, rather than just their country. Because when it is always us vs. them, the same old patterns get repeated over and over and over and over again.
It's just a thought.
Smooches,
Travis
Jul. 27th, 2009 @ 12:33 pm
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| » Help Lt. Dan Choi regain his job. |
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Hiya, folks,
In case you don't know, a man by the name of Lt. Dan Choi was just recently fired from his position as a linguist with the Army for being gay. He's fighting it, and could use your help.
Please go to this website and sign their online petition so he can deliver all of our signatures to Speaker Pelosi.
http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/RepealDADT
With dignity and love,
Travis
Jul. 1st, 2009 @ 02:50 pm
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| » #iranelection |
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Check out this photo montage.
Sobering and moving.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhashemi/sets/72157619758530748/show/
Travis
Jun. 17th, 2009 @ 02:02 pm
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| » Update ... good stuff!! |
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Hiya, gentle readers,
It's been a while since I've posted, and I've got some great stuff. :)
1. I am officially a homeowner. Escrow closed on "la casa de Travis and his cats" last Friday. My hands shook and I could barely talk in cohesive sentences while signing loan documents, but it's all done. I have the keys and everything. :)
2. The cats are safely esconced in the new place, although Phred tried to kill me during the move, and he almost is too heavy to carry. I really have to figure out how to get him to lose some weight without the other two cats getting frighteningly thin.
2. Last night, I did the final walk-through with the landlord of my old place. After 17 years between my ex-wife and I, the place is finally back in the hands of the landlord. I've spent at least 12 of those years worrying about how that particular meeting would go because let's face it, the house isn't in the best of shape, even though I did make many repairs myself over the years. I've carried a lot of shame and guilt over that, so transferred much of that onto this final walk-through. As life would have it, the meeting was uneventful and the landlord was very nice and friendly and didn't complain about anything. When I left I thought, "that was anticlimactic AND a waste of 12 years of worry."
3. I had a great audition for the part of Charlie Brown in Snoopy the Musical. It's my first singing audition in probably a decade, and I did really, really well.
4. P.S. -- I found out Saturday that I'll be playing Charlie Brown in said musical. It's the first time I've been in a musical theater show and have my own song since I was in high school. Wahoo!!! I rock!!!
5. I sang at my friend Louahn's piano party for her piano and vocal students on Sunday. I sang "What More Can I Say" from Falsettos. I got a tad bit scared when I saw how many children were there, and more specifically their parents, some of which I was told were very conservative. The song is a gay song, and I was going to talk a bit about gay pride which was coincidently the same day here in Los Angeles. Seeing all the kids (and their parents) though, I changed my mind and just basically sang the song, and let it speak for itself. I don't know why. Perhaps it would have been more politically correct and helpful to chat about it a bit. I guess inate fear of conflict stepped in. The next day, Louahn said that the most straight laced and serious of her kids said that my song was his favorite, and that he wants to learn how to play it on the piano. She wonders if he is questioning his sexuality. I felt really good when I heard that. If he is, maybe I helped to let him know he's not alone.
Anywhosy, I've got a pile of filing on my desk about a foot high. Gotta get back to it.
Take care.
Travis
Jun. 16th, 2009 @ 11:18 am
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| » Happy birthday to Red! |
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The happiest of birthdays to
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) vlredreign
We'll find somebody suitable to spank you later. ;)
Travis
Jun. 8th, 2009 @ 10:15 am
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| » Open Letter to President Obama |
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May 29, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Re: Marriage and Civil Equality
President Obama,
I am writing to express to you my strong personal support for marriage equality and civil right for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered minorities in this country, and how very important it is to me and others like me to put our national attention on these important issues.
First of all, I hope that you and your family are doing well adjusting to your new household and duties in Washington, D.C. I doubt that you’ll actually have the time to read this letter yourself, and that is understandable, given the magnitude of your job. However, I hope that whichever of your staff members gets to read this will pass some of this information along to you, as I truly feel it is important.
You don’t know me, Mr. President. I am neither rich nor powerful nor do we run in the same circles. By way of introduction, I’ll say that I’m a fairly ordinary man living life and following my dreams in the big city of Los Angeles.
As a teenager, I discovered that I was gay. It was quite the shock for me at first, and eventually for my family when I told them at the age of 19. I always figured that although I was romantically interested in members of the same gender, I would follow the same general life paths as my brothers and sister. You’re familiar with those paths, I’m sure: spouse, career, house ownership, joint checking account, worrying about the bills, a pet or three, the difficult choice of whether to have kids or not, how to take care of my parents as they get older, and making my difference in the world. The list goes on.
The paths you may not be as familiar with are those that I didn’t share with my siblings. Learning how to be truthful with my friends, family and the world about being different from the rest of them tops the list. It was a difficult and liberating journey. Learning how to live in the sunlight, rather than in the darkness of secrets, fears and despair took a long time. I dealt with an HIV diagnosis in my early 20's, a subsequent drug addiction and recovery. I’ve not only lived with these issues over the past 20 years but managed to thrive. I tell you these things not for you to feel sorry for me, but to help you understand both the differences and similarities of our lives.
Through all of this, Mr. President, I always hoped and dreamed that I would find the man that could share my heart and my home. I’ll tell you a bit of a secret. I haven’t been that successful in finding him yet. But I keep the hope and dream alive because I’m stubborn enough to believe that if things like HIV and drug addiction can’t kill me or my joy for life, then finding the man of my dreams is possible, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to give up on that part of a nurturing and vibrant life.
After the recent California Supreme Court decision came down regarding Prop 8, I realized that I had certain assumptions about being an American. The first assumption being that as an American, my fellow citizens considered my constitutional rights and freedoms to mean as much as their own. The passage of Proposition 8 was the latest and loudest of proofs that I was wrong. I also assumed that the American system of checks and balances would be sure that I would not be deprived of those rights. I was quite shocked to find out that even those learned judges assumed differently.
Marriage is a pretty fundamental issue to me. Humans are social animals, and I am no different. The freedom to pair up with another person in love and support in order to face the slings and arrows that the world throws at us is pretty important. When our fundamental relationships are denied, spit upon and preached against by not only the churches, but people at the voting booths, and politicians in office, life becomes much more difficult and hateful than it needs to be. Listening to the constant hatred that is preached and aimed at me and those like me is wearing at best, and life depriving at worst, and I can’t help but wonder how many lives would be saved or able to find more of their potential if we didn’t have to worry about fighting for our right to love and our fundament rights enjoyed by the rest of our society.
Mr. President, I live and work and love in this great country and world we live in, just like my straight brothers and sisters. I need the same rights and protections as they do. It’s not about mere want or desire, it’s about need and fairness.
When you were elected, you were elected as the hope of a country who had lost that hope. I’m grateful to have had that hope rekindled. I still hope. Can you help us so my right to a loving relationship and that relationship itself can be recognized and supported by the government which is made by the people and for the people ... people like me.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Travis Terry
May. 29th, 2009 @ 04:23 pm
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| » No H8 |
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May. 27th, 2009 @ 09:33 am
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| » Proud to be Gay |
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Hiya, gentle readers,
I ganked this from joe.my.god.
Travis
May. 17th, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
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| » Finally ... |
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Hiya, gentle readers,
The offer I put in on the townhouse I wanted has gone through, and escrow is opening today.
I'm so grateful and excited ... now just gotta get through escrow.
Travis
Apr. 16th, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
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| » A bit .... |
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Morning, gentle readers,
I'm a bit stressed.
It's hell week, and I have three more rehearsals 'til Fuente Ovejuna opens. It's going to be a great show, but I went up so badly on my lines last night, I had to be fed a line by the director sitting in the house. Haven't done that in years. Hate that.
I'm a bit stressed.
It's been 4 weeks since I put the offer in on a townouse, and I'm still waiting to hear on whether they have accepted it or not. Apparently, short sales and REO's are not the way to go if you actually want to buy a house. They are, however, the way to go if you want to wait and wonder if you're going to buy a house. Have I mentioned I hate waiting and wondering?
I'm a bit stressed.
The job is a bit overwhelming at the moment, for reasons I won't go into.
All of this has made me a bit jumpy, impatient and snappy with fellow co-workers today.
I'm a bit tired.
See above reference to hell week.
So, I'm hereby acknowledging that I'm not playing with a full deck of cards today, and that I'm going to be conscious of that, and do my damndest to not take it out on anybody else.
Pray for me.
Travis
Apr. 14th, 2009 @ 10:28 am
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| » So, I just love these things |
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Hiya, gentle readers,
I just love watching these types of things. Maybe it's because I'd like to believe that we live in a world where an entire train station could simultaneously break into dance and song.
Travis
Apr. 2nd, 2009 @ 04:41 pm
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| » Funniest damned thing I've ever seen |
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Gentle readers,
This had me laughing so hard, I was sobbing with tears running down my face.
Travis
Mar. 31st, 2009 @ 03:31 pm
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| » I am man, hear me roar |
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Good morning, gentle readers,
For a long time I've had problems with my kitchen faucet. It leaks, and then it stops leaking, and then it pours. It eventually gets to the point where I call the landlord, and maybe, if I'm lucky, manage to get him out to fix it. It seems to always coincide with weather changes, and I have no idea why, anymore than I have any idea why the lock on my front door knob stops catching in the spring and fall, but is fine in the winter and summer.
Anyway, two days ago the hot water side of the faucet started leaking, and very soon started pouring so badly that I had to turn the water to the house off to stop it or I was going to get a friendly visit from Noah and his collection of heterosexual animal pairings in their new, state of the art, cruise ship.
So yesterday, I gritted my teeth, called the landlord and left a message, letting him know about the issue. You see, I was secretly hoping to schedule his plumber type person to come out early this morning to fix it. Because yes, indeed, I do work for a living between the hours of 9 and 5 and waiting for said plumber-type person for the entire day is difficult, at best, especially if landlord wants to receive monthly rental payment.
Please note that said landlord still has not returned my telephone call.
This morning I turned the water back on, and started doing dishes, making sure to carefully watch the level of water in the sink to make sure nothing overflows. Because remember the faucet can't be turned off. After a close call, I finally said, "screw this! I don't care if I have to call in late to work, I'm going to get this frickin' faucet fixed." Even though I've never actually seen the inside of a faucet. In my defense working faucets are rarely used on the sets of theater stages, although I did see one in a production of Macbeth on Broadway. I digress.
Hmmm, how do I do this? Aha! That's why the Goddess made the internet! Now, you might argue that She made the internet for porn. I concede that information about how to fix a leaky faucet might hvae just been a secondary benefit to the whole internet phenomenon.
I googled "how to fix a leaky faucet," and after briefly reading the steps involved, I decided to bravely sally forth. I turned the water to the house off, and pulled out my handy-dandy tool kit. My brilliant plan was to pull out the old deficient parts and take them with me to Home Depot, get the exact same parts and bring them back. Relatively stress-free. I might even keep what little hair I have left on top of my head. This could work!
So, I take the handle off the faucet. Easy enough, it's only one screw, and, voila! the handle comes off. Yay! Step 1 done.
Then comes the hard part. I have to unscrew the thingy-mabob that's attached to the whatchamajigger. Yes, those are the technical names for it. If they aren't, I don't want to know about it. Got that? Good.
Anyway, I pull out one of my shiny, bright and only once used pair of pliers and unscrew the thingy-mabob. It comes off pretty easily, which surprises me a little, because I'm expecting all the screws to get stripped. That's just the way I roll. I pull out the thingy-mabob and look at the bottom. The screw that's supposed to be holding the hard rubber ring in place is barely hanging on. I have the brilliant idea to tighten the screw so everything is all snug. I think to myself, "That can't possibly be the answer, but might as well try it." So, I screw the thingy-mabob back onto the whatchamajigger, screw the handle back on, and with the tiniest bit of hope, I go outside and turn the water to my bungalow back on.
I come back in, and guess what? Not only is there not a leak, but there is not even the tiniest of drops of water coming out of the faucet. I've never seen it so drip-free. I put my tool box back, and begin to do the ancient tribal man dance around the kitchen, while singing, "Oh yeah, who's your daddy?"
I think I definitely deserve a day at the spa maybe getting a massage or a mud bath, or something. Maybe a manicure?
Travis
Mar. 17th, 2009 @ 08:09 am
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