iPhone

William finally got his iphone!!!! So after months, and months...and months of hearing about all the magical things that the iPhone can do, William now has it.

I was telling him about the long lines, and having to sleep overnight in front of an apple store to get one, but he ended up walking into the mall and getting his phone in about 15 minutes last night. He had already programed everything on his apple laptop, so all he had to do was plug in the phone and download everything. So within about 20 minutes he was calling people and telling everyone that they were talking on his new phone.

That night after William was done testing every feature on the phone, William gave me a quick seminar of all the cool features it has. In the end, all I grasped was that it is a touch pad, my picture will show up when I call him, it has a quick link to YOUTUBE, he can check his e-mail, play music and movies...and I AM NEVER EVER TO TOUCH IT. (Joke - I can touch it, but I probably won't. LOL)

I am amazed that the directions for the iphone are still in the box, and that William just naturally knows how to do all of this "technical" stuff.

I on the other hand still cant work our TV remote control when William is out of town!!!

Best,
JOHN

New York was a blast!!!!

As William mentioned in one of the earlier blog entrys, William took me to New York city for my birthday this year. It was so much fun!! We walked all over the city, and ate at some many great places. My favorite was a new restaurant called PUBLIC (www.public-nyc.com). It is in the Soho area of the city, and if there ever was a perfect restaurant this is it. The theme is something between that of a public library meets a community prep school. I LOVED IT. We had brunch there, and I could have stayed all day. (check out more of the pictures on their website)

We saw the play Spring Awakening (www.springawakening.com). This play has now become my favorite musical. I didn't think any play could beat RENT, but this is it. This musical has won 8 tony awards and won best musical. The music was written by Duncan Shiek. He had a hit about 5 years ago called "Barely Breathing." I have still been following him, and buying his later albums. I think he performs some really great songs. I could definitely hear his voice throughout the musical. I will let you discover the musical on their website if you wish, but I am telling you...find a way too see this musical!!!

William and I had a great time with my parents. We arrived on Thursday, and they arrived on Friday. It was my mother's first time visiting New York city. Amoung other things, we took a few great, long walks through central park (which was right near our hotel). Obviously, we have adoption and "baby on the mind," and we started counting the Bugaboos (www.bugaboo.com) and other strollers in the park. I counted around 35 in about 30 minutes. Lots of color combos and we saw one with a tiny umbrella for the kids. By the way, Bugaboo has a new stroller out called Bugaboo Bee. It is a collapsible stroller, easy for in and out of the car. Although we love our stroller, I'm still very interested to see how we manage to get it in and out of the car. William and I cant wait until we adopt, and get to take our little one to a park, just have a lazy day of playing, smiling, and laughing!

Speaking of being outside, the weather was perfect while we were there. The last time we were in the city in June it was quite hot, but this year it was great. About 70-80 degrees with a nice breeze. My parents really seemed to enjoy themselves. My mother loved the park. She also thought Times Square was amazing with all the people. Times square is the quintesential picture of the hustle and bustle that is New York City.

OK, so here is my funny "dad in NY story." My dad wanted to show my mother the Trump Tower....here goes...

Upon arriving at the Trump Tower William is the first to walk into the revolving doors...so William has pushed the glass revolving doors and the whole things starts to move. William is then inside the glass revolving door and still pushing forward so he can exit. What is supposed to happen next, is the next person in line waits for the next section of the door to come around and then he gets in and pushes the glass as the whole thing revolves. The first person then exits...you all know the drill. SO, my dad was standing too close to the back of William. (I am behind my dad) My dad gets wedged into the revolving door, half way in with William, and half way into the next revolving area he should have been in. So, we have William, and the people coming out of the building pushing the door, and my dad is getting more and more wedged in the door. I am behind my dad wondering how this has happened? The only thing I can think to do is push my dad forward into Williams revolving area, for fear that if William and the others keeps pushing they will end up crushing my dad. After pushing my dad forward he smacks into the back of William, who gets freaked out because he then gets pushed up against the glass wondering why my dad is in the same revolving space that he is. Then I go through the revolving doors like normal laughing my head off. William is still dazed and has no idea what just happened. My dad acts like that is his usual way of entering revolving doors. I then gave a 5 minute lecture to my mom and dad about how revolving doors work, and that you have to wait for person in front of you to get moving / out, before you can enter. For the rest of the trip William decided to avoid revolving doors as much as possible.


Here is the picture of the revolving door. Mr. Trump is lucky, if not for my lighting fast reflexes he could have been sued!!!

We had an amazing time, and it was the perfect birthday present from William.

Best,
JOHN

A trip to New England.

It had been a little while since I had made it home, so I took a trip back to New England and visited with family and friends. First, I flew into Cape Cod, Massachusets where I got to see A LOT of my family. I actually got to see some of my aunts who I hadn't seen in over a year. Needless to say, it was great to see them. They all asked about how the adoption process was going. They all seemed surprised that we're still searching for a birthmother, but I assured them that when our time comes it will come. Hopefully sooner than later!

After the Cape I went on to visit some family friends in New Hampshire. I also hadn't seen them for sometime. I first met them whe I was attending boarding school in Dublin (www.dublinschool.org). One of my close school friends was a girl by the name of Sierra, and over time I essentially adopted her entire family as my own. After college I actually moved back to New Hampshire and lived with them for a little while. I got a job, and spent the rest of my time as a mentor to Sierra's little brother (Jesse). For years I have called Jesse "my psuedo little brother." He, and his other sister Sasha, have really grown up so much over the last few years. I'm so proud of them both!

After New Hampshire I drove to Maine to visit with my parents. My Dad and stepmother still live on an a little island off the coast of Maine. It's always great to see them, and the island is such a neat place. There are only 600 year round residents! There are no big grocery stores - just a couple of local markets, and a restaurant that's part of an Inn. This time of year all the summer people come to the island. This increases the population to about 2000, which drives my parents crazy. They really like the pace fo the island, so when the "summer people" come and try to, in some cases litterally, speed things up they get pretty annoyed.

I was there most of the week, and it was pretty low key. We did take my dad's boat our for a quick trip around some of the surrounding islands, and then over to the main land to grab a bite to eat. Not only do I enjoy being on the boat, but seeing my dad - who LOVES being on boats - enjoy himself is great too. Basically, when he's on the boat he's happy no matter what's going on. I can't wait until we have a baby and he, or she, is old enough to go on the boat. Here's a picture of my dad and I in the yard.

Visiting my mom and stepfather was also great. They are both doing well and staying busy with one thing or another. A couple years ago my mother started volunteering for a group that supports gay youth in the MidCoast Maine area. She really enjoys it, and is now the group counselor. She invited me to their weekly group meeting. I was REALLY impressed by the youth members that were there. At this particular meeting there was a radio host there interviewing my mother and the youth about some of the challenges of being a young GLBT person in rural Maine. Everyone did a great job, but I was particularly impressed with how well spoken the youth members were. It was clear that they had put a lot of thought in to the world around them, and what needs to be done so people can accept people for who they are. I have no doubt that they will be leaders wherever they end up!

My mom's house was the last stop on my trip. John wasn't able to join me on this trip - so at this point I was really ready to get home and see him (and the rest of my Atlanta friends and family). It's always fun to travel and see friends and family - but it's also always great to get back home!

Thanks for reading!
~W