M@ Around The World

T oday I was officially welcomed into the St. Paul's of Norwalk family as a part of a special Rite conducted at the 11AM service. When I first started going to this church in my new Connecticut community six months ago, I was almost terrified to think about becoming an official member of a religious organization. Over the course of these past several months, I've really fallen in love with the building, the people, and the sense of closeness that they all have. I had an "ah-hah" moment today: the people there actually WANT to be there more than just going out of a sense of obligation. It's refreshing and comforting. It's also nice that this particular parish community welcomes people from ALL walks of life, and even has LGBT clergy people. How wonderful to be in a place that so emmulates what I hope the future of our whole world ends up being: concerned with who we ARE inside instead of how we express it outside. Thanks St. Paul's! It's nice to have a ...

F lying back from an outstanding weekend in Los Angeles where I spent the weekend visiting friends and celebrating Pride, I'm finding myself full of wonder and a pent-up desire to live in a place where being out, open, and able to live a "normal" life is second nature (doesn't sound too unreasonable, eh?). There are few cities in the world today that actually afford this possibility to its citizens, and even they have certain restrictions due to state or federal laws (in whichever country they're in). L.A., however, has an incredible appeal from its west-coast lifestyle, proximity to Tinsel Town, and its people's history of civil demonstrations for equal rights. The energy there is completely unique. Over the past three-and-a-half days I was overwhelmed with parties; meeting new, attractive guys; and experiencing L.A.'s Pride parade and festival. Thanks to my friends Jayzen Patria, Joe Keenan, and Logan Grizzel, I felt like a VIP (and even had VIP access t...

I t's been a few years since I got the chance to hop a jet to the west coast to see my good friends out there. After I moved to Connecticut, though, I got an invitation from the Jayzen Patria to stay with him and his husband, Joe, at their palatial estate just south of West Hollywood for Los Angeles Pride. Far be it from me to turn down such a wonderful opportunity to experience some LGBT culture in a city where culture is defined for all denominations of person, so I hopped onto Delta.com and before I knew it, the landing gear was down and our plane arrived in LAX! Los Angeles, and the people that live here (especially the ones that are natively from here) have always intrigued me. I think growing up in a small, rural area has really shaped my perceptions even to this day, even after all of the traveling and moving to various corners of the world. When I'm in L.A., I feel like I'm in another world of possibilities, where people truly perceive the world through a much ...

I knew that Connecticut had some nice beaches prior to moving here; I even enjoyed Sherwood Island State Park during my Audit Staff years. I didn't know that there's a great beach and park less than 5 miles away! (Coincidentally, there's another one just 2 miles from my place, too, which we discovered while looking up directions to Calf Pasture!). Calf Pasture Beach and City Park is maintained by the City of Norwalk and is situated on the Long Island Sound in East Norwalk. It's a decent sized beach terminating in a public pier. On a gorgeous day like today you can see sail boats out on the Sound and the arching Connecticut coast line stretching east towards Westport (yes I know that sounds funny). The coolest part is that there's a fish fry grill in the park which serves your typical American summer delicacies and behind that there's a miniature golf course! I love mini golf...laugh if you please. Parking at the beach is a steep $20 (thanks for the tip on...

One of my favorite things to do is learn, and one of my favorite places to do it is GE's Global Learning Center in Crotonville, NY. This place is a total retreat from the regular rat race world and it's nestled in the Hudson River Valley in gorgeous downstate NY. The drive to this extraordinary location, where the greatest leaders in this majestic company's history have been coming for the past 60 years, from my home in Albany takes me down the Taconic Parkway: one of NY's most scenic north-south support connectors. The parkway is a windy, hilly drive with remarkable views of the Catskill mountains and a few pull-off locations to observe the Empire State's history.  Although not a route to take in incremental weather, or at night, I love catching a sunset, or cruising down and peering (quickly) at the surroundings on my journies. I've traveled to a lot of places by every means possible, but I'll be the first to admit that driving is not my preferred metho...

After an amazing week at sea cruising around the Caribbean with Princess, I had an eight-hour layover in Fort Lauderdale. Now, vacation is great, but when it's done, have you ever noticed that you just can't wait to get home? Due to the timing and circumstances that I booked my flights under, I not only couldn't get an early flight out, but I had to spend the night in Atlanta (not so bad all in all). Needless to say my yearning to get back to my own home and my own bed was burning a hole through my very relaxed being. Lucky for me, my brother and his fiance were in the same boat (so to speak) and also had a very long layover. While pondering what we could make of our time there, Frankie had the excellent idea to get a car and enjoy our remaining time in the tropics close to the beach. 500 Hertz points and $7 later, we were rocking around Fort Lauderdale Beach with the bronze-bodied, eccentric car driving south Floridians. We popped into a restaurant (Oasis  Cafe) right up...

I do a lot of traveling, but almost all of it lately is for work. Today, though, I'm writing from my comfy first class seat on a spacious Delta Boeing 757 jet heading to rendez-vous with my family in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We haven't done a group vacation in almost five years and although it's unfortunate that my little brother Dave and his lovely fiance, Colleen couldn't make it, I've been looking forward to this trip for MONTHS! Tomorrow our eight-person group departs from the Fort Lauderdale cruise port for seven days of fun and sun aboard the Ruby Princess. Our ports-of-call are the Bahamas, St Thomas, St Marten, and Grand Turk islands. I've taken an eastern Caribbean adventure with Princess and Carnival before, but neither time have we stopped at Grand Turk. Site seeing and learning more about its history is one of my two main highlights for the trip. The other highlight is FINALLY swimming with dolphins off the coast of St Thomas! I've wanted to splash ...

I 'm not sure I like driving early in the morning better than I enjoy flying early in the morning, but either way, it's nice to see a gorgeous sunrise! Now before you judge me for taking pictures while driving, which isn't easy by the way!, I couldn't let this one go by. Now that I'm home from my month-long stay in the automotive capital of the world (is Detroit still considered that these days?), I'm back to commuting between my soon-to-be home in Fairfield, CT and my currently-on-the-market home in Albany, NY. These drives, which I usually start at 6a on Mondays, are lovely, but considering the Great White Northeast has been greater and whiter than normal this year, I'm really looking forward to the big move. In the meantime, though, I'll try to limit the number of photos I take while operating a large configuration of metal at sub-warp speeds down one of the nations few coast-to-coast super highways...but if I see another moment like this one, all ...

I've done more traveling in my life than I imagined I would when I was a kid, but every time I go, no matter what the destination, I get a thrill from seeing my home city up on the board at the flight gate. After a month in lovely Detroit, with a pit stop in Orlando and Atlanta, I'm finally returning to the great, very white, northeast. My time there may be short, but for now, all I can think of is, "there's no place like home!"

H ave you ever gotten the feeling when traveling through an airport that you're somehow in between here and there in the world? I have been traveling a lot over the past five years and I've seen my share of airports. I feel like no matter how big or small, busy or slow the airport is, once you go through the process of getting your ticket, checking your bags, and going through the security checkpoint, you somehow enter into an alternate reality where everyone is transient and nobody is settled. The strangest experience, then, for me came today. I'm staying at the Westin Detroit , which is attached to the DTW airport . One of the "perks" to staying at the airport hotel is that you can get a pass from the local police and TSA to enter the airport and utilize the shops and restaurants in the terminal. My brother-in-law flew through Detroit on his way to a business trip, so I took advantage of this service to meet him at his gate and walk with him to his connection. ...