Joshua Cactus

Today I journeyed through the time tunnel. I should have been wearing a dark turtleneck and lots of hairspray like Doug or Tony but 95 degrees of Georgia summer does not play well with neither turtlenecks or a perfect do. But I digress. Today I discovered again these perfectly preserved notes of the Before blog. It was a sweet journey down the time tunnel. I think it is time for the After blog.

Nine moons in this flat hot city. Working with a team of overachievers tired from the onslaught of a relentless jet lag. We all got sorta accidentally to fill hurriedly vacated gaps and always maintain the allurid professional continuum. This project tested our inner marathoner and mostly our flexible accommodating self. Brief commitments hardly woa calendar entry accumulated slowly to a tra formative effort. 

Two years as a flying consultants. Since moving to Miami I hopped off the clinical wagon and joined a group of talented hard working folks making it across America. At first it was all exciting and glamorous but at the months and air miles go no longer all airlines seem  the same. Based in Miami and commuting ( or jet setting if you will) all across this great land. And it's Big! Next: Delta Vs American Airlines. 

Two years since my last post. Lazy bastard. No longer in the Empire state but a proud resident of the ever-sunny-yet-quirky Florida. After years in the big apple with occasional expeditions to the sunshine state our little family (two guys and a dog) packed our lives once more and migrated south full time for a fresh start. We survived a painful separation (long story - deserves its own post) and escaped the concrete towers to a new lush land full of trees, water, giant reptiles and Latinos. Having no state tax helped as well. Almost two years later it looks like the smartest choice I made so far in America.

After many days and nights of strategic planning and careful execution (some might call it Chuzpa, stubborn or even plain dumb) the interview for this fab new job is coming up. Passed the recruiter with the silver hair ("sorry darling you need more LOCAL experience"), the ever so busy assistant and the always full schedule of the big boss and now its time to impress and be brilliant yet humble, friendly yet professional. Time to give your best shot. Alas, the boss is a conservative guy, he has the cross and manners to show for it, he's got a wall full of photos of well groomed kids and smiling wife in a non-revealing attire, he is a the great American Family Man, and he is about to ask you about yours. Hmmm, problemo. I don't have kids (a small dog doesn't count with traditional types), my wife is a husband and I do not go to PTA meetings. Forget about a favorite sports team (unless you count Project Runway) or trips to Disney Land (again, gay days doesn't co

Image from Yossi and Jagger , a must-view film for any DADT fan Almos three years in America, land of the free, and I am still amazed by the fear and homophobia rampant in great parts of this great country. Today, while attending an important meeting in my washroom, I read yet another story of a US Army soldier who was brave enough to tour Iraq and Afghanistan three times (!!) but alas his attraction to bulging biceps and hairy male chests (ok, some women have that too) got him kicked out, disgraced, from the armed forces. The story brought back vivid closeted and un-closeted memories from my own 5 year tour at the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as an officer in a combat unit. No, I wasn't in the army's choir or orchestra, neither was I stationed as some General's secretary in a carpeted office, I did the real thing, dirty nails and all. As a young officer I joined an armored corps battalion and every few months rotated with my unit to another frontier: Gaza, Lebanon, the Wes