I was looking over my last few posts and noticed there seems to be a growing trend of anger and social commentary. Now the world IS currently a crazy place but just like the world there needs to be a balance so this entry is completely social commentary and anger free. :) I recently was asked to write a short "fish" story. Funny enough a story immediately came to mind. Now there are a LOT of "fish" stories out there but interestingly enough this one actually happens to be true.

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Fish Stories
By Wes Culwell

I was 9 years old, and we were leaving the only home I had ever known. Yes, we were moving from the sunny hillsides of Salinas CA to the frigid temperatures of Eastern Washington in the middle of January. We were packed, locked and ready to go when I realized"I LEFT MY FISH UPSTAIRS!!" Now this poor, little fish was one of those "10 cents a throw" fish you win at the county fair. You know the feeder fish that die on the car ride home and force parents world-wide to teach their kids about the meaning of death. This little tyke, however, not only had survived the car ride home but had outlived all his brothers and sisters we had won at the fair with our $1.20 one year ago.

"The door is locked. Theres nothing we can do," my dad gruffly said as tears streamed down my 9-year old-face. My mother looked down at my tear-soaked cheeks and defiantly walked to the neighbors to call the realtor to come unlock the front door. Within minutes the realtor, who lived around the block, was at our door and I was running up the stairs to get my little guy who wed put in a quart mayonnaise jar for transport. With the jar and fish in hand and smile on my face, my family hopped in our rental car and headed toward the airport.

On the plane my fish and I became quite the celebrities. Every time people would pass on their way to the bathroom, theyd see me with the top of the jar off letting my fish "breathe"; and stop by to chat. All the stewardesses kept checking if my fish needed any more peanuts. I think I ate about 14 bags that day. The flight lasted three hours and we landed in Spokane, Washington, at around 9:30 PM. As we deplaned, even the pilots had to poke their heads out of the cockpit to meet the little boy with the fish theyd heard so much about.

We walked into the brightly lit terminal towards the baggage claim. We were just coming upon the gigantic, luggage conveyer belt when my mother lovingly looked down and said, "Now be careful." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, TIME STOPPED. My world went into slow motion as I felt the mayonnaise jar slip from my fingers. The jar fell to the speckled terrazzo marble floor, sending hundreds of shards of glass in every direction. Immediately time picked back up as I looked down to see my fish fluttering among jagged pieces of glass. The crowd stood horrified. The cute little boy everyone had gotten to know over the last three hours was frantically trying to save his dying fish. I can still hear the echoes of, "Oh, that poor little boy," and "Oh, its that boy with his fishoh no!"

I turned to my father, "DAD! DO SOMETHING! DO SOMETHING!" He immediately stepped into action. He grabbed the gasping fish and placed it in the top of the mayonnaise jar which still held a thin pool of water. Like the superhero he was to me, he simultaneously picked up the fish with one hand and me with the other and ran to the Haagen Dazs ice cream kiosk which was closing for the night.

"We need a cup with water for our fish!"

The teenage ice cream scooper stared blankly at him.

"I need a cup for our fish!" He held up the fading goldfish.

"You want me to throw it away?" She said through her metallic braces.

"No, its alive! I need a cup with water!!!"

She filled the cardboard Haagen Dazs cup with tap water and handed it to my father. My Dad dropped the fish in the cup and we both watched breathless to see the verdict. It wasnt moving. It just sort of sat at the bottom of the cup. I buried my face into my dads neck and held on tight. "Son, look." With one eye closed I peered into the cardboard cup. Was my dad trying to teach me a lesson with the death of my fish or was it indeedALIVE! MY FISH WAS ALIVE! I hugged my dad with every ounce of strength I had.

We returned to the baggage claim to applause and cheers. This had been a group experience; and our fellow travelers had been quietly pulling for us. We got our luggage, said our goodbyes and piled in to a new rental car to drive two more hours to our final destination, Moses Lake, Washington. That was one tough fish. That little tyke lived through a month in a hotel ice bucket, a new tank and outlived four other FAR more expensive fish. I was fourteen years old when I walked by the large tank we had to get to accommodate my now not-so-little tyke. There he was, belly up, eyes glossed over; but I swear I could see a little smile on his face. Id like to think in his final moments his adventurous life flashed before his eyes and he knew for a little fish hed had one amazing little life.
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George, you ignorant #@*!.

Wow. Three days into the fragile cease fire between two middle eastern powers and the diplomat that we have at the helm of this country decided to give his two cents on the matter. Thanks, George W. While you and Condee were debating about what kind of cease fire would be the best (not JUST a cease fire) 900 people lost their lives. While you egged the Israelis os and sent in US laser guided missiles to boost the carnage, 900 people lost their lives. What kills me is after a month of fighting the UN was forced to step in while you sat back to watch like it was a tennis match THEN you have the nerve to stand up and pretend to make some sort of educated comment on the matter? Wow, Geroge, wow.

"BUSH DECLARES HEZBOLLAH LOSER IN LEBANON CONFLICT."

What a headline. This is something I can really be proud to show my grandkids. Just three days into a UN initiated ceasefire this ridiculous excuse for a president feels the need to stir the pot like some schoolyard bully declaring victory in a fight that everyone lost. The Lebanese lost many lives and the Israelis lost so much world respect. Sweet Jesus, I'm angry. I'm angry that our country has been highjacked by war-mongers, incompetence and the spread of terror NOT democracy. How much longer will the world have to suffer the policies and diplomacy of this administration and the extreme fringe of the Republican party?

I have to believe that November's mid-term elections will bring a tide of change to our current government and we will get us off this divisive, hateful path we've been on the last 5 years.

-W

Wow. Been in Montreal now for three days and this city is phenomenal. Now, I know for sure my friend Kory and I aren't the oldest ones here but Jesus...I don't know how I used to do it. After day three we found ourselves excited to take a night off, get Blizzards from the DQ and go home with bags of ice (Kory on his back and mine on my knee) watching the Simpsons in French--glad as hell we weren't out and about. HA!

When did this happen? I remember the days where I could go 4-5 days in a row...no problem. My friends and I would leave UCI (my college) right after rehearsals--drive down to TJ--to hop back in the car (always with a designated driver mind you) and go straight to class at 8am. Now I'm having to ice up before I go out. Wow...what ten years will do. HA!

The Outgames here have been phenomenal. To see the world community encouraging and taking such good care of each other has really been inspiring. From the events to the entertainment to meeting people from around the world I am so glad to be here. Montreal Pride is also this weekend and I thought at first it might have been overwhelming....but not at all. Montreal Pride (Diversite) is a time for the community to reach out to everyone to really show the best it has to offer. We went to Latin night last night and saw Venezuala's, "Los Amigos Invisbles." The crowd was an amazing mix of every community. No lines, no segregation...what Prides are truly meant to be.

Outgames came to a close today and with two days left here in Montreal...let the games begin. ;)

Well, I went into Pride Weekend here in San Diego a little jaded. I think So Ca has a tendency to emphasize the wrong aspects of the LGBT community (as stated in earlier blog posts) so I was extremely surprised and pleasantly intrigued at the level of the political voice the San Diego LGBT Pride Parade/Event had. I don't think I've seen so many elected officials in the pride parade. The newly elected (save your boos and hisses) Republican Mayor along with a hand shaking/waving Francine Busby, walking the entire route on foot was fantastic. I was also impressed with the number of faith community floats and entries this year. When the Christians in the parade outnumber the Christians holding the "hate" signs--we must be doing something right.

I think I am pretty full on when it comes to my pride and activism throughout the year. But pride season has always boggled my mind a little. How is it we can get 150,000 people out in the streets for a weekend to celebrate themselves on many levels but when it comes to standing UP for ourselves in the face of vetoes and hate legislation we barely can scrape together 150. That said with some of the changes I saw this year I came out of the weekend really gaining some of my pride season "pride" back.

I was finishing up a short week today (yes, it's Tuesday) due to the fact I am heading out tomorrow am to cover the closing of the Outgames in Montreal. I can't wait. I was feeling all gleefully gay when I came across this headline this morning:


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BASEBALL BAT ATTACK AT SAN DIEGO PRIDE
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Wait...What? I had been at Pride. I hadn't heard of anything crazy going on. I went on to read:


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BASEBALL BAT ATTACK AT SAN DIEGO PRIDE
One Man's Skull Bashed In
Mayor Denounces 'Cowards,' Vows Aggressive Pursuit
by Rex Wockner

SAN DIEGO -- Five gay men were beaten with baseball bats and one of them was stabbed as they left the San Diego LGBT Pride Festival around 10:45 p.m. on July 29.

One of the men "had his skull bashed in and he's going to have to have reconstructive surgery," said Fred Sainz, openly gay press secretary to Mayor Jerry Sanders.

The other four were treated at hospitals and released.

At a July 31 press conference, Sanders said "the attackers taunted the victims with antigay insults as they were beating them."

"This is the very definition of a hate crime," he said. "I have a few choice words for the criminals who committed this vicious attack -- and for any others who are contemplating perpetrating such a crime: You're cowards! Make no mistake about it: if you commit such a crime, we will do everything within our power to catch you. After you're caught, the district attorney and the city attorney will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law and make sure you end up behind bars for a very long time."

Sanders, a Republican, said "it's important that we as a community talk about these attacks and these issues. Clearly, these animals wanted to push these men back into the closet," he said. "We won't and shouldn't allow that to occur."

Sanders was flanked at the press conference by openly lesbian Cit Councilmember Toni Atkins, City Attorney Mike Aguirre, Police Chief William Lansdowne, police investigator Lt. Mike Angus, police LGBT liaison Lt. Margy Schaufelberger, and Jennifer Jones from the San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center.

"Solving these crimes is a priority," said Councilmember Atkins. "I ask that anyone who knows anything about these crimes or any similar incidents call the police department right away. The number to call is 619-531-2000. Often, when people have been victims of hate crimes, they feel ashamed or are afraid to call the police. Our police department is absolutely committed to solving this crime and preventing anti-gay violence."

Pride media coordinator Frank Sabatini Jr. said he was "incredibly impressed by Mayor Sanders' strong words that he pointed at the attackers and to those prospective perpetrators that he also sends a warning to."

"The hatemongers face a vigilant effort from the city government and the LGBT community in chasing them down and seeing through their punishment," Sabatini said.
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I've been back in San Diego for a little under a year and this could have been any of us or any of our friends. You hear, "hate crimes," and as unacceptable as it is most of us "coasters" think of far away "red states"...but San Diego? When our federal government claims that this minority does NOT deserve equal rights or protection this is the outcome. I'd like to think this is a one time, isolated event but the truth of the matter hate crimes are on the rise and when bigots are at the helm of the free world...it's a scary time for all of us. This is evidence of why we MUST HAVE hate crime legislation in every state. When a group of insecure punks go in search of a minority group to assault no matter who they are they are attacking Americans. We are a diverse country and that is what makes us strong.



The great news is there has been an arrest:

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Police on Tuesday said they have arrested one person in connection with the hate-crime attack on five victims near Balboa Park as a gay pride festival ended Saturday night.

We still trying to put together what we've got. We've got one person in custody and the investigation is continuing, said Capt. Chris Ball.

Ball did not release any other details about the arrest.

San Diego police Monday night served a search warrant at an apartment on First Avenue in Park West in connection with the case and were questioning three people.

Clearly, these animals wanted to push these men back into the closet, Mayor Jerry Sanders said at a City Hall news conference Monday. We won't and shouldn't allow that to occur.

One of the victims remained hospitalized with a fractured skull and may have to have possible reconstructive surgery. Another suffered superficial stab wounds.

Five detectives have been assigned to the case and Police Chief William Lansdowne expressed confidence that arrests will follow.

“I am absolutely convinced we will solve this crime, he said Monday.

Councilwoman Toni Atkins, whose district includes Balboa Park, said, “The quicker we solve this crime, the safer the community will be.

Anyone with information about the attackers is asked to call (619) 531-2000 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS.
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Events like this, while enraging, make advocacy and voices for our community that much more important. I am very impressed to the city's response to what has happened. It truly makes me sick to my stomache and I hope if any good can come of this we create a dialogue not only in SD but the nation to illustrate what fear and biggotry breeds: Hate. When officials pass legislation against us, when political figures speak out against us, when religious leaders throw their own misguided morality at us it gives a green light to zealots to harm us.

Please read, think and act.

In struggle,

-W