All posts by jah

Activism, Pets

Matty joins the Haydens

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Through another set of sad circumstances, Matty (who was thusly named because he was found as a stray in Vallejo and completely matted over) was brought to us for a crisis “foster” from our veterinarian. This dog clung to me as if he knew me his whole life from the minute I picked him up. He has a hugging hold on me (perhaps because he is blind or at least vision impaired like a baby or how I imagine a primate would cling). He definitely knows his name, even though it was only given to him a few months prior when he was found by his previous foster mother. What kind of monster had let a senior, small, blind dog wander around a city with no collar or microchip?

Even more sadly, the woman that found him and had him for a few months had a serious domestic violence attack against her. Her police officer brothers came from another state and moved her back while her partner went to jail. Matty apparently could not go with her.

We were told Matty just wanted to cuddle all day and that is no exaggeration. Here he is (flanking me) with his instant new friend (brother?), who has only been with us a few months himself, Polar.

My regular seat on the couch with Matty and Polar.
Polar, Matty & Monte (in his usual spot).
Activism, California

Civic Involvement for Vallejo District 5

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I was honored to be one of the citizens asking a question (in my case on behalf of LGBTQ Minus Tobacco) at the September 28, 2022 Vallejo City Council District 5 Candidate Forum that was put up by Leachman Park Neighborhood Association.

This also happened to be just a few days after the Black Live Matters mural was painted on the road in front of City Hall. I did my best to take it from the conference room that I was in, but the drone shots are of course much better.

Even though this wasn’t my district, I was happy to be there to participate since I’ve been in front of City Council a number of times, and I’ll very likely be in front of whoever wins this seat in the future. I already knew four of the five candidates from one venue or another.

Gay, Street Fairs

Folsom Street 2022

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This was our first time going to any street fair in San Francisco since Covid and we took the opportunity of taking the Vallejo Ferry for the first time, which was quite a cool experience.

While one can easily find all kinds of naughty pictures of the attendees, we will just include a few family-friendly pictures here to prove we were there. <smile>

We did get a chance to run into a lot of close friends who we hadn’t seen in a while.

Activism, Tobacco

Tabling at Fiestas Patrias in Vallejo

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I’ve been an activist against Big Tobacco since the early 1990’s when my father died at the age of fifty from his addiction to nicotine and it gave me a primary reason to go to law school.

Whenever I can I’m going to continue to fight against an industry that targets youth and queer people in particular with insidious tactics. Getting data by conducting surveys is one way I can do that. LGBTQ Minus Tobacco has given me great opportunities to fight locally, as I had been doing more regionally and nationally when I lived in New York City.

This event adjacent to the Farmers Market was organized by Solano AIDS Coalition.

County Supervisor Monica Brown even featured me in her Facebook feed!

Activism, Tobacco

Activism at Oakland Pridefest Event

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I’ve been an activist against Big Tobacco since the early 1990’s when my father died at the age of fifty from his addiction to nicotine and it gave me a primary reason to go to law school.

Whenever I can I’m going to continue to fight against an industry that targets youth and queer people in particular with insidious tactics. Getting data by conducting surveys is one way I can do that. LGBTQ Minus Tobacco has given me great opportunities to fight locally, as I had been doing more regionally and nationally when I lived in New York City.