2010

Started writing at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 28, while on Amtrak train 175 as it passed through Rahway, N.J., en route to Washington, D.C.

Spending the last Tuesday night of 2010 on an Amtrak train is not exactly what I had originally planned, but the blizzard that paralyzed travel in the Northeast over the past weekend quickly dictated otherwise.

The previous year brought me to Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, Rehoboth Beach, Miami and Boston. I managed the Fire Island News for the third consecutive summer, but 2010 can best be described as a transformative year.

I wore a pair of 30” waist pants for the first time I can remember. I found out hours before I met my boyfriend Andrés at the Green Lantern in Washington, D.C., in early July that I would become an uncle for the first time. I turned 29 in August and I enjoyed fresh tomatoes from the garden through October.

I also learned bed bugs are no joke. I became a pescetarian in April. I had the privilege of meeting Myriam Mercado at City Hall in June. I learned why journalists should develop a very tough skin. I interviewed U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-N.Y.] for the second time. Storms can definitely spawn tornadoes in Brooklyn. The Chilean miners made me cry more than one. I attended my 10 year high school reunion last month in Manchester, N.H. I did not become a witch from Delaware in 2010. And the rent remains too damn high!

I am extremely fortunate for the people with whom I shared a portion of my life in 2010, but I would like to specifically acknowledge two of them in this end-of-the-year reflection. I thank Joe Rizzuto for renting me the apartment that has been my home in for the last six and a half years. And I thank Andrés for continuing to make me feel like the luckiest man in the world.

To a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

Primary Day 2010

Aside from finding my new polling place, voting this morning was a relatively painless experience. The new paper ballots and electronic voting machines were quite straight-forward. And I was on my way after less than five minutes.

Here are a handful of snapshots from the neighborhood on this Primary Day.



In the 'privacy booth' in the basement of the Noll Street Apartments on Central Avenue.



Last minute politicking on the sidewalk along George Street in Bushwick.



The Daily News captures a common sentiment among New York voters.

An adieu to the oughts

As the debate continues over whether to call the first decade of the 21st century the oughts, it is almost absurdly appropriate to reflect upon the last 10 years that have brought monumental change, heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.

I was a senior at Memorial High School in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the turn of the century. Ten years and more than 50 pounds lighter, I am now a resident of Brooklyn and a journalist whose work has appeared in publications around the world. Below is a look back at the events that have helped shaped the 'Oughts for this boy in Bushwick.

- June 7, 2000: Graduated from Memorial High School in Manchester, New Hampshire
- May 27, 2001: Came out
- Sept. 11, 2001
- Aug. 16, 2002: Turned 21
- Jan. 10, 2003-May 21, 2003: Studied in Granada, Spain
- May 22, 2004: Graduated from the University of New Hampshire
- July 1, 2004: Moved to New York City
- May 2, 2006: Dad suffered heart attack
- Nov. 23, 2006: Traveled to Morocco
- Feb. 5, 2007: Fired from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
- June 10, 2007: Sister married high school sweetheart
- Jan. 15, 2009: Appeared on the BBC for the first time



June 7, 2000



Dec. 30, 2009