2019 Vacation: Mexico City, Mexico (Jan. 7-13)

I'll be on vacation from January 7-13, 2019, visiting Mexico City, Mexico to celebrate my 28th anniversary. Mexico City which is in the most populous metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere (approximately 21 million people). Posting on the blog will be relatively light, but you can see more of my adventures on Twitter (@madprofessah) and Instagram (@ronbuckmire).

BOOK REVIEW: Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Less is the title of the award-winning novel by 48-year-old, openly gay author Andrew Sean Greer about an openly gay author named Arthur Less who as his fiftieth birthday approaches decides to go on an extended trip around the world primarily in order to avoid any social obligations involved with the imminent marriage of his former (much younger) lover Freddy Pelu to another man.

I am somewhat ashamed as an openly gay man myself who is an avid reader (and who turned 50 this year!) that it took me this long to discover and finally read Less. (I think I remember some of the buzz when it won the Pulitzer Prize for Best Novel in 2018 but even that didn’t provoke me to pick it up then). I’m here to urge you to learn from my mistake and read Less sooner rather than later! 

For one thing, the book is relatively short (well under 300 pages) and laugh-out-loud funny. I literally laughed out loud multiple times, especially in the first half of the book. In some circles the fact that a humorous novel won the Pulitzer is more significant than the fact that an openly gay author won for a book with a central gay character. 

Less is essentially a travelogue, a cautionary tale and a love story all in one. It is also cleverly structured (it uses long chapters that revolve around Arthur Less’s trips to various countries like Italy, Germany, Morocco, India and Japan). While sticking to these forms it also pokes fun at them in interesting ways.

Less reminds me of Mohsin Hamid's How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, which subverts the self-help form to make profound observations about life, destiny and virtue. Greer does something similar by subverting the story of the solo American traveler traipsing around the world to make profound statements about the nature of love, aging and happiness. The two works are similar in another way in that they both deploy the narrative voice in tricky and surprising ways. Although Arthur Less is the protagonist of Less, he is not the narrator of the novel. There’s someone else who narrates key scenes of the book and the reason is not clear until the very end. Although there are substantial hints dropped along the way the end of the book still packs an emotional wallop.

In many ways Less is a tour de force. I hope Armie Hammer has called his agent to get the film rights, because he would seem to be perfect casting for the lead role of Arthur Less (who is described as blond,VERY tall, handsome and average in most ways, with innocent eyes).

Title: Less.
Author: Andrew Sean Greer.
Paperback: 273 pages.
Publisher: Lee Boudreaux Books.
Date Published: July 18, 2017.
Date Read: November 13, 2018.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★★  (5.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A/A+ (4.08/4.0).

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A+.
IMPACT: A+.
WRITING: A.

08/08/18: My 10th Wedding Anniversary Is Today!

Today is 08/08/18, the tenth anniversary of my wedding day on 08/08/08. Here are some rare pictures of MadProfessah with The Other Half, taken on our recent trip to Reykyavik (Iceland) and Paris (France) in summer 2018. (See my Instagram feed for more images from our trip, and lots of pictures of my the outfit I wear every day!)

Coincidentally, August 8 is a famous tennis birthdate: (Roger Federer is 37 and Felix Auger-Aliassime is 18)

MadProfessah Is On Vacation (Maui, Hawaii)

I'm on a quick vacation before the beginning of  the Spring semester, celebrating my 25th(!) anniversary with The Other Half. We're on the Hawaii island of Maui, staying in the Ka'anapali section of the island until Monday January 19. Blogging will be light! (But look for my activity on Instagram, Twitter, Yelp, and Facebook)

MadProfessah on Vacation in South Africa

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I'm on vacation in South Africa from March 11th through March 28th. I'm flying from LAX (Los Angeles) to LHR (London Heathrow) to CPT (Cape Town) and then after 9 days up to JNB (Johannesburg) where we'll spend 5 days and then back to Los Angeles via London again. 22,526 miles on the Star Alliance (United and South Africa Airways). It's basically a day and a half of travel time in each direction, with 14 days spent on the ground.

I will have internet access, but blogging will be much lighter than usual, with some favorites (such as Monday's Eye Candy and Thursday's Reviews and Celebrity Friday programmed to post automatically).

Mad Professah Named NOGLSTP's LGBT Educator of the Year

I wasn't sure if I should really blog about this but I decided that if I had found about it about someone else, I probably would have blogged about it, so here goes. Plus, I usually give some indication of my travel schedule (although not always why I am travelling) so I figured I would do so this time.

Mad Professah is in DC this weekend, to pick up the National Organization of Scientists and Technical Professionals' LGBT Education of he Year Award!

Two Occidental College professors have been recognized for their scholarly and teaching acumen by national academic and professional organizations. 

Associate mathematics professor Ron Buckmire has been chosen as the 2011 Educator of the Year by the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals, and psychology professor Nancy Dess has been elected a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. 

Buckmire was chosen for his "outstanding achievements in mathematics and education on race and [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] issues," said John Burke, a member of the organization's board of directors. Buckmire's research areas include computational aerodynamics, numerical analysis, and applying mathematics to "real world" situations. He joined the Occidental faculty in 1996. 

The Oxy mathematics professor will be honored at a reception and dinner on February 20 during the annual conference in Washington of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which is affiliated with the gay and lesbian scientists and technical professionals group.

So, yeah that's why I'm in DC this President's Day weekend. (And blogging will be light)

If you have suggestions for people who should win the award next year, here are the criteria.

Arrived in London!

I'm in London now... still recovering from jet lag...

President Signs PEPFAR Bill Into Law

365gay.com has the details on the PEPFAR bill becoming law on Thursday following the President's signature:

The president signed the bill in the ornate East Room of the White House, surrounded by lawmakers and people affected by AIDS whom he met on his February trip to Africa.

The legislation is a rare case of relatively easy cooperation between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the White House. It passed the House last week by a 303-115 vote and the Senate earlier in the month by a vote of 80-16.

It renews Bush’s original five-year, $15 billion program called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was set to expire in September.

[...]

The program’s five-year renewal comes with some significant changes that took months to negotiate: a third of prevention funds will no longer be reserved for abstinence education; a “conscience clause” gives religious groups the right to refuse participation; more focus is placed on women and girls; and HIV-positive people will find it easier to get visas into the United States.

Bush said the goal for the new funding is to prevent 12 million new HIV infections, treat more than 2 million with anti-retroviral drugs, support care for 12 million and train at least 140,000 new health care workers.

Mad Professah in DC

I'm traveling out of town, reviewing grant proposals for the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. through Tuesday. Light blogging for the most part until then. Watch the video of Keith Olberman!

U.S. HIV+ Travel Ban Repeal Possible?

HRC has sent out a media advisory about a possible repeal of the United States HIV travel and immigrantion ban. Joe.My.God has a good article on the legislative ploy to attach the repeal legislation by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to a bill by Senator Joe Biden and Senator Richard Lugar that funds President Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The United States is one of only 13 countries that ban HIV+ people from visiting or immigrating. The others: Armenia, Brunei, China, Iraq, Qatar, South Korea, Libya, Moldova, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Let's hope this ploy does better than attaching the Matthew Sheppard Act to that defense appropriations bill did. A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives last August, but remains in committee.

I'd be shocked if this bill becomes law, but it is good to see that our friends in the Senate are making the effort to expose this horrendous public policy, and possibly change it now instead of waiting until after January 2009.

ITALY TRIP: I'm baaack!

The trip back from Firenze, Italy via Frankfurt to Los Angeles was not too painful. Will try to post some pictures over the weekend...

Italy Day 12-13: The Beauty of Florence

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence's Duomo) to the right,
the 4th largest cathedral in the world, and the Campanile (Bell Tower), at night.

The "reviled" frescoes of the Duomo, painted by Vasani in 1579 (with close-up).
Note the devil sodomizing a man with a flaming pitchfork!

Statue of Achilles battling a centaur,
located in the Loggia del la Signoria, a public outdoor gallery designed in 1376.

Basilica di Santa Croce, started in 1294, completed in 1385. It is the burial place of famous men such as composer Rossini, author Macchiavelli, sculptor Michelangelo and scientist Gallileo.

Mad Professah (left) and the Other Half, after walking up 463 steps to
reach the top of the Duomo with views of the city of Florence behind us.

That's it for now, we're taking a one-day side trip to Bologna tomorrow afternoon with a date with Michelangelo's David in the morning and then an intensive museum day on Wednesday with an early flight home on Thursday.

Italy Day 12: Firenze (Florence)

The top of the Duomo, taken from our hotel room window!

ITALY: Firenze

Yesterday was a travel day. We have left Torino (Turin) and now we are in Firenze (Florence) just a few hundred feet from the Duomo, the fourth largest cathedral in the world.

Italy Day 7-9: Torino At Night

These are the Luci di Artisti, a festival of lights which is in Turin every winter. From top to bottom, these are the lights along Via Roma, Via Garibaldi, Via Lagrange and Via Barbaroux.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Peck Italian Bar (Milano, Italia)

Mad Professah visited Peck Italian Bar in Milan, Italy last week and took the following pictures:

The place settings at Peck Italian Bar. Very sleek and modern looking.	The interior of Peck Italian Bar, with lots of recessed lighting and color palates.
Salmone marinato, leggermente affumicato (marinated salmon, lightly smoked)	Riso mantecato alla zucca (pumpkin risotto with manteca cheese)
Cotoletta di lonza alla Milanese con patate rosolate (Traditional Milanese breaded cutlet with roasted potatoes)	Arrosto di vitello con patate al forno (Roasted veal with baked potatoes)
Tiramisu	Gelati (strawberry, lemon and cream flavors)

When MadProfessah and the other half ate at his restaurant a few weeks ago, the owner of Terroni restaurant in Los Angeles had suggested we eat at Peck's when we get to Milan. Unfortunately, the signature restaurant Cracco-Peck was closed for three weeks between Christmas and Epiphany so we went to the sister restaurant, Peck Italian Bar instead.

We started with the lightly smoked salmon appetizer, which although pricey (€20=$29) was absolutely delicious. The pumpkin risotto was amazingly rich and a stunning yellow color the picture does not do justice to the intense color of the dish and definitel does not allow you to experience the creamy cheesy goodness that was riso mantecato alla zucca. We then both had traditional Milanese meat dishes: I had the Milanese veal cutlet (which was the inspiration for the Austrian wienerschnitzel) while the other half had roasted veal with baked potatoes.

The true standout of the meal was dessert. I never order the tiramisu at Italian restaurants because it can be so completely different at different Italian restaurants. However, the tiramisu at Peck's Italian Bar was incredible. The top layer is a thick layer of pure cocoa dust. In fact, the dish was almost dangerous because as one ate the tiramisu it was very easy to inhale the cocoa dust and have one's airway feel full of cocoa instead of oxygen. The custard filling was also excellent; very very creamy and light. At the very bottom of the creamy custard were amaretto-soaked still-crunchy madeleines. A nearly perfect dessert. The gelato flavors we chose were strawberry, lemon and "cream." The lemon was extremely flavorful--like a stiff blow to the head, but in a good way, mostly. The strawberry and cream were also very smooth, with a more balanced flavor.

The ambiance of the restaurant was very nice. It is a very well-lit, modern-looking space. The service was attentive and gave us an English menu almost immediately. It is officially a bar, which also serves food at lunch and dinner time (it closes at 8pm). Usually I imagine most people go over to the Cracco-Peck restaurant next door. Although it would have been nice to experience the superlative food that is rumored to be available at Cracco-Peck, Peck Italian Bar was a very enjoyable and satisfying dining experience as well.

OVERALL GRADE: A-.

FOOD: A.
VALUE: B+.
SERVICE: A-.
AMBIANCE: A-.

Italy Day 5 & 6: Scenes from Torino

Mole Antonelliana,
a 545 foot tower which is the central landmark of Turin.
The building houses the National Museum of Cinema.

Palazzo Reale,
the Royal Palace

Palazzo di Citta,
Town Hall
Il Duomo di San Giovanni,
which contains the the Shroud of Turin.

Stazione Porto Nuova,
one of the two main train stations in Turin. This one
is right across the street from our hotel.

Ponte Umberto I
a bridge over Fiume Po (Po River) which leads up to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, the streetour hotel is on and is one of the major thoroughfares in the city.

Italy Day 3 & 4: Scenes from Milano

Metro San Babila

Il Duomo

Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II

Castello Sforzesco

Some pictures from the last two days spent in Milano, Italia. From the top the Metro Station at San Babila, in northeast Milan, on the way back from dinner on Thursday January 3. Next is Il Duomo, the beautiful cathedral at night a few blocks from our hotel Friday January 4. Adjacent to Piazza Duomo (the square in front of The Duomo) is a fabulous indoor mall called Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II that opened in 1867 and is the location of the very first Prada store at it's center. Last is Castello Sforzesco a huge castle first constructed in the 14th century and restored in the 15th. It contains a huge number of museums brimming with ancient paintings, sculptures and historical artifacts.

Day 5 January 5th is a travel day, from Milano to Turino by train.

Italy Day 2: It Duomo (Milano,Italy)

Il Duomo, the 3rd largest church in the world

MadProfessah is currently in Italy, accesing the internet from Milano (Milan) using an inordinately expensive Internet connection (€22 for 24 hours which is equivalent to 32 U.S. dollars!). We are staying in the Centro Historico district, just about 2 blocks away from The Duomo, the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, which took nearly 500 years to build (starting in 1391).

On Saturday January 5th we go to Turin (Torino) for 8 days.

Trip to Northern Italy Jan 1 to Jan 17

Mad Professah and the other half are going to be spending the first two weeks of 2008 in northern Italy. We'll be spending 3 nights in Milan, 8 nights in Turin and 4 nights in Florence.