Souls tend to go back to who feels like home. N.R. Hart This past Friday is a day I will long cherish. My college friend, Wendy, lives in Australia now but comes back home to the states from time to time. We last saw each other before the pandemic — too long! Freed now of … Continue reading A Day to Remember a Lifetime of Memories
Author: Bob Laycock (He/Him)
Missing the Point: Meditation, Rumination & Journaling
I've come to realize that 2022 has apparently been a very hard year for me emotionally. A series of big events have apparently thrown me for a loop: a life-changing political upheaval in April, a distressing family hospitalization, and several months of chaos & disruption with two home renovation projects. I didn't fully appreciate the … Continue reading Missing the Point: Meditation, Rumination & Journaling
National Coming Out Day 2022 — It’s Never Been More Important
A list of support resources is provided at the end. October 11 was declared National Coming Out Day in 1988 to mark the first anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. It had been almost 20 years since the 1969 Stonewall riots when thousands of us descended on Washington DC … Continue reading National Coming Out Day 2022 — It’s Never Been More Important
Review: A Story as Compelling as the Great Wall
"William Lindesay OBE is a British geographer, a research fellow at his alma mater, Liverpool University, and a recipient of The Special Award of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. After a milestone journey of 2,500 km on foot along the Great Wall in 1987, Lindesay returned to China in 1990 to retrace sections of the Long March. … Continue reading Review: A Story as Compelling as the Great Wall
Sadness, Beauty & Friendship on a Summer Weekend
Life seems so busy these days with constant activity here. As friends are probably tired of hearing, we've been having our kitchen and two bathrooms redone. We coming up on eight weeks and are growing weary of contractors, noise, dust, cooking in the laundry room and garage, and doing dishes in the bathtub. Demolition was … Continue reading Sadness, Beauty & Friendship on a Summer Weekend
Two Brothers Walk the Great Wall of China End-to-End
Updated with the latest video on November 29, 2022. My grandfather, Dr. William Edgar Geil, walked the entire length of China's Great Wall in 1908. He is first person ever documented to have done so. He photographed his journey using the technology of his time. The images are on large heavy glass slides viewed with … Continue reading Two Brothers Walk the Great Wall of China End-to-End
Deja Vu All Over Again: The New Wave of Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks
Effective today, beginning with this post, I am adopting the expanded acronym of LGBTQ+ over simply LGBT. As I've delved deeper into transgender issues, I've come to understand the old acronym is too limiting. The "LGBT" community is broader and more diverse than the traditional 4 letters represent. There's nothing wrong with "LGBT" and it's … Continue reading Deja Vu All Over Again: The New Wave of Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks
Exercising the Gratitude Muscle
Some time ago I started keeping a Gratitude Journal. My intent was to pay attention to the good things and be happier. I do everything electronically so I installed the Thankful app on my iPhone. There are other apps, or I could have used a note pad or paper journal. Even a matchbook. The medium … Continue reading Exercising the Gratitude Muscle
My Cancer Journey Post-Radiation: A Happy Ending?
This post from February 24 is revised to include an Addendum following my first post-radiation blood test and exam on March 18. The results are very promising as you'll see at the end here. This afternoon I completed my 45-day regimen of daily external beam radiation treatments for prostate cancer. Amazingly, most of the side … Continue reading My Cancer Journey Post-Radiation: A Happy Ending?