Queercents

This weekend I’m going to my alma mater’s graduation ceremony. My congratulations go out to all those graduating this spring: good luck and all the best!

• An awesome May tip for any college town–we always went to the Goodwill in June for this reason. (Read it at Get Rich Slowly)
• True story? My cell phone broke about four days after my sister stole my two-year upgrade. Damn family plan. (Read it at Finance for a Freelance Life)
• Get it, Penelope–I always like a good reason to stop complaining. (Read it at Brazen Careerist)
• I also like how things that are good for your body are usually good for your wallet. (Read it at brip blap)
• Heidi looks at the wedding industry’s recession problems. “Problems.” (Read it at BankerGirl)
• And here’s your Tegan and Sara moment of zen–tour the bus! (Read it at RollingStone.com)

Queercents Rehash: Saving for College Graduation: A little bit on how I managed it….

Although I live in Brooklyn, my family is in California. My partner Grace’s family is from Virginia. So between family visits, week-long vacations, and weekend getaways, we can be gone quite a bit. This leaves our cats, Francie and Hammy, up to their own devices, which, in all honestly, probably consist of sleeping, sleeping some more and trying to see how much hair they can get to accumulate on the rug. However our absence affects them, they seem to be a little sad whenever our departure is imminent- sleeping in our suitcases, sleeping this close to our faces, and (okay, maybe I’m projecting) giving us sad, feel-sorry-for-me faces.

I never expected my dad’s rejoinder to all my childhood pet requests to come back to me so strongly; he’d always say I’d never want to go on all my beloved vacations once I got a pet. While this is partly true- I do feel a pang of guilt and regret for leaving- having a pet to come home to is also the perfect antidote to post-vacation blues. Now that vacation season is upon us, here are some tips and considerations for making sure your pets have as nice of a time as you do when you’re gone. Read the rest of this entry »

Those are the words of my mayor, Gavin Newsom, who shared some vindicated words about yesterday’s California Supreme Court ruling that declared a ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. After all, he’s the guy that started a gay marriage frenzy here in San Francisco in 2004, and then saw those marriages ruled invalid months later.

It was a celebratory scene yesterday here in San Francisco. Homos everywhere were hands-up in joy, dancing in the street. See for yourself: click here.

Straight supporters were beaming with excitement too. One straight girl in my journalism class happily asked, “Do you think there’s a lot people getting engaged tonight? I wonder if there’s going to be a rush of June weddings.” [Maybe a mid-June rush: it will take at least 30 days for the ruling to go in effect. This SF Gate article has more info.]

Of course I was excited and grateful for the court’s decision, but at the same time I thought, OK, that’s just one more state that thinks I’m good enough to get married. You’re telling me I should be jumping up for joy because I’m being granted rights I already deserve? Read the rest of this entry »

Paolo Andino is that good looking guy from the Big Gay Sketch Show on Logo. Actually, he’s the extremely good looking guy. Oh yeah, he happens to be funny too. Nice combo! This first generation Cuban American from Miami is a rising star amongst his troupe members but off set he’s a solo entrepreneur making dough with his mixing bowls. Read on to learn about his whole wheat and high fiber cookies. In between batches, I got personal with him about acting, baking and making a living doing the things he loves.

1. How did growing up as a first generation Cuban American influence your views about money?
We grew up very mindful of the value of what we had, and not to waste anything. Eat all your food, there are people starving in other countries, that sort of thing. Both my mother and father started from nothing when they came to this country as teens. Castro only allowed women to take two dresses and a pair of shoes out of the country. My parents didn’t believe in an allowance, I mowed lawns from the age of 10 to earn some spending cash. My favorite thing to buy was a half-gallon of Heavenly Hash Ice Cream for the family — I always liked to splurge!

2. Has being openly gay helped or hurt your career?
Right now it’s definitely helping. I wouldn’t have this dream job on the Big Gay Sketch Show were it not for being gay. I have never felt like it has pigeon holed me in any way. I have an audition Monday for a pilot and the character is in love with a female co-worker. My agent sends me out for everything I’m right for, gay or not. Read the rest of this entry »

The recent collapse of Bear Stearns, and all of the pain and anguish that has accompanied it, mainly by the employees and retirees should heighten the call for a review of the line between greed and good business practices…and ‘ethical’ behavior. The shareholders took this one on the chin both the institutional, and the widow Masterson. I feel terrible for this poor woman who was living off of the dividends, and am just a little more than a tad angry at the institutional investor.

Between the board of directors, and the institutional investors, there is one word which explains this whole debacle perfectly - “greed”.

Financial Services and Wall Street can be a wonderful place to work; to earn a respectable living, even by most standards, an incredible living. But like speed - “greed” kills too. Read the rest of this entry »

My first time buying a car was absolute hell. I came on the used car lot to pick up a Toyota and left with a 2000 Dodge Neon, which later became known as the Dodge Death Trap. It was the first car I ever bought with my own credit (such as it was). It was a mostly reliable car, until I finally paid it off by transferring the last of my 14% interest loan to a 0% credit card.

It overheated. Not too badly at first, then just on hot days… or when it rained … or in traffic. The solution was always to pour more coolant into its insatiably hungry engine and keep an eye on the temp. Taking it in to Jiffy Lube for a coolant flush seemed to work for a little while. I put the car in neutral at stop lights and when it got hot vented the heat through floorboards of my car. In the summer.

Finally in 2007, as it was warming up, I’d had enough. Repair was one option but I’d had the car for five years and truthfully hated driving it. Automobile repair is worse than the dentist for me and once a car really starts to break I don’t feel safe driving it. It was time to buy a car. Read the rest of this entry »

Is attending networking events draining your business cash flow dry? Are you being eaten alive by the high cost of memberships, dues, and business dinners? Perhaps it is time to rethink your networking strategy.

Networking is perhaps the #1 way to build a business and career. I spoke about what real networking is all about in a recent post. It is not sleazy salesmen in cheap suits and it is definitely not business card exchanges that leave you with three inches of recyclable trash in your hands and no relationships to show for it.

With some networking events costing hundreds of dollars, mediocre dinner meetings costing $50 and up, and the cost of travel spiking with every moment that ticks from the funky Bush/oil company co-Presidency, you can easily drive your business budget in the ground. Any good business person knows that you need to have a real return on your investment of time, money, and energy to make any business undertaking worthwhile. So, how can you best apply those principles to the business of networking? Read the rest of this entry »

Serena Freewomyn has a way with words. She also has a way with food. In January, she began attending Le Cordon Bleu’s Culinary Management Program at Scottsdale Culinary Institute. In between all the braising and sautéing, she’s a contributing writer at the The Bilerico Project and recently interviewed Top Chef contestants and partners in life: Zoi Antonitsas and Jennifer Bietsy. She has big restaurant-owning dreams that are backed up with a solid plan to get her there. These are her words…

When Nina approached me about writing a piece for Queercents, I was pretty flattered. After giving it some more thought, I think she must be nuts! What could I possibly have to say about money that would be of interest to anyone?

Like most of my friends, I am worried about how I’m going to pay back my student loans. I’m currently going to culinary school and racking up at big stack of loans that will take forever to pay back. Working in the restaurant industry comes with long hours and very low pay. So why would I decide to go into the restaurant industry and aspire to open my own restaurant, when something like 60% of new restaurants go out of business in the first two years? What the hell was I thinking? Read the rest of this entry »