The Dooryard

The birds have come

In August, on one of our two trips to the Catskills, I bought a bird feeder to hang outside our apartment in Manhattan. When I was a kid, I loved birds. I got it from my grandmother, who had probably a half dozen bird feeders around her house when I was growing up. We both had Roger Tory Peterson bird books, and we'd compare the birds we saw. I distinctly remember the day I saw my first scarlet tanager, a thrill for me as a kid.

Dan made fun of me when I bought the bird feeder, and he continued to make fun of me for three months as day in and day out the level of seed in the feeder never went down. Until two weeks ago; he awoke one morning to find two birds perched on the feeder eating. It felt like magic when I later woke up and saw them: A pair of house finches sitting on the railing, fluttering up to the feeder (right), and eating the basil seeds in the basil plants that had long-since passed in my herb garden. They've been coming just about every day since they first found the feeder, and I must say I love having the little visitors. It's like having a bit of nature on our sixth-floor patio in the middle of Manhattan.

The one who loves the birds most: Toby. When he sees them, he freaks out, crouches down and stalks them as though there isn't a glass window stopping him from ever getting them. He's become so obsessed that throughout the day he stops what he's doing (napping, playing) to look up at the bird feeder to see if his new friends have returned.

Toys for Tots 2007

The 22nd (believe it or not) annual Toys For Tots party in Manhattan will have some familiarity and some changes. The biggest changes are a $35 ticket price and a need to buy a ticket in advance of the party. The beauty of the party in the past is that it's cost the price of a toy to get in. That has opened it up for anyone who can pull together $10 in change to buy a toy. Unfortunately, this year it's going to cost $45 (the ticket and a toy, which will be at least $10), and some people who get priced out of every other fun gay party will be priced out of this one, too.

I know it doesn't seem like a lot to most of the affluent gay Manhattanites who go to these things, but $45 is just out of the price range of many people, gay or straight. It's my constant complaint about gay culture: That it is elitist because the "lower class" is kept out of the who's-who parties. This party was always the exception to that rule. Oh well. I'm sure the organizers have good reason for wanting to raise $70,000 in ticket prices, so this isn't a criticism of them. It just sucks that this one great annual party is evolving into every other higher-priced gay gala.

One thing kind of does bug me a bit. Maybe this is how it's always been, but I never realized it. Three of the organizations this event is benefitting are religious institutions: Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, Brick Presbyterian Church, and St. Ann's Episcopal Church. Given I have no desire to support any religious institution, chances are I'll (sadly) be skipping this year, unless Dan tells me I have to go. There are no good NFL games that afternoon, so maybe.

Party specs:
Toys For Tots 2007
Metropolitan Pavilion (125 W. 18th Street)
Sunday, Dec. 2, 5pm-9pm
You must by a ticket in advance

Members of the media overwhelmingly donating to the Dems

I haven't been paying much attention to the election, since I can't even cast a vote for another four months or so. I heard some rumblings about Hillary Clinton's "plantgate" (shocker) and Giuliani picking up Pat Robertson's endorsement (an actual shocker). But I stumbled across this on The Huffington Post (a little vomit in my mouth): A great service that tells you who has donated money to what candidates.

On the off chance that you still don't believe that the media is biased, try these numbers on for size:

• Of all the people whose job description is "journalist," 96.7% gave to Democrats; the other 3.3% gave to Republicans.
• Of all the people whose job description is "writer," 87.3% gave to Democrats; the other 12.7% to the GOP.
• There has long been a claim that, while the writers are liberal, the people with power are conservative Republicans. Not so. Of all the "editors," 84.2% gave to Democrats, and 67.1% of "publishers" gave to Democrats.

I also tried a few job descriptions of other kinds of people of interest to my life:

• 82.7% of all "plumbers" gave to the GOP.
• 50.1% of all "athletes" gave to the GOP.
• 52.4% of all "dentists" gave to a Democrat.