Let me begin by saying clearly and without exaggeration that The New York Times is the record of civilization. Some of you may find that to be an odd statement; Fosco stands by it. He's not saying the NYT is perfect, nor is he an apologist for its many failures. He generally finds their coverage of things they don't understand to be snide or dismissive. And yes, he recognizes that their sports coverage is really myopic. But despite all of those flaws, there is no other publication in the world that attempts as ambitiously (and ...

Fosco recently realized that, by only blogging for three months last year, he never got to share tons of pictures with you from the rest of the year. So, for the next week or so, Fosco will offer a series of brief posts with some of his favorite pictures from his adventures in 2008. Check out the whole series here.While Fosco and Oz were in DC for Derek and Maria's wedding, they also got a chance to do some very quick sightseeing. Oz had never been to DC, so the National Mall was a must. Here are ...

Fosco recently realized that, by only blogging for three months last year, he never got to share tons of pictures with you from the rest of the year. So, for the next week or so, Fosco will offer a series of brief posts with some of his favorite pictures from his adventures in 2008. Check out the whole series here.Last January, Fosco was in Vegas for an academic conference. You certainly see some things of questionable taste in Vegas:You might not be able to see it, but those pants are desert camouflage. And can you see the ...

Fosco recently realized that, by only blogging for three months last year, he never got to share tons of pictures with you from the rest of the year. So, for the next week or so, Fosco will offer a series of brief posts with some of his favorite pictures from his adventures in 2008. The first picture comes from Fosco's January 2008 in South Bend, Indiana (where grammar goes to die):Hmmm. Let's hope they got this guy and not this guy. ...

As mentioned in a recent comment, Fosco's friend The Queen BeeMistress prefers to parse the URL of this blog (www.foscolives.com) as "Fosc Olives." (For clarity, it is important to note that Fosc is not an actual cultivar or brand of olives and consequently, Fosco has incurred no unintended legal liability.) Well, the Queen and her BeeMaster apparently had a little time on their hands and they worked up this lovely gift:This is great fun, of course, and much appreciated; however, there are a few thoughts that occur to Fosco when he looks at this label:

• just to be perfectly

...

As predicted, Fosco and Oz did nothing particularly sexy or exciting for New Year's Eve. Well, unless you count a quick trip to Target (neither do we).But seriously, while our plans were low-key, it was actually just right. We started the evening with dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants (we eat there a couple of times a month), Barracuda. Although the original location is in The Castro, Fosco and Oz much prefer the less-hip, less-crowded branch at California's Most Filipino Mall in Daly City (it's also like 5 minutes from Oz's apartment). ...

The New Year, the New Year. Everywhere the New Year! The Old Year was already looked upon as dead; and its effects were selling cheap like some drowned mariner's aboardship. Its patterns were Last Year's and going at a sacrifice, before its breath was gone. Its treasures were mere dirt, beside the riches of its unborn successor!Charles Dickens, "The Chimes"It's the end of 2008 and Fosco has that same urge as every other blogger to write an end-of-the-year list. While Fosco admires the ambition of a project like The Golden Teddies, he just doesn't have the energy to ...

Here's one more installment of Fosco's favorite selections from Vanity Fair's "An Oral History of the Bush White House" and this one's pretty horrible. If you thought the 9/11 attacks only got hijacked for political purposes later (Hi Rudy!), you may be surprised to find out that it wasn't even 9/12 before some of the more cynical members of Bush's inner circle hatched their schemes. This is testimony from Richard Clarke about the Administration's immediate reaction to 9/11: Richard Clarke: That night, on 9/11, Rumsfeld came over and the others, and the president finally got back, ...

You may have noticed that there are occasional disagreements in the Comments between Fosco and his good friend The BeeMaster (not pictured at right). Fosco and The BeeMaster go way back--in fact, The BeeMaster is one of the kindest people that Fosco knows. This may surprise you, as Fosco is pretty leftish and The BeeMaster is a fire-breathing conservative. But, stranger things have happened. In all honesty, Fosco likes to think that his ongoing discussion with The BeeMaster is a pretty nice example of Obama's dictum about "disagreeing without being disagreeable."Most recently, Fosco and The BeeMaster have been ...

In case you missed it while you were playing Rock Band 2 all weekend, Frank Rich had an excellent op-ed piece in the NYTimes about the whole Rick Warren inauguration kerfuffle. Fosco, like a lot of gays, has been trying to come to terms with Obama's choice in a way that doesn't minimize its hurtfulness without overplaying its importance (and Fosco will be first to admit that he has yet to find the right balance). Luckily, Frank Rich's column does all of Fosco's work for him. [Before we begin, I have to know: do ...

Fosco saw this on KFR. Point: you type in your first and last names and it tells you how many people share your name. HowManyOfMe.comThere are316 people with my name in the U.S.A.How many have your name?Fosco (well, actually, the real human being behind the Fosco avatar) is a little surprised, as he's always thought his name is pretty common. At least it seems common. Did you know that this is fewer than the number of people in the US who have the surname "Crotch"? Seriously (337 vs. 316). Also, did you know that there are 47 ...

Fosco just took an online quiz called Is Your Man Gay? (N.B., the quiz asks for your email before displaying results, BUT you do not need to enter a real email to get them...). This seems like an important question, as Fosco and Oz are getting pretty serious and thinking about marriage (thanks for nothing, California). As the site notes,Nobody wants to think their significant other is playing for the other team, but anything is possible. Some men are in a committed relationship and living on the down low. Is there a chance your man might prefer ...