For those of you who think a gay football player is some sort of "fairy tale", I offer you this from my good friends out Outsports: the story of Brian Sims, a defensive tackle who was captain of the Bloomsburg University football team that made it all the way to the Division II Championship game in 2000.

It's amazing how much his story and Bobby's have in common. Like Bobby, his story was far from the nightmare many hear about players getting kicked off the team, harrassed, etc.

There are differences, though: Brian (not Bryan, Bobby's romantic interest in Out of the Pocket) was actively dating; and his teammates asked him, after a jilted lover spilled the beans about Brian.

I am going to contact Brian, and ask if he'll do a Q&A with me for the blog.

It only took a couple of days to adjust. Now I'm much happier and more comfortable staying in my old room.

Tons going on with the move. We rented a great house in Billings, so now we know where we'll be living. It'll be weird driving up to a place we've never been before, and saying: "hey, this is our home!" But that's how it'll be.

Making nice progress on my newest YA novel. It always takes me about a month to figure out what the story really is, and this one was no exception.

So we're staying with my mother for the final two weeks of our New York stint. We moved in Monday and yesterday (the movers screwed up and we got two days of stress for the price of one!) and it's been weird.

I mean, my mother is fantastic and it's a gorgeous apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with views of the Hudson River that most people would kill for, but it's also the apartment I grew up in.

Which means I am sleeping in my childhood bedroom. With my husband.
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Bought a car yesterday (Mazda3). Looking for a rental home in Billings. Today we've packed up and are moving in with my mother for the final two weeks before we move.

So excuse me for the lack of blog entries.

I can now officially write about something I've known for a few days: We're moving!

Chuck has given notice at his job, so it's all a go. We are moving from New York to Billings, Montana, in May. We'll drive across the country starting on May 6. I'll fly back to NY for the Lambda Literary Awards on May 28.

Why are we doing this?

Chuck got a job. It's a good job. With the Dept. of the Interior. Water law is his specialty, and this will allow him to get back to what he does best.

Update: Amazon now says this was an innocent mistake - a "glitch." How and why will be reported ad nauseam, I suppose. I am not taking this post down until this issue is clarified. But I'm open to listening...

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This hasn't yet happened to Out of the Pocket - yet - but I feel that I must get involved because this is UNACCEPTABLE. You can read about what is going on here.
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Winning two of three in Arizona isn't a big deal as far as the season goes, but it should be noted that last year, the Diamondbacks owned the Rockies, winning 15-of-18 against them.

So yeah, I'm pretty stoked be the first few games. I watched them all, and here are my five observations:

1) Spilly is for real - I wondered if Ryan Spilborghs would be able to hold off Dexter Fowler for the CF job.

When the competition really got going this year, I didn't care for Adam Lambert much. I think I just felt that he was a screamer (meaning he screamed his songs) and I thought he was just trying on a lot of costumes. Didn't feel authentic.

Boy, have I changed on this one.

His performance of the terrific song "Mad World" (Tears for Fears) was stunning.

I loved seeing this clip this morning. ABC News (I think?) staged a situation in a Linden, NJ, sports bar, putting an openly gay couple, and openly straight (and affectionate) couple, and a planted homophobe together to see how patrons would react. What happens might surprise you.

It's a new day, isn't it? I mean, it wasn't perfect, but the two men, who were doing nothing inappropriate, fared decently. Patrons stood up against the verbal abuse, and kicked out the abuser.

OK, time for 2009 MLB predictions:

AL East - Red Sox

Apologies to the Yankees, who certainly could win, and the Rays, ditto. But this team is so deep and balanced. It'll be hard to keep the Red Sox down in '09.

AL Central - Royals

Here's my Rockies'07/Rays'08 pick of '09. They're solid at the top of the rotation, there is a ton of offensive upside with young Billy Butler and Alex Gordon, enigmatic Jose Guillen and veteran acquisitions Mike Jacobs and Coco Crisp.
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