Updated 1/4/09
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
- 2008 was, by all means, a challenging year for America and the
world. Fittingly, Josh and Ken's year ended with a bit of
unexpected adversity. On arriving at the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport
for their 12/31 afternoon flight to Rhode Island, they were met with a
brief delay, followed by a longer delay, followed by a complete
cancellation of their flight. The cause: massive snow in New
England that closed the T.F. Green airport's runways. Ever
resourceful--and eager to avoid missing the Israel family's New Years
Eve celebration and the food that comes with it--the peripatetic pair
proceeded to their parked car and drove for the next eight hours,
arriving just in time to pose for the last 2008 family picture
(or possibly the first family picture of 2009).
- On their return drive, Josh and Ken stopped in Connecticut expressly so
they could add a page for the Constitution State on the website's travels section.
- Tops among the new year's resolutions: frequent updates to this
page. Check back often--or at least occasionally--for news and photos.
Updated 12/14/08
Happy holidays from the land of
transition. Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich are not the only people
who've had a busy few weeks!
- Ken made his third trip to Israel and the West Bank, exploring Jerusalem, Nablus, Ramallah, and Bethlehem.
Josh spent the time making his
own trip to see Israels--his parents in Rhode Island.
- After more than two years as an assistant desk officer at USAID,
Ken has been promoted to be a full-fledged desk officer. His new area
of focus will include Guatemala and Honduras.
- Josh's months-long work as project coordinator for the Center for
Public Integrity's Broken Government project
receives the ultimate tribute: spoofing on Comedy Central's Indecision 2008 blog.
- Ken and Josh traveled to Houston for Thanksgiving
with Ken's family. Unlike the last time they did this, no wedding
proposals ensued... but they had a rather nice time anyway.
- The duo also continued their series of brisk hikes up to high
places with a lovely trek up Old Rag in
Virginia's breathtaking Shenandoah mountains.
- Ken and his book, The Rising
Storm, are featured in a Washington Blade Q&A.
And Josh says: "The book makes a great
holiday gift."
Updated 9/27/08
- Ken dragged Josh on his first trip to South America, where they
visited Peru: Lima,
Cusco, and Machu Picchu. An amazing country full of wonderful
people, breathtaking sights, and really good Peruvian chicken!
- Not long before the South American trip, Josh and Ken journeyed,
with friends Devin, Mike, Sara, and Jon, on a camping, hiking and
whitewater tubing trip to Harpers
Ferry, West Virginia. Highlights included seeking wild snakes,
successfully building a campfire, and finding the local Sheetz
convenience store for frozen soft drinks.
Updated 8/24/08
- Three pictures of Ken's marathon performance are now available, here, here, and here.
- A news report for the NLGJA
2008 convention examines the Census Bureau's refusal to count
same-sex marriages as marriages in the 2010 census and spotlights Josh and
Ken as an idyllic duo.
- The Muckrakers finished the season a disappointing 1-6-1.
Josh has pledged to be less critical of Red Sox manager Terry Francona
from now on... maybe.
Updated 8/16/08
- Ken ran the 2008 San
Francisco Marathon in an impressive 4
hours and 8 minutes. Josh ran around the neighborhood for 8
minutes. Ironically, Josh was more tired. Ken finished
ahead of more than half of those in his age group.
- Josh and Ken journeyed to "Wild, Wonderful West Virginia" with
their friends Devin, Mike, and Stephanie and took a day-long rafting trip
down the New River in Oak Hill, WV.
- The Muckrakers softball team continues to struggle to a 1-5-1
record. Sources report that the team is not likely to rehire manager
Josh Israel for next season.
Updated 7/27/08
- Josh proudly has managed
the Center for Public Integrity Muckrakers softball team to a
so-far winless but fun season --- and the organization's move to a
brand-new website.
- Ken and Josh ventured to Ithaca, NY, Josh's
boyhood
home, and visited Cornell, Ithaca College, Taughannock Falls,
Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca Falls, and Lucifer Falls. Ithaca remains
Gorges. On the way home, they stopped in Corning, NY to see the
world-famous Corning Museum of Glass.
- Watch this space over the upcoming months for updates on Ken's
first marathon and Josh and Ken's upcoming trip to Peru!
Updated 5/31/08
- Now this is more like it --- two updates in one month.
- In honor of Ken's sister Jen's
birthday, Ken and Josh spent Memorial Day weekend in sunny Buena Vista,
Florida with Ken's entire family and accomplished a remarkable feat:
EIGHT theme parks in three days. Visits to Disney's Hollywood Studios,
Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, and DisneyQuest
-- plus Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure -- provided the gang
with plenty of roller coasters, 3D films, flumes, animatronic
performances, overpriced sodas, and photos. Josh was
thrilled that the Carousel of Progress is still awesome (even if
Figment's Journey Into Imagination is not) and Ken was relieved that
not ALL of the rides involved spinning, shaking, and so forth.
Updated 5/10/08
- It is a bit embarrassing that it is already May and this is the
first update. Humble apologies to our legions of frequent
visitors. And, it turns out that promise of many more wedding
pictures (from the 12/9/07 update) is still incomplete. Sorry :).
- The happy duo spent New Year's in Houston, Texas. Josh was
baffled by his December 31st outside of the Eastern time zone, as the
ball dropped while the clock said 11pm.
- In late April, Ken and Josh traveled to Josh's dad's
homeland--the great state of Utah! While Josh
enjoyed showing Ken the stunning scenery of Salt Lake City, Ken enjoyed
dragging Josh on nearly every hiking trail in Zion National Park.
Beautiful weather abounded and Josh was blissfully sated by trips to
the Old Spaghetti Factory in the Trolley Square Mall
and Marie Callender's.
Ken relived childhood memories at ShopKo and looking at
the outside of a Godfather's
Pizza. And both were horrified as their plane home suddenly
"aborted takeoff" at the last second due to a door malfunction--but
were relieved that the plane landed on the first try, back in DC.
- Ken's family made an early May swing through the Capitol region
and joined Ken and Josh for a game at the beautiful new DC baseball
stadium.
- Josh designed a website of his mother's incredible clay
work. Check out www.judiisrael.com!
- Ken and Josh have joined their neighborhood's community garden
and are hoping that with enough fingerpaint, their thumbs might
eventually look green. The first spouts from their snap peas have
sprung--along with a lot of weeds. Josh and Ken are busily trying to
discern which is which.
- Josh has recently been made project coordinator for The
Buying of the President 2008 and has been interviewing all sorts of
former and current presidential candidates (including Senator Mike
Gravel, Congresswoman
Patricia Schroeder, Senator
Tom Harkin, and Congressman
Pete McCloskey). He has been interviewed on the topic by Pacifica
Radio, XM Radio's POTUS08, The
Huffington Post, Bloomberg Television, and media outlets in Korea,
South America, and Italy. But, most importantly, he's been tasked with
managing the 2008 Center for Public Integrity Muckrakers softball
season. Go Mucks!
- Ken continues to work to make sure USAID's international
assistance goes smoothly and helps those who need it most. He was
featured in a Rockville monthly paper as an acclaimed local
author and civic activist.
Updated 12/9/07
- Happy holidays all! The first few wedding pictures are
finally posted (see here,
here, and here). MANY
more will be coming, once they've been sorted and uploaded.
- Josh and Ken recently took a somewhat disappointing day trip to
NYC (hint: If you're considering seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway and you're
over age 25, you'll probably not be all that impressed)... but were
happy to come back with at least two decent pictures (here and here).
- And, oh yeah, Ken spent two weeks in the Middle East for
work. While there, he visited historic Petra, Jordan (most
known nowadays as the place from Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade). Despite a small bout of food poisoning in Tel Aviv, he
got back in one piece. On his return, Ken flew to Colorado
Springs to spent Thanksgiving with his grandparents and then dashed to
Providence for a second Thanksgiving dinner with the Israel
family. Josh and Ken will be in Texas for New Years with Ken's
family and will avoid airplanes at all costs for at least a few weeks
following that.
Updated 11/4/07
- We did it! On October 20, 2007, at an intimate ceremony in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, Josh and Ken tied the knot officially.
Thanks go to all those who made the day so memorable and to the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts for recognizing ALL marriages
equally. Look forward wedding pictures here just as soon as they
come back from the photographer!
- On the 21st, Josh and Ken departed the Bay State for their
honeymoon. Over a spectacular week, Josh and Ken began in San
Francisco, drove up the Pacific Coast Highway, journeyed through
Oregon, and ended up in Seattle! Along the way, they stayed in
northern California, Portland, and Olympia. A few photos from California, Oregon, and Washington are online
now.
- Congratulations to the 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox! Their
remarkable 7-game postseason winning streak coincided perfectly with
the wedding and honeymoon.
Updated 9/2/07
- And you thought we'd stopped updating! Well, we kinda
had. Ken and Josh are settled and happy in their condo in King Farm.
- They are busily planning their October 20, 2007 wedding, which
will take them to historic Cambridge, MA for the ceremony and to
California, Oregon, and Washington state for the honeymoon. If
you're wondering, they are registered at Williams-Sonoma
and Bed
Bath & Beyond (but don't feel obligated just because you read
their website--your cyber-presense is present enough, dear
reader). Ken's coworkers were even kind enough to honor the two
of them with a recent wedding shower.
- Ken's book continues to sell well and garner positive
attention. He'll be doing another booksigning at the 2007
Affirmation Conference.
- Josh's current project for the Center for Public Integrity, The Buying of the President 2008
website, will launch later this month. His previous project,
the Takings Initiatives Accountability Project, has been named a
finalist for the 2007 Society
of Environmental Journalists award for outstanding online reporting.
- Josh
and Ken
have both been proud to have been part of the 2007 Center for Public
Integrity Muckrakers softball team in the Congressional Softball League.
Now that he's experienced it first hand, Josh has been noticeably less
vocal in his criticisms when certain Red Sox infielders miss routine
ground balls that they have no business freaking missing that cost the
team the darned game and let the Yankees gain an entire game in the
standings at a time when every game counts more than ever. Okay,
maybe not.
- Ken has been writing a series of articles for two monthly local
newspapers, the King Farm Chronicle
and the Kentlands Town Crier, examining
issues from local school redistricting to price-comparing at nearby
grocery stores.
- Josh and Ken have hosted a parade of guests including their combined families
for the 2007 Capital Pride festival.
Updated 5/12/07
- Greetings from Maryland. Josh and Ken have traded in their
Arlington, VA apartment and their Commonwealth of Virginia voter
registrations for their first
condo--in the Free State (Josh was a little disappointed to find
out that, despite Maryland's moniker, the property was in fact far from
gratis). Josh's mom flew in from Rhode Island to help build Ikea
furniture and organize.
- The Rising Storm has been
garnering raves from readers. Ken did his first book-signing this
week, at Lambda Rising in Washington, DC.
Updated 2/25/07
- To celebrate Josh's birthday, Ken's birthday, Valentine's Day,
Ken and Josh's 3rd anniversary, Ken and Josh's engagement, and (of
course) Presidents' Day, Josh and Ken made their way across the
Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom for a five day trip to London!
Highlights included a guided tour of Parliament, three West End shows (Blood
Brothers, Billy
Elliot, and The
History Boys), and riding The
Tube to sites all across the city. Lowlights only included
Ken accidentally leaving his glasses at the hotel and having to arrange
overseas shipping.
- In other news, Ken's new novel, The Rising Storm has been
published. Buy your copy today.
Updated 1/6/07
Updated 12/17/06
- While Josh has been busily working on the beginnings of his next
project at the Center for Public Integrity, the upcoming book and
website THE BUYING OF THE PRESIDENT 2008, Ken has just returned from
his little excursion to the middle east. There, he visited the beaches of Tel Aviv,
the historic sites of
the Old
City in Jerusalem and even some of the projects he's working on
in the West Bank. He's now safely back home and has just about
recovered from the seven-hour time difference. Josh and Ken wish
you all a very Happy Hannukah (or Channakah, Hanaka, or Chanukoh), a
Merry
Christmas (or X-Mas, or Isaac Newton's Birthday), a Happy Kwanzaa, a
beautiful Winter Solstice,a prosperous New Year, and any appropriate
holiday greetings (and spelling thereof).
*** BREAKING NEWS ***
11/26/06
- Ken is currently on a two-and-a-half week trip to Tel Aviv,
Israel for work. Before he left, Josh and Ken spent Thanksgiving
in Houston, Texas with Ken's family (pictured here).
As they
sat down to the big feast, Ken asked to make a few remarks. He
recited a top five list of reasons he loves Josh... at the conclusion
of which, he got down on his knee, produced a ring, and proposed.
Josh, not being a total moron, was smart enough to immediately
accept. Thus, Josh
and Ken are
now ENGAGED. Ken's family (at the table) and Josh's (RI,
phoned moments later with the news) were thrilled. On the return
flight, Ken mentioned the news to the flight attendant; again to Josh's
surprise, they announced "Ken and Josh, seated in seats 16 B and C
today, just got engaged over Thanksgiving. We want to extend our
congratulations to them." The other passengers applauded.
It was a magical weekend. No date or location has been set yet,
but Josh and Ken are thrilled to be calling each other "fiancée."
And, oh yes, thanks to Ken's mom, the Thanksgiving dinner was
magnificent, too!
Note: better pictures to come when the rest of the family sends their
photos of the occasion.
Updated 11/10/06
- Josh and Ken are both recovering from Election Night. While
Josh spent his first election on the sidelines, covering the largely
unsuccessful West Coast ballot initiatives dealing with land-use
restrictions, Ken took an active role in getting out the vote.
The results of his labors: Senator-Elect Jim Webb, a Democratic Senate,
the re-election of our Democratic Congressman, and a Democratic House
led by Speaker-to-be Nancy
Pelosi and Majority Leader-to-be Steny Hoyer.
Ken has just
learned he'll be in Tel Aviv for work in
late November-early December; Josh is taking notes as he watches Ken
microwave food, so he can prepare meals while Ken's away. Ken and
Josh both wish a very happy 5th birthday to Ken's brother Benjamin,
who is already working on his doctoral dissertation.
Updated 10/9/06
- Happy Columbus Day. Ken just returned from visiting his
family his Houston. Josh just returned from visiting his family
and seeing the national touring company of William Finn's hit musical The 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee in New England. Both of us enjoyed the
home-cooked food and the chance to get away from the DC metro area for
a few days. Josh's first project at the Center for Public
Integrity, the Takings
Initiatives Accountability Project is now online and features
several articles and interviews under his own byline! Meanwhile,
Ken -- when not busy at work trying to solve century-old
ethnic/religious conflicts -- is for the second year in a row
volunteering as a tutor for local high school and middle school
students in Arlington. Both and Ken and Josh are looking forward
to their Thanksgiving trip to Texas (especially the chance to visit
Austin--which will be Josh's first time in the Texas Capitol); no word
yet on whether Texas is looking forward to the visit.
Updated 8/24/06
- On September 5th, Josh officially begins his new job as at
the Center
for Public Integrity in Washington, DC. Given the
non-partisan and journalistic nature of the job, Josh stepped down this
week as President of the Virginia
Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club after an unprecedented
four years in the position. In his first act as President, Josh's
replacement appointed Ken to be the new Secretary of the organization.
- Pictures from Virginia Beach trip visit with Ken's family and North Carolina trip are
now online.
Updated 7/22/06
- Pictures from Great Falls, MD hike and Annapolis day-trip
added to Maryland page.
Updated 7/8/06
