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LGBT Senior’s Tech Talk: Video Calling for People Who Hate Video Calling
Video Calling for People Who Hate Video Calling
I’ll admit to having come into the video calling age with great reluctance. I’m not really a video person to begin with – the idea of scrolling through video after video looking for more amusement just doesn’t appeal to me – and feeling forced to Zoom and Skype (before its demise) and Facetime and all of it was unpleasant. But COVID hit and isolation set it. Suddenly we were dragged into the world of telehealth calls and working from home if that was at all possible. Then I started offering writing workshops, and video became very important to me.
Now I Zoom frequently and like it. I record my weekly co-hosts Twist Podcast on Zoom, and I’ve conducted a number of workshops that way. Having people take a workshop when they live in California or Spain isn’t exactly doable without video.
A lot of us came to video calling late and under that kind of duress. Many of us are still not sure if it’s something we want to use to our benefit, or something to endure.
If you’re in the latter camp, here’s the thing — video calling is almost always awkward at first, and then it isn’t. The trick is lowering the barrier to entry as much as possible.
Start with FaceTime if you have an iPhone and so does the person you’re calling. It’s the simplest option — one button, no account required beyond your Apple ID, and the quality is excellent. For Android users, Google Meet comes pre-installed on most phones and works just as cleanly.
Zoom is worth learning if you want to join group calls or community events, which are increasingly hosted there. The free version is more than adequate for personal use. Download it, create a free account, and practice with a friend or family member before you need it for anything important.
A few things that make video calling easier: prop your phone or tablet up rather than holding it, so your hands are free and the camera is at eye level. Good lighting matters more than you’d think — face a window or a lamp rather than having light behind you. And don’t worry about looking directly at the camera. Most people look at the screen, which is fine.
The discomfort fades faster than you’d expect. And seeing someone’s face — really seeing it — turns out to matter more than most of us realized before we had to go without it.
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‘The Gospel According to God’ from ‘5 of a Kind: Short Fiction’ by Mark McNease (AUDIO)
CLICK THE PLAYER OR HERE TO LISTEN
I’ll be sharing one story at a time in audio version from my collection ‘5 of a Kind: Short Fiction.’
“The Gospel According to God”, narrated by my own Wondervox, is the first story the collection. Spanning human history from primordial silence to a chance encounter on a Central Park bench, the story traces what happens when people mistake the infinite for a brick and the boundless for a rulebook — including Eric, a pre-literate mystic who discovers the divine lives inside every person and is killed for saying so.
Threading through the ancient scenes is Melissa, a young theater major from Michigan who arrives in New York City chasing a dream and finds herself ambushed by wonder. Riding subways and navigating the beautiful chaos of the city, she begins to sense something watching back — curious and unhurried.
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LGBT Senior’s News on the Positive Side- by Cora Berke: Hungary Comes Through
Cora Berke News on the Positive Side- by Cora Berke
“Each one of us matters, has a role to play, and makes a difference.”- Jane Goodall
On April 21, 2026, the European Union’s top court in Luxembourg ruled against Hungary’s anti- LGBTQ+ rules, making this the first move toward equality since 2021. Supported by 15 countries and the European Parliament, the court said,” We welcome today’s landmark ruling judgment of the court. This is the first time that the court finds such a violation of a key treaty provision on the EU values.”
The Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance, under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, enacted this legislation in 2021, banning children from accessing LGBTQ+ content. The high court in Luxembourg argued that this was a shame and extended beyond to discriminating against the entire LGBTQ+ community. Pride Parades were banned and police were able to use face-recognition cameras for those in attendance. LGBTQ+ books, films and theater performances were also banned, all under the guise of protecting children.
The court stated, “Hungary has significantly deviated from the model of a constitutional democracy based on a value judgment that homosexual and non-cisgender life is not of equal value or status as heterosexual and cisgender life.”
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The Twist Podcast 326: Luggage Cart Wars, Rick Joins Substack, and An Interview with Angela Luna
Welcome to The Twist, episode 326. We have a packed show for you today. The luggage cart wars are real — we’re talking about the unspoken battlefield of airports and hotels where perfectly reasonable people turn into territorial strangers over a metal cart on wheels. Rick Rose has officially joined Substack, and we’ll get into what drove that decision and what he’s planning to do with it. We also have a terrific interview with Angela Luna that covers some real ground.
Beyond that, it’s a full episode — we get into what’s been bugging us this week, because there is always something. We have our Hit List recommendations, the things we’ve been watching, reading, eating, and generally can’t stop talking about. And Jo stops by with her weekly wisdom, because every episode needs a little Jo.
All of that on episode 326 of The Twist.
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Editor’s Thoughts: AI and the End of Talent
AI and the End of Talent
By Mark McNease / EditorHaving been given something I know was written by AI and asked what I thought of it, as if the person had written it themself, and responding with “That’s very well written,” I realized that the end of talent – the years of development, the craft, the skill, that unique something that makes a writer a truly good writer – may be upon us. I know a lot of what I read now online is not written by humans, but it’s only recently that I viewed it from the perspective of someone who has been writing for 55 years and who has always enjoyed the thrill of discovering someone who was truly gifted), and realizing that AI is getting so good that it can make talent obsolete.
I’m not a hater. I use Claude, and find it very helpful when I’m stuck on plot, or I need to figure out a transition. But there is a not-so-fine line that, when crossed, makes decades of learning and growing and honing and crafting almost pointless. And that, I think, is the true imposter syndrome: not to believe that we are writers when we’re not, but to believe we are good ones when all we have written are prompts. I started writing at the age of 10 because it was and remains a magical experience, a zone of imagination that requires skill and time and effort and finesse and revision and listening and more revision and the silence of the blank page. To find ourselves approaching a point where “anyone can do that” with ChatGPT or Claude makes it all nearly pointless. I still want to thrill to the discovery of a wordsmith and a talented writer, without wondering if they actually wrote it. Will I stop using AI as a tool? No. Will I let it make me irrelevant? I hope not.
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LGBT Senior Featured Essay: A Rose By Any Other Name, by Rick Rose
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL AS SWEET
By Rick RoseShakespeare knew something about names. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet argues that a name is just a label — that the thing itself is what matters.
Names matter enormously. They stick. They follow you into every room, every relationship, every first impression for the rest of your life. And the decision to give someone a name — that tiny human with no say in the matter — is one of the most consequential decisions a parent will ever make.
No pressure.
Certainly, popular names have their appeal and are easy. The Jennifers. The Michaels. The Emmas and the Liams. Share the name with me, and I will often know your age. These are safely field-tested, tried and true so much that they recycle and resurface every few generations. But there’s another school of thought — that a name should feel like your name. Something that landed in your gut and felt true.
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Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast: Genre Classic ‘The Mystery of the Yellow Room’ by Gaston Leroux (Chapters 1 – 6)
Today we continue our serialized audio journey through one of the great classics of detective fiction: The Mystery of the Yellow Room, by Gaston Leroux — presented here in the Vivid Press Edition.
First published in 1907, this novel gave the world one of its most enduring puzzles: a woman attacked in a room locked from the inside, with no possible means of escape for her assailant. No hidden doors. No passable windows. No explanation — until a brilliant young reporter named Joseph Rouletabille decides to find one.
If you’ve never read it, you’re in for something special. If you have, welcome back to one of the finest locked-room mysteries ever written.
In today’s episode, we bring you Chapters Seven through Ten.
Sit back, settle in, and enjoy “The Mystery of the Yellow Room” by Gaston Leroux. Narration provided by Wondervox.
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LGBT Senior’s Weekly Writing Prompt: The Life You’re Living Now
LGBTSr’s Weekly Writing Prompt
We spend a lot of journaling time mining the past. But what about the present? The life unfolding around us this week, this month, this season? Not who we were, not who we are or who we want to become.
Consider a few prompts that address the present we’re living in an write about one, more, or none of them!
- Your current relationship with time. Do you feel like you have enough of it? Where does it go? What are you giving it to willingly, and what is taking more if it than you want to spend?
- The work you’re doing right now. What feels meaningful? What feels like noise?
- Who you’re becoming. What is changing in you? What older version of yourself are you letting go of, or want to?
- Your body in the present tense: How are you sleeping? Eating? Moving? What is your body asking for that you keep postponing?
- The relationships currently shaping you. Who are you spending time with, and how do you feel afterward?
- What you’re avoiding—an honest look at the one thing or things staring back at you that you just don’t want to do.
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LGBT Senior’s Health Beat: A Bicycle Built for You – Bike Riding for Older Adults
Once upon a time we had two bikes in the garage at our New Jersey house we came to on weekends. Since moving here full time eight years ago, we’ve dropped it to a single bike that is rusting in a shed. After promising myself for several years that I’d get a new bike and start riding around the country roads just outside our door, I finally did it! Luckily it’s a used bike in good condition that was given to me by some friends. I’d mentioned I was going to buy one, and they said they had two they never use. Voila! We both have new bicycles, and when the weather finally cooperates I’ll be seen gliding around the back roads with a helmet and a smile. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at some sage bike advice.
There’s no age limit on the open road — just a few things worth knowing before you roll.
Maybe you haven’t been on a bike for a while. Maybe you saw someone pedaling through the neighborhood on a crisp morning and thought, “I used to do that.” Or maybe your doctor mentioned low-impact cardio and your mind went straight to that bicycle sitting in the garage, tires soft, waiting.
Whatever brought you to this decision, welcome. Getting back on a bike or starting for the first time is one of the genuinely good decisions we can make for our bodies, our moods, and our sense of freedom. And the good news is that bikes, helmets, and the culture around recreational cycling have all gotten a lot more welcoming to older riders. We just need to know where to start.
FINDING THE RIGHT BIKE
The single most important thing we can do is get the right bike for our bodies and our goals. Riding the wrong bike is uncomfortable at best and discouraging at worst.
Step-through frames are your friend. Traditional bikes require you to swing your leg up and over a high top tube. That’s fine when you’re 30. It’s a recipe for a tumble when your hips have other opinions. Step-through frames, once called “women’s bikes,” though they belong to everyone, have a low or absent top tube, making it easy to get on and off. No gymnastics required.
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LGBT Senior’s News on the Positive Side by Cora Berke
Cora Berke News on the Positive Side- by Cora Berke
“An optimist sees rainbows when there is rain.”- Debasish Mridha
On March 31, 2026, Gov. Brad Little of Idaho picked up a proposed bill on his desk and signed it; the bill was HB561. HB561 revised which flags could be flown on government properties, which included the US, state, city, and military flags. It also revised which flags were now prohibited. If a prohibited flag continued to fly, there would be a $2,000 penalty per flag per day incurred by the city in which it was flown. The Pride flag flying at the Idaho Capitol State House in Boise was now prohibited by Bill HB561.
The next morning on April 1, 2026, Bill HB561 was passed by Idaho’s House of Representatives, and the Pride flag was removed by the city.
Shortly after the flag was taken down, Mayor Lauren McLean, the first woman to be elected Mayor in Boise, released a statement.
“We will continue to celebrate the vibrancy of our community, the diversity of our residents, and our North Star of being a safe and welcoming city for everyone. Because the law includes a substantial penalty – one that would ultimately fall on the taxpayers of Boise to shoulder—I decided to take down the city’s official Pride flag. But let me be clear: Boise’s values have not changed, and they are not defined by any single action taken at the State House.”
