My latest Notes & Queeries column went up earlier this week at AfterEllen.com. It’s not often that I get to say this, but this article was inspired by a conversation with my mother, in which she mentioned picking up a copy of People magazine at Wal-Mart — the People that featured Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi getting married on the cover.

Thinking about Wal-Mart unexpectedly brought up some old memories about a childhood friend, as well as coming out. Even though Wal-Mart is pretty much universally despised by lefty liberals like me, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the Wal-Mart in Lafayette, Colorado. (Read my column here.)