Ending quote "Now I hope you parents at home with faggy-acting little boys have been taking notes because we've gotten a lot of good advice here."

How To Find A Masculine Halloween Costume For Your Effeminate Son

White Americans Are Losing Their Country

Black Americans have shed blood in every American war since the Revolution. This country, even the very Capitol building in which today's legislators now demand to see the birth certificate of the first black president, was built on the sweat and sinew of slaves. Before we were people in the eyes of the law, before we had the right to vote, before we had a black president, we were here, helping make this country as it is today. We are as American as it gets. And frankly, the time of people who think otherwise is passing. If that's the country Buchanan wants to hold onto, well, he's right, he is losing it.

I came across this blog entry today and just had to post a piece of it. Specifically it is meant to confront the Pat Buchanan's statement that white people are losing their country. However, it reaches me at a much deeper level. To me, it does not stoke defiance and rage but rather truth, pride and a certain strength that this truth displays about where we come from, where we are and where we are heading. Amen.

Unhappiness

I read this article today from HuffingtonPost.com. Originally, they had written an article last week about the declining happiness of women, which they were supposed to follow up with major keys to increased happiness. I guess the responses to the first article made such an impact that they decided to postpone talking about the keys to happiness to instead broaden the topic to include men and share some of the thoughts of people that wrote in.

The idea of happiness is one that I have a lot of opinions on and have written about several times. Although I love much about our way of life, there is something severely warped about it all and chief amongst this is our incredible materialism. I especially loved the words of one person that wrote in about this:

I read (the) article you wrote titled, "Women Are Unhappy? And You're Surprised?" Great job! I was one of the unhappy 10 years ago. I had a great job, good marriage, nice house, kids, maids, etc, etc, but I was terribly unhappy. I began a journey that has brought me to where I am today (very happy and fulfilled). Funny thing is, I do not have any of the material crap that I had 10 years ago. I mean, I still have the kids, of course, but not the fancy corporate job with the stable paycheck and not the husband that looked good, but was not good for me. I now live in the country as a single Mom of 3 kids with no child support, scratching out her survival and I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. I wrote a book to try and encourage more people to do as I have, but I think it will appeal to women more than men. I am curious, as a man, do you think only women are unfulfilled with the empty material possessions we were told would make us happy? See, I think men are just as unhappy. Maybe not all of them, but I think a lot of the younger ones are. Perhaps you could do a follow-up article on the impact to men? Just a thought.

It reminds me of the conversation between the mythical creature Grendal and the dragon that was suggested after expounding on the futility and meaninglessness of life, “See out gold and sit on it.” This too is what our culture has taught us and yet it is equally unsatisfying.

The Oppression of Culture

A friend of mine once told me about his situation. He originally comes from a country with a very strict, religious culture located in the middle-east. A few years ago he met a beautiful girl while visiting in his home country and married. Although he says that in the beginning he was completely in love, the marriage quickly went south. I'll relay his explanations of what went wrong in a moment, but before I do let me say that my friend is gay. He say that his wife became verbally and physically abusive shortly after marriage and that this is what killed his love for her. He said that she would throw tantrums and begin beating him in public. He says that she continually berates him. Since then he's moved back to the states and she remains in his country. They still talk by phone everyday, but really they argue much more than talk.

He says that even worse of berating him, she talks bad about his family. So about a week ago he decided to give her some of her own medicine and be equally cutting. The response was quick. She's now talking divorce, which I think is best thing that could happen to this disaster.

Here's the interesting part... In spite of his experiences, he says he still thinks that if he found the right girl, that he'd fall completely in love and stay happy and faithful for the rest of his life. I doubt it, but who am I say "no"?

We talked about his desire to have natural-born children. What struck me most was his question of what is the motivation for living in the absence of children. Well, I can think of a lot and began to give him specific things that make life glorious and worth living... no... worth relishing.

He's had relationships with guys before: one for four years and one for 7. But he's convinced that healthy relationships in America are nearly impossible because there's too much opportunity. He says that he even feels his own eyes and desires wander while here. These past few months he's become celibate after an HIV scare earlier this year. He's cut ties from all of his gay friends and never goes out. As a result his entire cadre of acquaintances are people from his country. As he puts it, they're all married and have children or are expecting. He says that he has no friends.

Of course we have to understand the extraordinary pressure that culture and family places upon people in these situations. I remember how impossible it all seemed for me in the beginning and can't begin to imagine how much more hopeless it would've seemed if I were in his situation. Therefore I cast no stones, but still it touches me.

Of course his story is not unique. I have another friend (latino) in much the same situation. No, he's neither married nor looking to marry. This one is over 40 and has progressed to the stage where he believes life remains completely out of reach. He feels sad and alone and tries to substitute anonymous sex for things we wants, but believes are out of reach. His problem is that he's sure that his family would disown him if they found out and he feels that he's grown up to close to them to lose them.

Struggle

Before I begin let me say that by trade I am a technologist. I program computers for a living. It's something I began doing long before I knew that anyone would ever pay me for it and I continue to love it until this day.

That said, I think that there is something seriously twisted with our society and what we call progress. Progress is almost always associated with clever inventions and productivity increases. It's kind of like those TV commercials that proclaim if only you had this type of soap or that kind of gadget that our lives would be finally complete. In a way we all know that it's a scam and yet in a broader sense we've all bought into this line of thinking.

I believe that we were made to struggle and that that struggle is an inseparable part of our existance. I believe that we without challenges of all types, we cease to grow and in a very real way we start to die. We must labor in spirit and mind and body. Yes... and to some extent we must even suffer inconvenience and discomfort, but rather than these being negative things they are a part of what makes life beautiful and full. Although I'd never walk knowlingly head first into a door, I believe that we have gone way too far in our pursuit to eradicate even the slightest bit of discomfort from our lives.

Somehow we've come to believe that the ultimate goal of progress is to... to... well to not do anything. We attempt to invent and then purchase these things to do everything for us. The sad reality is that we have become indentured to the maintenance and care of the very things that we thought would free us in the first place. But free us from what? Life?

Life is about living and loving and sharing of one's self. Life is to be experienced. Rather than becoming hermetically sealed perhaps we should be playing in the dirt just a little more.

So what is real progress? Real progress is using the vast creativity of the human spirit to alleviate true suffering such as hunger and disease. True progress is to prevent murder and rape and to provide an opportunities for happiness to all. And in these ways our progress as a species has been spotty at best.

But until we achieve true progress, I'll keep my day job of programming computers so that they can make us a cup of coffee without us having to lift a single finger.

We Are Beautiful

If ever there was a theme song made just for me, this is it. The truth is that I believe that I am unique and special and yes... beautiful. But the real miracle is that so is everyone else. We all are beautiful. Sure there are some that have covered their beauty with ugliness, but the majority of us retain the beauty of our creation. I love this song because it reminds us of who we are.

We're On!

Naked cocktails are back! To recap, a local group ran bi-monthly naked cocktails at a local bar, which was absolutely fabulous. I was terribly disappointed when it all abruptly ended. Recently a fellow nudist took it upon himself to help revive it at a new location. Well, this Saturday was our first event and being the first event we knew the bar would be watching to determine if they would allow us to meet again.

Well it went fantastically! There were 82 naked gay guys there. I'm sure holding on the same weekend as the Equality March didn't hurt our numbers. Everyone was on their best behavior. Thankfully, the vibe was similar to the naked cocktails of old. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few guys who attended GNI (naked camping) who were visiting from out of state.

It was just a beautiful time spent with fellow nudists in a comfortable environment. I hadn't realized just how much I had missed this event. Thanks to the guys that helped make this possible.

Fox News on Healthcare

I hate Fox news so I can't believe I'm going to post a video from them. Nonetheless, here I go...

This video shows a slither of objectivity from Fox. It also shows the completely incoherent arguments made by the GOP Sentor Shep Smith. When his inaccurate statements are debunked, Smith changes the subject. He also makes intellectually inconsistant arguments. For example, he states that he thinks we should be looking for how to reduce waste fraud and abuse in Medicare. Of course this is exactly what Obama said, but earlier Smith characterized Obama statements that we need to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare as cutting Medicare and hurting our seniors. He then goes on to state that the Government is incapable of reducing waste, fraud and abuse. Er... so then how can that be part of his prescription to control healthcare costs? Confused?

This goes to the larger issue. The Republicans. They're not even slightly interested in solving our healthcare crisis. The only reason they're even offering what anemic suggestions that they are offering is because some of them think that they have to say anything. Most of them are just sticking to the "say nothing" party line anyway.

When has a Republican or a Republican-led arm of Government ever tried to improve healthcare? NEVER! So why would we believe them now? If healthcare dies this year do you think they're going to bring it up when they're in control? Not a chance in hell.

Smoking is Gay

First I was "hmmf", then was like "WTF", then I realized it was way over the top. Finally I realized it was from The Onion.


New Anti-Smoking Ads Warn Teens 'It's Gay To Smoke'

Naked Cocktails Have Returned

Woohoo! The Washington area had had a naked cocktail social at the Green Lantern for quite a while. At first it was once a month, then moved to twice a month. On a slow day there would be about 60 naked guys. On a good day, we would have double that.

Well in February of this year naked cocktails ceased to be. Well, thanks to the hard work of several people, naked cocktails has returned! The venue has changed, but the spirit will be the same. Our first party will be held next week and of course I am greatly looking forward to it.

There is talk about it possibly moving to a twice monthly schedule, but that'll be determined in the future. For now, I am just happy that there is always a naked event on the calendar. A little something to look forward to. A place where we can relax, see old friends and meet new ones.