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Now I can add more functionality to my pages and host my own site. Yay!

I’ve quite honestly been saddened to find out the kind of leader she really is.  She seemed so nice before she was a state Senator and (currently)  a US Congresswoman.  I can recall one evening when she served Lucas, Dan, and I snacks one night while working on a US History class project for Mr. O.  Always polite, she gave me the impression she was a loving, caring mother and wife.  She probably was and still is.  Now it seems that the loving and caring only extends to her immediate family and to extremists who share her views.

When I came out, I learned very quickly that some people care a lot about looking bad.  In certain circles, my mother felt she would look bad if it became known she had a gay son.  That’s honestly just too bad.  She taught me to always be honest, so now she gets to pay the price for effective parenting.  I think she’s learning that what other’s think about her isn’t quite so important as how she feels about herself.  I hope she knows that.  I know that I’ve said and written some pretty hurtful things in the past about her.  You may even find some of them in the Archives here.  Some of you may even feel she deserved them.  I no longer do and I’m sorry for them.

She needs to know that its not her fault that I’m gay, and I think she knows now that the old wounds are healing and that forgiveness is there.  I’m going to tell her tonight anyways.  It is important to make sure such things are said, rather than simply assumed.

Which brings me back to Michelle Bachmann.  Her actions make me sad, and it is altogether far too easy to write her off and hope that all her bad actions come back to sabotage her future happiness.  That woudn’t be true to Love though, and I’m a Christian, so that word has a lot of meaning to me.  So, I’m trying.  I can forgive her for what she’s said and done to the GLBT community.  I know I can.  Doing it is a bit tougher, but if I can forgive Mom, I can forgive Michelle.

Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, I hope that you find your mind again, and that you find a way to live in Love once more.  I wonder if you ever realized how connected you are to the people you hurt?

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t FOX purport to be (at the top of its figurative lungs and at any opportunity it can find) the source for FAIR & BALANCED reporting of the news? Don’t get me started on O’Reilly either. The man has an argumentative style reminiscent of five-year olds: change the subject when being asked a tough question, interrupt the other party when they’re not answering the way he wants them to, shout them down when he’s decided its his turn to hog the mike again, and interrupt them again to provide a patently propagandist answer to a question he’s asked two seconds ago. O’Reilly aside, before watching this video, I admit my opinion of FOX wasn’t roses and daffodils, but to be honest I was under the mistaken assumption that their bias was minimized and kept at least somewhat in check. I was also willing to concede the possibility, however slim, that CNN might be just as biased.

I was wrong. Its easy enough today to find cable news clips online ala YouTube and other sites. After viewing a few more clips directly from FOX and some from other news sources on the same news topics, it was easy to see who’s news desk had worse bias and in what direction.

My Revised Opinion On the Netrality of the Media:

table key: / = bias to the right | = neutral or bias undefinable by right to left spectrum \ = bias to the left

For the uber-observant ones out there, you’ll notice a new link in the right-hand column of my blog. Its for the new web-based Star Trek miniseries. Considering the budget has to be (relatively speaking) nearly miniscule, the preview shows a level of quality that I’ve never before witnessed in fan-created content. Its worth checking out, especially for any TOS fans out there. And speaking of TOS, I’m loving the newly remastered episodes that air every Sunday night. Anyone with me on that? The digitally-added effects seem, to my eyes, to be very subtle and definitely true to the spirit and design of the original series.

Last night, to totally change the topic, I went to RAGE. Now Friday night at RAGE is called Gameboi, and usually the music is very danceable and usually I walk out with ringing ears. Last night, the music was so loud I still don’t think I’ve got full use of my ears back. At any rate I and two friends, Demytria and Johnny, were invited to an after-party in the hills at a house on Cherokee Lane. After getting a bit lost and taking Doheny Drive when we should have taken Doheny Road, we arrive at the specified address. Upon locating the intercom we buzzed for our hostess, and were informed by her that she would be at the gate momentarily. A Land Rover chock-full of glitter and blasting the Dreamgirls soundtrack pulls up and out hops a cute Latino who promptly introduces himself buzzes the intercom again. We are crossly informed that our hostess is on her way down and, yet again, we are told she will open the gate momentarily. After what seemed like an eternity but was most likely only ten minutes of flirting with my new Latino acquaintance, we decided that our rude and inconsiderate hostess had no intention of showing up, and we left. After trampling her rose bushes and stealing her mailbox. (Just kidding… I’d never steal a mailbox, its a federal crime!)

So to sum up, lessons learned in the last 24 hours:

1. Beware of mudslides
2. Star Trek: The Original Series is still cool
3. Not everyone you meet at the bar is really your friend

I hate to sound bitter and cynical, but with how easy I seem to be taking this, I have to wonder if I’m not becoming jaded by all the let downs and jerks and guys who didn’t work. Oh well. At least we know now that it wasn’t going to work, instead of leading ourselves on for months on end. I like better the idea that I won’t be bickering with him pointlessly. Even though it also means no more romantic evenings cuddled up under the sheets watching a movie.

For those of you who already know what the four aforementioned entertainment productions have in common, give yourselves a cookie.  (Or a carrot, for those of you on a gluten- or wheat-free regimen.  If you’re anorexic, just a pat on the back, I guess.)  If you haven’t figured it out yet though, the common theme between Fallout, The Day After, 24, & Jericho is that each deals (or will deal come Monday, in 24‘s case) with the aftermath of a nuclear attack.  I’m quite sure there are more productions that I could mention, especially if the definition was loosened to include disasters like Chernobyl or the Soviet nuclear sub K-19.

While some might shy away from the morbidity and grim subject matter of disaster stories, I seem ineffably attracted to them.  Perhaps it is the fascination with how we manage to cope under dire circumstances.  Maybe I’m a sucker for stories of heroism and compassion during dark times.  Or it could be a dark fascination with catastrophes, natural or otherwise.  Whatever it is, Jericho seems to have sucked me in.  I’ve just watched four episodes, and may skip Battlestar tonight to watch another.

Its been a lazy Sunday otherwise.  I woke up groggy and decided to skip church this morning; I’ve not done much of anything today.  I feel a mite guilty at that, but I’ve shushed my conscience as yesterday I worked out, cleaned, got my hair cut, and went grocery shopping.  Well its time for more Jericho.

Look for more updates soon!

If ever you have felt frustrated by the seeming inability of those around you to come to grips with the ramifications of the change in climate that we are only just beginning to feel, then you’re a rare bird. And also, you now have something in common with me. Sincerest apologies aside, the above link will lead you to a tongue-in-cheek commentary from the LA Times which will nicely explain why the proverbial frogs* among us are content to boil slowly.

*Proverbial Frog: there is a folktale about boiling frogs, which most likely originated in Hillbillyville, USA. It (falsely) postulates that a person could put a frog in a kettle of boiling water and it would jump out immediately, but if one were to put same said frog in a kettle of lukewarm water and slowly increase the temperature, the frog would calmly remain and boil to death. Presumably one would keep the lid off the pot, but no retelling of the tale seems to have been specific on that detail.

"The Advendure" - Angels & Airwaves I wanna have the same last dream again The one where I wake up and I'm alive Just as the four walls close me within My eyes are open up with pure sunlight I'm the first to know My dearest friends Even if your hope has burned with time Anything that is dead shall be re-grown And your vicious pain, your warning sign You will be fine Hey oh here I am And here we go Life’s waiting to begin Any type of love it will be shown Like every single tree reach for the sky if you're gonna fall i'll let you know that i will pick you up like you for i i felt this thing i can't replace when everyone was working for this goal where all the children left without a trace only to come back as pure as gold to recite this all Hey oh here I am And here we go Life’s waiting to begin Tonight Hey oh here I am And here we go Life’s waiting to begin Tonight Hey oh here I am And here we go Life’s waiting to begin I can not live I can’t breathe Unless you do this with me I can not live I can’t breathe Unless you do this with me I can not live I can’t breathe Unless you do this with me I can not live I can’t breathe Unless you do this with me I can not live I can’t breathe Unless you do this with me I can not live I can’t breathe Unless you do this with me Hey oh, here I am (do this with me) Here we go life's waiting to begin (do this with me) Hey oh, here I am (do this with me) Here we go life's waiting to begin life's waiting to begin.

Life’s crazy. Seriously, it is. Not the insanity of the Sunnyvale Home for the Mentally Unhinged, nor the craziness of the rapid neo-con right wing. (Whoopsie… my bias is showing.) No, life is crazy like the kitchen at In-N-Out Burger. Hundreds of orders coming at each worker at full speed, lots of hungry people waiting for their meals. Some, of course, are more patient than others. And the occasional grease-fire, soda-machine melt-down, or rancid potato to gum up the works.

(I’d like to take a moment to reassure my readers, and especially any litigiously-minded folks working for In-N-Out, that in no way am I claiming, postulating, or otherwise implying that In-N-Out Burger buys rancid potatoes or uses nuclear fuel rods in their soda-machines.)

All-in-all, the last forty-plus post-less days have been quite eventful. It would be rather difficult to mesh them all into one coherent post, so I’ve taken the liberty of reducing them to bullet points. Please note these points are not in any semblance of a chronological order.

• Johan gets promoted to Program Manager at work — a raise has yet to be offered or asked for
• Johan flys to Orlando for a business conference. Yay! Orlando was fun. Especially the part where there was no time to visit any theme parks.
• Johan buys a new bike. A Trek 7100 hybrid bike, to be exact. Johan loves his new, blue Trek. Johan is so gay that he bought matching blue helmet and gloves. His only regret is that Master doesn’t make U-Locks in metallic blue.
• Johan discovers that Josh and he have different definitions and usages for the “L-word” (and no I don’t mean “Lesbian”). This causes some initial misunderstandings and friction.
• Josh and Johan suffer a crisis in their relationship. In the end, despite much adversity and Johan’s general cussedness, Josh and Johan decide to continue on and make it work. Love is really all you need. Or Kermit. Well that and communication, too.
• Josh and Johan discover a great friend, one who likes Serenity, and is quite possibly almost as big a geek as Johan. Said friend, much to Johan’s delight, proudly owns his geekiness. Johan misses this friend, as of recently Josh and Johan haven’t spent much time with this new friend.
• Johan becomes disturbed with the liberal amount of third-person self-references and vows to adapt his grammatical person(see chart below) to a more commonly-used tone.