Such a good listener

All of my life, I've been called a good listener, or referred to as someone who is easy to talk to--"I can tell you anything."

This is not some great trait bestowed upon me, but actually a skill developed early in life to keep the topics of conversation on the other person, so as not to expose the opportunity of focus on myself, and the things about my life which had been labeled as wrong or shameful.

How do they not know?

When making the long drive from my southern hometown, to visit my grandparents in a northern state, I would play and sing broadway musicals the whole way. One time I subjected my parents to Evita for pretty much the entire drive. A few years later, the same trip was filled with The Phantom of the Opera...over and over again.

Love's broadway musicals or show tunes...check!

Contradictions

My life seems to have been full of many contradictions. Not uncommon for a gay person still partially or fully in the closet. One contradiction thats always stood out for me is the combination of being introduced to sex at a very early age, and growing up within a conservative family.

When I was young there were multiple incidents of my friends and I pulling down our pants, looking at each other, etc. This, I believe, is a common occurence among children and nothing but natural curiosity and exploration. I say this because it happened (separately) with probably all of my childhood friends, at one point or another.

However, there was one friend, a few years older, who knew about more things to do. He began to show me these things, and though there was some guilt associated, it felt good so we continued to do it from time to time. In hindsight I now suspect that unfortunately some adult must have been doing these same things to him and he was going with what he had learned. While he was older than I, he was still too young to know about these things, and too young for any malicious intent.

Overtime, what we did grew into sexual acts. This was before I had been taught anything about sex from my parents or even heard very much in the hallways at (elementary) school. So when it did become time for me to learn about sex, and my family and church began to teach me that pre-marital sex was a sin--that was obviously a problem.

I then understood, and at that time believed, that pre-marital sex was a sin...yet I was already having sex. Add to that the fact that I was doing this with the wrong type of person...someone of the same sex rather than the opposite sex...how was I ever to get past the sin of pre-marital sex if I could never marry the person I was having sex with?

A lot to carry around in a young boy's mind.

Rachel Maddow says it so much better than I

Point in case? This article and video on Huffington Post.

Getting my attention

The more I hear from, or read about, Meghan McCain the more she has my attention. One example being this article and vido clip on Huffington Post.

Common Sense or Naivety?

It seems to me that the policital climate and status-quo in this country has changed significantly. It's very polarized and almost clique-y like the days of high school. "My team is best, no matter what!"

Shouldn't there be a period between elections when politicians work to find the best solution possible considering their differences? Not just blindly (and immediately) say no if the idea came from the other team?

So many seem to always be in a mode of running for the next election and screaming about how the other guys are idiots.

Colin Firth Oscar Nom for 'A Single Man'

I'm so glad to see that Colin Firth got a Best Actor Oscar Nomination for his lead role in Tom Ford's A Single Man. It's a great book that I would definitely recommend, and Mr. Ford did an admirable job making its transition to the big screen. The first few pages of that book literally took my breath away.

I can't say I'm excited to hear his sentiments on being gay in Hollywood, but as he states I'm sure there are still some boundries in play within Hollywood. Thank goodness we have the likes of Neil Patrick Harris and Cheyenne Jackson helping to break those boundries down, and show that a gay actor can be great in a lead role as a straight character.

Maybe this is starting to get some traction...

Maybe the repeal of DADT is starting to get better traction. This story got top billing on Huffington Post today. Adm. Mike Mullen stated that it is wrong to force people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."

They've also got a separate article on McCain and his various statements on this topic.