A Note of Aggravation

 I have a bone to pick, that I was trying to avoid picking. I don't like airing dirty laundry on the internet and let me be clear that this is not for that purpose. This is to express something I need to get off my chest. Something that has been plaguing me for days, maybe even a week or two now.

I, being a concerned member of the GLBT community in L-town, messaged the sponsor of the University Gay/Straight Alliance about arranging a voting initiative and having a forum to discuss the recent slew of suicides in the community. As a student with legitimate concerns, I voiced my opinions and waited for a response.

Four days later I had to message Tasha A. (whose name I have changed to protect her privacy) to even get a response from her. All the message responding to me contained were a couple of lines, basically saying she was busy and would talk with the president of the group as soon as possible (that week, she said.)

But hearing nothing further from her, I have gathered that I am not important. My voice isn't important. My opinions and thoughts are not valued.

It may seem extreme to draw that conclusion from such a simple exchange, yet that is how she made me feel. Without a voice, without a sphere of influence, without power. I thought we were supposed to stick together, I thought we were supposed to feel welcome, that we matter.

I don't feel any of that at the moment. And it is because of her blatant indolence. Maybe she was feeling a level of torpor from her rigorous schedule - I understand that I am not the only busy one. But when I go to a University Official and voice an opinion and a suggestion and a possible course of action, I expect a different response than utter uncaring.

So Tasha, if you are reading this, I hope that this was a one-time thing. I hope that you meet others with concerns and you champion them. Because I looked up to you and I looked to you for guidance. It's okay, my constitution is stronger than previously thought, and I can stand on my own in the face of this shattering of my faith in you - but I am disappointed. I expected more from you.

And maybe I expected too much.

But I don't think I was asking too much.

That's all.

Signed,

A Fabulous Gay Man,

Queen Trixie J.D. the First.



(Photo From:  http://www.cpoy.org/past/57/cat_10/10-01/cat10_01-01.html)

Going...Crazy?

I'm going crazy or something. I don't know what it is. I feel restless and like something is bubbling over. Something...

I feel as though I am on the cusp of something big and ominous. Maybe I am having some sort of emotional inner turmoil related to some issues in the past, like the three bedroom with Carissa and Erica.  But if that is all that's bothering me, why do I feel like at any moment I'm going to have to take up arms and fight for my life?

If you've been keeping up with this blog you'll know that I've had the feelings of being an alarmist for quite some time now. It's died down, ebbed and flowed out of my life like a soft tide, but every so often it comes back again. As if I should be on alert or something.

Everywhere I look there are headlines about another gay suicide or LGBT harrasment. I see emails and news stories about the right-wing conservative groups "National Orginization for Marriage," and the "Family Research Council," and I see them spew their hate or anti-LGBT propaganda. It makes me sick. They can hate us in the streets, they can hate us in their churches, they can hate us on television and they get away with it.

How do I protect myself from this hate? I know that I must love as they hate, as strongly and in fact more strongly than they ever could, because that's something in my power. But what else? I can vote. I can picket. I can get involved.

Getting involved also scares me. I don't know why. I know that the haters are out there, even in so liberal a town as L, and I can't help but feel like the on-going mass of chaos surrounding issues like "Don't ask, Don't Tell," and the continued bullying and suicides of LGBT teens everywhere are attracting attention and violence like a lightning rod.

The giants on both sides are facing off. Godzilla and Mothra are battling - without a second thought to Tokyo. I feel as if I am in Tokyo and there is no place to hide; no where is safe.

It is not because of my sexuality that I feel this way or any other kind of excuse that the 'Family Research Council' would love to tout in their speeches...it is because of those like them. Those who would rather see me dead than homosexual. Those who would - and one day might - use their very hands to stuff me into an oven because I am gay.

When a gay person feels that they have no other options or that their lives will never be joyful because of the fear and harrasment that permeate their every thought and waking moment then something isn't right. We already know something isn't right. These suicides are a call from above for action and solution. No one deserves to feel like they are somehow wrong or inferior.

Yet with each conservative speech and each religious leader's damning remarks, that is how each and every gay person is made to feel. Like second class citizens, like dirt, the scum of the world.

And what are they damning homosexuals for? Love.

We as gay people only want the freedom to love those who we have found a bond with, without fear of harm, harrasment, death, hatred, censure or reprisal. We want to enter into a union that all heterosexuals can enter into on a whim. A heterosexual can go to vegas with a stranger and get plastered before getting hitched. And yet, tax paying, law abiding citizens who are homosexual and already have committed and loving relationships, can NOT.

There are lots of things that I would like to see happen. DADT repealed, A crack down on hate crimes, equal marriage rights for homosexual citizens, and for it to not feel like Nazi Germany everytime I turn on the tv to watch CNN or FOX. For it not to feel like Nazi Germany everytime something like Proposition 8 passes, or when I read headlines on the internet about some new radical idea to 'cure gays.'

WAKE UP AMERICA.

Or you may wake up to find that one day, your liberties are at risk too.

Thank God for your rights and recognition under the law - thank God that you will never have to fight as we have to fight, just for an inch of liberty in a country with a very harmful brand of hate, which threatens to culminate and erupt at any moment.

Wake up.


(Photo from: http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/fire1.jpg)

Some Kind of Meaning

I don't really have a point or a message for this post. I just sort of felt like writing I think.

I was getting off of the bus from campus to my apartment complex and this butterfly followed me in through the gates and landed on my hand as I was walking to my building.

Now I have a thing about butterflies. I love them and they're sort of my signature thing. I pick a lot of myspace layouts (haha, laugh at that, I know) because they feature beautiful butterflies, and I believe in a symbolistic nature behind them - once I even picked a birthday card for my sister over another option because it had butterflies on it. I liked the cards the same, but the deciding factor was the butterfly. I just think they are a magical creature.

My 'coming-of-age' experience is one that I prefer to liken with that of a butterfly growing from the cocoon. I don't know why but I've always had this reverence for them and their beauty. Anyway, back to today's story. I let it sit for a moment and as I was approaching my building I shook it off. I didn't really mean to do it that hard and don't worry nothing happened to the butterfly itself, it just flew away. But I sort of wish I hadn't done that. I know I wouldn't have carried it on my hand all the way into my apartment but still...I can't help but be a little regretful.

This is the second time in the last few months that a butterfly has landed on me. Nothing of great significance seems to happen afterwards and maybe it really means nothing; a realist might certainly agree with that last statement. But I'm a believer in the mystical. There are a lot of things that the human mind can't explain or random occurences that can't be called 'average' or 'normal'. Besides, what fun would life be without a little intrigue and mystery? You can't have it all figured out or what's the point?

On the bus ride home I was thinking about society and how we're all programmed to behave a certain way and think a certain way - and if you don't believe that, then you've already succumbed to the limits that society has imposed on you and your life. That may be fine for some people, but I'd like to think that life from an individual viewpoint must be figured out. You must decide for yourself what you accept as truth and what you don't, especially about the world you live in. But it is a process to do so and whatever the end result, is how you make it from one day to the next, and on until the end of your life.

This line of thinking happens to me often when I come fresh out of a 'Sociology of the Family' class session. So much of what we do and how we are today as a generation of the world are results of how people used to think and how we've had to decide as a people what was acceptable and what isn't.  This is an ever-changing process. New children are born, and the children of previous generations are now parents. Parents who decide what they teach their children and what morals, values and skills they instill in them as well. It is then up to the children to go out into the institutions of socialization and share what their parents have taught them. They find a group of children and they attach themselves to one another based on the similar ideas or maybe even the completely different ideas that they are exposed to. This new generation of children grow up and go out into the world and rock, shape and challenge the mold set by their predecessors.

I am a self-described optimist. I'd like to believe that one day, we'll see the end of world hunger, the start of world peace, the curing of Cancer and AIDS, the decline and extinction of things like rape and murder. I know these are lofty ideas - and they seem that way because we live in a world rife with all of this chaos - but one thing I can still hold onto is that it may not be plausible, but it is entirely possible. That one standing fact is all I need. I can get from one day to the next with that knowledge.

Every person wants to believe their life will mean something. As Bobby Singer says in the television show 'Supernatural': "Most people go their entire lives without moving so much as the dirt it takes to bury them."  That really strikes a chord with me. I want my life to mean something. I want someone in the future...maybe a politician, or an environmentalist, or maybe the president, to look at my life and be inspired in theirs to do more, to be more. Now even if that doesn't happen, I still know that I've done something that can have an impact on those around me. I've chosen my optimism, and my principles and my ideals and I try to live for them. If someone can turn their day around because of something I've said, or if they can pass on a good deed because I did one for them, then I'm happy with that. I've made some small difference for someone, somewhere.

That's all I really want. That's all I can really hope for.

All we can really do is love one another.

Signed,

A Fabulous Gay Man,

Queen Trixie J.D. the First

(Photo from: http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/2007/08/butterfly_yellow-flowers_01.jpg)

The Never-Ending Adventure of My Life

 I'm back! In more ways than one. I am back at school - to the University that I had been dismissed from. I am so proud of myself because I know a lot of people had their doubts that it would happen. Even I did.

But I tried my best and worked my hardest and lord did it pay off. Now I just have to continue doing that. Life should be gravy right now. And for the most part it is. I just focus on school and work on getting my GPA to an acceptable level.

I have still been working on myself - after a short hiatus when trying to get back into school - and I'm a little rusty. I'm pretty much happy with everything except my body, although I will say that I'm not completely dissatisfied in that area, and that in itself is an accomplishment.

Aside from all of that I'm starting to get serious about my writing. I wrote a short piece and I contacted the Liberty Press to see if I couldn't get it published. I don't even know if they do reader submitted content, but I thought I would give it a try. Also my book is taking shape. I'm figuring out a few things and fleshing out the details and starting to really hunker down for the long haul. So far it looks like I have 16 chapters planned, but that could definitely change. It will be near 300 pages by my estimate but then again I don't know what it will look like in print so that is definitely something that will change.

I've gotten in touch with a few friends from my past and mainly I'm pretty happy. Erica and I aren't really talking all that much. She lives in Tal-Town now and every day I feel like we're drifting farther apart. She is so different from the person I thought she was. I miss the person she used to be. I think I could learn to like the person she is becoming, but I can't really say that because I don't exactly know who that is. I just hope that she knows I am always there for her and always willing to help. We've changed so much in the recent past, both of us as individuals I mean, that it's like we have to become reacquainted again.

I know that something that hasn't changed is our ability to have fun together - and maybe that's what I should focus on. After all life is short.

Speaking of...the other day I was watching the History Channel (which it turns out is a bad idea for me because I end up feeling like an alarmist afterwards) and they were doing a series special on Nazi's Past and Present. The one about white supremacists today just got me really...worried. I mean these people are training in camps with guns and in hand-to-hand combat for 'the final race war.'  Lunatics with guns are never a good combination. But seriously why is there so much hatred in the world? Isn't there enough crap to deal with without worrying about someone being black or who is supposedly 'better'? Let's get real and focus on issues like world hunger or curing cancer. Maybe then the world would be a better place. It's just that every time I turn on the news something new and more horrific is happening.

Did you all hear about the pastor that is going to burn copies of the Quran on September the Eleventh? Why is that friggin necessary? Honestly people, America was founded on religious freedom. And yes, the pastor has a constitutional right to do what he is doing, but my question is WHY? Why is it such a problem to that pastor that he must burn a nation's holy text? How would he feel if Islamic people burned the bible? I bet he'd feel pretty pissed off. It seems that everyone forgets to 'walk a mile in someone else's shoes,' once in a while. I will never lose my compassion.

I will love because they hate. I will give because they are selfish. I will not fight because they take up guns.

Honestly the world is feeling a little bit darker everyday and even though it's a scary thing, I am going to try and continue to bring light to my little corner of the world. Someone has got to. Someone has got to try and stop the hatred and the violence. I will become the change I want to see in the world.

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox!

Anyway I met a really decent guy recently named Dirk (not his real name, lol). He and I started out chatting over the internet after I read an ad that said he was moving to L-town, and we hit it off. But we met and have had a few dates and I just don't feel the spark. The 'It-Factor', the 'zsa zsa zsu.' It isn't there. Which sucks because he is pretty much everything I have ever thought I wanted in a guy. But even though it isn't working out, I was reminded that good guys are out there. Which was really nice to feel. We kissed and he cuddled with me and it felt nice to know that human touch. I haven't had that in a long while.

Money is sort of stressing me out right now. I have two different debts that I'm trying to pay off. One from the three bedroom I shared with Erica and Carissa; the other from my credit card. The credit card isn't very high and I can pay that one off soon. Thanks to me, the lawyer debt from the three bedroom has been reduced by about $5,000. But there is still about $7,000 left on it. I think I did my duty to that debt by having it lowered, but I still have to pay. Ugh. I'm working on a very tight budget and my mother just took me off overdraft protection from her credit card. I had been sort of abusing it, I will admit, but not for frivoulous self-serving purposes.

Oh well, I know it will all work out how it is supposed to in the end.

I am still an optimist.

And isn't that an acheivement in itself?

:)

That's all.

Signed,

A Fabulous Gay Man,

Queen Trixie J.D. the First.


(photo from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-COI-QbjwicuneDFDyb-OgwumcnaGLNvW7QP-24wtBqVB48mP6qywI8U25e5K6VZgYBBvOVsQXo3Brnkk0EHPlZzJy2sfRrbtFNttQjafAmip4bf6pM3ilXHuZQ-dwawohdgcmrw1QpAm/s320/ab_life55.gif)

The Heart of the Matter

What is at the heart of humanity? Like the many veins and passages of the heart, it may not be one simple matter. Things may be connected, just as we human beings are connected. I truly believe that.

I'm sitting here writing this post because a lot has been on my mind lately. As you may or may not know, I have been on a journey in my recent life. A journey to explore and discover and live and proclaim. I want to find my truth and live it to the fullest. I want to spread as much love as I can to those that I can.

I could spend my life doing this. In fact, it is my plan to. What nobler plan is there than that?

But I didn't sign on to talk about nobility or even myself. I wanted to talk about humanity and the nature of it. I am consoling a friend through text right now because she has just been shut out by a woman she thought she would spend her life with. The two of them are my friends, one more so than the other, but still I am here for both of them.

My problem is: how are two such beautiful people (I'm speaking about inner beauty here, though they are both gorgeous) tangling each other up in a mess that makes them want to hurt themselves? How can people do that to one another?

I think that if people reflexively told the truth the way that they...ate food...or took a breath...then things would be much simpler. Instead people lie to each other and in the end someone if not everyone gets hurt. People say they care, when they don't. They say they love someone when in reality they hate the very thought of being with that person. All in the name of one thing or another. To save face or to keep the peace.

Except the only thing one accomplishes by doing this is to further complicate and further hurt those around them.

This is not new age philosophy or even self-help jargon. This people, is pure hard fact. In fact many new age ideas can really be seen for what they are when you study them: old age philosophy. Old ideas are being remembered by modern man all the time now. Old ideas are resurfacing and because we have lost touch with the wisdom presented to us we have labeled it 'new age.'  Well for humanity's sake I do hope there really is a new age coming because the old one simply isn't working anymore.

We buy computers and hook up internet so that we stay connected. The first words out of people's mouths who have just become friends are: "Do you have a facebook?" "Do you have a myspace?"  And the answer is usually yes. But what if it was no? Would that be the end of the line for that particular friendship? Or could we possibly live without all that stuff which we say makes our lives easier in lieu of doing as the world does and embracing it?

Where are the days when you knew all of your neighbors on your street? Where are the days when you said hello to the mail man or smiled at someone as you let them pass you on the highway? If that is old think then I want everyone to remember those ways. I want us to be able to connect with each other the way we used to and still have the same liberties that we have fought so hard for through history. The perfect combination of old and new.

I know by now you are all thinking that I have gone on a tangent but I want you to seriously consider the things you don't do and why you don't do them. Then I want you to think about what would happen in your life if you did do them.

An example for you:

My father asked me to attend a fourth of july gathering at my Uncle's house. I have much distaste for family functions when it comes to my father's side. Simply because it always felt like a chore and because when I was a kid I felt like I wasn't incorporated into the family bonding. The adults would sit and drink beers and sing karaoke and at the time I had no interest in any of that. Partly it was my fault because I used to be painfully shy and low on self esteem. I was chubby and shiny and more importantly I felt like an outsider because I am gay.

Instead of saying no or not responding, I told my father that I would go. On the day of the event I seriously considered skipping out and driving down to Tal-Town to see my mother. Except I thought...if I don't go, this will be one more reason that my father shouldn't believe in me. This will be one more reason for him to be bitter. This will be one more thing he remembers and holds against me about the past. And I don't want to do that to him.

I want him to know that I am truly hoping for a better relationship with him. I want him to know that I am no longer a child but I am an adult. An adult who sticks to his word and who faces the things he doesn't always want to face.

So I went. I drove the one and a half hours it takes to get there and I was welcome by a chorus of my name being shouted happily by relatives. I was making these people happy by being there. I was making conversation and catching up with almost all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. Even though I originally didn't want to go, I was glad that I had.

I drank beer and I sang karaoke but more importantly I gave my father something to believe in.

What if we could do that for strangers too? Well...we can.

We can give complete and utter strangers hope for humanity itself if we could all just remember to be a little nicer to those around us. Karma, justice, doing to others what you would want done to you...these are all matters under the same name.

Here's my thought for the day. You get in what you put out. If you radiate happiness and positivity then I honestly believe that you will make not only yourself happier but those in your life will be happier because of it.

I'll get off of my soap box now but...keep me in your thoughts and I'll do the same.

That's all.

-J-


(picture from: http://maikanhill.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/dark-heart.jpg)

For My Querida

 So I'm sitting here with an iced coffee - and no not from Starbucks - but from my own kitchen. It doesn't look as fancy as this picture to your left does, but it tastes every bit as good I'm sure.

I'm basically writing this post for T who is studying abroad and whom I miss terribly. So querida this is for you.

Mostly I've been doing homework. I mean boat loads of homework. And there's more coming too. I'm very sick of looking at a computer screen all day because my courses are all online. I'm taking two right now but I've been focusing on only one. My math course.

I'm taking Intermediate Algebra and once I'm done with that, I'll be able to enroll in college algebra. Let me tell you that I'm going to work my a** off to get both of these courses done within the first two weeks of July. This is because today or tomorrow is when I'll submit my application for readmission to KU.

It's a lofty goal and I know that timing is everything with this, but I know I can do it. The thing will be if KU can *recognize* that I can do it. Which I hope they do. If I put in all of this work for nothing then I will be severely upset and probably have a mental breakdown. Seriously.

I want this so bad and I've worked so hard and continue to work hard. If there is any justice in the world I will get back in. Of course there have been a lot of injustices happening to me lately. I received  a court summons for the $11,000 fine on the three bedroom apartment that I used to live in with Carissa and Erica.

All of this over a three bedroom that I opted to get of because I didn't want to live in HELL anymore. Sometimes I wonder how the people at F.R. (the initials to the complex I used to live in) can sleep at night. We were young - or at least Erica and I were - and we don't have any money to speak of and here they are trying to squeeze every last penny (that we don't have!) out of us. I mean it's a college town...could they just let it go already?

It's weird that they are calling us to court in the first place because Carissa has been paying on it and I'm about to join her in that. Erica has no income and they have no information on her so they can't call or harass her. But the court date stands until the balance is paid in full. Well good luck people. Cause there's no way we can pull that kind of money out of our butts. No. Way.

In other news I've just been trying to keep up with exercising. I stopped doing it for about a week because I've been so busy with school but now I'm noticing the affects of that. My family must store more fat than otters. I'm genetically cursed. Oily skin, low metabolism, etc.

It could be looked at as a good thing because if I didn't exercise I'd go out of my mind here. Erica left for Tal-Town not too long ago and it's been boring without her. No Erica and no Tess. What is a guy to do?!

Writing has been going dismally. Mainly because I haven't had the time. School takes priority of course. Which I think is a travesty because the world is being deprived of my much needed genius :p  But seriously I am itching to write even when I can't. I'm working on a novel and I wanted to have it complete by August but I realized that would be impossible so I pushed the date back to December. That way my book can hit shelves a year later at Christmas and every man, woman, and child will get one for the holidays.

Anyway my darling, if you're reading this, I love you and I miss you and I can't wait to see you again so I can tell you these things in person.

That's all.

-J-

(Picture from: http://amberdesire.com/)

The Only Thing That Stays the Same is Change

The quote on the picture says: "Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become."

I woke up early this morning - I have a sore throat and I think I'm just getting over a cold which is not fun. Anyway I took a shower and I got some coffee and I sat down to write.

I notice that a lot of times I'm on here bitching about one thing or another. I don't want you all to think that's all I do - is complain. I come on here to vent my feelings and to put it down somewhere so that sometime later I can come back and visit how it was for me in a certain period in my life. I write it down to get it out there and see if anyone will understand. Maybe some people go through the same things.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record. A few days ago was the first time in a very long time that I went through my entire blog. It was like reading some of the same things over and over again. On some posts I bring up very valid points but on others I feel like I kept talking about something I had already said or written down.

So I want to take this opportunity at the beginning of this post to tell you all that in my recent life (as in: the past two months) I've felt completely content with where I am at. I'm taking much better care of myself and I've gone through a change in beliefs that I can only call an awakening. A revolution of the mind and soul. I'm more deeply curious about life and what it means to be here than ever before. I'm considering things in my daily life that I have always taken for granted. The small miracles. Things that we never consciously think about unless any of those small miracles are taken away from us.

I won't go off on a tangent. But there were a few things that brought me to this post. Erica's relationship has been doing well from what I can see of it and from what I know of it. That and the fact that she works crazy long hours makes it difficult for us to see each other. This is after having come from a period in our lives where we were able to spend every unscheduled and waking moment together. A period where she lived with me and also where even when she didn't live with me she could come see me when she wanted.

Her fiance Stacy has either some trust issues or codependency issues as I'm led to believe. She has gotten upset whenever Erica asks if she can come spend time with me. The other day when I asked if we could hang out, Erica sent me a text that said, "Hey would it be okay if I went over to j's for a little bit?" And I texted her back saying, "I think you meant to send this to Stacy..."

Which sort of clued me in to how their relationship works. You shouldn't have to ask permission to go see one of your friends. From what I know of mature and healthy relationships, this is how that should have gone: "Hey babe, I'm going over to j's for a little bit but I'll make it back in time for dinner with your mom." Which is where she was headed after my house. The tone of the text message was just like...dripping with submission. Like she was scared to act on her feelings of wanting to see me.

This kind of attitude has lead to a decline in our friendship. I never get to see her on her own anymore and when I did yesterday - it felt emotionless and as if she didn't really want to be there. We don't talk about anything anymore. We just...watch movies or sleep when she is over here. I hate that. I feel like a stranger with one of my best friends. So I've decided to let her go. I don't want to get in the way of something she thinks she wants. She is prepared to marry this woman and she even started talking about children.

Personally I don't think she is ready yet. I think she's still got a lot of living and a lot of learning to do. In fact I don't think either of those things should ever stop happening in people's lives. But in terms of emotional maturity and age - I don't think she is ready for something so deeply profound and complex as marriage. Maybe I'm wrong and should mind my own business...but my instincts tell me otherwise. She has chosen her relationship over me before and she nearly lost me. She spent a hell of a long time making it up to me but we've been friends for four years. How do you just let that friendship go? I never thought I would. But it is exactly what I feel I must do now - and I think it will change me.

People can really suck sometimes and I am grasping that it isn't always rainbows and butterflies (not that I ever thought it really was) but I figured that the good people in your life could drown out the rain and puddles in between. Instead I find myself more cynical and a little more hard of heart.

I'm happy as an individual. I'm travelling the road which will lead me to inner peace. I love the changes I am seeing in my body and in my skin and my over all health. I'm finally doing it! All of these years I have talked about getting to a point where I could be happy in my skin and here I am looking at myself in the mirror and actually being ok with what I see. When I'm at a weight I am comfortable at, when I can run a mile and not be winded, when I can floss my teeth without my gums bleeding and when I can look other people in the eye with the confidence I have in myself then I will be truly satisfied in myself.

I always thought I should do this so that I could fit in well with other people and be more social because - you know - only beautiful people can be social and have lots of friends and relationships. My point of all that is to ask you: Why should we let other people in to our lives if they could possibly take that away from us?

All of this work I'm doing shouldn't be able to go out the window when Erica says that she can't hang out or when she tells me that Stacy doesn't actually like me anymore. I should still be able to feel like I am worthy and happy. And for the most part I do feel that way still. I can know in a way that can only come from authentic self-knowledge that it isn't about me. It isn't something I have done that makes Erica act this way now. It's an issue that is outside of me entirely.

More than anything I feel used. When something comes to an end it is often human nature to look back and remember the thing that is ending. A movie, a book - a friendship, a life. Maybe you gloss over the bad parts and remember only the sunshine and happy times. But maybe you see things through the spectacles of reality and for a minute you find that all those priceless memories weren't as squeaky clean as you'd like to paint them. They might be filled with cracks that you didn't pay attention to before.

The cracks in the relationship that Erica and I have shared for the past four years are hardly small in number. They are large cracks which have become surrounded by smaller ones and it reminds me of a quote from 'The Women' by the character Sophie.

"Whether it's in one big way or a million small ones - betrayal is inevitable in every relationship. It's the nature of these things."

(That's a paraphrase but you get the idea.)

She has lived in my apartment rent free for a month, she has eaten food that I have bought, she has stolen from me, lied to me, used my gas, car, time and money for things that in no way benefit me. And I can say I've done some things to her as well. I've called her horrible things when I'm angry, I've accused her of things that aren't true, I've treated her unfairly and sometimes very poorly.

It's because I recognize these things that I was able to forgive her for them and to put them behind us. It's because I recognize these things that I was able to change my behavior and atone for it. But it's also because I recognize these things that I feel like maybe our entire friendship has been one big pay off for her and one big lesson for me. How do you walk away from a friendship knowing that it has cost you more than you gained from it?

I don't mourn these losses in any big way. For these losses had to be made if I were to become the man I am today. But I mourn the people we had yet to become together - for I think we were better for knowing each other, better for all the ways we have grown together and because of each other. These are the things I measure a friendship in. And in that respect we were full of riches. And I can't predict the future. Maybe we'll end up better friends because of what is happening to us now. But all I can hope is that what happens to us in the following months is what will help us both be better off. I can only hope that the trials will be worth the end result.


That's all.

Signed,

A Fabulous Gay Man,

Queen Trixie J.D. The First

That fickle itch...

Every now and then I have what I like to call 'the four week itch.' No I did not get something ominous from a bed partner but rather my brain and body rebel against the lack of bed partner. Not plural, just one.

And ok, I totally don't have any problems sleeping alone. But first let me tell you why I'm blogging today.

Last night a good friend of mine (whom I shall refer to as 'T') came over and we watched 'Sex and the City' all night. I had a fabulous time and of course I'm beefing up for the sequel set to hit theaters this month. We baked cupcakes and shopped for beauty products and just generally had the kind of night single girls (and their single gay husbands) live for.

The problem came when we went to bed. (haha.) I usually sleep alone since I am single and have been for about...oh...my entire life. As I was lying there I smiled to myself and realized for the first time in a very long time that I love my life. I'm not in the perfect place and I don't have a lot figured out. But I'm living here and I'm living now - and I have never felt more alive. I have never felt more at peace. I am safe in the knowledge that I will be ok no matter what happens next.

Not only do I have a strong supportive network of friends and family but I have the inner strength to carry me through practically anything. Watching the Ultimate Single Gal Carrie Bradshaw scurrying down the street to catch a cab or even a late movie by herself really inspires me. I have come to love my city just as Carrie loves New York. Well I love it enough for it to be my home while going to college. Mass Street reminds me of a miniature New York street. Bums asking for money, new restaurants and cute shops all over the place. It's full of adventures waiting to happen and favorite haunts to be found.

Anyway back to my night. 'T' has this quirk about her when she's sleeping. Let me tell you that it is not her only quirk but it is the one that sticks out most in my mind. She plays with her mouth in a way that makes a sound which drives me absolutely bonkers. I have to wear earphones when she sleeps over. But she also hogs the covers and tosses and turns alot. All of these habits she is aware of and totally gets it that they can be bothersome. I, of course, do not hold these things against her I'm just stating some facts.

So due to a mixture of these circumstances I found myself unable to sleep. My stomach was growling because I had skipped like all three of my meals today (not on purpose!) It was the first time in a long time that I wasn't planning my meals in advance. I'm a sucker for food. It's how I got my gut at such a young age (which I am now thankfully reducing very slowly by sheer will and exercise.) In any case I got up and put on the first jacket and hat I could find in the dark and headed for the door.

I was only going to grab a McDouble from the drive through (thru?) but I was in no such luck. The first one I went to was closed and the second required cash. I was pissed and hungry at 4 in the morning. I made the first stop I could which was at a local 24 hour restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner all day long. I ordered myself a big burger with lots of fries and I went to town. It was one of the best burgers I've had in a while. I won't say in my life because that would be untrue. Not to say that I remember the best burger of my life but I'm pretty sure this wasn't it. It's kind of like a man - you can tell these sorts of things.

But somewhere amid my quest for food I found myself in a New York State of Mind. I was going through my current personal life status and analyzing why it is the way that it is. I have only ever loved two boys (I say boys because they weren't men to me.) in the past four years. I have never been in a relationship in my entire life. Somewhere the math wasn't adding up.

I'm looking for love. Or at least I have been ever since I was indoctrinated into society's ideals about love. I believe in soul mates and the whole 'someone for everyone' theory. Maybe these people never find each other and instead spend their lives with others who fill the void quite adequately. People who can have something just as valuable or meaningful as if they were with their soul mates. Except I've been screwed over by every guy I have ever even liked. That's a true story.

I admire Samantha Jones for her courage, honesty, and in-your-face unapologetic lifestyle. She keeps herself distant from men...but from what 'Sex and the City' has shown us of her character I believe it to be born from self protection. She was burned once before by love. She even gave it a second try with Richard Wright. In the end love proved to be a fickle bitch that was definitely not on Samantha's next V.I.P. list.

Let me go further into speculation land and analyze the lifestyles and choices of Samantha and of Charlotte. I think I used to be a 'Charlotte' when it came to love. I'm a different person now. My views and idealogies have changed quite a bit over the past year. I think I'm now more of a Samantha. She has money and great friends and of course plenty of stimulating pleasure from men. She has 'made it' as she put it in one episode. I truly believe that she had. A lot of people spend a lot of their lives trying to gain even ONE of those three things at all, let alone maintain such aspects.

In 'Sex and the City: The Movie' Charlotte has a quote that I particularly find interesting. She says, "I have everything I ever wanted. I'm so happy, I'm terrified. Nobody gets everything they want. Look at you...look at Miranda. You're such good people and look what happened to you. Of course something bad is going to happen to me."

Now what I find interesting is that...she did it too. She got everything that she wanted. Charlotte had made it too. So when we work towards getting the things that we want, are we to assume that our own hearts and minds decide if we fulfill our destiny? What if Samantha has a soul mate? She's shut off to men emotionally and so she would never know.

My heart of hearts tells me that I am still a little bit of Charlotte inside. I am a different person now...someone more like Samantha. I don't trust men. I don't really believe in 'Love' (when it comes to the whole significant other thing) because I have never had it returned to me by a man that I love.

These thoughts brought me to do a little research. One of the things to know about me is that I like to google weird phrases. Like, "I have never been kissed." or "I am afraid to date."   Basically I put my feelings into search engines (by the way, both of the above statements are just examples and are not actually anything that I feel or have not done.) and see how many others have put that phrase out there. Anyway, I typed: "I am 20 and have never been in a relationship."
(My 20th is looming fast on the horizon.)

It turns out that I am most certainly not alone. With all the relationships that I have been around I had seriously convinced myself that I was some abnormality of nature. That I obviously wasn't meant to be in a relationship if I haven't already had one. So what if my 'Samantha' attitude just puts me further off the love track? Is it wrong for me to feel the way I do? For me to want Love to prove itself to me? For a man to show me that not all of them are scum?

I think that if it is meant to be, there will be a way for it to happen. I believe that even the toughest of my 'Samantha' beliefs could be overturned by 'Love' if I am meant to find it. But the Charlotte in me is still a little afraid that if I am not a cheerleader for love, it will not win me any games.

At this point I went online and checked every dating site I had ever registered for (ones I hadn't visited in four or five months.) No turn up. It seems that even online I was still wearing my man-repellant. But everything else around me seemed the same even though I had changed so much. The men I have seen, met, observed and experienced in clubs, bars and chat rooms have all been the same: egotistical, self-centered, and sex oriented.  In other words not what I am looking for in a man who would potentially wear the title of my boyfriend.

I guess I can sum this post up in a quote from Emmett Honeycutt on Queer as Folk: "Are there any real men left?" and if there are will I be too closed off to them to find the one that is right for me?

Something to think about.

That's all.

-J.H.-

(Picture from: http://www.sciencenews.org/pictures/112208/itch_mainimage_zoom.jpg)

I'm Comin' Home

 So...I've started a new exercise regime. Ok, not started yet, but I'm planning on it. It's been an interesting ride these past few months. One that I've had to take lying down unfortunately. Life gets you down sometimes, you know?

I'm sorry I had to bring you all down while going through it. But I like to blog and I like to write, so I felt like I needed to express myself through this medium.

However, I'm beginning to take the road which will lead me out of my funk. I'm taking the necessary steps for me to feel better about my life and just stop making excuses for everything that's happened to me. I can't use my situation as an excuse because if I do that then the others will have won. The people who say that I can't do something, or that I will never amount to anything. I know in my heart and soul that isn't true about myself. I know I'm meant to be great and do great things. Which doesn't always mean fame or lots of money (although that is something I've always secretly wished for myself.)

Sometimes it means bouncing back from horrors or atrocities in life and just saying, "I got through it. What else do you have for me, life?"

It's not what you do in life but how you come back from what life throws at you, that tells your true character. Ok, so maybe I'm not the strongest and I haven't been in the past. But all of that ends when I say it does. I have always had the power to control what I do in my life and where it goes. I've let things just 'happen' to me while I idly let them happen. Well this time now, the time meant for recovery and for me to bounce back, will not just be another thing that goes wrong and 'happens' to me. I recognize the need for self assurance and action.

That's what I'm doing now. Getting back on track and focusing on my life and how I can improve it. I'm starting school again. Just a few more kinks in the process and I'm on my way to getting readmitted to KU - something I should have started a long while ago. Now I'm trying to get the body and the health that I've always craved. I know what I want and I'm going to get it. I want to have the slim shape and internal well being that I've never had in my life before. So wish me luck! I'm starting a work out blog if you all are interested in reading that! I'll post the link soon.

Basically I'm working for four or five months to lose as much weight as I can. Then in September I'm going on a trip with my mother over a long weekend to Oregon. I feel like once I reach that point, it's all gravy after that. I should be back in school and getting the education benefits. So that's all I'm looking forward to.

All this time has left me with the ability to write more often and I'm thankful for that. I have to visit the projects that I've been putting of in lieu of other things. I've been posting my fan works on various sites and they are all getting really positive feedback, but now I want to focus on original works. I have two chapters written of a novel that has been in the works for a couple of years now. It all comes down to the execution now.

Also in the works: I've recently read a book called, "Before I Fall," by Lauren Oliver and it is such a wonderful reading experience! If you have a chance, go ahead and read it because you will not regret it. It's  a hard hitting look at life and the things we all take for granted and the opportunities we miss because of things we think we want. We get in our own way a lot of the time, to having the life we want for ourselves. So you can see why this book would resonate with me. I wrote the author in hopes that I could turn it into a film adaptation but we'll see where that goes.

I've been in a really creative mood lately and I'm itching to film something. Or perhaps make some jewelry. I'm always inclined to make jewelry at the current moment. I think that if I can make enough then I will sell a few key pieces on facebook. I know a lot of people have this hobby but I really enjoy doing it and I wouldn't mind making money off of it.

Oh! I got a new car recently. Well it isn't new but it's new to me. The car is a '98 Ford Tauras and it's white. I saved up money off the top of my allowance to get it and thankfully the auction (Purple Wave) that I bought it from, had kept the prices pretty decent. I mean it looked for a moment as if someone else was going to outbid me on it, but I pushed for it and with a little help I was able to grab the winning bid. So thanks to ma mere!

Now I have to return my old car to my father. His name is on the title and all of that. I need to have him switch insurance over to it and also to register it. So lots to do in that department. It still needs to have it's interiors cleaned, which I will probably do myself and it needs to go through a car wash, but other than that it's perfect. I'm certainly not complaining since my other one was falling apart.

I've been having offers for roommates from two seperate people and I'm more inclined to go with one over the other - but either way it looks like I'm moving again. I know, I know. I can't seem to stay in one place longer than six months eh? But I figure that I'm young and in college, so that's to be expected for someone living off campus. After this roommate experience hopefully I'll be able to just settle down for a few years somewhere. Maybe in a house or something (with roommates obviously). The point is to keep the cost down.

Well that's pretty much it from my corner these days. Just taking life one day at a time and trying to enjoy it the best I can. I'm working towards getting myself together and it isn't an easy process but...I have faith that I'll get there. I have the fact that I'm still an eternal optimist on my side. You can't keep a good gay man down for long.

That's all.

-J-


(Picture from: http://intellidick.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/some_motivation_requiredu2sdetail.png)

Valentine

  Hello all. Another Valentine's Day is upon us. It is the midnight hour of such a day - something that I've done a wonderful job of ignoring up until now.

I was going to spend my Valentine's Day with a girlfriend. (You know, the 'honey those shoes are fabulous' kind of girlfriend.) We were going to turn it into a celebration of being single. Fabulous outfits and hair, laughing over sushi and maybe quiet conversation at a coffee shop, then topping it all off with a 'Sex and the City' marathon.

Except, she didn't dump the guy who has been 'dating' her for the past few weeks. She was going to and then he did something really sweet for her that made her reconsider things.

Maybe it's for the better. I want her to be happy and I want her to have a good Valentine's Day. Hell. Someone should. My mother is visiting town and my best friend from ICT just left here. I miss her all the time and this weekend was just a subtle reminder of how much I actually do miss her. But then again I spend a lot of time these days thinking about my relationships and friendships.

I'm just simply more lonely this year. Perhaps no lonlier than the last - but this year it is different. I have gone through an ordeal and things are different now. Everything is different and it can't go back to the way it was. I see everyone and everthing differently now than before. I'm not quite sure what it is I see and I get the general feeling of floating in the air, suspended by an invisible force that is unmoving - and it is my life and my future. It's all just suspended at the moment.

My school has dismissed me and so I've been trying to recover from that. I've taken necessary steps to research schools and in the end decided I wanted to go the online route. I'm going to get a job (to get me out of this apartment everyday!) and pay for these courses. I want to put myself through these obstacles because I got myself into this mess. Well, I played a part anyway. I can't let the two others involved in this situation take all the responsibility. I was there and every moment I spent in hell, I chose to stay...for whatever reason or another.

Generally I wish for a boyfriend every year. I wish that perhaps this is the year that I will have someone to kiss on New Year's or that 'I' can become a 'We'. I will have someone there to witness my life as I am living it.

But I 've stopped wishing. And it wasn't a conscious thing really. I just got off the phone with my friend after having been ditched for V.D. and I was...just complacent. Usually I'd be pissed or depressed. But I can't bring myself to put forth the energy it takes to be upset or pissed. I finally think that after all these years I have allowed myself to just relax. Maybe this past year is to blame and it has taken this self-pity from me and turned it into utter apathy.

I wish I could say that I cared but I just can't. I'm taking my life one step at a time these days and one second at a time. It's a lot...slower. It's not as comforting as people say it is. I feel like I have nothing to do with myself and then the 'weightlessness' sets in.

However, I will say that I have been writing more often and I've been exercising, not to mention that I've cut back on smoking. I'm doing ok.

Anyway another thing that happens this time of year is that I think about who it didn't end up working out with. I can only hope that they spend their Valentine's Day with someone that they care about. Because I wouldn't want anyone to be alone - no matter who they were - unless that was the way they wanted it. This year, I am ok with being alone. Being alone isn't something to be ashamed of. I'm not embarrassed about it and if I were to go to a restaurant tomorrow and be by myself, I would sit proudly somewhere in a booth and be alone.

Valentine's Day means a chance for many people to show their significant others how they feel about each other. I elect that those of us without a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, make that significant other someone that is important to them in many ways. Someone in their life that they have been affected by and just don't always take the chance to say 'thanks' every once in a while.

Those people shouldn't be forgotten. What a perfect day and perfect way to celebrate any form of love in our lives. Love doesn't just come in one person or in one way. It doesn't come in one shape, size, color, or meaning. It just is there in our lives, moving us in ways that we sometimes can't see or haven't been able to realize yet.

So seize this day. Carpe Diem.

Take it into your life and make it your own in a world that has made it uniform and commonplace.

Love is something to celebrate. Always.

That's all.

Signed,

A Fabulous Gay Man,

Queen Trixie J.D. the First



(picture from: http://www.bantjes.com/images/pic_saks-valentine.jpg)

The Dating Game

The dating game. What is it? Who is in it? What do you do when you are one of those in it?

I don't know the answer to these questions. But I would like to know. I think.

How do you let people know that you're in the dating game?

Well, to me it's not a game - I just use the term because it's what people do.

I ask these questions because I went on a date tonight. It was a blind date - and ok, I know those are usually bad news. You don't have to be in the dating 'game' to know that. But it wasn't actually that bad.

Well, it wouldn't have been except that he is in his 40's. I don't mention his exact number because a gay man, much like a lady, never reveals his age. And if he does, on a blind date, then the datee can't reveal that age on the internet.

He's nice and kind and attractive (for an older gentlemen.) He made me feel good about myself, which is unusual for a first date (at leas the one's I've experienced.) I gave him a hug goodbye and that was the end of it.

We didn't exchange numbers, we didn't make plans...that was just...it.

But it got me thinking. I'm 19 and I haven't dated a lot. I've been on two dates total in my entire life thus far. Each one was...well...unique. I thought with the second one that I had something, but it turned out to be a fluke. I've fallen for guys I've already known and been friends with, but never actually had a date.

What is that about anyway? How do you get dates?

First of all, I will be pretentious and say I refuse to go to a dance club and ask someone out on a date. That's just not me. I am ok with being approached but not approaching at a dance club. Most gay men at the dance club I frequent, are self-absorbed or too gun shy to do anything. And even if they aren't gun shy, they're horny and looking for a one-time thing. That's not what I want.

I want to date. You know the whole 'coffee-at 7-movies-at 10-dinner and or drinks afterwards' kind of thing. On more than one occasion...with the same person. That seems to be an impossible thing to get at my age, and geographical location. Why is that? Why aren't more guys wanting to date?

After my date I went home and got on my computer. I was looking for more than the date had to offer, and so I logged on to gay.com - after going into the chat room (that I've been in a million times) and seeing who was online (the same people who are always on) I gave up hope. I signed on to two other dating sites that I'm involved with.

Nothing. Nada. The big Goose Egg.

A friend of mine told me that craigslist is where it's at for L-town. Now, let me tell you that I loathe the words 'craigslist' when I see them - because it's a trashy site used for trashy things. But my dating thirst for knowledge had me on a quest.

I quickly found out that craigslist is not really for 'dating' but for sex in the L-town area.

So I find myself at a loss. Are all the like-minded men where I live, in hiding? And if so, where are they hiding?

I'm finding that the dating game, is a lot harder than it looks.

That's all.

-J-

Anatomy of Me

I've just spent a good chunk of hours watching season 2 of "Grey's Anatomy." It is the first time I have seen the show, and I am completely engrossed in it. I don't want to stop watching it. It's like a kind of addiction for me.

When it is over, and when I am done with this season I will be sad. Not because I know there aren't any more, but simply because I can no longer view it on my television until I either buy the next season, or find some way to get it without it hurting my very slim pocketbook.

Grey like's to start each episode off with a narration. It sets the tone for the episode. Perhaps it is a quote, or an observation. Perhaps it is an anecdote from her life. Whatever it is, these little narrations have somehow found their way into my heart. Each one has something to say to me. I can listen to Grey and in my mind I will say, "Yes, I know exactly what you mean."

Unfortunately for me - I have experienced some of the heartbreak that she is going through. I have not blogged extensively (the second time around) the emotions that I had during my painful letting go of Matt. Partially because I didn't wish to relive my experience with Dustin, and paritally because I have not yet gotten over him.

I think I have simply gotten 'past' him. Or had been. I was doing things with my life! Writing, exercising, going out with friends. All of that is well and fine but it doesn't cure a person of their love or their heartbreak. I thought I had been doing great actually. I was finally getting a restful night's sleep. I was taking up new hobbies.

But somehow, somewhere between this morning and the night before that - I broke. I had a dam, that I had built around my heart and possibly my mind, to keep the emotions from all the traumatic or stressful situations at bay...and I didn't even realize it. This morning when I woke up - I realized it. It was as if I was feeling the emotions from the past year and they were coalescing into this giant ball of pain.

I believe that for the first time in a long time, I was letting myself feel something beyond the daily run of emotions. I was actually *feeling* it.

They say that when you're in a war zone, you are living moment to moment, not thinking about what you're going through and what conditions you are surviving. When you return to the 'real world' and join the rest of the population again, it starts to hit you.

That's how I felt. Not only the trauma from living in hell for about three to four months, but also from the heart ache I was suffering.

I wouldn't let myself process these things because I had responsibilities. To other people's lives as well as my own. To make sure the rent was paid or the house was clean or that the dogs were fed and nourished and cared for - and then to make sure my homework was done and maybe to get a little sleep once in a while.

Then I woke up today. I opened my eyes and I said, "Ow."

And you know what? It sucks. I have never felt like this before, about anyone or anything. The pain that sticks out the most is the pain that came from Mark. I genuinely loved him. I seem to have that curse. Falling for guys that won't give me the time of day. Except this one did. He kissed me, told me he liked me - said he could fall for me. Made me believe we were a possibility.

When in reality I was just a substitute. He was in love with another guy and I didn't even know it. The substitutes are usually the last to know.

Anyway, my best friend (who recently got out of a relationship) also felt like this today. For some reason, today was the day that all the crap just fell from where it was sticking onto the fan. It had already hit, and we knew it had hit, but then when we thought it was over: it fell from the fan.

She popped in my mother's second season of Grey's Anatomy and said, "Let's watch this. You're going to love it."

We had nothing better to do, and besides that, we needed a distraction.

She was right. I did love it. I fell in love with the characters and I got invested in their stories. Part of that was because of Meredith and her struggle with McDreamy. She was happy with him and he just took that away from her. We as the viewers get to see how she deals with that - so naturally I can identify with some of the things she says.

Anyway, in the episode "The End of the World..." she says something that really strikes a chord with me. Because it was spot on how I felt and how I would say it.

She's talking to Christina about McDreamy and this feeling she has about her life in general and she says: "I can't even remember the last time we kissed. Because you never think the last time is the last time. You think you have forever, but you don't."

And this is where she spoke what I was feeling, exactly, today: "I need something to happen. I just need a sign. I need a reason to go on. I need some hope, and in the absence of hope, I need to stay in bed and feel like I might die today."

I do need something to happen. I need something to happen that tells me that I shouldn't give up on love. I need for some kind of event to happen that will bring me out of my funk. And I'm not talking about a death or a crisis. I need something good to happen. Or I will continue to feel the absence of hope.

Isn't it sad that human beings can do that to one another? Take away their hope and their faith in life itself?

It is even more sad when that act comes in the name of something like Love. It was the love of another guy that made Matt unavailable to me. Love did that. To me.

And because this other guy didn't love Mark back, then he in turn, was broken as well. He transformed into someone I don't recognize and quite frankly, don't even like.

I have to believe that there is still some good kind of love. I have to believe that the 'monogamous-once in a lifetime-grow old and wrinkly together' kind of love hasn't died with the previous generation. I want to believe that there are some relationships that exist out there where both parties have not physically and/or emotionally cheated on their significant other and have chosen to always remain faithful and in love with the other person.

Until that can happen for me; until my hope and faith in love and life can be restored...I will truck on. I won't lay down and die or wait to die. I will get up. I may bitch and moan about having to get up...but every morning I promise myself that I will get out of bed and do something.

And even if it's juvenile to say this out loud, well I don't care: I will have Grey to remind me that life goes on. To heal me with her words and her stories. Because even if she is fictional, she is still someone I can relate to. Her character's experiences can comfort me as I watch them play out on my television.

Her pixelated eyes will never look into mine and her rose colored lips will never smile at me, but she is one person who can't hurt me from where she is. She can't betray me, or step out of line. She can't lie to me or lead me on. And she will always be there when I need her.

Even after I put her away, when I'm ready to rejoin the rest of the world, and believe in people again.

That's all.

-J-