In my last post, I talked about coming out twenty-five years ago and the progress that the LGBT community has seen this last quarter-century. In reflecting on how many of these changes made it easier for the younger generation to live their authentic lives, I also thought about the generations that preceded me. Those who had no real choice but to hide and be silent. Those who know me, whether it be those closest to me, or people with whom I have stayed connected with through social media, know that I am a vocal person. I like to say that I am like cilantro. People love me or hate me.…
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Distortions
When I first started writing a number of years ago, my goal was always to make people laugh. To an extent, I still really do enjoy funny posts. Who doesn’t like to laugh? I do think though that there are so many more dimensions of ourselves that are important to share. The funny stuff is the easy stuff. It’s the not-so-funny stuff that people seldomly reveal. Societally, especially in the advent of social media, I think this makes us feel more isolated than we really are. for example, Facebook or Instagram, everyone posts when their kid wins a trophy or the family is entirely clad in white with manicured hands…
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Are You There, God? It’s Me, Joe
The Scholastic catalog came home with Emily a few months ago. She picked a few books to order, which we did. And there it was – a Judy Blume section. How I loved Judy Blume as a kid! I added Super Fudge and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to the list. She asked me why and expressed a strong desire to not get them. I listened but asked her to humor me. I wanted to read them to and with her. It didn’t take me long into Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to feel like I was transformed back into my ten year old self. I know I’m…
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Hurt So Good
I was torn between what was the most painful part - the digging in between my toes, the down tempo instrumental version of Edelweiss or getting clocked in the nads.
