Super Bowl Commercials
I love watching the Super Bowl commercials, even though I don’t know the first thing about sports. I couldn’t even tell you who is playing… something about a cardinal and some robbers… err, stealers… Is it the St. Louis Cardinals*?
(* I’m kidding)
Here are some favorites from 2008:
Mom, Dad, and the Drag Queens
Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore…
This is a story from about 8 years ago, but it makes me laugh every time, so I thought it was worth sharing.
My Mom and Dad were showing me pictures from their vacation to San Francisco. As I was browsing through the pile, I started to notice a pattern of photos that seemed to be from a gay pride parade.
“Mom, what’s this?” I asked.
“Well, your Dad and I were walking along and we got caught up in a parade. It was so neat. There were all these colorful flags and banners,” she explained. “But then we saw these tall men dressed up as women and realized we were walking in a gay pride parade.”
BAHAHAHA!
You just have to picture my Mom and Dad, two God-fearing, small town midwesterners enjoying a stroll when they were swept away in a gay pride parade.
I wish I had been there to see it myself. Mom, Dad, and the drag queens.
Obama Poll Results
Thanks to everyone who participated in my recent poll about President Obama.
The results to date are:
50% of my readers think positively of him and your opinion has not changed either way since he took office.
42% think more positively of him now, indicating that your support for him has increased in the past week.
6% feel negative about him, and this has not changed either way since he took office.
3% feel more negative now, indicating you’ve been disappointed since he became President.
Voting is still open, so feel free to participate. You can also share your thoughts in the comments.
Accountability
A 93-year-old Michigan man froze to death in his home after falling behind with his electric bill.
Instead of issuing an apology, the manager of the utility company, Robert Belleman, said:
- “Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors. When they think there’s something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department.”
You’ve got to be kidding to me. Do corporations not care at all anymore? The poor man was left without electricity in freezing temperatures and the utility company is blaming the neighbors?
Maddening. Pure and simple.
The Gay Alphabet
Fun and educational 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5sfwm-DqEA
Found on DanNation.
Poll: What Do You Think of President Obama?
It’s been one week since our newly elected President Obama was sworn into office.
[poll id="3"]
21 Ideas for Better Blogging
21 simple bits of inspiration to write about on your blog.
I enjoy reading the daily advice from ProBlogger and sometimes I even try to take the advice and apply it to this blog. Since this is a personal blog and I don’t write for a living, I don’t get too hung up on following every single step. But just for fun, it’s nice to experiment.
A recent article really caught my eye. It suggested 21 things you can do to help your blog grow. I’m going to try each of these ideas at a random pace. Some of them are things I already try to do, so I’m off to a good start.
These are the 21 tips:
1. Write something useful
2. Write something unique
3. Write something newsworthy
4. Write something first
5. Write something that makes those who read it smarter
6. Write something controversial
7. Write something insightful
8. Write something that taps into a fear people have
9. Write something that helps people achieve
10. Write something that elicit a response
11. Write something that gives a sense of belonging
12. Write something passionately
13. Write something that interprets or translates news for people
14. Write something inspirational
15. Write something that tells a story
16. Write something that solves a problem
17. Write something that gets a laugh
18. Write something that saves people time or money
19. Write something opinionated
20. Write something that is a resource
21. Write something about something ‘cool’
How Do You Say “Discrimination” In Spanish?
Success! Nashville’s “English Only” law failed, with 57% of voters saying “no” to this discriminatory law.
Yesterday, almost 74,000 people voted to decide whether or not English would be considered the official language of the city.
If it passed, there would no longer be translation services available for city government, police and fire departments, driver’s license, permits, deeds, and any other public services. In fact, this law would prohibit local government from using any language but English. How crazy is that?
Look, we all agree that if you live in America, you should learn to speak English. Just like if you move to France, you should learn French.
But we don’t need a law put into order to force English to be the only language here. Laws are meant to protect people, not discriminate against them. We need a diverse city government and our public services, such as police and fire, obviously need to be able to translate too. Banning it just doesn’t make sense.
So hooray for democracy! I’m very impressed that the citizens of Nashville came out and actually voted for a minority’s rights. Good for you.
Being Gay, Then and Now
When I came out in 1997, there was no debate over gay marriage because America didn’t think it was a debate worth having.
In 12 years, we’ve come so far. We’ve fought for our rights, town by town, state by state. In many states, we’ve lost. But there is light at the end of the tunnel because America finally understands it’s a debate worth having. It’s a good thing.
I know that may sound hard to believe. You might be asking, “But Nathan, how is that a good thing?”
As the saying goes, the opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. America is no longer indifferent to our right to equality. Love us or hate us, take us or leave us, the flood gates are open and we will no longer be ignored.
I think it’s important to say this because I sometimes come across websites where gay people say that we’re not getting anywhere. They are angry and frustrated and feel like we’re losing our fight for equality.
But don’t give up. You can’t give up. When I compare my life now to the way it was 12 years ago, I know things are getting better. It’s easier to come out now than it was then. It’s better than it was 20 years ago, 50 years ago. So don’t give up.
We will get there. Just yesterday, our new President Obama included us in his agenda for LGBT rights. He didn’t include gay marriage, as we wish he would. But hey, it’s a great start. When has any U.S. President ever devoted a section of his website to supporting us?
So when you’re feeling down, feeling that things will never get better for the gay community, just take a look at our past to see how far we’ve come. We’ll go even further in the future.
The First Poopy Diaper
A friend across the street wasn’t feeling well and needed to go to her doctor. Her husband was at work so she called to ask if Rodney could come and babysit her daughter for an hour. But Rodney had a bad headache so I volunteered to do it.
I went over and there the little angel was on the floor, playing with her toys. She’s 9 months old with big brown eyes that just melt your heart. She really likes me, but all babies seem to. I’m a baby magnet, and it works to my benefit because they are calmer around me.
Her diaper had just been changed and she was in good shape. So her Mommy was off to the doctor and it was just us on the floor with her toys. That’s when I smelled the poopiness. It seems this little angel thought it would be the perfect time to pass a log, so she did.
I’ve never really changed a poopy diaper. I practiced on her last summer but that was just pee. I thought a poopy diaper wouldn’t be a challenge, but I was wrong.
I put her on the changing table and opened up to see what we were dealing with. Oh, my. Wow. Good job, girl. That’s quite a masterpiece.
I stared at the diaper for a good 5-10 minutes, contemplating the best way to do it. I tried wiping her off with a baby wipe, but then she just got more on her. Pretty soon it was on her legs, her feet, and I figured it was just a matter of time before the walls were painted with it too.
I called Rodney and asked how I was supposed to clean the butt without getting any poop on it. That’s when he explained to pull the diaper forward so I could change her using the unsoiled part of it.
OHHH. Now I get it.
After I did that, cleaning her up was easy. I got everything wiped off and put a fresh diaper on. The whole adventure took a full 30 minutes, but thankfully that calming effect I have convinced a baby to lay still for that long. True story.
We went back downstairs to play with her toys. I looked at her and thought to myself… I just don’t think I can raise a baby. We’re going to have to adopt a toddler instead.
She’s a very good baby, don’t get me wrong. But who knew poop would be so much work?
Just as I had started to give up on raising a little baby, she pushed herself up with her hands, made a few grunts, and crawled over to my lap to be closer to me. I picked her up and held her in my arms and thought to myself… Okay, maybe just one baby will be alright.
