Why Not?

My life in the blink of a blurb on a blog.

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Today I am nervous by Guiniveretoo

Happy "School starts tomorrow so I'm going to be a nervous wreck for the next 24 hours" Day! (-_-)

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I wish I could say I support this....

But I don't.

As fun as it would be to see Bert and Ernie get married on Sesame Street, the argument for it is pretty much formed around the idea that it will "teach" kids to be more tolerant of same-sex couples. I'm sorry but a television show doesn't need to be teaching kids stuff like this. Not because it's not ok but because it something their PARENTS should be doing.

I'm more than happy to relax with a toddler in front of some age-appropriate television for awhile and even happier if that particular television show teaches them the difference between a lower case and an upper case letter. However, once a show starts moving on to bigger subjects like tolerance, a kid needs to know the whole story. Sure Bert and Ernie are married and that's great but what are they going to do when Ernie starts longing for the pitter-patter of little felt feet? How is someone under the age of 7 years old supposed to understand the process a gay couple has to go through to have their own baby? Now you’re getting into some uncharted territory that can’t really be appropriately explained through puppetry on a public broadcast station.

People can also be very mean outside of Sesame Street and I'd feel like I was doing my child a disservice by making them think that we live in a world that is actually that accepting of same-sex relationships. There are still too many states on the map left where I can’t legally marry my girlfriend and too many more places where I can’t even hold her hand without risking some kind of conflict. Why would I let my child believe that her/his entire neighborhood would throw a party if she/he married someone of the same gender when my girlfriend’s father and stepmother won’t even allow me in their home after 5 months of dating their daughter? Hopefully, things will change by the time we are married and have a child, but I doubt things will have changed drastically enough for me to be comfortable letting my child believe that there aren’t people in this world who will make your life hell for being “that different.”

Besides, if you're 6 years old, watching two puppets of the same gender get married on television isn't going to have much of an impact if you're being raised in a home where your mother yells at you for liking the color pink because you're a boy or if you happen to have older siblings that have a habit of deeming things they don't agree with "gay." Let’s not forget the heavy gender roles that play out in a public school setting. Even if you are the product of the most open-minded and tolerant family in history, chances are you’ll be teased mercilessly if you’re a little boy who likes to play with Barbie dolls or if you’re a little girl who would rather play “war” than “house.” Also, try getting the teacher to read about two princesses living happily ever after together at story time or two papa bears and a baby bear scaring Goldilocks just to add a little variety to the endless pile of heterosexuality based stories and you’ll be lucky if you don’t have a riot on your hands at the next PTA meeting.

To make a long story short, there will come a time when Bert and Ernie can get married but now is not that time. That time won’t come until I can walk to the local courthouse and marry my girlfriend regardless of where I am and I can put our child in a wide variety of schools without having to worry about that child being pushed into a gender role or suffering some kind of backlash for having two mommies. That time will never come unless parents today either step up to the plate and really press the importance of tolerance on to their children or learn to accept the fact that, regardless of religious and/or ignorance based beliefs, same-sex couples deserve to be happy too. 

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Anxious Bear by Futuregirl_LeahRiley.

Things I am Anxious about:

1.) Getting the tumors removed from my hand and arm. 2.) Getting those tumors removed only making me more damaged goods than I already am. 3.) More tumors growing somewhere else and still no medical professional can tell me why. 4.) Taking a full course load for the first time. 5.) My girlfriend's student loan coming through in time. 6.) My girlfriend being able to support herself after she graduates in December. 7.) Not having enough funds to get my girlfriend an amazing 6 month anniversary gift. 8.) I STILL CAN'T FRIGGIN' DRIVE! And the list goes on. :(

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Behold the only accurate depiction of my girlfriend's psychotic former room mate! We have finally gotten my girlfriend completely out of their "shared" apartment today after 4 months of nothing but drama and lies.

I'm (obviously) still a little annoyed with the fact that my girlfriend basically got bullied out of her apartment by a complete b*tch who thinks it's OK to never pay rent, trash other people's things, and use mind games to make my girlfriend feel like a terrible person for wanting to get to bed before 3AM or for not wanting to freeze to death in her own home. If I had it my way, a situation like this would call for one free punch in the face. However, the more time that passes without this psycho in our lives, the better I feel about getting her the hell out of there.

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Agreed.

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The sad part is, this could have been an epic win had the Animal Humane Society advertisement been a reminder to get your pet spayed or neutered.

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Me too!

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…We can tell our children that school is important until we’re blue in the face, they’re not stupid. They see the loudest applause is for the kids on the field. They know teachers are paid poorly and don’t drive fancy cars. They know people plan Super Bowl parties but mock the National Spelling Bee. In other words, they see the hypocrisy, and we can’t expect society to correct itself. If we want to have any lasting influence on the way our kids approach education — the way future generations approach education — then we have to grab our pom-poms and paint our faces and celebrate intellectual curiosity with the same vigor we do their athletic achievements.

Why I’m raising my son to be a nerd - CNN.com (via loveyourchaos)

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Happiness is a warm and newly adopted dog!

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Some people just shouldn't be allowed to use a computer.

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When I found out my girlfriend would be spending her birthday with her parents 2 hours away, I wanted to find a very special way to say Happy Birthday to her on Facebook. This is that special way and when she saw it for the first time as the first thing on her wall for her birthday yesterday she was thrilled. :)

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A Letter I Can't Send

I'm not just worried, I cry myself to sleep every night if I sleep at all and I don't just want what is best for him, I want what is right for him and what his doctor has already told him is the right thing to do. I understand fear better than any of you ever will but that will NEVER be an excuse for me to just expect the one child that actually cares for me to sit back and watch me destroy myself for the happiness of my children that talk about me like I'm the scum on Satan's shit in hell. If this kills him I will never speak to any of you again. I'm not your real sister anyway, at least that's what you tell your children. So it shouldn't be that big of a loss to you.

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My girlfriend has finally come home from London AND I think that's just ducky!!!! :D

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When I'm not saving the world from Old Navy major marketing screw-ups I like to make things with hemp. Some of the stuff I've posted is gifts but most of it is pictures of things I hope to sell next month at a local flea market for some extra Summer cash.

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As if it isn’t bad enough that 75% of the stuff Old Navy sells won’t fit me unless I spend two months throwing up everything I eat. Now the one thing I would actually go out of my way to buy there for both myself and my girlfriend isn’t available at the store in my conservative small town or online because Old Navy would rather wait and see what kind of ‘feedback” they get from offering their 2011 Pride shirts in specifically gay friendly cities instead. I don’t know about you but I don’t appreciate being treated like a sales guinea pig because I’m gay or a dirty little secret just because I live in a small town. If you agree, please click the link and sign the petition.

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What I do when I'm not on Tumblr.

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One of my top ten favorite books!