Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Happy Coming Out Day!

Hey friends and neighbors! So much is going on, I hardly know where to begin. I am virtually breathless with excitement. I am also still unemployed, and we are nearing the finish line with those nice unemployment checks. I NEED A JOB, so send me an email if you are rich and need someone to: buff your floors, make your coffee, design a blog for you (I've done it three times now!), pick apples and green beans, walk your dogs, transcribe indecipherable medical blather, sell your health supplements, answer phones from irate people, talk on the radio about politics, and/or drive your bus fulla ill-mannered day-care brats. These are a few of the things I have done, but if I think a bit, can probably come up with a few more. Jack of all trades, etc.

I miss video stores... I rather enjoyed working at those. I worked for a local chain, so I got sent all over the upstate. Some of the video stores were in middle-class neighborhoods, but some were NOT; it was unpredictable and fun. It was a lot like the movie Clerks. This was the 90s, so when one of my movie-geek co-workers gave me copies of (much sought-after) PEEPING TOM and SHOCK CORRIDOR, I was thrilled beyond telling. No DVDs-with-extras in those days! I felt like I'd joined the ranks of the esoteric movie-fans, owning real-live collectables.

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Happy Coming Out Day everyone!

Speaking of movies, I assume that anyone who has read my star-struck babbling about Elizabeth Taylor, Christina Hendricks and others, knows this about me already. But just in case I have to spell it out and COME OUT to my readers as bisexual: Yes, I am. Although frankly, I find that admission a bit foolish.

I am a boring old married woman, in a faithful and monogamous marriage, preparing to celebrate my 24th legal wedding anniversary to a man. Thus, it seems largely irrelevant to me. But of course, it is not... it is the whole reason I am so gung-ho on gay rights. If I had by chance fallen in love with the wrong person of the wrong gender, this anniversary would not be celebrated by some of the same people who now congratulate us. I can't quite forget that. I have privileges, I can pass, and it is my responsibility to use these privileges to help bring equality to others.

I would like everyone to have the right to be married for 24 years.

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Some other interesting stuff for your perusal:

Jenni (whose blog I have just linked here at DEAD AIR) is an ex-fundamentalist Christian who wrote a heartfelt and honest coming-out letter to friends and family, many of whom are still fundamentalist. This made for a fascinating post on John Shore's blog: A Christian’s Coming Out Letter–And Some Responses To It. Recommended reading!

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I have been participating on the blog No, Seriously, What About Teh Menz? (NSWATM) Aside: As I have asked before, who decided on this odd spelling of "teh" and why are we being forced to use it?

The discussions at NSWATM are highly critical of Second Wave feminism, but they are interesting. I have to restrain myself from giggling when certain participants start whining about how White Middle Class Educated Hetero Cis Men have been made to Feel Bad (aw), and I have discovered the wisest decision is simply to not comment when my giggling starts... giggling is by far, the best barometer I have that commenting is NOT SAFE... that was the mistake I made over at the Manblog That Will Not Be Named (MTWNBN).

The very gifted anti-feminist troll, Typhon Blue (mentioned rather unkindly here and here) has established a beachhead at NSWATM, so grab your popcorn. The show is just starting! TB is doing "her" usual reactionary schtick, forcefully attacking feminists and then standing back as the chivalrous anti-feminist men (who comically claim chivalry oppresses men, of course!) gallantly come to her aid. The question is whether this new exercise in melodrama will successfully get anyone banned, as she got ME banned at MTWNBN. So far, the management of NSWATM isn't swooning over her mommy-defends-the-beleaguered-boys routine, but she is just so deft at the concern trolling. The anti-feminist fellas just loooove her.

Remember the first time you explained to some guy that porn was staged and not real? I daresay, the guys at both NSWATM and MTWNBN will have that same crestfallen look when they discover that Typhon Blue is some 50-year-old farmer from Iowa, or whatever it is. (giggles)

As for me, I have made a point of not replying to her, so I hope that keeps her off me. I don't think I have much to worry about, since she has bigger fish to fry. There are lots of other feminists there for her to place in her cross-hairs and harass, all while playing innocent and complaining that she is triggered.

Honest confession: Damn, I wish I knew how to do that stuff. Those halos NEVER stayed on my head, even when I was a kid! ;)