Just looking forward to winter break, and this coming weekend’s trip to Disneyland. Two weeks until I can finally relax. I’m driving myself insane just thinking about it.

Probably won’t be writing much until then. I’ll keep you posted.

I started the semester, excited with the aspect of no longer being a Freshman. Now trust me, not being a Freshman- one of the best High School feelings to date. Really. 

It’s amazing how quickly things went by from there. Before I knew it, I was no longer going to the Youth Group at the VUMC. I wasn’t a member of the Assisteens organization anymore. I regretfully lost contact with people I called my good friends two or three years ago. I was now a member of the ICU club at Valencia. I was a Guild Member in the Theater program here. Through this, however, I made new friends and made new connections. The only thing that has really stayed the same, extra-curricular-wise is Theater. 

Though, it is true a lot has changed. I applied for my first job at the Student Store, where I soon experienced the weekly epic payday. For the first time, I had an income that allowed me to spend leisurely. Come March, however, this commodity will disappear with the regular purchase of gas.

Compared to Freshman year, I found myself performing a lot more. I hosted the ICU Man Pageant with my best friend Kessley, and went to the DTASC Theater competition with some of  my best Theater friends. We won 3rd place out of fifty-something acts. Looking back, it still excites me to think of that day.

So many firsts. I finally watched the forever epic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I had my first really, really enjoyable Halloween. I had my first Fright Fest experience (and was insanely disappointed.) I fell in love with my best friend. I failed my first Midterm. I found myself in a movie cult (maybe not the first time.) and the list goes on and on…

This was also been the first year that I got really involved with the election and the propositions here in California. I ruined several friendships through this, which ultimately helped me identify how far my temper could take me, and how passionate I really am about the things that I care about. Still rebuilding one of these friendships. Still in the process of getting past my prejudice through a few others. 

Overall, this semester has been one of the most memorable ones yet. It has passed by (and is still passing…) in what seems like a blink of an eye. A learning experience, as they all are. But damn. I sure had fun. Let’s hope the upcoming ones have the same taste. : )

It’s release date has been changed to July 17th of next year. 

Is there a greater injustice in the world???

How can you deny your fellow human being of one of the greatest things on the planet? How can you deny someone the right to love openly? 

Because whether you know it or not, that’s what you’re doing. Every single one of you. You’re denying your fellow human being the right to love and the right to express their love openly- without fear of rejection.

What if the roles were reversed? What if we lived in a world where it was the “norm” to love someone of the same sex? What if you were in love with someone of a different sex, but the rest of us were attempting to pass a bill to deny you of expressing that openly? That’s what you are doing to countless people. 

For one thing, all of these videos- they speak of school standards in MASSACHUSETTS- not California, where this law is being passed. Second, that ignorance of the 4,000 voters part in the first video is complete garbage. If an informed voter would just do a little research they’d realize that the Senate did anything but ignore the votes. 

Also, in the second video you say that you’re bigoted against for simply disagreeing with a lifestyle or belief (2nd; 2:58). You say that things are no longer a “difference of opinion.” But isn’t that your fault to begin with? You’re trying to pass the bill which makes it illegal for them to practice their “difference of opinion.” 

This reminds me of fifty years ago, when people enforced your “difference of opinion” on black rights, or one hundred years ago, when people enforced their “difference of opinion” on women and their rights. 

So putting your blatant bigotry aside and putting the fact that you’re using the wrong state to persuade uninformed voters aside, you also just flat-out have your facts wrong. Gay Marriage doesn’t effect religious establishments in any way. I quote, 

“​.​.​.​no relig​ion will be requi​red to chang​e it’s relig​ious polic​ies or pract​ices in regar​d to same-​sex coupl​es,​ and no relig​ious offic​iant will be requi​red to solem​nize a marri​age.​.​.​”​ 

Hold on, I have one more point to argue as far as public schooling goes. Let’s just say that you’re talking about Californian schools here, not Massachusetts schools, and let’s also assume that Californian schools have marriage in their state standards, which they don’t. Let’s assume all of that, yes?

You’re still just flat out wrong. Please, point out one Kindergarten teacher that can reference gay marriage logically in their daily math lesson. As if you didn’t loose any voters by your earlier form of blatant propaganda, you just lost them by comparing marriage to an addition symbol.

Also, “saving” your child’s innocence. What rubbish. How many children do you think call each other “gay” or “faggots” on the playground without even knowing what it means? I’d rather have these children exposed to factual evidence about marriage than this. But again, this means nothing- because the Californian curriculum doesn’t even mention the topic of marriage!

So let’s just do a quick overview.

Voting YES on Proposition 8 does 3 simple things:

• It restores the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved and what Californians agree should be supported, not undermined.The main point of marriage is the binding of two people who love each other. I don’t see what role sexual orientation plays in it. This bill was never approved- that’s why it lost the first time around.

• It overturns the outrageous decision of four activist Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people.“Ignored.” This just never happened. There is a difference between being ignored and losing. 

• It protects our children from being taught in public schools that “same-sex marriage” is the same as traditional marriage, and prevents other consequences to Californians who will be forced to not just be tolerant of gay lifestyles, but face mandatory compliance regardless of their personal beliefs.Again, the Californian curriculum doesn’t even mention marriage- they leave that to the parents. Notice how Yes on Prop 8 ads focus on Massachusetts curriculum? Mandatory compliance? The bill doesn’t even mention compliance! You’re confusing the public’s response to blatant discrimination with the bill’s statements themselves.

The Italics are directly from protectmarriage.com, the Yes on Prop 8 official website. The bolded is my comment.

I just wanted to let you all know about this really great website I’ve come across called socialvibe.com 
All you have to do is join the website, pick a charity, pick a sponsor, and copy and paste a code into your profile page. You can copy and paste it anywhere- Myspace, Facebook, Blogging Sites- anywhere. I know that might sound like a lot of work- because of it’s taking five minutes and all, but wait till you see what it does for your charity.

For every single person that views that page after you put the code on it, your sponsor will donate money to your sponsor. The sponsors do this for advertising purposes. Think of it as a giant charity run…on the internet.

socialvibe.com

Now before I go on any further, I must confess. My household follows a similar pattern as to what I just mentioned. At any given time, there is a computer as well as a television on (or two) blaring. I do not mean to sound like a hypocrite, but merely as someone who is trying to put things into perspective for not only himself, but the people around him.

There are so many fantastic things going on around us, even in the quiet town we may live in. I encourage everyone to go out and do something new. Find a shady spot where you can just relax and get your thoughts in order. Take your dog on a walk to the park. Don’t own a dog? Get one!

Of course, when would one find the time to do this? With our busy schedules, how is anyone supposed to even consider “relaxing?” During the school year, it may be hard to develop free time due to massive stacks of homework and extra-curricular activities. However, this isn’t a 24/7 calender we’re talking about here. I, for one, have at least an hour or so of free time a day. Honestly, I usually spend this hour writing, surfing Myspace, or going out with friends. I know, the word “hypocrite” comes to mind yet again.

The point of this blog is to encourage me and so many others to get out of the house and do something worth living.  These last couple months I have been trying to do this and it has increased the quality of my life to a great extent.

Nearly everything about this show- the characters, the plot, the plot twists- is refreshingly and smartly written.  It may be true that if you missed the first couple of seasons and you started watching the show now, you’d be, well, lost. However, I encourage you to just take the time and watch the first couple of seasons on DVD, even if it will take ages. You could always just jump into the season when a re-cap episode comes on. Trust me, it will be worth it.

No, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth. I actually have severe writers block at the moment, combined with some sort of weird school work-procrastination state of being. I’ve written a few blocks of text here and there, but nothing worth posting. I’ll try to work myself out of this ditch this upcoming weekend. I’ve got a lot of schoolwork and such going on right now and a four day weekend is just what I need.

Thanks for understanding.

A family is a group of people that have each others back. They are the architectural support that keep each other grounded and intact. My life would be incomplete without them. I hold a spot in several different families and, without a select few of them, part of me would be missing. I am the type of person that puts everything into the people around me. My friends and family are, in a way, a lot like banks. I store my thoughts, my trust, my companionship, my love, my friendship, my care, my laughs, my passion, my tears- everything. In them. I can’t help it; it’s just how I function. This is primarily why I can’t remove people from my life. Because I remove a little bit of myself with them. Unfortunately people will come and go. With them, they will tear away parts of you like an old patch of Velcro. I must overcome this and rebuild myself.

Anyway, back to the topic of family. My family, that is, my intermediate, blood-related family, is the best. I have two lesbian mothers, Laura and Patti. I also have a 12-year old sister named Logan. Although I don’t always agree with them, I love each of them a tremendous amount. Whenever I have a hard day or am in a pessimistic mood, they help me overcome it and move on with my day. My second family, my close “friends,” keep me grounded. I don’t see them as much as my intermediate family. I see each of them maybe once a day if I’m lucky, however I talk to them everyday, regardless of the circumstances.  Because there are so many of them, it would take ages to name each one of them and name what they do for me. It would also turn into some sort of contest or political game which is not my intention. Just remember what I said earlier about how they effect me and how they enrich my life to it’s fullest.

I find family in all situations. I have families at school- one or two for each class- I have families at church, I have families at home, I have families at ICU- everything I do develops a family that has a piece of my heart safely guarded. I would never take any of this for granted. I would never overlook any of this. I know that I am one of the luckiest people in the world because I own a piece of this security and this piece of content and happiness. All I can do is enjoy it and help the people I know find and enjoy it as well.