What we have won in regards to rights

I had a very interesting experience tonight that made me reflect on where the world has come.  I went out tonight with my two roommates for frozen custard.  Okay now before you get all high and mights the frozen custard is not the great realization I had come to.  Let me give you a little background on our little household configuration.  I am a Hispanic single gay man in my forty's.  My one roommate is a straight white male engaged to be married in his twenties.  The last roommate is an African-American female divorced from a man and a lesbian.   Oh and there are two dogs both 3 years old in they house as well.

Now at first glance the reaction from some would be oh so what no big deal.  But look at where we have come by looking where we have been.  Prior to the 60's and the civil rights movement my male roommate and I riding in a car with an African-American woman would have drawn some less than kind comments.  She would not have been able to order with us and would have been told to use a different  counter.  As a Hispanic man I would have gotten less that great service as well. Our White roommate would have been served and only would have received comments about being with non-white people. 

Prior to the Stonewall riots of New York both my lesbian roommate and I would have been fearful of being arrested or even beaten for our sexual preference.  Because of some brave drag queens at the Stonewall bar in New York do we have the ability to be open about who we are.  Now that is not to say that it is safe to be open about our sexuality.  In some parts of this country there are some who feel it is okay to beat up a gay man or a lesbian woman.  There are places in this world where some feel it is right to keep rights away from men and women because of their sexuality.  June traditionally is the month when communities across the country and around the world celebrate gay pride.  It is not just a time to party, which can be lots of fun, but a time to celebrate the rights we have won thus far.  It is also a time to reflect and see what fights are ahead of all of use. 

We as a society have come a long way in securing rights for human beings in this country and other places.  However, we still have a long ways to go.  I am glad that events in the past have lead to a time I can have the roommates and friends I have of different colors, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual identity.  I am a far richer person and hopefully it helps me make a difference in this great world of ours.

Smoking

Now I will first say at the beginning of the blog that I respect others rights to do things but where is the line.  This passed week I had an experience that made me think.  I was coming up to a traffic light and someone in a car next to me flicks out a cigarette butt that hit my car.  Now it did not do any damage to the car but made me think why is it that some people have no respect for others.

That smoker in the car next to me did not apologize nor did he care.  I have seen smokers in the past complain that they should have a right to smoke wherever.  What about my right to have clean streets and sidewalks?  What about my right for it to be smoke free around me? Granted I don't smoke but I sill feel that everyone needs to be conscious more often of how our behavior effects others.  The more we respect others the more the world will be a better place.

Have a drink

When Life Gives You Lemons. . Grab The Salt And Tequila. . The World Has Enough Lemonade!

A friend  posted this on a page recently.  I know that sometimes life can get us down and can overcome us.  However, we can choose how to deal with life.  We can let it get us down and control our lives and not move on.  We can say oh well and move on and overcome what comes our way.  How we approach it says a lot about who we are.  I know for me I don't want life to get me down because if I let it get me down does no good for me.  Now I don't advocate using alcohol to deal with the problems in life.

Who cares about someone's personal life

It is interesting how people are so focused on gossip and other people's lives.  There are all kinds of places on the internet where you can find postings speculating who is dating who.  Or who is gay and going to come out.  My comment to that is who cares?  Who cares if some star is dating another star?  Does that effect my quality of life?  Does whether or not someone is gay going to change how I live my life? 

Truth is that a person's sexuality or dating history is their own life.  It effects how they live their life and how they interact with the world.  It guides what they do and who they hang with.  I know that in my own life there have been times when people have speculated on my life.  What ended up happening is creating a great deal of problems for me.  In the end they did not bother to say they were sorry for meddling and causing problems. 

I know for me it doesn't matter if some star is dating some other star.  I don't care if some professional athlete is going out with some model.  I don't care if some musician is gay or not.  Why do some people feel we need to know about others personal life.  We need to begin to say privacy is important and that every person has a right to live their life with some privacy.

We live in a country that says that everyone has a right to this or that.  What about the right to have privacy?

The Wise Man

Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.- Immanuel Kant 

I have heard people say that wisdom comes with age.  That the more years you have lived the wiser you are.  The assumption is that experience leads to wisdom.  I would challenge that thought in that I know some older people who are far from wise.  I would say that wisdom comes from taking our experiences and converting them into those learned experiences that form our life.  It is when we allow them to change and mold us that we become wiser people.  

I would also say that wisdom comes from pondering what experience and life bring us.  I think a wise person is one that opens their minds to the greater world.  In saying this it would a child who would have the greatest potential to be wise.  Children when they are young are the most open to learn new things and experience more of the world. It is when adults begin to limit those boundaries that the potential is lost.  Therefore, when adults open their minds like a child and explore the world do they become wise.  

While knowledge is important to becoming wise it does not mean that a person will become wise by getting multiple degrees or reading lots of books.  For knowledge does not equal wisdom and wisdom does not equal knowledge.  Now I am not saying that we should give up on studying and learn all that we can.  What I am saying is that learn and be open to whatever the world has to offer.

Romance

The act of romance brings out the best in humans and the worst in man.

A friend of mine posted this tonight on his page and loved what it has to say. I am not sure where found it but it is awesome. I am a hopeless romantic always have been. I love to romance and be romanced. I love to bring the flowers and the candlelight dinners. I love holding that special someone and watching the sun go down. Winter times sitting in front of fire with a glass of wine and that special someone. Okay I could go on and on about romance.

Sadly in today's society I think that romance is a dying art. Fewer and fewer people get into romance. Think about it if we really romanced that special someone then we would really get to know someone. I have met some people that see romance as foreplay to sex and they use it to get into someone's bed. Romance yes can led to sex I will agree with that but it doesn't have to led to sex. For others sex equals romance and they are interchangeable. What happened to pulling a chair out and holding a door and bringing flowers and expressing romance in the world?

I wonder if romance will continue. With speed dating and internet hook ups and online personals. As we become more technological advanced I think that romance has become a victim of advance. I would love to hear what people think about romance.

Porn vs Love

Okay now that I have you excited from the title. I subscribe to a number of magazines. Today I got one of my fitness magazines and it was an article about the ratio of single men. Two of the things the article said was interesting.

One was that the city with the most sex. Now I am not sure how they figure that out. I guess they had cameras in everyone's bedroom. LOL well it said that in Houston people are having sex 88 days out of the year. That comes down to about 7.5 days a month. Now I am not sure if I would say a lot. Well I guess if you are single and don't have someone that could be lot. I kind of wonder what people consider a lot of sex.

The other thing the article says is that the place with the most people subscribing to Porn is Salt Lake City. Again I kind of wonder how they know that item and what they define as porn. I kind of wonder why so many people in one place would have to or want to subscribe to Porn.

I guess the final thing I found interesting was why would a fitness magazine would feel they would need to write an article like this and not stay focused on fitness and exercise.