Tweeting is not just for Tweety

I recently signed up with Twitter and have made about 80 updates so far. You can click below if you want to check my tweets out... (God, talk about sounding gay...)


I had a few minutes today of calm during an otherwise crazed day of dispatching and was looking over my list of tweets and it got me to wondering...

When I first heard about Twitter, I was told that what made it so interesting was the fact that by being so short, only 140 characters, that people would have mini-blog entries and that the small size and ease of entry would give people an insight to the aspects of people that they don't usually get to see.

Looking through mine, I find some that are really interesting insights into things, my collections of interesting things overheard throughout my day and/or life and sometimes my slightly wicked sense of humor shows up (irreverence has been a calling card of mine for quite a while...).

One of the people that I list on my website as a teacher is Joyce Meyer, to be honest, I have kind of fallen out of like with her... Since she changed the show from "Life in the Word" to whatever it is now, she has lost that down-home feeling I loved and started taking herself to seriously as a "TV Evangelist." Bummer...

Several years ago she made a comment that really struck home with me that most Ministers (remember the source) tend to only show one side of themselves to the public, hiding that which is not befitting one in their position.

I decided then to make a concerted effort that in whatever I do, I would just lay things out there and no matter what the cost was, just be who and what I am. It has not always been well received, but I have found that Dr. Seuss was right when he said:

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

which is why I have it on my blog. I would think to do anything less would be nothing short of hypocritical and completely at odds with what I teach my students. How can one take responsibility for everything that happens to them if they won't even accept themselves for all of the facets of the jewel they have made?

So, when you read my tweets, judge if you must, but realize that no matter what I might write (I admit it can go off the deep end on occasion) it is a small snapshot of a momentary state of mind. Many of them are just little blurbs of random moments, I kind of look forward to seeing how they change in time...

Catch the nuggets of insight and/or spirit when they appear, try to appreciate the comedic lines and understand that even at 44 years of age, for the most part, I still find this existence to be a fascinating place and I go to such amazing places in my head... 140 characters probably does not do it justice but with enough pieces, you can get a pretty good idea just what I "is" in my totality.

Gay Pride vs Robert's

Warning:
The following contains some language that may offend some...

It's officially Gay Pride Sunday in Los Angeles... The festivities are in full swing and the parade starts in about 10 hours and I am going with a group of wonderful friends.

But as much as I enjoy Gay Pride, there are two aspects of it that really yank my chain.

1. I've never exactly understood what it is that I am supposed to be so proud of. To me, being gay is like being Caucasian, it's just who and what I am.
   
   I'm not proud of being 5'8" (172 cm), I'm not proud of naturally blond hair (though it's now turning grey/silver) and I'm definitely not proud of a genetic tendency to be short and stocky... If I'm not proud of those genetic traits, why should I be proud of the one that makes me gay?
   
   Those who think it is some kind of choice are either too stupid to awaken to the fact they didn't choose their heterosexuality and they obviously have never been on the receiving end of one of their rants of hatred, thinly veiled behind a "philosophy" of love, you know, the hate the sin but love the sinner... Right...
   
   To wake up one day and say to oneself, I think today, I will make myself a second class citizen, a pariah of society and unwanted by my family... If that truly were true, I would DEFINITELY be in need of a therapists help.
   
   The simple fact is that God made me the way that I am and he shows this particular paintbrush of uniqueness all over nature, so it is only "unnatural" as far as people judge it.... Screw 'em!
   
   Many people tell me that I should be proud of having survived everything being gay has brought into my life, while it is true they actually had a lot to do with me becoming the person I am today, but what a sucky way to go about it (guess I may be a spiritual drama queen after all).
   
   
2. The other aspect of Gay Pride that gets to me is that I am so not the typical fag. I cannot dance, I couldn't care less about fashion (I actually found out that Jimmy Choo is a designer and not an accent issue for "Jimmy's Shoes" from "The Devil Wears Prada") and I am completely un-color coordinated.
   
   All the things people seem to think I should be as a gay man are completely outside my genetic makeup, I just don't have those genes...
   
   I don't know much about them, but I like cars, I also like computers, stereos and tearing stuff apart to see how it works.
   
   As far as sex goes, the straight-boy fantasy of the gay-sex-life is something I have NEVER really been either capable of, little less comfortable with.
   
   I live in LA where 9's and 10's run around like crazy and I am a 40+ cute, but nothing that's going to grab your attention and lets face it, men are visually stimulated creatures.
   
   There are times when I see the guys in the clubs and I feel like an alien visiting from another dimension since NONE of it makes any sense to me.
   
   As much as I would love to get laid more often, like a few times a decade, I just cannot become part of the 2AM discount sale at the local gay watering hole, I can't stay up that late and I want to choose or be chosen, not stuck with as the best option left (this isn't third grade dodge ball team selection).

So, I guess I will enjoy the Pride Parade, torment a few fundies by knowing their Bibles better than they do, and celebrate that we had the courage to tell the judgemental assholes out there to just go fuck off and be what we were made to be.

The simple fact seems to be that gay or straight, we all have our issues.

I think I got the gay genes that turn into shamans and others of service to their community, kind of lonely a lot of the time, but ultimately rewarding in the long run, even when it seems futile...

Guess God does have a sense of humor after all.