Kissing at the Oscars - OH MY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szNf1Icox6g

Sean Hannity on Fox News is disturbed by clips from Oscar winning movies of kissing. Well, actually, gay kissing. The straight kissing is ok by him. After all, it WAS family hour.

The only thing that disturbs me about seeing Sean Penn kiss James Franco is I can't figure out which man I am more jealous of.......

Sean - don't you know all the good ones are either gay or married? And soon, the gay ones will be married too.
Get over it. To paraphrase Wanda Sykes, if you don't approve of two men kissing, then don't kiss one. Let other people live their lives. They aren't hurting you. Or your kids.

Want to see how knowing gay people affects children? Watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp1mAI47QOI

Hallelujah

More music from gay musicians to corrupt your children. Watch out. They could start to develop feelings, compassion, values, a belief in the divine and classical music.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&feature=related
k.d. lang's version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmbQEQltOwM
Rufus Wainwright's version

Have a favorite?

when you add all the days together

The Truth

the truth is no one knows. no one knows another completely. no one knows us completely. there is always something out of sight. tucked in a corner. edited and cropped.

there is no certainty. there are no guarantees. life is uncharted waters. no matter how well you can swim. that doesn’t mean you know the river. we are lost. we are found. we are hurt. we hurt others. love is something we hide. love is something we reject.

tomorrow may not be. what you expect to see. our feelings are so strong. then they all go wrong. and we cannot say why. because we do not know.

our skin recoils at the wrong touch. from the wrong person. and then it begs and cries. for the love of another. it measures fear. it measures love. our skin gets lonely. our skin needs space. but there is nothing worse. than when it aches.

when I want you. there is nothing I can do. I can’t say a word. I won’t let it be heard. and when I want to be alone. I can’t find solitude.

to keep private means to keep loneliness. to be known means to risk rejection. to feel love flow upon us without invitation makes us powerless. then it evaporates and leaves us soulless.

those moments of souls touching. so fleeting, so ephemeral. delirious highs. followed by hollow longings. feeling your breath. hearing your heart beat in rhythm with mine.

so many times. a road not taken. so many times. unable to awaken. so many times. choosing not to take chances. so many times. just dreaming of romances.

do soul mates exist? or do we just compromise? how are we made whole? when we cannot be filled?

Got Milk? Moving acceptance speeches

If you did not see the movie Milk, go see it, rent it, buy it, share it. Harvey is still alive in each of us, no matter what cause it is that moves us.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mv35SN3ctU
Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech for best screenplay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhJOT7CHO94
Sean Penn's acceptance speech for best actor

Change. Hope. Courage.

A country with ethics - and no, it's not the U.S.

http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2009/02/24/christians-must-reflect-after-uk-bars-us-anti-gay-preacher/
Britain had the brains to keep out Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church. If only there was a far away planet where we could send them - with a one way ticket. Like maybe the one they are from. We'll just tell them it's the rapture.

Speak out against hate. Don't be quiet.

Scarecrow by Melissa Etheridge - a song for Matthew Shepard
This could be someone you know. Or the child of someone you know. A neighbor. The kid who delivered your newspaper or mowed your lawn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwJqJP-VgGA

CHOPS changes it's mission

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ZtT4Th9Ys

You may have seen my earlier post regarding C.H.O.P.S. Changing Homosexuals into Ordinary People (who wants to be ordinary?). And their quirky passion for naming gay bands. Sorry, Choppy. Now it stands for Changing Heterosexuals into Open People.

Great music is music, gay or straight.
Stop using religion to justify your hate.

Our new mini-series will highlight amazing, beautiful, cool, hip, tender, sweet, sad, rousing, rock'n'rolling music with (GASP) gay musicians, singers and band members.

Welcome to Viorar Vel Til Loftarosa by Sigur Ros. I am completely in love with this band. I must have cried the first ten times I saw this video. If you have ever had anyone close to you who is gay, who was rejected as a child, this will resonate with you.

Last, but not least, feel welcome to suggest a song to post here.

Wanda Sykes at White House correspondents dinner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KADr2KG5aso
Hear Wanda's opinion of the bailout plan. Too funny!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/12/wanda-sykes-to-emcee-corr_n_166554.html

Wanda Sykes, one of the funniest comedians ever, not to mention black and lesbian, will MC the annual White House correspondents dinner. May 9th. If you are a Facebook member, I created an event for this.

Spread the word. I'm thinking Wanda in 2016. A nice follow up to Obama.

TGIF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13mwq0w1MYQ&feature=related

Catie Curtis - just a little political commentary about what does - and doesn't matter.

a poem - written 30 years ago - or more

Birthday Poems
birthday poems
are usually made
for little children

all of
a sudden i
don't know what's

going to
happen with you
brother; i don't

know, you
brother; birthdays are
days for being

born; shall
we be born?
it's nice to

have you
brother; sisters need
brothers to pick

on them
so they know
they're loved; brothers
need sisters
who pretend they're
mothers; so the

brothers can
be fathers but
sometimes it's hard

to find
the person beneath
the brother; happy

birthday person
love, another person

Here Comes The Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUS49XSN6Zs
Feb. 25th is George Harrison's birthday. He's my favorite Beatle and Here Comes The Sun is one of my favorite songs. Spring has to be around the corner.

As they used to say in the old days, Peace.
Jude

Using religion to justify discrimination and hate

http://www.lovegodsway.org/

We go to the United Church of Christ. For those of you that don't know much about them, they are quite liberal and are a church that accepts everyone, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people.

I came across this website. Title looks great, right? Until you open it and it says "God Hates Fags". Repulsive. It's purpose? C.H.O.P.S. It chops away the gay. With a side bennie that most gay therapy groups don't think of. Warning parents about bands with gay musicians. GASP!!! "If your child has three or more of these musicians, burn the CDs and hold their hand over the fire so they can feel the heat." The hate just seeps out of the computer and pees right there on your desk (be careful if using a laptop).

There is really only one use for this website. They list some great musicians and bands that happen to be gay or have gay members. If your kid is listening to Melissa Etheridge (lesbian, famous, wrote the song for An Inconvenient Truth, invited to play at the Clinton inauguration), Sarah Mclachlan (straight btw - never heard any song from her that even remotely has a gay message), Sigur Ros - if you can't understand the words, where is the gay message, Coldplay or Radiohead, they are getting only good messages. The safe list? The only person I've heard of is Cyndi Lauper - who often plays at gay rights events. Guess they missed that one!!

Here's Melissa's "God is in The People"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4a8YZoUGmE&feature=PlayList&p=C25655B8CBDC80A8&index=19

And this concludes our mini-series

My last visit with Dr. R.T.
R.T. - You know, the strangest thing has happened since you gave me a CD of music. Now all of a sudden, several of my patients have brought me music.
Me - Maybe because you tell everybody what is new in your life this very minute?
R.T. - (bewildered) huh?
Me - (thinking - how many times has this guy told me he has ADHD).
Me - speaking - well that sounds cool, I'm glad they think of you.

We move on to real business.

R.T. Yesterday an article came out that says it isn't worth it for women to do self-exams. Hogwash. I've known too many women who found their cancer that way. Don't stop doing them. Now, I tell all my patients to do their self exams on the 21st of every month. That's because Dec. 21st is Frank Zappa's birthday, which everyone knows. So it is very easy to remember.

I kid you not.

Time machine leap here.
Friday the 13th, Feb. 2009. Not that I'm the suspicious type but, not exactly a reassuring date either.

I go in for my first mammogram since treatment. I am a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. 3 means tissue that doesn't look like normal breast tissue but is most likely just fibrous tissue as a result of the surgery. He asks me if the area has been changing. Nope. Nope is good. He tells me I'm fine and come back in six months or so.

My next appointment? Sept. 11th.
And no, none of this is made up.

I will not end with a statistics lecture on cancer or warning signs. There are ten million websites for that. I will end with thank you for listening, and your friendship. Take care and remember to live each day to it's fullest. Don't have a near life experience. Have a life.

Happy Valentines Day all

When tomorrow becomes today

Tomorrow morning I go to see the radiation oncologist, you know, the guy who loves Frank Zappa. It is my one year check up to see if everything is ok.

On Friday the 13th. I think I will switch to the Aztec calendar tomorrow.
Cross your fingers for me. :)

How was your day?

Feel free to comment. I've changed the settings so you don't need a Google account. I didn't realize it was set up that way. And a few people got invitations to blog.

Since anyone can read this, obviously - be careful. I will remove anything that is offensive. I don't want strangers on here. Just friends. Old and new.

I've always been a better listener than speaker. And your day has to be more exciting than mine. Although the dog did puke today. That seems noteworthy. And I bought treats at Trader Joe's.

Yep, that's excitement at our house.

Left out too long in the sun - so go to Iceland

Every morning for six weeks I have radiation therapy. They put little black "tattoo" marks on my body so they can line me up in the machine. I joke that it's really a connect the dots puzzle with no numbers. I have seven permanent dots. At least it is a lucky number.

The treatment doesn't hurt. But slowly over time my skin gets burned. Really burned. It's starting to hurt. It's starting to fall off. I take pain killers and they give me these little miracle gel things that I keep in the frig and wear at night. I buy new bras, the most comfortable I can find.

And every week, I see Dr. R.T. One day I'm waiting, listening to my iPod. He stops and asks "What are you listening to?"
Me- Music (I hate when people ask what I am listening to)
R.T. - What kind?
Me - This one is a little unusual.
R.T. - I love music. All kinds of music. I have 3000 cds on my computer. I love Frank Zappa, The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead and Buckethead. I have a poster of Frank Zappa in my office. Every year on Frank Zappa's birthday I treat the whole department to lunch. If you aren't busy on Dec. 21st, come on up . (Note: this visit is in June). I love jazz. My daughter convinced me to expand my tastes to classical music. So now I try every kind of music. So what are you listening to?
Me - Sigur Ros
R.T. - Never heard of them
Me - They are from Iceland. Would you like me to bring you a sample?
R.T. - That would be great. And if I like it I'll buy it.

Let's meet Dr. Radiation Therapy

Ok, I've been lazy but it's time to get back to our mini-series. Let's skip ahead because the Australian guy was nice but kind of boring. On to radiation therapy. For the next six weeks, every morning I will have to go to radiation therapy.

At my first visit I meet Dr. Radiation Therapy. I won't put his real name in the blog. He's a good guy but he's entitled to his privacy. He comes in and asks who my surgeon was. I tell him. He leans back and says "Oh, I have to tell you a story". Ok. Clearly this man has time in his schedule. Or at least he thinks he does.

Dr. R.T. - Did you notice your surgeons clothes?
Me - Uh. He had a white coat on.
R.T. - Well, your surgeon has all of his clothes tailor made. Me (he pulls on his shirts and pants), I buy all my clothes at Farm and Fleet.
Me - (thinking - yea, I believe that.)
R.T. Well, your surgeon has bugged me for ten years to dress better. Now he's leaving the hospital so he had his tailor send me a brochure. On the back was written in pen "We do casual too".
Somehow I find this very amusing. I say "You must save a lot of money".

I get all of the instructions for what to do during therapy and I learn I will meet with Dr. R.T. once a week.

Week two
R.T. (who, by the way, is all excited that I am a scientist). I want to tell you that I'm seeing you early because I won't be here on the regular day.
Me - O ....K ....
R.T. Want to know why?
Me (do I have a choice?) Sure
R.T. I've been invited by NASA to be part of a study group with ten physicists and ten radiologists. We're going to try to to figure out how to protect the astronauts from cosmic radiation when they go to Mars. The problem is, cosmic radiation isn't anything like the radiation I work with. No one knows how humans will be affected by that much radiation and we're not sure we know how to shield it. They've exposed mice to cosmic radiation and the mice seemed normal afterwards. The problem is, I can't tell if the mice can fly a space ship. So a bunch of us are going to pretend to be experts when really we don't know anything at all. But I'm really excited.
Me - Hmm. Sounds like fun. Let me know how it goes.
Dr. R.T. Ok, I will. (Starts to leave)
Me - Hey, were we gonna talk about me?

This becomes a recurring theme.

Next post - the long awaited cameo by Frank Zappa.

Yes, it's true. I took a week off. On Friday I received a promotion at work. I'm excited, nervous, overwhelmed and enthusiastic. So my mind hasn't been on last year. It actually really has been on "today" each and every day.

I will be back soon.

In the meantime, here's something to shake up your knowledge of history. I've always wanted to study theology, even though I'm not very religious. It just seems like a field with so much "scatter", conflicting records, difficulties separating myth from fact. I'm trying to figure out how they know what ancient texts really meant. Anyone, here's one you won't find on a fundamentalist Christian website.

http://www.colfaxrecord.com/detail/91429.html