Knowing, Comparing, Judgement and Poverty

A nurse wrote complaining on Facebook about an emergency room patient whose cell phone kept beeping during treatment. Not necessarily complaining that it was beeping, but that he even had a smartphone at all. That particular luxury coupled with his gold-plated teeth, excessive jewelry apparently riled up this hard worker because the patient’s insurance plan was Medicare. What that means of course is that this hard working nurse, and you, and I are paying for his healthcare while he obviously is instead spending his welfare money on unnecessary luxuries.

AT OUR EXPENSE! She was certain.

We’ve all thought something at least similar.

My former boyfriend was notoriously imagining the wealth of others while wallowing intensely in his own financial struggles. The neighbors across the street were European, the husband seemingly stayed home all day long. The wife worked but they had 2 teenage children, 2 cars and had just bought their home for over $550,000.

Can you imagine! On just one salary apparently! How did they do it?

“How do we  manage to live in the same neighborhood as these supposedly rich Europeans?” I asked him.

“I have 4 children and I stay home all day long too!”

I worked from home. How did we know our neighbor didn’t also work from a home office? How do we know they’re not in as much debt or more for the house they bought and the cars that they drive?

Having spent the last year extremely broke I can think of several explanations for our emergency room patient that doesn’t make him out to be a freeloading mooch. Who is to say that he didn’t have an extremely lucrative job or business that plummeted suddenly. Perhaps 6 months ago his gold teeth  were well within his budget. Once tragedy strikes is he supposed to pull his teeth?

How many of us are stuck in a cell phone plan that would cost us much more to drop suddenly than to just keep paying for a few more months? Because, of course, that job is just around the corner and it is easier to get a job with a phone than without one. How do we know that a friend or family member isn’t paying the cell phone bill while the patient is going through hard times?

Some or none of this may be true. The point is that we don’t know.

I’m still on unemployment but I drive an SUV. I still wear the fairly nice clothes that I purchased over a year ago as I walk from my car to my tiny cave of an apartment. My less fortunate neighbors must be livid.

I just carried bag after bag of groceries from my SUV to my apartment wearing Palms Springs madras shorts. What my neighbors don’t know is that these shorts are 3+ years old and I could afford them when I bought them. I just take care of them. I owe more on my SUV than it is worth. Selling it would only cost me more and leave me without a means of making money. My groceries were procured from the neighborhood food pantry because I don’t have the funds to grocery shop for the four days my four children will be staying with me.

I don’t look at anyone and try to determine if I’m better or worse off than they are anymore.

How do we know the person behind us in the checkout line at Goodwill isn’t a millionaire?

You don’t know, and neither do I.

A book’s cover may have exhausted the publisher’s capital before the book was even written.

WWJD if invited to a gay wedding?

You must read this John Shore article….

Jesus is scary when he’s riled. And the only people who rile him are those who, in his own name (what with him being God and all), set themselves up as sanctimonious judges of others.

I think I better go to the weddings of my gay friends. I’m scared not to. While it’s certainly true that in many of his parables it’s unclear what exactly Jesus was saying or meant, he didn’t even almost waffle about his “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He very explicitly declared that injunction the “first and greatest commandment.”

Why Isn’t It A Choice? (LDS Women and the Priesthood)

Have you ever noticed that the individuals with the weakest opinions regarding male infant circumcision are men? It appears that way to me anyway. Why do you suppose that is?

I’ve spoken with a lot of women who seem to care a great deal one way or another.

Personally, before my son was born I didn’t even have an opinion about it. In my case, the damage was already done and I didn’t waste a single moment to notice or to rue the day it had happened. It just was… and I hardly noticed. So 15 years ago, when the nurses asked us while checking us into Labor and Delivery and my wife responded with a firm, “Yes!” I really didn’t argue, or question, or think.

I was super excited to be a Dad and I wasn’t about to let him out of my sight for a second in the hospital, so I told them I would be there when they performed the circumcision.

IT!

WAS!

AWFUL!

I’ve never heard a baby make that pitch of cry before or since. I regretted it immediately. When I returned with him to the room where his mother was resting, I told her that if we had another boy he’d be circumcised over my dead body. I rarely put my foot down like that in our relationship, so I believe she knew I was serious.

We had 3 more girls.

I now find the physiological  and moral arguments strong against circumcision, but the strongest case can be made considering the logic of individual choice. The choice of the boy himself, I mean, not his parents. If left to males to make that decision for themselves when they are of a legal age of consent, I’d bet male circumcision would be eliminated in a single generation.

Speaking of my girls, I find it equally as puzzling that the individuals with the weakest opinions regarding female Mormon priesthood are LDS women. They don’t really seem to argue, question, or think about it at all.

Is that because for them the damage has already been done? Is that why they don’t waste a single moment to notice or to rue their exclusion? It’s certainly not scriptural, but for LDS women so conditioned the priesthood being a forbidden fruit is a foregone conclusion.

I’ve spoken with men who seem to care more one way or another.

I care.

In late 2011, a Pew Forum report found that 13 percent of Mormon men think women should be ordained as priests, while only 8 percent of Mormon women felt the same way. A year before, research done by Robert Putnam and David Campbell in the book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, similarly found that 90 percent of Mormon women are opposed to females holding the priesthood—while only 52 percent of men felt the same way. The authors conclude that “Mormons, especially Mormon women, appear to be the only substantial holdouts against the growing and substantial consensus across the religious spectrum in favor of women playing a fuller role in church leadership.” Mormon Women Face Off Over Right to Priesthood

I care mostly for my daughters’ sakes, but back when I was still LDS I would have even cared for myself… It should be a matter of individual choice for everyone (which we all know it is not… not for the boys, nor for the girls). I didn’t enjoy being forced into priesthood roles any more than many girls enjoy being excluded from them. Some priesthood tasks were fun or harmless (passing, preparing or blessing the sacrament, giving anointings and blessings,) while other priesthood chores were arduous (meetings, collecting Fast Offerings, meetings, Home Teaching, meetings, leadership responsibilities I never wanted nor asked for).

If left to females to make that decision for themselves when they are of an age of consent (such as 12, when the boys are obligated), I’d bet female Mormon priesthood would  become the norm in a single generation.

For a religion that preaches “free agency” as a foundation for the entire Plan of Salvation, Mormonism is a very centrally master-planned, socialistic society leaving few individual choices to its adherents.

Individual Mormon women AND men should be able to decide for themselves if they want the priesthood… if you truly believe in “free agency,” that is.

Voices of Dope

You’ve got your wide variety of drugs. Some people drink alcohol in excess. Some people are addicted to heroine, meth, crack cocaine, prescription pain killers. Some things like sex and food are wonderful in moderation, but they can be indulged in to such a time-consuming extreme that they become a drug as well.

Religion, especially Mormonism, falls in that mix of fairly harmless activities that at a fundamental extreme level become vices. Maybe it is worse because it’s sold and promoted in the name of truth and love – and it is condoned by the public as righteous.

The fact is that Mormonism divides people, steals their free will, suffocates creativity and expression, stifles passions, replaces “reason” with illusion, and casts a person’s mind/soul into voluntary bondage and servitude. Hence the danger: lured by love and truth into the cage, and then become a “soldier” to put the bars around everyone else.

At least the dangers of meth are advertised. At least the information is available to give meth users a viable “choice” on whether to use or not. Religion is inherited, and force fed to our children.

Religion is a drug. Like any drug, it will help you escape from reality. It will take away some of the perceived “sting” of existence. It will take the burdens of thought off your shoulders. It will make you feel like you can fly from the ledge, without wings… It will purport to solve life’s most serious problems. The ironic catch is that the very “sting” and the very “problems” religion can solve are merely fabricated “problems” created by the religion itself.

Here’s what it looks like when you are addicted to Mormonism, when buy into its fabricated idea that your very being is a problem and therefore you need to keep taking the drug to overcome the “problem.” Gay Mormons who have bought the idea wholesale that acting “gay” is the “problem” part of being a gay Mormon, and therefore they turn ever more forcefully to the institution that created the “problem” in the first place…

Like a drug, the intoxicating effects cannot last forever. Reason does seep in… You have to increase the dose to stay high, to ward off contradiction. That’s why you’ll find that self-doubting gay men make up some of the highest ranking leaders or most dedicated followers. Gay Mormon men, as you can see here even make some pretty good husbands, as they pour on their straight spouse-loving efforts into a cocktail of bitter and sweet that leaves them feeling an initial high and a most certain hangover.  They have to turn to it MORE, give MORE money, marry, serve in callings, bear testimony MORE.

The videos in this Voices of Hope only show the intoxicated and drugged. They leave out the morning after walks of shame that surely occur in quiet, solitary moments for these men and women as something deep inside them whispers that they are pretending.

And, in the end, it will steal their life… But it’s a voluntary trade: accept the lies and illusions in return for mind numbing escape… You can call it truth to make you feel better. What an amazing addiction! A justified, self-righteous numbness and the path to heaven! Meth without societal disapproval! Religion on a “crusade” to justify itself.

PS. This whole Voices of Hope thing is apparently an off-shoot of the North Star effort. I’ve commented several times that I believe other pro-Mormon, anti-gay online efforts seem to be too slick and too coordinated to be just random Mormons. And I believe Voices of Hope is the glue that connects them all. The videographer for Voices of Hope is the dude here.

When I watch Ty and the others in the video I see drug addicts trying to convince themselves and others that their drug of choice is the answer.  I only see pain and co-dependent spouses.

It would be interesting to see who is contributing to their efforts to raise over a million dollars.

Dear Mini Me

I responded to a blog post here asking what we’d say to our younger selves if we could.

Here’s what I’d tell my younger self:

Dear 16 year old Dadsprimalscream,

• Distrust anyone who is convinced that they “know” something… anything.

• The “safe” route is also often the most depressing and will be the least comfortable in 20 years.

• Nobody really admires your dedication to Mormonism.  They like and admire most everything else about you, but they tolerate and accept you in spite of your Mormon background, not because of it. Don’t confuse their politeness with admiration.
• Some things cannot be controlled or micromanaged. One of those is sexual attraction.  You don’t get to choose what makes you “tingle.” For example, even within the hetero box, some guys go wild for a woman’s feet.  They didn’t choose that fetish and you can’t create or micromanage your own desires.

• Most people already think you are gay. Those who are most invested in their own view of your world will be the least likely to help you see it… (parents, siblings)

• The real you, which you are terrified of, is actually more interesting, more lovable and has more potential than the fake you that you so desperately are working on creating.
• Beware of false dichotomies… the idea that you can either be a worthy, happy, faithful Mormon or a gay, depressed, drug addicted felon. Try to meet individuals in both camps that defy the stereotypes. There is a LOT of ground in the middle. One can be gay, happy and “worthy”.

• It seems counter-intuitive but the more punishing or restrictive you are with your natural desires, the more they will take over and command your life. Abstinence breeds obsession the same as wanton indulgence does. Learn to live with and love who you are rather than fear it. Such an approach leads to happiness.

• There is no such thing as wickedness or righteousness.  There’s really only wisdom and foolishness and you have to figure those out on your own.  You don’t learn them in a class or seminary.
• Whatever you do, don’t marry and ruin some poor straight girl’s life and future.  Your desire for the celestial kingdom and a worthy Mormon life should not overpower the fact that that straight girl deserves her own authentic love. I mean it.  It’s not OK, even if you talk to her first and she still agrees to it.

• You can have kids and a family as a gay man if you REALLY want to be a father. There are ways.

• Don’t focus so much on correcting your weaknesses, but focus intently on improving and polishing your strengths… that’s where real life satisfaction lies, being really good at something you love.

• The people who will react poorly, in an unloving and unsupportive way, by your coming out today will in 20 years time prove to be lousy friends or harsh and judgmental family members anyway. But you’ll lose your own self-respect if you try to please these people. Make the break now.

Dear Bishop Blog #6 – Random Confessions

Dear Bishop.

I’m back! It’s been almost a year since my last confession.

Don’t let the long time-lag fool you, I love me some good ole repentance!  I don’t mean the actual process of repentance but the feeling that comes afterward;  I’m talking about that light, clean and pure feeling that anything wrong I had done was forgotten and fixed.

I miss that.

So, here goes…

• I’ve been living under a rock apparently. I just heard this song, Same Love, yesterday for the first time and LOVE IT. I love the message. I love the juxtaposition of the hip hop of the male with the melodic vocals of the female. I just love everything about it. Why had I never heard it before? I was apparently hiding under a bushel in the lone and dreary world. As a gay man how could I have not heard this song before? I’m truly regretful Bishop, but as he says in the song, “No freedom till we’re equal.”

(Click on the pic for the YouTube video. I’ve printed the lyrics down at the end of this post.)

• Since my divorce I’ve regularly taken my kids out for “alone time” with me individually. I try to cycle through the four of them about every six months. Sometimes it has been a trip together and other times it it just going out to a movie, dinner or bowling – their choice. I believe I’ve only done it once in the last year. I just completed my first round of the year so I’m getting back on track. I desire all to receive it.

• Last night in my alone time with my 13 year old daughter I felt not a slight twinge of glee as she voluntarily revealed to me how she felt at having to attend the Women’s meeting of the LDS General Conference with her mother, “It was boring and I didn’t even listen to anything they said…” and then she proceeded to relate her frustration at the Mormon obsession with girls’ shoulders, coffee and her disdain at one day being expected to wear garments. Apparently she was also 1 of two girls who didn’t bear testimony at girls camp weeks ago! I’m sorry bishop that I was smiling and joyful inside that she’s beginning to think for herself. It led to a wonderful discussion about modesty, the Word of Wisdom and the fanaticism she sees in the church. For the first time in her life I got to cautiously share with her what I believe! I’m so proud of her! Power be upon me and my posterity!

• I found myself lusting after a married man this week, Bishop. Do I get to do any less penance if was a GAY married man? Listen to the Gay Mormon Stories Podcast series on Brett Bradshaw (021-024) and I dare you not to find Brett Bradshaw an irresistible hottie and just a great role model for young gay men. I urge all to receive it.

• I’m a fully out gay man and yet having moved to a new city recently, there are several colleagues and acquaintances to whom I haven’t come out yet. I still feel some of that old familiar fear because I’m not exactly living in Palm Springs anymore. This is as deep in the Mormon Belt as you can get without actually being in Utah. Let’s put some perspective on it: there are more Mormon Churches here than there are Starbucks. My income is still very tenuous and I don’t feel established enough nor legally supported enough in this locale yet to be able to say, “What the Fuck!” I confess that my self-preservation is currently overpowering my courage. I’ll return and report soon.

SEE ALSO:

Dear Bishop Blog

Dear Bishop Blog #2 – 10 Random Confessions

Dear Bishop Blog # 3 – Random Confessions

Dear Bishop Blog #4 – Confessions of a Liar

Dear Bishop Blog #5 – Random Media Confessions

MACKLEMORE LYRICS

“Same Love”
(with Ryan Lewis)
(feat. Mary Lambert)

When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay
‘Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight
I told my mom tears rushing down my face
She’s like “Ben you’ve loved girls since before pre-k tripping, “
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn’t she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, “Yeah, I’m good at little league”
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it’s a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don’t know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don’t know

And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
I can’t change
Even if I try
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
“Man, that’s gay” gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we’re saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don’t have acceptance for ‘em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It’s human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that’s not important
No freedom till we’re equal, damn right I support it

(I don’t know)

And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

We press play, don’t press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking ’round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn’t gonna solve it all
But it’s a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it’s all the same love
About time that we raised up

And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
I can’t change
Even if I try
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is patient
Love is kind
(I’m not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I’m not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I’m not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I’m not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I’m not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I’m not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I’m not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
Love is kind

Remember the Past – Or, Don’t Be Ungrateful and Smug

Although he’s been misquoted, George Santayana (1863-1952)  said,

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Those repeat episodes obviously don’t come as exact replicas of past experiences, but they appear and reappear to other people who are too smug and too certain to notice.

I’m thinking of women and gays today and any other future minority group that will have to one day recognize its second class status and then struggle to overcome it.

Two seemingly unrelated issues recently caught my attention. For some reason they both struck the same vein in me and I couldn’t initially figure out why.

The first was the recent news that the LDS faith will finally be selecting women to pray publicly in their big semi-annual General Conference in April.

Among the sharing of the good news on Facebook and Twitter came the comments by those in favor and those perplexed by the progress…. I guess I should never be surprised, but the smug self-righteous replies by LDS women left me chuckling a little inside.

LDS women say,

This being a problem would have never occurred to me in 1 million years. Most women I know in the Church have held leadership positions.

or,

Ya know I never even noticed that women never prayed in General Conference, I guess I was to busy trying to listen to the messages

The lack of LDS women ever noticing is evidence of the problem, not evidence of the lack of a problem.

Have you ever noticed or has it ever occurred to you LDS women that many of the hallmarks of Mormonism came about because someone other than the prophet did notice, and it did occur to someone that there was room for improvement? The Word of Wisdom, The Relief Society, The welfare program…all the results of suggestions, petitions or influence from outside the 12 or first presidency and in some cases from a woman. There’s no shame in noticing…and there’s no inspiration without information.

In other words, if it weren’t for a woman once noticing and asking, you wouldn’t be able to now claim that you get enough leadership for women in the church as it is and don’t need an ounce more.

Kind of ironic.

Way to forget the past.

Way to broadcast your ingratitude.

Stewardship or prayers only over kids or other women isn’t the same as a female adult among or over men. That is what I’m glad my daughters will finally get to witness.

The second display of forgetting the past came by way of this YouTube video and a post by one of my favorite bloggers, Dan Pearce in a blog post titled, Where Are the Mormons that Promised to Hate Me?

Without a doubt I disagree with just about everything the first dude says. It’s just propaganda and totally void of any recognition of the past (Let it be said that I also highly suspect that this and other similar blog posts are a result of a covert marketing campaign. I believe there’s more to the story than just this dude deciding to make this video).

One point that Dan and I can agree upon is that the Mormon response to homosexuality is often mislabeled as “hate” or “homophobia.” I express that point of view HERE. So from the get-go he’s asking the wrong question.

The rest of Dan’s post leaves me a little sick to my stomach because it completely disregards the past and shows zero gratitude for those gays who have been terribly misaligned by Mormons both institutionally and individually.

Dan admits,

It’s no secret that the Mormon church is adamantly against homosexuality. They have pumped millions of dollars into protecting what they consider to be the proper and correct family structure, fighting legislation that would grant equal rights to “other” types of families.

And having once been a Mormon myself, I can tell you that anti-gay doctrine was preached to me my whole life. We’ve already talked about that. It was thrown in my face around every corner I turned. There was fear surrounding it. There was anger. There was never-ending strong words being flung in all directions.

But then, he follows the traditional line of thinking that he grew up with that,

not a single Mormon has been anything but loving and supportive to me. At least to my face. Not a single Mormon has attacked me or criticized me or preached hellfire and damnation to me. At least not to my face.

I’d remind Dan that the millions pumped into Prop 8 was by individuals, not the church.

Mormons are nothing if not polite and cheerful. It’s one of the themes running through the parody, The Book of Mormon Musical on Broadway (And on-stage near you!)  I’ve never been the object of overt expressions of hatred by any Mormon either. But I DO remember the words and attitudes of my youth…and, frankly, of not too long ago.

I remember hearing that it would be better to be dead than be gay.

I remember hearing a supposed apostle talk admiringly about a missionary beating up his companion for being gay.

I remember being told homosexuality was a choice, a sign of selfishness and the ruin of society. But I couldn’t figure out when I chose it, or how I was any more selfish than my straight brothers.

I remember the “tsk tsk’s” and stifled chuckles in Ward Council, PEC and Bishopric Meetings when anything “gay” was even hinted at. They hurt terribly during all those silent years.

I can’t forget being told by my Bishop, Grant Von Harrison, to NEVER  think about it or mention it again especially not to my future wife. Worst. Advice. Ever. And yes, that was the church procedure at the time.

I can’t forget the many talks and admonitions to never even use the word “gay” or the unapologetic and wholly unfounded claims to “know” what their God thinks on the matter.

I can’t forget my former missionary companion and countless others who committed suicide because they actually did take the organization’s word for it. They believed what they saw and what they heard.

Am I to do cartwheels because now Mormons are catching on that they don’t have to be the assholes that the church has always taught them to be? Well, yeah that is pretty cool! I guess part of me is jealous that coming out even 7 years ago was too early to experience that change.

We’ll get over these current women and gay issues I’m pretty confident.Things are progressing rapidly.

When I was at BYU in the 80′s I couldn’t fathom there being a gay support group like there is now. Or something like No More Strangers?! Things are moving much more quickly in society, and even in the Mormon church, than I ever imagined. Equal opportunity in society, churches and government still have a ways to go and if we forget the mistakes or even the victories of the past then it won’t be long until it’s some other poor sap minority having to start from scratch so they can marry, lead, pray publicly and be taken seriously as equals.

I’m glad people like Dan Pearce have never felt anything other than love and acceptance to his face when he came out.

But there’s still progress to be made and we shouldn’t kid ourselves that it has always been this way.That line of thinking doesn’t do anyone any favors.

The current problems don’t stem from hate, or from homophobia or from misogyny, in my opinion. Those are symptoms and they will fall to the wayside once the breeding grounds of tradition and obedience to prophets are set aside in favor of critical thinking skills and the fight against injustice anywhere.

Things That Make Me Smile #3

Songs performed with awesome backup dancers

• “LaLaLa” With Betty Dittrich in German!

• “These Boots Are Made For Walkin” with Nancy Sinatra

When cover songs totally flip the original on its head

• “Baby Got Back” on Glee (even though I found out it’s a complete rip-off of another dude’s version)

• “Sexy Back” with Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon

Watching serious news delivered by hot reporters

• Richard Engle – NBC

Themed Weddings

• 50′s

• Beatles

• Disney Princess

• Footloose

Questioning Authority

Helmuth Hübener

Bad Jokes 

(Here, with Woody Harrelson & John C. Reilly)

See Also:

Things That Make Me Smile

Things That Make Me Smile #2

Twitter-pated

I have been a little absent from my blog lately. There’s nothing dramatic to report. I’ve just been busy trying to earn a living and spending more time with my kids. My time blogging has taken the first hit.

So, I’ve taken to a new medium of social interaction on Twitter. Posts are shorter and don’t require the time commitment of blogging. Follow me @DPrimalscream if you like. I’ve added a feed here on my page, down on the bottom right.

I’m not leaving blogging by any means, but tweeting will likely fill the time gaps for me. The topics will still span #gay, #Mormon, #fatherhood and may occasionally include some thoughts on pop culture as well. Hope to see some of you there!

Otherwise, I’ll be back here! Don’t drop me from your blog feed!

Un-quitting

Who would have thought my new favorite word would jump out at me while watching Survivor!

Not since Stephen Colbert bestowed “truthiness” upon us have I been so thrilled with a newly coined word!

Yes, I know the reality series Survivor jumped the shark long ago.

I think it was flying over that shark around the time of “Redemption Island,” but like an old favorite pair of underwear (garments excluded), I still just can’t give it up.

As Jack Twist would say, “I wish I knew how to quit you, Survivor!”

In one of his confessionals, one of the current Survivor cast members, Reynold, was expressing exasperation at one of his fellow castaways, Shamar, who had been threatening to quit. In a complete reversal, the quitter, Shamar, expressed his renewed loyalty to his alliance and proclaimed that he wouldn’t quit after all. Reynold found it odd that a man could set himself up as a loyal hero by quitting…almost…and then “unquitting!”

Kind of like Barbara Streisand unretiring every few years, or John Dehlin recently unresigning from the Mormon Church.

My former in-laws were trend-setters. Years ago, they undivorced!

I can’t count the number of people I’ve witnessed uncancel their Facebook accounts.

Conservative, anti-gay politicians un-come out of the closet all the time!

Heroes, every one of them!

Oh yeah! I just remembered why I can’t stop watching Survivor! Looks like I am going to unquit watching the show after all…