Waiting for Supreman

I finally got a chance to see the movie "Waiting for Superman" today and it was beyond what I thought it would be. My awareness has definitely been heightened by what is happening in our countries education system right now. Part of the movie discussed how even in our normal public schools, students are separated into categories that are focused on where they are going in their future. I look at my elementary education and see exactly what was being discussed in the film. After fourth grade, my class of nine were transported to a city about twenty miles aways so we could finish our elementary education. When we got there, we were all separated into different homerooms and different levels of core classes. We all understood that there were reasons why we were in these different classes together but we never actually understood where that stems from. This movie open my eyes to that. Thankfully though, I was blessed with amazing teachers all along the way who fostered my own curiosity and desire to learn. With the combination of them and excellent parenting, I was able to hurdle over many obstacles.


And now I will leave you with an added little Halloween bonus. Have a great Halloween everyone.

Happy Halloween

Lets start this Halloween post off with one of the all time classic American Halloween traditions. Micheal Jackson's Thriller.

Story Corps

I'm extremely into knowing other people's stories these lately. One of the ways that I've been indulging in this is storycorps.org. Check it out and take a moment to hear someone else's story. It is truly amazing to hear what strangers have to say. Even if we don't learn something, we will definitely be entertained.
http://http://storycorps.org

Cumbre Nortena and My New Husband

When I was flying to Rachel's wedding on Thursday night, I sat next to this very attractive man who began chatting with me. Later, towards the end of the flight, we stared talking about what we both did back in Los Angeles. He happens to be in this band right here..... He's the bass player. And he is gorgeous.... and talented. Well, that's my story for a Tuesday night.

An Old Song for a New Time

This came on the music while I was flying this weekend. I love this song and it was a great addition to a perfect weekend

Coming out and Rachel's wedding

The first person that I came out to was my friend Rachel. I had been living in Vegas for not even 3 months and I was getting my first visitors. Rachel, Janet, Steve and a few others from home were on their way out to see me and I was a nervous wreck. I had no idea what I would do in my new surroundings and would I have changed so much in my realization of liking men that I’d slip up and they’d go home wondering why the hell they decided to visit a gay boy? I wasn’t sure what would happen but I did no I had a plan, and that was to keep my new secret a secret and do what I would later hear from one of my acting coaches; “Butch it up!”
Well, we were having an absolutely great time, seeing a ton of things, pushing time limits, staying out till the sun came up and then I blew my plan. Rachel and I decided that we were going to just have a nice dinner, the two of us, and in the middle of conversation walking to the restaurant, I spilled my news. She of course was so excited and it was completely opposite of what I was expecting but it was great. Then, because of her, I realized that being gay wasn’t going to change my life, just add to it. Being gay is just a small part of who I am.

Rachel got married this weekend to a wonderful, caring, loving man. Here are some of the pictures from their wedding.

Doing Nothing

I was watching this Janet Jackson video and it just amazed me how people just don't hang out. Maybe it's adulthood, but even though, we always have an agenda. We're either meeting for lunch, to talk about something specific, or have something planned immediately afterward that moves us to depart and go on with our day. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I just miss that doing nothing feeling.


I got home from work this afternoon, it was raining, and I just wanted to accomplish nothing. I just wanted to sit and watch a movie so I thought, revisit my old favorite "Empire Records". Again, this movie is a great reminder of how in our youth, we just hung out. No agenda, no purpose and no goal needing to be obtained; just company of friends and the possibility of anything.



I'm ending this blog with the video from The The which is featured at the end of the movie. It's a great little feel good song.

Where is Conversation Going?

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the art of conversation, or the lack there of. The Victorians would sit in the Parlor. In the fifties, they would take their coffee in the sitting room and in the eighties, the coffee house. Today conversation is not an art, but more of an extinct activity like kick the can or red rover.
Yesterday I had a wonderful morning with my friend Donna. Donna is an extremely active senior and I use the term senior loosely because she does not act, look, or personify in any way what our society would have us think a senior any age over seventy years old should act like. We went to a movie and spent the rest of the morning laughing, eating and talking. We miss so much in each other when we don’t have that part of communication. The part when there is no pressure, no time constraints, just talking, listening, and enjoying the company of other people around you.
Unfortunately the art of conversation is easily diffused and can quickly be replaced with texting, email, facebook, and a list a mile long of other ways to communicate with one another. This amazes me because we want to connect with one another. That’s why we’re so addicted to reality television, tabloid magazines, and just knowing other people’s business. We are a pack, a herd, a gaggle and we need that human connection more than ever.
I find myself getting into more conversations lately than I have in the last ten years. I know it makes me better. Not just socially but emotionally because I was there for another person, and listened to their story and they’re listening to mine. It’s like free therapy but more intimate. Each one of our stories are extremely important because that is what makes us alive. We need to listen and be heard because that is how we relate to one another.
I acknowledge the relevance of the media, and of new technologically based social networks, but we still need that lean in, the smile back, the “oh my god, really?”, and the laughter. I would challenge everyone to at least once a day, ask someone how they’re doing and ask for the real answer and then listen. What would that do for the both of you? Maybe ask someone what they were listening to on the way to work that morning. How would that small conversation evolve and change your lives? I guess the challenge is even more simple than that, just push someone a little to talk and that will produce conversation. Just know that we have the time to do it. Regardless of what our daily lives say, time doesn’t cost money and time will only go away when we do.

Oh Tyler Perry

I love all things Tyler Perry. I think that he is a fantastic film maker who is overlooked for his phenomenal way of letting us look at an example of part of our modern condition. He is able to show slices of life in such a well rounded way that we only take it for entertainment when in all actuality, he has given us a message and a view of someone real that we would have never seen before. This is his next movie to come up and I believe it will be his best one yet.

It's October 15th

Where have these last 2 months gone? I am just boggled that one day, I was making the conscious decision to just relax for an entire day and then it was the beginning of October..... That's not good. Well, I have to go take some promotional pictures for Hottalkla.com. I will later be adding more but for the moment, I want to point out this new campaign that is coinciding with the No H8 campaign. Here is the video. OK, have a great day. You'll read more later but to give you a little tease. I cut off all my hair, have a new Dina and Gregg Show video coming up and an exciting new project.