Some Random Thoughts

I have intended to update this blog for the past couple of weeks but just didn't feel like I had anything of substance to relay. There have been a few things here and there that have caught my attention but nothing that made me want to sit down and vent or try and rally others to react.

However, I did just see a news story on CNN's Headlice News while I was eating lunch in the breakroom at work that sort of freaked me out. Europe is now going to provide the Department of Homeland Security with all this personal info regarding visitors flying into the U.S. including sexual orientation!!! What in the fuck could a person's sexual orientation have to do with their propensity to be a terrorist, which is allegedly the reason for sharing the information!?! I would have written a whole post just on this topic but I'm sure this is going to be a big deal and there will be a grassroots effort to express displeasure regarding this invasion of privacy. You can read about this shit here.

Moving along. I bought an mp3 player with money that I got for my birthday this month. I didn't get some fancy ass iPod because I knew my needs and budget weren't that big. Man, mp3 players have sure come down in price since the last time I looked at them. You can now get a 1gb player as cheap as $30 to $40 currently. I bought a 1gb Sandisk brand that has direct USB connectivity, so I can just plug it directly into my pc and drag and drop files. It's also memory expandable with a micro SD card, so I could potentially double the memory for a mere $15 bucks! This player I bought was $60 at Best Buy. And I'm sure that a comparable player will be half that price within a year. They're so cheap now compared to when I shopped for them before that my mind was blown. (Like a couple of years ago a 512mb player cost over $100!!!)

The reason why I bought the mp3 player was to play audio books on. I was tired of keeping up with all those cds and using the bulky portable cd player at night in bed. I figured I'd just rip the audio book cds and move them onto the player. This plan has totally worked out. I listened to the whole new Harry Potter book using the mp3 player. (Yes. I'm that big of a dork.) It was so much more convenient than having to keep up with and constantly switch out seventeen cds.

The coolest discovery I've made since I got the mp3 player has been podcasts. I know I'm a few years behind the times with this but I've never had a way of capturing the files and carrying them around with me conveniently before. And I am just not going to sit in front of my computer and listen to a show. Since I got a player I can now finally trip on this phenomenon that had almost passed me by. I know there are thousands of podcasts out there, so I haven't really figured out which ones I'm super-duper into. Right off the bat I've been listening to these two ultra-gay shows though: Feast Of Fools and this "sober" drag queen called Wanda Wisdom. There's also another one that seems like it is potentially fun called Tranny Wreck but it doesn't seem to be updated very often and I've only listened the one most recent show. Update: Since I originally posted this a couple of days ago I stumbled across another show - Foul Monkeys. It's these two gay guys and their revolving door of straight friends just hanging out and usually talking about nerdy stuff, like video games. A lot of the time I'm not into what they're talking about but I like the energy and silliness of the show and mainly I like that the gay guys aren't stereotypical queens. I can definitely relate to that...girl. (Insert satire.)

I'm back on a work-out routine. I slowed down on the smoking over a two-week period until I finally quit all-together (again) on Wednesday (or Thursday?). The mp3 player is perfect for working out. I walked the treadmill last night listening to Wanda Wisdom do her thang. I'm not planning to go overboard but I do feel so much better that I think this is going to stick finally. Last time we "got healthy" we really adopted the full lifestyle but then we started fostering kids and it all went out the window. I think we're at a place again where we can focus on regular exercise and good eating habits. (It's too damn easy to eat like shit in this country!)

Anyway, speaking of fostering kids, I had said in a way earlier post that I wanted to put something up about our experience with so-called gay adoption, specifically in Texas. I did start writing something and have come back to work on it several times but it's grown enormous and I'm still not finished! I swear by the time I do wrap up all of what I want to say it'll be a goddamn book. So if you've come across my blog while doing a key word search trying to find something about same-sex partners adopting (particularly in Texas) just send me an email with any questions you may have. I'm generally pretty good at staying on top of my mail, so I'll probably write you back relatively quick.

Alright. I'm gonna go. Y'all take care.