Some Guys Are Normal

100 (not so) Interesting Facts About Me

This is going to be a really long post, but hang in there. I got this idea from Jarred. If you don't want to read them all, just read a few of them. Feel free to comment or make your own!

1. I’m an identical twin, which I like because it makes me unique—even if I get annoyed with being mistaken for my brother from time to time (you’d think after 28 years I’d get used to it).
2. My twin brother and I look similar, but it’s pretty easy to tell us apart. We lived together until we turned 25, and now we still live on block away from each other (until he goes to law school in the fall).
3. I bought my first house at 25 and moved in with my partner, J, then.
4. I hate the word partner, but husband sounds too political.
5. J and I have been together for 8 and a half years.
6. I feel younger than my age. In fact, when I meet a 20 year old, I instinctively think that he is closer than my age than a 30 year old.
7. I’m scared of growing old, even though it hasn’t been too bad so far.
8. My favorite pizza is mushroom.
9. My second favorite is supreme. I don’t like pepperoni.
10. My favorite font is Times New Roman. I really don’t like Arial.
11. I like guys with spiky hair. J usually has spiky hair (and I actually thought spiky had an e in it until right now).
12. Grammar and spelling are pet peeves of mine, but I don’t proofread my writing very often, so I end up with inadvertent errors that frustrate me when I find them. It still doesn’t make me want to proofread, though.
13. My favorite tv show is Law and Order.
14. I wish made-for-tv movies would get popular again.
15. I have an 11-year-old sister. When my mom asks me about grandkids, I remind her of my 11-year-old sister. Having a baby in the house at 17 doesn’t make you want to rush off and have kids of your own.
16. I like my job, but it frustrates me. It probably frustrates J more hearing me complain about it.
17. I don’t visit either of my grandmothers enough, even though I have good intentions of doing so.
18. I love chocolate milk made with Hershey’s syrup. I’ll drink the pre-made kind too, but only if someone else bought it.
19. I call Hershey’s syrup “chocolate sauce.”
20. I call all carbonated beverages “coke.” I clarify what kind only after being told what kind of coke is available.
21. If I were on Survivor, I’d bring a bottle of ranch dressing with me as my one personal item. It makes everything taste better.
22. I’ve only watched one episode of Survivor in my life.
23. I’m tired all the time and I sleep a lot. Not surprisingly, I’m tired right now.
24. My grandfather had narcolepsy and would fall asleep all the time, even during conversations and meals. My tiredness is not narcolepsy.
25. I hate working for a living. I’d rather be independently wealthy.
26. I’m always trying to come up with a way to become independently wealthy. I think it runs in my family—both of my parents and my twin brother do it too.
27. I haven’t mentioned my other siblings. I also have 1 younger brother and a stepbrother and a stepsister.
28. In middle school, the kids on the bus used to call me the mean twin. My brother was the nice twin. I’m not really mean, just serious.
29. I’m actually one of the nicest people I know.
30. My friends voted me the most mature friend in our friend group.
31. I’m very sarcastic and I like other people that are too.
32. I like to make fun of other people; especially when they’re dumb. It’s all in good fun.
33. I’m not good at meeting strangers unless they are really outgoing. I’m just not capable of being the one that has to create the conversation.
34. I get really irritated when people misuse” me, I, and myself (or yourself too I guess),” especially when myself is trying to sound smart.
35. I like nearly every sport except soccer. I’ll watch or play almost anything that involves competition. Volleyball, tennis, basketball, and racquetball are my favorite sports to play—in that order.
36. I regularly give referees and umpires a hard time, whether I’m playing or watching a sport. Sometimes I feel guilty about it later.
37. In college ESPN used to be on non-stop in my dorm room. Now it’s usually HGTV.
38. I’m not artistically or musically inclined, and I’m envious of people that are.
39. I like going to sing karaoke, but I don’t ever sing in front of the crowd. I just like singing along.
40. Most of the popular “gay songs” I know I’ve only heard at karaoke—Sweet Caroline is one of them.
41. I studied in Argentina during college. I want to go back.
42. My mom made my lunch every day all the way until I graduated high school. It consisted of a coke, a bag of chips, a Little Debbie snack, and two sandwiches.
43. My favorite athlete is Hakeem Olajuwon. I have 2 autographed jerseys of his at my house.
44. I hate when people write two (2) like that just to sound smart.
45. I have a dog named Parker who is currently acting out by peeing on the carpet. This is the first pet I’ve had as an adult.
46. I consider my political views moderate. Both the far right and the far left really irk me sometimes.
47. I used to be much more conservative than I am these days, and I think I’m getting more liberal by the day.
48. I think that anyone that can’t see through Rush Limbaugh’s weak straw-man argumentation needs to at least try to think for himself.
49. I listen to talk radio regularly. I like to get myself riled up by listening to right wing political shows.
50. I’m really good at remembering people’s names and faces, but I’m terrible at remembering famous people. I once got Joan Collins, Joan Rivers, and some other Joan mixed up when talking about the movie “Mommy Dearest (that is the movie, right?).”
51. I was raised Presbyterian and Southern Baptist. I prefer the casualness of Southern Baptists, but, as you can imagine, I disagree with a lot of their more strict beliefs these days.
52. I personally came out to my friends and family when I was 22. I came out completely (to some extended family and friends) right before my big gay wedding at 26.
53. When I was a kid, one of my goals in life was to grow to be at least 6 ft tall. I made it.
54. I love trivia and random facts. I spout them off all the time.
55. I love news documentary shows and wish they were as popular today as they used to be back in the 90’s.
56. I feel like I’m pretty good at a lot of things but not really good at anything. Jack of all trades master of none; I guess you could call it.
57. Even though grammar is a pet peeve of mine, I don’t use semicolons or hyphens correctly all of the time. I must’ve missed that day in school.
58. I want to run my own business, but I’m too scared to venture out and take a chance.
59. My favorite city is New Orleans. I used to think I just liked visiting, but now I think I’d like living there, as odd as it might seem.
60. I want change but I’m afraid of it at the same time.
61. In college I used to have blue highlights in my hair. And I got my lip pierced. I liked it, but it was very out of character for me. I took it out because I had to get a job.
62. Most of my closest friends have been my friends since junior high or earlier.
63. I like tattoos, but I’m afraid I won’t like them when I get old, so I don’t have one.
64. I like pop-punk music, even if it’s a version of punk designed just to make money.
65. I enjoyed both high school and college, and I’d go back to either in a heartbeat.
66. I liked the college environment, but I hated school—mostly studying and writing papers.
67. I did well in school because I thought I had to, not because I loved it.
68. I wish more people I knew in high school would come out as gay.
69. I hate coffee, tea, beer, and wine—basically any social drink.
70. I will listen to almost any kind of music, but I like punk rock and ska the most because I like the energy. It wakes me up.
71. I like having money now that I’m grown up, but I don’t really like all the responsibility that it comes with.
72. I prefer scorching hot days to cold ones. Give me 100 degrees over 40 degrees any day.
73. I hate exercise, but I like competition more than I hate exercise, so I play sports a lot.
74. I’m always looking at myself in the mirror because I’m self conscious that I’m going to get a beer belly.
75. My younger brother and my mom and stepdad have the best dogs I know. I hope my dog gets to be that well behaved.
76. I don’t own an Ipod, but I did get a fake one for my birthday. It currently has 15 songs on it, and I use it constantly in my car.
77. My car has a cooled/heated cup holder. I’ve never used it.
78. I really like politics and social policy, especially regarding gay rights and ex-gay issues (but you already knew that).
79. Recently I haven’t blogged as much as I would like.
80. I had a job for 4 months where I cold called people all day. I hated it.
81. I hate moving more than anything in the world. If you need help moving, don’t call me.
82. I want to go to grad school, mainly to say that I did it, but I don’t want the work that would come along with it.
83. I go to gay bars on the weekends because I feel like I need some gay interaction in my life.
84. I’m constantly amazed that people spend the majority of their lives working. Surely there’s something better.
85. My favorite fast food chain is Sonic followed closely by Whataburger.
86. I eat out a ton.
87. I regularly listen to a radio show about managing money, but I have yet to start a budget and J handles most of our finances.
88. I’m amazed at how many gay people love Anderson Cooper, but I love him too, and I can’t explain why.
89. When I was in high school, I used to watch Jeopardy every day.
90. I do not currently follow any tv shows on a regular basis.
91. My new puppy, Parker, gets on my nerves sometimes, but seeing her run down the stairs when I get home makes me smile and makes it worth it.
92. I can fall asleep on command and will sleep past noon if I get the chance. Lately I haven’t been giving myself the chance—I’m too old for that.
93. I’m jealous of “morning people.” I just can’t figure out how to become one.
94. I hate long drives and driving in traffic. Anything over an hour and a half counts as long in my book.
95. I love Las Vegas, but I never gamble enough to win big, so I get frustrated that I’m not winning.
96. I regret not coming out earlier in life, but I only recently came fully to terms with being gay.
97. I sometimes regret not going to a bigger college or to one further away from home, just for the experience.
98. I always feel like there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it.
99. I pay $45 for my haircuts, but I haven’t had a bad hair day since I started paying that much.
100. I live for the weekends.
     

posted by Brady @ 3:29 PM 5 comments

We're Not Talking About Special Rights

J pointed me over to a post on Rosie O'Donnell's blog yesterday that I really felt the need to pass on. If you're not familiar with Rosie's blog, it's usually written in some sort of strange poetry that annoys me to death, so I don't typically go there. I was happy to see this entry was an article with real words and sentence structure, though.

The article is the story of a woman, Lisa Pond, who had a sudden brain aneurysm and died when she and her family were on their way to take a cruise with Rosie's cruise company. However, as Lisa laid dying in the hospital, her children (who were minors and was the adpoted parent of) and partner were not allowed to see Lisa.

The social worker at the hospital told the family that they were in an anti-gay state, and they'd need to show the legal paperwork showing that Lisa's partner had the right to see her in the hospital and make medical decisions on her behalf. Luckily, the couple was well prepared and had the forms faxed over.

Unfortunately, the hospital still did not let Lisa's family see her until after she was unconcious and only being kept alive by life support. At this point, they were invited in to make decisions regarding donating Lisa's organs. Basically the hospital let the family in when it was in their best interest--not out of the kindness of their hearts.

So, Lisa died without being visited by her family. Without anyone by her side, and her family could do nothing about it. This is not the case that blood relatives of Lisa did not want her partner and children in the room. No one, except the hospital, was contesting the visitation.

Pretty amazing stuff. Surely a married couple would not have had such problems. For those of you that are still falling for the belief that gay rights are special rights--consider this story.

posted by Brady @ 8:41 AM 3 comments

Fred Phelps Supports James Hoslinger

Fred Phelps has a video out in support of Surgeon General candidate James Hoslinger. Woah. I can honestly say that Fred Phelps is someone I would not want supporting me or any of my allies...ever.

It's weird,though, because Phelps is against everyone and anyone, including the President, the late Jerry Falwell, and anyone else you can think of. I wonder what this is all about.

posted by Brady @ 4:09 PM 0 comments

James Holsinger or Paul Cameron

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know of my extreme dislike of professional quack Paul Cameron. I spent a number of posts in this blogs younger days on Paul Cameron and his insanity.

So, as you can imagine, I was surprised to learn recently that Surgeon General nominee James Holsinger wrote a paper that used tactics embarrassingly reminiscent of Paul Cameron. Jim Burroway over at Box Turtle Bulletin has a top-notch rundown of the claims made in the paper that's getting a good amount of blogosphere press. I highly recommend the read (and be sure to check out the commenter that tries to argue that a survey of gays at an STD clinic can and should be extrapolated to represent all gays).

For all of the folks out there calling James Holsinger's opponents, extremists--I'd encourage you to read this stuff for yourself. This isn't about being ex-gay or anti-gay--it's about plain old misleading people with junk science. Surely someone with these types of morals shouldn't be allowed to be the top Doctor in the country.

posted by Brady @ 6:54 PM 0 comments

Conservatively Coming Out

So, apparently an 18-year old staffer for Republican Presidential long shot Tom Tancredo is coming out. I'm not really sure why this is big enough news to blog about, but it's all over the place, so I figured I should give my take on the issue.

First of all, I have to agree with Matt that this kid hasn't been outed by anyone--he came out on his own--and that we should just give him a break. Coming out's not easy, especially for folks running in conservative circles and working for anti-gay politicians. The glee some people seem to take in his "outing" is just odd to me. Offering to help if he needs it sounds like a better response.

Second of all, since when is the coming out of an 18-year old big news, no matter who he is?

Third of all, since when are conservatives not allowed to come out? Sure, I've got some questions about how he plans to handle some of the more anti-gay issues of his boss and cohorts (and himself previously), but we should be happy when people like him come out and embrace it--not relish in the irony.

Fourth of all--18? Man, apparently I'm not working hard enough. I want to be worthy of all of this blogoshpere madness too!

posted by Brady @ 7:44 AM 1 comments

An Argument in Favor of Homosexuality

Although it was posted about a month ago, I just came across a post from David over at Resolving Realities.

In his blogger profile, David describes himself as "a twenty year old college student who was raised in the evangelical church and came to an intellectual understanding and heartfelt faith in Christ sometime in the haze of middle school and high school." He says he "also realized about the same time that [he] was same-sex attracted, and [is] only now coming to deal with both realities. "

Not only has David just recently begun to deal with reconciling his faith with his sexuality, but he's also recently become fully Side A (basically meaning gay sexual relationships are ok) in his beliefs regarding homosexuality.

So, David's right in the middle of all of this now. I remember endlessly going through these same issues in my head, on paper, in writing, and with friends a few years ago. I think writing this kind of stuff out is an important part of the process for lots of people dealing with being both Christian and gay.

Anyway, take a look--David goes into some very good depth on these issues and even goes as far as to say that he knows there's a right answer out there. That's a claim I only recently have been able to make myself.

posted by Brady @ 11:41 AM 3 comments

Anti-Gay Bingo

It's Anti-Gay Bingo, courtesy of Willie Hewes! If you cand send me a link to 5 of the claims in a row, you'll win a prize (well maybe not a prize, but it'd be fun to see how long it would take).

Hat tip: Queerty

posted by Brady @ 7:03 AM 1 comments