I will not marry. A declaration.

WARNING: something's been festering a few days and is about to be spewed forth in raw, undigested, unvarnished form.

So, I had a conversation with someone the other day about the fact that I do not wish to marry until everyone in this country who wants to marry (man and woman, man and man, woman and woman) has the right to marry. This person, a female, was skeptical about it because they felt it would limit my pool of possible mates.

Now, I just had an issue where a woman wouldn't date me because I'm an agnostic and wouldn't go to church with her and our hypothetical children(!), so I know that I'm in danger of putting my foot in my mouth here when it comes to exclusion and keeping an open mind. But, I've never shown any fear of putting my foot in my mouth...CLEARLY.

There are some absolutes I now feel I need to lay down.

1) Formally, I here now state that I will NOT marry until everyone in this country has the right to marry anyone they wish. We will look back on disallowing gay marriage in ten or fifteen years as we now look back on the anti-miscegenation laws. It's absolutely unconscionable that we don't go ahead and fix this now.

2) I will not enter into a long-term relationship with anyone who is racist or anti-gay rights nor anyone who thinks it is okay to produce more than two children per couple in a time when our planet is already over-populated. I'm all for adoption of you want more than two kids (Go Angelina and Brad!). There are thousands of children out there who need loving homes.

Okay, I reserve the right to add to this, but not subtract from it. [/rant]

Choosey Choosers Choose Better Than Me

My cuz and I were talking about relationships last night via chat. We, like so many of my friends, have pretty much decided we totally and possibly fatally SUCK at choosing mates. My bud Raf and I have both pretty much decided we can't trust ourselves at all.

So, here's my idea:

I want to set up a committee to approve my mates before I commit long-term.

I figure if someone likes me enough, they'll be willing to sit down in a room with or chat on line with or talk on the phone with five or six people close to me for a total of a few hours over a couple of weeks in order to get with me on a permanent basis.

Then, the committee can meet in private via teleconference and discuss their findings and come to a decision.

Here's my committee:

Raf
JJMcD
Lucious ElJay
Thrashgoddess
Timmy
Daniel

Tie breaker and special consultant: Darelectra aka the artist formerly known as KT, my first love. We only talk once a year, but she's been right about every relationship and woman I've dated since HS.

If you're not on the list, don't be offended. I picked, in part, based on rounding out the collective knowledge. If you are on the list, be honored. I trust your judgement implicitly.

Now, think any intelligent, well-grounded fems will actually submit to this inquisition? Hell, I figure it's gotta be better than what I'm doing so far.

Personal Blogging and Some Personal Meanderings

So, it's been brought to my attention over time that personal blogs is what people want, not my rants on various things. So, even though I feel I should tell you that I'm right. About everything. I'm going to also try filling everyone in on the goings on in my life once or twice a week.

I re-entered the dating world a couple weeks ago. After dating a younger woman for a week, we parted ways because...well, honestly because she's narrow minded and racist to boot. Honestly, I think she's just still young, has some learning to do. We had fun and I liked hanging out with her, but...we're not for each other.

So, at least I got my oars in the water.

Speaking of, I'm going Kayaking bright and Early Memorial Day morning. It's also Taste of Cincinnati on Monday. I'd like to ride in and see some bands. Depends on what time we get off the water.

Sunday I think I'm going to ride 'Nona out to see Serpent Mound and Fort Ancient...maybe a few more sites, too. Take lots of pics, see a little of what Ohio has going on. Any suggestions?

Uhm...how many canaries need to lay at your feet before you leave the coal mine?

Does this bother anyone else the way it bothers me?

I mean, my bike gets 50+MPG. How are you SUV drivers fairing this summer? What about you independent truckers?

Speaking Ill of the Dead

Well, when I read that Jerry Falwell was dead, I was happy. I won't lie and sugar coat it. The man was a bigoted douche nozzle and I'm glad he's gone. It's disgusting to say you live in the name of a god and a religion that espouses the value of all life and tolerance for all people and be a hateful, nasty human being.

I was all ready to write a post highlighting some of his career low-lights, when I played a hunch and hopped over to AMERICAblog. Lead blogger John Aravosis beat me to it and did it WAY better than I could have. Well done, John.

Check it out for yourself.

There's been a lot of bigotry in the news the last year or so. Kramer, Mel Gibson, etc, etc, etc. I'm sick of it. We're better than this as a nation. It's time to bury these people literally and figuratively and really give equal rights and treatment to ALL people of ALL colors, sexual orientations and cultures.

Sorry to have been away from you so long

I'm back from the nether-regions (my own, I'm afraid) and I should be posting more.

I got my new bike, Wynona, a BMW F650GS a week and a half ago and I'm absolutely smitten. She's one of the very best things that's ever happened to me. I waited a long time and researched three years before deciding what bike to purchase and I'm absolutely giddy as a school boy.

See pics here and also here. Yes, I'm P.B.W.S. or Pokes which is Pokes Badgers With Spoons...it's from an Eddie Izzard comedy routine about religion.

The process of learning to ride has been fascinating. It's physical, but only slightly. It's primarily mental. It's proving to be an excellent exercise in controlling my ADD. I learn something new every time I go out.

It does give me sad insight into just how bad people in this country drive. People suck. Bad.

I've also been dating a bit. Didn't really work out in this case, but it was fun. Now that the oars have been in the water, I'm sure I'll be getting around the pond a bit...it's a small pond, though, so I'm sure it won't take long to run out of real estate, so to speak.