A letter to Britney Spears

Dear Britney,

Most of my readers saw this blog and perhaps thought I might be joining the bandwagon of people trying to bring you lower than any human being should be. I do not wish to trash you or drag your name in the mud. I'm writing this letter to offer an apology to you, from the American public. So if you'll kindly keep reading, I'd appreciate it.

In the United States, we tend to care more about another person's misfortunes, then handling or own affairs. We get seem to gain some weird therapeutic benefit from sitting on our couches and laughing at famous people's mistakes on ENews or Entertainment Tonight. We'd rather spend hours on some blue-haired queen turned celebrity blogger's website to look at pictures of your latest indiscretions, than actually pay attention to the war and devastation that has become this world. We would rather watch reality television shows about dingy 19-year-olds who do nothing but party at clubs and go tanning, than spend an ounce of our day paying attention to actual reality.

I'm sorry that the above things our true, which is why we care so much about your life. We are the same public who put you on a pedestal quicker than you probably could have ever imagined, only to laugh at you and point fingers as you tragically fall. Your performance last night was probably a result of your career making machine trying to make a last dime off of you, without you fully being ready.

While you shouldn't have driven a car with your baby on your lap, you aren't the only good parent in the world who makes a mistake. People in this country acted as if they were perfect parents, never making . I wonder how people would act if their divorces were made public knowledge and their spouse was in the news trashing him/her daily. Being a celebrity comes with a high price for its fame. And as true as that statement is, it makes me disgusted.

You should be in treatment, you should be piecing back your life together, and spending time with your children. You chose to relaunch your career, a decision after last night you probably regret for now. But I'm sorry that the American Public has trashed you so much that you were forced to try and redeem yourself in one fleeting moment. Each and every one of us has our drama, our mess, our tabloid moments. We just don't have a camera in our face.

I'm sorry your life is in shambles. And I'm sorry we as a public relish in it. When Entertainment and News became one in the same, we stopped caring about what was important. Do yourself a favor, go away for a while and get yourself together. Handle your personal affairs, love your kids, and get some rest. Maybe in a few years you can make some music, or write a book, or whatever else you might be into. Only then can I hope we won't judge you like we have nothing to be judge about ourselves.

Love,

Teddy

RIP James...

Tragedy brings introspection. Its hard to find meaning in life's events, but it's necessary. Every day can bring both heartache and happiness. It is very easy to get caught up in the heartache, the pain, and the sorrow. It's very easy to live in misery, feeling sorry for yourself. But it's a lot harder to turn negativity into something worth living for. It is our choices that shape who we become. When you see someone take their life, it makes you wonder why certain choices weren't made. It makes you wonder who in that person's life allowed their friend to self-destruct. Sometimes you have to choose what's hard, and not what's easy. That goes with standing up to your friends in pain and helping them make better choices. Remember that the falling mortal is...our brother.


Some days worry,some days glad,
some days more than make you mad,
some days, some days, more than shine,
when you see what's coming on down the line.

Some days you say, oh not me never,
Some days you say,bless God forever,
Some days you say, curse God and die,
And the day comes when you wrestle with that line,

Some days tussle, Some days groan,
and some days don't even leave a bone,
Some days, you hassle all alone.

I don't know sister, what I'm saying,
nor do no man if he don't be prayin,
I know that love is the only answer,
And the tight rope lover, the only dancer.

When the lover come off the rope today,
the net which holds him is how we pray,
and not to God's unknown, but to each other,
the falling mortal is our brother.

Some days leave, Some days grieve,
Some days you almost won't believe,
Some days believe you, Some days don't,
Some days believe you, when you won't.

Some days worry, Some days mad,
Some days more than make you glad,
Some days, some days, More than shine,
Witnesses coming on down the line

by James Baldwin

Queer Fest Midwest

I promised my friend Erik I would give him a plug in anyway i could. Erik (host of Think Pink Radio) is putting on an awesome event on August 25th. Straight from their myspace page...

As two of Chicago's prominent independent queer voices, Chill Magazine and Think Pink Radio have joined forces to put together Chicago's first summer queer music festival. Queer Fest Midwest will be an all-day celebration featuring national and local queer musical acts and art and will benefit About Face Theater and WLUW. The festival will be held Aug. 25 at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse (1419 W. Blackhawk)

Erik is pretty much doing this on his own and so i'm spreading the word. It should be a really good time and is very important to the promotion of queer art and music. That is an area that is very important to Erik...and should be to all of us. The following artists are lined up for the day...

Musicians:
Office
Katastrophe
Ex-Members
Chris Garneau
Hey There Cowboy
Johnny Dangerous
Team Gina
Katz
Gina Young
Actor Slash Model
8" Betsy
Opportunity School
Stiletto Attack'

Dancers:
Jyl Fehrenkamp + Peter Carpenter
Zac Whittenburg
Asimina Chremos

Visual Artists:
Bruce La Bruce
Sadie Benning
Sean Fader
Matthew Lew
Dylan Mira and Latham Zearfross
Kean O'Brien

Though i'm only familiar with Johnny Dangerous and Zac Wittenburg, i'm sure its going to be an awesome day. Please join in the fun.

Happy June...

We approach the end of June, which in most places marks the end of Pride Month. If you're lucky to live in a city where your Mayor actually declares it so, as I am, you might blink and not realize how important it is. I hear questions every year from gay and straight people alike that question the reason for a lot of the festivities. Why the parade? What is the big deal? No one cares anymore anyway! right?

not really...

Obviously my previous post regarding gays in the military proves that it is still a big deal to people. For example, the recent story of Lisa Pond. I heard this story from a friend of mine, and it just proves how little the media reports. I'm pretty informed, and i missed this one. In a nutshell, Lisa had an aneurysm in Florida while on vacation with her partner, Janice and children. While in the emergency room, Janice was denied the right to see her and the right to make medical determinations for her. She has the legal paperwork that justifies this, but it was not recognized in the Florida hospital. She was not even allowed in the room as the priest read her last rights. Janice currently is stranded in legal limbo, waiting for paperwork from the hospital that will aide in her children's social security benefits. This paperwork has still not been released to her.

This is just another example of the discrimination that occurs everyday. I am lucky to live in a city where, for the most part, the LGBT population is celebrated and included. But others are not as lucky. Is anyone aware of the discrimination and persecution that gay and lesbians are going through in Poland? Did anyone see the violence during a protest in Moscow last month? If you did...then you can not question the need for positive assembly, be it a parade or a protest.

So as June closes, let us not forget the lessons that we learn daily. Love one another, respect differences and promote tolerance. Support organizations such as the HRC and GLAAD, and help promote education and acceptance for the gay and lesbian community. Write to your legislature, governor, and any other politician that can help make a difference. But most of all, be proud of yourself and your accomplishments. Whether your gay, straight, bisexual, transgendered, same gender loving, or any other label you identify with, love yourself and stay true to the way God made you. Authenticity is a person's biggest strength and most powerful weapon.

Happy Pride...

What I learned in Paris

I learned a lot in Paris these past few weeks. Oh I'm sorry, I haven't been traveling to France lately. I'm actually talking about Ms. Hilton. Words can't describe my distaste for the media blowing up Paris' recent legal woes. I certainly appreciate the humor in the story, but if anything it reinforces the fact that celebrities are above the law in our country. What frustrates me most is the fact that if you ask around, the majority of people can describe the events of last week without pausing. Yet they have no idea what is going on with Iraq, the fight for immigration legislation, or the 2008 race.

So what exactly is the attraction. I suppose the news and media are following suit with the reality television craze. At some point over the last 10-15 years, Entertainment news became intertwined with NEWS. Shows like Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood are wonderful outlets to show entertainment news, celebrity gossip, and the woes of Paris Hilton. But is there a reason this story has to dominate every major news outlet in this country...and for days? Maybe the reason why the political system has become so damaged is because of the lack of interest of its citizens.

Just a thought...

I'd join the Army so I could wear cute outfits

The issue of Gays in the military has been a hot one since President Clinton's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in 1994. Recently the issue has resurfaced and been the topic of a few recent Presidential debates. I got bits and pieces of the Republican Debate (i know, don't laugh) and was completely outraged by the comments on this issue. Allow me to dissect a few...

The Question posed was "is it time to end DADT?"

Representative Ron Paul: I think the current policy is a decent policy. And the problem that we have with dealing with this subject is we see people as groups, as they belong to certain groups and that they derive their rights as belonging to groups. We don’t get our rights because we’re gays or women or minorities. We get our rights from our creator as individuals. So every individual should be treated the same way. So if there is homosexual behavior in the military that is disruptive, it should be dealt with. But if there’s heterosexual sexual behavior that is disruptive, it should be dealt with. So it isn’t the issue of homosexuality, it’s the concept and the understanding of individual rights. If we understood that, we would not be dealing with this very important problem.

I actually agree with most of this. We shouldn't derive our rights because we belong to certain groups. But the reality is, we do. If you are heterosexual you will not be discharged from the United States Armed Forces if you mention your girlfriend or wife. But you could be subject to discharge if you were a gay man who happened to mention his boyfriend. There are thousands of military personnel that have been discharged under the DADT policy. I firmly believe that Rep. Paul is correct in saying that it should be an issue of inappropriate behavior. However, the fact that the current policy discharges men and women because they are openly gay and do not engage in inappropriate behavior contradicts his first sentence. It is not a decent policy.

Governor Huckabee: Wolf, I think it’s already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Conduct. I think that’s what Congressman Paul was saying. It’s about conduct, it’s not about attitude. (sidebars about immigration begin and then Gov gets back to the issue). I just said I think it’s a matter — it’s not — you don’t punish people for their attitudes. You punish them if their behavior creates a problem. And it’s already covered by the Uniform Code of Military Conduct. That’s — (He then is asked if he would change the existing policy.) I don’t think that I would. I think it’s already covered by the existing policy that we do have, in fact.

I'm sorry, what exactly is covered by the existing policy? And if you don't punish people for their attitudes, then why is it happening. I mean was this guy born in a box? Has someone stopped payment on his reality check? Give it a rest. These Republican talking points are killing me. And it continues....

Wolf Blitzer: Mayor Giuliani, recently we’ve learned that several talented, trained linguists — Arabic speakers, Farsi speakers, Urdu speakers trained by the U.S. government to learn those languages to help us in the war on terrorism — were dismissed from the military because they announced they were gays or lesbians. Is that, in your mind, appropriate?

MR. GIULIANI: This is not the time to deal with disruptive issues like this. Back in 1994 we went through this and it created a tremendous amount of disruption. Colin Powell, I think, was still the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before he left at the beginning of the Clinton administration. He came to the view that this was a good policy. And I think in time of war, in a time where we’re trying to deal with this transition to a new kind of warfare that we have to be fighting — and we haven’t gotten all the way there yet, we need a hybrid army, we need to look at nation-building as part of what we have to teach our military — I don’t think this would be the right time to raise these issues. And I think we should rely on the judgment of our commanders in a situation like this. They know what’s disruptive and what’s not. And at a time of war, you don’t make fundamental changes like this.

Let me see if i understand correctly. So we should wait until times of peace to deal with disruptive issues like this. Issues of discrimination, human rights, and decency will wait until...a peaceful time. So using gay people in 2004 to divide this nation with the issue of marriage was what exactly? Was 2004 a time of peace, or was it a time of war. So why was it we dealt with these disruptive issues then. Is it perhaps because the Republican party decided to drum up their religious base by blowing up the issue of gay marriage? So Mayor Giuliani believes that human rights issues need to wait until we're done with this war. I can't think of better policy folks...let's not protect and preserve the rights of our people while we are in the middle of an unpopular war. With recruitment levels at an amazing low, you'd think they'd attempt to examine their current policies a bit more.

Wolf Blitzer: Governor Romney, the mayor referred to the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which was implemented during the Clinton administration, after Bill Clinton became president.

In 1994 you were quoted as saying that you advocated gays being able to serve openly and honestly in our nation’s military. The question to you is, do you still feel that way?

MR. ROMNEY: No, actually, when I first heard of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, I thought it sounded awfully silly. I didn’t think that would be very effective. And I turned out to be wrong. It’s been the policy now in the military for what, 10, 15 years, and it seems to be working. And I agree with what Mayor Giuliani said: that this is not the time to put in place a major change, a social experiment, in the middle of a war going on. I wouldn’t change it at this point. We can look at down the road. But it does seem to me that we have much bigger issues as a nation we ought to be talking about than that policy right now.

Just because something has been policy for 10 or 15 years does not make it effective. I believe we had a policy once that African Americans were counted as a fraction of a person. And they also couldn't vote. And neither could women. But those has been policies for years. Again, the issue of their being bigger issues to talk about is complete crap. It's a republican talking point. This is not a social experiment, but an issue of dignity.

SEN. MCCAIN: We have the best-trained, most professional, best- equipped, most efficient, most wonderful military in the history of this country, and I’m proud of every one of them. There just aren’t enough of them. So I have to rely on our military leadership, who — in whom we place the responsibility to lead these brave young Americans in combat as we speak. So I think it would be a terrific mistake to even reopen the issue. It is working, my friends. The policy is working. And I am convinced that that’s the way we can maintain this greatest military. As much as revere the “Greatest Generation,” as much as love my own generation, this is the very best. Let’s not tamper with them.

Again the policy isn't working if someone is discharged by saying "I'm gay" and some ignorant assholes decide that's offensive to them and claim it ruins their morale. And i love the troops too, I respect every one of them as well. But I'm sick and tired of Sen McCain's use of this every time he is asked a single question regarding the war or military.

In reality, the Democrats have flipped flopped on this for years. Maybe now they are understanding that President Clinton's policy did a disservice to gay and lesbians, most of which supported him. As gay people maybe it's time that we stand up and start demanding a little be more from the people that we support. Those people who we campaign for, donate too, and blog about. Maybe it's time that they give a little bit more back to us.

Amy Winehouse

I can't get enough of this girl. For those of you who haven't gotten a taste of Amy Winehouse, you need to check her out. She is a fresh face to music and further proof that British musicians rock. Check out tracks on her new album such as Rehab, Back to Black, and You Know I'm No good. She has a certain old school sound that will throw you back to the 50s and 60s. She has this presence and style of a classic soul singer with an edge. Not to mention she looks fierce in her duds and big hair! I literally can not stop listening to her.

She's been hitting it big in the U.S. in recent months, so check her out. In the mean time here is one of my favorite live performances of her. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWpcAyyyP1U