First up, a strange, and what looks like a very uncomfortable bike:
Also, what happens when someone else locks up their bike but you want to leave?
Apartment Therapy has a post up about surface computing. I like the idea of being able to “create” a coaster, an area that is movable, that won’t interact with what is placed on it.
Aside from the fact that guys are reading Playboy while getting their hair cut (that seems odd to me), it’s a good ad, I didn’t see the ending coming at all, either:
In case you didn’t hear, CNN reported the ruling on the ACA incorrectly on Thursday:
Some of the Lebanese people are sick of protests. So they protested. But at least they didn’t get fined.
First, during director’s week, a friend of mine, who is working as an Aquatics Director at one of the camps, proclaimed that he is just waiting for a leader to say something homophobic about his assistant director, so he can tear him down and put him in his place (not to say that women aren’t at camp, or won’t be homophobic, it’s just easier to write out that way).
One of his assistants comes off as gay. Not sure if he is, but the important fact is that he’s a great worker. He always volunteers when work needs done, is always engaged, and has a great rapport with the other staff members and the instructors he’s leading. That’s what made my friend defensive of him, the quality of his work.
The second story, is sadly one that is all too common for me. My one boss, I’m fairly certain knows that I’m gay, and I think he holds it over my head. It’s bullying and harassment, but none that I can report without losing my job, so I’m stuck.
He and another long-term summer camp staff member “planted” two magazines in my desk as a joke, no biggie. One, a gun catalog (which I did find a bit funny, since I’m a pacifist) and the other a Maxim. However, when I moved to throw them out (since I was actually trying to get some work done), they instead opened to the inside cover, which features a mostly naked man in a cologne ad.
Now, to be fair, they did ask the question which I also through inside my head, why run an ad like that in Maxim? But anyway, they then reveled in asking me how much I liked that ad, as opposed to the other images in the magazine.
The long-time staff member however, the next day, made sure to reprimand young staff members when he was calling a policy “gay.” He didn’t realize I overheard him, but his rationale was that I was nearby and would hear, and be offended. It was actually a touching moment.
So I am conflicted, I like to think that the long-time staff member and I are friends. I have a real hard time trusting the camp staff, even my friends, and I hate that. These people are my friends and my family, but I can’t trust them or be close to them.
I am, if nothing else, professional.
Update: That first story, has so much more meaning now than before, I’ll be writing about it later for sure.
BSA spokesman Deron Smith said Wednesday it would be referred to a subcommittee, which will then make a recommendation to the national executive board. The process would likely be completed by May 2013, according to Smith, who said there were no plans at this time to change the policy.
Said Wahls:
“As both an Eagle Scout with a personal investment in the success of the Boy Scouts of America and as the son of a lesbian couple, it means a lot to see this change finally set in motion,” added Wahls.
It’s easy to think that this will go nowhere, to think that the BSA will just hope that no one will remember in a year. However, from what I know about the local level (and we’re one of the largest councils in the country, so I think there is a lot of correlation), the decisions made in subcommittees are almost always ratified by the Board.
It’s not a smokescreen. This proposal was made after Jen Tyrrell’s pettion on Change.org. So even though this has been brought up in the past, it’s never gotten nearly the level of attention that it has today. And as another departure from the past, there’s never been a group — which I actually launched in coordination with a number of other Eagle Scouts today called Scouts For Equality — and we’re going to be working with a number of different groups to really build a community of scouts — Eagle scouts, former scout leaders, that sort of thing — we’re really going to work toward making this policy change.
Wahls talks about Scouts of Equality here:
I’ve been tearing up reading some of the stories on the site, it’s amazing reading those, and heartening as well, knowing that there are so many other people like me, and so many allies, out there.
“Ernst & Young is proud to have such a strong record in LGBT inclusiveness. As CEO, I know that having an inclusive culture produces the best results, is the right thing for our people and makes us a better organization. My experience has led me to believe that an inclusive environment is important throughout our society and I am proud to be a leader on this issue. I support the meaningful work of the Boy Scouts in preparing young people for adventure, leadership, learning and service, however the membership policy is not one I would personally endorse. As I have done in leading Ernst & Young to being a most inclusive organization, I intend to continue to work from within the BSA Board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress.”
Just like our council, if the national board gets enough pressure from inside itself, the change will happen. I think that the biggest linchpin is going to be Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T and also a National Board Member. AT&T is incredibly important to the BSA, especially with the new Bechtel Summit in West Virginia. And I think that his call for equality would cause the rest of the board to follow.
Will it happen? I can only hope so. Until then, I will keep on, searching for new employment, but also trying to ensure that at least in the camping program, we are as kind, equal and open to everyone as we can be.
I was really hoping that I’d have a new job, so I could go down and enjoy pride this year. I can only hope I’m in a better place next year (or the BSA is in a better place).
But NoFo has a great article about pride, and what it means. Check it out here.
We’re proud because we are smart enough to overcome the self-loathing that our increasingly venomous, mindlessly theocratic society forces on us, and we have the power to stop its destructive cycle by fighting back and by making intelligent choices involving sex and drugs and money and relationships and the way we live our lives.
The New York Times has an amazing article written for Father’s Day. Check it out here.
I realized then that I was crying instead of laughing. I couldn’t explain it except to say there is nothing more overwhelming than seeing your child experience true love.
I somehow lost a post from yesterday, I’m going to keep searching and see if I can find it. I’m thinking I may have hit ‘cancel’ instead of ‘save’. We’ll see if I can recover it. Until then, check out this awesome billboard for The Dark Knight Rises:
This is pretty awesome, and it has changable heads, so you can keep the handle:
And this was floating around before, but I thought it was neat, the best excuse note ever:
