My Current Guilty Pleasure

So I know I recommend a lot of tunes and I’m not certain how many of you have the time to check each one out but I want you to try and listen to this here.

If you’re like me, those Disney channel starlets annoy the hell out of you too. Miley Cyrus, Demi Lavato, and let’s not forget the Jonas Bros. as well. They’re all so ridiculous.

But…

Take a look at this. It’s not enough to sit and listen. You’ve got to watch the video too. This girl is so pretty and the song is kind of amazing.

The name of the song is “Naturally” and the singer is Selena Gomez, a Mexican-Italian American born actress from Disney Channel's “Wizards of Waverly Place.” I’ve never seen the show but I’ve heard a lot about it. She's too Disney for my own good but, I'm ashamed to say, I can't get enough of this song.

Everytime I play the song on my iPhone while on my way to work, I click the replay button discretely for fear that people will see the album cover on the screen. See it here and you'll see why I'm embarrassed about it.

Anyway, I love this new song! I want to be her. There. I said it. And I don't take it back. Naturally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_YR4dKArgo

like a little boy, i love

i'm really 15

no one knows

and I know no one will believe me

but

i pretend

i walk the walk

and look the part

but it's a farce

i hide in this manly form

peeking through the eyes

i hang about

and let him move --

this gargantuan host of lies

i'm not a man

it is true

'cause inside

yes,

here I am

just 15

dancing with butterflies in my tummy all the time

Are You Here?

i want to try and be
a bit more hard-hearted
keep my shoulders to myself
and pretend i'm all out of Kleenex

let 'em fight the wars alone
because i'm running on empty
and i'm so tired too
there's only so much i can do

Florence + the Machine

Maybe the best thing you've heard in a long time. Listen, but please make sure to raise the volume up, up, up.

Fuck You, Robin Quivers

The other day, as I read this article and listened to a recording of Howard Stern from his show on Sirius XM with co-host Robin Quivers, I sat red-faced, shocked, and annoyed. I was bothered, not by what Howard had to say really. I mean, the man is well known for his very controversial public remarks. What bothered me the most was listening to his co-host, Robin Quivers.

Robin Quivers, if you do not know, is African American. She's probably the highest paid female radio personality in the country, thanks to her massa, uh, boss Howard. The day after the Oscars, this black professional woman had the audacity to laugh and speak against actress Gabourey Sidibe's weight.

"Yeah, look in that room. Who else do you look like?" she giggled out to Gabourey.

If Robin had taken the time out to look around that room too, would she have found any familiar faces? In a room full of mostly white men and women, who did she resemble?

Gabourey is overweight. We all know that. That is a fact for sure. But that's her business and if anyone feels she needs help, send her a letter, speak to her in private, or pray for her. That's just the bottom line. Robin isn't her mother. In fact, they are not related to each other at all. I'm sure Robin isn't genuinely concerned for Gaby's wellbeing. Her comments were full of pure judgment and nothing more. They were just simple thoughts said aloud to tickle the funny bone. But I am not laughing.

It is my true opinion that all people of color should stick up for one another. Why is there always someone so full of himself he has to go on and attack the innocent? What did Gaby do? Why isn't Robin by her side?

Anyway, listen to the clip below. It's never OK to hit a woman, but quite frankly Robin deserves a slap.

My Radio: What I'm Listening To

"Let the right ones in."

Crazy Amazing - V.V. Brown
Be That Easy - Sade
Can't Stand It - Never Say Never
Cat & Mouse - Nikki & Rich
Terrified - Katharine McPhee & Jason Reeves
Neon Moon - Brooks & Dunn

o, hello, new lover.

i want to play the coy mistress... ease into him slowly... you know, surprise him here and there... and then, when i have him, i just want to hold him for a good hour and tell him i can be his boy.

Judge This Rather

"Let us not therefore judge one another any more:
but judge this rather,
that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way."
Romans 14:13

It burns the hell out of me when one person is attacked or laughed at simply because they're different. It isn't fair to be lashed out at for being gay, disabled, having some type of mental delay, or for being overweight, among other things. Sometimes, these things are well beyond our control. There are ways to fight it, to try and edge out the hardships, but it's really tough and you've got to cut people some slack. We're all different. No one is perfect. There is no normal. There's just us.

So what if I decide to wear an orange jumpsuit, a pink bow on my hair, and rainbow shoes. Does it bother you? Will it hurt you? Maybe not.

So what if I weigh more than 300 pounds and I still eat hamburgers at McDonalds. Will that affect you? Will it make you die? Probably not.

And what if I sit on the subway, my head against my boyfriend's shoulder as we switch through song after song on his iPod. Will that damage your life? Will it give you a disease? I'm certain it will not.

If I do it, these things have nothing to do with you. It's what I've got to offer inside that matters.

That's just what I think.

So, I say this:

To anyone who's ever felt the need to wrongfully poke fun at someone: fuck you.

Motives & Thoughts, IV

To the lonelyhearts and lovefools—my dear counterparts:

"When you long with all your heart for someone to love you, a madness grows there that shakes all sense from the trees and the water and the earth. And nothing lives for you, except the long deep bitter want. And this is what everyone feels from birth to death."

Denton Welch

DVD of the Week

El Orfanato.
Rated R.

If you're looking for an eerie film full of twists and creepy happenings, you've got to catch this. From famed Mexican producer, director, and writer Guillermo del Toro, comes a film about a woman named Laura who purchases the orphanage she grew up in. The idea is to restore the abandoned institution and open it for disabled orphan children. The place is filled with lots of history and as an old woman comes forth to warn Laura of its eerie past, Laura realizes that she's got to fight hard to live out what she set out to do.

Together with her husband and her son in tow, Laura faces one of the hardest things any parent ever has to face. In a race against time, she tries hard to fight off demons by uncovering the past and figuring out the games ghosts sometimes play.

In the end, there's a twist that's sure to blow your mind.

An English language adaptation is forthcoming so see this before Hollywood ruins it with a less than stellar remake.

- [click for trailer.]

Hiatus

I've been away. Not entirely but halfway. I'll be back. I just need to regroup and collect myself. My mind is everywhere. My health hasn't been too good either. It's this crazy Winter weather here in New York. It's knocking a lot of us down. I'm not depressed though. I'm OK in the head. In case you were wondering. I love you if you're reading this. I'm sorry if there's nothing new to report or to share. But come back soon. OK? I don't want to lose you.

Unprotected.

I thought I wanted it
because I didn't care anymore
but now I'm scared of it
and I'd like to know if I can return it
Dear God
or Devil down there
whoever of the two handles this kind of thing
take it back please
if I am tainted
and it's too late

I made a mistake.

DVD of the Week

Torch Song Trilogy.
Rated R.

In 1988, Harvey Fierstein adapted his Tony award winning play Torch Song Trilogy and brought it to the silver screen. The movie revolves around the life of Arnold, a gay man trying to make ends meet and searching for a man to love. In the film, Arnold faces tremendous obstacles. He falls for a taken man, fosters a child, experiences the death of a loved one, and has to deal with a very traditional and mean spirited mother. Arnold has good intentions. He just wants to live and love. He means well. But since he's gay, it's a lot harder for him to get things done, to live out his life without ridicule, disdain, or attacks from those who just don't get him. He's funny, lovable, caring, and fatherly. But we can't forget how deranged he can be at times. It's all a good mix though. It's real. That's how people are.

In lieu of the trailer, here's the opening scene. It's a poignant five minute monologue. Listen carefully and loudly. Afterward, go out and rent the film. You'll be glad you did. If you're a writer, a lover, a gay person, or a performer this is the kind of thing to see and learn from. There's a good bunch of eye candy to enjoy too, particularly Matthew Broderick who plays Arnold's young lover. He's adorable in the film.

- "It takes a lot of guts and a helluva sense of humor to live life in Arnold's shoes."

My Radio: What I'm Listening To

"Move and shake to it."

Smoke Without Fire - Duffy
Starry Eyed - Ellie Goulding
Written All Over My Face - Kris Allen
Rock & Roll - Eric Hutchinson
Traveling Like the Light - V.V. Brown
Hey, Soul Sister - Train
That's Where It Is - Carrie Underwood
Pick up The Phone - Dragonette
Glitter in the Air - P!nk
Kitchen - Mary J. Blige
Vida - Nicole
In My Head - Jason Derülo
The Ills - Mayer Hawthorne
Major Tom - Tiny Toy Guns
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
Soldier of Love - Sade
Hurtful - Erik Hassle
21 Guns - Green Day
Luvsik - MoZella
Are You Here - Corinne Bailey Rae
Cousins - Vampire Weekend
I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe - OK Go
Find My Way - The Gabe Dixon Band
Doncha Know - Alicia Keys
Fill My Cup - CeCe Winans

Magdalena

When you're stuck, it's never good. If you've got dreams, goals, and expectations, it's time to go out and get to it. You don't want to waste any time, right?

Oh, I know it's easy to say this. It's so simple to think it and feel it. But how hard it is for us to jump the gun and do it. I wonder why. How hard it is for us to let go our heavy feet and run run run. Maybe we're all just too afraid of failure. What's this thing which keeps us from going out and pursuing our dreams? What stops us from living our life freely like we want to? Why does it get so hard to breathe? What makes us numb?

In this clip from the movie Little Ashes, the lovelorn Magdalena tells her writer crush to go out and live. She loves him but she knows that she must let him go because he doesn't want her. He wants something else in life. Something much more different. He's stuck in a world that censors total freedom but he harbors hidden desires to be set free. With his broken heart, he commits to poetry but lives with fear. He conforms and embraces what's handed to him. But that can be dangerous. Magdalena tells him so.



"Look
I'm not saying it's going to be easy.
But I don't think you can carry on like this.
I mean, you can.
Of course you can.
But it has a price.
I think sometimes we just have to risk it.
Live the way we feel.
And you know
it might not turn out well.
Sometimes it doesn't turn out well at all.
But we have to try.
We have to keep on trying.
Otherwise, we just become puppets,
all painted smiles
where inside nothing but sawdust."