When I finish with a title on my Kindle I almost always delete it (though it still stays on my Amazon account) unless it's exceptionally good. I need the space and I feel like deleting it symbolizes I've closed the book and put it back on my shelf.

There are about a dozen (out of the more than I'd like to admit) romance novels I've kept on my device because they are that good. They are heavy on characterization, plot, theme and old-fashioned romance rather than sex. In fact, the less graphic the better; 'less is more' is much sweeter.

It irritates me (though not on a big scale when compared to other things in life) when people compare romance novels (of all kinds) to porn. I don't think the comparison is valid at all (at least with the type of novels I read) but then I can choose (most of the time) what to shut out in my own mind that turns pages into scenes.

I try not to judge people who do like porn because there are still a lot of people out in the world who somehow lump it in with (and judge) gays and lesbian simply because they don't understand (or purposely try not to understand) who and what we are.

On a episode of "Ellen" (the sitcom, not the talk show) that first aired years ago, she approaches a newsstand and asks the owner where the Advocate would be. He points to the porn section, where he has incorrectly stocked it. Anyone who's ever been witness to that subtle kind of homophobia gets the joke, both its humor and sadness.

Personally, I don't understand the pleasure in viewing porn. The only person I would want to see in such an intimate setting would be my spouse (in the hypothetical, parallel universe where I might actually have one.) To detach love from sex is as foreign to me as anything I could ever possibly imagine anything being.

But that's just me and I already feel like I'm sitting on my soap box so that it's for now...except for one last thing.

It's like a high school student interviewed for The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School (great book, by the way!)says: "People assume that straight people fall in love and gay people have sex." It's not fair at all, nor true, but it's an attitude that fuels a lot of anti-gay bigotry.

from Parade magazine...

Meditation is so important in becoming more mindful:

http://parade.com/364863/virginiasolesmith/the-no-1-health-booster-in-2015/

 

Sunday papers...

It's the first time in ages I've been able to sit down with all the major weekend/Sunday papers. So far, this has grabbed my eye:


A review in the Guardian for a new album that sounds intriguing and completely different:

here’s a glossy quality to this debut from London-based electronics whiz James Greenwood: every track has been polished to such a high lustre, and the 24-year-old’s softly-spoken vocals are delivered with such composure, that a little bit of messiness here and there wouldn’t go amiss. The pleasure, and it’s considerable, is in the detail. Greenwood has woven an intricate tapestry of bleeps, acid squelches and melancholy synths, but he’s hidden the threads: tracks such as Lucky are more layered and complex than they initially appear. It takes a lot of skill to make something this painstaking sound so smooth.


Scary or neat?:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-future-of-medicine-is-in-your-smartphone-1420828632



Also thanks to WSJ, I found out about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Her-Brilliant-Career-Extraordinary-Fifties-ebook/dp/B00IZP4KA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421011676&sr=8-1&keywords=her+brilliant+career

and this:



Evol is love spelled backwards :) Their food is actually quite good.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/stone-cold-boxes-frozen-food-is-looking-good-1420834102





 

I am trying harder (only eleven days into the new year) to be patient with people who oppose gay marriage, I am. Kind and sincerely understanding words such as the ones below help me.


What might it mean for the church to love gays and lesbians more deeply? First, it would mean listening to their experiences—all their experiences, what their lives are like as a whole. Second, it would mean valuing their contributions to the church. Where would our church be without gays and lesbians—as music ministers, pastoral ministers, teachers, clergy and religious, hospital chaplains and directors of religious education? Infinitely poorer. Finally, it would mean publicly acknowledging their individual contributions: that is, saying that a particular gay Catholic has made a difference in our parish, our school, our diocese. This would help remind people that they are an important part of the body of Christ. Love means listening and respecting, but before that it means admitting that the person exists.

http://americamagazine.org/issue/simply-loving

What I can't understand and what hurts my very soul is when very traditional churches and other conservative organizations won't even allow celibate gays and lesbians into their ranks. As someone who is baffled by how you can possibly act any less on your "homosexual tendencies" than by being both chaste and celibate, I just don't get that kind of ultra-disapproval.

I've tried "ex gay therapy" and it doesn't work. If anything, it makes you hate yourself even more. I've made my peace with remaining single and celibate the rest of my life, even if my heart hasn't gotten the memo on how to stop loving.

Aside from suicide (also a "sin" in the eyes of many and something I would never do, though I can certainly see how people--in their deepest, darkest hours of torment--could contemplate it) I really can't think of any other way to be "less" gay. I don't mean to be flip or to take such a serious issue lightly.

For someone to come to the excruciatingly painful point in his or her life that taking it is the only way they feel they can escape their pain...well, to me, that shows just how very harmful homophobia can be. Suicide rates among gay and lesbian youth (who are so often judged more than they are helped) are much higher than among straight youth.

It truly saddens me that there is such animosity toward something that is often born out of love (not sex.) A warm and caring attitude like the one in the words above is a far far cry from the cruel homophobia that can drive the already self-hating gay or lesbian to unbearable despair.

Sunday smiles...

from Pinterest <3