OBAMA-RAMA!

I know you have heard about Obama, I should say PRESIDENT Obama! But, I just have to throw in my 7 cents. I've always been appalled at the lack of rights for GLBTQ people in the US, in fact I donated much of my income tax return to the Human Rights Campaign to defeat prop 8. Today, a refreshing "rainbow" of light has shone on America, lets hope it warms the hearts of many. I'm optimistic that President Obama will make a positive change, initiatives for GLBT rights are outlined on whitehouse.gov. I am so happy :).

In other personal news, my job doing fund raising is going amazingly well, I totally love it! I feel like I'm doing something awesome and enjoy work! So far I have fund-raised for Save the Children and UNICEF, I think I will be starting Doctors Without Borders next week (SO EXCITED!).

Just when everything is going so well...

"I am what I am
I am my own special creation
So come take a look
Give me the hook
Or the ovation
It's my world
That I want to have a little pride
My world
And it's not a place I have to hide in
Life's not worth a dam
Till I can say
I am what I am" – Gloria Gaynor

Today I was speaking with my mom on the phone... things we're going well with the usual chat about weather, work, and school. But, my mom started talking about how "great" I am because her friends we're over, just to stroke her motherly-ego, or whatever. She is very proud of me, in all the wrong ways.

The conversation quickly escalated as she put me on her pedestal for her company. She started speaking of me having girlfriends. I WAS PISSED. She has known I'm gay for almost two years. I said to her she knows I'm gay, can stop living in her fantasy world, and I won't hide it from anyone. This was pretty much the end of the conversation, she said to call her tomorrow if I have a minute, I can tell she knew I was upset.

We've had discussions about me being gay before, they usually go fairly well. I've went over how its not a choice, it can be a burden dealing with the incessant barrage of homophobia that is ever present in conservative Alberta, and how I am really not that different from my brothers, her, or my dad. I would say she's more affirmative than accepting and proud. Obviously if she's portraying me as straight to her friends then she isn't proud of ALL of me, just the school bit. I love my parents, but I'm beginning to wonder if their love for me is unconditional.

New semester, new courses!

I think I'm going to like this semester... although it's going to be crazy busy. I'm taking three sociology courses, a 400 level seminar on "Queer-ing the social", a 300 level theory course on knowledge, and a 400/500 level sorta-seminar on mortality and population health. And, I'm taking a 300 level English course on post colonial african feminist lit. I'm liking all the courses so far, but there's soooo much reading! Each seminar has about 50 to 100 pages to be read before each class and English, well, that's English, so lots of reading.

This is going to sound so nerdy, but I love it. I am so excited to be reading all these different social theorists this semester, some of them are, Judith Butler, Michel Foucault (in the photo above, who wouldn't love a leather-daddy social theorist??), Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Martin Heidegger, and some other ones I don't recall right now :). Lets just hope that not too much of it is completely off the wall and boring. At least Foucault was a huge 'mo!

“The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions and to participate in the formation of a political will (where he has his role as citizen to play).” – Michel Foucault

New Job! and a bit of a rant

Ok so, I quite possibly got the best part time job, EVER! It's for a company that does fundraising for various non-faith based charities! It pays well, the people are really nice, and I think its going to be rewarding. My only concern with this job is the economic slowdown, people need money to donate money...

Now the bit of a rant. Lately I've just been thinking about everything like jobs, careers, school, and dating. I like the way things are going yet cannot help worrying about the future. RAWR. RAWR. And also on this thinking about things, I'm never shy to show my emotions or what I'm thinking... well usually. But it just irritates the hell out of me how masculinity is constructed so that males are encouraged to mask their emotions in an effort to seem strong or whatever. ITS FUCKING ANNOYING!!! It always bothers me when I'm dating someone, its almost like I try to reach some sort of gender role equilibrium where I manage to maintain SOME sense of masculinity yet still show affection, caring, and all that shit for my partner. I dunno, maybe I just need to relax and be myself, maybe I just need to find that right "one" and I won't worry about "gender roles."