This is it

My Very Personal Opinion on Gay Marriage

Earlier today, I did it. I changed my Facebook Profile Picture to the red square with an equal sign in the middle (my equal sign was two mustaches). I told myself I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to change my Facebook picture because I thought, “what good will that do?”

Then I changed it. Why? Why would I change my great profile picture of me holding up my tiny kitten, to a red square?

Because it does matter. Because love and happiness matter.

Unless you are a friend of mine, you won’t know my story. I may even get yelled at for typing it, but based on some of the negative reactions toward Gay Rights that I have seen, I feel the need to.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (only one year ago actually)…..

I was experiencing the end of a relationship. I had been in a relationship with this woman for over three years, we were engaged and had two dogs together. Pretty serious stuff, no?

Well, one day I introduced her to a friend of mine, who was also a girl. The rest is history.

They fell in love and have been together ever since (minus the month long breakup period that we had).

As you may imagine, I was speechless. I went through every stage: depression, anger, denial, immaturity, etc….She kept the dogs and I moved away. It crushed me. I gave up on my goals and daily routines for a while, slept on a floor for months in my friends apartment, and questioned every day if I did something wrong.

So, why would I want to defend Gay Rights? Why would I want to ever do anything to support them?

Because in my personal opinion, happiness is something to live for. After a year of battling through what had happened, I finally came to the realization that they are happy.

Why deny someone of happiness and/or, in that regard, love?
You can’t help who you like and no one should tell you otherwise.

I grew up in a Christian home and went to a private Christian school from Kindergarten through Eigth Grade. It really saddens me to see people defend the Bible so much and respond with, “The Bible says otherwise!”

That’s fine….even though the Bible does not actually say that. I also know, however, that Christians are not supposed to judge. In my opinion, when “Christian” family members or friends scoff at me when I tell them I support Gay Rights and Marriage, that is judging. There isn’t really another word for it.

It upsets me to see how many people get enraged over Gay Marriage. I see Facebook posts and hear people talking about their hatred towards it. To me, it is ridiculous that our society still thinks that way. If Gay Marriage and Gay Rights are given the same rights as “normal” couples, not a single thing will change (except you might be invited to a few more weddings, which are always fun).

Men won’t run up random men and try to kiss you. Women will not start touching other women in line at Starbucks while they wait for coffee.

The only effect it might have is more happiness in the world.

Take a look back at Racial Equality. It’s obsurd that we are going through another form of this again.

This too shall pass.

Hashtags, they really do serve a purpose

At any given time, I can log into Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and immediately see someone’s complaint about “too many hashtags”. Then, if you give it four seconds, more and more people comment on the same thread, agreeing that hashtags are annoying, pointless and/or stupid.

It irritates me. A lot.  

Why? Well, I have always seemed to take it personally when someone “can’t” grasp technology.  Usually, it is an older person who “can’t”.  I put that word in parenthesis because, really, they just don’t “want” to learn technology.  It especially irritates me when people say, (and this has happened on several occasions) “All these young people like you just pull out their phone to look at a map.  I bet you couldn’t find the location on a real map.”

My first thought is always, “Young? I’m about to hit my quarter life crisis, asshole”. Then, on a serious note, I think about the rest of their comment and I get offended. Yes, yes I can read a map. I have eyes, I can read words and I can follow lines on a page. I don’t know if they realize that what they say is offensive or not, but that is beside the point I am trying to make.  Now, pretty much all new technology is touchscreen.  ”How do you use it?”  YOU TOUCH.  That is it.  It is literally not complicated at all.  It is technology broken down into it’s simplest form.

Now, on to hashtags.  They are merely a new(isn) form of tagging an article, photo, or topic.  

To break this down:  The more hashtags a person uses to tag something equals more online exposure.  The more hashtags used will add those tagged topics into searches.  

That’s it.  

So unless you like posting something online and you want absolutely no one to see it, go ahead and skip the hashtags.  BUT, if you want people to see what you post, which is usually done on social networking sites (which is the POINT of social networking sites), then use as many hashtags as your little heart desires.

That concludes my rant on hashtags.  Now…time for me to add 8,178,349,837,450,396,873 hashtags to this post.

Fortune Cookies

I ate Chinese tonight.  I also drank iced coffee with my sesame chicken…but we won’t get into that STRANGE combination.  

After my meal (and before falling into the food coma that is always expected) I cracked open my fortune cookie to reveal the white strip of paper that read:  

“The three basic ingredients of the capitalistic system: money, energy, and ideas.”

After reading it, I scoffed and rolled my eyes.  Then I asked myself why I was disappointed in a fortune that came with my Chinese food.  THEN, I asked myself why I like getting good fortunes from a hole in the wall Chinese joint.  

I really don’t have an answer.  Nor do I have a good argument.  This entire thing is based on opinion, but here is my very unthought out one:

I feel like my thoughts on this fortune reflect how a lot of people view life in our society.  If we don’t like our fortune, we throw it away and hope for a better (more pleasing) one next time.  If we do like our fortune, we usually feel a lot better about something in our life.  

We make a point to relate a “good” fortune to something in our lives.  Some people will keep a fortune they like, maybe even frame them.  Some people (I am guilty) will relate a fortune to something they are struggling with.  Is that us giving ourselves false hope?  Or maybe, in doing so, we give ourselves enough motivation to overcome whatever we might be struggling with.  That brings up an entire new perspective:  Do we really hold the power to overcome whatever we want with the right motivation?  

Maybe the fortune cookie is that motivation for some people.  For others, it may not be enough.  After all, it is only a piece of paper with computer generated words on it and stuffed into a cookie.  

Or is it? 

I’ll end this post with a quote from one of my favorite television shows, LOST:

“Do not mistake coincidence for fate” 

The End Has No End

December 21, 2012.  We are officially one week away.  I remember hearing about this a few years ago and laughing.  No one took it seriously back then.  Well, now that we are so close, people really are beginning to worry.  I read on CNN this morning about a guy who built a shelter to stay in, hoping he would survive. 

I have to admit, I am interested to see what happens.  No, I do not think the world is going to end.  Nor do I think we are going to ‘evolve’ as a human race (which some people believe will also happen).  I am more interested to see people’s reaction.

On that particular day, I will be on the road, driving to Atlanta, GA.  If anything happens, at least I’ll be in a car and have a head start?  Either way, it is going to be interesting.  Hopefully I don’t arrive in Atlanta that night to find it deserted and reminiscent of AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.



If things do turn out that way, I really do have enough faith in my friends to know that they’re alive, holed up in an apartment with a few bottles of whiskey and cigars.  Either way, I’m excited.  

I currently reside in St. Augustine, FL.  Here, in this quaint little beach town, I’ve seen people walking around holding big signs about (what I assume) is ‘End of the World’ speak.  I think there might be some sort of rioting in some bigger cities (cough* Atlanta cough*)



Hopefully it won’t come to that, but hey, this world is filled with some crazy people.  

A lot of lists have been popping up online about “Things I want to do before the end of the world”.  I am going to succumb to it’s viral surge and make one myself.  Here goes:

Things I want to do before December 21, 2012:

1.  Take my dogs on one last walk.  (Haven’t seen them since my breakup and it kills me.  That’s why this is no. 1.  It is the single most important thing to me)

2.  Go skydiving.  (I have a love/hate relationship with heights.  I am scared to death of flying, for example, but I love it at the same time)

3.  Stand atop the Empire State Building.  (This could file under my relationship with heights.  I LOVE climbing buildings.  I also love New York City.  If I were Spider-man, that would be my brood spot of choice)

4.  Make one final short film.  (I am an aspiring film director, who isn’t these days.  I want to make one more film before next week.  Really going to try to make that happen)

5.  Find the headquarters of ‘The Dharma Initiative’ from “LOST”.  (I know it really exists.  It wasn’t just a television show.  ”WE HAVE TO GO BACK!)

That’s pretty much it.  We only have one week, can’t cram too much in there.  My advice?  Make a fun night out of it!  Be with friends or family, get a bottle of your favorite alcohol and celebrate, reminisce and have a great time!

Happy last week of existence everyone.  Oh, when we survive that though, Happy Holidays!


 

You’re lucky you’re a filmmaker when…

…you can blame going to the movies alone on your profession, completely ignoring that you are the only single guy watching ‘Skyfall’.  Cough cough, not like that happened to me or anything.  

Great movie by the way, that ‘Skyfall’.  Daniel Craig’s Bond is starting to feel a lot like Bond.

A Short Biography

Who am I?  Just your average twenty-four year old post college graduate with a film degree who works at a bike shop.  

Let’s see.  Where do I begin?  I was born weighing in a whopping 9.5 pounds.  Twenty-four years later, I only weigh 152.  Talk about a failed draft pick.  One thing that stuck with me was my full head of hair as a newborn, I’m still rocking that although now it seems to classify me as a “hipster” (however you define that word).  I ROCKED THE CURLY FRO BEFORE IT WAS COOL BRO.

I’m going to try to sum up my life from birth to present as quickly as I can:

I was born.  I had a great childhood.  Graduated high school.  Fell in love in college.  Graduated college.  Started a film production company.  She left me for a girl three years and two dogs later.  Moved to Florida to “regroup” with my thoughts.  

That is essentially all you need to know.  I love people and my friends and family are the most important things to me.  

Oh, did I mention that I don’t fit in, in Florida?  Salt life, brah. 

Blog Beginnings (Again)

I guess I started this blog way back when, on July 4th 2011.  It consisted of maybe three or four written posts and a bunch of instagram pictures.  As of this morning, those days are gone!  I won’t delete any previous posts, but I am going to actually start “blogging” on this blog.  

I write screenplays, not blogs.  This could fail.  No one could read it.  Who knows.  
Regardless, I am looking forward to posting.  I hope you all enjoy whats coming!