Back to Bitter

Well, I’ve been away from my site for the last 2 years, and I’m sorry! I dealt with 2 cancers and am not completely out of the woods. But, I’ve come to some bitter truths, and I’m ready to share them.

1. TV sucked the life out of me for about 50 years. I have watched more television than an NBC producer. I recently decided to give it up. Cold turkey. And listen, that was at least 9 hours of every day. It’s amazing. I’ve almost caught up on cleaning my apartment and am unpacking things I forgot about a year ago, just in time to move. I’m connecting with friends again, writing, drinking more wine, and generally allowing myself to feel. You don’t realize how much news and HGTV really puts you in a vegetative state. I mean, the phrase came from somewhere, right? I highly recommend it.
2. I can no longer sit back and hear about pronouns and gender identity anymore without wanting to punch someone in the face. I recently posted this on Facebook: I am not queer. I am gay. Don’t ever call me queer. That is a group of overindulged youth who want to disrupt the rights the LGB community fought for. I came out during the AIDS epidemic. I grew up in Arkansas. Queer is not a group, it’s a slur. People trying to link me to a bunch of other labels are not part of my tribe. I have nothing against Trans people, but they have nothing to do with being gay. I would hate to have grown up feeling like my body was wrong, so I empathize with trans people, but they are not gay. I have no idea why this new group of brats have gotten such a public forum on freaking gender pronouns. They are destroying what LGB and even T fought for. It’s turning off the South and Midwest, and now drag queens are under fire for reading to kids? Wouldn’t have happened 3 years ago. Make no mistake. I am not a transphobe or a complete asshole. I am a 53-year-old gay man who is tired of feeling like somebody highjacked my community and the progress we’ve made. If you have a problem with this, bless your heart, as we say in the South. I’ll leave you to alone to figure out what pronoun best distracts you from your life.
3. Did I mention that cancer also made me less inhibited in speaking the truth? I mean I was abrupt before, but oh no. Anyway, I’m sure that last bit might have pissed some people off, but it’s my truth. And isn’t that community always preaching something about that? Anyway, my 3rd point was to say hey out there to anyone battling a disease right now. I have determined that life is a series of horrible events interrupted briefly by moments of joy. Find your joy and don’t focus on the bullshit, that’s what I say. I was a lot less whiny than I thought I would be. I take each day, doctors visit, and test result in stride, and just decide that I’m going to screw with the universe by finding joy in a shitty situation. Not that I don’t have diva moments… have you talked to my mother?
4. Tonight, I’m enjoying boxed wine. That’s right. For those of you that haven’t tried the new stuff, it’s great! Black Box red blend is my go to. It’s only $20 and the equivalent of 4 bottles. It’s not Franzia, no offence to Franzia lovers.

Ok, well, those are my points I needed to make tonight. Hopefully, my 2 readers will continue to stay with me!