Ultranormal

Author: Kevin Lawver

  • Gay Marriage Again: A Dilemna

    People at Church keep bringing up gay marriage, and I keep quiet. The problem is that the it makes me angry. I don’t want to keep quiet, yet I do. These weren’t places I could pull out all the reasons it’s wrong to create a Constitutional ban (it sounds a lot like this and this).

    Maybe I’m a bad Mormon. Maybe I should be against it. I don’t think so. I have yet to hear a good argument against it – and I’ve asked. They all come down to “homosexuality is wrong, therefore gay marriage should be outlawed.” This argument doesn’t hold water for lots of reasons. First, any argument that echoes old arguments about race makes me suspicious. Second, any argument that boils down to “it’s wrong because I say so” doesn’t work for me either. Thirdly, I have the feeling that the people I’ve heard say this, and people in general who are for the ban, don’t actually know any gay people. If they did, I don’t think they’d be so quick to judge.

    I don’t know what to do. I feel bad for not speaking up. I feel like a coward. But, I’m not sure how polite I can be. I’m not known for pulling punches in debates, and I’m definitely no diplomat. I feel strongly about the issue, and everyone brings it up at Church, I want to scream, “We have separatation of Church and State for a reason!!! The only reasons you can give me why you’re against this are solely based on religion!!! So, you lose (but, that’s not the only reason, there are a dozen other reasons you lose this one)!!!” Of course, I can’t do that. OK, maybe it’s not that I can’t. Maybe it’s because I don’t have the backbone to do it.

    Either way, it’s eating at me, and it has sharp teeth and doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.

  • Really, I Don’t Think It Is

    Guess who the first hit on Google is for “france is full of gay people “. Yep, it’s me. Good call, oh great oracle. But, speaking to that, I don’t think it is. My gaydar didn’t go off once in France (OK, it did once, but he was British). Not in Paris, and certainly not in Mandelieu. And with the number of small children with hetero-lookin’ parents I saw there, I can pretty much vouch that France is not full of gay people. I don’t even think France is all that full of anything. There were plenty of places I saw that had no people at all, and were completely undeveloped.

    Someone should start a game… Let’s refute the searches that bring people to our sites, and then collect the best somewhere. Yeah, someone should totally do that. Someone with lots of free time, but not me, because I don’t.

  • Tired, But Full of Music

    I’ve been too tired to do much of anything. I think I’m worn out from all the travelling, and it doesn’t seem to matter how much sleep I get, I’m still tired. My birthday was fun. I’m twenty-nine now. Yep, so it goes.

    I got a ton of new music in Austin, and I’ll tell you all about it some other time. For now, go buy Zero7‘s latest: When It Falls. It’s fantastic. An earlier album, Simple Things is also stellar. Why? It’s laid back trip hop with beautiful voices, gorgeous songs and great lyrics. Let it wash over you like a hot shower.

    Oh, and go give Scott Andrew some money. Not only does he write beautiful songs, but he makes great yearbook picture faces too!

  • Big Dork In The Middle

    I am a gigantic dork. I’m also praying that Matt doesn’t post the kickball pictures he took (I got a sneak peek during the conference through his shared iPhoto gallery – aren’t you PC people jealous?). They’re my new weight-loss motivators. I’m going to print one of them out and super-glue it to the fridge.

    In other words, the pirate flag is going up today. I’m taking over something. I don’t know what yet, but there may be some “yargh”-ing and “avast me hearties” heard. Be on the lookout.

  • Great Story

    One of my favorite stories from 20×2 is online! Robert’s big idea is out there. It’s a good one.

  • SXSW Is Over, And I’m Pooped

    All packed, unfortunately. I started coming up with a list of all the people I’ve met this week, and it’s unbelievably long. If I just counted the people I had a conversation with, the list is still incredibly long. For those long-time Me-Knowers, you know this is a big deal. I don’t do this kind of thing very often. I’m very uncomfortable with small talk, with big groups. This was different, somehow. I didn’t feel like I had to explain myself. The people here “get it”.

    Before I actually write down the list, I want to do some thank you’s. There were a few people who really made me feel welcome right off the bat, who included me in the “gang” and were just the best. Michael and Ari, James, Brent, Paul (gotta get a blog, man), Mike, George, Esin, Debra and Smokler were all just fantastic. I can’t thank you guys enough for helping make my first SXSW experience better than I could have imagined. I loved hanging out with all of you, and can’t wait till next year, so we can do it all over again. I’m working on a list of people I met that I had good conversations with, or at least ate a meal next to. It’s really long, so it’ll probably get finished sometime after I get home. But, I loved everyone I met, and had a great time.

    Now, it’s time to go back home, hug my family, and get to work on the Next Big Thing™.

  • How Cool Is This?

    So, last night, I found out that I know someone who was in this picture. How cool is that?

    So, SXSWi is over. Tonight was the big party at Bruce Sterling’s house. It was bittersweet for me, the end of one of the best weeks in recent memory. I’d go into it more, but I’m very, very tired. The back porch meeting took a lot out of me… I can’t wait to get home to my family. See why?

    Max the wonder boy

  • Interactive Plugging

    I love SXSWi. It’s the most amazing collection of creative geeks I’ve ever seen, and I’m drinking it all in like a chocolate shake. I’ve met some of my blog heroes, heard some of my design muses speak, hung out with cool people who do and think wonderful things, and made more new friends than I can list here.

    If you live on the web, are passionate about self-expression and technology, then I can’t recommend SXSW to you enough. It’s like spring break for geeks. I listened to Howard Rheingold speak about smartmobs today. Yesterday, I learned a little about emergent democracy, got a tour of how Google works from a human perspective, and went to Fray, where I heard funny, touching and true personal stories told by the same people I’ve been hanging out with all week.

    For me, SXSW is a way to get out in the world, show the world who I am, and see who other people are. We speak the same language here, and it’s refreshing. There’s no explaining the benefits of web standards, there’s a vibe here where everything is cool. Everyone is open to you. I’ve never met more people interested in meeting each other in my life, and I love it. I’m sure I’ve annoyed a lot of people, because I feel like more of myself here. I think I’ve been a little too much of “me” this week… but I’m not sure I can do anything about that.

    And it’s not that this is all goofing off. It’s not. The days are full of interesting panels, where new ideas are thrown around like they’ve existed forever – because they just make sense – well, OK, some of them make sense. But, we’re all here just talking about our passions.

    I’ll try to come up with a list of all the people I’ve met here, and all the people I’ve hung out with, but I’m not sure I can. There are so many very cool people here. And now, I can’t wait to get back to work to share all the new ideas that have sprouted, all the great things I’ve heard and seen, and the joi de vie I’ve rediscovered while being here.

  • My Little Homophobe

    I’m not quite the sensative, hip and with-it modern man I thought I was. Case in point: Last night at Fray, Lance Arthur told a hilarious story about gay dating, being a hottie, and a gargantuan penis. It was extremely funny, although there was enough detail to make me, someone who thinks he’s very comfortable with his sexuality, squirm just a little. But, it was perfectly told, and funny. And you know me, funny trumps all. So, as Lance comes off the stage, I hold out my hand, and shake his as he walks past.

    And then it hits me… I just touched the hand that touched that gigantic penis. My brain went through mini-convulsions for a couple nanoseconds, and then the cool part of me told the little homophobe hiding in the corner of my psyche, “Yeah, but I’m sure he’s washed his hands since then.”

  • I Think I’m Gonna Cry

    Seriously, I think it was the smoke, and Chuck took forever to take the picture, but it looks like I’m gonna cry. And really, I didn’t cry once, not the whole night. I coughed quite a bit, and laughed a lot (them Canadians, James, Brent, and Brent, are fun to hang out with).