Back from Camp...

I'm back from Camp, and later tonight I will do an extensive recap, but i want to share this with all of you..... a new camp dance is born....

Check it out here.

The Inhumane Exploitation of Fat People

I consider myself to be a pretty level headed person, but I do tend to lose my cool when I see people being taken advantage of and abused.

That is why I am incensed at the commercial I saw today from FOX. They are advertising their new show, "More to Love". It is from the creators of The Bachelor with one important difference. They are using only fat people.

Now, at first glance, all of you skinny people are saying, "Aww, how cool. They are going to make sure fat people get love too.", but I am going to stand up and say as a leader within the Fat Community that "This is wrong". This is the blatant and inhumane exploitation of Fat People for financial gain. Never would America tolerate a show entitled "Enough to Love" about matchmaking midgets. In fact, last week a group of midgets petitioned the FCC to ban the M word from broadcast television. Can we also ban the dreaded F word? No, not that one. The three letter one.

No one is outraged, and no one is going to watch this show because of the people. They are going to watch the show because there is nothing more hilarious than watching the uncomfortable fat guy approach the pool with women all around. They are going to watch because when you put 3 fat people in the hot tub the water splashes over the edge soaking all their clothes and creating yet another uncomfortable situation. My biggest fear is spandex. You can deny it if you want to, but we all know the big girl that thinks she can wear the tube top or the pants from back in the day. We don't need to encourage behavior like that.

Lets be honest here. The fat man is the most discriminated against person in America. No one celebrates our accomplishments or additions to society. Think about it.. The Remote Control - We came up with that. The Drive Thru - That was us. Curb side pickup at even the nicest restaurants - We demanded that. The Extended Cab pick up - That was us. The Seat Belt extention - Us again .

Here's an idea. Let put ALL kinds of people on the normal show... Wait, thats ridiculous. That would never work. We might be forced to recognize that fat people are valued members of society.

Krispy

Call your senator and your local cable provider. Say no to the Inhumane Exploitation of Fat People. Petitions can be found at your local KFC, Kream Doughnuts, or any major buffet chain.

(Sidenote: This was all meant in fun. If you were offended by anything. Get over it. Its all jokes.)

The Death of Michael Jackson

I decided that I was not going to pile on and talk about the death of Michael Jackson, but i feel like I need to say something. Not so much about Jackson himself, but more about the way that America and the rest of the world has responded to his death. It not even really the death of Jackson that concerns me, but it is the death of all the celebrities that have died in the last few weeks.

I am concerned about the need for the media and for America to know every single detail about the life and death of the people that have died.TMZ reported on the death of Michael Jackson 6 minutes after he was officially declared dead. There were peopel that knew and loved him who found out that someone close to them died from the internet and from the news media trying to be the first. I really hope that is not how his children found out, or his mother. But sadly, that happens more and more now. I wish that we could have waited a couple hours, let the family make the statement and then begin to cover it. We could celebrate his music and the ways that he legitimately changed the entertainment industry. Rather we have tried to understand every moment and every conversation that Jackson had in the last 48 Hours and we all are now experts on Propofol and other pain killing injections. What is more disturbing is that we are more concerned about passing judgement and jokes about man that was tried several times but never convicted of anything. I know that doesn't mean it didn't happen, but at this point there is little need to continue to speculate on things that we can't prove. We can only hope that the system did its job.

Steve McNair is a wonderful example of what I am talking about. McNair (according to reports from friends and those in Nashville) was a model NFL Player and citizen. He was active in the community, supported charities, by all accounts was a good father, and was an incredible ball player. A life of full of good decisions and an attempt to do the right thing has been totally overshadowed by what happened on the last day of his life. I am not trying to excuse the actions of McNair, nor am I trying to brush away some of the very serious allegations that were made against Jackson, but why do we need to know every detail? Why is it that Good Morning America feels like their is a need to do a one hour in depth story on Michael Jackson's doctor? Why is it that TMZ feels like pictures of McNair and his girlfriend should be fed to the public within 48 Hours of his death?

Did we all really need to see a Barbara Walter's special where she let us watch Farrah Fawcett die? Why did we feel like we needed to watch a dyeing woman vomit and get injections? I know that some will say that it increases awareness about cancer, but I doubt that there was anyone watching taking notes about cancer. We watched it because it was Farrah and we felt like we were getting to see things that we normally don't get to see.

I'm not laying the blame on the media alone. they would not report it and would not spend the resources to get the information. This is a cultural problem. We have a sick need to see the autopsy photos of celebrities when they show up on the internet. We want to see pictures of the guns that killed them, and we want to see all of these things before we even have time to get people buried.

Can you imagine what they would turn up in your life if you were to die in the spotlight? It terrifies me to think that if I were to die in some fluke that people were captivated by, that the media might try to break down my life and dig through my background. I have lived a life where I have striven to do the right thing, but like everyone there are skeletons in closets that have long been locked.

All that said, I will probably watch the funeral tomorrow and when I get home tomorrow night I will watch the special play by play breakdown of the funeral. And thats sad.

What's the Deal?

Do you have the anxiety feeling that you are dreading facing something or someone? Its the feeling that I got when I knew I had to take the report card home to my dad. Its the feeling I got when I knew I was about to break off a relationship, or when I knew I was about to get broke up with. Its the feeling you get when you know you are about to be yell at, or your going to have to face someone you've hurt. It is almost like a dull stomach ache and head ache that radiates through your body. You feel sick, you not the type where you actually get sick. It just lingers in the background so that you know its there. Do you get that feeling?

I've had it for 3 days now, and for the first time in my long history with this feeling, I have no idea why. I can't think of a single thing in my life that I am dreading or that I'm upset or hurt about. Yet strangely, that feeling never seems to be far from the surface. I truly consider myself to be happy with almost all aspects of my life, yet it is there waiting for me to get still and start thinking or trying to sleep and then it consumes me. It strange because I have spent a great deal of time with this particular aspect of my emotional life and I have even found ways to cope with it, but I can't shake it if I can't figure out why it is hanging around me.

Is it possible that I'm dreading life in general? I don't think thats the case, but I'm almost out of reasons why I'm feeling this way. I know that in the next year or two I am going to undergo some major changes in life that are going to shake every part of me. Some are exciting and some are horrifying. Is this some type of preemptive depression that my mind wants to go ahead and get started with? Can you build up a credit on depression phases? Can I go ahead and have one so that when something horrible in life happens I'm able to say, "Wait, I did a voluntary depression a couple months ago. I'd rather not go through one right now". Who knows.

I was around great people tonight. We had a celebration of the birth of Franklin Slaton. I thoroughly enjoyed my time listening and watching what might be the most diverse group of people ever to be assembled in my presence. It was humorous to watch the interaction and the total comfort Franklin has in the midst of this social hodge podge. There were camp people, theater people, college students, 40 somethings, friends of friends people, 30 somethings, 20 somethings, conservatives, liberals, heterosexuals, homosexuals, wealthy, poor, environmentalists, and those who drive over sized trucks because we can. I realized about halfway through that the group assembled in that place was what made Franklin who he is. He is someone that masterfully flows from one group to another allowing each of them to leave their mark on who he is, and he makes no apology for his love for any of these different groups. Franklin is truly good people. I think Jesus would have been impressed with tonight's gathering. I think that moments like tonight are what he had in mind. Which is ironic since some of the people in this gathering couldn't have cared less what Jesus would think.