LOVE IS LOUDER

I just changed mt photo for Facebook and YouTube. I tend to photograph myself because then I can get it to look exactly as I want. My pic was still fairly new but then one of my dear FB friends posed the question to her FB peeps as to whether the pics they use for their profile were real or just a bunch of crap. Immediately I thought, my pic is true. Well, true enough. Sort of. I was no longer satisfied with the pic I was using. So I decided to make a change.

I put my fave ball cap on, and wrote three words on my palms. They say LOVE IS LOUDER and there is a heart under the last word. I hope people realize that I am not trying to ram anything down their throats, but I want to speak up not only for myself, but for those who cannot or are simply afraid to speak out for themselves. So if you are wondering what sentiment I am trying to convey, I will try to break it down for you.

Love is louder than hate. Love is louder than all the words that can make someone fear for their life. Love is louder than the people who refuse to accept (family/friends) that theirs is not the only love that should be recognized. Love is the loudest thing there is.

I heard a quotation recently in a documentary that can say it better than I can. "Nature delights in diversity. Why can't people?" Indeed.

I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN

I seem to be getting the same remarks over and over again in my YT videos. The comments have nothing to do with the actual video, though. The comments basically question whether I am a man or a woman. So I have a few points to make about these types of comments:

- if this is seriously the only comments these people can think of making, my video must be totally kick-ass
- it is none of your business whether I identify as a man or woman, unless we are sexual partners
- my videos have nothing to do with my gender; if you are looking for videos about someone's gender, I suggest you do a better job when you do your "search"
- why should I care what you think of me? I have friends who see my videos and totally enjoy them; they are the ones whose opinions count for me ultimately

Those are my points. And I still never answered your question as to my gender. Sucks, don't it?

MY 7TH "LIVE"-IVERSARY AND COUNTING!

I have been married before. When I was 18, I married AJ's father, but that didn't last. I have dated and co-habitated with other people since that time but, for a multitude of reasons, those relationships did not work out either.

I met Adam at a factory where we were both employees. He caught my eye right away. That was 1996, and AJ was still an infant. When I finally left AJ's dad, Adam let me come home with him while I saved money for first and last for my own place. Over the years he and I were kind of on-again, off-again. I was away for a couple of years, and it didn't take too long for us to start seeing each other once I returned. That was 2004. We finally found a place together in April 2005, and have been together ever since.

Since we are not married, we don't have what you would call an anniversary. We came up with the idea to celebrate our original moving-in date, which was April 1st. So this has become our "live"-iversary. But we love each other so much and are very affectionate every day, it feels like a "live"-iversary every day. I know that sounds corny, but it's 100% true. My heart is with him, and my home is with him. I feel lucky every day of my life with him. That's the way it should be for everyone.