Six

Six years ago I decided to come out of the pantry and join the community of openly asexual people. It has been a weird, wonderful and sometimes painful ride. And I'm still hanging in there and hanging out on the site.

The weird: Do I really need to go into this part? Asexuals in general are strange people. Seriously. First of all, we sit around griping about what some people seem to think is the most awesome thing ever. Sex is everywhere these days. It's in our magazines, on our TVs and radios, in most of our movies. It's so overdone. And with all that some people still go online and consume mass quantities of porn. Clearly, we're the weird ones.

And what's with the cat obsession? They're cute and furry and warm and all that but… wow!

In fact, I don't think I've met any asexuals who weren't weird or even downright bizarre. The asexy life is spicy.

The wonderful: I have met many people through AVEN to whom I've become close. I've even traveled across the country to meet with some of them. In November 2006 I flew to NYC and met up with eight other AVENites, seven of whom I had never met before. And, as of this writing, I have met around 30 people in person who identify as asexual.

And then there are the people I've met only online. They're great people and I want to meet them in person but the opportunity hasn't presented itself. If it did I would definitely take it. But, since it hasn't I have to be content hanging out with them in the chat room. C'est la vie… or something.

The painful: Most of the people I have met on AVEN no longer hang out there. Online friends sometimes feel as important to me as my offline friends, but they too come and go. I've lost count of how many people I've met on the site over the years who have stopped coming there. Those I talked to in the chat room I especially miss.

And there are also the romantic (or, in some case, pseudo-romantic) relationships I've had with other asexuals. None of them have worked out. Sometimes that was my fault and sometimes it wasn't but it still hurt every time to say good-bye.

With everything I've learned there about other people and about myself I am grateful to AVEN and its creator, David Jay, for the opportunity to explore this facet of my being. And I look forward to many years to come.

Wedding Night

The flower petals floated gently in the summer breeze and settled around her feet and in the lace of her veil. She smiled wryly and lifted the veil to kiss me. It was the sweetest kiss of my life, knowing that it would be the first of many in our life together. It was a day I would never forgot, and the best was yet to come.

We held hands as we fled the reception with its cheering guests and climbed into the waiting limousine. We looked at each other and laughed as we settled into our seats in the back together. We were dizzy with the excitement of the day, and the night that lay ahead.

The sun was setting as we reached the hotel parking lot. The orange and pink streaks of clouds lit up the western sky and made the air around us glow as we walked slowly to the front door, still holding hands. The elevator ride to our floor seemed the longest I had ever known in my life. I was life a kid waiting for Christmas morning.

Inside the room she turned to me and smiled. "I'm going to slip into something more comfortable," she said as she turned and walked into the lavatory. The line was a bit cliche but I still liked it. I changed out of my tux in the room and waited for her to come out.

As she opened the door I looked up and watched her cross the room to the bed where I was waiting. She looked at me and smiled again and I handed her the other controller. "We'll save the princess this time," I said.

Star Trek (2009)

STARRING:

Chris Pine

Zachary Quinto

Karl Urban

Zoe Saldana

Simon Pegg

John Cho

Anton Yelchin

PLOT:

A massive Romulan ship goes back through time and alters the destinies of the original Star Trek crew.

MY TAKE:

I usually don't like time travel stories, I consider them hokey. But, in this case, the time travel storyline is a stroke of genius. since the damage done to the timeline doesn't get fixed it establishes an alternate timeline for a whole new set of adventures for the old crew.

As far as plot and acting this film is better than the first six Star Trek movies ever were. It lacks the philosophical moments of which I am so fond, however. It is non-stop action from start to finish. All in all, it is a great film.

MY RATING: 9/10

IMDb page

Lola Rennt [Run Lola Run] (1998)

STARRING:
Franka Potente
Moritz Bleibtreu
Herbert Knaup


PLOT:
Lola's boyfriend is in trouble. He lost 100,000 deutschmarks and if he doesn't recover it in 20 minutes his boss will kill him. Lola needs to get the money and get it to him in time. But, her moped was stolen earlier that day. What else can she do but start running...


MY TAKE:
This is the first German language film I have ever watched so I can't compare it to any others. If it were American it would probably be one of those quirky, artsy sleepers that nobody has seen but should. It's a very interesting film with a fresh take on an old plot dilemma.


MY RATING: 10/10


IMDb page

Johnossi (2006) [album]

ARTIST:
Johnossi

LABEL:
Rekord Music, V2 Music Scandinavia, V2 Music, Control Group

PLAYLIST:
1.  "The Show Tonight"
2.  "Execution Song"
3.  "Glory Days to Come"
4.  "There's a Lot of Things to Do Before You Die"
5.  "Man Must Dance"
6.  "Family Values"
7.  "Press Hold"
8.  "Rescue Team"
9.  "Santa Monica Bay"
10. "The Lottery"
11. "Summerbreeze"

MY TAKE:
This Swedish band has a sound that's not easily classified. It's kind of a blend of indy and alternative with a splash of hard rock thrown in. I bought this one without ever having listened to any of their songs (and I don't usually recommend doing that) but I loved it from the first beat. This is a great band just waiting to be discovered by the masses.

MY RATING: 8/10


Wikipedia page

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

STARRING:
Josh Hartnett
Bruce Willis
Lucy Liu
Morgan Freeman
Ben Kingsley

PLOT:
A man gets mistaken for a friend he is visiting and finds himself a pawn in the middle of a gang war.

MY TAKE:
A polished tale of murder and revenge with enough twists and turns in it to keep even a jaded smartass like myself from seeing the end coming. That doesn't happen often. This film is well worth watching.

It does contain some sex and nudity, just so you know.

MY RATING: 9/10

IMDb page

Thriving Ivory (2008) [album]

ARTIST:
Thriving Ivory


LABEL:
Wind-up Records


PLAYLIST:
1. "Runaway"
2. "Angels on the Moon"
3. "Alien"
4. "Hey Lady"
5. "Twilight"
6. "Secret Life"
7. "Long Hallway With A Broken Light"
8. "Overrated"
9. "For Heaven's Sake"
10. "Unhappy"
11. "Light Up Mississippi"
12. "Day of Rain"


MY TAKE:
The lead vocals on this album blew me away. Such a unique sounding voice. The instrumentation isn't unique, but that's okay. Most of the songs are quite moving and memorable. So far I haven't noticed anything overtly sexual on this album. I definitely recommend it.


MY RATING: 9/10


Wikipedia page.