Always different

My friend Don suggested I start a blog; seemed like a good idea as I have long thought that the world would be a better place if only everyone thought as I did.

That's a joke.

Sorta.

So what do I mean by "always different"?  Well, the picture says a lot. Two of my favorite possessions: the license plate from my very first car, and the flag that covered my Dad's coffin when he was buried at Arlington.  Dad: an Army Colonel, decorated in Korea - notice the medal at the top of the case; me: a long-haired, hippie freak. Different.

Or take the fact that I was brought up a good Catholic boy, made mostly A's in high school, went to college at Notre Dame but never graduated and never had a serious career.  Compared to many of my contemporaries: different.

Or the fact that I love opera and dance, go to the theatre often and have never, ever watched a Super Bowl. Different.

Or the fact that I'm gay.

Or that I've never seen "American Idol" or any other reality show - except, I'm embarrassed to admit, the first season of "Survivor." Or I never saw ER, the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Dallas, Friends and countless other popular TV shows.

Or that I have a husband and three dogs.

Now of course I know there are plenty of gay men out there who never really had a career and love dogs and not football - but they, like me, are different.  Different from the "norm."  Just sayin' - I'm not a typical American man of the 20th and 21st centuries.

This blog will explore some of the history that makes me different, some of the thoughts that separate me from (some of) the rest of you - and maybe even some of the ways we are alike.  If I write well enough, I will make you chuckle, inspire you, make you angry or at least make you feel that you've spent a worthwhile few minutes with me.  That's my hope anyway.  I am many things, but few would say I am boring.  I think.

No, I know.