I have a theory: basically everyone currently under the age of 25 or so will probably attempt to start a blog sometime in his or her life. It may be through a class requirement, inspiration by something going on in your mind, or simply wanting to let your friends know what's going on in your life. I even have a friend who uses a personal blog as a public diary of sorts.
I don't expect many (if any) people to read this that aren't a relative or friend of mine. However, in the crazy off-chance someone does, I'll open with a bit about myself.
If I had to describe myself with labels, I'd probably call myself a flaming liberal nonviolent queer agnostic vegetarian. If you know me really well, you may be surprised about A. some of these labels and B. that I used so many, as I tend to try to live my life outside labels. Unfortunately, our society demands them, so I can't escape fully. I don't wish to say that labels are always a bad thing, but by viewing a person simply by the labels we impose upon him or her, we fail to see them as a complete person.
...Let's break those labels down a bit further:
Flaming liberal: I'm a would-be hippy. In a nutshell, I believe all people deserved to be loved and respected, I want to do what I can to save the environment,and I believe personal choice is a form of freedom. I wish to be the change I see in the world, though sometimes I fail at doing so.
Nonviolent: I never think violence is the answer. I am very anti-war (sorry to my army friends or those who have family-members who have served), and I believe the United States often rushes too quick into a violent solution over things that are simply not their business. I also prefer to use words over fists, and if more people took on an attitude like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., the world would be a much happier (and safer!) place. I also do not like guns (and yes, I know you can throw whatever statistic at me that says countries with more guns leads to fewer deaths, but I can throw other statistics at you about how compared to other first world countries, we're doing pretty shitty here).
Queer: Many of you may wonder about the word-choice here. Queer is historically a derogatory term towards (generally) homosexual men, and so why would I possibly use it to describe myself? Is it really any better than using "faggot" these days? Queer is becoming more and more acceptable throughout society. With gaining momentum, you're starting to hear more frequently about "queer politics" rather than "gay politics," "queer news" rather than "LGBT news." It is turning around and instead of being the derogatory term it traditionally was, it is becoming a positive, affirmative term. I like it because it tends to be more general than other sexuality terms. I'd define queer as simply "not straight." I have a lot of different attractions to a lot of different types of people, and though I ultimately most-likely see myself married to a man, I don't want to completely rule out other possibilities. It also leaves room for my attraction to those that don't fit the gender binary (i.e. people that identify as neither male nor female. Androgyny is HOT).
Agnostic: I debated whether or not to put this one up here as I'm sure it will come back to bite me. I was raised Christian, went to Christian schools my entire life, and am even graduating from a Christian college in just a few short months (yay, summer classes!). Yet, somewhere along my college journey, I realized I was not really sure of anything. I'm sure there will be a blog post about these thoughts in much more detail later, but for now I'll simply say that I am okay with the idea that maybe I was not created by a master deity. At the same time, maybe I was, but I'm not convinced this god is the God of Christianity.
Vegetarian: I love food, and I always have. Back in my Freshman year of college, I took a philosophy course that really opened my eyes on the state of the meat industry in the United States. I also took a biology course that showed me the state of the food industry in general (our reliance and addiction to corn in its many forms, for example). I kept all these feelings inside for a while, but about a couple months ago, I was kicked in the gut when talking to a biologist friend of mine. She was being her usual passionate-self about the environment and food, and I was heartily agreeing with her. She quipped back, "You don't actually care about the environment." The perception that I didn't care wasn't too far from how I was behaving at the time, so I've really started to kick it into gear. Vegetarianism was the natural first step for me. I've been eating that way for 37 days to date. Again, there will be a longer post on this decision (and subsequent decisions) later.
...Oh, and I'm also a music teacher.
So, that's me in a nutshell. In this blog I hope to write about issues that are important to me. They may be ramblings about what it's like to be queer in contemporary society and the politics surround it, or maybe they'll be about my challenges and successes as a vegetarian. I'll probably write about the environment at some point, healthy eating, religion, morality... you name it. Interspersed throughout all of this, I hope to write up some of my recipes. I'm an avid cook, and I love teaching people how to make things. I come up with mostly my own recipes, though typically these are based on other recipes with my own modifications. I'll explain this process as I upload them.
-QV
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