"A Little Bit Married"

A friend of mine and his girlfriend are, for a variety of reasons, considering moving in together. In the (Christian) communities they were raised in, this is called "living in sin." Other communities call it "cohabitation."

While most Hollywood movies and sit-coms consider this a normal stage in a relationship's progression, for these two it's quite a big decision (which it probably is for most people, though definitely for those with a somewhat conservative or religious upbringing). Conservatives love to throw around the "fact" that cohabiting couples tend to divorce more.

Men in Love With Each Other

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a reading at Elliott Bay Book Co. (no relation). It was for a book called Queers in History, by Keith Stern.

The talk was interesting, especially because instead of doing a traditional reading, he performed his "one man show," which was "rough," in his words, but pretty funny and interesting. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was probably gay? Did you know (from http://www.queersinhistory.com/facts.htm):

• Abraham Lincoln slept with his bodyguard in the White House when Mrs. Lincoln was away?
• Joan Crawford and Marilyn Monroe had a one-night-stand?
• Leonardo da Vinci was imprisoned twice for same-sex affairs?
• Sir Francis Bacon's mother complained about him sleeping with the male servants?
• The founder of Shinto Buddhism also founded a tradition of male-male love in Japan?
• Angelina Jolie wanted to marry her "Firefox" co-star Jenny Shimizu?
• Two ancient Egyptian men shared a tomb as husband and wife?
• Lawrence of Arabia dedicated his life's work to a young male lover?
• The wife of one US president moved her girlfriend into the White House, and another US President shared his White House bed with the male chief of his security detail?
• An heroic soldier in the US Revolution was actually a woman in disguise, who "married" another woman after her service in the Continental Army?
• One of the greatest male American athletes of all time was arrested twice for same-sex indiscretions?
• In 1886, when US officials asked an Indian tribe to send "their best woman" to visit Washington, DC, the tribe chose to send a man in a dress?

"Facts" is a somewhat onerous title for that page, because most of these "facts" are conjecture based on circumstantial evidence (very few of the "queers in history" actually "came out"). But the circumstantial evidence is quite compelling, I must say. I haven't read the book yet but I want to after going to the reading.

The interesting thing for me was, though, after the reading, as I was getting back on my bike to go home, I was approached by a dude who had also been in attendance. He chatted me up for an awkward few moments - awkward because I was pretty sure immediately that he was hitting on me.

Catcher, Perks, Teen Literature & Hipsters

Everyone knows by now that J.D. Salinger died not too long ago. The only book that anyone's ever read by him is The Catcher in the Rye. I read it, but not when I was supposed to - I was never assigned it in high school or anything. I read it when I was maybe 18 or so, without being prompted by a teacher. Maybe that's why I didn't like it that much.

If you've never read it, you can read it here - if you're the type that can read whole books online, I suppose. Interesting about books with a very distinct style, like this one - when I first looked at that site and read the first page, I was even more turned off than I was when I first read the book. But after a few pages I felt myself being hooked. I suppose that's what makes a good writer? 

click to enlarge.

I saw the above comic on Andrew Lorenzi's comic blog. I'm not sure if I "get" what he's trying to say, comparing Robin and Holden in this way. I wonder what it was like growing up as a kid in the city during the golden age of comic books, and feeling like you connected with them, maybe because you didn't have television or movies so accessible. 

Makes me wonder, as someone who found comics later in life - did kids growing up reading Batman connect with Batman, or did they connect with Robin? Why did all of those old comic book superheroes have kid sidekicks? Reminds me of Kavalier & Clay and how Clay was accused of corrupting kids' minds with the "homosexual" subtext of his comic book creations.

I remember not really liking Catcher until the end, and I think that's because I knew right away that Phoebe was my favorite character. I think she, unlike Holden, isn't a phony. I haven't read the book in a while, so I don't remember why I liked her so much. But I remembered thinking, man if Phoebe was my age she'd be the kind of girl I'd want to date. Apparently she's a big deal, I didn't remember thinking about it much before.