"It Gets better"
I don't always agree with Dan Savage, and even when I do I don't think he's a particularly nice person (one writer has called him "the gay Ann Coulter"), but sometimes his brand of vitriol is just what the doctor ordered. There is a place and a time for outrage over despair, and that is what Savage offers his readers in daily doses.
His "It Gets Better" Project, coming as an immediate and heartfelt reaction to recent teen suicides spawned by a widespread culture of bullying, has been pitch perfect, because it allows a vast community of GLBT folks and allies to speak out about our experiences in youth and reach out to youth who are going through what we went through now, and to tell them that, yes, it gets better. It really does.
I have enjoyed perusing the videos, but when Dan featured one on slog from someone who'd had a huge positive role in my own youth, I decided to do one of my own, partly as a tribute to him.
So, first, here's the one from my old friend and mentor Steve Sprinkle (I know, funny name, but he's a great guy)...
And here's my humble contribution...
And you should all totally do one of your own if you haven't yet. And if you do, please link to it in the comments, so we can all have a looksee!
Here's one I did on my own:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA37Rfzksn4
And here's one I did for a podcasting group I belong to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XPizQrZpKA
Excellent video, Mr. M!
-Thom
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Stop plucking the hairs from your ears. Get the electric trimmer. For years I feared they would snag and pull the hairs from my ears and nostrils.
I trimmed with the razor, occasionally plucked if I could hold a hair, and suffered with the problem of a man's body.
But then I took the chance. Now no stray hairs curling from my nostril like a wisp of smoke stilled in mid-air. Nor any more wavy hairs in my ears greeting other closely packed riders on the T (though I do enjoy the sensation of brushing the tip of my finger against the hairs after they've grown back in a few days).
A battery operated ear and nose hair trimmer is up there with dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers and bicycles. Proof that God is the Ultimate Engineer, that great design is divine and that a spark of that divine mechanic graces the inventors of these wondrous devices.
By the way, you're just as handsome in video as in person.
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Mike,
So glad you participated in this project; I was enthralled with it as soon as Dan Savage started talking about it on his podcast. I agree with you to an extent -- Savage is intense. That said, he sure knows how to gather a fervent tribe around him.
BU just rolled out their own series of videos in line with the series, which made me think back to yours from a couple of weeks ago. Figured I'd share (http://www.bu.edu/today/node/11779).
~Jenny
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Thanks for the link, Jenny!
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