a meeting of the minds...
(me and philly rob get deep)
7:48 p.m.

rob says:
i have inner anger lol

michael says:
do you? you've touched on that before...you seem pretty mellow to me

rob says:
lol, i am i mean i just get frustrated with the way the world is set up, from whats on tv, to the place art has in society, to not knowing why i'm here lol ... but i'm just talking, i am generally a pretty happy lark

michael says:
there's only so much you can do, so much you can change...i tend to just want to make my little world better, i just shake my head in amazement at the rest of the world

rob says:
me too... for the most part, i guess most of my "anger" or whatever, is from wanting to find more meaning out of existence, an existential thing

michael says:
ahh, the meaning of life, that whole thing?

rob says:
yes

michael says:
at first i typed "the meaning of like"...hmmm

rob says:
and my place in it, i mean what cog in the wheel am i?

rob says:
whats my cog?

michael says:
oh boy

rob says:
lmao

michael says:
how 'bout them steelers?

rob says:
thats sooo funny

michael says:
haha

michael says:
it's like that journey song...

michael says:
"wheel in the sky keep on turning..."

michael says:
hehe

* * *

rob says:
to me howard stern is a lot like lenny bruce.. and early richard pryor

michael says:
oh, i don't watch him much now, but i dig howard

rob says:
they say fuck and nigger and queer thinking it will de-sensitize people to being bothered by those words and then will lose their racist effect. i don't think it works, but they are still funny to me

michael says:
oh yes, we've touched on this before too, it's hard to say if that works or not...depends on the person and their upbringing

rob says:
i suppose... but when i heard a memeber of the KKK on howard stern say, when refering to black people calling each other nigga he said, "see we even have them trained to know what they are, niggers"

rob says:
i knew that it doesn't work

michael says:
oh, i know who you mean

rob says:
i'm usually offended by someone calling me a queer

rob says:
i don't care who it is

michael says:
it's that whole thing...who can say it and who can't?

michael says:
kids say "that's so gay", and it has nothing to do with sexuality

michael says:
"queer" is going to go mainstream

rob says:
i hate it

rob says:
i think its a HUGE step backwards

rob says:
why don't they have "nigger studies" in college?

michael says:
good point

michael says:
VERY good point

rob says:
yes, it is a good point isn't it? i have thought about doing something in philosophy on this whole topic, i have given it so much thought

michael says:
damn, you got me on that one

rob says:
i would like to organize my thoughts on that and even thought of writing a daddy-boy relationship book lol

rob says:
organize my thoughts on queer word and nigger word and maybe do a dissertation on that if i keep going for my doctorate

michael says:
that would be good

michael says:
but...do you want to be a "homo-american"?

rob says:
what is a Homo-american?

rob says:
never heard that expression

michael says:
you and me, babe

michael says:
i made it up

rob says:
oh.. ok.. hehe

michael says:
surely not the first

michael says:
it would be the very pc term

michael says:
"my fellow homo-americans..."

rob says:
i don't like the word homo either, it's a term that the psychological community came up with to catagorize people

rob says:
to catagorize them as "deviant"

michael says:
well, what are we then? gay isn't really correct either then, is it?

rob says:
i don't really think it's all that appropriate to define a person in terms of what arouses them sexually

michael says:
yeah, i know, but....oh, this is getting good!

rob says:
to group us in a herd then expect some individuality is less likely to spawn the most new ideas

michael says:
yes, it's become very , uh...haha, homogenized in a way, gay culture. i think it's about demographics a lot now, it's marketing...

michael says:
gay cruises!

rob says:
total marketing, and like "queer eye for the straight guy"

rob says:
they are loving being able to use queer and these clone gay boys playing up to all the obnoxious queeny effeminate stereotypes, it's really a setback from stonewall

rob says:
i think they do that shit just as bad for black people

rob says:
ever see the spike lee movie bamboozeled?

michael says:
oh yeah

rob says:
that's what i'm talking about...

rob says:
but they do all that same shit with the "gay" community

rob says:
i don't know what other word to use

rob says:
i like fairy better then queer or gay lol

michael says:
fairy???

michael says:
same-sexual?

michael says:
sodomite?

rob says:
yes, like fairy dust, we are angelic

michael says:
i like "shirt-lifter"

rob says:
lol no i'm kidding, i really don't know

michael says:
the obscure ones

rob says:
fag

rob says:
do you know what a fag is besides a cigarrette?

michael says:
oh, but you said deviant earlier, there's several ways to look at that word

michael says:
a faggot is a bundle of sticks

rob says:
yes, used for kindling

rob says:
on a fire

michael says:
and matt told me how a fagot is...hmm, an oboe or bassoon

rob says:
a fag is one stick used for kindling to start a fire..

michael says:
but...deviant....that could mean just...not the norm, right?

michael says:
deviating from the norm...

rob says:
yes, not "normal"

michael says:
but normal there means...average or typical maybe?

michael says:
well, i think fag is harsher than queer, cuz queer is mainstreaming

michael says:
they don't say "fag studies" either

rob says:
deviant was a term used in the 50's often giving cause for arrest or some drastic measure

michael says:
sure, but it's used there in a moral sense

michael says:
"deviant behavior"

rob says:
so, its a buzz word in my mind, what the fuck is deviant, because what is normal and who is happy?

rob says:
well, i think you're right, it's making a moral judgement

rob says:
so what makes one happy is normal

rob says:
of course, as long as it doesn't make someone else unhappy

michael says:
oh, but it makes many people unhappy, violent even, which i'll never understand

rob says:
what does?

michael says:
gay people

michael says:
gaybashing i mean

rob says:
oh sure, moralists, absolutists, extremeists ... so called "free" radicals lol

rob says:
they get violent towards gay people

michael says:
and they think they have the right to do so

rob says:
yes, they are the chosen ones of god

michael says:
bingo!

michael says:
"it's in the bible", that's my favorite

rob says:
the bible says i believe that settles it brother, your faggot ass is mine

michael says:
yep

rob says:
lol

michael says:
deep, dude

rob says:
meanwhile, back at the ranch little johnny gets molested by the pent-up priest...

* * *

michael says:
ok, i've had these lines in my head for years...see if you can help me..

michael says:
is homosexuality...

michael says:
normal, but unnatural...

michael says:
or natural, but abnormal?

rob says:
ok, let me think about that a moment

michael says:
(theme from "jeopardy" plays)

michael says:
hehe

rob says:
it's both

rob says:
natural and normal...

rob says:
the only thing not normal is NOT doing good will unto men

rob says:
and you can use Kant's idea of the "good will" do you know what that is? i'ts pretty interesting...he saw "the will" as a person almost. and everyone has a will and as long as what you do doesn't stop anyone else from being able to express their will then that to me is normal

michael says:
hmmmm

michael says:
ok then, where do you stand on free will vs. predestination?

rob says:
there is no such thing as a strange coicidence

rob says:
lol

michael says:
hmm, i think i agree

michael says:
or just coincidence

rob says:
but we do have a bearing affect on that outcome

rob says:
just not 100%

rob says:
it's a mix

rob says:
some things i think are inevitable

michael says:
i always thought of it as free will untill the thing happens, THEN it's predestination

rob says:
and often i don't think there is any rhyme or reason

rob says:
lol at your last statement

michael says:
well, if you go down this street instead of that one, your life could change drastically

michael says:
you could get hit by a car...or meet your soulmate

rob says:
but you chose one over the other

rob says:
no one else chose

rob says:
why didn't you just stay home?

michael says:
yes, and after the choice is made, its a moot point

michael says:
hahaa

rob says:
lol

rob says:
no, because then when you're walking you could stay on the curb or walk in the street

rob says:
you could look at someone wrong or mind your own business

michael says:
well, i always hate that "what if ?" stuff...

rob says:
you know, there are sooo many variables that we control...

michael says:
"what if ?" jim morrison was still alive...or cobain, or whoever...?

rob says:
but i agree with you, its free will but then some of it is given over to destiny.. for example..

rob says:
my good friend greg had a baby boy.. then they thought they would have a girl.. and they had twins, 2 boys.. then they thought they would have a girl, twin boys again, then they thought they would have a girl.. nope, another boy.. 6 boys later, what do you think.. free will or destiny? lol

michael says:
ahh, you can't apply those rules to SPERM! it's the toss of the dice, heads or tails

michael says:
as is much of life

michael says:
and things around you change your life, things you have no control over

rob says:
i agree

michael says:
as tom petty said, "let's get to the point/let's roll another joint"

rob says:
i LOVE tom petty!

michael says:
and look at this...should i be glad that elliott died, just because it brought us together? that's so weird, whenever i think about it

* * *

rob says:
one time i was walking down the street in philadelphia, with an older man and someone pulled over their car, jumped out and took our picture.. and sped off

michael says:
oh my

rob says:
we were the freak show that night i guess

michael says:
what were you DOING?

rob says:
just holding hands, walking down the street

michael says:
oh, ok

rob says:
radical of us, i know

rob says:
i mean, its only 2003

michael says:
dude, it's in the bible, remember?

rob says:
oh yeah..

rob says:
how could i forget?

rob says:
lmao

michael says:
ok, now see, i have a problem there...

rob says:
with me holding hands in public ?

michael says:
no, no...

michael says:
the bible

michael says:
i mean, that passage is pretty clear to me, in a way, what it says...

michael says:
and gay people complain about people reading into it what they want, but gay people do the same thing...
"no, that's not what that means"

michael says:
gay people try to explain it away, to make it suit their needs just like the right-wingers do

rob says:
of course

michael says:
am i crazy here?

rob says:
no, not at all

rob says:
i agree..

michael says:
i mean, in a way, "gay christian" doesn't make any more sense to me than "gay republican"

rob says:
but i think that's what we should do, everyone should live how they live. it's personal. just don't step on any toes doing it, but radicals do and that's a problem

michael says:
yes, radicals on BOTH sides

rob says:
yes.. true

michael says:
i lke penises, that's all i know

rob says:
i've heard them argue on NPR... it's not pretty. i didn't like either of them

michael says:
yes, both sides make me uncomfortable

michael says:
that's why i try to remain neutral...i'm switzerland!

michael says:
i let everyone else argue

rob says:
lol, i'm switzerland too!