So first I want to thank everyone for their support. Before I wrote my last post about someday wanting a family, I was under the assumption that this blog had little to no visitors. Like most things I think I know about, I was very wrong. It's really great to have support from people you don't necessarily think to ask. I will never give up my dreams to become a father, and to be a part of my own family. I really feel like I am not ready for such a huge step in my life. Before I take on such an endeavor I obviously want to live in a place of my own and be fairly financially stable. There is no point in trying to build a better home for a child in need when you can't afford to eat yourself, although I assume there are oranizations in place to prevent that. Ideally I would also want to be in a committed relationship. I don't know if that is in my near future if at all, however if it is in the cards I am more than ready. Now onto the truth of this post.
I have approached a fork in the road. For once, I have a summer with too much to do. So here is the big question, do I take a luxurious and relaxing vacation to the dominican republic? Or do I stand up for my rights in this crucial time for gay rights and attend Pittsburgh Pridefest 2010? A vacation would be wonderful. I have been telling myself for the longest time that I need a vacation, but on the other hand, Pridefest is the one time a year that I feel okay with who I am and enjoy being around people just like me. As of this moment no plans are in place, so hopefully I can manage to do both, but this isn't the perfect world. So now I'm going to lay out my reasons for each and hoping the truth will come from the brainstorming.
The Dominican Republic is a foreign country. It's another stamp on my passport, and a great opportunity to help me see the world. My major hangup with this trip is the fact that flying for overweight people isn't just uncomfortable, it's dehumanizing. Look at the situation with Kevin Smith. An overweight gentleman that responsibly booked two seats on a flight was removed from a flight because the AIRLINE overbooked the flight. My opinion is that he lost both of his seats because the airline saw it as a situation where they could seat two people and make two people happy, while only losing the business of one person, and only having to apologize to one person. I don't want a situation like this to throw a huge wrench into the family vacation my mom is looking forward to. This is on top of the fact that I have little desire to go on a carribean vacation. We will be going to an all inclusive resort which means that we get to drink and relax all we want, but as far as the culture? I doubt very much we will get to see any of the real Dominican Republic besides the watered-down version served up for tourists.
Pridefest is really important to me. As I already said, it is the one time of the year that I get to be proud of being a homosexual. The mentality of pridefest is just that, pride. Unlike my everyday life there is no assumption of heterosexuality, simply acceptance for existance in general. When I am there, I feel like I take a small piece of everyone there home with me. I have also made some plans for this year. A group of friends and I will not only have a hotel room to crash in after pride in the streets and lots of drinking, but I will have many friends at pride this year. I'm not going into details but lets just say pridefest will be one of the best yet for me so far, and that is something I don't want to miss, look back on later and regret missing the time of my life.
As of now I am leaning towards passing on the Dominican Republic vacation. Everyone thinks I am crazy, however I'm not quite sure that anyone understands how important Pridefest is to me. Well I have officially drank an entire bottle of wine during writing this entry, and I have to evacuate my bladder. I pray I won't regret the decision I make, whatever I decide.
Ciao.
