MikeSpeaksOut!

PrideFest 2K8 ~ 15 Years

It's hard to believe that another PrideFest is here. Unlike many other Gaymmunities, we celebrate Pride in the month of March...YES, March. If we celebrated it during the summer months, there would be people collapsing let and right because of the heat. We celebrate a major milestone this year. Compass, Palm Beach County's Gay and Lesbian Community Center (of which I am a board member) is celebrating 25 years of serving our community and 15 years of Pride...we started off very small..but now host well over 10,000 individuals to our Pride. As the largest GLCC in the south and the 5th largest in the nation....I am sooo proud of all we have accomplished. In conjunction with Pride, we are giving tours of what will be our new facility -- which will double our floor space and allow us to serve more and more individuals. We will also serve as a disaster relief facility if (God forbid) we have the need to.

Again this year I am in charge of the parade. Nothing like trying to get "the gays" ready to do a parade. This gives "gay standard time" (GST) a whole new meaning....but the parade will (and always does) go off on time.

Today is also a somber day. This will be my first Pride without "LaLa". As I blogged earlier, Michael "La La" Brown was tragically killed...about a week and a half ago. I saw some employees of his at Pride yesterday. They assured me they would march in the parade. A special panel is at Pride so that we can all say our goodbye to this great man. We are hosting a "Celebration of Life" ceremony at the conclusion of the festival. Please read this great article.

Look down on us from heaven, La La. Pride is in Season.....and you had a lot to do with where we are today! As we unfold the quilt panels today, we honor all you did for us!

The Great Equalizer...

So...there I was...enjoying a few moments of "me time". Chillin' sitting in serene peacefulness. Then it happened...it all had to end.

Then everything went dreadfully wrong. Even after spending more than $200 at Target yesterday, I forgotten something. THE GREAT EQUALIZER OF THE MASSES. THE MOST WORSHIPFUL OBJECT IN OUR SOCIETY.........THE TOILET PAPER!

Regardless of who you are, where you live, or how much money you make....Toilet paper is always the great equalizer. Being without it...can bring even the strongest man to his...well....knees. Now I have had my TP moments of fear. There was that time in Hong Kong when I went to use the public restroom. They didn't tell me that in some Asian countries you get the toilet paper BEFORE you go into the stall. From that point forward, I travelled with a ziplock bag of TP in my pocket. I keep a roll behind the driver's seat in my car...and even have one in my desk at work. All hail the TP!

Do you know that they even have a virtual Toilet Paper Museum? Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia's definition of toilet paper:

Toilet paper is a soft paper product used to maintain personal hygiene after human defecation or urination. It differs in composition somewhat from facial tissue, and is designed to decompose in septic tanks, which some other bathroom and facial tissues do not. Most septic tank manufacturers advise against using paper products that are non-septic tank safe. Different names are used for toilet paper in countries around the world, including "loo roll/paper", "toilet roll", "dunny roll/paper", "bog roll", "TP", or "bathroom/toilet tissue". There are also numerous vulgar slang terms, such as "bumph" or "crack wipe".

Stand By Your Man!

No words ring more true :)