The Moon Garden Lounge

Hi Moon Gardneners -

As usual I'm never quite sure when and where to jump in as a number of thoughts and postings have been coming through lately, and sometimes I feel a little slow in responding.

Anyway, first of all, I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed and thought about everyone's latest posts - including some great videos - the Bird Murmuration (for birdy Annala); "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" (which sparked some good conversations and thoughts in my household); the Jane Sidberry / kd lang video (bliss!); and the Barney Miller episode (one of my all-time favorite TV shows; they don't make 'em like they used to, do they?)

What I want to mention here is about the new poster from Finland and Sauli. First of all, I admire the spunk and bravery of ninaballerina, one of our newest posters, on staying with her thoughts and not ducking for cover until she was sure she was understood. I must admit that at first I wondered what was going on here - but with subsequent posts between her and other Atopers it became more clear that there were some cultural issues and feelings about Sauli that needed to be addressed, and I think I now have a better understanding of where she was coming from. I'm glad she stuck it out in such a positive way - and judging from her timeline, I think she's young, about the age of one of my granddaughters.

As for Sauli, I have great admiration for him. He shows a similar positive spunk and determination. Here he was a celebrity in his own right in Finland, and then he made the leap of faith to come to the US to be with Adam. This had to be a major move for him - not only in cultural, language, and even climate changes, but also in the change of perception in how others might see him in the US more as the boyfriend of Adam and not a person in his own right with his own successes. All of this could not have been easy. While Adam was going through the slow "down time" when creating his new album, I think this was also a very important time for Sauli and Adam where they had the chance to really bond and get used to their new situation - just doing the simple things - jogging, the juicing thing, getting to know Adam's family and friends (including visits with his friends' new babies), and just settling down to be homebodies. Adam once said "I think we're beginning to get boring" - and I think "boring" can be a good thing sometimes, especially on such a frenetic roller-coaster ride as the music business. Sauli also got out and about and made connections with other Finnish people in SoCal. But what really sold me on Sauli was during the aftermath of the debacle last winter when they both ended up in the drunk tank. While the media and Adam were scrambling on how to address this kerfuffle, Sauli stepped forward and said "Love is not always easy, but love is enduring". Eloquent and simple - that was all that needed to be said. When I read that I thought - Sauli, you're a good man. He's rock solid - and I'm so glad that he and Adam found each other.

Well, how odd is this that I just posted about my bi-sexual nephew on this page yesterday and today had a very unusual experience. A violin student of mine who just moved to town told me a story about cross-dressing for a Halloween Day at school today. He said that now there are people speculating that he is gay, but "I'm not. I'm bi-sexual. My parents don't know." Oh my. Sounds like family will be tough on him. He has made some very good friends and is active in the Gay-Straight Alliance Club. So at least he has some support. He also reported that the mock election at his high school had over 70% support of the gay marriage referendum.

I think this is good, and that in general, young people today don't have the homophobia of our (baby boomers) generation. I hope this kid will be OK. If he cross dressed for Halloween, surely his parents noticed, so maybe it won't be hard for him. Also, he is lucky to be at a large school that has a Gay/Straight Alliance club. A lot of smaller schools don't have this kind of thing, and it can still be very hard.

Also, like I said in my earlier post, lots of kids and families grew up with Will & Grace, which was a funny and positive show, and I think it helped to shift the perception that people had. Now, we have had Brothers and Sisters for several years, and many other shows are incorporating gay couples, PLL episode that Adam was on has a lesbian couple. It almost seems like the new normal (isn't there a new sitcom out called that?) to include gay couples in the mix of characters on TV shows, so there are a lot more examples out there to be seen, to be accepted, and to change the way people view gay people. It all helps to eradicate the ignorance and predjudice.
I think we are getting there as a society, slowly but surely.

I have been throttled any number of times ,by The mods and by one or two Adamtopian folks who seem to get angry at me for giving my opinion from time to time.
Nevertheless I've been here since Planet fierce and I love Adam ,Adam news and feel a real kinship to so many of the really caring,funny and just plain wonderful people on this blog.
A special Thank you to Juniemoon who helped convince me not to jump ship and invited me to the Moon Garden. :wub: