Bursting the Bubble

While a more responsible blogger would have taken the time he was snowed in to blog like 85 blogs to save up for all your blog-ready bloggy pleasure, I was without my computer, snowed in to my home away from school in Novi this weekend. After managing to pick up my friend Erin from the Detroit airport (when originally I was supposed to snag her from the Lansing airport), the two of us were too tired to do anything except go to bed.

Anyway, as you well know, I am obsessed with spring syllabi(sexual) week, because it’s second only to welcome week in it’s fun factor and usefulness for partying. This one is particularly exciting as it’s followed by a long weekend due to my homie MLKJ’s day. (Join in the fun and make it a tradition of screaming “I have a dream!!” at midnight.)

This semester will get off to a great start. I’m working more than I’m going to class this semester and gasp, probably more than I’m partying. Where have my priorities gone? I only have one class on Mondays and Wednesdays and then two classes on Tueday. And. That’s. It. This is a slightly less dramatic end to my tenure at MSU than I had thought, but will be a fun one nonetheless.

Aside from that little “ketchup,” remember that fashion weeks are starting, so my homepage has been swtiched to Style.com and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the men’s shows this week.

Good luck to everyone else on their new semesters!

Despite my attempt at the non-procrastination as I said in the new issue of The Big Green, I’ve never been much of a resolution keeper. I’ve stopped drinking soda for several months, tried working out a bit more, eating better, reading more. None of them really stuck.

This year, I’ll be heading to New York and Boston (just in time for the Barney’s Warehouse sale) followed by a family trip to Mexico in early April. So my goal to get in shape has more riding on it than ever. (That is assuming I will get my sister to go to a gay club with me in Mexico and that I’ll have any money leftover for some Alexander McQueen jeans.)

But really, I’ll just resolve to be happier and enjoy what time I have left in the pretend world that exists only inside college. Hello vodka. Hello parties. Hello best friends. And can we hope for my sanity, hello boys.

I wrote a blog a while ago about the ignorant straight guys who tell me how cool they are with my lifestyle since, you know, they have met another gay person before.

I’ve come to realize that something about my non-threatening nature has made me somewhat of a liaison to the straight douchebag community of the world. I honestly don’t mind answering questions and helping friends out of awkward situations when it comes to being politically correct or not being, well, fucking ignorant.

But it can get tiresome when so many people only see you as a big gay teacher of acceptance. After being out for years and much of which I was many of my friends’ only gay friend, it feels like this big part of my personality is all a lot of people see.

But I humor them because getting bogged down in that can make a person really cynical. So instead I am friendly and funny let them know that being gay isn’t such a serious thing all the time. I love the straights. After all, I wouldn’t exist if they didn’t. Ninety percent of my best friends are straight and if I can be that one gay friend that changes the minds of the ignoramuses of the world, then that’s fine.

Just thought I’d give a little update about what I’m currently into.

1. Red for spring.

[My inspiration as created in a 20 minute photoshop session. Click to enlarge.]

Since the winter season is just a lot of scarfs and coats, which basically involves covering up what your wearing and staying inside as much as possible, I use most of the winter to ready my spring wardrobe, which is usually my most prepared season. This season, I’m complimenting last springs vast amounts of purple with some nice shades of red. I’m also really into channeling the 90s with lots of t-shirts with cardigans and funky hats. Even back to sporting my circa 1998 Abercrombie baseball cap with bright red brim and letters.

2. Twitter.

I know I haven’t been posting here for a while, but I’ve been very active on twitter. Sure it’s like glorified Facebook statuses but when you get to follow Britney, Darth Vader and MyBigVagina, it’s also quite fun. Join and follow me!

3. Chanel Pre-Fall 2009


Way to go Karl. Also, if you have an iPod touch or iPhone, download the Chanel App now!
To view my whole lookbook from Pre-Fall 2009, click here.

4. James Dean

Instant Netflicks is my god.

5. Bastard Life

Because honestly, what is sexier than a bisexual?

6. Whitney Houston

She’s my jam master.

7. Ding Dong a Long Bong a Long

Quite possibly my favorite YouTube video of all time. Favorite it.
(Side note: reenacting this is just as fun as you’d imagine. Also very fun in the produce section of Kroger at 10 at night when you and your roommate are the only ones in the grocery store.)

8. Prop 8 the Musical

Just to add some gay to this post. I know most people have already seen it.

9. Emma & Nate

So cute. Congrats! (I know it should be higher, whatever.)

10. Chase Crawford VMan.

Enough said.

Also, just as a bonus. I’m sure you’re all aware of my hyperventilation of this.

Click to enlarge.

Hi, my name is Jordan Barnes and I’m here to recruit you.

Last night, my BLF4L (best lesbian friend for life) Mara and I went out to the movies in a nearly deserted city of East Lansing. I can honestly say that the movie, Milk, may have changed my life. While, I have been to known to be somewhat of crier (every time Cedric Dies in HP4 and even now and then watching a Law and Order episode), the performances of Sean Penn, James Franco and others was beyond touching. Emile Hirsch’s character Cleve Jones was especially endearing. I had streaming tears several times.

And while we look at far we’ve come, we haven’t come far enough. In 1978 Harvey Milk and activists in California celebrated a victory in the “No on 6″ campaign which was basically enforcing rights of public schools to have the power to terminate the jobs of teachers who were found to be homosexual or supporters of homosexuals. In 2008, while teacher’s unions and many large corporations have contractual obligations not to fire gay employees, Michigan as a state does not protect it’s employees discrimination based on sexual orientation. And as we’ve seen, even California couldn’t keep gay marriages legal (well, we’ll see).

One of the most compelling things about the movie was how beautiful gay culture seemed pre-AIDS and how strong the movement was. (Harvey had an estimated 30,000 people march in a candlight vigil following his assassination.)

I also found, in general, Harvey’s message extremely compelling and relevant. He expressed a call to action for gays to come out of the closet to their families, their friends and their co-workers because being gay is more than just who you have sex with - it’s our entire lives. It affects almost every decision I make and many decisions that are unfortunately made for me.

I’m tired. I’m tired of hearing the words “discreet” and “closeted.” I’m tired of the gay community being OK with these terms. Being gay is amazing - it’s not something to be ashamed of, to be scared of, not something to hide. I understand I come from a place of privilege where my family and friends welcomed my faggotry with open arms, but you shouldn’t let anyone keep you from happiness.

I have been called a faggot. I’ve been hated. I’ve been threatened with physical violence and I think it affected the people around me more than it did myself. I’m not brave, I just care a lot about myself and my community. I wonder why the closeted and the discreet are depriving their families and friends of knowing someone gay and of loving someone gay.

So come out, come out, wherever you are and whoever you are. There are people who will accept you no matter what. And one of them is right here.

I can’t pinpoint the exact time when I decided how important women are in my life. My whole life has always revolved around women. And so many women revolved around me. I was born into a house where women had previously held a 3-1 majority. My then-teenage sisters quickly took on the roles of second and third moms, having no problem cuddling me, spoiling me and quite often bossing me around.

I was always my mom’s favorite shopping buddy – spending hours every day during the summers shopping the mall. My dad is the same way. He loves sports, but also loved watching his son in plays and his daughters at dance recitals. My mom had him trained to love shopping, cooking and doing the laundry long before I was born. And neither of us ever forget to put the toilet seat down.

Sure, my good friends growing up had names like Daniel, Bobby, Anthony, Brett, Greg, Matt and Jon. But my best friends had names like Libby, Jenny, Jamie, Madalyn, Tiffany, Tori, Rachel and Jessica. I would have rather stayed home with the girls down the street playing house than going to soccer practice with the boys.

My sisters were in high school when I was born and acting as two other mothers to me. And sometimes, yeah, they were real mothers’. We’re closer than ever now and during a great night at the bar, we can reminisce about my days in diapers when I would entertain their friends by doing pirouettes and toe-points. They clearly weren’t surprised when I came out.

I think my path to feminism was largely coming from being gay. The bond between gay men and women and especially this gay man and his women is huge. They are my world. They are shoulders to cry on and I am in return. And occasionally, if I have to, I’ll even make a threat to a friend’s hurtful boyfriend and I’ve even made one cry.

I’ve now been out for three years, but really only proud for about two of those. I realized that being gay is something to be celebrated and as tacky as it is, sometimes you have to do it with rainbow flags and drag queens. I think that’s where the women’s movement has lost speed. Being a woman is just something you are, not something your proud of for most women. The gay movement is definitely falling in line, but our sense of tradition and the fact that there are more and more of us coming out with each coming year helps. There is no point where people first express being women, it just sort of happens, where all gay people at some point come out.

Though I came from a very conservative background, I know consider myself “liberal as fuck.” At 18, I fell in line and registered to vote as a Republican in my home town (only to then vote straight-ticket Democrat three years later in my first Presidential election). I also went from supporting Bush to giving my support for bush. Now, in my senior year, living with all women for the second school year in a row, I’m the one lecturing them on how important keeping abortion legal is, how they are oppressed by men and they usually roll their eyes and mumble something about my feminism classes. I got in college and starting listening to Judy and reading Judith. I write papers on the homosexual parallels of my favorite Saturday morning superhero cartoons. Sure my life doesn’t revolve around the fact that I’m pro-feminist and gay, but it no doubt influences every decision I make.

In my job, I’m one of the only men out of the staff and interns. The past two years, I’ve lived with eight women and one gay man. My family is largely dominated by women. My life centers on them: the people, the women. How could I not have lead down this path? Women are my best friends, my bosses, my teachers, my shopping buddies, my bar buddies, my roommates, my family and my soul mates. They are the people I fight with and that I want to fight for.

Although I think the whole product(red) thing is a bit obnoxious, I guess getting consumers on board with giving money simply because it’s trendy is better than not giving any at all. So go to star bucks, buy your coffee today and Starbucks will be making a huge donation to the World Aids Fund with 5 cents from every drink they sell today. I go enough anyway that I’m going to make sure to go today. So even if you don’t give a shit, buy a cup of coffee and a gap(red) T-shirt because every little bit helps.

Back to blogging regularly. Promises. I’m going to be trying some new things like writing more short essays and posting them as blogs. Also, still considering the whole video thing though it’s getting a bit played out.

These videos are a cute idea. But someone should really do a better job at them.

Like for example, these my fave funny boys:

I haven’t posted a my favorite things right now blog in a while, so here you go!

1. Chuck Bass/Ed Westwick/Gossip Girl

XOXO

2. Serial Killers

I know, I know. My mom’s afraid I’ll become one too. But I can’t help wiki-ing everyone from the Oakland County Child Killer to the Zodiac Killer to the Green River killer to my favorite Ted Bundy.

3. My iPod Touch

Not quite as awesome as the iPhone, but still pretty awesome. I love googling wherever I am and reading blogs in class instead of paying attention.

4. Bow Ties

Thanks, Chuck.

5. The Big Green

Always one of my most treasured favorite things of all time. But still read this months issue. It’s really good.

6. The Watchmen

Although, I’ve heard the movie is being barred from view which is a real tragedy, I started reading the Graphic Novel and clearly I’m obsessed. Duh, superheroes. Evil ones.

Since my skills as a blogger clearly need some work. I feel like I’ve lost most of my readership due to inactivity and that, well, I really haven’t been updating on a regular basis for over a year (something I have changed, as you hopefully noticed).

As some of you know, this summer, I lived with Korey of the 5AwesomeGays and made at least a cameo or two on the channel — nothing special. But that got me thinking that maybe as an extension of my blog, I should start vlogging at least one of entries every week. Since I blog so much about fashion, I though it would be nice for you to see how I dress more regularly… and that I really don’t look like my picture in the corner anymore. This also would be a great way to get new readers, etc.

Thoughts? Is anyone even still reading? Comment if you read it.