We're here! We're here! (Doesn't anybody wanna give a cheer?)
Quick post from Yaoi-Con-- having an AMAZING time! (All my pictures are crap-- it's inside, no natural light! Sorry!)
I am here with my favorite peeps-- my daughter, my bestest bestie ever, and really really happy people who like yaoi and m/m romance and who enjoy talking shop and saying, "OMG, they're SUCH a cute couple!" and, in general, it's an AWESOME sort of place to be!
A really quick story, and then I have to run downstairs for breakfast--
We were all having discussions about our shuttle ride from LAX to Long Beach. Mary's shuttle driver was bringing his niece in from Pakistan with his earnings because he wanted her to have a better life. Nessa's shuttle was full of irritated conservatives in shorts and sandals, who were convinced that moving Long Beach twenty minutes from LAX was a leftist liberal plot.
My guy?
My guy was sort of awesome. He was Latino, a father, a lifetime resident of the LA area, and one of the nicest guys on the planet. But he asked me why I was in town, and we started talking, and he admitted, candidly and with delicacy, that he didn't understand what happened to gay people to turn them that way.
I asked him--still smiling, because, did I mention he's a sweet guy?-- when his first crush was. Did he remember who it was on? How old was he? I said I remembered my first crush. I was nine, he was the local day camp guitar teacher, his name was Gary, and he thought I was smart because I knew the song title of every song he knew, just from the first few words. He laughed, and I said, "It's exactly the same way for gays and lesbians, except--"
"Really? Their first crush is on the same sex?"
"Yeah. Just as natural as ours was on the opposite sex, except for a lot of them, they're told they don't know it's a real crush because they can't be gay."
"So, do they know what causes it? Is it something that happens to them or--"
"There's a chromosomal marker--it's something they're born with, like you have brown eyes and I have curly hair. God made them that way."
He was flabbergasted. "Really? Really? Why don't people know that? You know what we need? People need to know that! That's important. We need education!"
I love that guy. I really do.
I am here with my favorite peeps-- my daughter, my bestest bestie ever, and really really happy people who like yaoi and m/m romance and who enjoy talking shop and saying, "OMG, they're SUCH a cute couple!" and, in general, it's an AWESOME sort of place to be!A really quick story, and then I have to run downstairs for breakfast--
We were all having discussions about our shuttle ride from LAX to Long Beach. Mary's shuttle driver was bringing his niece in from Pakistan with his earnings because he wanted her to have a better life. Nessa's shuttle was full of irritated conservatives in shorts and sandals, who were convinced that moving Long Beach twenty minutes from LAX was a leftist liberal plot.
My guy?
My guy was sort of awesome. He was Latino, a father, a lifetime resident of the LA area, and one of the nicest guys on the planet. But he asked me why I was in town, and we started talking, and he admitted, candidly and with delicacy, that he didn't understand what happened to gay people to turn them that way.
I asked him--still smiling, because, did I mention he's a sweet guy?-- when his first crush was. Did he remember who it was on? How old was he? I said I remembered my first crush. I was nine, he was the local day camp guitar teacher, his name was Gary, and he thought I was smart because I knew the song title of every song he knew, just from the first few words. He laughed, and I said, "It's exactly the same way for gays and lesbians, except--"
"Really? Their first crush is on the same sex?"
"Yeah. Just as natural as ours was on the opposite sex, except for a lot of them, they're told they don't know it's a real crush because they can't be gay."
"So, do they know what causes it? Is it something that happens to them or--"
"There's a chromosomal marker--it's something they're born with, like you have brown eyes and I have curly hair. God made them that way."
He was flabbergasted. "Really? Really? Why don't people know that? You know what we need? People need to know that! That's important. We need education!"
I love that guy. I really do.
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message 1:
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Logan
(new)
Oct 13, 2012 04:08PM
Awww Amy you just get better and better every single day!! Maybe just maybe, because of you, we have one more enlightened being in this world. See, you will ALWAYS be a teacher. It will never matter where you actually go to work each day.
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Hi Amy. I am embarrassed to admit that I only recently "found" you as an author. I am about halfway though Sidecar and it is fantastic. I am interested to read your other books (clearly, a tall order!). I also have to add that, living in Folsom, I am glad to "know" and author in my area (it is fun to read about places I know well). Do you ever visit book clubs if we read your books? Anyhow, I also find that many people are uneducated about how sexual feelings and sexuality works, and I love the simple question that you asked to get this guy thinking. I have to ask, however, about why Joe and Casey would go to Leatherby's creamery. I mean, I really love it there, but the amount of money they gave to the "yes on 8" campaign in astounding. Also, to make matters worse, they whined about the fact that other people got to know that they gave this much money to that hateful proposition. I mean, how hypocritical is it that you take a position (however hateful) and then are afraid or ashamed to back it up. Anyhow, like I said, I am only halfway through, maybe you address this later. Sorry for the loooong message!!
Hi Jennifer--I know that Leatherby's is not gay friendly--however, I grew up in the area in the 80's. As unfriendly as they might have been politically to gay people in general, in 1988 (long before Prop 8 or even its predecessor, Prop 25), they would have been THE place to take a high school student for ice cream. I didn't necessarily want to give them free publicity as much as I wanted to show the world of that era as clearly as I could.
But I would love to visit a book club if you decide to read my books! You can contact me via my website at www.greenshill.com --I'd love to hear from you!
Amy
Ah yes! I forgot that it was the 80's! That makes sense. I grew up in Oakland and the happening place was Denny's. Thanks so much for answering - and I will contact you about a book club visit after we pick a book!!
Jenifer wrote: "Ah yes! I forgot that it was the 80's! That makes sense. I grew up in Oakland and the happening place was Denny's. Thanks so much for answering - and I will contact you about a book club visit afte..."Awesome! I'd love to come chat!
Amy
Logan wrote: "Awww Amy you just get better and better every single day!! Maybe just maybe, because of you, we have one more enlightened being in this world. See, you will ALWAYS be a teacher. It will never matte..."*hugs* Thanks, sweetie!
Have you been reading "Bear, Otter and the Kid", Amy? That title could sure have been in one of the Kid's poems
Kathleen wrote: "Have you been reading "Bear, Otter and the Kid", Amy? That title could sure have been in one of the Kid's poems"LOL-- I actually stole it from a song from the Animaniacs:-)
Jenifer wrote: "Ah yes! I forgot that it was the 80's! That makes sense. I grew up in Oakland and the happening place was Denny's. Thanks so much for answering - and I will contact you about a book club visit afte..."Denny's? Denny's! Bah! What about Fenton's? Or, in Berkeley back in the day, Edy's? Or Ortmann's, if you lived on "the other side" of town. ;) I know many (most?) of my generation loathe the Starbucks that replaced Ortmann's and take a great deal of schadenfreude in the inability of any business to stay in the former Edy's location for long.
But I digress... what I really wanted to say (before I got distracted by ice creamery politics, lol) was: great post, Amy! I love your shuttle driver, yes, but your awesomeness contributed to his. :D
I love your talk with the driver.Sometimes it's just a matter of gently giving people the facts that can make them see the truth.
Amy wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "Have you been reading "Bear, Otter and the Kid", Amy? That title could sure have been in one of the Kid's poems"LOL-- I actually stole it from a song from the Animaniacs:-)"
OMG! I love the Animaniacs! I thought that sounded familiar. LOL
