Resolve

Well hello, 2012.  You're colder than I expected....

As I sit and type this I'm looking out over late afternoon traffic in what appears to be a bright, pleasant sunset. What the scene doesn't reflect is the cold wind that has taken over, and that temperatures here in Charleston fell from the 70's over the weekend to the high 30's and low 40's today.  Currently the wind-chill makes it feel like the upper 20's.  I'm not saying that to whine (especially given the fact that the current temperature in Rochester is 10 degrees) so much as to share that things aren't always as serene as they might appear.

I like that word.  Serene.  A sense of peace, or calm.  It comes around every once in a while, but like the tides it's elusive and makes itself scarce again. 

In one of my posts from last week I mentioned that I had chatted with a guy from CNN for a story he was writing about the CNN Dialogues event we did in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago.  The article is up and online now (read it here).  I do wish that they'd post some of the video from it - I'm told it'll be coming but nothing yet....

The crux of his questioning, and what he eventually used as his title, was my statement that the LGBT community isn't necessarily a community.  At least not in the way we're most often portrayed.  It came as a surprise to him that some/many who self-identify as trans have encountered issues of acceptance with LGB people.  I certainly have.  And sometimes it's simply ignorance and the lack of opportunity to be around us but sometimes there's more to it.

BTW thanks to a friend on FB for this cartoon...

I'm a big believer in "community" and it'd be disingenuous of me to say I don't think the letters belong together because I do.  But I like the way this reporter put it: LGB and T.  I suppose some would be offended because the T was being kept outside of the 3 other letters.  But frankly, I think it's more representative of how things really are.

Speaking of ignorance...an ABC show titled "Work It" is scheduled to debut this evening.  It looks like a crude, disgusting version of Bosom Buddies from the 80s without any of that show's good nature or humor.  There has been quite the uproar about it in recent weeks, and tonights the night that it finally makes it's debut.  Yuck. (link here)

In a similar theme:  News today that a New Zealand tampon company pulled what has been attacked as a "transphobic" commercial featuring a draq queen and what appears to be a cisgender woman primping in a bathroom....



Both are stereotypical representations.  Both pander to the age-old, dead-but-never-gone, men-in-dresses theme.  And, both are offensive to some/many.

Should either of them be "banned"?  Heck no.  We're not talking about terrorism here.  And I daresay that all the hoopla about "Work It" is far more than it deserves - it looks horrible in every aspect.  But if it's funny and it sells product, it will endure.  That's the nature of the beast.

I'll admit that I smiled when I watched the tampon ad, and I personally don't consider it transphobic (at least by my definition).  Where is that line?  I really don't know, and I expect it's different in each of us.  But I can't help but wonder what would have happened if my favorite Holiday Inn Super Bowl commercial were released today.  Would it be attacked as "transphobic", too?  Even after all these years, it still makes me smile at the end....



What about this commercial for Coors?


It that "transphobic" too? What the difference?

Or, this one....


I could see some humor in the first couple.....but not the last one. 

Needless to say, I won't be watching "Work It" tonight.  I'm headed off to the gym to get back on the wagon.  My eating binge came to an end as of this morning, and so did my "vacation" from working out.  I've been off for a week and I can feel it.  I'm hoping that a good run on the treadmill is just what the doctor ordered.

I'm expecting it to be busy over at the gym.  People make their New Year's Resolutions and it often involves getting in shape or losing weight.  For as long as I can remember fitness centers get clogged during the first few weeks of the year while people still have their new-found resolve.  But by mid-February it'll be over.  It always is.

I have a couple of resolutions myself. Actually, they're more like things to do, or improve on. One guy on The Today Show said that it was far more effective to come up with weekly resolutions than annual ones as people tend to forget them over time. Well, I'll try to remind myself of a few of these things regularly.  We'll see if they're still in effect by mid-February....

Oh - I watched 60 Minutes this weekend and there was a segment on this guy who climbs/scales things without topes.  It was amazing. Watch it if you have a few minutes to spare. (see it here).