TetRefine

Man do I hear you on learning the lesson plans. One thing a lot of people don't realize about teaching is that the way things are taught now is radically different (mostly for the better) then the way we learned in school. Having taught kindergarten, first, and second grade math has been a revolutionary experience for me in the way I think about the fundamentals of math. I'm moving to a new school in a new city in a new state that uses a completely different curriculum then what I teach now. So like you, a big chunk of my summer will be devoted to learning it so I can actually teach it to my kiddos when the school year comes around. If you think teachers just get one, long vacation in July and August, you are sorely mistaken.

That camping trip sounds like a lot of fun (and work with three boys!) I have a pretty busy summer ahead of me... June- Leaving my current job, moving to New York City, and of course NYC World Pride at the end of the month. July- Taking the month off from work, a weekend in Fire Island for Pines Party, and a weekend in Asbury Park to chill at the beach. August- Starting my new job, long weekend in Chicago for Market Days, and finally finishing up graduate school.

I've been a member of GA now for almost ten years, which might as well be a lifetime in the internet. I was 17, closeted, confused, and was just looking for any kind of escape from the miserable existence of high school in a small town. I met so many great people in those early days through chat, where I would stay for hours talking about anything and everything with whoever was in there. I learned to refine my debating skills in the old Soapbox, where ironically I was one of the most vocal conservative members. I remember some of the early stories I read on here that touched me: Viv's All I Wanted, and Camilo's The Perks Of Loving You. I would eventually meet my first boyfriend on this site, and we were together for over 6 years before we parted ways. I met up with two other GA members while I was on a trip to London, and enjoyed great conversation over two dinners. I recently ran into that ex-boyfriend in a bar in New York one random Saturday night. In a city of 8.6 million people, you oddly run into those you know. We hadn't really talked or seen each other in years. I didn't even know he was living there anymore, and to be honest I didn't really recognize him all that much initially (to be fair I was a few vodkas in). We said a quick 'hey, how's it going' and kept right on walking. At that moment and for the rest of the night what had just happened didn't really register. I went and found my boyfriend, and pretty much forgot it even happened. Fast forward a few days, and suddenly the whole encounter became incredibly strange to me. How could someone I dated for over six years and lived with for almost 2 seem like such a total, insignificant stranger now? At one point, he knew me better then anyone else, but now years removed, he might as well have been a passing acquittance. I'm not wishing to get back with him, as we really weren't meant to be together long-term. It worked great as teenagers and early twenty-somethings, but adulthood exposed the flaws. I learned a lot from him, and applied all that to my relationships afterward. I guess it just goes to show the fragility of human relationships and how totally they can change.

I was the originator of that thread....The point of it got twisted and misconstrued, partly because of my wording, and partly because my experiences have been completely lived within a big-city setting. But, gay people getting uppity and judgy about other people's lifestyle is dangerous and insanely hypocritical.....

At 27, I still can’t tie a tie well enough to wear. I’ve always gotten other people to tie them for me, then when I take it off I just loosen it and slip it over my head. That way I can just put it back on next time without having to tie it myself. Some of my ties have been tied for four or five years... In my defense, I only wear a tie probably 3-4x a year and despise every second it has to be around my neck.

Any progress is good progress!

I thought it would be fun to share stories of how we met our significant others. I met my boyfriend at (of all places) a circuit party. He was my friend's friend's ex's friend. I met his friend (the ex) first, and thought he was really sexy. Then my boyfriend-to-be came back from the bathroom and we got introduced, and I was floored by how incredibly sexy he was, forgetting all about the first guy, lol. We parted ways for a bit as the party got started, but a little while later he migrated back towards our group. He was shirtless and wearing only booty shorts and high-tops (the usual dress for a circuit, haha). We danced opposite each other in a group for a while, eyeing each other the whole time. Eventually he came right across to me and started grinding on me. I was instantly infatuated and we danced together for the next five hours until 6 in the morning. We traded numbers, and ended up visiting each other in New York or Philly every couple weekends. Finally after months of being friends with benefits and "circuit boyfriends", I asked him out one night as we were walking through Times Square subway station. He practically jumped into my arms and gave me a huge kiss right in the middle of the busiest station in all of New York. We met almost a year ago now, and have been officially dating for 6 months.

I thought you'd like that one.

An awesome remix of a great pro-gay song by the best DJ on the circuit, Dan Slater. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBaMRJxSJuk

I guess I just like tragedy. I like endings to be messy and not as we hoped. My absolute favorite book, Dancer From The Dance is tragic in just about every way. The setting, the lives of the characters, the characters themselves, and how it ends. The hopelessness and sense of loss that is present throughout the entire novel just gripped me in a way that no happy story ever could or can. It felt so gritty and real it was almost scary.

I tend to just skip over most sex scenes unless it really adds some depth to the story. Most sex scenes are, even in good stories, meant just to titilate the reader and it's boring. Also, I pretty much skip entirely over the teen romance genre. It's the same damn characters, with the same generic problem, in the same basic setting, over...and over...and over...and over again. So little of the stories told in that genre resemble reality (at least how it was in my teenage years) that they might as well call it fantasy. To me, it mostly comes off as "this is how I WISH it was when I was a teen." I don't know, maybe that's part of the appeal.

I remember in middle/high school, the main attractive look for men here in the US was the lean-muscled, "Abercromebie model" look. No beef, no body hair, no beard. Very boyish. Now it has transitioned back to a much more classic, "manly" look with beefier muscles, chest/facial hair, etc.