while stuffing envelopes tonight countless conversations flew back and forth between those of us committed enough (or who have no lives) to stuff envelopes for a massive party mailer, i had a conversation with one of the guys about music. it was brief and i don’t recall how it came up.

he made reference to pink floyd as a jam band (with a negative tone). ‘i don’t like jam bands,’ he said. pink floyd isn’t a jam band. at least, i’ve never thought it to be one. pink floyd is a classic rock band, the original alternative band. it’s not a jam band.

when i think of jam bands, three immediately spring to mind (though i’m sure there are more): grateful dead, phish, dave matthews band. not under any conditions would i place pink floyd in the same genre. don’t get me wrong, i like all three of those groups, but they’re not pink floyd. dark side of the moon? i mean, come on!

still, i need to send this out into the void that is the internet; is pink floyd a jam band? opinions? thoughts? comments?

…..

i think a friend of mine tried to set me up with another guy today. that’s never happened to me before. it was quite the surreal experience.

i was introduced, at least i thought, to help the guy do some prep work for a big event this month, but i now think it was as much pretense as anything else.  as i went back to work, my friend started to say things that immediately smacked of yenta.
think of things you’d say to someone if you were trying to set them up with a person they’ve never met: oh he’s/she’s cute, smart funny, blah, blah, blah.

it was bazaar. i didn’t know how to respond. i was so caught off guard, i don’t even remember if i actually responded or not. and now i have to find a polite, least awkward way in which to inform my friend that i am, in fact, not gay. at least, for me, there’s no way to keep it from being awkward. i’ve had this conversation once already this month.

of course, i knew i was going to have to have that one at some point. sitting on the board of the family equality coalition, all the other members are gay and i could tell they assumed i was as well. given the circumstances, i didn’t blame them. i doubt they’re accustomed to having a straight man work so hard on the gay marriage cause. so when i ‘came out,’ so to speak, it wasn’t really that awkward. of course, they were surprised, but ultimately thankful and glad that i, not being a member of the glbt community, was so committed to their cause.

aside from that, however, i’ve never quite understood what about me makes people think i’m gay. at one point, years ago, my parents, without directly asking,
asked if i was gay. though i told them i wasn’t, there’s a part of me that thinks they still might have that idea in their heads. clearly people i know, even friends, seem inclined toward that conclusion. i haven’t a clue why…. well, maybe a clue: i haven’t had a date, let alone a girlfriend in nearly six years. when did being horrifically bad with the opposite sex mean you’re gay?

now, this my come across as homophobic, for which i humbly apologize. i’m not. i don’t take offense because i don’t like gay people. i take offense because that’s not who i am. when people say i’m not liberal, i take the same offense. i am liberal!

so now, at some point, i have to sit down with this woman and clear the air. it will not be fun for me, though i’m fairly sure she’ll be embarrassed by her presumption. yes, an awkward conversation is looming.