Every time, without fail that I hear someone sing a Queen song, I always say to myself..”I could sing that sooo mucb better”! So, now’s my chance to show the world I actually can. Although it isn’t my best vocal performance, the video quality is shit, and I am singing into a red toothbrush I use for guitar repairs (it was for comedic purposes) I think it’s pretty decent. Of course everyone saw the video of my competition yesterday, who everyone already has pegged to win. And honestly, he sounds great in the video. I won’t say he’s better than me, but he sings Somebody to Love much better. I’d pick him too if the contest was over tomorrow.

Regardless of how it turns out, I decided now was the time for me to put myself out there. I’ve never entered a competition like this before, and never had a video I posted online where over 10,000 people have watched since yesterday morning. I also LOVE getting all the youtube comments. Most of them have actually been pretty favorable. It’s pretty great.

That’s where you come in friends. Please go and watch my audition video. Tell all of your friends, and spread the word. Regardless of how this thing turns out, I’m just doing it for fun. I truly never expected to win, or anything like that. I just love Queen, and thought this would be a nice way to pay tribute to my musical heroes. Besides, there is the slightest possibility that Brian and Roger have already seen me sing. That alone, is worth it. Thanks guys, and I hope you enjoy.

-B-

For those of you that don’t know, I was raised in a very conservative christian church. It was fire, brimstone, and pounding pulpits twice every Sunday, and once on Wednesday. It wasn’t quite Westboro Baptist, but it wasn’t that far off either. We couldn’t swim in the same pool as girls, we were forbidden to go to high school dances lest we sin against God. One sermon in particular, we were even taught that we couldn’t do PTA cakewalk’s because it was a form of gambling. Which, you guessed it, is also a sin. For most of my grade school and teenage years, I was for sure everyone I knew was going to hell. Eventually, my parents realized that their theology didn’t quite mesh with this particular churches, so we left. I wish I could say the same for the rest of my family…but again, another blog.

If gambling, cakewalk’s, and dancing were sins, then you could sure as hell bet that being gay was. Not only was it considered a sin, it was an abomination! They kicked it up a notch or two with this one. Girl on girl, and guy on guy was definitely an express lane to hell. I didn’t really grasp the concept of what it meant to be “gay” when I was younger, I just knew I did not want to be it. I knew that God “hated” gay people, and they were choosing this lifestyle. I mean the bible even says “If you’re a dude, don’t have sex with a dude…right? Thankfully, I didn’t stay thinking that way long. I learned that these things not only weren’t true, they were utter bullshit.

I don’t want to embarrass anyone, or name names for sake of privacy, but my way of thinking changed drastically when I met a very special person. He started out as my boss when I was a junior in high school, and become much more than that as the years past. As a matter of fact, it was his wedding I was referencing above. If I’d never met this particular person, I would have never known anything else about gay people, other than the lies I was told in church. Meeting him, and all of his friends was like opening my eyes to the real world. I started to see people for who they were, and didn’t listen to what people told me they were. It suddenly didn’t matter to me what anyone did, or who they loved…I just loved them! They were great, and I didn’t care about anything else. I was free!

Since then, I’ve met many more people just like them. More gay people, bi-sexual people, people of varying religions, people of different ethnicities, republicans, etc. All of whom I was understanding of, thanks in no small part to the great people I met as a teenager. I was a lucky one however. Even though my parents were raised in churches that taught things like that, they themselves knew better. They never taught me to hate anyone for being different. That is probably one of the greatest lessons I learned from them. To quote Bill Maher..they taught me how to be “Christ-like, and not Christian.” There are still plenty of people out there who needlessly hate. Because of these teachings of hatred, and fear of the unknown, we still live in a society where my friends can’t legally spend the rest of their lives with someone they love. I hope one day my daughter will be free to marry whomever she pleases. We still have a long ways to go. One day, we’ll all look back on these days and wonder what the hell we were thinking!

I’m definitely not saying I’m perfect, or have always been the model of tolerant. Everyone of us judges people on a daily basis, whether we know it or not. I have been guilty of these things, and still will be many times over. I’m only human, and am still a work in progress. What I am saying though, is thank you to those who have helped me understand. Thank you to them for helping me see people more and more for who they really are, and not always listen to what some bigot says about them. It’s people like you, that people like me wouldn’t be the same without. I love you all.

Cheers
-B-
B

I’m not giving up my tumblr or anything either. I still love a lot of the features there, and I have many friends there as well. I just plan on using this site as more of my “professional” blog if you will. So, today on what is my three year wedding anniversary I have reactivated the wordpress, and hope you all will follow me here. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Until next time.

-B-