Music and waterboarding

For this week's song, I have to do something different. It's not on YouTube, and I don't think Imeem will embed this right, so I put this up on Box.net instead.

The Twilight Sad - "Reflection of the Television"

This song was leaked not too long ago, as it's off their latest album which should be due next month. Already it's the one release I'm looking forward to this summer -- it's darker, but much more immediate, than anything off of Fourteen Summers, Fifteen Winters, while still keeping the folk-tinged punch-to-the-gut shoegaze that makes them stand out from the rest of the indie crowd. Even though I missed seeing them in concert this month, The Twilight Sad is still one of my favorite bands, and I can't wait until Forget the Night Ahead comes out.

And while we're still here:

Long story short: Right-wing talk radio host Mancow Muller gets waterboarded during his show; he can only hold out for about six seconds before he calls it for what it is -- torture.  Even if he hadn't been forcibly taken from his home, detained for seven years without trial, and gotten the chance to stop it like he did here.  Your turn, Sean Hannity....

Writer's Block: There Can Be Only One

[Error: unknown template qotd]This is tougher than it looks, but I'll give it a shot.

Do I believe monogamy exists? Yes.

Do I believe monogamous relationships can work? Of course! If you really want to make any relationship work, there's almost always a way to do so.

Do I believe monogamy is the only way a relationship ought to be? No. Some people are simply not cut out for monogamy, and need to be in open or polygamous relationships. And neither I nor anyone else in the world has the right to criticize them for such decisions. As long as people are happy and don't abuse the bodies, minds, or trust of the ones they love, who and how they love is none of my business.*

I believe there are a lot of misconceptions about monogamy, polygamy, and open relationships, not least of which due to powerful societal forces such as the media, the law, and the church. Polygamists do not need to be just crazy fundamentalists Christians who live in out in the boonies, meant to be looked down upon as if under a microscope. Nor are they just people simply looking to get as much sex as they can (though I also believe it is wrong to use polygamy as an excuse for womanizing or similar behavior). More people need to realize that people enter open or polygamous relationships because being in a monogamous one simply will not fulfill their needs or would cause emotional difficulty. That's all there really is to it.

I believe that, if you are in a monogamous relationship that isn't healthy or otherwise working out, you may want to try an open or polygamous relationship instead and see if that fulfills your needs, as long as your partner is understanding and willing.

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