"This one time at band camp..." and other adventures.

Hello everyone!

Sorry for taking so long between this post and my last one! 

This last week, I was camp counseling for the UNL Middle School band camp. It was a ton of fun, and it makes me happy to see how so many kids are excited about music. My duties included teaching a saxophone masterclass (with my good friend Michael), and teaching an elements class, which was basically a composition class. Also, I herded campers to where they needed to be, and stayed at the dorms to supervise them overnight. It was great seeing how vastly the kids improved playing their instruments in the short time we had, and how creative my elements class was, since they wrote 3 lines of music that were put on the final concert!

Plus, we had a ton of fun doing other stuff too... We threw a dance for the middle schoolers, and Michael and I got to play match-maker, and I attended my first middle-school dance (which, by the way, thanks to my fellow counselors, I had more fun at than almost all of my high school dances put together). We also played late-night sand volleyball against the counselors of the high school marching camp that was going on at the same time, and beat them for the first time in at least 4 years. It was also hilarious that the kids thought our fake lives were more interesting than our real ones, and by fake lives, they kept pairing the counselors off as boyfriend/girlfriend, or saying we were married to each other. I was either married to Michael by the end of the week or was his "Other woman" because he was married to one of the other counselors first. More embarrassingly, Michael and I somehow got coerced into playing some pop songs for the kids, and there are quite a few middle schoolers walking around with our voices as their ringtones. But, it was a really really great time, and I hope I get to do it again next year!

After all this madness, my cousin Jasmine came and visited me for a few days from Texas. It was super amazing, since I hadn't seen her in over a year in a half. We played music, hung out, and had fun until she left this afternoon. It was so good to see her and my Aunt Jean again this week, and it was a fantastic end to an amazing (and tiring) week. 

As for how I'm doing in general, I'm fine. I finished my last 2 summer classes with A's, and started a new one when camp started, which is Philosophy 106. And, by the way, my teacher is absolutely HILARIOUS. She's very intelligent and interesting, and oh my gosh, her one-liners and examples and stories during class don't make those 4 hour lectures seem bad at all. 

Musically, I'm in a jazz-indie band called Wind Armada that my counselor buddy from UNL high school jazz camp (Andrew Janak) invited me to be in, and, I gotta say, I'm really excited about how awesome of a group we have. The other guys (Drew, Kevin, Mike, and Michael) are just beyond talented, and I'm super lucky to get the chance to work with them. I mean, we're even doing a chart called "Great Lol of China." Just saying, we're awesome and funny and cool. No big deal. 

Also, I'm working on writing music. So many projects going on right now that I think I might explode, and I really hope I can get them done by the school year because once again, I way overloaded myself on how much stuff I need to write. But, hopefully hopefully hopefully I'll have more time to be composing because I'm only taking one class now instead of two.

ONE MORE THING: I'm tutoring people for ACT English and Reading. Also, giving composition lessons, vocal jazz lessons, beginning piano lessons, tutoring elementary school kids... Actually, a better question would be what I'm NOT certified to tutor in right now. Sorry for the shameless plugs, but I just dropped a hefty amount of money on a microphone and other music-related things, and my bank account is definitely feeling it!

Anyway, the song of the day is called Star Scat by Caravan Palace. They're a gypsy electronic jazz group out of Paris, and their charts are SICK. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eyGw2Ts4qY

Thanks for reading this very long post! Cheers, everyone!
Love,

Gilmore

Jayuzzzzz.

Well hey there, everyone!

As some of you know, I just got done camp counseling for the UNL High School Jazz Band Camp on Thursday.

Camp started Sunday, the 17th, on Father's day. I was able to make it home for the weekend to see my parents and some of my friends to celebrate father's day and my birthday, and was at Harper residence hall at 8am sharp, ready to move in and work with the campers. The first day was a lot of auditions for combo placement, followed by a jazz movie called Jazz on a Summer's Day later that night. If you're a jazzer and haven't seen it, I suggest you do. It has a lot of outstanding performances from a lot of the greats, and I'm sure all you cats would appreciate it. (:

Monday-Wednesday was a lot more of the same, shepherding students from place to place, making sure everyone was where they needed to be. There was jazz listening, jazz theory/arranging, combo practice, improvisation class, and a lot more for the kids to do. We got great seats at Jazz in June on Tuesday of camp, and my birthday passed on Wednesday with a lot of the campers singing me happy birthday and whatnot. My job was pretty easy, out of the 29 students, only 3 were female, and since I stayed on the same floor as the girls, all I had to do was knock on doors at 10:30 to make sure they were in bed, which was a much easier time than the men had. My friends took me out on Thursday night to celebrate my birthday a little late, so the celebration of me turning 19 wasn't a wash or anything. All in all, last week was a great week, full of great music, and a lot of great strengthening and starting of new friendships among my colleagues and fellow musicians in Westbrook Music Building. The greatest part about this camp was definitely the privilege of working with some amazing faculty and my 3 awesome fellow counselors. (:

BY THE WAY, look out for this new group I'm going to be in around the Omaha and Lincoln area, folks! We're called Wind Armada, and were formed by my fellow counselor Andrew Janak, who is a killer saxophonist. It's going to be great, we're doing jazz/indie-ish music, and it'll be really freaking sweet.

As for how classes and things have been going, it's all fine, I just can't wait for July and a lighter workload, and Middle School Band Camp! I know that camp is exhausting and a lot of work, but it's really great seeing young kids so excited about music, and watching talent develop. (:

Song of the day: Tea for Two, the Anita O'day version. This is from that Jazz Video I was watching, and I want to do a transcription of it. Her version is seriously SICK. You don't have to like jazz to love this. Promise. It's also on Spotify!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTk0pk6cFhE

Cheers,
Gilmore

C'est la vie.

Hey there, friend;

Well, a good starting point would probably be the fact that I am no longer in Columbus for the summer. That's right folks, I'm back in Lincoln-land. My time at home was very refreshing and was a much-needed break, and I'm raring to put my nose back to the grindstone. Or at least, I keep telling myself that. 

Some answers to a few FAQs I've been getting lately:

Q: Where are you living?

A: Well, I'm not going to disclose the EXACT details on the internet, thank you very much, but, I'm in an apartment for just the summer. I'm living with a friend and her two roommates, and I'm taking someone's lease for June-July so I can have a place to live during summer school. I'm moving back to campus with a good friend of mine from high school come fall. 

Q: When did you move back to Lincoln?

A: Friday, June 1st. 

Q: What classes are you taking?

A: Comm 109 and Food Science (online) during the merry month of June, and Philosophy 106 during July. This is to fill my ACE requirements that aren't being covered by my majors.

For all the people not familiar with UNL lingo:

Comm 109- A speech class. I apparently need to this to fill some sort of requirement, despite my 4 years of speech team experience in high school. Well, technically, it's "communications," not speech, but whatever. 

Food Science- A science class. It's pretty easy since I've been pretty good about doing all the work when I can. My first test for this 'un is on Wednesday. 

Philosophy 106- Current issues Philosophy. It only meets 2 nights per week in July, but that means only 8 classes until the final. I'm excited for it regardless, I'm taking it with my roommate. 

ACE requirement- Known everywhere else in the whole entire world except UNL as "Gen-eds." 

Q: Are you working/Do you have a job this summer?

A: Yes and no. I unfortunately do not have a steady part-time job for the summer (which is looking like it's a good thing since my workload is surprisingly copious), BUT, I was hired to work for the UNL High School Jazz Camp (position and actual work I'll be doing unknown) as the only female counselor, and the UNL Middle School Band Camp (on saxophone). They're both about a week in duration and they both agreed to work around my classes, so I'm super excited for them! As Music Education/Composition, I'm hoping grad schools, etc., will eat this resumé booster right up... Plus, I'm super excited to work with these kids, AND I get paid. It'll be glorious, I hope.

ALSO, I am tutoring people over the summer. I have a job tutoring a girl in Norfolk in ACT English and Reading, and I'm doing things like giving music lessons, tutoring, etc., throughout the summer for those who want them. Especially ACT stuff and lessons. Sorry for the shameless plug. 

As for how I'm enjoying the new apartment, it's fine. It's kind of an adjustment not having my mom make me delicious food and having to fend for myself as far as cooking goes. Don't worry, it isn't like I'm sitting here starving or anything. No child of Joy Gilmore has an inability to cook for themselves, rest assured. I have a huge bathroom all to myself, and a lot of closet space. If I could change anything about my bedroom, I'd have a larger desk. It's only 2 months though, so I'll be ok. HOWEVER, it seems that some boys upstairs have (hopefully HAD after today) bedbugs, so they kicked us out for 2 hours (luckily the 2 hours that I happen to be in class so it was no big deal), but it was still very annoying that they were knocking at our front door whilst I was in the shower. 

As for classes, those are fine too. It's a lot of busy work but nothing super mentally taxing. I'm slowly getting into a composing schedule again. I'm also trying to work in a work out schedule (see what I did there?), and hope that motivation will come once I'm truly settled in here. There's still some unpacking that needs to be done. 

ALSO, I plan on going home not this weekend, but the next. I probably would have gone back to Columbus this weekend, but I was hired to play piano for a wedding in Omaha on Saturday, so I can't really justify the trip. 

I guess I kind of miss being at home, I mean, it IS summer and all, but for some reason, I am very unproductive at my house. Or in Columbus. I mean, it isn't like there's a whole bunch to do there, but I just get lazy when I go home. Hopefully these classes will give me a routine so I can kick things like composing and working out and being a productive member of society in the butt. That is, if I can get un-addicted to this new TV show my roommate got me addicted to within 3 days of moving in.

I have decided that I don't mind cooking for myself, but... I HATE WASHING MY POTS AND PANS AND DISHES. Cleaning up after myself, after all these years, still remains my least favorite activity. Oh well. 

Song of the day in honor of the brand new blog layout/title:

Hallelujah. Originally written by Leonard Cohen, but this is the Jeff Buckley version. A very powerful song, with some of my most favorite lyrics of all-time ever. Which is exhibited by some of them making the new title of this here blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4

Cheers,

Gilmore

Mile High City.

Ahoy, mateys!

I just got back from Denver, CO. Here was my extended Memorial Day weekend in review.

Thursday:

We left Nebraska at 10am, Central Time. We made one stop in Ogallala for some food at the Denny's there... And it just so happened that the only two people I know from Ogallala were working there! It was a magical happenstance, since I haven't seen them since I met them at All-State Jazz Choir last summer, so it was really cool to catch up. There's a picture on Facebook.

We arrived in beautiful Denver at 5:30, Mountain Time, to 68 degrees and sunny weather. We made reservations at Maggiano's (which I'm now finding out Omaha has, too) in Englewood, and had a lovely dinner around 7:30. And by lovely, I mean gorging on fantastic Italian food. It was delicious. We came back to our hotel and enjoyed our fantastic lodgings.

A word about said lodgings, my mom managed to get us a hotel room with a living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, a full size fridge, and a kitchen. For 50 dollars. Total. For four days. Needless to say, it was nice to stay in such luxury for so stinkin' cheap.

After that, we were all pretty tired from driving and full bellies, so we went to bed.

Friday:

We woke up around 9 and went to a golf store with my brother and dad, where we also bought dad's birthday gifts. Then, we went back to the hotel, and tried to decide what to do... Then came up with Six Flags and shopping! I got to fall from about 200 feet in a harness which was pretty cool. Then we went downtown and did some shopping, so now I'm even more broke after a trip to H&M, my favorite clothing store. Oh well, it was very worth it. After a long day, we went back to the hotel, watched TV, and spent a relaxing night bumming around. It was fantastic.

Saturday:

This was May 26th, my Dad's 54th birthday. So another belated happy birthday, Dad! We went whitewater rafting, and my mom almost sunk the boat after we hit this huge rock in the river... Whoops. It was pretty funny though. After that, my dad, brother, and I went ziplining. Seriously one of the most awesome experiences of my life, and, to have a dad who goes ziplining when he turns 54 is pretty awesome. He was the oldest guy in our group, but that's ok.

After that, we went to a sushi place (his, my mom's, and my favorite food) called Sushi Den. We pigged out on some of the best sushi any of us have ever eaten, with great service from a waiter named Joe who looked like my uncle Joe, which was pretty funny.

We dropped the boys off at the hotel and my mom and I made a quick hour-long trip to the HUGE Ikea next to our hotel, where I got a coffee table for my dorm, a floor lamp, etc etc...

That night, we played a competitive but friendly game of pitch, our favorite card game. We played 7 and 10 point until past midnight, then went to bed. This was probably my favorite day of the whole trip.

Sunday:
Our last day in the Mile High City. We slept in and saw Dark Shadows around 2, which I really enjoyed (mostly because I love Tim Burton), then dropped my dad off at the hotel since he wanted a nap. My brother, mom, and I returned to Ikea (making it my second time ever being there), and I got more room/college stuff, which was awesome. We had Bdubs for dinner, and watched a Criminal Minds marathon until we fell asleep.

Monday:
Got up at 10am Mountain time, had an uneventful drive home, and arrived in Columbus around 6pm Central time. We were all family-ed out, so I spent the night out with some of my best friends. We were all pretty tired though, and threw in the towel around 1am instead of staying out at all hours like we usually do when we're together.

So there you have it! The chronicles of our family vacation to Denver. I'd go again in a heartbeat, it was a great time.

Song of the day:
And it Spread by The Avett Brothers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj54C_CWx5w

Thanks for reading!
With love,
Gilmore

"And the living is easy."

Hey there, readers!

Summertime is here for UNL students. I've been out of school for awhile now, and it feels pretty fantastic. I already miss a lot of my school friends, but it's been really nice to be home in Columbus and catch up with all the people here. I'm pretty sure I've slept more in the past few weeks than I did for the entire month of November, and it feels really good. It's been refreshing being at home, and I'm not quite ready for that time to end yet.

As far as how school ended this past semester, it ended really really well. I got all A's (and an A- in my class worth the most credit, Music Theory -_-), so I had a semester GPA of a 3.9. This means my overall GPA is a 3.78 right now, which feels pretty good. Yay for keeping my Regents Scholarship!

I've been taking a short break from composing, which will actually probably end right after this blog post is sent to the world wide web, so I wouldn't get burned out and so I could give myself time to miss it. And I have been missing it, so, mission accomplished.

I've still been keeping busy doing music stuff, I'm starting a band for gigging and for fun with my buddies Michael Nguyen and Mitch Benson, and we've got a sample CD in the works. We're also working on a band name, and I'll let you all know as soon as that happens.

For those of you who haven't heard, I managed to get hired for two counseling positions this summer, one for the UNL high school jazz camp, and also for the UNL middle school band camp. This is a super huge blessing, especially since I'm Music Education now, and I'm really excited to work with these kids!

Oh, AND I got hired to work the night desk at The Village next year, and my future roommate, Sarah Ebner, got hired at the day desk, so it'll be a really fun time. I figure since I'm always awake, I might as well get paid to stay up and do homework. Plus, I actually live in The Village next year so I can just walk downstairs to my job, which is super convenient.

For those of you who don't know, I move back to Lincoln on June 1st because I'm taking summer classes (I actually want to try and be done in less than 5 years). Unfortunately, I've been having problems finding a part-time summer job, but this might be a blessing in disguise since my summer keeps looking busier and busier. Plus, the counseling jobs will get me a bit of money and be great for resumé boosting and whatnot, and my job during the school year will also aid in making me less broke. In other words, Columbus people, if you'd like to hang out with me, now is the time. We don't have all summer, unfortunately. Lincoln people, be excited! A lot of my summer will be spent with you.

I'm not gonna lie, these last few weeks have been really really lazy for me in comparison to the normal flurry of activity that seems to surround me, and I think it's just the thing I needed after this crazy school year. Summer has been really fantastic so far, I'm not ready for it to end at all. :)

Thanks for reading, I love you all!

Today's song of the day is a great one by a folk-duo called The Civil Wars. The song is entitled "Barton Hollow," and it's a good listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrOUwbsy12E

Cheers,
Gilmore

Let it Be.

Hey everyone!

So yeah, here's that post I promised on my religious beliefs, for those of you who were curious after the last one. I'm definitely not trying to convert people or anything, because I know everybody is going to be as set in their ways as I am. I'm just explaining my position here, since people were curious. So without further ado...

 John Lennon said it a lot better than I ever could:

"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong." 

I mean, for me, religion itself is a flawed concept. I'm still sticking with my concept of God that I was raised with, and I still pray to the big man upstairs and still have belief, but I just have a really hard time with religion. The main problem that I have with organized religion is that it is created by man. Not God. It's inspired by God, sure, but not created by Him. And since religion is created by man, who is flawed, there are flaws in religion. I have no problem with people who go to church and follow the bible (a book people forget is written by man, inspired by God), but I'm just not one of them. I'd rather take my faith directly to whatever divine entity there is, and let it be flawed in my own way instead of someone else's.

My reasoning for not basing my personal belief system on organized religion or religious texts is what I said earlier, they're inspired by God, not created by him. I have a hard time thinking that the men writing these things down didn't put some of their own opinions in the text, like the whole gay marriage thing, but I digress. Also, religious texts can be perverted to be an excuse for a lot of wrongs and evils in the world, so you could find examples to justify most bad things. I mean, in the bible, the 10 commandments were created by God. Ok, I'm alright with those. I'm not exactly following the one about the sabbath, but I think the rest of them definitely make a lot of sense. I see it as a more specific version of the commanding right and forbidding wrong doctrine in the Qur'ran. The translation goes something like this:

"And the faithful men, and the faithful women are friends one to another: They command that which is just, and they forbid that which is evil; and they are constant at prayer, and pay their appointed alms; and they obey God, and his apostle: Unto these will God be Merciful; for He is Mighty and Wise."--Sura 9.71

Huh, funny that people think that Islam and Christianity aren't all that similar. I think the core tenets are basically the same. What is right and wrong is pretty much agreed upon (Killing people is bad. Stealing is bad. etc etc etc.), except Islam requires a lot more devotion and praying than a lot of the different versions of Christianity do.

Another thing that makes me pretty unhappy is when people like to think their religion is the most correct, when really, they don't take the time to find out about what else is out there. And the reason I'm pointing out the differences and similarities between those two religions is that Muslims seem to be getting a lot of flack in the U.S. for a certain group of crazies (let's call them Al Qaeda) who decided to go and ruin the reputation for all the peaceable, awesome, hard-working Muslim citizens in our country. It really saddens me to see how many people just stereotype them as a whole nowadays, and how some of my friends get ridiculous extra "attention" at airport security, even though they've been citizens here their whole lives and are just as patriotic as the next guy. Just because of the way they dress, their last names, their freaking skin color. Aren't we supposed to be past stereotyping and flat-out racism? It's ridiculous.

There it is, my reasoning for not practicing organized religion. It causes a lot of tension and arguments when really, people just have to learn to accept each other's beliefs and customs so we can get along better.

As for why I still believe in God or whoever is actually up there? I guess I can't imagine not believing there isn't something waiting on the other side. I mean, life is just too short here, we're bound to have other plans made for us after this. I personally think my form of heaven would be getting to see all those I love, and getting to meet a bunch of people I admire. Like Ella Fitzgerald. In my version of heaven, I'd be jammin' with the jazz greats every day. I'd meet composers like Beethoven and Mozart and see if ALL composers throughout the ages have a bunch of weird ones among them, too (they probably do, I mean, look at me. I happily admit that we composers are an odd bunch.). And not only that, but there are just too many good, beautiful, wonderful things in this world for there to not be a higher power. Music. Rain in the summertime. Sunsets and sunrises. Laughter. Family. Friends. Love.

Yes, I'm aware there are a lot of bad things in the world too, but, really, if you look around, it's pretty easy to see that the good really does outweigh the bad in most cases.

And hey, you know what? If there IS a God and you lived your life believing, congrats, extra kharma points in the afterlife or whatever to you! If there ISN'T a God? Well, hey, what did it hurt for you to believe if this is really just it? I mean, if there's nothing after this, you don't really have consequences for NOT believing, so it's kind of a win-neutral situation if you do believe, because believing probably isn't going to hurt anything.

Well, there you have it, my crazy little belief system that I'm not really sure falls into any category. I'd say deism mixed with optimism, maybe?


Song of the day:
Let it Be. Originally by the Beatles, but this cover from Across the Universe is pretty dang powerful, and since I used a John Lennon quote earlier, I thought it would be fitting. Watch this video with a kleenex box nearby...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4bib4PBqGA

Cheers.

With love,
Gilmore

Telling it Straight

Hey everyone,

Super serious post time again.

I realize that this one is going to step on some toes. Well, a lot of toes.
It'll probably make a lot of family members, friends in my hometown, and even quite a few passerby who happen to find their way to this page angry at me.

I assure you, this is not my intention, not in the slightest, but I feel like what I'm saying needs to be said, because there are some people I know (and some who don't) who have to know that there's support for them, someone who really cares.

This post is about Gay rights, and the reasoning for my position on them.

I was raised Roman Catholic all the way until about the middle of high school. My dad is a Methodist who doesn't ever go to church, and my mom is a practicing Catholic. I stopped going to church around my Junior year because there were a lot of things that I disagreed with, and found my own version of religion after that. For those of you who are interested in that, it'll be in the next post.

I am very FOR Gay rights, folks.

I'm sorry if this offends you, especially my family members who I know will wholeheartedly disapprove of this proclamation, but I feel that I'd rather have your disapproval than take away the chance of some person who needs these words to read what I have to say. In the age of the Facebook "share" button and lightning-speed communication, I realize that my words could change someone's life for the better.

Gay rights is the main reason I stopped going to church. There are a few other, more insignificant reasons, but without the whole gay rights disagreement, I'd probably still be a practicing Catholic because they aren't near enough to "quit" a religion I'd been raised in my whole life. During high school, when I met more gay people and ended up befriending quite a few of them through me being in Speech team/Music/Theatre (my family jokes that I'm friends with over half of the gay men in Nebraska), I decided that I couldn't go to a church and practice a belief system where I so strongly disagree with one of tenets that is so important to so many people.

I believe that homosexuality is NOT a sin, that Gays should have the right to be married and have children just like the rest of us, and that God loves everyone.

For those of you who truly think that "God Hates Fags" (Westboro followers and your like, I'm preaching to you here), did you hear that? GOD LOVES EVERYONE.

Does this really need to be explained? Everyone means EVERYONE. All the time. Love isn't just sometimes, folks, and everyone doesn't have an asterisk and a warning in fine print saying "Some restrictions apply." It's an unconditional, unbreakable contract that we have with the big guy upstairs, and it goes for all of us. Period.

Being Gay or Lesbian or Bisexual or a Transgender is NOT a choice. They're starting to get scientific proof in that direction.

The whole reason I'm even writing about this at all is because of a close friend of mine. You know who you are, and this is for you.

I have a very close friend who told me once that he wanted to kill himself for being gay and feeling the way he felt, because he knew his parents would never approve, and maybe even disown him. I'm one of the only people who knows his secret, but he agreed to let me use his words as long as I didn't use his name.

He told me that there was no reason he would ever choose to be in the one group of American citizens that didn't have all their rights, and that he would never wish this on anyone. Ever. He told me that being gay was the worst thing that had ever happened to him, and he wishes every day that he could change this part of himself.

Why should he have to feel that way? Why should anybody have to feel that way? To feel like they have to keep such a large part of their identity secret? That if they love someone, their love is somehow not as valid as mine, just because I'm straight?

That is wrong to me. So wrong. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever known, and if this is a universe where someone's love truly doesn't mean as much as mine, that's just horribly twisted.

I just want to say I'm sorry to all of the Gays who have ever been discriminated against or treated badly just because you decided to show people who you really are, and take the risk of letting people know what kind of person you're looking for. I want to let you know that there are a lot less bigoted, small-minded people out there than you think, and a lot of us feel that what you're going through just to have the basic human emotion of love validated in the eyes of the government and of others is ridiculous.

I want to say sorry to all the Gays who feel like they can't let anybody know who they really are because they feel unsafe or that no one will love them if they do so.

I want to say sorry to all the Gays who read this post because I feel like I can't ever apologize enough to you for what you're going through, and because I can't relate. I'm so sorry that these are battles that will sometimes have to be fought on your own. I'm so sorry that I can't give each and every one of you a hug and tell you that you're beautiful for who you are, and that it doesn't matter one little bit who you love.

I feel like the war against discrimination is just getting too long. It needs to end. People need to learn how to love each other, and be ok with other peoples' life choices. I feel that if you disagree with Gays getting married, fine, but don't try to take away their rights because this is supposed to be a non-secular government. We did it to women and minorities, and now we've found another group that people dislike because they're "different." This is really just ludicrous to me, especially since this is supposed to be the land of the free.

I'm sorry to everyone I've offended, but this message is just so much more important to me than peoples' opinions of me, and I won't take it back.

I feel that this song, "Hold on to What You Believe" by Mumford & Sons says it a lot better than I can. It's much more eloquent, and the words and music are just beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VI8-6aXsFA

With love,

Gilmore