Dancing with Giants

On the morning of August 7, 1974, when I was 8, a human being did one of the most amazing things anyone has ever done:  he danced with giants.

I vaguely remember knowing that someone had once wire-walked between the Twin Towers, but I do not remember knowing any other details.  In 2009, my daughter and I watched a documentary called "Man on Wire," and both of us were enthralled.  Philippe Petit's story is amazing, and in 2015, a movie about his historic feat, entitled "The Walk," was released in theaters. I watched this movie for the first time a couple of days ago.  While I enjoyed the documentary a bit more, this movie was beautiful to view. 

Philippe Petit experienced something with those towers that no other human, before or after, ever came close to experiencing. While never touched on directly in the movie or the documentary, the pain Philippe went through on 9-11 must have been excruciating. The actions of others destroyed the giants he had danced with, and destroyed so many other humans in the process. There always seems to be humans who love to destroy.

To me, the art of that moment in '74 is as powerful as Picasso's Guernica, or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Philippe's ability to find trust for the towers, the steel cable, and himself, in order to perform such a dance, is beyond my imagination. I think that the reason humans continue to exist is because, while many attempts to accomplish difficult tasks fail, sometimes a human does achieve the impossible.

I find something oddly comforting in knowing that at a moment when I was 8-years-old, another human was briefly dancing with giants.

Public Bathrooms

I am going through a lot, right now.  I have no idea how I will deal with any of it.  But one thing has been troubling me recently, and I have finally had enough.  So, I'm blogging my thoughts on this subject.

This whole transgender bathroom issue is such bullshit to me. My step-mother, and her female camera-carrying friend, used public restrooms to take photos of children in a lot of places. No one blinked an eye, as Pam and her friend were exploiting children. They were women, in women's restrooms or changing rooms. They caught nobody's attention. Predators do not have a certain gender or appearance. They know how to do what they do in the least obvious way possible.

The human being who is trying to accept and live with their own mind's gender is not at ALL the person you need to fear.

Most predators are blending in and will not be visible to you at all. They are in your neighborhoods, your churches, your schools, and yes, even your families. My answer to this whole bathroom issue is simple: make sure you or someone you trust takes your kids to public restrooms until they are older, and teach your kids that any person who enters their private space for any reason, without permission, should be told “No.” Let go of these damn beliefs that transgender humans are the ones who are a danger to children. PREDATORS are the danger, and trust me, the majority of predators who daily misuse/target/traffic children, know very well how to blend in and remain anonymous. This whole bathroom issue only spreads bigotry and hatred, while doing nothing to protect children.