Althouse: "Abstinence allowed me to get rid of the garbage internally and externally."

March 4, 2009

"Abstinence allowed me to get rid of the garbage internally and externally."

"The love I was looking for was inside me this whole time."

Is that a statement that belongs characteristically to a gay man who worried that God wouldn't love him, or is there something in that for all of us?

104 comments:

Revenant said...: Apparently a lack of sex causes men to channel Whitney Houston.; 3/4/09, 5:46 PM
David said...: Abstinence is overrated. Usually by the abstinent.; 3/4/09, 5:51 PM
Matt Eckert said...: "The love I was looking for was inside me this whole time."

Does that mean he put his head up his ass?; 3/4/09, 5:54 PM
Synova said...: Just from what you've got quoted, it sounds a whole lot like a female friend of mine who struggled with abstinence after she became a Christian since she'd been pretty much a free lover before then.

She told me that she was walking on a beach once, arguing with God about it, telling him how these men offered her love and comfort and everything and had God given her something to replace that? No. He'd never given her a thing.

She said she found a pretty stone, then, and it was if God had said to her that He had given her things, it was just that she didn't recognize them.; 3/4/09, 5:54 PM
William said...: In classical music, pianists, more often than not, are gay. Violinists are typically straight. No one knows why this is so, but it is so.....I don't know anything about cellists. Perhaps his fondness for a stringed instrument indicates ambiguity in his sexual nature. I think it would be easier for a cellist to play the violin than to play the piano. Perhaps his journey is not yet over.; 3/4/09, 5:58 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Is that a statement that belongs characteristically to a gay man who worried that God wouldn't love him, or is there something in that for all of us?

Pleasures can become repetitive and by focusing on only one pleasure we can cheat ourselves out of the time needed to experience other pleasures.

He is very lucky to have learned this lesson at so early an age.; 3/4/09, 6:12 PM
ricpic said...: Bach is just the table setting for this third rate sensitivo's journey to enlightenment via sex in this age of dreck.; 3/4/09, 6:13 PM
ricpic said...: God doesn't give a flying fuck about sensitivos' - male or female - existential horseshit sex agonies.; 3/4/09, 6:17 PM
Matt Eckert said...: I thought gay guys played the skin flute?; 3/4/09, 6:18 PM
Anonymous said...: and I thought it was the math geeks who invented modern day abstinence, the pythagoreans or something like that.

or the islamic, or the much older hindu tradition.

what about buddhism?

why do you or anyone else tag abstinence with christianity?

why even wikipedia knows better:

Most spiritual traditions share the view that humans are essentially spiritual beings, and that excessive indulgence in physical sense-pleasure takes one away from spiritual self-knowledge.

The; 3/4/09, 6:18 PM
Zachary Sire said...: So, is he still gay, or did he "convert"? The article doesn't say (journalism!), but it leads one to believe that he embraced his homosexuality, which is good.

He's hot.; 3/4/09, 6:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Just another fag emoting. It's like Gay Pride Day is everyday anymore.; 3/4/09, 6:24 PM
john said...: Zachary Paul Sire said...

He's hot.

And he's also Sweet. But I'll bet it's his first name you find attractive.; 3/4/09, 6:29 PM
Palladian said...: I love when people use one of Bach's more sublime creations as incidental music for their own personal soap operas. It's like hitching a wagon full of pigs to an angel and then claiming that you can fly.

Mawkish violoncello-playing faggot discovers that parentally-programmed guilt trip, though powerful, is not powerful enough to keep him from getting fucked for very long. In other words, wrapping his legs around his cello is not nearly as much fun as wrapping his legs around a sturdy pair of thighs.

Cute though. I'd fuck him. To the accompaniment of Bruckner rather than Bach.; 3/4/09, 6:29 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: ricpic : God doesn't give a flying fuck about sensitivos' - male or female - existential horseshit sex agonies.

This gentleman was able to use his background in religion to identify his problem and do something effective about it.

The article isn't for god, god is supposed to already know everything, it's to help other people who may be having a similar problem.; 3/4/09, 6:30 PM
Palladian said...: "And he's also Sweet. But I'll bet it's his first name you find attractive."

Can you imagine the wedding announcements? Zachary Sweet and Zachary Sire, joined in wedlock. Would they be the Zacharys Sweet-Sires or Sire-Sweets?; 3/4/09, 6:31 PM
ricpic said...: God is too occupied diddling Michelle to keep her from going completely bat shit crazy while Barry is "conferencing" with Rahm to have time for the completely inconsequential existential agonies of a confused homocestual artist manque (pronounced mahnkay) named Bruce.; 3/4/09, 6:32 PM
Palladian said...: It would be even better if his middle name was "Peter" or "Polonius" or something. ZPS & ZPS.; 3/4/09, 6:34 PM
Trooper York said...: How about Toots?; 3/4/09, 6:37 PM
Palladian said...: If you think the schools of music are hotbeds of homosexuality, you should visit the Yale Divinity School! Whoa. There are more Believers in the graduate Physics department at Yale than there are at the Divinity School.; 3/4/09, 6:37 PM
Palladian said...: "Sweet then began to teach children music through the Suzuki method, and he soon “began to notice a kind of peace” in his life, he said. “All of a sudden the presence of a little kid had an overwhelming effect,” he explained. “It made me step outside myself and focus on this little soul, and I was in peace.”

Feeling more connected with God, Sweet said he no longer felt the need to be abstinent."

Wait, so hanging around little kids is what made him decide not to be abstinent anymore? Uh oh.; 3/4/09, 6:38 PM
Anonymous said...: "We are, all of us, in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

And some can catch glimpses of the stars, yet prefer the gutter.; 3/4/09, 6:39 PM
Palladian said...: "“I thought it was inspirational,” LGBT undergraduate intern Fiona Miller ’09 said."

Wait, is she an intern Lesbian? Oh, excuse me, an intern LGBT?; 3/4/09, 6:40 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: "Blogger David said...

Abstinence is overrated. Usually by the abstinent."

Whose rating system are you using, David? Presumably the abstinent are the best judges of the ratedness of abstinence, over or not.

If you are not abstinent, and consider abstinence to be overrated, well, no surprise there.; 3/4/09, 6:41 PM
TitushadadreamaboutWhiteLillies said...: Any nudie shots or dic pics of him?

I think that would of enhanced the article.; 3/4/09, 6:41 PM
Palladian said...: You know, I'm not mocking this boy because he decided he likes the gay fucking. I like the gay fucking too. I'm mocking him because he sounds like a completely pretentious tool. Just to make sure there isn't any confusion.; 3/4/09, 6:41 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: I love when people use one of Bach's more sublime creations as incidental music for their own personal soap operas.

Bach is the PERFECT choice for this. The ecstasy of his music, the fact that all his music was composed for god, and its technical difficulty are all illustrative of the young man's tale.

Mawkish violoncello-playing faggot discovers that parentally-programmed guilt trip, though powerful, is not powerful enough to keep him from getting fucked for very long.

You miss the point entirely. Lots of young gay men get too much sex. He was able to strike a balance. (Much like the contrapunctal interplay of baroque music!); 3/4/09, 6:42 PM
Zachary Sire said...: Thank "god" he spells his name with an 'H.' Zachary with a K (Zackary) is offensive and looks tacky.

I play the piano. Maybe we can make some beautiful music together.; 3/4/09, 6:42 PM
TitushadadreamaboutWhiteLillies said...: He's so proud of himself....I hate him.; 3/4/09, 6:44 PM
TitushadadreamaboutWhiteLillies said...: Rachel Maddow is not a gobble dee she's one of us.

I don't watch her or care for her but I wouldn't call her a gobble dee she is one of us.; 3/4/09, 6:46 PM
Palladian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/4/09, 6:50 PM
TitushadadreamaboutWhiteLillies said...: I bet he fucked his cello when he was "abstinent".; 3/4/09, 6:52 PM
Palladian said...: "Bach is the PERFECT choice for this. The ecstasy of his music, the fact that all his music was composed for god, and its technical difficulty are all illustrative of the young man's tale."

Not all of Bach's music was "composed for God", at least not in any overt sense. The Cello Suites are secular music. He wrote plenty of it. Look up the Coffee Cantata. Or one of his greatest works, the Musical Offering, written for Frederick the Great who, the last time I checked, wasn't God.

And the Cello Suites aren't that technically difficult, at least compared to other works in Bach's catalog.

"You miss the point entirely. Lots of young gay men get too much sex. He was able to strike a balance. (Much like the contrapunctal interplay of baroque music!)"

Sorry, Bach's counterpoint isn't program music. It doesn't deserve to be the soundtrack to this confused little cocksucker's tale of pedestrian shame. It's a lame and pretentious and offensive artistic gesture. That's what I'm making fun of.; 3/4/09, 6:52 PM
Anonymous said...: you haven't been on a university campus lately or what?

we all sounded like pretentious fools or a bunch of finding ourselves idiots at age 2o something. Please go to the local university. Buy a day pass to the local sports center and shower and sauna with the kids. You'll remember how young and foolish you were.

We all grow up, sooner... or maybe from the sounds of all the smart people on this forumit's extremely later. We pass through phases just like music.

I mean i can't get through the –i call them a bit endearlingly and a bit sarcastically:: BLT with Gayonaisse– stuff that is so overwhelming on campus, but I'm not supposed too. I should be beyond that. We all had our time to identify with our sexuality. Best they do it in their early twenties and get over it and into the real world. Not everyone stays on campus their whole life so none of this stuff stays forever for most of the working world.; 3/4/09, 6:55 PM
TitushadadreamaboutWhiteLillies said...: Sands pass in a hour glass like the Days of our Lives.

thank you.; 3/4/09, 6:58 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: I gave up abstinence for Lent.; 3/4/09, 7:00 PM
ricpic said...: Bach: a footnote to balanced sex (whateverthefuck that is).; 3/4/09, 7:00 PM
TitushadadreamaboutWhiteLillies said...: Where do we find these "hotbeds of homosexuality"?; 3/4/09, 7:02 PM
TitushadadreamaboutWhiteLillies said...: I want to perform at one of those schools. Sing a song, tell a story, sing a song, recite a poem, sing a song, pinch a loaf.

A night with Titus.; 3/4/09, 7:04 PM
David said...: Laura(southernxyl) said...

"Whose rating system are you using, David? Presumably the abstinent are the best judges of the ratedness of abstinence, over or not."

Ratedness? Laura, I realize that your name sounds like a ointment, but please try to make sense.; 3/4/09, 7:19 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: All of Bach's music was decidedly not composed for God, at least not in any overt way.

All of his works were for god, even the secular works. It doesn't have to be overt, it would have been assumed. They were supposed to improve the souls of their listeners. He'd ask for god's help when he composed them.

Look up the Coffee Cantata. Or one of his greatest works,

I have even his scraps.

the Musical Offering, written for Frederick the Great who, the last time I check, wasn't God.

Absolute monarchs got their power from god back then.

And the Cello Suites aren't that technically difficult, at least in the Bachian catalog.

So? He's not playing classical music. THAT is easy.; 3/4/09, 7:19 PM
ricpic said...: Where do we find these hotbeds of homosexuality?
I search both high and low:
Looking for God, or at least a little spirituality;
Looking for a boy to blow.; 3/4/09, 7:31 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: Okay. For you, David, I'll try.

"Overrated" means "rated, assessed, or estimated too highly"

If an abstinent person finds it appropriate to be abstinent, then he or she apparently does not feel that abstinence is rated, assessed, or estimated too highly. If a non-abstinent person feels that it is, who cares?

Get it now?; 3/4/09, 7:36 PM
traditionalguy said...: Sexual relations are also a mixing together of two souls. The confusion from the mixing with multiple partners in a short time has driven many people into a depressed and hopeless sickness of their soul. The kid is honestly telling us that truth. He was "cured" by simply stopping the new sexual encounters until he had wrestled with his old sexual sharing experiences in his soul and won. Now he has focused on one love object and he can survive with experiencing more love and intimacy with one safe person. That's Gay Marriage if I'm not mistaken.I suspect the christian in him needed to love more than to lust.; 3/4/09, 7:56 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Abstinence?

Why would anybody abstain from this?.; 3/4/09, 7:59 PM
Scott said...: You people are just so fucking sensitive.; 3/4/09, 8:02 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: If an abstinent person finds it appropriate to be abstinent, then he or she apparently does not feel that abstinence is rated, assessed, or estimated too highly. If a non-abstinent person feels that it is, who cares?

Isn't the point of rating things in this sort of case so that people who have not experienced all the possible options can decide which they want to try? Thus, knowing that abstinent people usually overrate it may help someone who is currently abstinent decide that they should try being non-abstinent. Unless that someone is my daughter, in which case that someone had better wait until they're married.; 3/4/09, 8:03 PM
Revenant said...: Laura, the term "overrated" always refers to other people rating something too highly. When someone says, for example, "Citizen Kane is overrated", they mean "... by people who rate it highly".

So the expression "abstinence is overrated by abstinent people" makes perfect sense. Yes, THEY don't think they're overrating it, but the whole point is that their enthusiasm is unjustified from David's perspective.

If a non-abstinent person feels that it is, who cares?

The term "overrated" implies the existence of an objective scale of quality. If you prefer the "there's no accounting for tastes" approach then nothing's overrated. :); 3/4/09, 8:04 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Scott : You people are just so fucking sensitive.

Wouldn't it be funny if people had a little nozzle in their monitors and when they started getting into an argument on-line they got sprayed? Just like with pets!; 3/4/09, 8:08 PM
Michael Haz said...: I admire Zachary Sweet, and expect that many of the comments posted here pale in comparison to the personal insults he receives.

He seems to be a thoughtful man, and should be praised for understanding that something in his life was wrong and taking corrective measures. Others would have sought solace in drugs, alcohol and destructive behaviors.

I was divorced when in my late twenties. I entered into a life of excesses for several years. Nothing I did could bring me to what I thought I wanted, so I stopped it cold for two years. No dating, no drinking, no drugs, and a no-holds-barred self evaluation at the end of every week.

In a few weeks I began to feel at ease, then at peace. The things I believed were necessary weren't. The people I thought were friends weren't. The social and partying whirl that had been important became something I laughed about.

At the end of the two years I was healed, happy and prepared to move on with life. I met a women who had put herself through the same thing. We have been married nearly twenty-five years, without once arguing. We are the happiest people we know, and have weathered illness, loss of family members, relocations, career changes, all without upset.

If I could speak to Zachery Sweet, I'd tell him that he did the right thing, and his life will be much, much better for having done so.; 3/4/09, 8:18 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: Revenant, I'm more impressed by someone's rating of a particular condition as overrated when he or she is trying it or has tried it in good faith. Otherwise it comes across as snark.

Not that there's anything wrong with snark, I guess. As long as people are aware that they're being snarky.; 3/4/09, 8:21 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: "Isn't the point of rating things in this sort of case so that people who have not experienced all the possible options can decide which they want to try? Thus, knowing that abstinent people usually overrate it [in the opinion of a non-abstinent person] may help someone who is currently abstinent decide that they should try being non-abstinent [if they think the non-abstinent person knows more about abstinence than they do]."

I guess I see your point. I typically think person X understands person X's life better than person Y does, but I could be wrong.; 3/4/09, 8:24 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "The article isn't for god, god is supposed to already know everything,..."

Man, you leave the ghetto, hoping to meet some really smart people, and find they end up talking the same stupid shit any backroom preacher would be spouting. It's depressing.

Is there anywhere in this world where the silliness of superstition isn't part of the general venacular?; 3/4/09, 8:51 PM
Palladian said...: "If I could speak to Zachery Sweet, I'd tell him that he did the right thing, and his life will be much, much better for having done so."

I'm not criticizing the morality or therapeutic value of his personal decisions. I'm criticizing the piece of art he chose to perform supposedly based on those experiences and decisions. A work of art, whether a painting, a play or a piece of music is a technical and intellectual proposition. When the work is presented publicly, there is an implicit invitation to judge the work on the merits of its technical and intellectual innovation and merit. In a free society and a healthy artistic environment, criticism is a part of the engagement with a work of art. "Confessional" art such as the work we're discussing causes problems because the makers of confessional works of art often conflate their personal experiences and the abstraction of a work of art. Criticism of confessional artwork often becomes, in the mind of its creators and devotees, criticism of lifestyles, of ethnicities, of religions, of people. Suddenly it becomes racist or sexist or homophobic or insensitive to comment on the artistic merits of a public work of art. We've traveled so far down this dangerous essentialist track that many people cannot conceive of artwork as anything other than a venue to work out personal problems or to "express" their identities. Instead of being a technical and intellectual and philosophical proposition, so much artwork has become nothing more than chunks of psychotheraputic flotsam, bits of waterlogged emotional baggage best left undisturbed in the murky tide. Soon the idea of commenting upon anything, other than to offer obsequious "encouragement" and praise, becomes too risky.

This supremacy of subjectivity, so beloved of the multicultural left, hasn't just stifled our artistic discourse. You might also have seen it deployed in other types of discourse. The Democrat party has certainly learned its effectiveness.; 3/4/09, 8:52 PM
Host with the Most said...: The article doesn't say (journalism!), but it leads one to believe that he embraced his homosexuality, which is good.

And if he didn't embrace it, but instead is in a hetero relationship, and didn't "convert", but believes he was simply confused sexually in his younger years,

is that bad Zachary?

Do you feel threatened that something such as I described could be true?

Would it make you question yourself all over again?

Or would you just completely reject the possibility?; 3/4/09, 8:53 PM
Host with the Most said...: In classical music, pianists, more often than not, are gay.

Should I worry about my wife, a classical piano teacher?

Or is she only training gay piano players?

Should I be worried about my step-brother, a classical pianist who has played with every major American symphony orchestra? Should I tell his wife?; 3/4/09, 8:56 PM
Palladian said...: Whenever I encounter this "you're so insensitive!" reaction to my criticism of "personal" artwork, I always start to see this movie in my head...; 3/4/09, 8:58 PM
Host with the Most said...: palladian,

Your comment is worthy of being printed on every University Arts Department Entrance in America.

Bravo.

I cannot tell you who I am or what my company is, but I edit three company newsletters and would like to print your statement as a "Pause for Reflection" in 2 of them. I would like to begin with the third sentence that starts "A work of Art. . ."

I would like to identify you as "palladian", a New York City renaissance man.

?????; 3/4/09, 9:02 PM
Palladian said...: "In classical music, pianists, more often than not, are gay."

The greatest pianist of the 20th century, Glenn Gould, wasn't gay. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli wasn't gay. Emmanuel Ax isn't gay, Andre Previn isn't gay. Vladimir Horowitz was gay (or bi) but married to a woman. Lenny Bernstein was gay (or bi) but married to a woman and had kids. Doesn't really seem to be a meaningful correlation between being a classical pianist and being gay. Reminds me of a quote attributed to Horowitz: "There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists"

"Should I be worried about my step-brother, a classical pianist who has played with every major American symphony orchestra?"

Who knows? Is he hot? People can be swayed you know.

"Should I tell his wife?"

I don't think Lenny and Vladimir had to tell their wives...; 3/4/09, 9:08 PM
Palladian said...: "I cannot tell you who I am or what my company is, but I edit three company newsletters and would like to print your statement as a "Pause for Reflection" in 2 of them. I would like to begin with the third sentence that starts "A work of Art. . ."

I would like to identify you as "palladian", a New York City renaissance man."

Sure. You can edit for clarity if you want. I have a cold and my brain is a little fuzzy.; 3/4/09, 9:12 PM
Host with the Most said...: Gould was the greatest.

My favorite is still Van Cliburn, and yes, we all know that only reinforces Horowitz' comments.

Saw Van Cliburn in Riverside, California when I was in the eighth grade. Never forgot how impressive his demeanor was.; 3/4/09, 9:12 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: They should have included some of his music.

I don't want to be harsh on someone oversexed.. Just because I'm not a sufferer ;); 3/4/09, 9:14 PM
Host with the Most said...: Thank you palladian.; 3/4/09, 9:18 PM
Lucyoldson said...: Why doesn't this get "Bach," "Cello," and "Bodily Fluids" tags?; 3/4/09, 9:19 PM
KCFleming said...: Bravo, Palladian.; 3/4/09, 9:23 PM
Michael Haz said...: Liberace was almost married.; 3/4/09, 9:24 PM
Lucyoldson said...: That's a fine quote, Palladian.

Mind if I write it with my menstrual blood on the walls of my installation at the Yale University Art Gallery?; 3/4/09, 9:24 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: I'm criticizing the piece of art he chose to perform supposedly based on those experiences and decisions.

But you didn't criticize him. You just said you didn't like what he was doing in theory. And you didn't show that you know anything about music. Just names and words. No insights. Just generalizations.

I think you are Titus because when Titus doesn't talk about poop you two are indistinguishable.; 3/4/09, 9:28 PM
J. Cricket said...: This is a perfect question for one of the candyass Althouse boys.

Haven't they texted you yet?!; 3/4/09, 9:31 PM
Lucyoldson said...: Jason--There are plenty of people full of shit around here.; 3/4/09, 9:31 PM
Lucyoldson said...: Ooh, it's Mary, the Insane Stalker, in drag.

You always can tell by the "candyass boys" reference.

I said in another thread this place needs a fumigator.

Sure does now.; 3/4/09, 9:34 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: The Crack Emcee : Is there anywhere in this world where the silliness of superstition isn't part of the general venacular?

You'll note I said "supposedly" in my statement about god. I may be defending/explaining a Christian viewpoint but I'm an atheist.; 3/4/09, 9:35 PM
Palladian said...: "Ooh, it's Mary, the Insane Stalker, in drag.

You always can tell by the "candyass boys" reference.

I said in another thread this place needs a fumigator.

Sure does now."

Hey, wait, that's AJD's profile. Do you think AJD and his many aliases are Mary?!; 3/4/09, 9:35 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Lucyoldson : There are plenty of people full of shit around here.

I would hope they are playing characters; mocking the type of people they pretend to be so others learn to articulate responses to them.

P. S. The menstrual blood idea was brilliant.; 3/4/09, 9:39 PM
Palladian said...: "There are plenty of people full of shit around here."

Yes! And some of them wear oversized sunglasses.; 3/4/09, 9:41 PM
Host with the Most said...: backroom preacher

What's a backROOM preacher?

Someone preaching illegally during prohibition?

Backwoods I've heard of.

I need another ebonics lesson.; 3/4/09, 9:41 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Yes! And some of them wear oversized sunglasses.

Squirt Squirt; 3/4/09, 9:43 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Prince says his abstaining, Morrissey says his abstaining...

Yea.. abstaining the hit records is more like it.; 3/4/09, 9:43 PM
Lucyoldson said...: You're right, Palladian. What WAS I thinking? My bad.

"Penny" was Mary, the Insane Stalker. OTOH, maybe she was "Maxine," the Insane Psychologist (I think) in LA, who might be "Michael," not to mention my cousin "Luckyoldson."

Oooh. My head is spinning. Maybe I could perform another exorcism and strighten this out, but I think I have a little too much internal garbage I need to get rid of first.

Think I'll go play a Bach Cello Suite on Cousin Bob's banjo.; 3/4/09, 9:48 PM
Palladian said...: "Squirt Squirt"

Mmm...; 3/4/09, 9:50 PM
David said...: Laura, ointment girl, why do you assume that I have not tried abstinence?

To borrow a concept from Mr. Bill, "some are born abstinent, some achieve abstienence and some have abstinence thrust upon them."

Having abstinence thrust upon you is perhaps a strange metaphor, but you get the idea.; 3/4/09, 10:02 PM
Lucyoldson said...: You know, Palladian, a squodka sounds good right now as a nightcap. Think it might settle my stomach. God knows I need it after reading this thread.

And, hey, David, why don't you just drop it and leave Laura alone? At least SHE's not Mary, the Insane Stalker, but I'm beginning to wonder about you.

Does Althouse, like, feed on this stuff?; 3/4/09, 10:12 PM
Lucyoldson said...: "I think we're all Marys on this bus."; 3/4/09, 10:14 PM
Lucyoldson said...: Jesus, I'm outta here.; 3/4/09, 10:15 PM
chuck b. said...: Fuck all y'all. I think it's a sweet story.; 3/4/09, 11:21 PM
Zachary Sire said...: Do you feel threatened that something such as I described could be true?

Would it make you question yourself all over again?

Or would you just completely reject the possibility?

1. Not even close.

2. No, because I never questioned myself in the first place.

3. No, I wouldn't. Only Zachary Sweet knows if he is gay or not. If he's not, he's not. If he is, he is. He knows.; 3/4/09, 11:34 PM
Palladian said...: "3. No, I wouldn't. Only Zachary Sweet knows if he is gay or not. If he's not, he's not. If he is, he is. He knows."

So does half the Princeton rowing crew.; 3/4/09, 11:46 PM
Eli Blake said...: Abstinence is fine, but I hope the American Taliban don't seize on this to try and argue that all gay people would be happy just by being abstinent until.... well, pretty much forever.; 3/4/09, 11:55 PM
Host with the Most said...: But I thought the American Taliban - Gibbs, Obama, Carville, Olbermnan, Maddow - supported all gay freedoms.; 3/5/09, 12:22 AM
Roberto said...: Host - "Gibbs, Obama, Carville, Olbermnan, Maddow - supported all gay freedoms."

They do.

The question is why don't YOU?

Homophobe?; 3/5/09, 12:26 AM
Roberto said...: "Mind if I write it with my menstrual blood on the walls of my installation at the Yale University Art Gallery?"

This is an adult?; 3/5/09, 12:28 AM
J. Cole said...: Your comments are very beautiful, Palladian! Do you mind if I write them by smearing my own feces on the wall of the subway bathroom?; 3/5/09, 2:25 AM
KCFleming said...: "Abstinence allowed me to get rid of the garbage internally and externally."

How long did he have to abstain just to take a dump, take out the trash, and straighten up his apartment, anyway?

I figure he abstains for about an hour every day or so, depending on his colon transit time. Maybe our resident expert Titus, Dr. Strangeloaf himself, could give us an estimate.; 3/5/09, 6:42 AM
Lucyoldson said...: Jesus! This place doesn't need an exorcism OR a fumigation. It needs firehoses.

Oh, Gene, I knew you played pretty dumb as Lucky, but nobody can be SO FUCKING STUPID as you're doing with "Michael."; 3/5/09, 6:54 AM
Anonymous said...: fumigation? more pythagoreans?

abstain from Beans

indeed this belongs to the philosophical discussion so prominent on althouse

i don't think they believed in god either, so they were atheists but they presribed to a philosphy that became religious.

it is certain, however, that he founded a school, or, rather, a religious philosophical society, for which he drew up a rule of life. In this rule are said to have been regulations imposing secrecy, a protracted period of silence, celibacy, and various kinds of abstinence. The time-honoured tradition that Pythagoras forbade his disciples to eat beans, for which various reasons, more or less ingenious, were assigned by ancient and medieval writers, has been upset by some recent writers, who understand the phrase, "Abstain from beans" (kyamon apechete), to refer to a measure of practical prudence, and not to a gastronomic principle. Beans, black and white, were, according to this interpretation, the means of voting in Magna Græcia, and "Abstain from beans" would, therefore, mean merely "Avoid politics"—a warning which, we know, was warranted by the troubles in which the school was involved on account of the active share which it took during the founder's lifetime in the struggles of the popular with the aristocratic party in Southern Italy.

from newadvent.org; 3/5/09, 7:21 AM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: David, people who are recovering from alcoholism distinguish between "sober" and "dry". If you had abstinence forced upon you, you are "dry" and can't evaluate "sober" adequately.

Also, I am 48 years old. Continue to call me "girl" if you want ... I think it's cute.; 3/5/09, 7:23 AM
kjbe said...: Is that a statement that belongs characteristically to a gay man who worried that God wouldn't love him, or is there something in that for all of us?

I'm way late to the party, but will say that, while neither gay or a man, that I very much relate to the story of a lost, wounded soul found and healing. Hat's of to you, Zachary, for not taking the garbage truck all the way to the dump.; 3/5/09, 7:50 AM
Mortimer Brezny said...: There is nothing in that for me.; 3/5/09, 7:56 AM
kjbe said...: Laura - totally back you up on the dry/sober relationship. Spot on.; 3/5/09, 7:57 AM
Henry said...: Self-discipline reinforces itself.; 3/5/09, 9:29 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: HostWithTheMost,

"What's a backROOM preacher?

Someone preaching illegally during prohibition?

Backwoods I've heard of.

I need another ebonics lesson."

Or learn how to recognize brain farts without getting all snippy about it.

Anyway, my bad. I hear you, too, Palladian.; 3/5/09, 9:44 AM
Unknown said...: Geez, why are so many people being such jerks about this? His sexual behavior wasn't making him happy, he took some time out from all of it and then realized a steady relationship would make him happy. He doesn't sound like he's judging anyone else, why are you guys judging him?; 3/5/09, 11:54 AM
Host with the Most said...: He doesn't sound like he's judging anyone else, why are you guys judging him?

Because other people judge ME by how I react to this man's somewhat incompletely reported story.

Can't we all just get along?; 3/5/09, 12:00 PM
Palladian said...: "Geez, why are so many people being such jerks about this? His sexual behavior wasn't making him happy, he took some time out from all of it and then realized a steady relationship would make him happy. He doesn't sound like he's judging anyone else, why are you guys judging him?"

Sigh. Why don't you go ride the carousel with Marlo Thomas and leave us adults alone.; 3/5/09, 7:15 PM