Our homemade ad for marriage equality is literally votes away from becoming a finalist in “Project: Pushback” … but we need your help. Would you vote for us?

All you have to do is click on the “HEART/I LIKE” icon on the vid below (or here), or pass it on to a few friends.

Just Like Anybody Else from Project Pushback on Vimeo.

First Look: at my shortened marriage equality spot. I submitted it to Project Pushback. You can also help by embedding or forwarding the ad using the tools in the player below.

Thanks everyone!

I took this photo in the last hour of my visit to Utah to see my mom 0n Mother’s Day.  She really liked this picture. That made me smile.”

Cowboy Turns 41 from Sam Page on Vimeo.

Snow Canyon was one of my favorite places as a kid. On March 17, 2009, Bronson got to experience it for the first time, along with my grandmother.  —Sam

This was sent to me by a friend on his 40th birthday…

• Just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.
• We don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
• No matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
• True friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
• You can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
• It’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
• You should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
• You can keep going long after you think you can’t.
• You are responsible for what you do, no matter how you feel.
• Either you control your attitude or it controls you.
• Heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
• Money is a lousy way of keeping score.
• Sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.
• Sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.
• Maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.
• It isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
• No matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
• Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
• Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
• Even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you—you will find the strength to help.
• Credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
• The people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

GROWING UP, I used to pretend that my red Radio Flyer was my very own car. I’d take imaginary trips to see my grandmother in southern Utah, holding an invisible steering wheel as I guided the “car” along each bend in the road. When I arrived at her house, I never wanted to leave.

Some things never change.

On my shoulder is a tattoo from Where the Wild Things Are. It’s the story of Max, a mischievous boy who goes on a scary adventure in a jungle far from home. He dances with monsters, who crown him “king of the wild things.”  We named our Yorkshire Terrier after him.

Max has come to symbolize my journey through life. After high school, I needed to get out of Utah. I didn’t know how to deal with the reality that I was into guys. After college, I moved to LA and launched HERO Magazine. Maybe then they’ll accept me, I thought. I spent the better part of a decade chasing that.

In the wake of my mom’s health, that seems so distant and unimportant now.

There’s this flood of conflicting emotions inside me; I’m still in a daze.
I’m angry that we’ve essentially lost 12 years: we’ll never get them back.
I feel guilty: did I contribute to her cancer?

I’m coming to grip with that line in Fight Club:

This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.

I’m overwhelmed by all the love and support, and at the same time I’m not very good at accepting help. Ironically, the concern of loved ones causes me to retreat deeper into the jungle.

Fortunately, Where the Wild Things Are ends on an up note: Max eventually gets lonely and returns home to his room and finds a hot supper waiting for him.

Like Max, these past seven days have taught me that no matter how hard you try, you can’t run away from home.

My mother is not well, and I am worried about her. She is due for a pretty major operation tomorrow, St. Patrick’s Day, which is also my grandmother’s 79th birthday. My mom and I spoke on the phone yesterday for about an hour, and it was one of the most difficult conversations we’ve had, probably only second to my coming out conversation in 1996. When we hung up the phone I was left with the nagging reality that she could be… mortal.

I never think about my mother dying. She is the impermeable stalwart of life — the one who bore me, after all. Imagining a world without her, even though our relationship is very different now, is terrifying.

If you don’t see many blog entries this week, you’ll know why.

Let unconquerable gladness dwell.” -Max & Churchill

AFTER WEEKS OF APARTMENT HUNTING, and finding a charming new abode for Bronson’s mom in West Hollywood proper, we’ve started de-cluttering and packing in preparation for Move #1, which will occur in 27 days.  (Bronson’s blogged about the foreclosure and what it means for us).

Moving is the third most stressful life event after death and divorce. As a trainer who knows first hard the deleterious effects of stress on hard-earned lean body mass, I’m all about keeping stress to a minimum when it’s time to change your address.  We’re working with a lady to arrange a rummage sale, playing with the dogs more, and trying to keep a sense of humor about it all.

I’ve used this moving company a few times. The best part are the reusable blue plastic boxes they drop off (with a $300 deposit) and pick up when you’re all done. Another company is doing something similar. How’s that for a green move?

P.S. — If you need to do a little spring cleaning, I can’t recommend Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui highly enough. Practical, not mystical, the easy read has helped me really “let go” of possessions and things that were no longer serving me. I’ve probably bought a dozen copies, and invariably always end up giving it away to someone who tells me that it also changed his/her life.

Daft Punk wishes they’d thought of this.

Tip: Skip ahead to :30 to skip the ads/lead-in.