The Garden of Hedon

Despite my claim to being a Hedonist, I sometimes can't help but do things the hard way. It could be argued that the hard way is a form of pleasure, but my motivations are usually taking the hard way to provide a pleasurable outcome. In other words, the ends justify the means. When it comes to the ongoing search for sexual nirvana, I'm fairly particular in my "ends". I want to feel good physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually (Yes, I am an atheist and I use the word "spiritually" as a catch all for any metaphysical realm of existence not covered under physical, emotional, and mental.)  I want to feel good, I want the people I have sex with to feel good, and I want all involved participants to not be saddled with guilt, shame, worry, or any other negative baggage that people can carry around sex. I married my wife almost a decade ago, and before we got married I committed the worst marital sin a person can commit....I was dishonest with myself

The past few weeks we have seen two notable examples of good old fashioned white guy racism;  Cliven Bundy  and  Don Sterling Now in the case of Cliven Bundy, he's an old rancher out in the desert who has probably had very little social contact with people of color, so it's easy to see why he could be so clueless. But Don Sterling, having grown up in Los Angeles and owning a major sports team that has a lot of people of color who are making him richer, he should know better. These two clowns have been the most notable in the media lately, but racism still permeates and persists in our society at all levels. I think that racism is one of the many "isms" that is keeping this country from living up to it's potential. This is supposed to be the land of equal opportunity, where everyone is an equal citizen, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. I believe that a person's skin color does not equal the value of them as a human being. All ra