I read a CNN article about the newly passed North Carolina constitutional amendment legally "defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman" to prevent any law that might allow marriage between two women, two men, one woman and more than one man, or one man and more than one woman (the most common form of marriage supported by God in much of the Bible). In the article, the Chairwoman (Tami Fitzgerald) for the political group Vote for Marriage NC said:
          "We are not anti-gay; we are pro-marriage. And the point -- the whole point -- is simply that you don't rewrite the nature of God's design for marriage based on the demands of a group of adults."
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/09/politics/north-carolina-marriage/?hpt=us_c2

1) I recommend to all (regardless of faith or lack their of), caution any time someone uses "God's design for ..." as a reason for establishing a law in a nation where:
        * A majority of people evidence by their actions that they don't truly believe in the Christian God.
        * A majority of those who claim they believe, know little more of the Bible than a few Children's story versions of the "interesting" plots of the Bible (and maybe John 3:16).
        * A vast majority have never even read 75% (let alone all) of the Bible.
     In such a nation, politicians can use God's alleged will as a reason for either side of any issue.

2) If one were truly pro-marriage (not anti-gay) he or she would be more concerned with passing laws in regard to the 50% of heterosexual, monogamous marriages (Christian or otherwise) which end in divorce rather than working to pass laws excluding the small percentage of marriages that would be between same-sex couples, who (by the way) have vastly lower divorce rates than different-sex couples.

        It is a popular phrase to be sure, usually spoken by well meaning individuals.  It identifies the fact that -- like their finger prints -- every person is unique.  Whether someone likes her differences or not, she has them, just like everyone else.  Many people, especially in their teen years, have times where they hate their differences and "just want to be like everyone else."  For many, it seems appropriate to remind them that everyone else has something unique about them that they may sometimes hate as well.
        As with most attempts to console a human teen, it is rarely immediately successful, despite the inherent logic of the argument.  It is, of course, true that a teen with an extra big zit or who realizes his jaw is slightly crooked or one ear is higher than the other is no less normal than the teen who has "impossible" curly, red hair or doesn't like how thin (or thick) her lips are.  However, these are A) probably pretty common, and B) not extremely visible.
        Normal doesn't mean the same as everyone else.  It means similar, to most.  Most people are normal.  Whether or not one wants to admit it, he knows when he sees someone who is not normal (in a visible way).  If someone under the age of 55 is in a wheelchair, she's not normal.  If someone has six fingers, he's not normal.  Not everyone has red hair, but it's normal.  Not everyone has blonde hair, but it's normal.  White albino hair on a child of African descent: not normal.  Not everyone is 6' 2", but it's normal.  7' not so much.  I remember both times I have seen someone (in person) who was over 7' tall.
        If someone has seen me, they remember me.  Just like they remember the 1-4 other people they have seen who had half an arm "missing."  I know, because if they are one of the few who dare to say anything, they pretty much always tell me about someone they "knew" (often someone they never actually met) who was "like me."
        I'm sure there is no distinct line in the sand between normal and not, but one can be clearly on one side or clearly on the other.  This is not just physically, however.  Einstein was not normal.  His intellect made his life and experiences fundamentally different than those of most.  School shooters and would-be U.S. Representative assassins are not normal.  Normal is certainly ok, but not really good or bad.  Abnormal can be either.
        I don't always know what I think and certainly don't always think the same thing, when it comes to the unique-ality (Yes, I know it's not an official word.  It's unique.) of my arm.  I am pretty much always proud of the rarity of my intelligence (something less than 2%), but often doubt that it is helpful with life in general.  Similarly, I'm not sure that choosing to be an original person (personality-wise) and choosing to be an independent thinker are helpful in life, but I am most proud of the abnormality with which I choose to form myself in these regards.  I think these will eventually lead to a happier me than I would be otherwise.
        I think there is such a thing as a normal person, and (by definition) most people are.  I am not -- genetically, congenitally, and by choice.

     I watched a movie tonight, with a friend.  I was here in Arkansas and my friend was in New York City, but we synced up our viewing, while on the phone, and texted while we watched:
        The main character had Chinese food at the beginning.
        Text 1:  "I want Chinese food" 
        Text 2 (send button pressed before Text 1 was received): "Chinese food sounds awesome!!"
        So, after pausing and resyncing (if it wasn't a word, it is now), we resumed the movie with our Chinese foods.
     I had many flavors including some good veggies!  It was lipsmakin' good.

     I got the new updated 3.0 software for my iPhone today, and it's completely awesome!  It now has voice memos. :) I likey!  I decided at one point this evening to see if I could sing some particular note.  I tried my best to guess what an F was, and recorded meself (I know it's wrong in American grammar, but I just finished reading all 7 Harry Potter's in anticipation of the sixth movie.) singing it.  About an hour later, I tried playing an F using my hand like a trombone mouthpiece, as I had learned to do in junior high school.  I recorded that pitch, and listened to the other, which wasn't close to the new one.  No surprise, I knew I didn't have perfect pitch, as mutch as it fascinates me.  I decided to see if either was right.  So, I downloaded a piano (only two octaves) to my iPhone.  My best singing guess was way off, but my lip vibrations were closer to F than E or F#.  So, I hypothesize that, while I don't have perfect pitch, I do, literally, have lip smackingly good pitch.

PS  I'll test this more of course.  For now, enjoy the play on words.  :-s