LiederWynd

Today is the first day of summer, and...well, we kind of got washed out here in Columbus. So to celebrate, I'm eating my last black and white cookie and sharing my thoughts on Cedar Point's esteemed collection of roller coasters. They don't call it America's Roller Coast for nothing. So here is my ranking, best to worst, of CP's roller coasters...excluding Pipe Scream. I'm not counting Pipe Scream. Note that these are my opinions, not any sort of official ranking. But if you want an official ranking, you can go elsewhere. With that said, we all know where we're starting -- 1: Top Thrill Dragster Seriously, are you even at my blog for a reason other than to hear me rant about this beautiful thing that's taken a hold of my own identity? My personal feelings aside, one look at Dragster and you're like, "how is that even possible?" It probably shouldn't be, and yet, it is. With no over the shoulder restraints or drop towers to hold ...

Okay, I said I'd write something, so it might as well be now. I've never been to a Pride. I've always wanted to go, but I often feel like my presence won't be appropriate there. Like I'm not "queer" enough. And a lot of this comes from my past. As a gentle reminder, this wasn't any one particular thing's fault. It was a product of being talented and being shoved into the limelight and wanting to use my talent, but also the things I had to do to get places and be on stage and do this certain thing or appear that certain way. It was never my idea to do those things, but during my formative years, being gay was out of the question. It's why it was so escapist back then. The way I saw it, the only way you could be gay was to simultaneously live a life of exile, away from the world, unable to do anything remotely well with your life. I didn't have any happy stories to live off of. They were all stories of gay kids being disowned by their par...

I have been doing way too much thinking for my own good as of lately. My life has an odd pattern where, every three years, it seems that the same things happen. Year 1 is a year where I learn a lot about myself. Year 2 is a year where it is easier to travel places. Year 3 is an 'off' year, and that is what 2018 is. But I'm starting to find that an 'off' year is probably more of a 'building' year. I've just always compared it to the other years, albeit unfairly.  God has forced me to slow down. I want to charge, full speed ahead. Now that I have somewhat of an idea of what I actually want to do (yeah, #OkayEmily, I know I've said that 15,000,000 times now but at least I'm listening this time) I just WANT TO GET THERE ALREADY. God's more interested in telling the story, so I'm doing my best to stick to the speed They want me to go at. (Also, yeah, I totally just de-gendered God, bite me.) Which means there are things that are going to...

I just turned 30, and I was thinking of all of the things I want to do in my 30's. Now, I'm not making an express goal, although I know there are certainly a few things I want in life. Instead, I figured it would be good every 5th of every month (since I was born on the 5th) to go over 5 things that I did. Not 5 things I learned, not 5 things I want to do -- five things I physically did this month. So here is my list for this month:  While on vacation, I went on morning walks on the beach, going out to low tide and going exploring. Away from phones and stresses, I was able to focus fully on Jesus. I've kept these morning walks going, even when they're hard, even just by going around the neighborhood once or twice if time allows. No stresses, no distractions, just Jesus and whatever might be on my mind. As mentioned in this same blog , I found something I had been searching for for a long time. I didn't need to find it, but finding it has enabled me to live with s...

Tonight I have a story to tell, but it must be told in fragments, with ripped out pages where the rest of the story should be. Why? Well...to be honest, the story behind this post is not one I should tell. To anyone. It is a story that, to this day, very few people even know exist. And for my own security, I would like to keep it that way. Rest assured that I did not do anything illegal, and what happened more regards my relationship with God and the way I used to see it than any actual physical act committed by myself. In fact, thinking back, I didn't actually do anything physical. But the telling of this story is still important, and you'll see why in just a moment. -- We are humans. When we see something that glitters, we want to chase after it. It's often in the act of chasing that we forget about God, running far away from God looking for a beautiful butterfly, or a lightning bug at night. And when we finally catch that thing that we longed for so much, we turn...