A credit to my kind. Defining self and defying lowered expection. Oh.. and bacon =)

A day like any day.. standing in the grocery store marveling at the new assortment of flavors in my favorite yogurt brand.
A woman approaches me tentatively. Nervous seeming..
She held up a packet of Nori.
"Excuse me.. I'm so sorry to bother you. Uhm. Do your people eat this?"
I'm not sure how long it took me to respond..
Long enough to check around and know that she was talking to me.
Long enough to assess the woman. Probably 45-50. Well dressed and flawless in appearance.
Long enough to try to make a checklist of which of 'my people' she may be referencing.
I'm often confused for being gay.. but homosexuals don't have separate eating habits as far as I'm aware.
I've been confused for being a yuppy.. but not since I colored my hair blue (Thank Frank ;) )
Cutting and darkening my hair brought on the suggestion of Asian descent. 
I'm sometimes confused for being a student.
People assume I'm vegetarian.. and usually Buddhist. 
I've been told I occasionally speak with a slight accent.. in an attempt to properly enunciate I've been confused for both British and German.


At a complete loss.. I simply replied Yes. My people DO eat Nori.. but we don't like soy sauce.


By the time I got home I was completely stuck in my head. I started trying to define myself in the shortest terms possible. If someone were to refer to me in conversation, how would they do so?
I have friends and acquaintances with absolutely specific labels.
Gay Activist. Political. Militant Feminist. Persian. Nickleback Fan. 


And it doesn't matter what the label is... you become a representative for Your People.
And with that comes the stereotypes.




This is Abrabacon.
He's a Mixed Martial Artist... A Cagefighter.


People understand that this means he is thick-skulled and slow witted.
People understand that while a great physicality, he is obviously unintelligent and brutish with a vile temper.

This is Abrabacon.
His IQ puts him in the genius category. For his birthday last year, I gave him blank canvases and paints. He turned them into tribal-inspired art for our livingroom. He occasionally wakes me up with eggs and bacon.. with melted cheese hearts on top. 


He holds the door for a lady. Any lady.
He cooks.
He's adorable with kids and a fantastic teacher.
He volunteers with Children's Square and Big Brothers/Big Sisters Nebraska. 
He's devastating in a suit. 
He's patient with me when we're lifting together.




He does financial analysis and product development for his firm. 




But if you were to refer to him in conversation... This is Abe. He's a fighter.


You know he's more than that.. but that's what you think when he enters your mind. And knowing all of these things about him you would think... he's a credit to fighters everywhere.

The lovely lady on the right is H.
She's a soccer mom.






She also runs several offices.. having to travel to Costa Rica on a very regular basis to do so.
She started running offices at the age of 17 when the grocery store she was SUPPOSE to be a cashier at seemed disorganized to her. 
To this day it's unclear whether they promoted her or she promoted herself.. But it IS clear that nobody argued and the place had never run more smoothly. 
She left once the place was in better shape and accidentally started running the corporate office for a large chain of restaurants based in our city.

I'm tough.. but she can kick my butt.
She invented this delicious cheese/pepper dish..
She made me a bookshelf for my birthday when I was a teenager.
Made it.


She's my therapist.


She's a life coach.


She's a college student.




She sings like an angel and she'll out dance you any night of the week (Except Wednesdays.. she teaches that night)
But we only get to be ONE thing, right?
So she's a mom.
But she's a credit to Moms who don't realize you can do EVERYTHING.. which sometimes includes drawing a mural of Buzz Lightyear riding a T-Rex for your son's bedroom. 


And so when you define yourself... define yourself by what you ACTUALLY represent.


Feminists have a bad rep.. because the people who define themselves as such don't do 'their people' justice.
Stand up for women.. but not to the detriment of men. Hating men doesn't make you a feminist. It makes you a hypocrite.
Fighters aren't stupid... but wearing Tapout gear and brawling in a bar doesn't make you a fighter. That makes you a douche. 
Studying the discipline and showing respect for your body and your opponent makes you a fighter.
Buddhists and Vegans aren't pretentious.
But preaching and lectures about why eating meat is evil and wrong doesn't make you vegan. It makes you phony and small minded.
Having respect for animals and yourself, recognizing this is YOUR lifestyle makes you Vegan. Respecting other people's journey makes you Buddhist.






So who am I? I really don't know.       





But on behalf of all 
StraightLesbianBuddhistNaturalist YuppyBrokeStudentVeganCarnivoreYogiBritish GermanChristianFeministBrilliantIdiots Everywhere...  
Yes. We love Nori.
And I'll do my best to be a credit to anything you think I am. 




The rest of the title is a bit of a tease, I do confess =)
For this weekend.. is the celebration of The Caveman's birthday!


His party will be called AbrabaconPalooza... and I feel it is quite self explanatory =)
Pictures and posts of all of our creations to you Monday.
Happy Leap Day, my beautiful friends!