I've settled into my hotel and made a trip up to campus to make sure everything is set for tomorrow.  In less than twenty four hours, I've been amazed at how much sexuality-related stuff has crossed my path.

First, soon after landing, I checked my email and had received a message and an attachment regarding a new report released from the Texas Freedom Network called Just Say Don't Know: A Report on Sexuality Education in Texas Public Schools.  Not surprisingly, the findings show how abstinence-only education programs are failing students and families in Texas.  And that most of the information students are receiving is distorted or completely wrong. This report was released yesterday and I can't wait to discuss at the training in the days to come - what amazing timing! It's almost like we planned it.

Second,on my way to the University of Texas campus this morning where I was meeting my former adviser and mentor, I was searching for something on the radio to listen to during the drive when I heard someone talking about the "warning signs" that parents whould watch out for if they are concerned that their child may be "considering a homosexual lifestyle."  There's too much to go into, but my two favorite things were A)...

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Barbecue, Tex-Mex, South by Southwest (live music in general), wildflowers, margaritas, technology, the Longhorns, and George W. Bush (unfortunately) are just a few of the things that most people think about when they think about Austin.  It's a bustling, growing city nestled up to the Hill Country on the west and to rolling plains on the east.  Ask anyone about Austin and they'll tell you that it's a liberal oasis in the middle of a conservative wasteland.  If they're from there, they'll probably tell you it's the only place in Texas they would live (but they might give San Antonio a chance).  If they've never been, they'll tell you it's some place that they'd like to visit and have heard it's a pretty great place.  It never fails when I've been with someone on their first visit, they always say that they're surprised at how green it is (too many Wile E. Coyotes and Westerns have given a false generalization to a very large and diverse - demographically and geographically - state).  It's also the place that I'm most likely to identify as home when anyone asks me where I'm from. 

I'm traveling to Austin this week for the first time ever for work rather than to visit family and friends and to eat some long...