I feel that I owe an update to the few of you who return to this page occasionally looking for something new, so here it is. I'm 19 now, and in some ways I've changed a lot since the days when I first put together this site. However, there are things I said when I was 14 that I'd be proud to reiderate today. It isn't so much about sexuality anymore. It's about loving yourself enough to accept that being you doesn't have to mean pretending to be someone else. Of course this is just another one of those things easier said than done, and living in an unsupportive enviornnment can cause the plan of "being true to yourself" to faulter. I've been involved in random queer activist groups... helped found my high school's gsa that has to my knowledge since fallen apart. I've joined "pride"- my college's GLBTQA group and watched that turn into a joke. I performed and participated in the about face youth theatre project for two years. I went through relationships with women and relationships with men. I'm constantly growing and I've learned so much in the past few years, but there is still so much more to take in. I've stopped worrying about what other people think so much, but it still plays a huge role in the way I live my life. I just want you all to know that I'm still here for you. If you ever need any advice or just want to ramble on in an e-mail about all your problems to someone understands, please let me know. I'm all eyes- contact me at: redfingerpaint@hotmail.com. I want you all to take a moment every day to appreciate the greatness of who you are. I want you to realize that no one is perfect, but our imperfections are the things that happen to make us so beautiful and unique. Take another moment to anaylze your prejudices towards any group of people. Use this moment to remind yourself that these ideas are all based on what others have told you, and the hate within us needs to be destroyed by coming to terms with its existence. Fall in love with yourself everyday. Treat yourself to a movie or some ice cream. Take a risk or two, but never push yourself to somewhere you don't want to go unless you really feel you're ready for it. I'm sticking to my original theory-- know yourself, follow your heart, and in the long term you can't go wrong.