Vincero

Strangely enough, the only reason I found this particular song was because my mother's dance class is planning to line dance to this song. I like how Fredrik Kempe remixed some very famous opera songs -- some motivation to work on EP, which deals with reviving classical forms of music.

On an entirely note, has anyone heard about this: Mom Helping Son With Down Syndrome Lose Virginity

Essentially, the article describes how a mother in England is asking for potential dates for her 21 year old son with Down syndrome. She is even willing to pay for a prostitute to help her son lose his virginity, stating that "I'd like all my boys to find love and enjoy sex. I always look at what other people are doing and why shouldn't they be doing the same things?"

"I strongly believe, and have always said, that society has a learning disability when it comes to Down syndrome," she continued. "If he doesn't get a girlfriend, I will feel really bad, because I have sold him this thing that he is like everybody else. That's why I'm working overtime to get this sorted for him."

The son was quoted as saying, "I'm on a mission to find a girlfriend. I'm looking for girlfriends everywhere."

Initially, I recoiled. Was it really so necessary to lose one's virginity? To go such lengths as publicly asking for women to sleep with him -- not to mention announcing that you'd be willing to hire a prostitute? Morally, I found the idea repulsive.

Today, Rogue was telling me about the video she watched in Zoology, which featured many bizarre and disturbing medical cases, including Cephalopagus twins -- basically someone whose head has two faces. I actually bothered to look it up online, and the picture freaked me out. I have always wondered how the parents feel when they give birth to a child with deformities, whether physical or mental. I know there are many parents who learn to love their child regardless of his/her disabilities, but I wonder if the initial reaction upon birth is one of disappointment or sorrow.

The tragedy of such a situation is that nobody can be truly blamed. The child cannot help being born the way he/she is. It is the same with the rest of us -- we cannot help being born less beautiful, less intelligent, less athletic than anyone else.

I can only speculate how a mother must feel. For nine months, she fantasizes about the next twenty years -- singing lullabies to a rocking cradle, sewing Halloween costumes each autumn, watching the apple of her eye transition from dress-up tea parties to prom nights dining at high-end restaurants. Yes, her child will be an Oscar-winning actress, an acclaimed doctor volunteering in third-world countries, the first female president of the United States -- and yet her dreams begin to flicker away the moment she discovers that her child shoulders a great burden.

I do not know whether it is common for those with Down syndrome to fall in love and marry -- and not only with others with the same condition. But you do have to acknowledge that it is rare to see disabled dating in today's relationships. I can understand why the mother would want her son to experience love once in his life. But I don't think she should have gone so far as to bring her son's request in the limelight, which media outlets will undoubtedly cast in a negative light.

Plus, I'm not quite sure if her son really needs to be pushed to experience this. He may be 22 years old, but mentally he may be at a much different age. Perhaps his body has matured physically, but the implication of engaging in intercourse suggests a certain degree of maturity, both emotionally and intellectually. After all, we all hit puberty in our teens, but we're hardly expected to run off and fornicate just because we can.

You can probably tell I'm not quite sure what to think about this whole business. I sympathize with the mother and her son, and yet I cannot really come to terms with their request. Initially, I thought the son's quote was rather off-putting, making him sound like all he really cares about is getting some.

But, on second thought, it occurred to me that the majority of guys his age share the same thoughts. So I really am at a loss for words, even after writing this post since the last forty minutes.