I am weary!

Weary of insipid David's on my television ALL THE FUCKING TIME!

Weary of non-stop increases in gas prices.

Weary of inconsiderate assholes who blame me for their complete and total lack of social skills.

Weary of people shoving their own morals or fears, or whatever the fuck it is that motivates people to hate me because of who I love.(which btw is none of their fucking business) Who would prevent me from living a happy and full life with the person I choose because they want to own marriage exclusively.

Weary of looking for a teaching job I am certain I will never find.

Weary of keeping my life on hold while I wait for that job.

Weary of being in this town.

Weary of thinking things will be different...this time.

Weary of waiting for this miserably long and tedious Presidential election to be finally and mercifully, fucking, over.

Weary of social networking sites whose existence I simply do not understand.

Weary of logging on to MSNBC and finding out that Charlie Sheen and his ex-wife (at least he can have one)are still fighting in public and we're STILL being told about it!

Sounds like someone woke up in the wrong side of the bed this morning huh?


Now THIS I could never be weary of-



This neither-




I can only hope his t-shirt is correct.

I'm cheered already.

OH! And read this. I'd love to be the actor who said those lines. I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to.

Hive mind (i love wikipedia)

Ever noticed that there are times at work when absolutely everyone loses their fucking minds simultaneously?

I've seen it as a supervisor over the years, and now without any subordinates I can somewhat enjoy the show as long as I'm not a part of it.

It appears that for some unknown reason, people get into this group think mode and when one of them loses it, they all go over the edge about their own issues en masse.

I'm living that exact scenario here at work this week.

I cannot tell you how much fun it is.

Everyone demands your undivided attention simultaneously and when you don't accomplish their goal you are a selfish aloof snobbish bastard.

ok

I have no problem with that...

AS LONG AS IT MEANS THAT YOU LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!!!

Today's imagined insult happened when I was sitting at a conference table waiting for a meeting to start and noticed a woman standing in the hall looking puzzled because the guy in the office next door to me wasn't in.

I said,"M, are those books for J?" She nodded her ascent, and I said, "If you like you can just leave them in my office and I'll give them to him tomorrow, he's off on vacation today." "You want me to leave the whole cart?" she asked. "If you need the cart just stack them on the table in my office, I'm not using it today." was my response. She proceeded to do just that and I mistakenly thought all was well.

I turned my attention to some conversation that was taking place on my right and turned away from the door. This was my fatal mistake. "M" reappeared at the conference room door to tell me she had left the books on the table. Without waiting to be sure she had my attention, and without even knowing if I was aware of her presence, she spoke and left. I only became aware of her presence when she left and someone else acknowledged her as she did.

Here we are again. Is it really xenophobia on my part when I expect someone to be sure I'm aware of their presence before talking AT me? Before assuming I'm aware of their presence, when I'm not even looking in their direction?

After the meeting I was met at the door by this woman's supervisor who for some reason passing human understanding, expected that I would entertain the notion of apologizing to this woman for whatever slight she imagines I committed. Needless to say I respectfully declined.

We're currently in an old-fashioned standoff on the issue. Lots of supervisory man hours are being wasted on the negotiations and I'm certain at one point they'll either demand one of us do something, or they'll suddenly develop some intelligence,(ahem) and just drop the whole stupid thing.

People!

Ya know I love 'em!

UPDATE: Apparently they DID get smart. I haven't heard a word for over an hour now.
Seriously, I should have stayed on that damn horse Saturday and kept going.

SLUT?!??! SLUT???!!?

I have all but been accused of being xenophobic. I find it ironic-al.

Please explain to me how I am xenophobic when I ask that people, of every culture, knock before entering my office. I seem to have offended most people here on staff at the very suggestion that they should.

I don't consider it foreign, nor culturally backwards that people should respect my workspace as I respect theirs. Even if they have a cubicle, I do not pass the threshold until I have knocked and acquired permission to enter. Why is this xenophobic?

Why is it xenophobic to ask that people,of every culture knock to see if I am inside instead of leaving things outside my door for me to trip over later? I realize I am perceived as a guy who would like to sit in his office and just do his job. I fail to see why this is regarded as a bad thing.

I do have to say that I feel I owe my employer work that is as good as I can do at any given moment for the compensation and consideration they give in return. Beyond that I do not feel obliged to anyone within the organization for any social activity beyond work related discussion.

In other words work is work and home is home. Now, the guy I work with in the office next door said that very thing last week when I was approached to donate toward a baby shower gift which I declined to do. His feelings on the subject are reflected in his statement. I concur with them.

I don't really know the guy who the baby shower was for, I certainly don't know his wife. I will never have a baby shower, or a wedding, or any of the other thousand things they try to hit me up for, so that's just money I'm pouring down the drain. Cause culture aside I guarantee you no one will think to say "Hey there S! I hear you finished your PhD last month, here's a gift certificate to Amazon from all of us!" Not gonna happen! It unequivocally never occurs to them that us single people are getting screwed on this deal.

But back to the xenophobia, which has obviously got me bugged. The two people with whom I work most closely are located in offices next to and across the hall from mine. We're a good match, we're all democrats, we're all pretty quiet, and we all live in our heads. I have been here the least amount of time at just under 4 years. They have been here a minimum of ten.

Neither of them attends the "parties" here at work. Neither of them engages in the gift exchanges. Neither of them is even asked to contribute to gifts for others! I follow their lead because I think they're right. How is this xenophobic?

I get the very distinct feeling that the issue is being clouded by those who are trying to bully me into doing what they want. And it ain't in my job description.

So, if you're inclined to do so, please tell me your feelings on the subject. I really don't want to be a xenophobe, and if I need to correct that I will. But if I'm just getting pushed around I want to know that too. It's a little hard to tell with all this guilt pumping through the air ducts.

I should have stayed on that damn horse.

Weekend Update

Well, I said I hoped I'd have a good weekend but I had no idea it was going to be as much fun as it turned out to be.

I suppose it actually started on Thursday when I ran into my own HB, (I'm co-opting the acronym, I hope you don't mind Bigg. for those of you who don't know what it means you'll just have to go to Bigg's blog, My Confessions and find out.) at the liquor store and we spent the rest of the evening together. He's one of those people I find fun in small doses, so a few hours once in a while is PLENTY!

I wrote all about Friday afternoon at work already. Everyone was gone, so I made quick work of my necessary stuff and played all afternoon.

I met up with my friends K and J, after work and we had a few drinks and then went to the Power and Light District for a concert. Man those people were old! And I'm referring to the audience. The bands were even older than we are. The lead singer for Dr. Hook was smoking a cigarette while he was singing. It looked to me like he has COPD pretty bad. I was amazed he could sing at all. The sound system BTW sucked. He couldn't hear himself and we were treated to the results. Mostly it went fine, but once in a while it sounded like me up there. And it wasn't cigarettes or age that caused it. It was obvious they couldn't hear themselves.

The headliners were Three Dog Night. I'd forgotten how many hits they actually had! There were quite a few songs I hadn't heard in years. I also was under the mistaken impression forever, that Goldie Hawn was married to one of them. I can't remember where I heard it or how long I've thought it, but I did and after the concert when I looked them up online I realized I was totally wrong. The Hudson Brothers were never associated with Three Dog night. Mea Culpa K, my bad. But we had a great vantage point pretty close to the stage so we saw everything. Great crowd, and a great show. I hadn't been downtown since the district was under construction and I had no idea where I was for a little bit. It was amazing when I looked up and saw the roof of the Empire theatre to my right and suddenly realized my surroundings. They've changed it a lot! Some of it for the better, I could do without the variation on a Mall theme, and $27.00 for three gin and tonics is a little steep, and would someone please tell me why a restaurant would close at it's normal time (10pm) when a concert with thousands of drinking people is literally outside your door? All that aside we had a great evening and we piled back into hoodad (J's 1983 BMW 733i) and headed for home. By the time we ate and I got to my place and to bed it was almost 1am. MUCH later than I'd planned.

So 7am came frightfully early for me, particularly since I chose to sleep in the apartment (I'll talk more about that later) and my neighbors were pounding and stomping at 4am. I'll miss them so when I move next month. Anyway I got up and managed to get out of the house around 9 and headed to the stables. I ran into S, the guy who owns the place, and he told me to take Little Boy out for a ride, that he needed someone to take him in hand and he also needed hours on the trail. So I saddled up an unfamiliar horse and headed out.

This horse was sah-weet! I hadn't been on a guy like this in a long time. He loves to go go go, and we were fast friends. Literally. He does have a few bad habits that I need to address, but time will take care of most of that I think. I'd been out about half an hour and we'd made a few turns onto a section of the trail that I don't know that well and suddenly I realized we were headed back to the stables LONG before I'd planned to, so I turned to head another direction. Little Boy had other ideas and the fight was on. Fortunately for me he didn't fight too long once he got the idea I intended to have my way and we got headed the right way. His response was to have me wear a few trees occasionally, but once he got over it we were friends again.

No sooner did I take him back than S stopped me and asked if I wanted to go out again in a bit. Without any plans for the rest of the day I quickly said yes. He had a ride scheduled with some guy and his daughter and her friend for a kids birthday. I quickly realized that Little Boy was not going to be a good mix on a walking ride with kids so I saddled up Rosie and when they got there I found out they had horses of their own and rode dressage regularly. This was at least going to be fun instead of a mind-numbing experience in the woods with large animals and oblivious parents.

So I took them out for a couple hours, they'd only paid for one hour, but I wasn't getting anything but riding time out of the deal and I figured why not give them their money's worth. Rosie was her usual reliable self and we had a nice time.

After I got back I put the horses away and headed back into the city. It was carwash, store, post office, cleaners, farmer's market time, and when I was done I went home to shower and headed to my favorite blues jam on Saturday afternoons for a couple more moderately priced glasses of gin than I'd had the day before, along with some great blues.

They took a break at a perfect time and I watched the Preakness. Big Brown was like, "Seeya!" and left the rest of the field standing there in the dust like they weren't even moving, it was amazing.

I ran into a friend there and we headed out to dinner around the corner where we watched the less than thrilling Royals game, (read team wal-mart.)

Those guys were actually running into each other! It never ceases to amaze me how bad they actually are. It's proof positive that you get what you pay for. But we had fun anyway and then I went home and watched Atonement.

(***SPOILER***) I loved the movie right up until I realized that Briony was a complete bitch and never did really do the right thing. After that I had trouble with the whole thing. I brought it back this morning glad to be rid of it.

Sunday was no less fun. I planted all the herbs that I got at the farmers market Saturday and did my morning Tai Chi, and meditated for a long while before heading out on my bike. I have no idea how many miles I rode but I was out almost 4 hours. It was a beautiful day and I just couldn't resist. I did realize however, that I will not be ready for the Cottonwood 200 next week. With the cold weather extending way into May and then being sick I simply didn't get to train enough to go 200 miles in 3 days. Maybe next spring if I'm still here.

Then I came home took a nap and read for a few hours. I came across this amazing article on Joemygod by this guy who went to Iraq and interviewed gay people who have to live totally closeted lives and meet secretly and hookup on manhunt or some such thing. It makes you realize that though things have a long way to go, we've got it pretty good. These people would be executed if they were caught.

I ended the weekend by having a few fiends over for dinner and canasta and then watching In the Valley of Elah. I'd brought all these movies home, it seemed foolish to just go out and see one when I had those sitting on the dvd player. Tommy Lee Jones was amazing, it was obvious he was totally into that part. Now I know why he wanted that Oscar so bad. I made some killer salmon on the grill and we tore up some card playing. I did not win, however. I talk too much and don't watch what's being played. C'est la Vie!

Today it's back to the grind and perhaps implementing a procedure to torment my neighbors when I'm out of the apartment. I have some ideas, I just need to commit to using the energy on an issue I only care about at 4am. I hate to waste energy on them. In fact I've found out in the process of getting the new place that my current complex is only recommended by 22 percent of the residents. Also I noticed a new sign this week that they're offering $399 Studios. Now we all know that $399 studios only attract the mentally deficient and crack ho's, so it should be an interesting month at chez falls.

It's amazing to have watched that place go downhill so quickly. Last year when I got there the courtyard was filled every weekend with hot young shirtless guys playing football,playing fetch with their dogs, and frolicking in the pool while the girls (and a few of us guys) watched. This year there hasn't been one person out in that courtyard. It's so obvious that they're trying to fill it up so they can then sell it to developers and go condo. They started construction on more garages and storage units last week. One does not build new garages for mentally deficient tenants and crack ho's. One builds new garages to make the place more attractive to potential buyers when they start selling these places. But the mentally deficient and the crack ho's don't know that.

No longer my problem, I just have to sit it out for another month...I can do that.

I recently started checking visitors reports on this blog. I find that I have hits from all over the world, which is soo cool I can't tell you. Thanks for reading everyone, I appreciate it.

I'm particularly enthralled by the number of Canadians who stop by regularly. Up until recently I had one in a place called Fort Nelson B.C. I think. How cool is that? To have a reader who's almost in the Arctic Circle! I also have hits from Thailand, Africa, and South America. St. Petersburg Russia is way high on my list of favorites. As I said thanks for reading. It makes me feel more connected somehow. I hope you enjoy it here.

200 posts AND Hot guys! Plus Marriage! What a Friday!

This is my 200th post. Yeah!

It's really no surprise to me, I'm pretty long-winded, so I expect to be talking well into four figures. Number of posts mind you, not dollars.

So on to the wingnuts-

“The court has interjected itself into national politics and made same-sex marriage a major issue in the upcoming national election,” said Brian S. Brown, the executive director of the National Organization for Marriage in California, which opposes same-sex marriage.-NYT

First of all the courts don't go around looking to get into other people's business, they're invited. Someone asks them to weigh the facts and render a decision. They don't make the law, they don't change the law, they read what our representatives (such as they are) enact and they render decisions based on the application of the facts of the case to the current law! Why is this so difficult for wingnuts to understand? Or is it that since they didn't get their way they have to find someone to blame? If that's the case,they must be related to my adoptive father.

Wisely, the Presidential candidates want to stay the hell out of it all. They want our votes, well, Obama and Clinton do. McCain is so crazy he doesn't know whose vote he wants. He just wants to be George Bush. So there will be some debate and a lot of smoke and mirrors and in the end there will be a law that makes sense and finally does not make a certain segment of society second-class citizens. Though I say we never were, we only gave that power away to those who sought to use their religious moralizing to oppress us. I went to Catholic Grade School, High School, and College, I know whereof I speak. As long as the Catholics and their ilk are allowed to run amok and rule with intimidation, as they have for centuries, things will never actually change. So, as I've always said, "Fuck Them!"

But as I said yesterday WOOT!

Should I ever meet Prince Charming I can run off to California and get married!

I'm going with a bunch of friends to a free Three Dog Night/Dr. John concert tonight, and then out to dinner. The weather is supposed to be wonderful so it's horses, and bikes all weekend. I suppose I should do a little packing, but hey moving day isn't for six weeks, what's the rush?

The good news is that the new housekeeper is coming today!(not a moment too soon) so I'm taking a long lunch and getting the car washed and picking up the laundry so I can use it as an excuse to stop by the apt and check on her progress. I love her already and she hasn't done a thing, it's just the very idea that she will, I guess.

After that I'm suiting up for a nice quick bike ride on my work loop. Thankfully, everyone is out today doing...stuff...and I can play as long as I quit talking to you and...OMG! I completely forgot!

It's Hot Guy Friday!

Justin Long is a living example of that straight nerd I always fall for. ALWAYS!

I now have to go edit the title of this post! Well as long as I remembered I guess that's what matters.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love

Will you marry me?

Very cool! or Woot! As the kids say.

Yes, it's good news.

Yes it's incredible news.

In fact it's fucking amazing!

Yes, I am dancing for joy that we won one!

I still wonder if we need to be that assimilated. I suppose I'd be singing a different tune if I had a boyfriend, but I still say we should celebrate the differences instead of becoming just like our oppressors.

However, for today. CELEBRATE THE INCREDIBLE FUCKING NEWS!!!

Here's a little Martha and the Vandellas to help you get there. I'd love to be in the Castro tonight!

get it now???

What kind of a moronic redneck dirt-floor cracker would one have to be to think that this was even remotely a good idea?

This is exactly the shit I was talking about this morning.

I get offers!!!

Talk about flattering? I'm getting offers from guys...at my age! Of course, they're all my age too, which is best, but it's still surprising. I have to wonder if it's not the cowboy thing.

The idea is amusing to me. A bike riding,pottery making,cowboy college prof who's about to be 51, getting cruised. How fun! We'll see what comes of all this, but it's flattering in any case.BTW the wind has stopped. There WILL be a long ride this afternoon.

I was reading Proceedatyourownrisk this morning and Richard is back on the warpath about Brandon McInerney. I agree with him that the child should be tried as a juvenile and treated as a victim in this whole tragedy. But what I'd like to see is the identification and prosecution of the adult who let this child think such things were ever possible. That's who should be on trial here.

Hillary Clinton is still refusing to concede the nomination, which I like. Win or lose, it's important, I think, that she stay in until the convention, just to remind all of those who think she's causing trouble in the party that this time is for exactly what she's doing! The primary season is for us to decide who the nominee will be AT THE CONVENTION!!! Not in May, or June, but AT THE CONVENTION IN AUGUST!!!

It won't hurt you to wait. She may stay in until August, she may quit in June we won't know until we know, but let it play out.

McCain is the presumptive nominee because all the other Republican losers have conceded that he will be their guy. I think they think that there will be a Democrat in the White House this time next year largely because of what the current asshole has wrought. So why not run this loser who can't possibly win.

Think Truman.

What if I'm correct? What if the unthinkable happens? What if enough bigots, and there is no shortage, come out of their hidey-holes and vote for McCain, just to be sure the black guy doesn't get in? If that happens we are SCREWED! What if the "base" decides that they can support this septuagenarian after all! What if enough of those old-guard republicans who are too senile to realize that their party has been hijacked and no longer represents what it used to,(and they're out there, my adoptive father is a case in point.) and they pull the R lever, or punch the R chad, out of habit?

It seems no one is taking this guy seriously and he's running for President! We're all so wrapped up in getting rid of Hillary that we're not watching the crazy old fool who's lurking in the shadows,rubbing his talons together and laughing maniacally. Let the process run its course.

We need to think about what we wish for, because in this case we just might get it.

the jury is still out

I rode my bike again today on my lunch loop. I am completely over this wind!

We've had a ridiculous S SE wind at like 15-25 mph since Saturday. So my ability to really evaluate the bike has been hampered by the fact that I am getting hammered almost the entire time I'm riding.

But today I caught a bit of a break. It was still windy. All the way out I cursed the wind Gods. But as I turned around to come back I rode into an area that wasn't windy at all. This bike may turn out to be a lot sweeter than I thought. I was geared out and still wanted more. I was right it truly does fly. And as long as I stay on the pavement it seems pretty good. Don't get me wrong it's not steel, but it just might be ok. What it lacks in comfort, it makes up like crazy in speed. OMG was I moving.


When I get more confident on it I may find that it corners pretty sweet too. I got a little taste today but I'm still getting used to it.

It may be a keeper after all.

I'm wishing now that I'd thought to ask my friend K to pick me up a Tag Heuer Watch while in Manila this week. I just thought of it this morning and he's already way off in the jungles. I saw several online and they're all there. Damn!

reading?

I am reading:

Compulsion-Jonathan Kellerman
Where Do We Live- Christopher Shinn
Defiance-Patrick Shanley
The Mediterranean Prescription- Angela Aquista
Flight Plan-Brian Tracy
The Many Lives of Tom Waits-Patrick Humphries


I'd ask you, but most of you just lurk.

Don't get me wrong, lurking is fine. In fact I've have some exciting times with lurkers, I just thought I'd share.

Love

Damn those ethics!

Here's the dilemma, well, not really a dilemma cause I'm not gonna do it, but I could!

I read Towleroad.com at work. They often link to dlisted.com which gets stopped by our filters.

I, of course, have the password to these filters, and could bypass them if I wanted.

Why am I ethical??? Damn those parents!

Monday Monday

I watched Val Kilmer as Moses in The Ten Commandments (The musical) this weekend. THAT was hard work, perhaps for Kilmer, but certainly for me. What a dreadful mess! I've seen bad high school productions of Godspell, directed by English teachers in rural areas, go better than this disaster. Val should go into hiding and stay there for about a decade, and never appear in public without a shirt again. If you ever have the opportunity, do not watch this dvd.


I rode my new bike this weekend. Who, exactly are we kidding with this aluminum, and carbon fiber thing? Don't get me wrong, this thing is sweet, it goes, goes, goes, when I ask it to, and it's very agile. I love the bike. But it rides like someone shoved a stick up my ass and stuck me on a rail. I'm going back to steel. Actually I want my Nishiki back. I wish I knew how to find the woman who bought it. I bet it's moldering in a garage somewhere. All I know is I can't ride this one a long distance, I'll be in the hospital getting all my joints replaced within a year.

Other than the slight disappointment over Val Kilmer, and the new bike, I had a pretty good weekend. Went to a friends house for drinks after work on Friday, then met another friend for dinner and a movie. Saturday I rode a horse, and then the bike, lunch with C, and then friends came over for dinner and cards Saturday night. Tai chi Sunday Morning before my brunch group, then another bike ride and my tivo of Slings and Arrows on Sundance.

I need to grade papers today and tweak the final. I accidentally discovered Thursday that not one of them knows what Everyman is. Can you believe it? They're in college and they've never even heard of it! It's their extra credit on the final. I was appalled that no one had even mentioned it to them before. WHAT could their English teachers be doing?


It feels like it may be a slow day for me today. I'm not very energetic and Monday is thankfully a light day for me. So, I'll do what's necessary here, and ride at lunch. Then I'll stop by the studio and pick up one last pot from the kiln for the semester and that's it! I'm ready to flop for a few days.

I mentioned to a friend in Arkansas, who's unemployed, that we should find some grant $ and move to New Mexico and start a theatre. I haven't heard from her since. I get the impression she's not very interested. Why can't people just say no? I love her, but this is weird. In fact it kinda pisses me off. When I have the energy I'll give her some shit about it.

Speaking of energy that's all of mine for this activity today.

Love

Duh!

This is Jason Gedrick from a film he did 20 years ago called Still Life. He has only gotten better as he's aged. Happy Hot Guy Friday!

Well teaching is all but over until fall. Last night we did an analysis,(sort of) of Our Town in class. I just wanted to be sure they got the idea of the thing. It was very difficult to get that across to them, but they stepped up. I got some really good responses to some pretty difficult questions. Now they can worry until next week about their final.

I slept the sleep of the just last night,after herding horses first thing in the morning, working all day, riding my bike at lunch, racing home to retrieve the new bike from the office staff at the apartment,(it's so sweet btw) and then putting it together and taking a little ride before racing to class last evening. I was a little more than tired when I got home.

This did not prevent me from getting on the new bike at 10pm for a little while. OMG! I am in love with an inanimate object...again. That bike was worth every exorbitant penny I spent on it. I want to take the Trek I bought two years ago and set it on fire and dance around it. If it weren't raining today I'd be out there. In fact I may do it later anyway.

For some reason I had a little epiphany yesterday. I was thinking about another teaching job and how difficult it's been to find one...blah blah blah. And then I remembered a post I did a little while ago.

What the hell am I struggling so hard for? I already have most everything I want. And as Mick says, "You can't always get what you want."

Starting today, right now in fact, I'm going to try harder to just let go. Go with the flow and see what happens. I can't make any of the stuff I want happen any sooner than it's supposed to. All I can really do is ignore what I have. Which is, of course, stupid.

I'm in better shape in almost all respects than I was at 40, and things don't have any reason to look anywhere other than up. And so I shall too. What the hell have I been thinking? I may count my blessings on this blog from time to time, but I sure don't stop and appreciate them often enough.

Time to start doing just that.

Everything at once?

For the last week or two since I got sick, nothing has been happening. I pretty much ignored the world for ten days when I was really down, and didn't really start things back up when i began to recover. Well, that little respite appears to be over.

This morning I got a call about 5am, that several of the horses had made their escape from the pasture overnight and had to be rounded up and put in stalls. This requires that I get my shit together pretty quickly. So, after driving all the way to the stables, saddling a horse, and herding the escapees back into captivity I was pretty late for starting the day. I got to use my new spurs though, and they're pretty nice. They cooperated, well, pretty much. Velvet, (who's back btw) was bitchy, but what's new about that. I had to rope her (I'm no roper btw it's a bit comical when I have to) and damn near drag her back to a stall. That was a nice workout, no need for the gym today.

But then I had to go back to my place, and pack for the rest of the day. This means, books and papers for class tonight. I forgot to write a quiz so that's still to be done, and I need to make a few more notes for my lecture. Also, I have to make copies of the outline for their analysis, which I've decided to do tonight. That way their final can be something totally different. I have the two down as separate entities in the gradebook, so it's better not to try to incorporate them at this late date. I'm about half a day behind at the office for the week, so that means I play catch up this morning. AND it's a beautiful day, so there has to be a bike ride at lunch.

So right now inside my car is a bike, helmet,gloves for both bike and horse riding, riding clothes, a cowboy hat, spurs, boots,three pairs of sunglasses and two pairs of reading glasses,50 lbs of clay, so I can throw at home this summer, the mp3 player, two books, and my grocery totes. It looks like I live in there. With the price of gas, I'd probably save money if I did. I figured the other day that I'm spending about $800 a month to have a car all tolled. My apartment costs less than that!

And on top of it all tomorrow is Hot Guy Friday! and I have done no research at all. I may have to dip into the archives.

Things that are just wrong

This just came across my desk, I swear I'm not making this up:


The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2006)

"Val Kilmer stars as Moses in The Ten Commandments--The Musical, an almost entirely sung stage adaptation of the biblical book of Exodus, captured on video from a production in Los Angeles. This is one of those profoundly misconceived ideas that self-destructs before your very eyes: From the moment Moses' mother Yokebed places an obvious rubber doll into a video projection of flowing water, you know that every step of this production will fall laughably short of its ambitions. The score is like an interminable 1980s power ballad; the choreography amounts to little more than generic leaps and erotic floundering; the awkward lyrics include such gems as "Metaphysics and religion, philosophy and love/A prince has got to know some things about all of the above"; and the actors deliver the insanely exuberant performances that only come from musical theater kids who think they're finally getting their big break. The story's moments of spectacle--the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea--are depicted by cheesy computer graphics projected on a giant screen behind the stage. Kilmer (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang , Heat) is the only actor (aside from the French-accented Pharoah) with chest hair; was that in his contract, or was he too lazy to shave? Egyptian glitz and Jewish tatters are equally campy (just wait for the orgiastic Golden Calf scene!). This is for those who savor oblivious badness."

There are so many things wrong with this that the only thing that I can think of that could make it worse is if were on Beta.

I can't wait to get my hands on the dvd.

I got spurs that jingle jangle jingle...

I picked up my new spurs today at the Post Office. They're pretty cool. I needed new ones badly. The last set was cheap, and as always you get what you pay for, so they'd fallen apart and I had none at all. This is not a problem from the horses perspective, however, if one has any plan of training a horse... No need for the old fashioned ones that dig and cut. (In fact they don't even make those anymore thank god) Just a little poke in the ribs gets results most of the time. If not, then you need to try something else anyway. Oldflame would have a seizure if he knew I bought spurs. He doesn't subscribe to them.

I put them on this morning in my office and took a pic of them over my work shoes, but that's all I had, I don't often wear boots to work. So they look a little goofy but they're shiny, and yes they do jingle. I had kind of hoped they wouldn't, but alas.

I'm watching Slings and Arrows on Sundance channel every weekend. It's kind of fun to watch a series about theatre. The characters seem a little crazy, but no more so than those I've worked with in the past. The one's that seem outrageous are the ones that try to act normal. Sadly I may buy the dvd's. I truly need a life.


(I've emailed that picture to myself three times, as usual AT&T has not seen fit to deliver it to my acct yet, so I'll add it later if it ever comes through.)

The Wind and The Lion

Ok, it wasn't exactly a lion, but it was close enough for me.

Saturday I went out to ride and since it was windy and Rosie was the easiest catch in the pasture I grabbed her and took off. It seemed like it was going to be uneventful, and mostly it was, but about 15 minutes after I set out I heard footsteps in the brush off to my right.

Now, the wind was coming from my left, thankfully, and this noise was slightly behind me and to the right, so Rosie had no clue what was happening. BUT!

There was a bobcat in the trees. Apparently it had eaten and wasn't interested in us because it padded off the other direction and didn't look at us twice. The horse was fine, she'd have freaked out if she'd known about this. It was enough that I had almost wet myself over it all.

The rest of the time out I saw a fox, pretty good size one too, and several deer. So the wildlife has taken it's territory back during the winter months and now we have to stake our claim again. It's an uneasy peace at best.

Sunday morning I rode my bike early and as I was crossing the bridge to ride the Nelson Island loop I rounded a bend and scared the hell out of this poor deer that was standing right in the middle of the trail. He fled, I crashed and wound up with a flat. Thankfully I was on the old bike and not the new. I would have been tempted to go hunting otherwise.

I'm going to be posting block quites from both Towleroad and Joemygod today, I'm perplexed by organized religion and yet can't seem to get it out of my life.

From Towleroad yesterday:

"Last week I posted about the anti-gay vote and subsequent 300-strong protest that went down at the United Methodist Church's convention in Fort Worth, Texas.

Methodist delegates voted to keep the statement that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, reject a measure that would have changed the church's definition of marriage to include same-sex unions, and approve a resolution opposing homophobia and discrimination against lesbians or gays.

As another act of defiance, 200 people attend the commitment ceremony of Julie Bruno, right, and her partner Sue Laurie, at a park across from the convention center where the vote was held."

I don't think my Methodist Friends in Oklahoma read my blog anymore so I doubt I'll have to worry about offending them, and in any case they were always pretty cool. But, what the fuck!?!?!

And this from Joemygod:

Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word "evangelical" has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.

The statement, called "An Evangelical Manifesto," condemns Christians on the right and left for "using faith" to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained by The Associated Press. "That way faith loses its independence, Christians become `useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology," according to the draft.

The declaration, scheduled to be released Wednesday in Washington, encourages Christians to be politically engaged and uphold teachings such as traditional marriage. But the drafters say evangelicals have often expressed "truth without love," helping create a backlash against religion during a "generation of culture warring." "All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others," they wrote, "while we have condoned our own sins." They argue, "we must reform our own behavior."

Oh the hypocrisy!

Seriously...this on the heels of Benny LXXXXIII ignoring the fact that one of his priests sacrificed his life on September 11, because he was gay. I am simply mystified that this country is full of people so stupid that they eagerly subscribe to religious views that are so full of hate and exclusion. And they wonder why I won't belong to a religious organization.

Then again I pass this mega-church every Sunday morning on my way home from my bike ride and just as I get there they start coming out of the parking lot cutting people off and flipping them the bird. I guess the time they just spent at mega-church didn't take. I mean, it didn't even get them out of the parking lot! I say there's no point in going if you don't listen to what's being said.

Or maybe they are listening, that would be sad.

No riding today, severe thunderstorms, both jobs, and a sore knee from the crash prevent that for at least today.

I've chosen the program I'm going to attend for my certificate to teach ESL. It starts in August. It's another expense, but I'll call it an investment.

Here's a little Tuesday treat:

James Marsden is nice, no?



Love

BTW I see that I have lots of hits from Canada! WooHoo!! Very nice, and there's one from Fort Nelson in the far northern reaches of British Columbia. I think that's incredibly cool. Welcome!

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones

Tragedy struck in the heartland this morning.

I accidentally deleted Coyote Tales. Needless to say I was...well...distraught. I got little done at work for trying to figure out how to reclaim this blog. I think I've become attached.

Bless the good souls at blogger though. They restored it in record time. I was away long enough to go to my follow-up visit to the dr. (I'm fine by the way) and stop at the pottery studio for a few minutes and when I came home for dinner, Voila! Coyote Tales has returned.

I know you're excited.

I almost didn't celebrate the new bike all day because of it. However, I can devote myself to the cause this evening. The bike,the new watch, and the restored blog. Yes, I bought the Zodiac I've been lusting after for months. Now I must stop buying if I want to move and take a trip, both in July. Yikes, what was I thinking.

Oh well what's done is done. To borrow another little phrase from King Lear,
It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.

I see by the timepiece on my wrist that it's time for a bike ride. Ta!

What hath I wrought?

Do you hear the chorus singing in the background?

The new bike has been found. OMG is it sweet, it's Italian, well not completely, they farmed out their manufacturing a few years ago and no longer use steel, but this thing is like floating on air that moves really really quick. And just in time for summer training rides too. Remember that trip I mentioned that I want to take this year to L.A. to see friends and then to visit K in Hawaii? You're looking at it.

Off to stare at it some more.

I'm Back!

And what better way to celebrate than with Brendan. (and never you mind that woman in the first picture. They're getting a divorce.)

I feel pretty good and I might just break down and stay at work all day. It's a full weekend anyway I may as well start now.

School was entertaining last night. I realized as I walked into the classroom that I'd forgotten the dvd they had to see. So I lectured for an hour, and then passed out their quiz and told them to take a break after they finished that I'd be back and proceeded to race home to get it.

The severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings made for an interesting ride and I returned to find an empty classroom and everyone in the basement. I don't get too excited about that stuff, so I wandered around and watched the skies for a while from the cozy confines of the classroom. They sounded the all clear, and we finished the dvd. To quote Victor/Victoria "Such a fuss."


I learned the other day that we lost Cooper's Corridor and this morning I found out why. Mean people.

Somehow a Joemygod reader made a comment about gay dad's that Cooper didn't like and after discovering that his blog had been hit hundreds of times and that some of the comments were unpleasant, he deleted the blog. I re-read those comments this morning and though I didn't find much that was very offensive, I'm not the single guy raising two kids in Nova Scotia, or Vancouver, sorry Cooper I forget. So his decision to delete his blog, though unfortunate for us was probably the best for him.

I understand that desire to raise children, it's family and it's a legacy and it truly is the most important thing you can leave behind. I'd do it, of course at my age I'd be one who'd go in for those in their early to mid-teen years. I'm too old to start from scratch now.

You'll be missed in the blogosphere Cooper, sorry about the mean people.

I, on the other hand, don't have any readers so I can say whatever I want without fear of reprisals. It's liberating.

Besides, I don't have any kids and I'm boring. I always knew that'd give me an edge.

I'm still torn about this new bike. I am almost feverish to find a bike store that sells something other than Trek. I suppose they're ok, but they're not all there is. What about Bianchi, Lemond, (I know) Specialized etc? All I can find here are Trek stores. or Raleigh stores. WTF? So though the new bike is semi-sweet, I'm looking for all the way sweet, especially for what they cost. Maybe I'll have time this weekend to shop some more. I rode a Lemond last week that was F-I-N-E! I rode a Trek yesterday that was ok.

I want a bike that's comfortable enough to ride 50-60 miles, yet one that'll go like a bat outta hell too. I had one once, I know it's possible. I'm not beyond my need to go fast yet.

Well Happy Hot Guy Friday! Have a good one.

Love

The Rift in the Democratic Party!

What fucking rift???

I keep hearing people say that Hillary needs to drop out of the race to let Obama be the nominee so we can heal the ""Rift" in the party. "She's damaging the party," they say. Did you guys just get here?

Primary season is for exactly this purpose. Has it been that long since we had a candidate of any substance or any consequence that you've forgotten the reason for the season? There is no "rift" in the fucking party you assholes. It's the primairies. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY.

Now, if she got out and Obama was the nominee and he lost, well that'd be her fault too. She stayed in too long and fucked everything up, would be what people say. So since she's damned anyway she may as well stay and ride this one out.

Mark my words, if Barack Obama is the nominee we'll have another four years of republican rule in the White House. There are far too many bigots out there who will not allow an African American in the Oval Office. My adoptive father (damn his soul) would vote republican for the one and only time in his life rather than vote for a black man. And he's only a bigot because he's ignorant. Imagine what informed bigots would do!

So stop bitching about the rift in the party. Believe me, it'll all be forgotten after the convention. The party will be unified behind the nominee and then it'll be Howard's turn to fuck things up. And if you want things fucked up, he's surely the guy.

This weekend is busy. Tonight I teach, tomorrow I think I'll have to work the whole day, and then I have to go to the college for the one-act plays. Saturday I have to ride a horse, a bike, do some stuff to the car, and then go to the theatre I last directed at to see their latest offering "Closer," a play I've directed. Sunday I have to prepare my lecture for next week, and grade papers, and weather permitting I have to clean out the garage so I can start putting boxes out there.

I guess I'm going to recover, I've kept the meat loaf all afternoon...yoohoo! I'm queasy but it has been over ten days since I ate solid food so I think that's to be expected.

I may have bought a bike too. One must have their hobbies I guess.

It's here! and solid food too...woot!

Ok, I know I forgot to give May the big build-up as far as the Freaking amazing Ancient Egyptian popup calendar goes, BUT, here it is!

I find it fitting that the popup calendar would grace the month-o'-my-birth with such a cool picture.

Today I am going to try solid food! I cannot express my excitement. Soup is getting REALLY old! So, meat loaf it is. I figure what the hell, see if I can really make it through a proper meal. Besides comfort food ain't all bad.

If I keep it, I'll try to do a full day at the office tomorrow, they've been really nice about all this.

And remember tomorrow is Hot Guy Friday!

the age-ed do not bounce

I guess I'm starting to show my age. I haven't bounced back from this little episode of illness like I used to. Today I plan to throw caution to the wind and actually eat the noodles and chicken in the Campbell's soup I'll have. Brave huh?

It's making me nuts! I can't ride, I can't read and prepare Thursday's lecture, I can't sit at the wheel and throw pots, I can't do anything but lay here and be lethargic. It totally sucks.

I get a little better every day, but whatever this was it sure has made me appreciate how healthy I normally am.

It was inevitable though. I was just thinking a few weeks ago how lucky I'd been all winter, that through that horrible months-long ordeal that I hadn't even had the sniffles.

Then, of course, I went right out and overdid. I jumped on a horse, and started riding my bike, and spending time doing things to the car etc. Not thinking for a second that maybe I should pace myself. That this all might take a break-in period since I wasn't nearly this active for the last six months.

I also didn't consider that I am in constant contact with those germy urchins at the college who potentially bring to me, in three hours, the amount of exposure to germs that I normally have in a month. So, like I said...inevitable.

I find that I can concentrate a little more today. I have been able to get things pretty much caught up at work, so that alone made me feel a little better.

It's just pathetic that I am reduced to this...this...pile of rubble by a little virus.

Pathetic!

So much for aging gracefully.

down and out

Sorry about Hot Guy Friday.

I'm sick. Not sure what it is, everyone seems to think it's food poisoning, and the dr. says it's a bug. So, being the poor sick asshole in the middle of all these diagnoses, I am down for the count.

I'll resume when I can.

interlude

shit! damnit!! Fuck!

sorry, my cuss-o-meter numbers were headed down.
With this restorative post I'm 746% ahead of other blogs for cussing. Phew! almost lost my lead.

Now that's finding your niche!

I found this picture on Towleroad.com and thought it should be shared with as many of you as possible. Amusing no? Talk about product placement.

Now, if you're not in the mood to listen to me slam Obama some more perhaps you should come back tomorrow. If you are, then you're in the right place.

It needs to be said, not that anyone will listen, but it needs to be said anyway, that there is going to be a lot of talk today and tomorrow about how Clinton's win in Pennsylvania doesn't mean much and that the delegate numbers speak for themselves.
Well, yes, that's true they do.

Neither of the democratic candidates has enough votes to win the nomination!

Neither one.

He has a few more than she does, but he still isn't a lock. The only way he's a lock is if Howard the Dean is conspiring in the wings, and we all know that's what that bastard does, to seat Florida and Michigan with a 50-50 split of delegates. This is bullshit, he didn't even campaign there, but bullshit is what makes politics tick so I guess that's to be expected.

Point being, this thing will go all the way to the convention if he doesn't get those two states. It takes slightly over 2000 delegates to win the nomination and he does not have them. I'd love to see this one be a nail-biter.

Yes, I think he'll be the nominee, and no sadly I do not think he will win the Presidency. I think his candidacy will bring the bigots out in force to be sure there is not an African-American in the White House, which makes John McCain the President of the United States, and if that happens, well, as has been said many times...we get the government we deserve. Can you imagine? And we thought the current nut case was a bad choice.

So folks, just in case, let's all start looking for friendlier climes, and governments that aren't on self-destruct. Perhaps we can all find Valhalla. Wouldn't that be nice. I'd settle for Agrestic as long as I had a good connection.

BTW. Welcome back Missoula! The Northwest has been conspicuously absent from my feed for several days. Thanks for coming back.

Spring!!!

Woohoo!

It's spring!

Last night there were thunder storms! I laid in bed and listened to the thunder and the hail as it rained...really hard! It was so nice to hear something besides sleet hitting the windows.

Today it's going to be cloudy but about 74 degrees! I will be riding at lunch. I hope to get in a good ten miles. I didn't get to ride this weekend since I had to work saturday.

And! The Scientologists are apparently at it again. One of their own has defected, I guess you'd say, and they're out to stop any of his info from reaching the public.

Jason Beghe, an actor, was a member and recently had a car accident in which he was seriously injured. This was deemed as odd since his particular position in the church apparently guarantees that he's immortal. (I cannot believe people fall for this shit.) SO the churches position is that his immortality was being supressed because he has a gay friend. Therefore he was not yet immortal.

Is it me or does this sound particularly crazy?

Oh and the rumor is that the video interview of Beghe talking about all this was taken down because Scientologists were successful at getting the account that sponsored it cancelled. I have to wonder if they work for George W. Bush.



This image has no special significance, except it's particularly gay and I'm relatively certain it'll bug the shit out of the Scientologists. So of course it's getting posted here.

After yesterday's post, and now this one, do you get the feeling I'm not a big fan of organized religion?

P.S. If anyone has the video of Beghe being interviewed and wants to post it here let me know. I'd love to see them try to cancel me. fuckers..bring it.

Hypocrisy on Parade

Photo courtesy of Joemygod


It appears that Pope Benedict has FINALLY left the country. Let's hope it's for good. The notation on Joemygod that the throngs at the barricades are remarkable made me laugh. He brought us all 6 days of demonstrable catholic hatred that we all should have paid rapt attention to. Catholicism is where hate began.



This is Father Mykal Judge, perhaps you remember him more like this:



Fr. Mike was victim 0001 on September 11, 2001. He died ministering to people at the most dire moment in recent history.


Pope Benedict did not utter his name when he was at Ground Zero this weekend.

Why you ask?

Perhaps it's because Mykal Judge was openly gay.


And in a moment of inspirational hatred he stood on the ground where Fr Judge gave his life for what he truly believed in and dedicated his life to, and said:

"God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred."

Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever stop wondering when those who profess to preach love and acceptance will stop teaching a message of universal hate and distrust with their hypocrisy.

Two Things and an additional peep

Apparently no one got the Eva Gabor reference in Wednesday's post. I get allergic smelling hay! Was one of her lines in the opening song to her series Green Acres. Let's just hope you're all too young to know that.

And I found something over at breaktheillusion.com that I wanted to share. I don't often subscribe to Dave's ideas because I think his view of life is a little simplistic. But today he hit the nail on the head with this:

"If you seek a world of death, destruction and destitution, you will find it. If you seek a world of infinite beauty, perfection and hope, you will find it. Seek, and ye shall find."

I was reminded of my former sister with that one. She has surely found what she sought.

Have a good weekend all! Rest, recover,restore, recreate, do what makes you whole each day.

Love

It's Hot Guy Friday!!!

Have I ever mentioned that I lust after Dylan Walsh? I lust after Dylan McKay (Luke Perry)too but you'd all just make fun of me for posting him, so I'll keep my Dylan McKay Crush to myself thank you.

Nip/Tuck used to be a fun show. I never get to watch it anymore besides I do not like that other guy at all. Someone once referred to Dylan Walsh as an aging frat boy. Now there's an age old fetish I'd indulge a lot more often if they all still looked like this!

Alas...

Spring was lovely

Yesterday we had spring..it was very nice. Today it's cold and rainy. I wish we still had an atmosphere, it used to be so fun.

I forgot to mention that I found an apartment. It's not very far from the current one, but it's a lot nicer and though I'll only have a carport instead of a garage, I have requested a space on the end so maybe one side of my new car will be spared the wrath of my neighbors doors. The new place, though I have to pay the utilities will actually be less than what I'm spending now, and I'll have a bigger deck, a proper bedroom, a real dining room, a washer and dryer,and a fireplace, and they supply the firewood so I'm not unhappy about it. The actual moving is a whole other story. I'm totally hiring a couple of cute guys to haul all that shit around while I watch. There will be auditions....er interviews. whatever you want to call them, uglies need not apply.


The new apartment faces south so I can plant some things for the deck this spring. I really want to grow stuff. I miss that living in an apartment. But if things keep up we'll all have to telecommute to work and we can stay home and grow our own food like we used to. Of course when that happens I'm really moving to the country so I can have a horse. I'm totally ready for that kind of living.

I've forgotten if I mentioned that I was renewed to teach next fall. I'm happy about it I just wish it was elsewhere. There must be a reason the universe is keeping me here, I just wish they'd spit it out instead of taking the long road.

I get allergic smelling hay!

The first half of this week has been spent trying out various new allergy medications. Why we cannot stay with the tried and true I'll never understand. My allergist isn't a particularly adventurous guy but if the drug companies say "new!" He's prescribing the hell out of it.

This time however, instead of not working at all the new medication worked a bit too well. Let's just say my apartment is cleaner than it's ever been. I made a return visit to his office this morning and explained (in record time) why this particular side effect was not my favorite. We've gone back to what we knew worked to begin with, and after this new stuff wears off I'll hopefully be able to stifle the urge to wax the car at 4am.

It is however only Wednesday and though I'm still feeling extremely efficient I'm hoping to return to normal because Rob Brezny of Freewill Astrology says:

"In her book Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation, biologist Olivia Judson extols the male members of the fruitfly species Drosophila bifurca. Although they are barely one-eighth of an inch long, their sperm can be up to 2.3 inches long. If a man were capable of the same prodigious production, his sperm would be as big as a whale. Metaphorically speaking, you Geminis now have the ability to generate phenomena on this scale. That's why I hope you will devote all your ingenuity and resourcefulness to creating an intricate, beautiful masterpiece, not a humongous, complicated mass of confusion."

Confusion rules my brain at the moment so once I stop being an experimental model for Pfizer, or whoever makes this shit I will hopefully be able to start work on a masterpiece.

One of the blogs I read frequently (ok, I read it every day.) My confessions has some extremely good news to share. Along with it's usual bit of potentially tragic uncertainty. But the good news is really good so I was glad to hear it.

Here the weather is threatening to improve, if only to the windy side, at least one can go out of doors without several layers of clothing, which is very different than normal.

I found a new website while I was laying on the couch yesterday morning (pre-medication) Farecompare.com it's a website that alerts you when a good fare is available to someplace you want to go. So hopefully this will allow me to start going to a few of those places.

Oh! I meant to say something about the group that is pleading with the California courts not to throw the book at Brandon McInerney for killing Larry King. They're right, and I've said this from the beginning of the whole mess. That kid is not to blame for what he was taught. Let's find the asshole that let him think it was ok to kill someone because they're different than you and throw the book at that bastard. I can guarantee there's a bigoted adult responsible. Let's send them to jail and see what happens to them. I'd be ok with whatever it was.

It's Hot Guy Friday!...ok Monday.

I was wholly unaware so many of you were dependent on my Friday selection of a guy to look at. Well far be it from me to deny you all. I was busy Friday and couldn't get it done. Sorry.

But here he is!



An apparently little known actor named Scott Bairstow, whom I've lusted after for over a decade. Yeah I know what he did, don't care. He's hetereosexual and they apparently do that stuff. Rumor has it he's been saved as well. So much for Jee-bus and his powers of Saving. I guess being saved means that you should go out and jump on a twelve year-old. I can't imagine why he'd do that when he could have me at his disposal 24-7. (and NO jail time involved) Go figure.

And as an added bonus to make up for my neglect:



The Hall twins!

I know they're probably a little long in the tooth by now but they too (two?) have indulged my twin fantasy for over a decade. (and WHO doesn't have a twin fantasy?...don't lie)

Happy Monday, have a good week, I'm off to slave away for at least a while. (the weather is supposed to be gorgeous, and after that shitty weekend I need a ride, so I may arrive at work with a cough. hehe)

Love

Apartment hunting is awful

I hate apartment hunting. My lease will be up at the end of June and everyone seems to think I need to get a jump on the issue. Meaning, the current mgt has made me a totally gracious offer to only increase my rent $80 a month to stay in my itty-bitty noisy smelly apartment. This does not include the garage. God knows how much they intend to increase that. I felt a public review was in order so I went to apartmentratings.com and dashed off this little missive. I hope it generates the amount of new tenancy they deserve. Ashame really, they're in a great location and have everything you could want. The place is just full of crazy white trash that hasn't gotten the memo that this is NOT a trailer park...yet.

Anyway, I found the new place. It has everything but a garage. I'll have a carport instead. The complex with garages right next door has nothing open so I settled. It seems pretty cool and puts me closer to the bike trail and a little closer to the stables without getting me too far from work, work, and work.

I still have some time. Moving day won't be until June 29th. Now to start packing...AHHH! Who brought all this stuff in my apartment?

This weekend is a viewing of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution. I can't wait! It's supposed to be full of hot Asian man meat. Now you're talkin'!

Someone's out There!

Someone in Oklahoma City is reading my blog. You think Sally is trying to contact me? Or maybe she's just stalking me. I'm one of those people who's such a threat you know!

I wonder if she's got a network that's looking at all gay blogs and making a list. I hope they check it twice. Now I know why people are paranoid. It's kinda fun to think all this crazy shit...at least for a while.

peat-n-repeat

I watched No Country For Old Men again last night. OMG!!! I love that movie. I don't know what else to say it's sooo my kind of film.

a trend ?

Hey!

Yesterday was a mental health day. So I did nothing but what I wanted. You were not on the list.

I rode a horse three hours this weekend, which was fantastic. I rode my bike 20 miles on Sunday, which was good, but not fantastic, there was this vicious headwind the entire way back, I was not amused. I saw Stop-Loss. You better hurry, there were about ten people there when I saw it. The problem is that we're all Iraq'd out. No one wants to go to the movies and see something about it. I know those guiys volunteer to go over there, BUT!

They really don't after the first time. I mean, if you're in, you're in. And if they want to send you naked and humping a monkey on a rocket to the moon, that's where you're going. It's got to be tough to think you've done your duty and then find out Uncle has other ideas. The movie is a little slow but worth the time.

Went apartment hunting. The lease is almost up where I am and the increase on the new lease is exorbitant so I'm getting out. I'd hoped to be relocating late this summer, but it appears I won't be, so I have to find a new place here. It sucks. Finding an apt with a garage is not an easy task and I have now become addicted to having one. I'll prevail eventually.

It's gray and rainy here...again....does anyone notice a trend this year? I'd love a cool summer, but damn does the winter have to be this long?

I'm boring myself here...enough of this for today.

Blasphemy!

The Boston Phoenix has listed Tom Brady as one of the unsexiest men of 2008.

Now, I'm sure Tom will be glad to hear that perhaps a couple less paparazzi will be following him around in 2008 because of this...this pronouncement by a bunch of drunk catholic bigots in Boston with Fantastic Sam's haricuts.

I on the other hand say FUCK YOU, YOU BOSTON CATHOLICS!!! (there goes my cuss-o-meter)

Miserable bunch of catholic bastards couldn't spot a hot guy (unless he was a minor) if he fell on you while you were saying a novena.

Tom is hot I tell you!

And he loves me. (he just doesn't know it yet)

See Tom and his package? Aren't they amazing?

and he reads too!

It's Hot Guy Friday!

Now these guys should have been found last month when I was doing the speedo thing!

Well, at least they got found.

I've got to figure a way to get home and get my bike this morning. I forgot it and it's supposed to be wonderful out today. I must sneak out and ride for a while.

I think it's cocktails and movie night with some friends. Can't stay out too late, there's car stuff tomorrow and a ride is definitely happening. Also I am supposed to go ride a horse sometime around ten tomorrow morning so I gotta put that in my schedule.

Then tomorrow night I'm having Chinese with an old friend and then we're going to see the play at the college where I teach.

Sunday I have to clean do laundry and a lesson plan, and watch a movie.

So I've got a full weekend ahead. I hope I have the stamina for it all.

My friend Kenne in Hawaii sent me a picture of him and his car, that he's had for a year! It's one of those cute little Saturn sporty things. Perfect car for Hawaii and a car person.

My friend Lisa-Lin (whose 20th 30th birthday is Tuesday) has not sent me a picture of her new house. Nor did she tell me she bought one! I knew it was in the works, but the acquisition has apparently taken place already.

Congrats to both of you, dears!

I accidentally caught a few minutes of "Into the Blue" the other night when I was free. What a terrible film!!! Paul Walker... Handsome, I'm sure he's made millions off all those B movies he's done. But that man cannot act. He is singularly terrible.



The hottest guy in the movie was Josh Brolin and of course I can't find one picture of him from the movie. So here's a consolation prize. (I hate Diane Lane)

Well work beckons. actually the voicemail light is blinking and I better go find out who it was, since I didn't answer cause I was blogging.

Love

conundrums quandaries, and confusions

I just read a letter from my friend CC to his mom which he posted on his myspace page. It isn't good. I think the smog is getting to him. Either that or it's all those homosexual neighbors in West Hollywood. Can't really tell which, but those two things can really do in a boy from Big Stone Gap, VA. They may have finished off the few brain cells he had left before the 2 years probation tour started. Alas, Poor CC...I knew him.

I need to move. I need to get the hell out of this shithole and go elsewhere. There are several problems with this line of thinking.

The first is that I have everything I want right here. Well ok, not a man, but most of those are disposable anyway. But I have this job, that though mind numbing, is so ridiculously, um, how did CC put it? Oh yes, chushy. Yes, it's cushy. And that is likely bad for moving. I'd really need a new cushy job to replace it.

I have great bike trails to ride that are safe, well kept, and at the right time of day almost empty. The best one, which I want to live near, is 33 miles out and back, which is a great ride.

I have horses to ride and unbelievable places to ride them. There are over 50 miles of trails to ride at the stables I use and more than that when you add up all the little trails no one keeps up with. You can go "off-roading" with your horse and spend hours doing it.

I have a great little apartment. I hate my upstairs neighbor though. If I knew he was dead up there I don't think I'd tell anyone until he started to smell so I could enjoy the peace and quiet for a few days. That's how much I dislike this guy.

A lot of my friends are here, they love me and leave me alone for the most part, which proves they love me as far as I am concerned.

I'm making a lot of pottery, but I don't have a really good teacher yet. There are phases that I am going through and I hate all of them. I need someone to sit with me and say, "Oh, stop that! You're fucking up that pot cause you're not paying attention so stop it." This would not help most people. It would improve my work immensely.

I'm teaching, at least for now. Sadly, I love teaching. I say sadly because I never seem to find a job doing it all the time, no idea why. It's that job I'd do for free. Which is probably not the thing to tell potential employers, though I'd tell them that if they asked. They never do. I'm not listed on the schedule for the fall at the college I am at currently, but he thinks I'm going to be elsewhere teaching and I hope he's right. In the event he's not right I'm going to put in a plug for next semester when I'm at his show this weekend.

I have a...well...hmm...how do I classify Mike. I abhor certain terms that I refuse to employ, and I can't imagine there's any risk of him mistaking his role in our relationship so let's just say we keep each other sane and leave it at that. It's very handy.

I'm apparently getting more and more credit worthy (Which I could do without)cause I got people calling on the phone asking me if I want their credit cards. It's insane! No wonder there's a credit crunch in this country. If this is how they give it away it's obvious what happened. I got two calls last night alone! The only thing I want to buy on time is a house. Well, actually a condo. I don't want to own an actual building, just part of one. Other than that I do not want credit cards, they're scary. Especially when one is depressed, or rebellious, or hungry, or anywhere near a store of any kind.

I'm not traveling as much as I'd like, but that's as much out of laziness as anything else. I could go on a littler weekender every couple of months and two or three big ones every year if I wanted. It's just a lot of effort and I haven't wanted to bad enough I guess. Really I've been holding off on the travel until I got moved out of here.

I truth I just want to go sit down somewhere and get a job and stay. I'm tired of dragging all this shit from pillar to post and I want to go do things and not worry about all my stuff.

So as you can see I have to re-establish myself elsewhere so when I do move, there isn't that phase where I go insane trying to do the things I love. Maybe the best plan is to choose a place and start networking there. That way I can use my travel budget and vacation to get hooked-up, as it were, in the new place. Oh hell, now I'm being practical! I'm going back to bed.

Breaking News!

"Fed chairman Bernanke says economy may "contract" slightly in first half of 2008."

I have to wonder if he realizes April Fool's is just for the one day.

told ya, told ya, told ya so!

This, my dears, is what you can make happen if you get off your collective asses and stand up for yourselves, instead of just taking all the horrible things that get said about you because you're a fag!


Jay Leno Apologies

"After his interview with actor Ryan Phillipe caused outrage from gay activists and spawned a entire website populated by people flipping Tonight Show host Jay Leno their middle fingers, GLAAD is reporting that the comedian has apologized.

"In talking about Ryan's first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong," the host said in a statement. "I certainly didn't mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize."

GLAAD goes on to congratulate Phillipe for not playing along with Leno's homophobic jokes, saying, "We are proud of Ryan for refusing to participate in Leno's thoughtless attempt at humor."

And now you know I'm right...we'd save a lot of time if you'd just operate on that principle

Love

Amazing April

Well, though I'm still not over my fit of paroxysm about the gayest look issue, I'm going to post cause it's the first of April and the calendar has new stuff to show off. And there are a number of people who read this blog who are on my email list who I either barely know, don't know at all, other than through this blog, or don't know at all, who obviously weren't those whom I was chastising. It's the 10-or 12 people I sent that email to who have known me many years who didn't even acknowledge it, nor even pretend they would do it, well that's not true, Oldflame pretended that he intended to do it, but I know him too well. Hell he can't acknowledge that he has feelings, let alone that he is gay, so how could I realistically expect a public declaration of his feelings about Jay Leno or anyone else making fun of us.

But enough of that.

Above is April, and though the picture doesn't show it too well, it's the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut which is cut into the cliffs of Deir el-Bahri in Thebes.

Next month...I'm tellin' you, is so fucking cool. I'm going to start taking pictures of it soon so I can get the best one for you. I fucking love this calendar.

I decided today that:

1. )I'll never go to Nebraska Furniture Mart again as long as I live. All I intended to do last Thursday was kill an hour before teaching my class. That was all I swear it. I came home, however, with a new living room..and of course a credit card to the damn Nebraska Furniture Mart. Nothing good can come of that. They delivered the stuff this morning.

2.) I am going to give myself a really cool birthday present. I'm going to ride in the Cottonwood 200. It's a 200 (duh) mile bike ride over three days through western and central Kansas. I better start training soon. I have a 62 mile ride on the 29th of this month so training for that will help, but 200 is a lotta miles. And when you belong to AARP, you gotta get a head start. It starts May 24 and ends on my birfday the 26th. I'll be taking a personal day on the 27th to rest the weary bones. Or! perhaps I should hire that deliveryman from this morning to drive me there and back! Now there's a thought!

3.) I'm going to do my best to stop obsessing about the teaching job I can't seem to find. I'm just going to keep plugging away at it and getting more and more credentials to bolster that degree and one day it'll pay off.

I think those are enough resolutions for one April fool.

Love

et tu brute?

Not one of the people on my personal mailing list that I sent the mygayestlook link to sent in their gayest look...not one.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in each and every one of them.

I take it very personally.

look link

Yesterday when i posted my gayest look i negelected to post a link to the site that inspired the whole thing.

So here:

shakesville

She'll keep posting them as long as you send them. So get on it and tell Jay Leno he's a tool.

Mind your P's and Q's

No one seems to know where this phrase originated. The OED used to have a reference to it that dated back to 1779 but it seems to have been removed from their latest versions so I imagine they can't support the reference and deleted it.

This takes me into an area in which I have absolutely no expertise and must rely only on my own opinion. Not that this has stopped me from speaking up in the past mind you. I just caution you that I may misspeak from time to time today, since I mostly don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.

Now why do you suppose Thomas Beatie decided to go public with his transgender pregnancy? What is the purpose of that? Surely he and his wife knew that there would be a public outcry over the whole thing.

My personal opinion? Go for it. If you kept your reproductive organs during a sex reassignment surgery then you meant to do this all along, you just chose not to tell anyone about it until it was obvious. So why do it? Why tell the whole world what you're doing?

Will it further the cause of transgender people? Will it cause a backlash that not only involves transgender, but GLB folks as well? Will it make the national debate over GLBT rights more or less important in this particular election cycle? Is it being done for personal reasons or political ones?

I think it's the lumping all of us together that I have a problem with. I'm homosexual (to use the clinical term) I have no desire nor interest in reproduction. The things I have seen and suffered give me extremely good reason to think that we should all stop reproducing and let the species go the way of the dinosaur, cause this life ain't pretty most of the time, and frequently it's the meddling of others that makes me certain it's not worth living the way it is. But I get the desire to reproduce (I had it for a summer in the 80's) and I think those that want to should be able to.

Mostly I think that it's none of my damn business. I'm not a participant. Never will be. Don't want to be. Why should I be weighing in on the reproductive rights of others? In fact why is a biological function even referred to as a right. It's a fact! We as a species reproduce. If we possess the technological know-how to make that happen in less than conventional ways then why shouldn't we do it? We debate all the time in medicine if we should keep people alive just because we can, so why shouldn't we allow people to give birth if we can?

This brings to mind an article I saw yesterday on MSNBC.com in which someone asked Chelsea about her Father's affair and Chelsea laid the idiot out telling them it was none of their business. Love her! All this country knows is how to mind other people's business and we wallow in our ability to do so.

Thomas Beatie is apparently not gay. He falls under the banner of GLBTQ so I recognize his right to ask for my support. His reproductive decisions are none of my damn business and I intend to keep it that way. I wish the rest of you would too.

So mind your Pregnancies and your Queers, just remember they're not the same thing please.