This past weekend, Earl and I attended a bears event in Danbury, Conn. It was a big bruhaha of an affair, where around 600 big, burly gay men (and their admirers) descended upon this fine little city. It was a great experience for the both of us, as we haven’t done anything like this in a very, very long time. It is very refreshing to spend time with like-minded gay men that are basically just normal guys. No worrying about primping and prissing for the next circuit party and having to deal with attitudes. We do things like throw on a pair of boxer shorts and head to the “Bears in the Boxer Shorts Ball”. Or play charity BINGO. Or go shopping at the “Bear Maul”. All good fun. And it was for a good cause, as net proceeds went to ARCS, AIDS-Related Community Services.
“New Moon On Monday”, Duran Duran.
As I’ve mentioned on that bear page, we bears have always kept in touch with each other through electronic means. Earl and I have chatted with others through the various chat interfaces (iChatAV/AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, etc.) for quite a while. It was nice to put a body with a face or bits and bytes of an instant messenger.
I’ve made another new friend this weekend and that would be our shiny new package containing Mac OS X 10.4, otherwise known as Tiger. Oh my goodness! Apple has taken a superior operating system and made it even better. I’m especially delighted with the new Dashboard feature. They’ve taken the program Konfabulator and integrated it into the operating system, adding that special Apple touch.
“Be Near Me (Munich Disco Mix)”, ABC.
It’s especially great that Apple has added yet more polish to OS X, since I’m now abandoning all ties to Microsoft once again. I conceded to having a Windows 2000 machine on the network so that I could do work-related stuff in the comfort of the cellar. Since Microsoft pulled their support on anti-discrimination legislation in Washington State last weekend, essentially bowing to right-wing/religious pressure, I’m now on a full-blown boycott of their products. I’m happy that we didn’t purchase that Office X for Mac after all. There’s alternatives that will work just as well. You’d think that a forward thinking company like Microsoft would have a clue. Oh well. It makes it just that much easier to close the Windows and open the door on the world of computing.
“I Fell In Love (Radio Version)”, Rockell.
One cool thing about Tiger is that my iChatAV/AOL Instant Messenger status now shows what song I’m currently listening to on iTunes. In iChatAV, if you click it it brings up iTunes and plays a sample of the track so you can buy it for yourself. That’s kind of cool.
I’m having a dickens of time typing this blog entry as Earl is telling about little discoveries about Tiger on his iBook, I have iTunes going in one ear and I’m chatting with guys we met over the weekend. Who knew being an active geek could be so much work?
“Midnight At The Oasis (Cuica Remix)”, Maria Muldaur.
