May 2005

Lap Dance.

Tom has apparently forgiven us for our absence over this past weekend, as he has decided to treat us to lap dances. He is not absolutely content unless he is standing on my lap, regardless of my location, nudging away at my arm. He doesn’t appear to enjoy my petting him, he just wants to rub his nose excretions against my skin then lick his lips. I wonder what goes through his little cat mind while he’s doing this. “Mmmm, tastes good.” How very odd.

Sunday night he took great delight in joining Earl and I in bed. He jumped from the bed to my stomach and then trampolined to Earl’s stomach, where he then bounced over to my crotch. It was all very heartwarming. I guess it’s his way of expressing his love, for he then settled down under the covers and purred a bit. He has a way of tucking us in; he settles down next to me, usually with his back against my blanket covered body and then when he senses I’m just about to fall asleep, he jumps down and patters off to a little nook somewhere in the house. He then returns at 5:17 a.m. to demand some kibble. He’s always punctual at 5:17 a.m. He seems to have adjusted to daylight saving time better than I did.

Occasionally he breaks the routine for the weekend and settles on Earl’s head until we get up. Apparently he enjoys the Daniel Boone look or something.

As I type this entry, he’s back on my lap, purring away and nudging my arm. At least he’s not nudging the PowerBook or running across the desk.

Solo Week.

Earl is away in Indianapolis, Ind. on business until Friday. I dropped him off at the airport this evening after work. It was kind of depressing. I’m still in my “domestic frenzy” mood though. At least it’ll make the week go by fast and he’ll come home to a clean house.

New Friends.

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.