December 2005

Newest Holiday Decoration.




Newest Holiday Decoration.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Today was finally the official “put up the Christmas decorations” day in our merry little household. Life has been moving so quickly for the past couple of weeks we didn’t have time enough to catch our breath, let alone lug the decorations up from the basement. But today was an on-call day, so that meant being home, which lent itself to being productive.

As you can see by the picture above, we were inspired by blogger friend Thom’s beautiful 60s-retro aluminum Christmas tree, so we decided to add an all-white tree with green ornaments to the music room. It’s a festive look and something that makes us feel rather en vogue with our decorating.

Decorating the house for the holidays is such a joy; new decorations, old decorations, ornaments from our travels and gifts from friends and family, everything has a story and is a beautiful contribution to our holiday merriment.

We’re finally in the festive spirit. Now to wrap the gifts this week!

Outspoken.

I’ve received a couple of e-mails from people that have stopped by that they aren’t happy that I instituted “registration required” rules on my comments form. The reason I did it a month or two ago was because my early blog entries were being flooded with spam. Oy.

I’ve changed back the comment system back to the old way of doing things. If you have something to say, feel free to say it without having the register first.

Welcome To New York.


They certainly know how to take the zing out of your holidays/Christmas shopping dollar around here, don’t they?

In these parts, tax is applied to anything that can’t be consumed, and only if it hasn’t been prepared. Clothing, underwear, shoes, blankets, hats, gloves, pop, candy, potato chips, hamburgers – all of it taxable in the Empire State.

Tacky Holidays!




Tacky Holidays!

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Sears and Roebuck Co. (are they still called that anymore?) succumbs to this ridiculous controversy of “Merry Christmas” vs “Happy Holidays”. Their solution? Print “Merry Christmas” with the Sears logo, using a generic font and plain paper on a black and white laser printer to add a little “ps.” to their holiday decorations.

The sign pictured above was actually the best looking display of this merriment in our local store, the other signs were hung with shipping tape next to the “now hiring” and “this door out of service” signs.

Happy Holidays!

Domestic Intimacy.

This could be a “too much information” entry for the squeamish. If you press BACK on your browser you’ll be ejected from your seat immediately. Thank you.

As I just typed the title of this blog entry I realized that it could be a really good porn video title. Picture it, two men have hired a domestic; a houseboy from Oklahoma who’s never been in the big city before. He cleans only in his skivvies or better yet, completely nude. Well, he can still wear his cowboy hat. He is innocently dusting off a steam radiator, which happens to be leaking steam, bringing beads sweat to his broad, muscular, hairy chest, when we, I mean the guys in the video, happen to spot him bending over to pick up something that has fallen on the floor…

O.k., I better stop now.

Anyways, I sometimes wonder how couples manage to get initmate during the holidays. I really don’t understand how straight couples manage it at all with families to juggle and all that. Kids running around, banging on the door, demanding one last glass of water or a reprive from the boogie man in the closet, where does one find the time?

I’m often chattering in my blog that I’m not a morning person. I’m not. Except when it comes to lovemaking. I love to wake up in the mid-morning, roll over and tap the bear lying in the bed (hopefully it’s Earl!) next to me with a hopeful, aggressive, yet innocent look on my face. Bat, bat, bat go the eyes. That most of the time. Sometimes I like to roll over, shake the bear next to me awake (hopefully it’s Earl!) and say, “I want to ^@*#$ right now!”. You can use your imagination for the verb of that last sentence.

This morning I did the coy routine when I awoke. At least I was about to when some crazy neighbor lady started banging on the door (and he deflates) shrieking about the cat she has in her house. She wants to know if it belongs to us. Earl pads down stairs in his barefeet and informs her that we have our own cat and he happens to be in the house. “Where did he come from? What does he look like?” So Earl shows Tom to the neighbor who proclaims, “Oh, that’s not him.” From there the conversation got really murky. So Earl kind of shooed her off. She is now officially the “crazy cat lady”. She’s the same one that rings a cowbell out on her back porch around 11:30 at night during the summer. We now know she’s beckoning cats.

Anyways, since Earl was now motivated to get going, he threw a load of laundry in the washer and brought up the clothes from the dryer that have been there for two days. That’s why irons were invented, in case you’re wondering. As we start to fold the clothes together, I said to him, “we need to hurry.”

“Why, are we going out for breakfast?”

“No, but yes.”

“What?”

“Hurry up!”

“Why?”

“I wanna !@#&*!” You can fill in your own verb.

Once we got the used Bounce sheet out of the way, we were good to go.

All Dressed Up.




All Dressed Up.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I just got back from my work’s Christmas party. It was an enjoyable affair with great company, delicious food and lively conversation. I am truly blessed to have a job that I enjoy with a friendly group of people at a solid, stable company.

It’s rare that we take the opportunity to dress up when the occasion arises as we feel more comfortable in our street clothes. Nevertheless I like to think that we’re somewhat presentable when we work at it.

At least I remembered not to lick the salad dressing off my elbow when it was running down my arm from picking through my salad with my hand. I wiped it off with my sleeve instead. I am a gentleman you know.

Fuel Up for Holiday Shopping.

I was hoping that I could get my Christmas* shopping done tonight, but there’s a few things I still need to pick up. I feel confident that I’ll actually have it done by the holidays though, and I’m pleased with what I’ve purchased.

A trip to our local mall is not complete without supper in the food court. Most food court meals are crap, but I really like the Flaming Wok here. Best sesame chicken this side of the Atlantic. I also have Bourbon Chicken there on the plate, they were apparently out when I asked for it, so the server walked over to the neighboring Cajun Café and put some of their Bourbon Chicken on my plate instead. I certainly hope they’re owned by the same company.

It’s not well known in these parts, but if you return your tray to the Flaming Wok, instead of leaving it on top of the food court trash cans, they’ll give you your fortune cookie.

* This whole “Christmas” vs “Holiday” thing that has gripped our country this season is driving me insane. I knew the day would come when the “stupid” would take over and this controversy is evidence of it. I can not believe people have the energy to get their panties in a twist over the nomenclature of the holidays. First of all, that fire trap in the corner is a “Christmas Tree”, not a “Holiday Tree”, and this is coming from a man that has leanings towards celebrating the arrival of the winter solstice this time of year. I’m not calling it a “solstice tree” for crying out loud and I’m not falling into an emotional heap when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas. I hope it is a Merry Christmas! Wishing someone a “Happy Holidays” should be taken in the spirit for which it was intended, not as a slap across the face because someone offended you by not saying “Merry Christmas”. On the other hand, renaming everything to be all politically correct is just dumb. “Oh, look at the pretty candlesticks in front of the synagogue!” All the bitching about what to call this time of “good will towards men” is making Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Winter Solstice, this holiday season, whatever the heck you want to call it, much less merry.

Please! No Pictures!




Please! No Pictures!

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

I came home for lunch and caught up on my e-mail and regular blog reading, like I usually do. Once in a while Tom will jump up on my lap and eye the PowerBook as a “nudge spot” but then think better of it. So I give him a few reassuring pets and then he jumps down and sits at my feet.

Today he was absolutely insistent that he park himself on my lap. So I tried to take a picture with the webcam before he got all settled, but he wasn’t having any of it. I snapped my fingers behind the cam to get his attention but no dice. This was the best that I could do.

He’ll do a lap dance, but “don’t take any pictures of the performers please!”

# # #

Earl is out of town until late tonight, so I’m going to wrap up Christmas shopping. We’re suppose to get a “wintry mix” tonight, it should keep the driving interesting. I’m going to bring along the camera and take somem pictures if I see anything interesting.

Full Moon.




Warrior Magick.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Here’s an odd little photo I put together. There are times when you feel like you can just take on the world, with the right tools of course.

Sometimes the full moon can inspire me to do the oddest things.