June 2008

Bachelor Night.

Earl is off to Atlanta tonight, so I am home alone with no one to play with. I’ve been home from work for no more than 15 minutes and I’m already sitting in the kitchen in my underwear chowing down on a bowl of popcorn. Life is good.

Tonight’s downtime is probably a good thing. This past weekend was busy: it was bear night at the bar Saturday night. Earl and I coordinated the event along with first Earl; it was our biggest to date with guys coming in from all reaches of the Empire State. Our next bear night is Saturday the 2nd of August. Mark your calendars now. In addition to co-hosting duties I was also the DJ for the night. I managed to DJ and simultaneously sell raffle tickets. The wonders of modern technology. I also talked the owner of the bar into keeping it open an hour later so guys could have some coffee and a snack to sober up before heading home. We got to bed rather late.

Yesterday was our jaunt to Syracuse to pick up the washer and dryer we gave my sister years ago; after living in both Toronto and Syracuse for a couple of years, she is moving to Toronto full-time at the end of the month. Earl and I are headed to Toronto on Thursday morning to visit with them for a day or two and then we move onto Yonge Street for Toronto’s Gay Pride. I hope I can get all my gear across the border without making the customs officials blush.

So tonight it is fun in the sun until sunset and then I’ll be working in the basement on various projects. One of these days I’ll get the projects done to my eventual satisfaction.

Hot.

Google Weather on my start page says it’s hot:

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Weekend Kick-Off.

It’s a two gig DJ weekend for me. I’ll be playing this song at least twice this weekend. It is awesome!

Take a listen to The Potbelleez, “Are You With Me”.

The Market Thing.

So Earl and I needed a few items from the market to get us through the weekend to our traditional grocery day. I had a total of 12 items on my list. Back in the late 1990s we could go to “Great American”, a chain of relatively small neighborhood markets. It was a little more expensive (as the stores were locally owned) than the big box stores, but it was convenient and it was always busy when we went in there. (It was also the site of the Great Chip Incident of 1999 but we’ll save that for another blog entry).

In the early oughts it was decided that two Wal*Mart Supercenters within 10 miles of our home was not enough and therefore two more were built. So, we now have four; within 25 miles of our home we have FIVE Wal*Mart Supercenters. Now THAT is selection. I hate them.

Unable to compete with these monstrosities, as well as the larger big-box grocery stores that surround the closest Wal*mart (“Always White Trash, Always”), Great American subsequently closed. The building was torn down and it was replaced by a gym that only opens between 9 and 5 on weekdays. So when we need something from the store, we are left with two choices, grab it at the local convenience store where everything is VERY expensive or drive eight miles to one of the big box grocery stores. These stores are so large you have to take a bus to get from produce to dairy. It’s not convenient and you have to deal with all the traffic that surrounds the big box arena in a local suburb.

All I want is a place where I can pick up a few items. We live in a large town, I can’t be the only person to feel this way. If we were to win the lottery tonight I would push to have a neighborhood market built right here in our lovely neighborhood.

Until then, I hate grocery shopping.

Motivated.

After sleeping in for a bit this morning, I awoke to a paw in my face (reminding me it was tuna dispensing time, logic would dictate that it was not Earl’s paw that was in my face at the time). After doing my various Daddy duties I went downstairs and started my morning ritual of checking out various blogs.

It was then that I saw the wooftastic shots posted by BrettCajun. I’ve been known to look at a few pictures of good looking guys in my day but when I saw Brett’s photos I said to myself, “if he can look that good, so can I.” I mean, we’re nearly the same age. It’s not like I’m trying to flatten my stomach to look like one of my college classmates or anything. I want to feel good about myself. I’m not nearly as heavy as I was back in 2000-2001, but I’ve crept up the scale a little bit and it’s mostly in my gut (hello beer!) So (insert favorite deity here)-damn it, I’m doing it.

I laid down a few ground rules that I plan to follow: 1. Beer consumption is limited to Saranac Thursday nights. I can’t cut out beer out of my life completely, that will lead me down the path to failure. I’ll renegotiate the beer with myself when I get to weight goal number (there are a total of three). 2. No more sleeping in until I get a headache on my days off from work. I’m up exercising and getting all brisk with myself. This includes working out before work. 3. I will continue to use the new Wii Fit on various nights of the week just to keep myself in check. 4. I will continue to climb the stairs to my third floor office everyday and I will shun elevators and escalators whenever possible. 5. I will not eat after 7 p.m. unless something weird is going on with my schedule. Fat grams are always in the single digits and calories are kept at a reasonable level. 6. I’m back on the bike as soon as the sun decided to make an appearance.

Long, long ago a psychic at the State Fair told me that I wouldn’t make it to 40. I intend to prove the bitch wrong.

Vacation Time.

Earl and I have decided to take a little vacation next week. We are going to visit my sister and her boyfriend Thursday and Friday in Toronto and then it just happens to be Gay Pride weekend in that beautiful city. We’ll be staying on Yonge Street.

Now there is something to look forward to.

Oh That’s Real.

I don’t know why we call a certain genre of television “reality television”. Who in their right mind thinks that what they see on a reality tv show is real? Are there people out there that really think that network X scooped Joe Citizen off the street to make him star? Please.

I was folding laundry and turned on TV Land hoping to catch an episode of something classic: “The Munsters”, “Leave It To Beaver”, “I Dream of Jeannie”, something nostalgic. Apparently TV Land has shucked the whole nostalgia angle because now they’re showing “She’s Got The Look”, a reality tv show aimed at making women over 35 into models. They scooped them right off the street.

Yeah, right.

As I tuned into the middle of tonight’s episode, a very angry barely-female looking woman was ranting and raving about not being understood. She had a lot to say about stereotypes and how the world is superficial and no one gets her. It would have been somewhat interesting and mildly amusing if I hadn’t seen it LAST year when she gave the SAME speech dressed up some superhero, I think it was “The Shrill”, on “Who Wants To Be A Superhero?” And yet we see another duplicated real person on a reality tv show. Remember that Man-Beast Toni who was on “Love Cruise” and then “Paradise Hotel”? You know, that ugly chick on steroids with the bugged-out eyes1. She made her rounds on the reality TV shows and now she’s gone.

We can only hope that Paula, a.k.a. “The Shrill” meets the same fate.

And while I’m ragging on TV Land and their as of late idiotic programming, I know that I have mentioned how much I dislike the ads for medicine on television before. I don’t know what the latest miracle drug was for (maybe it was another one to make taking a dump more comfortable) but one of the listed side effects was an “irritated pancreas”. “If you have an irritated pancreas you should consult your physician.” What the hell does an irritated pancreas feel like? I’m not even sure I could point to where my pancreas is. I’m pretty sure it’s in the torso. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone in a grocery store say, “I should eat more brussel sprouts to help my irritated pancreas.”

And while I’m having a fit about these stupid drug commercials, for the love of all that is worthy would someone please pull those damned medical ads from the movie theatre chain preview shows? I have yet to see someone abandon their popcorn and intended movie to run out and have an MRI. “My GOD I haven’t had an MRI in years! I must leave!” Or those varicose vein ads – “Someone please get rid of these varicose veins right now!” It’s disgusting and detracts from the enjoyment of popcorn, M&Ms and Raisinettes.

Thank you.

1 Wow, I’m a little harsh tonight!

Lost Video.

I had forgotten I had made this video on Friday night. It was wicked hot in the DJ booth.

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