Fun and Games Dept

Opening Weekend., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Earl and I joined our friend Dave and ventured to Connecticut, where we attending the opening night of “A Little Night Music”. Our friend Greg, who I must say is a brilliant vocalist, is part of the quintet in the show. As we waited for the show to start we all noted that his biography in the program took up the most space as he has a slew of credits to his name. I was Greg’s “sound designer” for the Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus earlier this year. He was the music director.

Dave is a big fan of the show and an accomplished performer in his own right. He has been in the show as well and it was very enjoyable to hear his comparison to the production in Connecticut.

Now this is starting to sound like a bio!

Overall the production was quite enjoyable. The theatre is quite small, seating only 100 or so, but it gave the show an intimate feeling.

I’m looking forward to seeing future productions there.

Progress., originally uploaded by iMachias.

I say comfortable underwear is always the best way to start your day. Here I assume a Sears and Roebuck pose to showcase my new BVDs. The scale and BMI meter were kind to me this morning.

I am sitting on the back patio enjoying the breezes that precede the arriving cold front. I look straight up and I can see stars, in the distance I hear continuous rumbles of thunder. This should be an interesting evening for sleeping tonight.

Today was spent with relatives from both sides of my family tree as Earl and I hosted an open house to usher in the arrival of our nephew. It was good to see the cousins, aunts and uncles; I hadn’t seen some of them in quite a long time. We had the whole affair catered from one of our favorite Italian haunts (but without any cute waiter boys this time around).

Overall the party was a success and everyone seemed to have a good time. My nephew put on his happy face and made everyone smile and say nice things. I guess that happens around most babies, now that I think about it. I like to think he’s a special guy though.

It’s going to be hard to see my sister and him move to Switzerland in a couple of weeks.

Broadcasting., originally uploaded by iMachias.

At tonight’s gig the bar manager decided to try something a little bit different and put a webcam on stage to show the folks at home what was going on at the bar. I don’t know how well the whole affair worked but it was enjoyable in a novel sort of way.

To add to the merriment I DJ’d from the stage in the center of the bar instead of using the DJ booth, which is tucked away in a corner that few can see. This put me within the field of the webcam, so I took a screen shot of me looking rugged.

DJing from the stage made the night a little more interesting. It’s a shame that there weren’t more people to enjoy the experience. We are going to try again next weekend after the Rainbow Express train ride on the Adirondack Railroad.

Slut Jeans., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Earl and I have been busy cleaning out our closets this weekend. I’ve needed new work clothes for a while, but I was told that I couldn’t buy any new clothes until I cleaned out at least 20 items from my closet. It turns out I cleaned out over 60 items in my closet, as I decided to go crazy and throw out anything I hadn’t worn in at least a year or more.

One particular group of items that I got rid of was my safety net or my “fat clothes”. This wide (no pun intended) selection of clothes was from my days when I was 40 pounds heavier. I no longer have a need for them so there’s no sense in having them there as a safety blanket for the occasion where I might gain some of my weight back. I think this helps my subconscious mind get into the groove that I’m sticking to that whole healthy thing so out they went, along with many t-shirts, jeans and other odds and ends that I won’t wear anymore.

We ended up shopping at JC Penney for new clothes as they were having a sale that involved buying a pair of pants at regular price and getting any regularly priced shirt for a dollar. That was a really good deal. I have a new selection of clothing that I’ll be modeling over the next couple of blog entries. No longer will I have to wear khakis that have a fringe on the bottom from excessive wear and I have banished any and all pleats for the remainder of my life.

One extra bonus of cleaning out the closet was that I found my old “slut jeans” from my disco bunny days. I never thought they would fit as they are from an era when I had a size 31 inch waist but lo and behold, I was able to get into them without any sort of leaping and still be able to breathe. It was a very close call and they’re certainly not ready for primetime again by any stretch (ha, such wit!) but all snaps, buttons and zippers that were on them when I put them on were still in place when I took them off.

And there was much rejoicing.

Here’s a full on ass shot for those that couldn’t believe that I could bend over in these things.¹

¹ Nah, I’m just an attention whore.

This morning I woke up at 6 a.m. to a rumbling sound from my chest. Groggy from a late night, I went to give Tom a little push off my chest when I realised that I wasn’t at home, but rather at our friend greg’s house outside of New Haven, Connecticut. The rumbling sound was actually a very loud purr; it was Sybil and she decided to be a friendly native and make the houseguest feel welcome.

This is Sybil. She enjoys basking in the sun, eating grass from the lawn, staying within the confines of the property and eating an occasional chipmunk head. When asked “Why chipmunks?” she told me that they are lower in fat.

So tonight was the official end of summer in these parts. Autumn doesn’t arrive for a few weeks, Labor Day has already passed but more importantly, tonight was the last Saranac Thursday Night of the season. I ended up going solo as Earl is out of town until Saturday.

I expected a bigger crowd and a more boisterous band tonight, but I got to hang with my buddies from work so all was well. Eye candy quotient was high, but I wasn’t able to get some photos due to darkness setting in too soon.

Now that the Saranac Thursday has wrapped up for 2008 I think I’ll be able to stick to my no beer policy for a few weeks as I continue to rebuild my body.

As the sun sets we raise a plastic cup full of cheap beer and toast to Schultz and Dooley. The 2008 season of Saranac Thursday was most enjoyable.

Earl and I are just getting home from the New York State Fair. I have several pictures to share and tales to spin, but I thought I would share my video first.

Every year I ride just one ride on the midway, and that ride is called the “Top Spin”. This year I took my video camera along for the ride.

The man running the ride gave us an extra spin, so there’s an edit. You’ll see that we rode for nearly five minutes.

I am not the one screaming like a girl.

This has been an interesting week for me. Last weekend was a long weekend for us. We didn’t get home from our adventure in Toronto until Monday evening, and that was after a stop at the hospital to meet the baby boy my sister had given birth to that day.

Work has been going along phenomenally well this week. I finally signed the papers that sealed the deal that I would be a full-time employee come Labor Day. I am very excited about working full-time again. Things on the work front have just “clicked” into place. I don’t dread getting up in the morning, I embrace it.

The people that have said that “life really begins at 40” are pretty much dead on. In my 20s I had no idea who I was. In my 30s I knew who I wanted to be. At 40, I feel like I’m the person I was meant to be.

The picture above is Earl and I enjoying brunch on the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto last weekend. We walked along the paved trail and we talked about things that only lovers talk about. We reveled in the sun and lost ourselves in the shadows. I couldn’t ask for a better partner for this crazy thing we call life. He’s behind me no matter what I do, say or feel. When he said “I do” all those years ago he really meant it (as did I). I never forget how fortunate I feel.

We made new friends last weekend and we solidified growing friendships with others. We played with those that play like us. As we crossed borders, lines were blurred. We hung out and chatted with old friends this week. We drank with old friends that party like us. New family members made their appearance and old family members came to greet him. I stand surrounded by those the care for me and I stand and care for those that might need a piece of me from time to time.

I always believe that life is all about learning. And what I’m learning is that life is really and truly good.