Distraction.

I decided not to listen to the news/talk stations on the way into work this morning. Usually I tune into Sirius/XM’s POTUS, “Politics of the United States, for the people of the United States”, but I can listen to Herman Cain stammer and stutter his way through changing his story about the sexual abuse allegations so many times before I want to barf. For someone that has claimed that he’s not like other politicians, he sure is trying his best to spin his way out of this latest political bru-ha-ha. The ironic thing is, when I showed Earl the recent ad he released, the one where his chief of staff smokes and Herman himself looks at the camera and then smiles devilishly, I remarked to Earl that he looked “sexually creepy”. Like stalker creepy.

From the reports that have been lighting up the air waves lately it sounds like my assessment wasn’t too far off base. How’s the sanctity of marriage and holier-than-thou thing working for you, Mr. Cain?

Here I have devoted two paragraphs to what I wasn’t listening to. I must have been distracted.

So as I avoided the Herman Cain buzz, I opted to listen to 70s on 7 and 80s on 8. I tried to listen to that new Studio 54 channel but as a club DJ I was taught that you NEVER play a 12-inch single in it’s entirety, and that’s exactly what the Studio 54 channel is doing. I miss, I love France Joli’s “Come To Me”, but the 15 minute version of the song wears thin on even the most jovial of us. Marimba solos rock, but not at that great length.

Flipping between the two decades I listened to great gems such as “I Saw The Light” by Todd Rundgren and more importantly, “They Don’t Know” by Tracey Ullman. I especially enjoy the latter tune, it’s retro sound even back then is spot on when it comes to the vocals being in tune with the backing track. The “baby” at the end of the bridge is actually sampled from the original version of the song by Kristy MacColl (Kristy sings backup on Tracey’s version) and the video is awesome, especially the gong guy at the beginning, the cameo by Paul McCartney and Tracey’s varying looks, including one part where she uncannily resembles Gloria, a woman my mother hung out with right around the time this song came out.

Here’s a link to the video.

3 November 2011 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Different.

So it has been all over the news that Kim Kardashian is getting a divorce after 72 days or something like that. This is the “reality” television “celebrity” that spent millions of dollars for a ridiculously lavish wedding, received some sort of payment through her “reality” ventures for having the wedding and now she is getting a divorce. The fact that this is news is ill-making to me.

I am so glad that hate-based organizations such as the National Organization for Marriage is saving us from the terror of same-sex marriage, because the heterosexual folks are doing such a cracker jack job at maintaining the sanctity of it all. In reality (without the quotes), I wish these folks would find something better to do. Truth be known, like Kim Karadashian and people of her ilk, I wish these folks would just fade away back into their banal, mundane lives.

Before New York State legalized same-sex marriage I was only mildly interested in the topic. I was happy to see other states recognizing the rights of all of their citizens, and I hoped that New York would do the same thing, but there was a part of me that figured that since Earl and I had been together for 15 years and we were fully committed to staying that way until we passed on from this life, we didn’t really need the validation associated with marriage.

My gods, was I dead wrong on that.

I was playing Words With Friends with our friend Matt from Toronto the other day. He recently married his partner, Anthoney, in a ceremony in western Ontario. Words With Friends has a little chat feature built in and a simple message bubble popped up:

It feels different, doesn’t it.

You know what? I didn’t think it would feel different to be legally married but it does. It really does. There is a part of me that can’t believe that I am married. I am still floored when people at work, folks that I rarely talk to or know, come up to me and congratulate me when they hear the news on the grapevine, even in this small, rather conservative little town that I work in.

My day is a little bit brighter in the morning knowing that my in-laws are not just “in-laws” but they’re really in-laws. My existence has improved ten-fold knowing that I am legally married to the man that bounces around in the bed so much when he’s sleeping that I need a permanent supply of Dramamine. The fireworks are brighter, bigger and louder than ever before. I feel like a little kid again, discovering love all over for the first time. My world changed the moment I uttered the words “I do” in front of the wonderful group of family and friends that witnessed the moment. I still tear up when I picture the joy my sister had when she read her reading at the ceremony or I think of the words my brother-in-law Dave said in the toast at dinner.

The woman that conducted our ceremony, Emily VanLaeys, has said some beautiful things about our wedding ceremony and what she saw in the bond between the Earl and me. Many have said over the years that it’s obvious that we have a love that will last forever. Earl and I agreed to that long ago. And now we have the legal backing to prove it.

I get that there are folks that don’t understand why folks of the same gender would want to be married. These folks are most likely not gay or lesbian, so how would they know what it’s like to be attracted to the same sex? It’s when they try to convince people that something that they don’t understand is wrong is where I take issue. You shouldn’t try to legislate against something that you don’t understand. And you shouldn’t try to take away from the rest of the world that what you failed at or have never found. The world does not need another helping of bitter from these folks. Let’s celebrate happiness and help find those that haven’t found it, find it.

One of the wishes on my short list is that everyone can experience the love that Earl and I feel for one another, regardless of sexual orientation. A newer wish on the short list is that all those people get to feel the feeling of being legally married as I do today, regardless of their sexual orientation or where they are living. Someday, somehow, I know it’s going to happen. During the ceremony, Emily said, “the world is becoming a better place, one small step at a time.” I wish the steps were a little bigger and the destination was a little closer, but I’m going to do what I can to help make it happen.

2 November 2011 by Ponderings and Musings 2

Maintenance.

Quick question for those that comment on here… when I reply to your comment here on the blog, do you get an email letting you know that?

31 October 2011 by Geek 13

Costume!

So I ended up working late tonight. I got home about 45 minutes beyond my usual time. Earl had asked earlier in the day if I would be interested in going to the movies tonight, I guess the remake of “Footloose” is out, and I declined, knowing that I would be tired from work. Truth be known, I’m not really interested in seeing “Footloose”, especially because it’s a remake and I don’t recall being particularly fond of the original version of the movie. I think the lively sounds of “Holding Out For A Hero” combined with a tractor fight threw me off or something. Anyways, Earl and Jamie went to the movie and Scott is working tonight.

What to do, what to do, what to do on Halloween.

I decided that I was in the mood to throw on a costume and walk through the mall like I mentioned in the previous post. I decided to wear an Army uniform I have from a while back.

Now I have two rules when it comes to wearing a costume: 1. It has to look authentic and 2. it has to be respectful (if the costume lends itself to be respectful). To look authentic in the Army uniform I couldn’t have a beard, so I looked up the regulations about facial hair and shaved my beard into a regulation mustache (wow, they are a pain in the ass to trim without looking like Hitler, no wonder not a lot of soldiers have them). Now to be respectful, since I’ve never served as a soldier and all, I made sure that there was no indication of rank on the uniform since I’ve never earned rank. I guess that was my way of honoring the soldiers that had done their duty.

My first stop was Barnes and Noble to see if Scott was around, apparently he was off doing things that managers do at Barnes and Noble but I did notice that quite a few people in the café looked my way when I walked by. A couple of the other customers were in costume and there was a lovely girl in full wiccan garb working the customer service desk. I hung around for a few minutes before leaving.

I didn’t think it would be prudent to stop at the showing of “Footloose” to show Jamie and Earl my costume, so I opted to go to the mall, where there was trick or treating in progress with a few adults and kids dressed up for the occasion. I went to Subway and picked up a healthy dinner. From there I ate and then headed back home.

And that’s how my Halloween went.

Here’s a mirror shot for your enjoyment.

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Tomorrow is the first of November, which is fund-raising month dubbed “Movember”, an effort to raise awareness and donations for Men’s health issues such as prostate cancer. Men all over the world are encouraged to start the month clean shaven and grow a mustache and garner donations in the process. Now, because of vanity, I can’t bear to be completely clean shaven, but I have decided to foster my support by keeping just the mustache for Movember instead of growing back the beard right away.

If you would like to donate to and/or find out more about Movember, please click here.

31 October 2011 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 2

Costume.

So today is Halloween. It is your typical Halloween here in these parts, with a chance of snow flurries in the evening but otherwise a crisp, magical breeze blowing through what’s left of the leaves on the trees.

The folks at work planned a costume contest for this morning, but I’ve only seen one person in costume and I wasn’t quite sure if she was really in costume or not since she often has her own brand of attire. Today she is wearing what looks like a Witch’s hat wrapped in a Christmas tree skirt, with lots of frilly things cascading down. It might have been her winter hat for all I know, because it was quite chilly today. She also dons her car in reindeer antlers and the like for Christmas so it’s kind of hard to decipher what’s going on sometimes. I like her spirit.

On one hand dressing up in a costume at work seems like it could be fun but on the other hand it smacks against my own personal work ethic. Plus, I still have memories of being some sort of roller skating beach bum in high school and losing control going down the ramp between the hallway and the cafeteria and wiping out a dozen or so students carrying lunch trays. That was fun, even when I got yelled at by a guidance counselor. It’s funny how these things stick with us through our adulthood.

I briefly considered dressing up for work in a respectful and tasteful yet scantily manner and insisting on being referred to under my porn alias of Tater O’Plenty, but I’m not sure I want to share that much information or skin with my co-workers. At least not face to face. So today I am dressed in my civilian clothes.

I wasn’t really feeling like going out to Halloween parties this past weekend, but Earl and I drove through the hopping college town of Oswego on Saturday night and there were a lot of people in costume roaming the cold, windy streets at 11:00. They looked like they were having fun. I have to admit that I might dress up tonight (but not as Tater O’Plenty) and go to the store in costume or something just because I can get away with it.

Once in a while it’s kind of fun to be someone else.

31 October 2011 by Fun and Games Dept 4

Hilltops.

20111028-124727.jpg

This is the second time I have written this blog entry. I hope it is as well crafted as the original version. You know I’m going to tell you what happened: blogpress on my iPad crashed again and took my blog entry with it. Someday I’m going to conquer the world with a decent blogging app for the iPad.

I could have easily doubled the length of my morning commute. You see, last night we got our first snowfall of the season. I was like a little kid driving along this morning when I first saw the snow. Our house seems to be at some arbitrary point of demarkation because all the houses up the road from us had snow on their lawn but the houses in the other direction did not. I did notice that the A-frame across the street was torn down yesterday; all that remains is the actual floor of the first story and the foundation/basement supporting it. Earl and I are going to go snooping around (like Mrs. Kravitz, complete with an empty cup that needs sugar) so that we can read the fine print of the construction permit posted on a stick in the front lawn. We’ve heard that you need a construction permit to do demolition work and we’re curious as to what’s going on with the house since the interior was burned last year.

My commute afforded me the opportunity to see many snow covered hilltops here in the foothills of the Adirondacks. The sky was brilliantly clear and full of sunshine, and it all made for a beautiful backdrop for the fresh snow. I could have easily taken a thousand photos and that’s what my heart was telling me to do, but the clock was telling me that I would have been mighty late for work. Perhaps I follow my head too much and I need to follow my heart more.

I did manage to take one photograph with my iPhone (above). I snapped this shot before a surly school bus driver apparently tried to run me down. The mood would have been ruined had it not been for the horse drawn buggy that followed behind. The kind folks in the buggy waved hello. I was hoping they would have some pies but they don’t sell them at this time of year.

What a wonderful way to usher in the weekend.

The snow was gone by lunch, but rumor has it it’ll be back this weekend. Some say no snow, some say six inches, I guess it depends on who’s trying to generate the most ad revenue.

Either way, it’ll all be enjoyed.

28 October 2011 by Fun and Games Dept 1

Pitter Patter.

The other day I noticed something about the new Jeep. Because it has a removable hard top, rain makes a wonderful sound as it taps on the roof. It is a beautiful pitter patter sound that I find very relaxing. I didn’t notice this until Monday or Tuesday morning when I arrived at work and took a few moments to gather my thoughts before going in to install myself in my cubicle for the day. With the motor off, all electronic accessories stowed and seats in their upright position, sitting in the Jeep during a rain storm is actually a calming experience for me.

One of the things I loved about being a kid was that during my single digits our family lived in a mobile home. It wasn’t particularly large as mobile homes go, even with the addition my father had added with the arrival of my sister but it had a wonderful metal roof that announced the arrival of every rain drop. At least in the original part, where my bedroom was located. Sleeping on the top bunk really put you up close and personal with this delightful sound. I missed it when we moved to the house my father built across the street.

I guess the love for the pitter patter still lingers in this old kid.

27 October 2011 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Change It Up.

I have to change things up once in a while.

First of all, I want to say thanks for the words of support via email and your comments in regards to the lack of equality displayed when it comes to Earl and me sharing health benefits. There is a bright side to the story; the company that Earl currently works for is merging with a bigger company, which has a much more equal benefits package available. In fact, the new company gets high marks on the Human Rights Campaign’s ratings of these sort of things, so we are going to make out just fine. It is quite sad, though, that his current company chooses to look for loopholes so that they can remain ignorantly in the dark ages when it comes to these things.

As I mentioned in the first sentence of this blog entry, I have to change things up once in a while. The Big Project at work has been getting me down and I am finding myself in a rut. Sleep, eat, go to work, Dunkin’ Donuts iced tea, work, drive home, wave to the occupants of the buggy, eat and sleep. Enjoy an opportunity of hanky panky when the big climax isn’t a snore (sorry about that, sweetheart). The lack of light when I get up in the morning, coupled with the increasing stresses of work has put me into a funk that I need to find my way out of. To foster this growth, I change a few little things here and there to make life seem a little more interesting in my own eccentric way. For example, I did not go to my usual Dunkin’ Donuts today for lunch. I made my way to the next town over and went to that one and then I went into that restaurant for the first time instead of barking into the speaker from the driver’s seat. This particular Dunkin’ Donuts is an old bank and still has that basic layout (I think they make the donuts in the old vault, but I can’t be certain). I kind of wish that they would use both lanes of the drive thru so I could see my iced tea woosh down through one of the tube-transport devices that have always fascinated me, but they only opt for lane 1 where the drawer has been replaced by a typical drive thru window.

This morning I kicked off my day by drinking a strawberry Slim-Fast shake instead of going for my usual Wednesday morning breakfast of dry waffles. Calories balanced out for the most part but can I tell you that not only do I dislike strawberry Slim-Fast shakes, but I fucking dislike the strawberry flavor. Pink liquid as a beverage is just weird to me. With the stress of work has come stress eating, a habit that I am not proud of, so I thought that I should shake shake shake some Slim-Fast and remind my body as to who is boss. I guess the McRib I alluded to yesterday will have to wait until the weekend.

I have a few more changes planned in the near future and it is these things that excite me and make me take interest in what’s passing itself off as life. One of the ironies about the Big Project at work is that it is changing every single process, tool and way of doing things that we do at work, but I don’t particularly agree with this so that change isn’t giving me the pep that I need to cope with making the change.

It’s better to start with the little things.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

26 October 2011 by Ponderings and Musings 0

A Prayer.

Dearest Power Almighty,

Please grant me the strength to not beat the hell out of anyone that refers to any amount of snow, whether small or large, as a “snowpacalypse” this winter. While I will have the urge to shove a the handle of a snow shovel up the rectum of those that behave thusly and utter this entirely hysterical, offensive phrase, please grant me the strength to findeth my way to calm in an effort to avoid calamity.

Fondly,

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

25 October 2011 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Equality?

Earl and I decided that as a married couple we were going to take advantage of the medical benefits offered by his company. His health care plan is better and as we get on in age, that’s always a good thing. Once we confirmed that I was on his health care plan, I would cancel the policy I currently have at my job.

Earl went to add me to his health care plan at work this morning when he was presented with a lovely message on the web-based portal form.

I’m sorry, your married spouse must be of the opposite sex.

The general manager of three of the most profitable facilities in the entire corporation is not allowed to sign his spouse up for medical benefits on the company plan simply because he is married to a man. It seems Earl’s company will not recognize same-sex marriages (which of course, are completely legal in New York State) until the Federal Government recognizes same sex unions under the federal tax code.

Well, now there’s something to think about as you make your selections at the elections coming up over the next couple of years.

The extremist in me wants both despises the facts that we work for large corporations. I don’t enjoy the politics of working at a corporation and I certainly don’t like the “one size fits all” mentality that is handed out on a whim. The realist in me realizes that we have a really good life because we work for large corporations.

But is not being recognized equally really a good life?

Ultimately, it’s up to Earl and me to be more vocal about how we feel on these issues and to educate people. Earl has made a difference in his HR department by getting them to admit that there are gay men and lesbians working for them in the first place. I have been vocal with mine.

It looks like that Earl and I will be on my company’s insurance plan instead. It’s a decent plan but not as robust as what we would have had on Earl’s plan. All because someone, somewhere decided that love is only valid between a man and a woman.

Equality. Ain’t it grand in America.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

25 October 2011 by Political BS. Why. 4

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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