You Can Pin And Mount Me Like A Butterfly

It's a Morrissey kind of day today.
Some people think he's depressing to listen to, but listening to him (or The Smiths) keeps me from becoming depressed.
I listen to a song like Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want and I wallow in self-pity for a few minutes, then I turn off the CD and I'm as right as rain.

I think as I grow older I'm becoming less tolerant of cold weather.
I was thinking about when I was a child and I loved to go out and make snowmen and snow forts and have snowball fights. My mother was always nagging me to put on a sweater and forcing me to wear hats, gloves, and scarves--which I would immediately remove the instant I was out of her sight.
Not any more.
Right now, I'm praying for Spring to hurry up, dammit!

I added some new links to the ol' Blogroll.
Check out:
Glitter For All, Oh La La, Tales of the City, and Randy Boy.

We Were Never Being Boring

Superduper slow in the restaurant yesterday.
Time just creeps.
When it's that slow all I do is eat all day. I check my tables, then I grab something and eat it.
Calories are my friends.
I also spent a lot of yesterday in the Server Station singing (wailing?) along with the Muzak.
I have to amuse myself somehow, don't I?
Just in case I didn't already know, everyone made sure they told me that I definitely was not going to the next American Idol.

Speaking of American Idol, I've been watching the auditions and I just don't understand how some of those people ever thought they could sing well enough to be on that show.
That would be like me, knowing I couldn't sing my way out of a wet paper bag auditioning for that show. They should know they're that bad right? How could they not know? Are they in denial?
I don't understand it.
It was good for a laugh anyway. Plus, it's good to know there are people out there who sing worse than I do. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Pizza, beer, and spades last night at my place after work.
classic.
Bonus points for being in bed, mostly sober and asleep by 1:30AM, which hardly ever happens.

I'm Here! I'm Queer!

Someone wrote me recently asking me why I "write about 'gay stuff' so often" and added "There are other things to write about, you know".
I was going to post their entire email along with their email address, but I'll be nice and keep them anonymous.
How they meant the question and how I took it might be completely different.
However, this is my response:
Letters like the one I recieved make me want to write about My Big Fat Gay Life even more. Why? Because straight people Just Don't Get It.
It pisses me off that some people have "no problem" with me being gay, but when I start talking about it, suddenly that's "too much information" and I "shoudn't have gone there". It's OK to be gay as long as you don't talk about it?
Don't hold your breath, 'cause it ain't gonna happen.
It pisses me off how gay men are portrayed in the media: stylish, witty, with an eye for decorating and fashion, lonely, sad souls unlucky-in-love, backstabbing bitches, the single straight gal's best pal and confidante and/or drag queens on parade.
It pisses me off that religious nuts spew nothing but hate for gay people, calling people like me "faggot" and saying that I will surely burn in Hell.
It pisses me off that someone like me was strung up on a wooden fence, beaten and bludgeoned and left to die on a cold night in Wyoming, just for being gay.
I am not a spokesperson for the gay community. I don't claim to speak for all gay people everywhere.
I'm just a human being who will continue living, loving, and making mistakes--just like everyone else. I have never claimed to be any kind of role model.
I just tell it the way I see it.
The reason I write about "gay issues" so frequently is because It's something I care very deeply about.
The same way a feminist might write about misogyny, or a black person might write about racial discrimination. It's not like I plan it out and think "Oh, my gosh! It's been three days since I wrote about being gay!"
When something's on my mind I write about it, how I feel about it, how it affects me.
I'm compelled to do that. It's what my blog is for.
It's my Prime Directive.

Solitude Walking

Sometimes I feel like G. and I are just too different. Opposites attract, but what happens then?
We have different tastes in music, different opinions on art, politics--you name it.
This makes compromise kind of difficult even at the best of times.
We disagree even on the most simplest of things. It's hard to find a middle ground.
It's frustrating for both of us.

Last night I wanted to go to the store up the street and I really wanted G. to walk with me. Not because I was afraid of going by myself, or because I needed help with anything, but for the company.
So I made the suggestion and he looks at me like I suddenly grew a third eye in the middle of my forehead.
I can't say I was surprised at his reaction. G. hates to walk anywhere.
"Why walk when you can drive?" is his philosophy.
"Why waste the gas when the store isn't even two blocks away?" is mine.
I love to walk, to feel the pavement under my shoes, to actually feel the weather instead of veiwing it through a pane of glass.
No big surprise, I ended up walking alone. The air was still. No wind was blowing at all. I looked up but saw no stars. No moon shone down. Snowflakes fell softly, kind of dissolving into mist on their way down. The streetlights shone off the snow and the icicles hanging down from the signs, the sides of buldings. There were no cars driving by, and hardly any people out.
It was a cool, quiet, peaceful fairyland as I crunched my way through the snow to the store.
As I walked I realized that I was somehow glad of the solitude. It was like the night belonged to only me. I owned the streets last night.
They were mine.

It's all about getting the right mix, I think.
Too much "togetherness"--24/7 for an extended time--and I'll start to feel stifled, like I'm not my own person.
Too much time to myself and I start to feel like there's something missing.
Maybe the problem lies with me.
I'm never satisfied.

The Adventure Begins!

Your goal is to successfully traverse the five awesome worlds of IKEA before your patience runs out. On your first few tries this may seem like an impossible task, but with practice (and this IKEA Walkthrough!) you will soon be able to muster the sense of numb resignation necessary for victory."

IKEA Walkthrough v2.3.1

Out of Time

Sometimes everything happens all at once! I don't lead a life--I follow it around.

Since I posted last:
• I worked one double shift and four single shifts at the restaurant. Pretty much every day with no time off for good behavior.
• I helped G. retile the entrance way to the house.
• I cleaned the entire house from attic to basement. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not exactly a Cleaning Queen. I scrubbed down the ole' homestead because . . .
• We had a good friend from NYC and his new boyfriend that stayed over the weekend at our house.
• We had other friends over for cocktails and conversation on Saturday night. The festivities lasted 'til after 4AM.
• G. and I cooked a humongous breakfast for our houseguests and also G.'s family (father, mother, sister, brother and nephew) Sunday morning.

Some general observations regarding the above:
• Boy, I'm tired.
• When old friends visit it's like going back in time. They see you the way you used to be and you see them that way too.
• It's not easy scrambling a dozen eggs at once.
• Serving people at the restaurant is work, so I bitch.
  Serving guests in my home is a most welcome task, so I do it without complaint.
• "The more, the merrier" is a hoary (which means "old" by the way, so get your mind out of the gutter) cliche, but that doesn't make it any less true. Friendship shared is joy doubled.
• With all that was going on, posting on here had to go on the back burner.
  I'll try not to let it happen again.

Rock The Vote!

It's time to vote for the 2004 Bloggies.
Most of the blogs that were nominated I've never visited before, so at the very least it'll give me a chance to view something new.
Voting will close at 10:00 PM EST on Saturday, January 31. The winners will be posted at the above link on Monday, March 15.

War Is Peace! Freedom Is Slavery! Ignorance Is Strength!

In a perverse mood, I watched the State of the Union Address last night.
Just in case you missed it, the entire speech can be summed up by the following:

Poverty is down, employment is up, health care will be affordable for all, democracy is spreading all over the world, taxes are lower than they ever have been, and America is headed for a bright and shining new future!

That was the "state of the Union" according to Ol' Smilin' George W. Bush.
How the American public can swallow this blatant 2+2=5-ism never ceases to astound me.

Press Pause, Please

Bob Katz, the owner of the restaurant, stopped by the other day. He's been spending alot of time at the new location that just opened, so we haven't seen much of him lately, which was a good thing.

The "official policy" on smoking is that you're only supposed to smoke on your break, but unless he's there we can pretty much smoke whenever we want. But while he was there we had to wait until after he left to smoke.
So even while we're working everyone's watching him like a hawk, just waiting for him to walk out the door.
A team of trained spies couldn't have done it better than us.

He was there for hours.

Everyone was getting all snappy.
It was like a kennel--bitches galore.

Not a minute after he puts on his coat and exits, the dining room is completely empty of all it's staff. We're all in the back, puffing like fiends.

Kids, this is one reason why you don't want to start smoking . Without your nicotine fix you turn into a maniac.

I have a hair appointment a little later. Aside from that, running the dishwasher, and throwing a load of unmentionables in the washing machine, today is going to be a "Nothing Day".
Anything that involves work, toil, or effort is totally forbidden today.
After I get back from the salon, I'm going to whip up a batch of "Quick N' E-Z Tuna Casserole" (the recipe is below--try it, you'll like it!) and just lounge.

No worries.

Quick N' E-Z Tuna Casserole
Ready to eat in only 5 minutes!
Ingredients:
1 package Top Ramen, Creamy Chicken flavor
I can of chunk light tuna in spring water (drained)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Directions:
Boil ramen noodles for 3 minutes. Drain and place back in pot. Add tuna, mayo, and one half of Creamy Chicken flavor Seasoning Packet. Stir well. Heat for one minute, stirring frequently.
Enjoy! Serves one.

The Dream Is Still Alive

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

--Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963

Ten Things

Things that are making me really happy:
• Ray-Ray started blogging again.
• Renovations to the house are coming along nicely. The first floor is almost done!
• I haven't gotten a cold or gotten sick yet this winter.
• Speaking of winter, it's nearly halfway over.
• I've been getting enough sleep lately.
• The furnace was recalibrated, so it's toasty warm in the house.
• Nobody I know is going through a crisis, which is very unusual, but some things you just don't question.
• I don't look any older than I did last year. Like Dorian Gray, it's going to catch up with me eventually--but not yet.
• My diet is going well. I'm starting to lose my little "kangaroo pouch".
• The future's so bright, I have to wear shades.

Is It Really So Strange?

I utterly loathe the wintertime.
Now, more than ever, I'm convinced that Hell isn't a place of fire and brimstone, flames searing at your flesh.
Hell is a cold place.
A butt-ugly cold place.
A place of snow, ice and eternal frostbite where you're naked and you shiver forever, unable to find any warmth.
I think I'd actually prefer the fire.
When Robert Frost wrote about fire and ice he knew what he was talking about.

I waited on this really strange family last night at the restaurant. All five of them had smiles like jack o' lanterns. You could maybe, maybe make one full complete set of teeth from all of them. They were really loud and weird, like they didn't get out of the house (trailer?) much.
The one guy who looked like Willie nelson on crack called me over and held up the steak knife that was part of his place setting .
"Whudya call this thang?" he asked.
"It's a steak knife" I answered.
"Hell," he said, "Thet ain't no knife!"
Then he pulled out a huge pearl-handled hunting knife from his belt and opened it up.
"This here is a knife!"
Then he proceeded to cut his steak with it.
I went to the Server Station to tell everybody.
"You won't believe this! A guy at one of my tables took out a fucking hunting knife and is using it to cut his steak!"
So they go look in my section and there he is, hacking away with it.
Afterwards he used it to pick his teeth!
Maybe in some areas this is S.O.P., but I've never seen anything like that in my life.
Before they go I give them a tip tray with individually-wrapped butter mints. Two per person. I'm only supposed to give one per person, but that seems stingy to me.
Anyway, they ask for more, so I bring more,
Then they ask for even more.
I said fuck it and got two salad bowls and filled them to overflowing with mints and put them on their table.
I actually got a good tip from them, so I invited them to come again.
"Y'all come back now, ya hear?"
The moral to this story: It doesn't matter how strange you are, leave a nice tip and all is forgiven.

Speaking of work, I hope I'm in a decent section tonight.
On Fridays, they always stick me in the back of the restaurant and I'm getting sick of it.

Blogging Quiz

There are no wrong answers, just improbable ones.

1.) You want to post something to your blog, but your mind is a total blank. The best thing to do is . . .
A- take one of those blog quizzes and post the results.
B- link to a news article or a post to another blog you find interesting.
C- participate in a meme like The Friday Five.
D- wait for inspiration to come.

2.) People at your job have discovered your blog. You . . .
A- change your URL or password-protect it.
B- edit your blog of any emarrassing incidents.
C- do nothing. There's nothing there you would be emarrassed about.
D- are secretly pleased at the attention.

3.)Your signifigant other reads your blog. Sadly, you break up. When posting to your blog after that, you . . .
A- are honest about how you feel and what's going on in your life. You've never sensored yourself before, so why should you start now?
B- Vent your anger and post about what a heartless insensitive son of a bitch he is.
C- mention the break-up in a matter-of-fact way, not placing any blame on anyone. Venting may make you feel better, but it could just make things worse.
D- post something vague like "Boy, couples don't stay together very long nowadays, do they?"

4.) Another blogger asks you to post a link to their weblog on your blog. You . . .
A- immediately go to blogrolling.com and add them to your blogroll.
B- email them back with a "You link to me, I'll link to you" kind of arrangement.
C- Check out their weblog, but only link to it if it's interesting.
D- Read their blog for quite awhile to make sure if it's something you really want to link to. You're not going to link to just anything.

My answers:
1.) D. B or C only as a last resort. 2.) C. There's no shame in my game. 3.) A is defin'ly the way to go. 4.) C. I just don't arbritrarily add links to my blogroll. It's a "special people club". And I would have to be pretty uppity to choose "D" for that final question, wouldn't I?

In A Room Where You Do What You Don't Confess

You better take care, if I find you've been creepin 'round my back stairs

I love going to gay bars and clubs and being around my fellow homosexuals.
My brothers and sisters!
It's like a sanctuary. I can kick back, have a few cocktails, and chill.
It gets somewhat annoying, however, that whenever I go to the bar for a drink, or to the loo, someone's right over there hitting on my husband the second I leave.
Or the reverse, someone comes over and starts hitting on me. I honestly don't know which one is worse.
It used to make me really mad. Fighting mad.
"Get yer hands offa my man! I'll kill you!"
You get the picture.

Sometimes I think it's a sin when I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again

Now I expect it to happen. I know what's going to happen next. I'm prepared for it.
The husband and I have several years under our belt. Plus, we have something else going for us.
Trust.
I can relax somewhat. He's not going anywhere.

Sometimes I think It's a shame when I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain

One of my main philosophies: Never worry about things you have no control over.
Why?
Because there's nothing you can do about it, that's why! You're wasting precious mental energy. Energy you could be using for the things you do have control over.
Worrying over things you can't do anything about or continuously damning yourself for things you've done will turn your hair gray and send you to the loony bin.
It's not a place I plan on visiting any time soon.

(P.S. Anyone who knows the artist or song I got these lyrics from, give yourself a gold star!)

Shiny Chatty People

Frenzi: Hey, you!
Wonder Boy: Hey! Wuzzup?
Frenzi: Nothing really.
Frenzi: U?
Wonder Boy: Deleting junk mail from my INBOX. If I don't keep it in check
Wonder Boy: it gets out of control.
Frenzi: I haven't seen you out and about lately.
Wonder Boy: That's cuz I haven't been out.
Wonder Boy: I've been working like a dog.
Wonder Boy: Anything exciting going on?
Frenzi: I went to the new levi/leather bar the other night.
Frenzi: Spike.
Frenzi: The bartender who used to work at Grand Central works there now.
Wonder Boy: Chris?
Frenzi: Yup! ;)
Wonder Boy: Holy @#$%!
Wonder Boy: I deninitely need to stop by there then!
Frenzi: So when R we going 2 go out and paint the town? Just
Frenzi: because U have a "husband" doesn't mean you have to stay home
Frenzi: all the time.
Wonder Boy: I know. You're right.
Frenzi: I'm planning to go to Grand Central tonight.
Frenzi: Why don't you come out?
Wonder Boy: Maybe.
Wonder Boy: Don't hold your breath, though!
Frenzi: OK, well it would be great to see you
Frenzi: if you come, but if you don't, I'll just see you later.
Frenzi: It was good to run into you on here.
Wonder Boy: Yeah, good to talk to you too.
Wonder Boy: It's been awhile.
Frenzi: I gotta go. Don't be a stranger, OK?
Wonder Boy:I won't. I promise!!!
Frenzi: See ya! :)
Wonder Boy: Bye!

It Goes Around The World (La La-La La)

I checked the Geographical Info on my tracker to see where my visitors were all coming from.
I had never looked into this, so I was in for a bit of a surprise.
Anyway, here are the results:

--- -unknown- 38.18%
.net -network- 23.61%
.com -US Commercial- 20.53%
.edu -US Educational- 4.83%
.uk -United Kingdom- 3.15%
.ca -Canada- 2.13%
.au -Australia 1.33%
.ar -Argentina- 1.15%
.de -Germany- 0.94%
.fr -France- 0.70%
.be -Belgium- 0.69%
.it -Italy- 0.63%
.nl -Netherlands - 0.52%
.us -United States- 0.45%
.mx -Mexico- 0.34%
.es -Spain- 0.28%
.jp -Japan- 0.26%
.ch -Switzerland- 0.24%
.br -Brazil- 0.24%
.arpa -Old-style Arpanet- 0.23%
.sa -Saudi Arabia- 0.23%
.gov -US Government- 0.23%
.org -Non-Profit Organizations- 0.22%
.dk -Denmark- 0.21%
.at -Austria- 0.17%
.fi Finland - 0.17%
.nz -New Zealand- 0.16%
.za -South Africa - 0.15%
.pl -Poland - 0.14%
.no -Norway - 0.14%
.cl -Chile - 0.14%
.gr -Greece - 0.14%
.hu -Hungary - 0.13%
.il -Israel - 0.12%
.ae -United Arab Emirates - 0.11%
.se -Sweden - 0.10%
.mil -US Military - 0.10%
.sg -Singapore - 0.07%
.ie -Ireland - 0.07%
.cy -Cyprus - 0.06%
.my -Malaysia - 0.05%
.pt -Portugal - 0.04%
.ee -Estonia - 0.04%
.cz -Czech Republic - 0.04%
.sk -Slovak Republic - 0.04%
.uy -Uruguay - 0.04%
.pe -Peru - 0.04%
.is -Iceland - 0.03%
.co -Colombia - 0.03%
.bh -Bahrain - 0.03%
.mu -Mauritius - 0.02%
.ro -Romania - 0.02%
.tr -Turkey - 0.02%
.ph -Philippines - 0.02%
.ad -Andorra - 0.02%
.lt -Lithuania - 0.02%
.lb -Lebanon - 0.02%
.ru -Russian Federation - 0.02%
.hk -Hong Kong - 0.02%
.th -Thailand - 0.02%
.ec -Ecuador - 0.02%
.hr -Croatia - 0.02%
.lv -Latvia - 0.01%
.yu -Yugoslavia - 0.01%
.id -Indonesia - 0.01%
.md -Moldavia - 0.01%
.in -India - 0.01%
.tw -Taiwan - 0.01%
.ma -Morocco - 0.01%
.ve -Venezuela - 0.01%
.na -Namibia - 0.01%
.tt -Trinidad and Tobago - 0.01%
.lu -Luxembourg - 0.01%

My thoughts about this:

• Holy smoke!
• I didn't even know there were that many domains in existence out there.
• I couldn't find half of those countries on a world map if you paid me good money.
• There's someone in Moldavia who's read my blog? That's very cool and kind of very weird at the same time.

P.S. Special thanx and international hugs to you. You rock!

It's A Fabulous Life!

As much as I enjoy watching VH1's The Fabulous Life, I'm going to try my best not to watch it anymore. It makes me too mean.
Seeing celebrities spend more on one handbag (that's only good for one season, by the way) than I do in a year on necessities like food and rent just makes me sick.
It makes you want what you will never have.
Plus, it makes you think less of your own life.
How could it not? I'm not flying around in my own private jet, living in a mansion, or spending $50 on a hamburger. Normal life looks pretty shabby in comparison.
What some people fail to realize is that life itself is pretty fabulous.
I won't be shopping at Harry Winston anytime soon, so I take pleasure in the simple things.

• Grilled cheese sandwiches with a bowl of Campbell's tomato soup. Mmmmmm. The ultimate comfort food.

• Hot showers with plenty of water-pressure, making my hide pink and squeaky clean.

• A smoke after lovemaking. That's when a cigarette tastes best!

• When I'm right in the middle of a really good book.

• Dancing around the house in my underwear, playing air-guitar to a stadium of teddy bears.

• Stretching in the morning. I devote a good five minutes when I first wake up to stretching every part of my body. G. says I look like I'm having a seizure in slow-motion. It feels fantastic, though.

Does this mean I wouldn't take fame or fortune if it was offered to me?
No way, man! Are you crazy?
I'll take whatever I can get.

Some People I Know

Lonnie* just turned 16 and he doesn't know what he is. He desperately wants to be straight, but he secretly suspects he has gay tendencies and he's petrified. He doesn't even want to consider the fact that he might be gay. He's in denial.
Lonnie reminds me of me when I was about 13 years old. By the time I turned 16 I had already accepted the fact that I was gay, I just didn't know what I was going to do about it.
Still, I know what he's going through. Accepting yourself is the most difficult aspect of coming out.

Kirk* tries too hard to make people think he's this big ladies man. He brags to anyone who will listen about how much play he's getting from various girls. To hear Kirk talk he's the king of the studs.
The girls he dates tell a completely different story. They say he never made a move on them and when they tried to pursue something physical he always gave a lame excuse why he couldn't "hit that".
He tells his stories and my Bullshit Detector (patent pending) goes off like a siren. It's so loud I can barely make out what he's trying to tell me.
Kirk knows very well he has tendencies, but he's afraid of it. He's got to prove to everyone he's this big macho man, but what he's really trying to do is convince himself.
I was around 14 when I went through this.
"If anyone finds out I'm gay my life will be over!" I remember thinking at the time.
Thankfully, that phase didn't last long at all. I had to be true to myself.

Lance* knows very well he's gay. He even has a boyfriend.
Lance is living a double life.
At work, with his family and with his straight friends he's totally straight and tells phony stories about various girls he goes out with. With his gay friends, his boyfriend, or at the gay bar he can "let his hair down" and "be himself".
He says his parents "wouldn't be able to handle it" if they knew. He's afraid his straight friends would drop him like a hot potato if they knew. He takes great pains to make sure nothing about him could label him as gay. This is a full-time job.
He spends a lot of his life in fear.
I never went through this. Once I was out, I came out with a vengeance. If you want to be a part of my life, you have to accept me the way I am.
I demanded it.
Plus, you have to have a really good memory to lie all the time. Sooner or later you slip up, and everything comes falling down like a house of cards.

Coming out wasn't easy. It's not easy for anybody.
But it was a necessary thing for me.

If I try to be like somebody else, who's going to be like me?

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent, namely me. Any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Hear My Voice

Wonder Boy speaks!
powered by audblog

He's Got Potential

Yesterday evening the husband and I were sitting around drinking wine and talking about all kinds of things.
Some of them were important things, but most of it was just trivial stuff--idle conversation.
When we started getting into a conversation about the guys (the real-life guys, not movie stars or models) that we each thought were sexy, I stared getting nervous and didn't know whether I should change the subject or not.
In the past, whenever we've ventured into this topic, either one of us gets upset or resentful at something the other one said, or it starts an argument or something.
I hate that, so while I was talking I was keeping an ear wide open, listening for anything going awry.
Amazingly enough, that didn't happen this time.
We started to discuss the merits of this guy or that, and best parts of this one or that one.
I can look at a guy and see his potential, i.e. what he could be if he just changed a few things. Alot of people can't do this. They only see what's right in front of them.
I see a guy and think "OK, if this guy lost 5 pounds or so, worked out and got a little more toned, wore different clothes and shoes, shaved off the mustache, got contact lenses and a decent haircut, this guy would be totally hot!"
(Where's my makeover show?)
Anyway, it was a really good conversation, and afterward we ended up having some of the hottest sex ever.
We need to have conversations like that a little more often, I think.

It's All Been Done

The holidays are over.
It's been nearly a week since the new year began, so it's time for everyone to take your Christmas tree down, take all the lights off your porch and windows, take down the tinsel and the wreath on your door and any other Christmas-y crap, and put all of it in a box until next year, mmmmkay?

By the way, what's the statute of limitations on saying "Happy New Year"?
If I see a friend next week and I haven't seen him since before the new year, is it OK to say "Happy New Year"?
How 'bout if I see him in March? The year is already over two months old. It's not exactly a "New year" anymore, is it?
I'm thinking January 31st is the cut-off point. After that, saying "Happy New Year" seems pretty ridiculous.

All of that suspense just for this? I think I liked him better with his face covered.

Who's That Guy?

One of my favorite photographers, Howard Roffman, has published a new book, The Perfect Boy and the photos are simply amazing.
Perfect? I don't know about that, but these boys come pretty darn close.
Click here to see more stunning photos from the book.

Thought of the Day

"Humanity is in a constant battle between our primal animal natures and the sophisticated technological creatures we aspire to be."

Monkey vs. Robot
Who will win?

Personally, I'm betting on the monkey.

What Color is Your Parachute?

Work was Hell yesterday. There's no other way to describe it.
And it wasn't because I was hungover, either. We were very, very busy.
We were slow when we first opened, and I didn't think we were going to get hit with anything, but by 2:30 PM there was a line out the door that didn't dissipate 'til we locked the doors at 7.
Were we the only restaurant open, or something?
Everybody working was hung over and bitchy, and probably half our customers as well.
I was so glad when it was over.

After I got home, the party was already underway and more people kept arriving. My friend Matt brought a keg of Bud Ice and 'most everyone else brought their favorite beverages.
We turned the dining room into a dance area and everyone was gettin' down.
It was fun and just what I needed to get over my rough day.

I just spent the first part of the day throwing away plastic cups, dumping overflowing ashtrays, putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and vacuuming the carpet.
I can't rest now, though. I have to get ready for work.

Eerie

I thought I'd heard it all, but email from beyond the grave?

"Hi there!
It's been awhile, huh? How's everything with you?
Well, in case you haven't heard already, I'm dead!"

It's kind of creepy to think about getting an email from someone who's no longer alive, but I guess it could be useful.
Especially if it's along the lines of "the money is hidden under the floorboards in the basement".