MyTunes Monday: Twice

Tweet of the Day: January 27, 2012

For the record, LeBron (Kobe is 100% loathsome) and Jacob (based solely on looks, haven't read the books/seen the films).

Humour Files: Aisle 15

Submitted without comment.

Gay Parenting

Score one for Team Gay.

This is from an actually study which you ca read in more depth HERE.

MyTunes Monday: At Last

I remember my grandmother listening to this song and that is how I first heard it ages ago. I fell in love with it instantly. Years ago in a conversation, wedding songs came up. This is one of the two that I thought of immediately (the other being "Sweet Thing" by Mary J. Blige) and I decided that they will definitely be playing at my wedding (I just need to find a groom now). As you may have heard, she passed away in the last few days. Thus I choose this song as a little tribute.

Photologue: Wintery Weekend

More belated stuff from last weekend. These were taken last Friday night when it snowed. I took a lot more, but most of them were crap. I probably need a different kind of camera for that (or I need to learn how to take night pictures with this one).

Weekend Update: January 15, 2012

Last weekend was pretty much a roller coaster. I would have written about it at the time but, well, I think you'll understand why it took me so long by the end of this post.

Tight End Jermichael Finley

Saturday was actually pretty uneventful. I had been looking forward to seeing the Packers play the Giants in the playoffs. After work on Sunday I went home for an hour then headed back downtown to watch the game. The bar where we were watching the game had a bunch of people watching both playoff games of course. There were a group of Giants fans down the bar from us. The weird (and annoying thing) was that every time the Giants made a play, even though Giants fans cheered, the most obnoxious person make the most noise was a guy wearing a Baltimore Ravens jersey. I really wanted to punch him in the face (seriously not because the Packers were losing but because the guy was just being an obnoxious douche). I think he may have been one of my fraternity brothers though. There were a couple of people in that group wearing some Pi Kappa Phi stuff and at least one person I definitely recognized (I'm much older than them and haven't been involved with our chapter for quite some time which is why I'm not sure which of them were actually Pi Kapps). Anyway, 4 fatties (27 oz. mugs of Yuengling) later, Green Bay had lost the game 37-20. We did it to ourselves: too many dropped passes, busted coverages, and many other mistakes. We didn't show up (even though the game was at Lambeau) and the Giants did. 

Not the actual Margarita I had

By the end of the game, a couple of other people showed up at the bar with us. After the game, I ended up going with them to another place and getting a Jumbo Texas Margarita. This was probably my big mistake of the night. These drinks are HUGE and they are STRONG. One on its own will get you fairly inebriated. Another mistake I made was not eating after about 5pm or so. Then, we were off to place number three. After this point, everything is hazy. I only really remember flashes of stuff. I remember having a bottle of some beer, and I remember coming out to my parents (which, despite everything ending up fine, I don't recommend coming out to one's parents while drunk). I DON'T remember how a got home (apparently I walked, which was 1.5 miles away), and I DON'T remember licking someone's face. That seems to happen whenever I get that drunk: someone gets kissed or licked on the face. That's why I generally make a point of not getting that drunk.

Another reason that I make a point of not getting that drunk is the hangover. This one was killer. Thank the good lord I didn't have to work on Monday because that just would have been a disaster. Before going to bed the night before I (apparently) had the good sense to turn my alarm off. I didn't even get out of bed until 5pm. Even then, it was only for a few minutes. I didn't eat anything that day until almost 10pm when I had actually gotten to a functional level of existence and got some Chinese food (interestingly, one of the guys I was out with that night was also very hungover and ended up getting Chinese as well). I also realized this day that even when I'm plastered, I manage to stick to certain routines. While blacked out, I took a shower (which I realized when I saw my towel on the chair in my room), I hung up my jacket in the right place, and there was something else, but I can't remember (Rick Perry syndrome I guess*). Because of my very late "start" to the day, I didn't even bother trying to get to sleep at my usual midnight-ish time. Sleep didn't happen until after 3am. Then Tuesday was back to getting up at 8am and going to work.

I only mentioned the coming out to my parents bit in passing above. For the record, I was pretty sure they already knew and wouldn't have a problem...which is (luckily) exactly what I got. Some time while I was really drunk, I but up a Facebook status about it (which a do remember doing). I had forgotten about it when I woke up on Monday though. I guess I was preoccupied with my pounding head. I contemplated making a Facebook status about it that day but decided not to make a big deal about it. It wasn't until I got on Facebook later that day that I realized and remembered that I had already made a "big" deal about it and made the post and thought "Well...alrighty then!" Apparently I was the talk of work that Monday I had off (many of the people I went out with were work mates). Someone asked me later in the week if I felt like a new man. My answer: "Not really." Like I said, I got from my parents exactly what I expected. No drama, no tears, no threats of disownership. Life goes on as ever it did.

Awkward moment: my mom asking me if I was dating anyone.

Sad moment: when I said no :( Oh well...

*Addendum: And hours later I remember the third thing. When I sent out that Facebook status (still virtually black out), it was somehow perfectly spelled, even the bit that was in German. I guess I'm just awesome like that :P

The Season's Silver Lining

I know this whole global climate changey thingy is supposed to be bad, but Winter is pretty much the bane of my existence. Cold is not my schtick as I have said many times on this blog before. That is why I'm glad that this Winter (at least so far, I hope this post doesn't jinx it) has been relatively warm. Out of the last 5 days, I have gone running in the morning 4 times. It would have been 5 but between rain, soreness, and work, Monday was a no-go. Every time I have gone out, I ended up pretty sweaty too. I probably would have actually lost some fat at the same time but I keep shoveling food down my gullet so I'm pretty much holding steady on that front. There have only been a couple of legitimately colds days. Then again, it's only mid January so there are another 2.5 months left (or up here in the mountains, it's more like 4).

I went on a little hiking trip back in November. I took a bunch of pictures which I will eventually post here when I get around to it. It wasn't a long trip, nor was it particularly difficult as far as hikes go, but I wrecked the shoes that I run in. They were old anyway. Luckily, this gives me a reason to buy I new pair of running shoes which I probably should have done ages ago. When I say these shoes are old, I'm talking 7 years at the least. This may be the reason my feet hurt so much on days that I run. Since there is a chance I'll be doing a 5K (the one I was supposed to do last year but the weather was terrible), it's pretty important I keep up my running ability. Also, this is the year I really slim down. Not that I'm huge, just what one would call "gay-fat." Time to undo that.

MyTunes Monday: Twice

Humour Files: Shit Girls Say To Gay Guys

Trailer: The Lion King Rises

FYI, this is (hopefully obviously) not a "real" film.

MyTunes Monday: Bring It On

Thoughts on the Kardashians

Slightly overstated, but only slightly. These are pretty much my sentiments as well.

Goals (Addendum)

I forgot to mention something fairly major that I want to do this year: more reading of political/history books. Almost all of this 2011's reading was fiction (2.5 volumes from "A Song of Ice & Fire," as well as "The Hobbit" and "The Return of the King," etc.). I did manage to read "The Art of War" and part of "The Republic" which I'm happy about, but those were the only real world type books that I read this year. I don't have any specific books, but generally, this is what I have in mind:

President Theodore Roosevelt

-the Teddy Roosevelt administration (he was known as a trust-buster, which is what I wish we had right now)

-books about the nation's founding

-books about the Constitution

-something written by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a presidential historian (specifically "A Team of Rivals" which is about Lincoln...a film is supposedly being made from it also)

I need to give this a bit more thought before heading to a bookstore. Yes I know this makes me a huge dork, but that's a badge of honour as far as I'm concerned. Also, remember that I majored in political science so this stuff is my bread and butter. Also, since some of the goals I mentioned involved starting my career and working in politics, it certainly helps to have as much knowledge of this stuff as possible, especially in an election year. I used to know a lot more than I do now. Time to get some of those smarts back.

I hope what ever goals you have this year, you accomplish them as well.

With Great Power...

I just had a dream (not sure when I'll end up posting this, but I started writing this at 5:14 AM) that my sister and I were both on a television show called "No Ordinary people." The basic premise of the show is that it's was pretty much an X-Men live-action television show. During the part of the dream that I recall, we were watching on the street as a house was being floated down the road many feet up in the air as people stared in awe (it was supposed to be a display of someone's power) until it collided with another building at the end of the block. At the end of the scene, the character I was playing fainted in slow motion (which seemed to take forever to land). The strangest aspect was that at the beginning of the dream, it seemed like reality but towards the end, someone yelled cut and I realized (from an external perspective) that we were merely filming. 

Then I heard everyone around us clapping and celebrating. I guess that was a wrap on taping that episode. Craft Services had quite a spread, but it was a lot of sweets. Lots of sugary pastries and such. Then I woke up, probably because of the howling winds outside. Now I have the Herculean task of trying to get back to sleep...which never works out well.

I would have enjoyed the dream more if I had actually had powers in it... :(

New Years' Follies

Some random thoughts I have about New Years' and the celebration:

-I have it on good authority that actual New Yorkers avoid Times Square like the Plague on New Years'. All those people there are just tourists.

-I feel bad for the people who have to clean that place up after the party.

-I just realized last night that the date of the beginning of the year is pretty arbitrary. It could easily be May 1st or August 13th or any other day for that matter.

-It's interesting that so very many people start out the year in a drunken haze (unfortunately, I wasn't one of those people this time round). Spending half the next day with a pounding headache is probably not a great omen.

In all seriousness though, I hope this is the beginning of what will be a great year for everyone (except for the Republican party).

Photologue: First Sunset 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!