Off Of the Reading List

Recently I finished reading "The Hobbit." This was my second attempt at reading this story. I tried reading it once before and I felt it was too childish and got maybe half way through before putting it down. That was some years ago. After having actually finished it, I have no idea what I was thinking. It was a great story, even if it ended a bit on the sad side (not the very end, but I won't give that away). I like how it sets up things for "The Lord of the Rings." I definitely suggest giving it a read.

Today I picked up "A Game of Thrones." I haven't seen the show (I don't get whatever channel it's on). I will sooner or later, but since I have the opportunity to read it first, and upon multiple recommendations, I decided to go this route. I'm actually reading part 5 of LotR (which is the first half of Return of the King) right now but as soon as that done, I'll be hitting up the new book.

I'll never understand why some people don't like reading.

MyTunes Monday: Blue Ridge Mountains (Cover)

Also the lead singer is disgustingly hot.

Work Tales: The People I Deal With

I was at work last night whe late in my shift, after everyone there had pretty much lost any kind of sanity (which happens pretty much every night), I got asked the question that many of us gay men will get/have been asked. He asked me "am I the man or the woman in my relationships?" This is the same guy I have mentioned a time or two before: young, immature, ignorant, annoying. I immediately wanted to smack him. Luckily, I'm not a violent person. What I said to him was what any of us should say when asked this incredibly stupid question. It was something to the tune of "A main premise of a gay relationship is that we're both guys, so your question is false on its face" combined with a look which expressed that I was angry at him for asking this question, then I just walked away. This kid has a lot to learn about asking stupid questions.

He also made the mistake of asking my, hypothetically of course (since he is straight...I assume), if I would have sex with him. My response was a disgusted look and a very definite "Eww..." That got a lot of laughs.

The Silver Fox

At work a few days ago, the subject of Anderson Cooper randomly came up (not an uncommon occurrence there). One person happened to mention him being gay. Another person kind of said, "Wait, Anderson Cooper is gay?" I was shocked that this was news to this person. It's pretty much an open secret, though the news man doesn't talk about publicly unlike some of his fellow news people like Thomas Roberts (openly gay) or Rachel Maddow (openly lesbian). Of course his personal life is his business, as anyone's should be.

I think part of my shock comes from the fact that I'm in a pretty gay media bubble of sorts. I frequent sites like After Elton, Outsports, and others where every once-in-a-while rumours get reported about who is gay and such (for the record, the writers on these sites usually don't believe the rumours...as they shouldn't). I've been doing this for years and unlike most of these, AC has repeatedly come up and combined with the standard "I don't discuss my personal life" statements that he has given lends itself to him hiding something. I guess like the rest of us, he'll come out on his own timeline (unless he gets outed by TMZ or something like that).

The good news is that, closeted or not, he isn't afraid to take on LGBT issues and homophobia on-air.

Shallow note: I've seen a picture of his alleged boyfriend. HAWT!!! Nothing less for Anderson (quite hot himself).

I'm crossing my fingers that I won't get sued for posting this.

Batten Down the Hatches

There was a week when my family (my mother, grandmother, sister, and myself) was on holiday during the Summer and we went down to Chesapeake where my uncle lived with my aunt and their kids. At the time, he was still in the Navy and they were living on-base. On this particular trip, my sister and I even got to bring our bikes with us. It was going to be a fun week. Unfortunately, nature had something else in store. We had news that there was a tropical system, called Emily, headed towards that part of the East coast. It took some time before it was clear where exactly it was headed and how strong it would be (tropical systems are unpredictable like that), but eventually we knew where it was headed. Also, it was strong enough to the point that non-essential personnel had to evacuate the base. It just so happened that we had rented a van to make the 4-hour trip across Virginia. Good thing too because not only did my mother, grandmother, sister, and myself have to leave, we needed to take my aunt and two cousins with us with enough luggage to last them a few days at least. The bikes had to be dismantled to fit everything. My uncle was staying behind but to this day I don't recall exactly why (I guess he was that important). So eventually we headed back to Lynchburg. Emily ended up reaching all the even to my hometown (maybe 300 miles or so inland) but had significantly weakened by then. It was still windy and raining very heavily, but no significant flooding at home. We survived. After it was over, my uncle drove all the to Lynchburg to pick up the wife and kids. What was supposed to be a relaxing week where I would get to see family that I saw a few times a year at best turned into a mini-adventure.

Of course what brought this to mind is the fact that right now, the East coast is bracing for a potentially strong hurricane. When I say strong, I mean it may be a category 4 (of 5) and a 3+ is considered major. I also recall hearing that she may make landfall at high tide which will make beach erosion and flooding even worse, particularly in low-lying areas. If you're on the East coast, be prepared. It could get ugly.

Good luck all!!!

A Lost Voice

It's weird to think it has been 10 years since she was killed (plane crash).

Why Am I Just Now Seeing This???

I found this last night and it's all kinds of awesome.

Damn he's fine. I'm glad he's on my team (the Green Bay Packers that is).

News Flash: Male Bisexuality Exists (Duh!!!)

The saddest part of this study is that I'm pretty sure taxpayer dollars went to find out something that I could have told them years ago.

Weekend Update: From August 20

Short post. What did I learn this weekend (actually, it was just confirmed)? Drunken Irishmen think I'm hot.

The Unwashed Masses

I live in a college town and school started here today. We all know what this means: tons of wide-eyed and clueless freshmen. Last week was when they were moving into the dorms. To some degree I was out pretty much every night that week. I have to say it was pretty funny seeing battalions of them going from one apartment complex to another in search of some source of alcohol or a party.I think I can honestly say I wasn't like that as a freshman. First semester, I wasn't really a partier. Second semester I was pledging a fraternity so I knew where the party was and from whom I could get "supplies." I lucked out.

I stopped in 7-11 Saturday night and on my way out, some guy asked me if I wanted to earn a quick ten bucks. I know that sounds really dirty, but that's not where this story is going. My assumption was that this underage guy wanted me to get some booze for his mates and I told him I was in a hurry to meet some people (which wasn't a lie actually). Of course there was also the possibility that he was working for the cops and I could have been busted for "aiding the delinquency of a minor" or something like that, but I didn't think about that until after the fact. 

I also heard a story from someone I work with. She was looking for her keys in her car for a while (it was dark) and she was being hassled by a person or two who were hoping she would give them or ride or something like that. I have to say that was pretty stupid since she could have been a serial killer for all they knew. 

One last story. I was walking home when someone I knew drove by me. I was almost home so I just kept walking even though he offered to drive me the rest of the way (I had pretty eaten badly anyway so I needed the cardio). As he kept driving down the hill, a bunch of kids decided that would be a good time to cross the street and the idiots almost got hit and it would have been their own fault.

Granted that in these stories it may not have been all freshmen, but the likelihood is that many of them were. Upperclassmen don't act like this (at least not nearly as much).

*eyeroll* These kids have so much to learn (and I'm talking about out of the classroom).

P.S. I probably would have made a "fresh-meat" joke in there somewhere, but I feel old enough to where that just creepy.

MyTunes Monday: Roll Away Your Stone

MyTunes Monday: Dirty Diana

This is one of the first music videos I remember ever watching and I loved it (granted it was before MJ gave me the creeps, but this is still an awesome video).

Riddles in the Dark

So my apartment lost power yesterday, so I'll be pretty much out of commission for a day or two til I get it back :(

And yes, the title is an ode to Tolkien. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone at this point :)

Hot Combination

I don't have a "formal" list of celebrity crushes, but if I did, Bradley Cooper would be WAAAAAY up there. The guy is gorgeous and seems like (at least from what I can tell) a genuinely good person. Adding to the sexiness is this:

One of the world's sexiest men speaking the world's sexiest language. Why are all the hot/bilingual guys heteros?

Film Collection

My DVD collection is pretty anemic, especially given what I have seen of other people's collections. There isn't a lot of variety. I probably have around 20 or so films plus a couple of TV shows on DVD (maybe about 3 of those). I have been thinking for a really long time now that I want to just blow 100-150$ just on DVDs. I started making a list a while back of what I films I would buy. Here are a couple that come to mind:

From "Were the World Mine"

-Soapdish

-Were the World Mine

-A Chorus Line

-Serenity

-Kick-Ass

-What Lies Beneath

-Contact

There are probably some others that I would come up with if I actually put my mind to it, but it's been a long day. Some of these I haven't seen in a really long time (I haven't seen "A Chorus Line" since I was in grade school...which seems like a lifetime ago). The only one of those that I have never seen, trailers notwithstanding, is "Were the World Mine," but I've heard it is a good film. Unfortunately there is other, more important stuff I will have to spend money on in the near future, so this purchase will have to wait. :(

From "Serenity"

MyTunes Monday: Hello (Club Version)