Worst. Music. EVER!!!

Once upon a time, I thought that Justin Beiber music was bad. Little did I know just how bad music could be…until Friday night.

I was exposed to the worst music that I can recall hearing in a very long time. Generally, the music I listen either means something, or it is lyrical, or it is just fun and catchy. This music however…let’s just say that calling it music is a bit of a stretch. What I mean by that is that there was very little discernible music. It was just noise. Some people would call it noise pollution. Apparently my displeasure with the “music” was written all over my face. I didn’t realize that until two people at the bar asked pointed out that I seemed “unamused.” I said “It’s not my kind of music.” That was a polite way of me saying “This ‘music’ is shit and I can’t believe ANYONE finds it enjoyable.” At least with Beiber, I can get why people like it even though I personally don’t.

Not only was the music terrible, it was really fucking loud. It was like my ears were getting blitzed by the Luftwaffe. I spent a good chunk of the night as far away from the speakers as I could get. At some point in the night, someone who was rocking out to this sonic assault knocked over one of said speakers. I considered paying him to “accidentally” knock over the rest of the speakers. By the end of the night, I definitely wasn’t hearing out of my left ear (the one facing the music) as I was out of my right ear. It is nothing short of a miracle that I didn’t have a throbbing headache.

Time for me to buy some earplugs.

Hiatus Explained

My last post was on October 29th. Yeah, it's been a while.

First, I had a computer issue. I finally decided to do something about my computer constantly overheating. I bought one of those compressed air things and used it to get rid of the dust that accumulated over the years. In the process, I damaged the fan...or something. It didn't work for a few days, then it worked for a few days, then it didn't work for a few days, then it started working again and has worked since...and that's with me doing practically nothing else. Having zero engineering know-how, I don't know what the fuck happened. So that was for about a week and a half.

As for the rest of the time, I got a computer game called "Civilization V." I've been pretty obsessed with it for the past two months and still am. Seriously, hours and hours straight with only potty breaks. I've racked up 204 hours of game play (the game keeps up with that) in two months. Not only have I neglected this blog, but my political blog as well, plus exercising has suffered too. Life = shambles.

I'm back and hopefully I'll balance my time far better than I have recently. Meanwhile, during my absence, the adorable Tom Daley (British swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist) did this:

My one criticism of this video: he's looking at the viewfinder and not at the lens. Though If I looked like him, I probably would look at myself too. seriously though, I would like to point out he didn't label himself as...whatever. That is an important thing of which to take note.

Team Queer scores again!!!

Trailer: X-Men: Days of Future Past

I'm seriously freaking out right now.

Guess Who's Coming to Town

As you may know, there is a gubernatorial election going on here in the Commonwealth. It is pretty heated on both sides. Since I go into the politics of it a lot elsewhere I won't do that here. I will say this though: though Democratic nominee, Terry McAuliffe is bringing in some heavy hitters. On of them is coming to my little town this coming Monday.

Yup, Bubba is headed this way. Tickets to the event were free, but I still had to wait in line. It is a somewhat different situation because admittance wasn't guaranteed, it pretty much first come first served. I don't know, but in order to have a chance of admittance, you needed a ticket, which is what I was in line for on Wednesday morning. I got these about 30 minutes (9:30ish) before doors opened and there was of course a line. This IS Bill Clinton after all. Not only was there a line, but there was a lot of cold. At one point, it started sleeting rather heavily, and it was pretty windy. I said to the people around me "At least we're doing this for Bill Clinton and not Justin Beiber." No one disagreed with that. Well, I got my ticket finally around 11 or so, most of the waiting time was spent outside and stupid me left my gloves at home.

~

Meanwhile, tonight (Thursday...in less than an hour as of the time I'm writing this) is the last gubernatorial debate between the Democratic and Republican candidates (there is a Libertarian candidate who is actually polling at around 10%, but he didn't get invited...for whatever reason). The venue is right here in town. In fact, I was near the venue about an hour ago and I spotted Al Madrigal, a correspondent from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," you know, the one hosted by Jon Stewart. I would have at least attempted getting a picture of him (though not with him, I guess i get a bit more star-struck than I thought), but my camera decided to die. Bastard! Given the shooting and airing schedule of TDS, the soonest whatever they are shooting tonight would end up on the show would be Monday night. I'm looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get tickets to the debate. Tickets were open to the public Tuesday morning, but they went fast. By fast, I mean five minutes...or so I heard. Looks like I'll be watching it at home like everyone else...in like 30 minutes.

I'll make sure my camera battery is charged before the Clinton appearance. Oh man, if I ended up with a picture with him, that would be the highlight of my year.

Winter Hacks

Amazon Haul: October 2013

I went on Amazon early last week and ordered a few items. Surprisingly, I got them earlier than expected.

Geography Club. This book was written by a columnist from (what is currently called) thebacklot.com (formerly afterelton.com) which is a pop culture site geared towards gay/bi men. It is being made into a film and me being me, I want to read the book first. There is a trailer floating around the web somewhere (by which I mean YouTube). I may or may not have posted said trailer on this blog. If not, I'll get around to it. It isn't a long book. I just started it today (Tuesday) and as of right now I'm about a quarter of the way through it. So far, pretty good and not really what I expected. I have three days off in a row (today was the first) and I should easily be able to get through this book given its length and my lack of stuff to get done (the laundry is already done, thank God).

Star Trek: Into Darkness. This film came out just this past Summer. It was epic. If you are anything like me, you will feel ALL of the feels. Yeah, I cried, but I'm a sap like that. But also, who knew the guy that played Eomer could be funny (Eomer wasn't funny)?

Soapdish. This film is in my top 5. I watched it first when I was really young. I haven't seen it in years and every time in the last couple of years whenever I got stuff from Amazon, they were out of stock (because of the film's age, I can't just go into a place that sells films and find it there). This time, the stars aligned. If you have not seen it, you really should. It's a parody on soap operas and it has a stellar cast. Did I mention it's over the top and hilarious? It's over the top and hilarious, especially the twist at the end.

MyTunes Monday: Come Back To Bed

MyTunes Monday: Pompeii

MyTunes Monday: From the Ritz to the Rubble

Trailer: The Desolation of Smaug

MyTunes Monday: Summer Song

I used this song two years ago around this same time. It always seems poignant this time of year.

MyTunes Monday: Stay

And The Least Sexy Body Part Is...

CALLED IT!!!

MyTunes Monday: Respect

Straight Guys Are A Little Gay

West Wing Rabbit Hole

At some point last week I got a hankering to watch "West Wing." While I have seen MANY episodes of the show (mostly in re-runs thanks to Bravo), I haven't seen the whole show, and I'm pretty sure I didn't watch it from the beginning. Thank goodness A) it's on Netflix and B) I have Netflix. So, since this past Sunday, i've been watching A LOT of this show. As I'm writing this post, I'm watch episode 18 of season 1. There are 7 seasons for me to get through. Bye-bye productivity. Here is one of the epic scenes from the show.

MyTunes Monday: Paddling Out

A Slight Eye Problem

Last Wednesday (not yesterday) I woke up feeling like there was a grain of sand - or more likely a grain from my facial scrub (gay...) - in my left eye. It hurt like Hell. I had plans for that evening which ended up not happening because of that. My eye was like Niagara Falls it was tearing up so much and my nose was running. The next day, it was almost as though nothing had happened. My eye was only slightly irritated but otherwise fine. It so it was for the next several days…until today. Again, I woke up with left eye feeling terrible. I could barely open it at all for about an hour. It was so bad that I caved and called an optometrist this morning. Luckily they could fit me in this afternoon.

Not having health (or any) insurance, this whole thing scared me quite a bit. Luckily the people there were really nice. It turns out that it wasn’t pink eye like I thought. Some sort of allergic reaction caused irritation that blah, blah, blah, *medical mumbo-jumbo* and there is a small scratch on my eye. I mentioned a facial thing I recently started using and that could quite likely be the culprit (which sucks because it was actually working on my skin L). So much for using that.

Unsurprisingly I needed some medications for this. This is where my lack of health insurance had me scared. My doctor however was pretty awesome about this. On top of being a nice guy (who is also a Lord of the Rings fan), he gave me some samples instead of me having to get relatively expensive prescriptions, though he gave me a prescription in case I needed a refill on what I had. He also knocked 50% off of the cost of my visit. Being a follower of the news, I’ve heard about health cost nightmares and that sort of thing which had me fearing this. Luckily that didn’t pan out and my eye should be back to normal in a week or two. Thank God for that. I would like to be able to make next year’s trip to Brazil AND be able to see it as well.

MyTunes Monday: Dirty Paws

MyTunes Monday: Blame It On The Tetons

Good News Wrapped in Bad News Wrapped in Good News

THIS is a babe!!!

The good news: earlier this week at work I got word that someone who came in described me as "a babe." Awesome sauce. The bad news: this person is sans Y chromosome. Can't win them all I suppose. The good news: the person who relayed this message to me was a quite handsome male co-worker...who bats for my team. Maybe he was thinking what she was thinking. *mind racing with possibilities*

Since I just started there, I'm still trying to get the feel of my co-workers: who is trustworthy, who are the gossips, who are the assholes, yadda yadda yadda. It's weird how I see "a game of thrones" gets played out in life all the time. That story has permeated my consciousness in a way that few stories have. Even office politics sometimes looks like the great houses of Westeros jockeying for power. Of course it's me who is the one trying to figure out who the players are and what role they're in.

Other than adjusting to the pace, everything seems to be going well thus far. I'm making more money right now as a trainee than I was making at my last job which is nice especially given A) how much of my savings account I burned through and B) how much I'm trying to save for next Summer (thousands). It's going to be a busy week too. Some sort of a financial plan is coming together. I'll be talking to my bank some time this week. Hopefully things stay on this heading.

MyTunes Monday: First Day

Seriously, this song is how I felt on my first couple of days back at work last week.

MyTunes Monday: Young Love

Operation Rio: Phase 1 Complete

It looks like after over 3 months of being unemployed, I've finally gotten a job. This was the most important step of making my trip to Brazil possible. Thank God that's done. I fully intend on throwing myself into it and putting as much money as possible in the bank because this trip is going to cost A LOT of money, probably thousands. The flight alone...yikes. Aside from just putting as much money as possible, I have some semblance of a financial plan that I will be putting into play.

The next major step: passport. Having never set foot out of the country, I don't have one. I'm pretty sure this is something that's going to take a long time so I need to get on this. I'm not exactly sure about what the process entails, but bureaucracy will be involved. Oh joy.

I'm also going to create a file where pretty much everything about this trip will be enumerated: costs, dates, weather, things to be purchased (clothing and such), and whatever else I think of.

A friend of mine who is getting married within the next year has said that every time she thinks about the wedding, she gets really excited, and then feels incredibly daunted because of everything that needs to be done. Given how I feel about this trip, I can only imagine how she feels a freaking wedding.

MyTunes Monday: All-American Boy

Slogging Through the Pages

James Madison

A while back (late 2012) I mentioned getting a bunch of stuff from Amazon.com including "The Federalist Papers." For those who don't know, these were papers written by three of the founders of America (John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison) which tried to convince Americans to support the ratification of the United States Constitution by enumerating the reasons why it would be better for the states to all stay together instead of splintering off into either all separate entities or into a handful of confederacies. I've been wanting to read this for a very long time and I finally started reading it maybe a month ago. It isn't particularly long. There are 85 papers spanning 256 pages, and none of the papers are particularly long (the longest was maybe six pages thus far). Unfortunately, me be the slow reading, easily distracted person that I am, I haven't gotten very far. I've been reading for a few weeks but I'm only on number fourteen, page 36.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good read. The language soars a bit at times, but it's manageable (unlike "Common Sense" which was a bit out of my league linguistically speaking). It also mentions things that we don't often think about in terms of how the country we know has prospered over the last 237 years. It also makes you wonder about what may have happened if some people had gotten their wish and the Constitution had not been ratified, causing the States to separate into multiple entities.

Another reason I'm going rather slowly is a bit more practical. As I'm reading, I'm also highlighting the particularly important passages pretty much the same way I did back in my school days. I'm not just reading this to read it, I'm also trying to understand what is being said as I go along.

I'm setting the goal of finishing this book in the next two weeks, starting when I click "Publish" on this blog post.

Note to self: spend less time on social media and more time doing stuff that actually matters.

MyTunes Monday: Green & Grey

The studio version is actually better but I couldn't find that on YouTube.

In Case You Haven't Heard...

Rest in pieces. :P

MyTunes Monday: Summer Time

A Long-Shot Southward

One of the first things that caught my notice this morning was a Facebook status from a friend of mine in Wilmington, North Carolina. He is going to Brazil next Summer...when they are hosting the freaking World Cup. My response: "I officially hate you. Jelly..." I said it flippantly as I always do when I hear people going to places and events that I'd love to go to. Yeah, he invited me to go. His cousin is already going with him and he said he'd love to go with a group of people. I immediately got excited at the prospect. 

I've never been out of the States...EVER. I always though my first trip abroad would be to some place in Europe, but I would be perfectly fine with Brazil. Especially given that it is during the FIFA World Cup. Not that I would necessarily be going to any games, but even parking myself in one of the bars to see a game in that atmosphere would be amazing and well worth the trip. It's a good thing this trip isn't happening any time soon because I'd be woefully unable to go. I've already missed a big trip a bunch of my fraternity brothers made to Oktoberfest a year or two ago. I hope I won't miss this too.

I have this nasty habit of setting goals, long term and short term, and missing them by a mile and then being filled with regret. Regret, to me, is a 4-letter word, not to mention one of the worst feelings I ever feel (and I feel it on a regular basis). hopefully, not this time.

I told this friend that if I could get the stars to align, I'd be in. So I have a year to get my ducks in a row...and there are a lot of ducks. The work begins today.

Besides which, I have no intention of missing out on the opportunity for cute Brazilian guys.

MyTunes Monday: Champagne Supernova

Please Tell Me This Is a Bad Joke...

Enter dirty thoughts...

Names are being withheld because the person in question may read this, as may a lot of people who know him. However, if you do read this, you know who you are.

I was on Facebook the other day (like I am EVERY day) and I came upon someone who wrote something about the new Superman film "Man of Steel." I forgot what the first sentence said (it's irrelevant so who cares), but at the end of the message, he indicated that he wouldn't be watching this film because Superman/Clark Kent would be played by a Brit (the very handsome Henry Cavill) and obviously Superman is American.

WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?

My response was pretty much the title of this blog post. Pretty reserved right? In my mind however, I lost my shit at the utter stupidity and pretense of this mentality. And then of course there is the obvious: SUPERMAN IS NOT AMERICAN, HE IS KRYPTONIAN!!! Literally, he was an undocumented alien. Even if he was American and being played by someone from another country, why the fuck does that matter? Have you any idea how many Brits, Aussies, Canadians, etc. are in American television and films playing Americans? Guess what, it's A LOT!!! Get the fuck over it.

Seriously, I hope this was just a bad joke and I'm just overreacting. If not, then I lament that there is this much stupidity in the world. *hits head against wall in frustration*

/rant

Run Rob, Run!!!

I better sleep deep tonight. 

It has been a rather exhausting and active day, more so than any day in the recent past. I have been awake since seven this morning. Over an hour later, I went for a three-mile run and actually remembered to stretch afterwards for once (I always remember to beforehand). Was pretty tired afterwards but felt okay. I usually recover quickly.

I had planned on doing something else later: riding my bike to my polling station to vote in the Virginia primary which was being held today (at least for the Democrats, the Republicans stupidly had a convention last month and came up with some very extreme candidates). However, the new state ID that I was supposed to have a few weeks ago hasn't gotten here yet and the one I have now is expired. Thanks a lot DMV. So I was thinking that I didn't have the proper stuff to go vote. Thinking this, I decided to instead go on another run, just 1.5 miles this time just after three in the afternoon. However, I ran it harder than I usually do. Instead of going on an endurance run, I went on a speed run. Before I went on run #2, I posted on my Facebook page about my voting ID issue. When a got back from the run - which didn't go nearly as bad as I thought it might - a friend got back to my Facebook post about some alternate ID options and another friend joined in. They gave me some things I may be able to use, which led me to thrash about my place looking for something to use. I ended up finding my newest voter registration card from last year which I did after moving. Side note, apparently I had my old registration card on me when I voted last November, so it's a good thing I didn't need it then. Anyway, I threw that in my wallet, hopped on my bike, and went to my precinct. The trouble was that I still only have an expired state ID. Luckily, they poll workers didn't look at that. The address on it however was not where I live now, which is where the new voter registration card came into play. It all ended up working out and I got to vote, which made my day so much better. Then I made the trek back home.

So, I ended up running three mile, then another 1.5 miles, then biking another 1.5-2 miles less than an hour after that. Hopefully, I'll be able to use my legs tomorrow.

The Good With the Bad

As I have noted many times, this is my favourite time of year. More daylight, warmer weather, more time

outside…more cute guys wearing less.

The past couple of weeks, I have spent my nights/evenings hanging outside with my neighbours and various other people. Simple good times drinking some drinks, listening to some music, sometimes bringing out the corn-hole set, having a good time while the good weather lasts. Sometimes we hit the pool too. However…

From the knees down, I’m pretty much a giant itch. I’ve been getting eaten up by bugs. Also, every time I go running, I get drenched in sweat. I don’t really mind that, but it does take me a good 30 minutes to cool down again despite drinking ice water and sitting under a fan. Far worse than that though is that for about an hour after going running, my allergies act up. Primarily sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes. It's very aggravating.

I know, some of those are classic first world problems.

You gotta take the bitter with the sweet. That’s just how life works I suppose.

MyTunes Monday: The Rains of Castamere

And yes, I'm devastated.

MyTunes Monday: Requiem For A Soldier

This might sound familiar to you. It's the theme from "Band of Brothers." If you have never seen that miniseries, I definitely recommend watching it. Happy Memorial Day folks.

MyTunes Monday: Sex & Violence

Two-A-Days

In my seemingly never-ending quest to be happier with my body, I have taken a few steps of late. The last couple of days I have been exercising twice a day. Once when I woke up right before I eat breakfast. That is ab time, usually while watching the previous night's "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report." I found an ab  routine that is pretty rough, but doesn't take a very long time. Then I go running in the afternoon sometime between two and three. I average out at three miles, but it is not running the whole time...more like 90ish percent. Clearly I need to get back into the cardio shape that I had back when I could knock out six miles in a day. Those were the days.

I'm in the process of getting used to this routine as I've only been doing this for a few days. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but when these waves of motivation arrive, I ride them and ride them hard (get your minds out of the gutter). I do have to say that while I feel myself getting a bit stronger, it's a bit wearing. My abs have been in a pretty constant state of soreness, though it is ebbing over time. One of the ab exercises takes its toll on my lower back which, when combined with my upright running posture (necessary for proper breathing so I can't really change it) is pretty stressful. There is also my almost constant fatigue. Before running today, I was lying on my bed for about 40 minutes half asleep most of the time. Pretty much the same thing happened the day before, except it was post run. Of course part of that is not getting enough sleep at night. Have I ever mentioned how I hate napping during the day? I've never liked it. It makes me feel like I'm wasting sunlight which, given my quasi-S.A.D., is a very bad feeling. I'm thinking it would be good if I took a day off for my body to recover and come back stronger after. Like I said though, these periods of drive can be fleeting and I want them to take me as far as possible for as long as possible.

My motivation right now is two-fold. One, the big 3-0 is around the corner and I remember saying that I would have a six-pack by then. Things haven't gone as planned (like having two pints of Ben & Jerry's in three days this past weekend at over 1000 calories a pop), but I believe the goal is still within reach. The second motivator is the warm weather. I think the cold has finally broken for the season and there are lots of fit shirtless lads about (if that sentence sounds weird, it's because I've been watching lots of British tele of late). Sometimes I see a guy and think "wow, he's hot" and "I need to go running" simultaneously. Where I live, there is a lot of that. Hopefully enough to keep me going for at least a few more weeks.

A lot of the advice I have been taken when it comes to exercise and diet has come from Insane Home Fat Loss which you can find on FaceBook HERE and you can find them on YouTube HERE. And now it's time for me to head to the grocery store and find something to eat. I'm starving.

5 Foods You Think Are Healthy, But Aren't

Dreams of Steel

If you've been reading this blog over the last year or so, you know I'm a huge fan of "A Song of Ice & Fire" (a.k.a. A Game of Thrones). I'm currently watching the third season and rereading the third book, "A Storm of Swords." I have also watched lots of clips on YouTube and watched some episodes on DVD. It's such a great story. However, a problem has arisen over the last few weeks. The story is starting to mess with my dreams.

Last week, I had a dream where I was literally fighting for my life. I was on the verge of being killed by two men. I was screaming for help but no one came. I was defending myself by any means which I could...which was not much. When I finally awoke in the middle of the night, I was drenched in sweat, heaving for oxygen. You can probably guess that I didn't get back to sleep, meaning I got less than four hours that night.

The following night I had another dream yet not nearly as bad, though it was not nearly as bad. In this dream, instead of fighting for my own life, I had just heard about a family members death and was deeply in mourning. I awoke in the middle of the night again, yet not with the start of the previous night. I didn't even bother trying to get back to sleep this time, so I had a rough 48 hours (at least).

I had another such dream last night, but this one escapes my memory. I do remember, however, that it was unpleasant.

I'm almost at the end of the book and there are four more episodes left this season. As good as the story is, I need a break. It's taking too much of a toll on my sleep cycle, which is negatively effecting how productive I am during the day.

Bad King

I spent virtually all of this weekend hanging out with my neighbours and their friends. Seriously, from Friday afternoon to Sunday night, except the hours I was asleep. They had a shindig at their place on Saturday night. Apparently at some point that night, my roommate’s dog (King) got loose from our place. This has happened before and usually it is not a big deal. It kinda was this time. During his wanderings around the neighbourhood that night, he found a skunk that ended up spraying him. I didn’t realize this until Sunday morning when I was coherent again. So now, the bottom floor of my place smells bad, although not as bad as you might think. The smell has faded quite a bit, but it’s still quite unpleasant. It’s supposed to warm up a bit later this week so week should be able to open up some windows and get some air flowing. At some point the dog’s owner tried Febreezing King. He didn’t like that.

I wish I could say King probably learned his lesson, but apparently he has gotten skunked on multiple previous occasions. He’s actually a pretty smart dog. Unfortunately, he isn’t smart enough to learn to leave skunks alone.

MyTunes Monday: The Dead Sea

Who Watched Porn?

MyTunes Monday: Of Sailors & Whales

It's amazing how much of the music I played in high school I still have flowing through my brain. I might actually still have the sheet music for this piece.

The Walls Have Ears

A few nights ago I was hanging out with some people at my neighbours' place. I had gone back to my place to get something and while I was standing near the door with my roommate's dog (yeah, I kinda have a dog now), I heard some people through the door. And guess what they were talking about...they were talking about whether or not I was gay. I was sort of in shock and just stood there listening through the door. It was a girl (who knew I was gay) and her boyfriend (who was questioning her). I was a bit surprised because pretty much everyone in this group I had hung out with on multiple occasions including this guy. I was a bit amused being the topic of discussion. For the record,he wasn't being homophobic in any way and I wasn't really offended or mad or anything like that. I think I'm just at the point where even when it doesn't come up directly, I just assume people know about me, usually because I make a lot of offhand comments mindlessly that could be construed as me "coming out" without me actually coming out. If you've met me at least three times, I subconsciously assume you know I'm gay. This was just an interesting situation.

As I was leaving for the night sometime later, a kind of whispered in his ear "If you have a question, just ask."

Weekend Excursion

I was in Richmond, Virginia this past weekend. This was the first time I had been in the city since grade twelve which was…a long time ago. Despite the previous trips, this was the first time I got a good look at much of the city. I hate say it, but I was pretty disappointed. I knew beforehand that like virtually any major city, it has its good parts and its bad parts. It really seemed like much of the city had fallen into ruin. Being the geek that I am, it reminded me of the story of Oscillate (yes people, I am taking you into Middle Earth yet again). It was a grand city in its day but over the years, it was abandoned and eventually became a crumbling ruin. Richmond is not that bad, nor is it anything like Osgiliath in the films, but the city needs help.

Having given the uninitiated a very grim visual image of the city, let me say that it was not all bad. I had a

couple of hours to kill before getting ready for the event that brought me to Richmond so a friend I was with took me to one of the gems of the city, the Jefferson Hotel. This place was immaculate and I felt very under dressed while I was there. They also had a killer Whiskey Sour. It was the fanciest building I had visited in quite some time. On our way to the Jefferson Hotel, we passed by a courthouse which had that classic Greco-Roman architecture with columns that reached into the sky. I love that sort of thing.

Despite being somewhat disappointed with the city itself, it was a very fun weekend. I was there for an event with Equality Virginia, the largest LGBT civil rights organization in the commonwealth. I got to meet some people who are currently running for statewide office like Aneesh Chopra and Terry MacAuliffe, I got to meet Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) who as an awesome guy, Cory Booker (the mayor of Newark, New Jersey). It was a three-hour drive there fairly early on Saturday morning but it was a very fun car ride. The four of us who were in the car talked pretty much the entire time, which surprised me because I had gotten up at 6 am and was not running on much sleep.

I had not been a road trip in a long time and I forgot how fun they can be.

Closing Time!

I am officially sans occupation. Truth time.

Right now, I have no idea what I'm going to be doing in the near future. As such, I'm a little scared. Luckily I have some money saved up. However, there is the strange feeling of excitement that I have. The last few weeks of work have felt nonstop. Even before that, over the last few months, work felt like more of a chore and every time I had to go in was met with a feeling of dread. I'm happy I had a job especially in the current economic climate, but I felt very weighed down. The somewhat popular sentiment at work was that very strange feeling of excitement that I mentioned.

Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll find something else and hopefully it's more career oriented instead of just being a bill-paying job to occupy time. Fingers crossed and I'm hoping for the best.

Man Born Without a Penis

Steak & BJ Day

Halfway Through

We're about halfway through Lent and...I'm starting to lose it. Every time I think of something I want to eat, I remember that I can't because I gave it up for Lent. There are still 18 days left until Lent is over and I might have to cut a bitch. I especially miss cheese which is one of my favourite foods. I miss chocolate. I miss so many things. 

*sad-face*

First World Problems

MyTunes Monday: Bones

The End Has Come

Today I got an official date: April 6. That is the last day that the place where I work will be open. Ironically, I'll be on the other side of the state that day. The search for a new job has already begun, mainly a bill-paying job. I'm also in the process of putting together a writing portfolio, editing some pieces, submitting to various publications (newspapers, magazines and such) to maybe get some exposure of some sort. As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to Richmond in early April for an LGBT conference being held by Equality Virginia. Hopefully I can do some networking (which, knowing me, will take some liquid courage - I'm pretty shy).

It seems serendipitous that all of this change is happening on the eve of me turning 30. I feel a strange mix of hopefulness, excitement, and fear. Times like this can be seen as upheavals or opportunities, and I'm trying to focus on the latter. We'll see how it goes.

MyTunes Monday: Goodnight & Go

Mid-Week Spins & Occupational Hazards

Ewwwww...

So in the middle of this week, my body decided to turn itself into a mucous factory. Luckily whatever I had didn't last long but it decided to be at its worst on Wednesday, which was also my longest work day this week. That morning was spent with the occasional dizzy spell, headache, that sort of thing. That was fun. I spent the whole day just wanting to crawl back into bed and sleep. Whatever I had, it's pretty much gone now. It wasn't too bad.

There was also this weird thing where whenever I inhaled, something way up in my left nostril or sinus had a really hot sensation for which I have zero explanation.

Having mentioned work, dark times may be ahead. The place where I work is apparently going out of business in the next month or two. I'm not feeling too stressed at this very moment, but I know I'll start feeling the real heat fairly soon. It's high time I got a big boy job though. So to that end, I've spent the last few days sorting through my blog posts (over 1,600) looking for some of my best writing. Hopefully I can get some of it published in a newspaper or magazine, or wherever. I'm also going to hopefully get some of it printed out for a portfolio. I'm going to Richmond in a few weeks to an annual LGBT event where hopefully I can meet some people, make some connections, get some writing noticed, and see where I can go from there. I REALLY hope this event works out because 1) I'll be spending a lot of money to go (the event itself cost $100) and 2) this is the event for which I'm missing Carbon Leaf, and I love carbon Leaf.

Here's to hoping. Fingers crossed...

MyTunes Monday: The Reeling

A Change of Plans...

I mentioned some time ago that is was going to be at a concert in early April featuring one of my favourite bands, Carbon Leaf (among other acts there). That was the plan...at the time. Something came up. On the very day that this concert is happening, there is something going on elsewhere which will be a huge opportunity for me in terms of networking and such. At first, I thought that I would miss this other event in order to go to the concert. Then I realized that, due to other circumstances, it was far more important for me in the long run to go to this other event. I have some occupational issues that will be arising in the very near future so priorities need to be shifted, big time. Some times, being an adult sucks a lot.

So instead of going to the concert, I will be attending an event held by Equality Virginia, which is an organization fighting for LGBT equality here in the Commonwealth. The very charismatic Cory Booker (mayor of Newark, New Jersey and candidate for Senate in 2014, pictured) will be the keynote speaker. He gave a stellar speech at the Democratic National Convention last year (which you can see below). I went from being pretty mad at having to miss the concert to actually being pretty excited about this event. There are some ducks that I want to get in a row before the event. Hopefully I can get together some sort of writing portfolio beforehand (some stuff I have already written needs to be edited, some stuff that I have started writing needs to be completed). I may try to have something published in The Advocate, but we'll see how this goes.

I love Carbon Leaf, but I need to move forward with my life professionally. Into the future...

No More Sausage...This Week

That's right. I'm going a week without meat. Wait, what did you think I meant?

Pervs...

No One's Gonna Love You More Than I Do

You Don't Need a Man (or Woman) To Complete You

I do need a man for...other things.

Hipsters On Valentine's Day

MyTunes Monday: Love Is Hard

2 Years Ago Today...

That was a VERY good day.

One Week Left...

It's one week before Mardi Gras, which means that it's almost time to start giving stuff up. Usually I give up certain foods to which I'm particular susceptible, which I'll be doing again this year. Here's the rub. Lent starts February 13th this year, i.e. the day before Valentines. I also have a tradition of eating ice cream on Valentines if I'm single...which I am, but ice cream (read: sweets) are also going on the chopping block for 40 days and 40 nights. DILEMMA!!! First world problems...

So here is what will happen. I'll probably suspend my Lent rules for this one particular instance. I know, technically it's cheating, but I'll find some way to assuage my conscience (i.e. with said ice cream).

Besides which, I have some lbs to lose. I'm going to a concert in two months and I'll be seeing a bunch of people I haven't seen in a while. Gotta look good for that. And with the big three Zero bearing down on me, I'm bound and determined to have an actual 6-pack before the end of May. This should all be sufficient motivation to eat right. Now if the damned weather would cooperate so I could run outside without freezing my kiester off...

P.S. Am I the only one who took forever to realize that fat Tuesday is the literal translation of Mardi Gras? Oh well, I don't speak French, so there's that.

MyTunes Monday: Constant Conversations

Super Bowl Sunday

The good news: I have to be at work early which means I'll get out early in plenty of time to make some arrangements to see the game. The bad news: it snowed today which will make getting to work...interesting. Can't win them all I suppose...

After the AFC/NFC championships, I was torn about which team to cheer for since I have no particular love or hatred towards either team (the Ravens and the 49ers). I needed a tie-breaker, which ended up being Brendon Ayanbadejo (HERE is the why). So I decided to be a temporary Ravens fan. I still had no particular animus towards the 49ers though...until all of that Chris Culliver stuff went down this past week (he said some homophobic things, issued a half-assed "apology" which I didn't buy, and then went on camera for a more formal "apology"). The final nail in the proverbial coffin was when two players from the 49ers didn't recall being in an "It Gets Better" video. I won't rehash that whole thing, you can read about it HERE. Needless to say I went from wanting a simple win to wanting an annihilation of the 49ers.

Did I mention that the 49ers booted the Packers from the playoffs? Yeah, there's that too.

On another note, I have to say that over the past few years, I have had little to no anticipation for the Super Bowl commercials. call me crazy, but I tune in for the actual game and not the ads or the halftime show. Maybe I was a bad gay for not giving two shits for Madonna's performance during the last Super Bowl halftime, but it did nothing for me. With all of this additional crap, a Sunday night game that starts 2 hours earlier (6:30) than a normal Sunday night game will probably still end after 11.

Anyway, I have beer and I'll be having some very unhealthy food. Let's get this started.

LET'S GO RAVENS!!!

OMG, I Can't Even... (VERY NSFW)

I can't even handle this. I've already seen this MANY times. It's getting funnier with each viewing.

MyTunes Monday: Half Moon

MyTunes Monday: Cry Me A River

This song has held up rather well.

Photologue: Winter 2012-2013, Round 1