All About Trey

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Well, since all of the cool kids were doing it . . .

For a blog that's supposed to be all about me, I really don't talk a lot about me. I wonder why?

Labels: me, metadata

posted by Trey @ 8:48 PM 0 comments

HomoQuotable

First of all a quick hat tip to Joe.My.God who's line/idea I'm stealing.

And now, via Americablog:

"It seems to me Republicans spend more time thinking about gay sex than any other group of people in the world even more so that gay people trying to find other gay people with whom to have sex."

- Jeff Stevens in the Alamogardo Daily News.

posted by Trey @ 4:49 PM 0 comments

GOTV and Taxes

So I trekked down to SuperLawyer's domain and helped out with the Get Out The Vote process. Due to my military background, I'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to the actual nuts and bolts of campaigning. And while it looked like fun on the West Wing, the real work at the local level is well . . . . real work. The campaign manager had broken up the district into little blocks or sections of neighborhoods. Our job was to go to the homes of the registered democrats, or indepents and republicans who said they would vote for SL, and remind them of the special election on Tuesday. Thankfully the weather was pretty decent and I quickly shucked my coat and just walked around in my sweater. Now, walk isn't exactly the right word. This is classic suburbia land. Beautiful homes, cute little cul-de-sacs, kids playing hoops in the street. But no sidewalks! And since I wasn't hitting every home, I would end up driving a bit, walking a bit, driving a bit, walking a bit, driving a bit. Anyways, it was fun-ish. I helped out SL, and I got to experience what campaigning is like at the local level. So that's good.

My only bad experience was when I knocked on a door of a presumed supporter who quickly sized me up, saw my sticker for SL, and said, "I don't vote Democrat. I don't vote for people who raise my taxes or take my guns." I said thanks anyways, and walked away. No use trying to have a political discussion with this man. But it got me thinking . . . . .

How stupid is it to completely rule out raising taxes? Now, give me a second. I don't like taxes. And I pay a pretty penny in taxes, so I'm definitely not looking to give up more of my money. But I think ruling out raising taxes is just wrong. Let's say I make a certain amount of money every year, but I decide I want a new car. I can't afford the car with my current budget. So I've got two options. I can stop paying for something I'm doing now. Maybe I'll stop eating lunch out and bring my lunch to work. Or maybe I'll stop going to the movies. Basically the first option is to cut my expenditures. The second option is to make more money. Maybe that means asking for a raise, or getting a second job. If I really want to buy that new car, I need to decide. Cut expenditures, or increase my revenue. It's really simple economics. But the republicans can't seem to grasp that logic. It's all cuting taxes (decreasing revenue) and pork barrell projects (increasing expenditures). Which is great at a national level where China is more than willing to finance our debt, but that doesn't work at the local level. It's not like Reston is going to finance Herndon's debt.

Just like the Great Decider says that he won't take any options off the table, why have we allowed the Republicans to take raising taxes off the table? How have we allowed them to create some parallel universe where the law of economics doesn't apply and any tax is some sort of direct assualt on the American way of life?

Labels: politics, Taxes

posted by Trey @ 9:56 PM 2 comments

All Politics Are Local . . . . .

and also ugly apparently.

SuperLawyer is running for a position down in his neck of the woods and the wingnuts are just rabid. To the point that they did research to find out how much his house cost, the square footage, number of bathrooms and bedrooms. And to compare it to his ex-wife's house and try to make some sort of analogy that SuperLawyer either doesn't care for his children, or isn't a good enough parent, or some such crap. And some of the stuff is just blatant lies. SuperLawyer is ignoring it, that's what he's got a campaign manager for, to deal with that stuff. But it really is insane.

I mean I expect that sort of thing at a national level? But at a local level? The trashing, or attempted trashing, of a neighbor! Someone you see run into at the super market, at your kid's little league practice, even in church! I kid you not. One of the bloggers making the most slanderous comments about SuperLawyer made some sort of comment like, "Well I can only tell you what I've seen of him at church since he refuses to asnwers our questions about . . . " Gee, what's that second commandment again?

SuperLawyer had his debate last night and I trekked down there to support him. His opponent was just a total Beaker. Needless to say, SuperLawyer did an OUTSTANDING job, like he always does. Instead of quoting the same three accomplishments over and over again to every question like Beaker did, SuperLawyer answered each question and showed how much he knew about the local situation. Crime statistics, housing info, amount of open spaces remaining, etc. He knew his sh!t! The funny thing is that both of them were talking about the same issues: smart growth, transportation, crime, and education. Their positions really weren't that far apart in some cases, but there were definitely some nuances. But the problem is that Beaker is your typical Republocrat. He's been involved in the local planning commision and he's approved all of this growth, re-zoning, new developments. So he says he wants smart growth, but doesn't do anything. It reminds me of the Bush's Clear Air Act, with just a little bit more Carbon Monixide allowed. Or the Clean Water Act, with just a little more mercury allowed. It's say one thing, but do another. Oh, my pet peeve for the evening? Apparently Beaker worked for the local representative and a ton of his staff were there to support thier pal. Fine. But I think it's bad form when you don't applaud for the other candidate. Even if it's just the polite clapping thing. They are both up there doing their thing and a little civility would be nice.

I'm heading south again this weekend to help out the last bit of the campaign. Sadly, on Sunday I'm going to be monitoring church parking lots to ensure no hateful homophobic flyers are put on cars while people are at their church services. Apparently that's a common practice to get out the vote of the republican base. Nice.

Labels: politics

posted by Trey @ 8:37 PM 1 comments

3 Videos For You!

Jake G. on SNL. Just a classic. And look at those arms! Can you say yummy!



Robbie Williams. The Pet Shop Boys. Talking about Madonna. This is the good stuff:



And Matt. I don't know Matt. But I wish I did. What a great idea. What amazingly beautiful places he's been too. And now my wanderlust is at me again.

Labels: Jake, pet shop boys, Robbie Williams, travel

posted by Trey @ 8:39 PM 0 comments

Anglican vs Episcopalian

There was an article in the Washington Post on Thursday talking about the impact of the split between the Episcopalians and these "Nigerian-American Anglicans" (or NAAs for short) in a small town in Viriginia. It was a heart breaking story. And it put a very human face on the impact of the schism.

As I mentioned before, it think it's sad that when the NAAs voted to leave the Episcopal Church, they forced the remaining members of the church to find someplace else to worship. Interestingly enough, an old family friend is quoted as saying: "It cannot be shared when things are in limbo, and that's the position we're in," said Ward LeHardy, a congregant serving as spokesman for the majority group. Such an arrangement "would complicate legal and spiritual aspects."

Well, that's partly true. But not the part that is most important. I don't see how sharing the church would complicate things spiritually at all. The Episcopalians could worship at a 9AM service, and the NAAs could worship at an 11AM service. Both groups, who have nutured their church for many years, would be able to worship within the church. Isn't that what brothers and sisters in Christ should do?

No, the reason why they can't share is more legal in nature. The lawsuits are coming and it's not going to be pretty. But it is going to be petty.

Oddly enough, in church today we heard about Paul's letters to the Corinthians in which he talked about the very fractured church of his time. And he said:

"That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."

I wonder if the Nigerian American Anglicans had the same readings we did today, and whether they really heard them or not?


(I promise non-religous or political blog entry soon!)

Labels: Anglican, Episcopal Church

posted by Trey @ 5:48 PM 1 comments

RIP Habeas Corpus

Sometimes I don't think it's the terrorists that are the biggest threat to our nation and our way of life, it's the Bush administration's lawyers. And sadly enough, the Attorney General (via Andrew):

Specter: Now wait a minute, wait a minute. The Constitution says you can't take [habeas corpus] away except in the case of invasion or rebellion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus?

Gonzales: I meant by that comment that the Constitution doesn't say that every individual in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.

Let's see, it used to be that everyone had the right of habeas corpus here in the United States. It was kind of like a basic human right. Then someone decided that well, Habeas Corpus doesn't really apply to immigrants, or foreigners, and definitely not enemy combatants or detainees. Well, now it appears that even citizens aren't assured the right of habeas corpus.

How do these people sleep at night? How can they look themselves in the mirror?

Hello God? I'd like my country back please.

Labels: Bush, Rights

posted by Trey @ 1:00 PM 1 comments

2,628,000 Minutes

Labels: detainees, GITMO

posted by Trey @ 7:10 PM 1 comments

MAL Part 2

Due to Blow Off, I was kind of tired on Sunday AM. My plans for gym and church kind of flew out the window and I didn't really recover until early afternoon. It must be that getting old thing I hear people complaining about. Anyways, I went back over to the host hotel to just hang out a bit. Despite the smoking ban (yea!) it was still very cruisy, even in the mid afternoon. But like Ptown, you need to cruise fast and close the deal quickly. Most gay men have the attention span of a gnat and with all of the visual stimulation walking aroud, the next great thing always seems to be just around the corner. I did see some people I knew and chatted with them for a bit. Then it was home for a disco nap in preparation for the Reaction Dance.

The Reaction Dance was at the 930 Club also, but the look and feel were completely different. While the Blow Off crowd was a happy mix of all sorts of people listening to the jamming rock/dance/pop tunes of Bob and Rich, the Reaction Dance drew a more darker crowd listening to the beats of DJ Warren Gluck. He's been on a couple of Atlantis cruises and I really liked it and last night was good. The club was packed with hot, half naked, men of all shapes and diszes with tatooes, shaved heads, and lots of fur. Sometimes the half naked as a good thing, and sometimes it wasn't. Actually, it usually wasn't, but let's not judge.

In the midst of the dancing, I recognized a song:


Needless to say I was getting my groove on to the Pet Shop Boys!! I can't find the official clip on YouTube, but here's a good mix:



With the help of a little Red Bull, I made it till 3AM. And that's when I realized that I was going to be a cripple today from dancing in my combat boots. Oh well, it's the price one must pay for fun.

Labels: dance, leaher, MAL, pet shop boys

posted by Trey @ 4:05 PM 0 comments

MAL Part 1

So it's MAL this weekend. Some friends of mine called to say that they had seen some of my "peeps" walking down K St in full leather. Cute, but they really aren't my peeps. While I like the aesthetic of the leather look, some of the details about the leather lifestyle leave me a little sqeamish. But still I wandered over to the host hotel to check out the leather market and to do some people watching. In addition to leaving your coat, you also need to check your judgement at the coat rack. Being tied up in a straight jacket and being led around on a leash isn't my idea of a good time, but hey, to each their own. And I'm not sure I get the whole full body rubber suit. I just keep thinking that it's just more than a bit hot. And uncomfortable. But it was fun to hang out and do the people watching thing. Mr. No Karma and his HusNot were there so it was good to catch up with them. And I saw quite a few people from my gym. So that was funny. I did run into this couple who used to go to the same personal training outfit I belong to last year I guess. We've all quit and are actually looking better now. Kind of funny. Anyways, it was fun to just walk around and check things out. I did have a fun, but too short, conversation with a really hot cop there. I'm sure I'll never see him again, but you never know.

Then I came home for my disco nap in preparation for BlowOff. Blow Off was good and packed with men who really did look like this. Lots of men with really short haircuts, i.e. military. And obviously a lot of facial hair. It was a fun crowd and I did get my groove on for a bit. But I was tired and it got really crowded, really quick. So I ended up bailing around 1AM.

Labels: BlowOff, leather, MAL

posted by Trey @ 12:36 PM 0 comments

Comments on Love & War

Let's start with War first. So our Dear Mr. President gave his speech last night. I sat there just dumbfounded. But there are a lot of choice comments out there:

Andrew's always good: "The premise of the speech, and of the strategy, is that there is a national democratic government in Baghdad, defending itself against Jihadist attacks. The task, in the president's mind, is therefore to send more troops to defend such a government. But the reality facing us each day is a starkly different one from the scenario assumed by the president. The government of which Bush speaks, to put it bluntly, does not exist."

From John Derbyshire: "So-o-o-o:

—-We can't leave Iraq without a victory.

—-Unless Maliki & Co. get their act together, we can't achieve victory.

—-If Maliki & Co. don't get their act together, we'll leave.

It's been a while since I studied classical logic, but it seems to me that this syllogism leaks like a sieve."

Dan Froomkin from the WashPost: "Anonymous White House officials tied themselves into rhetorical pretzels yesterday insisting that the U.S. commitment in Iraq is no longer open-ended -- without giving any indication of how it might close."

Arianna is good too: "Drudge made a lot of the president's admission of mistakes in Iraq -- as if this were major news, which is, no doubt, what the White House wanted. But the president has already admitted mistakes in Iraq. His mistake now is in not changing course (except rhetorically) after the earlier admissions of mistakes. The reason why admitting mistakes is considered a good thing to do is the assumption that you'll stop making them -- or at least stop making the same ones. But Bush is even incompetent at admitting his own incompetence. It's like an alcoholic admitting he's started drinking again, then announcing he plans to get back on the wagon by drinking even more. You should not get credit for admitting mistakes unless the admission is accompanied by an effort to stop making them."

My take? Can you imagine the enormous sh!tstorm that would happen if a Democratic President had gone on national TV to say that after over 3000 soldiers dead, that he was going to send more troops to engage in what is reality "peace making" operations to give some not completely friendly government some "breathing room"? How many lives of US armed forces is that "breathing room" going to cost?

And I hate to leave you with this image, but it's a great line from Bob Cesca: "He reached across (around) the aisle to rim job his ally in the Lieberman for Connecticut Party which means absolutely nothing other than the president is now open to exclusive shout-outs to members of Congress who give it up."

Joe's question for Thursday? How's Your Love Life? And he got the best answers:

- "Good, but it could only be better if I was in a "thruple""

- "Mine hasn't arrived yet. I do have a tracking number though."

- "My husband and I will soon be celebrating our six-month anniversary. We've had some rough times, but we're very happy together and, to quote Lyle Finster from "Will & Grace", we're "shagging like two lieutenants after lights out."

- "It is to laugh."

- "It is to cry."

- "Nonexistent. But happy with that for now...or at least I've done a good job convincing myself."

- "In the early years, we oftened talked about reaching 10 years together and what that might be like. The journey brought change to everything in our lives, cities, jobs, housing, friendships, goals, wants, desires, and expectations. We have each re-invented ourselves numerous times, not only refreashing our individual souls but refreshing our relationship along the way. Well, it's like we just met yet have known each other a lifetime. Every day I learn something new about him and about me. We embrace our idiosyncrasies and accept our foibles. We share and grow. We excel at who we are as individuals while being a couple cements a stronger bond for us in love. I never thought I was worthy, but I am, and so is he."

And my favorite: "Well lets see... I met my partner while I lived at one of the gayest addresses in the one-double-oh-fuckyou zipcode. And, even though we shared some of the same friends, and belonged to some of the same social groups, and had actually been introduced one or two times over the previous decade, it was not until we exchanged vitriol and bitterness via internet ads voicing our mutual disenchantmant with internet dating that we met and fell and in love. "Oh Shit" was what my soul yelped when I first peered downstairs at him after buzzing him in. The kind of 'oh shit' that told my soul 'thats him, I'd recognize him anyware'. It wasn't just the 'Awesome! He's hot!' or pleasant surprise of a cute date. It was the stirring of the soul that screams 'Are ya really ready for what you asked for?' YIKES! In an instant it was happily ever after. Not much has changed except the mortgage payment and a couple of pounds. Each day is just as precious as the first. My Dad used to say 'There is a lid for every pot'. After years of figuring out whether I was a lid or a pot, I found my match. Bitterness and demographics are just callouses on the soul. Love can happen anywhere and usually when you least expect it. But, the best advice I ever got was from a terminally fabulous queen on Christopher Street who told me early on "The object of the game sweetie, is to become the man you always wanted to date".

My love life? Ah, that's a subject for another time!

Labels: Love, War

posted by Trey @ 7:53 PM 0 comments

Jack's & the Dating Desert

Well Le Pigalle on 17th St is gone. I was never a fan. Not that Peppers (the previous establishment) was that great, but I did love their Blackened Steak Salad (with black beans!). Le Pigalle kept the salad for a bit, and then went to their totally french cuisine. I tried it once and was not impressed. And let's be honest, I'm not a big fan of haute french cuisine. So it was dead to me. So dead that apparently despite the number of times I've walked up and down 17th St this past week, I didn't realize that Le Pigalle was dead also. Dead and gone. And in it's place? Jack's. So instead of Annie's for lunch, GreekBoy and I did Jack's. Love the inside. They've made some nice improvements to it. The calamari was good, but the portion was a bit small. I liked that it came with a little salad. The eggs benedict was good, and I got the salad since I was trying to be good. The Bloody Mary was smooth and not too spicy as I requested. I think the portions were a bit small, but that could have been because I had worked out before church and only had a yogurt, so I was starving. And really, isn't smaller portions a good thing? So I give it a thumbs up. I may try to go back sometime this week and try their regular menu.

The Dating Desert. It's not a place. It's a time. And it stretches from mid November through late February. Let's face it, if you even try to start dating during this time frame you're screwed with not only dating dilemma, but also you've got to make sure you're not some rebound from some poor fool who's been dumped. Or worse, you don't want to come off as some romantically challenged needy person who is desperate to be "in a relationship" by Valentine's Day. Nope, if you're smart, and sane, the Dating Desert is a good time to spend quality time with yourself. Go to the gym. Read some books. Throw yourself into work. There are all sorts of options. Just don't go crazy. I know it's more than 40 days, but your time in the dating desert will end at some point. And then you'll be ready for spring, when the sweet smell of romance will bloom like the flowers.

Labels: Dating, Restaurants

posted by Trey @ 5:25 PM 0 comments

Mr. 4000?

Well, apparently common sense and reality isn't enough to break through into the fantasy land that our President lives in, and so it appears he's heading toward the surge option. A depressing prediction? He'll be Mr. 4000 by the end of the year. Dear Lord, I pray that I am wrong. In the meantime, what little bit of reality that was allowed into his proximity is now being shuffled away. I love Dan Froomkin, he calls it like it is. The Purge of the Unbelievers. He's now surrounded by all the yes men he needs to make sure no one ever questions him again. I wonder if Casey and Abizaid realize that they've been played, and then kicked to the curb? Now that he's bringing in a new set of generals, he can say he's listening to the military again. He's listening to the military he's put in power and I'm sure they will tell him what he wants to hear. Again, I hope and pray that I'm wrong, but I'm not sure.

And now it's time for our first Bush Hypocrisy Watch for 2007! Does anyone else find it absolutely amazingly hypocritical that Bush when signed the Postal Reform Act he added a signing statement saying that without a warrant, the government can open your personal mail? And then we learned that the Bush Administration made a deal with the Secret Service to make the visitors logs to the White House "presidential records" and thus not subject to the rules of the Freedom of Information Act. Apparently it became these logs became a potential embarrassment when it was determine Mr. Jack Abramoff had been to the White House a lot. And by a lot, I mean a way, humungous amount more than the "oh one or two times" the administration originally said. Yep, now the government can read your personal mail now, but you can't know who goes into the White House. I really think we need to change the nickname of the White House from the "People's House" to the "Imperial Palace."

On a lighter note, I went to go see DreamGirls. LOVED IT. And Jenifer Hudson just rocked! I may have to break down and get the soundtrack.

Labels: Iraq, President

posted by Trey @ 7:31 PM 1 comments

Mr. 3000

Unfortunately while I was channel surfing this weekend, I ran across Mr. 3000. It really is an awful movie. But then we heard about the the 3000th US fatality in Iraq and I knew who the real Mr. 3000 is. It's our Dear Mr. President. 3000 men and women. That's half of the town I lived in when I was younger. HALF! Imagine living in a town and over the course of 3 years see half of your neighbors and friends just disappear. It should boggle the mind, but it doesn't. While 3000 is an awful number, it doesn't seem to register on a lot of peoples minds. It's more than the number of people who died on September 11th, but spread out over three years. They say it hurts less if you rip off the band aid, but maybe if you stretch it out over days, you learn to deal with the pain. I don't know. Tell that to the families who've lost sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. If there was pictures of our soldiers coming home in coffins at Dover AFB every day, EVERY day, then it might stir some response.

I found this on the web. It's an interesting site. It's an animation, superimposed on a map of Iraq that documents every US and allied death in Iraq. It's not quite current, but it gives you a sense of the death, and chaos, looking back over three year. Definitely a different perspective.

Andrew's back and poses some good questions as usual. He's right. It's hard to get by the lies and half truths that lead us into this war. It's hard to just ignore the criminal mismanagement of the war from the utter lack of planning to the incompetent execution. But we need to figure out a way to put that behind us. What's done is done. We can (and should) discuss that later. The question is what now. Where do we go? Do we leave, do we surge? What do we do? I don't know. I really don't. It's easy to throw out the old cliche about if you're in a hole, stop digging. But this isn't a cliche. These are people's lives that we're talking about here. We need to do the right thing, no matter how painful it is.

Whatever happens, I just hope Mr. 3000 doesn't become Mr. 4000.

Labels: Iraq, President

posted by Trey @ 7:50 PM 0 comments

Welcome 2007!

This is supposed to be my year. I'm 40 and trying to be fabulous. And 40 is the new 30! But we'll see.

2006 ended with a wimper and a cheer. When the clock struck midnight, GreekBoy and I did the "friends kiss thing" and then took another sip of our cocktails. But there was a cheer when the DJ announced that JRs was going smoke free at midnight. I'm doing my last load of laundry where I'm just trying to wash the smoke smell out of otherwise clean clothes. So that's good.

Hmm, Trey's 2006? Fun, lots of stress, vacations, lots of work, a little bit of a social life, too much time at the gym and yet not enough time at the gym, family reunions, vacations, and the pain/pleasure of turning 40.

I went back to my first blog entry for 2006 and I wanted to fit by 40. Oh well. Like Sisyphus, that's my goal again this year. And I've got good hopes for it this year. With a re-org at work, I'm no longer as stressed out as I was before. I think I'm a little bit calmer now, so hopefully that means no Coke and M&M fueled binges to work through the crisis de jour. Speaking of Coke, I'm really going to try to quit that. Everything you read about HFCS is bad. So I'm going to stock up on Fresca and Coke Zero at work and see if I can cut out full strength Coke. And I've made a promise to myself that if I lose a certain amount of weight (and maintain that for 2 months) then I'll spend an obscene amount of money on myself buying some fab new clothes. So hopefully that will help motivate me some also.

So even before I turned 40, I started thinking of where I wanted to go in my next 40 years. And I mean that in a couple of different ways. The first 40 years of my life have been very interesting, not always good, but I really shouldn't complain at all. But what about the next 40 years? I've been very blessed/lucky in the way things have turned out for me professionally. But am I just coasting at this point? Shouldn't I be pushing myself to do something? To make something (more) of my life? Part of me thinks I should go back to school and get an MBA or something. But another degree? And what will I do with it? It just sounds like a check in a box without really knowing what the overall game plan is. Anyways, this is all stuff I want to think about and explore next year.

Speaking of exploring, I want to do more travel. And I know you're just rolling your eyes and saying, "More travel?" Yes, I know I've traveled a lot in the last couple of years, but I feel like I've been stuck in a rut. When I was younger, I made a goal of going to 6 of the 7 continents by the time I was 30. And I did. But since then, I've just sort of been lazy, no goal. And so I'm going to be working on my HOE List. Heaven on Earth is a book by TimeLife that lists the 100 places you need to go before you die. Needless to say I've already been to quite a few of them. Okay, 38 to be exact. So I've got 62 left to go. Which means I really need to start planning now if I'm going to see them all by the time I'm 80!!

Labels: 40, life, vacation, work

posted by Trey @ 12:02 PM 1 comments