All About Trey

16 Candles, Bathsheba Syndrome, and the Craig's List Congressman

2011-02-17T21:29:00.005-05:00

Jake Ryan. Sigh.

Flashback to 1984. I worked at the movie theater in Colorado Springs and I must have seen 16 Candles a thousand time. Such a great move and seriously, Jake Ryan? Super hottie. Cute, good hair, and ends up ditching the vacuous prom queen for the dorky girl. A girl can dream, right?

Anyways, the movie company re-released 16 Candles last week for just two nights for Valentine's Day. Just Sunday and Monday night. We went Sunday night and just had a blast. Most of the people in the audience (which was mainly gay men and women) would just swoon when ever Jake was on the screen. And even though I haven't seen the movie since 1984 (and why isn't this on TV like every weekend?), I knew almost all of the lines. And there are some seriously goods lines in that movie! "I think my brother paid a buck to see your panties last night." "Look dear, she got her boobies, and they are so perky!" as the theme from Jaws kicks in as the grandmother begins to grope her. Such a good time.

So I've ditched work this week to go to training. I haven't done any professional development in awhile so I figured I would take a class. The Architect recommended a class at the Brookings Institute which is conveniently located 2.5 blocks from my house. So I'm there. "Ethics in Action." It was actually pretty interesting. We started with Plato & Aristotle and then looked at some eastern philosophy (Confucius) and then back to Kant and some more western thinkers. Our instructor was great and I definitely enjoyed it.

I especially like the information on the Bathsheba Syndrome. Or as I call it, "When Good Leaders Do Really Monumentally Stupid Things" (think Bill Clinton, Mark Sanford, etc). So this is all from the Bible. David (of David and Goliath fame) was a great king. Lots of stories about him in the bible. But he leaves the war (mistake #1), to come back to his palace where he sees Bathsheba, seduces her, and gets her pregnant (mistakes #2, 3, and 4). Then he tries to cover up the pregnancy (mistake #5) and then when that doesn't work, he has Bathsheba's husband killed (mistake #6). See, even back then it wasn't the crime, but the coverup that get you in trouble. Anyways, if David was such a good person, a good king, etc., then why did he do this? Even today we have lots of experience with leaders who did great things in the past and then they got put into a position of leadership and they succumb to the Bathsheba Syndrome. They lose their focus, they've been so successful in the past that they think they will always be successful, they think that they can control every outcome. And they end up losing their moral/ethical compass and do something absurdly idiotic.

This past week we had the perfect example: now former Congressman Chris Lee. What were you thinking? Love the ubiquitous shirtless photo in the bathroom. If you had a good gay in your life, he could have told you that those are totally 2010 and now are kind of creepy. In addition, a good gay would NEVER have allowed you to use your real name. Or your real email address. As a congressman you must know that the NSA/CIA/FBI are always spying on us, you don't have to make it too easy for them.

MOPT Update

2011-02-05T20:17:00.002-05:00

So "My Own Personal Thintervention" (MOPT) is not going well.

Oh it started well. I was eating 5 times a day. I was doing my Jackie Warner shake, plus her insane power circuit workouts, plus vitamens and I did manage to lose like 8 pounds.

And then life happened. Which is so annoying.

First I was heading to San Diego for a conference. Which I knew was going to be hard on the program, but I figured that if worked out obsessively that it would help mitigate the business dinners, conference lunches, etc. And I packed my workout clothes and it was all good. Until the plane landed in San Diego, I'm walking off the plane onto the jetbridge and I hit some uneven something that rolled my ankle. Hard. Needless to say it took all of my self control not to scream "F&%K!" But that pretty much sabotaged my work out plans.

My ankle is pretty much healed at this point and I need to get back on the program. I've invested in some whey protein powder, more vitamins, etc and I'm ready to start again. I've got no travel planned until the first weekend in March, so I've got a solid month to work the program. And I'd really like to drop 10-12 pounds before I go home in early March.

So that's the plan. Now I just need to make it happen.

Call Your Girlfriend

2011-02-04T17:47:00.003-05:00

Call your girlfriend

It's time you had the talk

Give your reasons

Say it's not her fault

I totally love that Robyn song.

First I loved "Dancing on my Own." Then I loved "Hang With Me." And then I broke down and bought her album. And then I was hooked on Fembot. Call Your Girlfriend. And Indestructible. Totally an amazing album.

LawyerX and I saw her in concert last summer with Kelis. Kelis was okay, but Robyn rocked the house. A short little swedish pixie she was going a 100 miles per hour and just bouncing around that stage like you just can't believe. Such a good time.

Well as I was checking out Jimbo's blog, I saw he was going to see Robyn in Bmore. Really? So I quickly checked and there were tickets still available. Score!!

So there I was. On a Tuesday night. Heading to a concert. On a school night! What a rebel! But it was so much fun. I convinced a good friend of mine from work to go with my since LawyerX had to work. We got up there in time to see the opening act: Diamond Rings? OMG. Just say no. Here's this power twink in gold lame tights prancing around the stage and doing these weird "fight the power" fist pumps. Again. No. Please. No.

But Robyn was amazing. I think it was the exact same show as last summer, but now I knew more of the songs and I think my friend was more than a little bit amused by my singing/dancing to the music. But it was such a great night. We bailed right at the end of the last song and made it back to DC just after 1230. Needless to say I was tired the next day, but so much fun.

And Robyn is opening for Katy Perry this summer and LawyerX has already gotten us tickets. So I'll get to see Robyn again then. In the meantime, I'm totally jones-ing for a "Call Your Girlfriend" remix.

Local Color

2011-01-21T21:39:00.001-05:00

That's the phrase that LawyerX and I use when we run into the occasional crazy person here in DC.

Yes, it happens enough that we have a phrase for it.

In addition to the phrase, there are rules: Do not look at them. Do not engage them. Do not let them suck you into their crazy.

And of course, there are times when you forget. Like I did yesterday.

A long day at work. I head home. Once I get into DC, the traffic gets worse. I'm heading north on 18th St getting ready to turn right onto H St. The guy in front of me does a right turn on red and I move up to take his spot and see if I can turn right also. As I do, a guy is walking into the cross walk and he puts his hands up to motion me to stop. So I stop. Well clear of him. And then I look left to see if there is any traffic or if I will need to wait for the green light before turning.

And I hear something. Some voice over the techno music I'm jamming to in my car. I look over and see the guy. And I'm not sure, but I think he's talking to me. So I look at him.

And then I hear him say clearly (which must be fairly loud since I can hear him over the radio), "That's right I'm talking to you!"

But I'm confused. I didn't hit him. I stopped. Well clear of him. So I look at him.

And apparently my looking at him is some how construed as challenging him.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be."

And I'm in my car going, dude, I just want to get home.

And the light changes, and I hear him again.

"I'll show you."

Well I start to turn left and as I turn I take one last look.

And he's in the process of pulling his pants down so he can moon me. I know. Nice.

But he hasn't figure out that I've turned, so he's aiming in the wrong direction.

And by the way, the weather here? Kind of cold.

You know what we say?

Local Color

All Hail Aphrodite!!!!

2011-01-15T10:01:00.003-05:00

Bow down before the Goddess!!

So I got up at 0355 AM on Friday AM so I could be online for the pre-sale for Kylie's North American tour. No road trip necessary this year, she's coming to DC. Or rather, Fairfax. The pre-sale was only via her site and started at 0900 GMT. And I was hoping all of the other gays wouldn't know what GMT meant so I could get online and get tickets while they were all sleeping. But even working three windows on the Mac, my iPad, and two windows on my work laptop, it still took me almost thirty minutes to get through the web site and grab some tickets. I originally wanted seats in the middle area, but my request wouldn't go through. So I tried the side seating area and scored. And I think I scored big time. I think we have front row seats for that section.

I'm so totally excited. I can't wait. April 30th. And Lawyer X finishes all of his trial crap so this will be the perfect way to celebrate that!

All Hail Aphrodite!!

MOPT Update

2011-01-13T20:04:00.003-05:00

So I got on the scale this AM and I had lost 2 pounds. Yea. I guess.

I was sort of hoping for more. And then I started thinking . . . . about the chips, salsa, and fajitas I had for lunch on Saturday; . . . . . . about the fish tacos I had for dinner Friday night; . . . . . . about the dim sum dinner and oh so tasty white wine/St Germain sangria that we had. Yeah. I really wasn't that good this week from a dieting perspective, so 2 pounds is not bad at all.

I'm going to try to do better this week, but LawyerX has friends coming into town this weekend, so I know there will be eating and drinking. Smart choices. I just need to remember to make smart choices.

I did make it to the gym this AM, and this PM, but the weather is just killing me. I can't take the bitter, bitter, wind. Baby it's cold out there!

Can't wait for Glee to come back!

Robyn and Diex Du Stade

2011-01-09T21:31:00.006-05:00

So if you haven't bought Robyn's last album, you are missing out on some of the best music around. It's like candy for the ears, with kickin beats and some really catchy lyrics. I'm particularly in love with "Call Your Girlfriend". But it's all good. And I've got a great "Dancing On My Own" & Glee "Teenage Dream" mash up video on heavy rotation for my gym workouts. Such good music. I'm thinking of adding this one to my iPad, but I'm not sure if it's really appropriate for my SECG.

Speaking of not appropriate, I've been adding new work out routines to my fitness app on my iPad based on the workout in Jackie Warner's book. It's cool that you can add exercises to the app, but you have to put a photo in as well that demonstrates how the exercise is supposed to be performed. But I don't have that. So I've been putting in some aspirational photos that have nothing to do with the workout, but definitely are motivating me. Like this:

Hello gorgeous! He's in this year's Dieux Du Stade calendar. "Dieux Du Stade" is French for: hot, mostly naked, rugby players. Or something like that.

Thintervention

2011-01-06T22:09:00.003-05:00

So I was obsessed with the Bravo show "Working Out" when it was on a couple of years ago. And this fall, they did a short series called "Thintervention" where Jackie Warner (seriously fit uber lesbian) works with a bunch of overweight people to help them lose weight. One of the people is a gay guy who is looking to lose 60 pounds. Now while I don't need to lose that much, I totally identified with him. And it was pretty impressive to see him work out every week on the show and really start to see him change his life. At the end of the series (which I think in real life was 14 weeks), he had lost 66 pounds. In 14 weeks. How impressive is that?

So I bought Jackie Warner's book: "This Is Why You Are Fat (And How To Get Thin Forever)". Nice subtle title, right? So I read it, and studied it, and I figured it was time for My Own Personal Thintervention (MOPT).

So I sort of started before New Years, I figured once I got home from the holidays, I might as well start. So I started taking vitamins, working out, trying to eat 5 meals a day. And despite the pizzafest on New Years Eve, and the fabulous and very alcohol heavy brunch New Years Day, and the nice dinner at the Kennedy Center, I still managed to lose 4 pounds my first week.

So I'm totally pysched. I'm really looking forward to the next week on the program. I do plan to cheat on Saturday (we're allowed 2 cheat meals), but if I follow the program properly, I should lose atleast another 4 pounds. Or atleast that's my goal.

My long team goal? I want to lose 30 pounds by the summer. And in addition to the losing the weight, I want to build some muscle back up. Lawyer X and I are going on another cruise with teh gays, and I want to be in the best shape possible.

Hate at Bali Hai

2011-01-05T21:33:00.006-05:00

The Kennedy Center is doing some great shows this season (Hair, Follies, Wicked) and last night Lawyer X and I went to see South Pacific. It was great of course. And our box seat rocked. But here's the thing, when I think of South Pacific I think of swaying palm trees, great songs, and dancing sailors (and no that's not gay at all). For some reason I sort of skip over the big racial plots or the fact that the polynesian woman is basically pimping out her young (very young) daughter to the LT. I was sort of stunned when the female lead can't get over that the French man has children who are "colored" or when the LT realizes that he'll never be able to take the polynesian girl back to Philadelphia. He's a Princeton man after all.

After the show, I made a comment about this to Lawyer X and he said South Pacific had caused quite a stir when it came out in the 1950s. I guess so.

Now the music is awesome: There's Nothing Like A Dame, Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair, Some Enchanted Evening. But it's the song the LT sings when he realizes that he can't take the girl home that really just made the back of my neck tingle:

You've got to be taught to hate and fear,

You've got to be taught from year to year,

It's got to be drummed into your dear little ear,

You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid

Of people whose eyes are oddly made

and people whose skin is a different shade,

you've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,

Before you are six or seven or eight

To hate all of the people your relatives hate,

You've got to be carefully taught.

Wow. Not exactly a warm fuzzy song. But oh so true. True in 1950s. And just as true now.

In the cold of winter, it's hard to remember that last March we were in Kaui where they filmed the movie version of South Pacific. You could actually see the mountains that inspired Bali Hai from our resort. Ah, doesn't it just look like paradise. I wish we were there now.

But It's on Sale

2011-01-01T22:33:00.002-05:00

Date: 26 December 2010

Location: Nieman Marcus, Cherry Creek Mall, Denver, CO

After some power shopping at Nordstroms, we decided to check out the rest of the mall and made the mistake of going into Nieman Marcus. Who shops there?

I find a nice red T-shirt. It's soft. A good T-shirt. It had a word written on it. Gucci. In black letter, in cursive.

Original price: $225.00

Marked down to $196.99.

But it was on sale for $154.99

YHGTBFKM!!

If Today Is Your Birthday

2010-12-12T16:40:00.001-05:00

You have a distinctly dual nature that, at your best, makes you versatile, and at your worst, downright confused (and confusing!). While a great lover of peace and harmony, you are also determined and fiery. While idealistic, you mostly have your feet on the ground. In relationships, the need for partnering and cooperating is strong, but freedom also matters to you. You are a natural counsellor, offering excellent advice. There is usually quite a bit of drama and colorful emotion in your relationships, whether it's because you bring this to the table or attract these kinds of people. Famous people born today: Frank Sinatra, Edward Koch, Connie Francis, Jennifer Connelly, Bridget Hall, Bob Barker, Dionne Warwick.

Your Birthday Year Forecast:

The opportunity to grow through your love and social connections this year is especially strong. You are seeking intensity in love, and are especially aware of the importance of healthy relating and intimacy. You could renew and deepen love commitments or social connections. Strong and stimulating--even motivating--attractions to others are likely. Secret loves or attractions may develop and existing relationships tend to rise to a higher level of insight and understanding. Romantic relationships and attractions have a fated quality to them this year. This could be a year when you fall in love, and this could be with a person, an activity, or a cause! Meeting someone who transforms your life, and more specifically your values and attitude towards love, is possible. Strong existing relationships are likely to grow and transform in rewarding ways, as you are more open than usual to intensity and passion. Your finances could also improve dramatically this year, generally due to your increased ability to strategize and cut out frivolous expenses.

An instinctive need for change is with you, and you could find that you're eliminating a lot of waste, both literally and figuratively speaking. Your intellectual curiosity knows few bounds and it tends to lead you in the right direction. Learning and communications can take you into new territory and afford you the opportunity to make the right connections. This is a year of renovations, eliminating bad habits, and ridding yourself of outworn attitudes that have previously held you back from moving forward. Your attitude now is one that more readily embraces changes.

There may be a project, idea, or person that demands much of your attention or occupies many of your thoughts. It's a strong year for any project or studies that require concentrated effort. You are especially resourceful.

It's possible that you may be argumentative and particularly impatient with vagueness. You are quick to take the initiative and to put your thoughts into action. Adventuresome travel may be part of the picture. You may be more actively involved with young people.

Your ambition is strongly stimulated--you are determined to meet or exceed your goals. You can bring great discipline and meaning to your life this year. You won't take "no" for an answer this year. You might totally revise an important project or area of your life, or you could be bent on getting rid of something in your life in order to move forward. The tendency to be too forceful or wilful this year should probably be avoided. You should also watch for overdoing to the point of exhaustion, or trying too hard to win others over to your point of view. This can be a compulsive time when power struggles are more likely. On the other hand, it can be a time when you enjoy a strong sense of purposefulness, focus, and determination.

This is a strong period for eliminating bad habits and for adopting a "new and improved" attitude towards life. You are very sharp and easily motivated this year, but you need to avoid a tendency towards obsessive or compulsive behavior. Love relationships are stimulating and growth-oriented.

2010 is a Number Nine year for you. Ruled by Mars. This is a year of completion and transition. It is a time when we need to let go of things that no longer serve their purpose, and hold on to things that have a future. It is a time of cleaning out dead wood, not necessarily for new beginnings. It can be a time when a burden has been taken off your shoulders, and it can be a year of giving of yourself. Advice - let go of things that are holding you back, give of yourself and express your sympathetic, compassionate side.

2011 will be a Number One year for you. Ruled by the Sun. This is a year of action. The seeds you plant now, you will reap later. Others might find you less sociable, as you are busier than ever and you focus on your activities and your needs. Still, you are outgoing and your initiative is stronger than ever. Advice - Stand alone, take action, start fresh, express independence.

Location: Denial, Nice

2010-07-24T11:39:00.003-04:00

So I’ve finally broken the code. The way to travel in Europe, especially France, is to be basically be in denial the whole time. Just think of everything in dollars and just forget about the exchange rate. So a Coke is 4 euro. A coke at a bar in DC is going to be 4 dollars. So it’s the same. Remember, denial, denial, denial.

Which doesn’t completely work in Nice. My last full day in Nice I decided to hit the plage (the beach). The beach runs down the full length of the bay in Nice. It’s not a very deep beach, maybe only 20-30 yards, but it’s all rocks. A mixture of little pebbles and decent size rocks that makes it tricky (not to mention painful) to walk on. I decided to opt for one of the private beach areas. I got a “discount” from my hotel for the Sporting Club de Plage so it was only 17 euros. Plus 5 euro for a towel. But I got a lounge chair, an umbrella, and waiter service. I got settled in, lubed up with my various SPF leveled lotions, and then proceed to just read, tan, and slowly fall asleep. I had the Out magazine with Kylie on the cover and I pretty much read every page of it. In the article about Kylie, the author says something like Kylie is like Glenda the Good Witch of the South. I love that. After an hour or so, I decided for an adult bevage. A mojito. 9 euros. Then I pulled on the little rubber beach shoes I had bought and went into the ocean. The waves weren’t bad, but there is no way to gracefully enter or exit the water while walking on all of the rocks. Just not possible. After I dried out from my swim, I had lunch at the Sporting Club restaurant. Pizza and a couple of glasses of wine. 22 euros. Then it was back to the lounge chair where I finished off the book I had brought with me. It was really good. Then it was time for another adult beverage (9 euros). More tanning, more rolling over, more sweating, more listening to my iPod. Oh, and more people watching.

We are talking about some seriously good people watching. The really pale people, the really red people, and then the really tan people. And the really tan, leathery people. I’m glad I only “lay out” 4-6 days a year. And I always use sun screen. Lots of thong bikinis and banana hammocks. Ugh. But I did see some board shorts and some hotties in square cuts. Overall I have to give the people watching a solid B. Anyways, after a good 6 plus hours on the plage, I headed back to the hotel to cool down, clean up, and then head to dinner. So how much did my day at the beach cost? 62 euro. Which is about $85. See, it’s all about denial.

The tour book recommended the La Petit Maison as a good cheap place to eat where Elton John sometimes comes to eat. So the hotel made reservations for me for 730 PM. At 730PM I’m there, and I’m like the third customer. But where do I get seated? At a table that is basically in the street. Cars would go by and the napkins would ruffle. When there was a back up, I could have passed the grey poupon to the guy in the car next to me without even having to stretch a bit. The zuchinni blossom fritters were outstanding. And the calamari was really good. Dessert was pretty awesome also. So a good meal food wise, just not experience wise. Oh well.

The next day I had a massage at the spa at the hotel. I have mentioned that it’s hot, right? Well, it’s not really a good idea to get a massage when it’s miserably hot. She did a good job, but she used a lot of oil and with it being so hot, it didn’t really seep into my skin. I had to use a towel to “dry” myself. Ugh, pretty disgusting. After that, I went up to my room, finished packing, and then hit the train station to catch my train to Toulon. It’s time to go to work!

Matisse, Chagall, and the Eagle

2010-07-19T03:59:00.003-04:00

So there is a bus stop relatively close to the hotel, so I caught the number 22 bus up to Cimiez which is where the museums are. Cimiez is the high rent district. It's up on a hill over looking Nice and the neighborhood was nice, really nice. It kind of reminded me of how the Phillips Collection is located in Dupont and that there aren't a lot of tourist trappy places nearby. And like the Phillips, the Musee Matisse was in a old home (villa) that had been modified to be a museum.

The musuem was quite good. The major exhibit was on Lydia (some weird slavic name) who was Matisse's muse. She was his assistant, executive secretary, studio manager, etc. And there were all of these paintings, drawings, and pictures of her. Now, there was a Mrs. Matisse (Amelie I believe) but no drawings of her. So I assume that Lydia was also his mistress considering how many nudes he drew. And I wonder what Mrs. Matisse thought of that? I know, I know. It's a French thing. But still. Overall the collection was good, but a lot of nude women. Not really my thing.

After an interminable wait for the bus in the blistering sun (obligatory heat reference #1), I took the bus down to the Chagall museum. It's actually the Musee National Biblique Marc Chagall. So how do you get a national museum named after yourself? You give all of your art to the state. And voila! So I got my ticket and made a beeline to the cafe to get lunch before I did the collection. This not drinking sodas is not fun. I had peach tea which I'm sure have a 1000 grams of sugar. Oh well. So did you notice the extra word in the name of the museum? Biblique? Well originally the collection was made up of biblical paintings. Which is something that I didn't realize Chagall was known for. A Russian Jew, he considered France his home country and after touring the exhibit it's amazing at the number of religious paintings or even religious symbols in his works. Unlike Matisse, Chagall's use of color is extreme, dark blues, deep reds, fiery oranges. It was really quite amazing. And in addition the religious symbols in the paintings, there were also many references or depictions of the plight of the Jews in Russia, France, and Palestine (as it was then known). The whole collection was fascinating.

After that, I headed back to the hotel to hit the roof top pool. The thermometer at the pool said it was 32 degrees. Translation: fricking hot (obligatory heat reference #2). So I just relaxed and let the sweat drip off me. Ugh.

For dinner, the concierge recommended a couple of places in the pedestrian section of downtown. The first was right on the main strip and looked very seafoody. The second was down a small alley to this charming little courtyard with flowering vines covering lattices that provided some shade with candles everywhere. Totally charming. I'm in. And what a good call. For my starter, I had the tartine of something. It was a small slice of bread with chevre cheese spread thick, really thick, on top of it. Toasted. With little slices of figs on top. On top of a bed of arrugla (my new favorite green). With prosciutto on one side, and this delicious piece of bacon on the other. I was in heaven. My main was penne pesto with a creamy parmigiano reggiano sauce with shaved smoked corfu ham. A-Maz-Ing. So, so, so good. With a couple of glasses of the local wine, I was feeling good.

So good that I decided to try to hit the Eagle. So I went back to the hotel, changed, and then took a cab to the Eagle. Where it was foam night. Yes, foam night. Hello, Miami is calling from 1998 and they want their foam night back. A foam party? Really? And how wrong to have a foam party at the Eagle. The Eagle? Needless to say I was dressed incorrectly. And that was fine with me. I had a beer. Then bought a T-shirt and was back at my hotel by midnight. So that was my adventure at the Nice Eagle. Kind of lame, but then again . . . .

I'm not complaining!

2010-07-18T05:57:00.003-04:00

I'm not.

But it's hot. Africa hot.

I'm eating dinner and the sweat is dripping down my back like it's Niagara Falls. Totally gross.

So maybe I'm complaining a little.

Yes I'm hot, but here I am eating dinner at a cute little outdoor cafe on the Promenade des Anglais on the Cote D'Azur. So I guess I really shouldn't complain.

But I'm so good at it!

The flights to Nice were fine. United upgraded me on the flight to Frankfurt, but two gentleman decided to talk the whole flight and even with ear plugs I could hear every single word. Ugh. Frankfurt Airport is a mess. I definitely prefer Munich. I landed at the Nice/Cote D'Azur airport, took the bus and then a taxi to my hotel.

The Hotel Splendid is not Splendid. It is close to the beach and it has a roof top pool. But the rooms are small and dated and the AC does not work well. Have I mentioned that it's hot? After a tortuous disco nap, I went to check out the roof top pool. It's small, but nice and I hunker down on one of the chaise to get my vitamin D and to read. Since I have my iPad, I only brought one book. Big mistake. Oh well. I laid out for a bit and then got cleaned up. The conceirge recommended a little cafe down the promenade so I walked down to check it out. Even at 730PM, the beach is still hopping and the promenade is packed. The sun is still unmercifully beating down on my so I work up a good sweat walking to the cafe.

My plans to hit the "trendy gay club where the fashion conscious under 35 crowd dance to pumping house music" kind of fell apart. I'm tired. And old. And it doesn't start until 11PM. And I set my alarm so I could get up and go, but I was just exhausted.

This AM I got up and went on a walkabout. And as typical of my walkabouts it turned into a death march. Down the promenade. Then up the hill to the park where there used to be a fort. Then back down the hills, with a couple of wrong turn down dead ends, and into the marina/harbor area. Then back around the point, down the promenade, and back to the hotel. What was supposed to be a hour or so walk turned into a three hour death march. And have I mentioned the unmerciful sun and the heat?

So I've discovered two types of Brits. The drunk and pale Brits, or the drunk and freakishly red Brits. Seriously, these people do not tan. And I guess they haven't caught on to the use of sun screen. Nor are they ever sober.

This afternoon it's museum time. Hopefully it will be cool in the museums. I'm just so tired of sweating.

More later.

Jesus said . . . .

2010-03-27T11:39:00.000-04:00

My church rocks!

Aloha

2010-02-21T15:22:00.002-05:00

More later. ;-)

Who Dat?

2010-02-07T18:23:00.003-05:00

So for the long weekend in January (MLK Day), LawyerX and I went down to New Orleans. When he lived in Nashville, he used to go down to NOLA all the time and he loves it. I had been there once for work, a real touch and go type trip, so I really didn’t get to explore the city that much. So I was game for another visit. And anything that took us out of the cold weather of DC was definitely a plus.

So we took the afternoon flight down to NOLA on Friday and after catching a cab down to the French Quarter, we settled into our hotel. LX had used some points to get us an upgrade and we had a nice little suite. After we unpacked and refreshed, we hit Bourbon Street. Now if you haven’t been to NOLO, Bourbon St is the main drag. It’s jammed back with bars, strips joints, bars, restaurants, and a few bars. And since there is an open container law in NOLA, you can buy say a hurricane in one bar, walk down the street drinking it, and then wander into another bar. It’s just a little bit crazy. We headed to Pat OBrians and had a hurricane to start our trip off right. It was sprinkling and a little bit chilly, but we were cozy at the bar and having a good time chatting. And it was early, so I suggested another drink before dinner. Which in hindsight was not a good idea and sadly a typical problem I seem to have. The first drink is so delicious! Let’s have another. And then half way through the second drink, I’m hammered. Hey, I’m a lightweight. So feeling more than a little bit buzzed we hit a restaurant and sampled some fine creole and Cajun food. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to change before we hit the gay clubs. But LX lay down on the bed, I snuggled up to him, and the next thing you know it’s midnight. And that’s all she wrote. So much for a wild Friday night in NOLA!

Who Dat?

Saturday, we got up and hit the gym and then had a fabulous brunch at Brennan’s. Brennan’s is a famous restaurant in NOLO and my parents went there when they lived in NOLA when my Dad was going to Tulane. It really was quite amazing and we spend most of the afternoon wandering the art galleries on Royal St, Jackson Square, and the old market trying to walk it off. We did stop at Café de Monde which is a requisite tourist stop for coffee (or hot chocolate) and begniets. They were good, but we had better ones later that weekend. We did wander back to Bourbon St and wandered up to where the gay bars were. The Saints were playing that day and the gay bar was packed with guys watching the game. We stopped there for a beer to two to watch the game. And the clientele. We both loved the little twink with the Saints jersey and the pink feather boa who would do a little prance when the Saints scored. It was quite amusing.

At some point we left the bar and headed back to the hotel. LX had lined up a culinary adventure for the evening and we wanted to go back to rest a bit before dinner. Needless to say, even though we were two blocks off Bourbon, I can tell you the exact time the Saints won the game. Dinner was amazing. There was a section on the menu called, “Feed Me”. You pick the number of courses (I think we did 4), the chef comes out and asks what you like or don’t like (spinach, mushrooms, anchovies), and then he goes back and whips up a little culinary feast for you. It was really, really, really good. After dinner we changed into the proper gay attire and went back to “our” end of Bourbon St. The Bourbon St Pub was packed downstairs and hopping upstairs. They even had a drag show (which was just okay). Standing on their balcony, we looked down Bourbon Street and it was just a mob scene with everyone celebrating the Saints win. After a bit, we wandered over to Oz, the dance club. And while it was packed, I was not impressed with the DJ. When you play some good dance music, you just don’t play one or two lines of the hook and then minutes of just percussion. They started to play some really good songs, but I could never get into it because they wouldn’t play the rest of the song. So bad DJ, bad!

Who Dat?

The next day, we had sort of a leisurely get up. I say sort of, because we had to change hotels (long story, but Sunday and Monday night were free), and we had a spa appointment. And I have to say that the scrub and massage I got at the Hotel Monteleone was amazing. It was just fantastic. I’ve got some freaskishly dry skin (TMI) so getting sanded down and then plied with some lemon grass oil was just fantastic! After our spa treatment, we headed to Central Market to get a muffalata sandwich. Another one of the requisite tourist things. And as we were walking, I’m like, are you sure it’s open on Sunday? I had tried to go there during my last trip to NOLA and it was closed. And sure enough, it was closed. But we ended up eating at this dive (and when I mean dive, I mean DIVE!) that was just amazing. It was some classic southern/Cajun food and it was just amazing. After lunch, we caught one of the cable cars out to the Garden District. This is where Tulane is located and the neighborhood is fascinating and very, very pretty. LX and I just wandered around the park and then just walked for a bit and talked about all sorts of things. It was really fun. After wandering for a couple of hours, we headed back to the hotel for a little disco nap and then we headed up beyond Bourbon St to a place famous for its burgers. We had to wait a bit since it was packed, but the burgers were phenomenal. And instead of fries they did baked potatoes. Just yummy. After eating we decided to see if the gay bars were hopping on a Sunday night. As we approached Oz, I heard a familiar song and I basically pulled him into the club and onto the dance floor. It must have been a new DJ because the music was FLAWLESS. David Guetta, Black Eye Peas, Madonna. There was this amazing Lady Gaga/Annie Lennox remix that rocked the house. We burned up the dance floor for a good hour before finally retreating to our hotel. It’s not that we’re old, it’s not. We just had a full day planned for Monday.

Who Dat?

So we got up, hit the gym, and then got our rental car. Our destination was Oak Alley and the plantation homes that are about 90 minutes outside of the city. It was a gloriously sunny day and a good day to head out of town. Our first stop was Oak Alley Plantation. We got there just in time for the tour from a woman in period costume, but definitely no southern accent. Kind of weird. So the viriginia oaks were planted over a hundred years ago in parallel lines creating this “oak alley” that really was quite beautiful. The house itself, and it’s history was interesting as well. I loved how the guide would talk about skilled slaves. I’m sure they were skilled. But they were still slaves. But let’s just skip over that. Apparently the wife of the owner stayed at the house during the Civil War even after it was shot at by a passing Union ship. So just kind of interesting. After a mint julep, we headed out to lunch and then another plantation house. This one was also a B&B. Kind of interesting, but there is NOTHING to do in the surrounding area, so after one night for the experience, I’m not sure why you’d want to stick around. We got back to NOLA in time to change for our last fantastic dinner, at Commander’s Palace. Commanders Palace is a tradition in NOLA and is consistently ranked as the best restaurant in the city. We had a fantastic meal taking advantage of the tasting menu with the cocktail pairing. It was just fantastic. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to pack up and crash. Our flight left at 6AM so it was definitely an early get up.

Who Dat?

So seriously, everywhere we went, people would say, “Who Dat?” “Who Dat?” “Who Dat?” And if you aren’t from NOLA, you’re saying: “I don’t know, who is it?” And can’t you people speak English. Well it’s from a famous saying “Who dat dink dey gonna beat dem Saints.” And apparently it’s just “Who Dat?” for short. Fine, I’ll play your game. “Who Dat?”

Go Saints!!

And As The Snow Ends

2010-02-06T19:29:00.007-05:00

As I was walking Shiva after the snow stopped, I noticed the sun setting. The sky was clear and the color of the sky was just amazing. It was an odd yet beautiful color of turqoise. Just really pretty.

Afterwards, I headed back to O St to try to clear some of the snow off my car. Needless to say the streets are pretty ugly.

Oh, this is my car. If you can see it under all the snow.

This is about as much as I couild clear off. It will be well into next week before I can get that car out of my parking spot.

Visions of the Snow-maggeden

2010-02-06T17:28:00.004-05:00

Got to love it!

Snow swirling around a light post late at night.

Branches covered in snow at night.

Logan Circle at night.

Another pic of Logan Circle at night.

LawyerX and Shiva in their natural habitat.

Tweet of the Day

2010-02-02T21:13:00.004-05:00

H/t to JMG:
And this is why I have a love/hate relationship with JMG:

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-will-hold-you-ten-times.html

Warning: keep a hanky near by.

My Weekend Guest

2010-01-24T19:39:00.004-05:00

So Lawyer X went out to Denver to join his sister at a hockey game. Yes, I know, but he likes it. So I ended up with dog sitting duties this weekend. Which I don't mind, don't get me wrong. I love Shiva. As long as I've moved anything that I don't want destroyed out of her reach. And so far I've been successful on that front.

How is she adjusting to living at Chez Trey's? What do you think?

Yeah, feel free to just snuggle up in my bed thank you very much.

Jumping the Broom

2010-01-14T20:14:00.003-05:00

“Jumping the Broom” is an expression that dates back to when black slaves couldn’t marry. Instead, they would have a small ceremony with family and friends and then the couple would jump over a broom to symbolize their marriage.

Now why do I know this? Because a couple of months ago we had “Bad Gay Movie” night and we watched “Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom.” Based on a TV series on Logo, the movie was about a wedding by two of the characters (it’s an all black, all gay movie). The movie was bad. On a “Bad Gay Movie” scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being semi-decent and 10 being the gay equivalent of Ishtar, I’d give it a solid 4. Anyways, the movie went back to Nextflix and I filed this piece of information in my brain under “Useless Trivia.”

Until Tuesday.

Since the Supreme Court is lame, they’ve decided that the Prop 8 trial in California can’t be televised. It’s a non-jury trial. Considering the impact this case will have on MILLIONS of Americans, I really think this case needs to be televised. Even if it’s a delayed broadcast via YouTube. But they are scared/lame/useless and don’t agree.

So I’m stuck reading the live blogging that the Courage Campaign is doing. It’s riveting even if I don’t understand it all. But I’m trying.

On Tuesday as I was reading the blog and the issue of marriage and slavery came up. Proffessor Nancy Cott, who has studied the institution of marriage, testified:

“The ability to marry, to say I do, is a civil right. It demonstrates liberty. This can be seen in American history when slaves could not legally marry. As unfreed persons, they could not consent. They lacked that very basic liberty of person to say I do which meant they were taking on the state’s obligates and vice versa. A slave could not take on that set of obligations because they were not free.

When slaves were emancipated, they flocked to get married. Marriage was not trivial to them by any means. They saw the ability to replace the informal unions with legalized vows that the state would protect. One quotation, the title of an article, “The marriage covenant is the foundation of all our rights,” said a former slave who became a northern soldier. The point here is that this slave built his life on that civil right.

Informal relationships of black slaves were totally treated with abandon by white society. They were broken up all the time. The rush to marry by so many slaves after emancipation was a common sense approach to obtaining civil rights. White employers would often demand that black families and children work in certain ways. The former slaves assumed that once married, they’d have a claim of certain basic rights.

People remain unaware that in marrying, one is exercising the right of personal freedom. They don’t tend to equate the civil rights aspects to it. It’s only those who cannot marry at all who are aware of the extent to which marriage is an expression of basic civil rights.”

Slaves had to “jump the broom” since they couldn’t get married. And then once they were freed, they rushed to get married. They welcomed marriage not only as a symbol of their love, but as a way to claim their basic civil rights.

There’s a lot riding on the Prop 8 trial. It could be a miraculous win with an impact as far reaching as potentially overturning DOMA, or it could set back gay rights for 15 years. It’s a very risky case. But if the trial were televised, if the trial were on YouTube, then people could see and hear the testimony of both sides.

People would hear the truth: Marriage is an expression of basic civil rights.

Look, I'm Not Judging . . . .

2010-01-09T18:29:00.002-05:00

I swear.

But do you really think it's a good idea to vogue to Lady Gaga on the elliptical at the gym?

First of all, I thought you were going to hit me a couple of times when you flung your arms out.

Second, I mean . . . . and again I'm not judging . . . . . . and yes it's a gay/gay friendly gym . . . . and good for you for living out loud . . . . but maybe you can figure out a better way to work your upper arms.

And I want to make clear that I love The Lady. It's all about Bad Romance. The dance remix of course!

So yes I'm back at the gym. After eating our way around the Mediterranean, then Las Vegas, then Disney, then France, and then the holidays, it was time to start to battle the bulge again. As I said to LawyerX, "Love Made Me Fat."

So it's back to the gym and back on Atkins.

LawyerX is trying to be supportive but he's not a fan of the effort. And to be honest with you, as cold as it has been in DC this winter, it's hard enough getting up and going to work, much less going to the gym.

Anyways, I've lost almost 4 pounds. I hope to lose a couple of more before we go to New Orleans for MLK weekend. Yes, there will be a diet hiatus while we are in New Orleans. Can you imagine going there and not eating or drinking? The horror!

But afterwards, it's back to the diet.

Home for the Holidays & 2010

2010-01-04T22:04:00.004-05:00

So the trip back to Colorado was actually less unpleasant that expected.

Mind you, United didn't help. Despite several attempts to try to upgrade LawyerX, I failed. So I flew in first and he flew in economy plus. I did get him that. But the guy next to him spilled coffee on him. See, I can't win. And I loved the puddle jumper flight from Denver to COS, especially when we had to make three attempts to land in blinding snow when the instrument landing system was down. So the trip started well.

Now I have to say, LawyerX's insistence that we stay at the Broadmoor was actually a good idea. While it was far away from my parents and his sister, it was just awesome! Such a wonderful resort. And it had a fabulous spa which we took advantage of as well.

The parental units and LawyerX? It went better than expected I think. Between Mom's ingrained southern hospitality and Dad's health issues (improving, we think), I just don't think they had it in them to have a fight. Quiet denial (or acceptance) was more the way it went. But I think overall it went well.

Christmas Day before we went to the Broadmoor we went to visit my Aunt & Uncle who were visiting my cousin who lives in COS. So we're sitting there chatting and we're talking about the brunch at the Bmoor and Mom goes, "Well Special K, LawyerX, and Trey went to the Penrose Room last night." Which of course lead to the question from my Aunt: "Who is Special K and LawyerX." Yep, I've just been outed by my Mom. So I say, "Oh, Special K is LawyerX's sister. And LawyerX's the guy I've been seeing for around a year." Cause I'm not going to lie. So then we had some more conversation, none of it ugly mind you. We don't do that in the south. We're raised right, we talk about people behind their backs. So I'm sure the telephone/email lines were buzzing with the news. Oh well. It was going to come out eventually, I just hadn't expected it to happen so soon, or that way. I'm not close to my cousin or Aunt, so I'm not that worried about.

Afterwards, we headed to the Broadmoor for Christmas dinner with Special K and LawyerX. It was a little later than we usally do Christmas dinner, but it was fantastic. The dessert buffet was like 18 feet long. Just insane.

The flight back? Well as my Dad says, "If you have time to spare, travel by air." Our flight from COS to denver was fine. But as soon as we landed I got an email saying that our flight to IAD was cancelled. Oh joy. So United put us up in the Marriott at the airport. And when I say "at the airport" I mean 12 miles away. It was okay. We were re-booked in first class (both of us) which was nice.

As for New Years? I'm really not a NYE fan. LawyerX says NYE is for amateur drinkers. And I agree. But it's also just a haze of crowded bar and just not fun. So I sort of opted for a quiet dinner kind of early and then we had an after dinner drink at my place while we watched the ball drop on TV. Yes, I'm old. But it was nice, relaxed, and low key.

New year's day, we had our monthly brunch at the Four Seasons in Gtown. We did it last year and it was a blast. And we had several drinks so I had a nice buzz going. After that, we went to see Avatar. Absolutely amazing.

So that's Christmas and NYE. Pretty thrilling eh?

43 (Or Officially Middle Aged)

2009-12-20T18:46:00.002-05:00

Well, in theory I was going to have a combined bday/holiday party in early December. But then I caught a cold. And I decided that I didn't want infect my guests, so I cancelled it. Instead of having a ton of people over sampling my newest alcoholic delight (Elderflower Cosmos), I was sucking down herbal echinacea throat soothing tea. Lovely.

Now, my party wasn't actually on my birthday. My company's holiday party was on my real bday, so I wanted to have a party that was fun, with my friends at it, but instead, I ended up celebrating with my "friends" at work.

And did I mention this was the first time I was bringing LawyerX to a work function. So it's like a 2fer of fun!

Now mind you, everyone loved him. Of course. And we did have a fun time. And even though we had an open bar (but no top shelf liquor), we didn't get too trashed. Which isn't to say that I didn't have an adult beverage or two before my speech.

Oh yes, my speech.

There were several people there who knew it was my birthday, so I decided to take control of the situation. After dinner, I grabbed the mike from the DJ and said: "First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming to my birthday party. It's not every day that you turn 39, well I guess technically it's the 4th time, but I still want to say thanks for coming out to help me celebrate. I especially want to thank D (my CEO) for hosting the party, the open bar. D, you didn't need to wear a tux, but it was a nice touch. And I want to say thanks also for the great gifts (the door prizes that were being raffled off). Not sure how I'll get a 52" TV in a cab back to DC, but I'll try. And while I really do appreciate the gifts, would it have killed you to get them gift wrapped? I'm actually not on vacation next week, or on travel, so I'll be in the office next week if you want to stop by and say Happy Birthday to me personally." It was really funny and everyone was laughing. I got several high fives as I walked back to the table.

Back to the liquor. Let me tell you two words you never want to hear together. Smirnoff cosmo. Ugh. It was really awful.

And I did actually win one of the door prizes. Not the 52" television of course. By the time my name was drawn, the options were a Snuggy (no, I'm not joking), a chess set, or a $50 gift certifcate to PF Changs. So I went for the PF Changs gift certificate.

After the door prizes, there was dancing and LawyerX and I had a good time. Despite the DJ's attempt to hit all of the one hit wonders of the 1960s and 1970s, we did request some songs from this century. To include Beyonce's "Single Ladies" which was an homage to the recent engagement of our HR director. But I'm not sure anyone got it.

Anyways, it wasn't a bad way to celebrate #43.

Two Very Different Flights

2009-12-04T18:05:00.003-05:00

So LawyerX and I just returned from France. He got to meet my sister and her family. And he had never been to Paris, so it was really a great trip. But before I go into details on the trip, I've got to describe the very different flights we had coming & going.

I used miles to upgrade LawyerX and myself to business class. He does seem to whinge a bit about flying overseas in economy seat, something about being 6'5". What-evs. Just to keep him quiet I figured I would do it. Plus, what a great way to start the trip.

We got onto the flight and we found our very large, comfortable seats and presto there is a flight attendant with a glass of champs. We both took one and it was a great way to start our vacation. I ended up shifting to vodka & cranberry (to help me sleep!), but Lawyer X, who can't/doesn't sleep on the plane stuck with the champs. Well the little menu that describes the dinner for the flight also mentioned that there were two different kinds of champs. So he decided that he wanted to sample the other type of champs. Well, they only had the one type, so the flight attendant actually went up to First Class to get one of their bottles so he could sample another type of champs. And that was really cool. Needless to say, he had a really good flight.

On the way back to the US, we upgraded again and got settled into business class. I was excited because there were several movies I wanted to watch. I decided to avoid any alcohol (cause it's not like we didn't have enough wine in France!) and as we watched the movie a flight attendant would come fill up our water glasses. I started to get a headache and thought I would ask for a Diet Coke. Sometimes caffeine will help stop a headache. So when the flight attendant came around, I pulled one of my headsets off and said, "Can I get a Diet Coke?" She said something to me that I didn't hear, so I took my headset completely off and said, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." And she replied, "Can I get a Diet Coke, *please*." Lawyer X, hearing this exchange looked at me incredulously. I said, "Can I get a Diet Coke, *please*." She said of course and when she brought it to me, I said thank you. Now I say thank you all the time. I really do. And I should probably say please more than I do. But I really don't think it's appropriate for me to get chastised for not saying please by a flight attendant when I'm just asking her to do her job. The whole thing was a bit surreal and just very unprofessional. It kind of ruined the rest if the flight for me and put a damper on the end of a really great trip.

Oh, and LawyerX isn't a big fan of my airline, so this didn't sit well with him at all.

It really is amazing how different our flights were based on the actions of the flight attendants.

World AIDS Day

2009-12-01T18:04:00.003-05:00

I woke up at 4AM today. Still recovering from the jet lag from the Paris trip (more on that later I promise). I got up, turned the Mac on and started to get my blog fix. My first stop was Joe.My. God and I had forgotten it was World AIDS Day. But Joe didn't forget.

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/12/membership.html

And I cried. And it would be the first of many times I choked up today as I read story after story about AIDS.

I fled the gay blogs and went to one of my favorite Episcopalian blogs who was remembering the death of Harvey Milk 31 years ago and I watched this:

And there is hope. Hope for the fight against AIDS. Hope for the fight against discrimination, intolerance, and violence. Hope for a better tomorrow.

And today there was a small sliver of that hope shining here in DC when the City Council voted to approve same sex marriage.

And there was a sliver of that hope shining in Clevelan, OH where their City Council voted to approve a transgendered rights bill.

And there was a sliver of that hope in Massachusetts where the Episcopal Bishop authorized the clergy in his diocese to solemnize marriages for same sex couples.

Know Hope!

Certifiably Insane

2009-11-19T23:42:00.001-05:00

Tuesday Night: A Street Car Named Desire at the Kennedy Center.

Wednesday: Fly to San Diego. Work all day.

Thursday: Work all day. Red Eye to DC.

Friday: Arrive DC. Unpack. Do Laundry. Pack. Go back to airport. Fly to France.

Yes, LawyerX and I are going to France for the Thanksgiving week. He's never been to Paris and he'll get to meet my sister. Plus we're going to spend a couple of days down in the Loire Valley. And we've got some fantastic dinners planned in France to include dinner in the Eiffel Tower.

I can't wait. Just dreading the insane jet lag whiplash I'm going to have.

I Hate People

2009-11-10T21:16:00.003-05:00

I do.

Seriously.

Just in general terms, I hate people.

To be more specific, I guess hate people who are useless, annoying, obstacles to progress, irrational, and ignorant (wither intentionally or not).

Today, my hate goes to Mr. No.

"Well I don't want to tell anyone how to suck eggs." My what a lovely phrase.

Let me translate that for you:

"Well, I don't want to tell you how to suck eggs." See that sounds so much better, right?

But let's try one more translation:

"Sure, I'm the technical expert on this process but I'm not really going to give you any real information that would actually be helpful because then I might actually have to do my job."

Well, that's a loose translation, but I think you can figure it out.

Do you see why I hate people?

Get Me To A Day Spa, STAT!

2009-10-25T17:51:00.003-04:00

If you aren't watching Glee, you're missing one of the best shows on TV. Just LOVE IT!

Current fav song from Glee?

And since this looks like it's going to be an all You-Tube post, I have to say that this brought me to tears.

If you know anyone in Maine, please tell them to vote No on 1!

Oh, back from France.

Work was good.

Seeing my sister and her family was good.

Don't want to get on another plane any time soon.

Growing a beard.

Mainly to hide the fact that I've gained like 15 pounds.

Must get back to the gym.

Sigh.

I Survived the Disney Death March

2009-10-12T17:45:00.004-04:00

but barely.

So Lawyer X warned me that this was going to be a death march through Disney World. And I'm like, right. How hard could it be? Hard. And unbareably hot as well. See Orlando was having just the most disgusting heatwave. Hot, humid, and oppressive. So trekking across Disney did indeed become a death march. But it’s one of the things you do for love.

Day 1: Disney's Hollywood Studios. I passed on the Tower of Terror, but I did do the Aerosmith Rockn' Rollercoaster. Am I getting old, or are roller coasters just not as fun anymore. Wait. Don't answer that. If you're familiar with Disney, then you know it's all about the FastPass. We had run to the Toy Story ride and gotten fastpasses for that. Lots of fun. Kind of a shoot em up game. LawyerX beat me, but not by much. Not bad considering I'd never done the ride before. Have I mentioned how hot it was? It was miserable. But that didn't stop us. When we started to fade, we would hop into a store for the air conditioning. And to shop of course. We stayed @ Disney's Hollywood Studios till about 3PM before we headed back to the resort of a quick disco nap. Because that afternoon (like around 5PM), we headed to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. It’s a special night at the Magic Kingdom where all of the characters dress up in Halloween costumes, there’s a special parade, and there’s trick or treating. Yep, in addition to the most delicious, but seriously not good for you food, we were trick or treating. And while we didn’t have costumes on LawyerX’s sister got us devil horns that had red lights in them. Very cool and the added bonus of helping to keep track of our party amidst the hordes of Disney. More food. More rides. More candy. Just more of everything. The fireworks and laser show at the Magic Kingdom was amazing. When we finally bailed around 1130PM I was ready to admit defeat.

Day 2: Slept in. Thank God. And then we had a lazy day planned by going to Blizzard Beach. It’s one of the water parks at Disney. And the fact that it was another hot, humid, sunny day was actually a good thing. The first thing we did was the lazy river, or whatever they call it. Just riding around the park in an inner tube. It was the perfect way to start the day! We then discovered the rafting slides at the backside of the park. In the singles slide, it’s completely enclosed, dark, and you’re slip-sliding up and down and all around. Just a ton of fun. I don’t think the doubles was meant for adult kids like LawyerX and I. Yes I’ll start my diet on Tuesday, but with our combined mass there were a couple of times I thought we were going to go over the slide. It was dangerously close. And fun. After we did that four or five time (no lines!) we headed around to the front of the mountain for some more slides. This time on rubber mats facing forward. LawyerX and I raced down, but he beat me. Oh well. After a couple of runs, we grabbed a bite to eat and then it was back to the lazy river to relax. The only way it could have been more perfect was if we could float around the park enjoying an adult beverage of our choice. But not so much. No food or beverages allowed at all. Bummer. After a loop or two, we took the chair lift up to the summit to do the Summit Plummet. It’s a 12 story water slide drop. The line was kind of a haze, but great views from the top of the summit. And you know it wasn’t until we got to the top that I started to get scared. Oh well, too late to back down. It was over before you had a chance to freak out too much. I did have to extract my swimsuit from my buttocks after I finally got down. Hmm, the ride was okay. Been there, did that. Done. After the park, we headed back to our resort (Old Key West) for a shower change and then we were meeting up with some folks for dinner at a new Greek place. The chef there was a famous chef from Iron Chef. Anyways, it was good and the drinks were flowing, and then it was time to roll into bed.

Day 3: In theory we were supposed to get up early to see the Animal Kingdom, but we both slept in and then we just decided to head to Epcot. Today was the glutton day. The Disney International Food and Wine Festival. So at Epcot, there is a big lake and around the lake are little stores, restaurants, and rides from countries around the world. So each of the countries has a little amuse bouche (sometimes bigger) plus wines, beers, and other delicious beverages. But the food would have to wait. First it was a fast pass for Soarin. And then we hit the Test Track ride. Eh, it was okay. Then we *had* to do Mission Space. Now I had done this a couple of years ago when I came down for a work conference. I did the Orange, “more intense”, training and I was wrecked for the rest of the day. I didn’t get sick, but I was pretty miserable for awhile. So this time I did the green, “less intense” training and it was fine. The special effects at Disney are really top notch. After that, it was time for Soarin. Very cool ride and special effects. And finally it was time for “2009 Disney Drunk & Grub Fest”. People had actually made t-shirts that said that! Loved it. We started at San Juan and headed counter clockwise around the lake. Have I mentioned the heat. OMG disgusting. Good food, good drinks, and then just the life getting sucked out of us by the heat. I passed on the escargot at France, but we had this frozen Parisien cosmo that was to die for. We pretty much ate, drank, and shopped (for the blessed air conditioning) all after noon. Around 4 PM I had to raise the white flag. I was more than pleasantly buzzed, stuffed, and just drenched in sweat. I needed a break. So I went back to the resort for a quick disco nap, a shower, and a clean set of clothes. When I got back LawyerX, his sister, and his aunt were all winding down their trek. I did get to partake of some of the last food items (perogies from Poland, egg rolls from China, and a fiesta margarita!). Then we stayed for the amazing fireworks and laser shows. It was great and we had a great spot to watch it all. Afterwards, we all headed back to the resort to crash.

Day 4: A surprisingly early get up, which was good since it took a while to pack. LawyerX was taking some of my stuff back to DC since I was heading to Europe directly from Orlando. After a leisurely AM, we hit Downtown Disney for a list bit of shopping and lunch and then it was time to get on the Disney Magical Express back to the airport.

So all in all it was a good weekend. If the temperature had been a little bit cooler, it probably would have been great. I will say that while I’ve always suspected that there is a little 8 year old kid inside of LawyerX, now I know it’s true. And I’ve seen him come out at Disney, while on a ride, or eating a ginormous turkey leg, or getting a picture taken with Doug (from Up!). Squirrel! Just too cute.

My next death march is work related. Orlando to Frankfurt. Frankfurt to Nice. Taxi from the Nice airport to the Nice train station. Train from Nice to Toulon. And then taxi form the train station to the hotel. I’m in Toulon for 2 days for work. Then a train to Paris. Work Friday. Spend the weekend with my sister. And then fly back to DC on Monday. And then I don’t want to get on a plane for a long time. Atleast a month if I can swing it.

Currently in Frankfurt. I got bumped up to Business Class on the Lufthansa flight. See, it pays to be a United Mileage Plus whore. Just need to stay awake till I get to Toulon. Then I can crash.

Fantasy Gay Weekend in Las Vegas

2009-10-05T20:58:00.008-04:00

So I recently complained to LawyerX that we don't do anything gay. And yes this was less than 10 days after coming back from a gay cruise in the Meditterean. He kind of looked at me like I was crazy. Umm, guilty.

So Lawyer X really scored some big points when he got us tickets to see Kylie in Vegas. Now mind you, our fall travel schedule is crazy, but when Kylie comes to the United States, you fix your schedule around her tour dates. So we did. And last weekend we headed to Las Vegas for our fantasy gay weekend!

The trip out to Vegas went fine and we got the Encore late in the afternoon. We had just enough time to take a quick shower and sample the buffet (check that off the tourista list) and then headed to the Bellagio to see O. It was actually my first Cirque du Soleil show and it was really amazing. Just too cool. After the show, we checked out the water fountain show at the Bellagio and then sort of wandered down the strip.

We did take a dangerous detour into the Forum Shops at Caesar's where we stumbled upon a John Varvatos store. Danger Will Robinson, Danger! We both found coats that we absolutely loved. Unfortunately, they really didn't fit us that well. Nothing that a couple of stomach viruses couldn't have solved, but still. In the end, no matter how much I loved it, I just couldn't rationalize spending that much for a jacket.

We tried to sleep late the next day, but we were still on east coast time. So we got up and promptly went to the pool. The pool area was just amazing. Several pools and actually some good music. While Lawyer X was working on "The Lost Symbol", I was laughing my way through "Official Book Club Selection." Hey, I did say it was a gay weekend. After a rough afternoon of laying out, we went back up to the room to nap before the main event. We had dinner at Society at the Encore and then headed to the Pearl to see Kylie.

The concert? Just amazing. Fabulous. Fantastic. Keep adding adjectives until you run out. It was that good. Probably one of the best concerts I've ever seen. She looked awesome. She sounded amazing. And I knew almost all of the songs. We had great seats so we had a good view for the improvised shower scene:

Love the song. Love the hot dancers. Love it.

Oh, best t-shirt of the night: "Do these jeans make my cock look fat?" I love my people. They are just too funny.

After the concert, we headed back to the hotel to drop off our concert souvenirs and then we headed to the gay club in Vegas: Krave. It was hosting the Kylie concert after party (of course) and was filled to the brim with the gays. So we had a good time getting our groove on and dancing up a storm.

Waking up way to early the next morning, we hit the spa for the sandalwood scrub and hot stone massage. It was OMG expensive, but totally amazing. Just so wonderful and relaxing. Which was good because the flight home was not fabulous. After a quick bite to eat, we headed to the airport. Our flight to St Louis actually arrived 30 minutes early, but our flight to DC was late. And then once we go on board, some moron in first class shoved something so hard into the overhead compartment that it broke the light bulb behind the compartment. It took them almost an hour to fix it (it involved removing the overhead panel) so we were really late getting back to DC. We didn't land until 0130AM.

Vegas? It was good. But kind of overwhelming. And kind of expensive. Totally worth it to see Kylie! Otherwise, I'm not so sure. We'll see.

But that was our fantasy gay weekend in Las Vegas!

And yes, I still need to work on the cruise pics.

Rome (BC=Before Cruise)

2009-09-15T07:16:00.006-04:00

So both Lawyer X and I have been to Rome a number of times. So we weren't in a hurry to do the forced march through Rome to see the Coliseum, the forum, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, etc. We kind of wanted to take it easy.

The flight over was okay. LX was constantly whining about flying in economy. He's 6'5" and he always flies business class for work. But the business class seats were outrageously expensive. And as a premier executive, I could get us economy plus. And when he finally sat down in the seat he did grudgingly admit that it wasn't as awful as he thought it was going to be. Anyways, we arrived in Rome on time but then had to wait forever for my luggage (marked priority). As we would say over and over during the trip: TIB. That's Italy Baby. LX had arranged for driver for us into the city to our hotel which was really nice. Our friends whose flight was delayed ended up taking the express train and were not happy about it. LX had gotten us a room at the Sofitel in Rome and it was very, very, very nice.

After a quick disco nap, we headed out for a quick lunch down near the Spanish Steps and then LX had gotten us tickets to the Museo Borghese in the Borghese Gardens. It was blistering hot as we hiked through the gardens so spending some time in a pseudo airconditioned museum. Lots of statues and great frescos. It was very cool. Afterwards, we wandered back to the Spanish Steps and hit the Via Condatti, the premier shopping street in Rome. Home to Prada, Gucci, Hermes, etc. All high end stores. Very high end if you consider how sucky the dollar is these days as compared to the Euro.

That night we had a nice quiet dinner not far from the hotel. We mad a quick dash to see the Trevi Fountain and to get some gelatto and then we headed back to the hotel to crash. We were heading to Civitavecchia in the morning to catch the ship.

I'm Back

2009-09-14T06:12:00.004-04:00

So I'm back from vacation to Europe with Lawyer X. We had a great time. It was interesting spending so much time with him and I think we learned a little bit more about each other. I think I only snapped at him twice. ;-)

So here's the deal. There is just no way I can write a trip report. Work is going to suck my will to live. So I'm going to try to post one photo a night and try to write a little bit something.

Oh, here's the deets for the vacation. Cruise with the Gays (see below), and then we went down to the Amalfi Coast for a few days to relax. One final day in Rome. And then back to DC. Had a great time. Ate way to much (Atkins started yesterday!) and spent too much (I do NOT want to see my Visa bill), but it was an amazing trip.

Victoria BC

2009-08-16T10:20:00.010-04:00

So after scoring a prime parking spot the section of the marina right in front of the Empress, we got settled in and then LawyerX and I headed up to the Visitor Center which was just at the top of the causeway. We wanted to find out some information on getting to the Buchart Gardens. Which we did. And then I said to the cute-ish guy behind the help desk at the visitor center, "So where's the nearest gay bar?" And he's say, "Oh, it's not far. I can't remember it's name, it just changed it's name, but I can show you where it is on the map. It's not far at all." Yes, *it*. As in singular. Sigh. I thought Victoria was a little bit larger than that, but apparently not. As he's pulling out the map to show us where it is, he goes, "Now, I remember, it's called Paparazzi." And both LawyerX and I say, "Of course it is."

Fully armed with information for our stay in Victoria, we proceeded to explore the very cute downtown area which included a quick stop to Roger's for a carmel milkshake for me and a rootbeer float for LawyerX. Sorry, it had to be done. Afterwards, wegot our shopping on. We went to "The Bay" which is their version of Macy's I guess. All of the stores had Olympic gear in addition to the normal touristy stuff for sale. The 2010 Olympics are taking place in Vancover, so the Olympic marketing machine was in full gear. I did find the cutest little shirt for my niece that has all of the Olympic mascots on it. And since I got her something, I had to get the nephew one as well. And then I felt left out in the shopping so I bought one as well.

After shopping, we returned to the boat for evening cocktails and then dinner. Post dinner, we were ready for adventure into the exciting gay nightlife of Victoria. So we headed to Paparazzi! Well, the best thing I can say is the the bartender was kind of hot. Located in the basement, it had a fairly decent size dance floor considering, a smallish bar, a little sitting lounge area, and then some pool tables. As is typical for small town gay bars, they try to be all things to all people and don't do any of them really well. But we grabbed some drinks a

nd proceeded to watch the other dozen people in the bar. Sometimes it's all about the people watching. But it had been a long day and I bonked hard and we ended up leaving fairly early.

The next day, LawyerX and I got up early to walk the long walk to the showers. We changed clothes, went to get our tickets for the Butchart Gardens and then quickly walked to the buss that left at 0900. We got their at 0859. Atleast that's what time our ticket said. So we were cutting it close. I tried to pay attention to the bus ride, but really didn't. Once we left the city, it looked like the country side was pretty nice. It took a little over 30 minutes to get to the gardens. Now LaywerX kept saying that he was going to "drag me" to the gardens and despite the fact that I really did want to go, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Think of a Disney World for gardeners and flower enthusiasts.

It really as spectacular. Originally a quarry, the owner's wife worked to transform the quarry and then the surrounding area into a collection of different gardens with different themes, plants, flowers, etc. It was really incredible. And we were there at the perfect time of year. We were probably just past the full bloom of most of the flowers. And I took lots and lots and lots of pics. As you can tell. It really was quite amazing. And I'll say one of the best things about getting to the gardens so early was that it wasn't *that* crowded and we did get to wander quite a bit looking at all of the fantastic flowers, plants, and trees. And LawyerX and I got to spend some quality alone time and just talked as we wandered. So that was really nice.

After we wandered our way through the gardens we headed

back to Victoria where we had lunch at a small little bistro we had spotted the previous night. Bon Rouge was just a block off the main drag in downtown Victoria, but it had this open terrace area where LawyerX and Ijust sat and ate some

really good food and drank some really good beverages. And since it was Friday, it was $5 martini's. And who were we to say no to that. So we probably had one of the most leisurely and decadent lunches I canremember. And it was fantastic. Afterwards, we headed back to the boat so we could change in time for tea at the Empress.

The Empress is one of those famous old hotels that has been renovated several times and it's famous for it's high tea. So before we had set sail, we had made reservations for tea. So we all got dressed up in our "smart casual" wear and headed across the street from the causeway to the Empress Hotel. There was a very nice selection of tea, but almost all of us decided to go with the house special blend, "The Empress Blend", and I took mine with some milk and a couple of sugars. It was really delicious. In addition to the tea of course, you get the all of the little finger foods. AndOMG they were delicious. So tasty and if you liked one, you can ask some more of them. So we asked for seconds on the cucumber sandwiches (so light!) and the chicken curry sandwhiches (spicy, but not too spicy). It was very much a fantastic afternoon and we sit and chatted for while as we sipped our tea and noshed on the nibblies. Unfortunately between the very nice lunch and the fabulous tea, I was heading towards a very hard food coma. So we headed back to the boat where I proceeded to take a much needed nap. When I woke up, the sun was beginning to set in Victoria Harbor and the light was just amazing. I quickly snapped some photos and then went back to the ship to indulge in some more cocktails. And if you haven't gotten the clue that this trip involves a lot of eating and drinking then you aren't paying attention.

MuseumMan, Lawyer X, a

nd I headed back to Bon Rouge for some more drinks and a light dinner before hitting Paparazzi's. Our experience at Bon Rouge the second time was not a good. Despite there being a cute bar area, the whole interior of the bistro was reserved for a private party, so were back on the terrace. Which is fine, except the private party had a singer in the restaurant. A very loud singer. It was not too bad on the terrace when the doors were closed, but when one of the doors opened you couldn't hear the person next to you. They must have been deaf inside. Anyways, we had some more good food and $5 martinis before heading to Paparazzi's.

Now LawyerX and I had take some 5 Hour Energy shots, so we were flying. We get to the bar and it's a little bit more crowded. It is Friday night after all. But it's also "Friday Night Sass!" Yes, we're there on lesbian night. Well, ish. It was definitely mixed, but still mainly female. But that's okay. We're having a good time. We order our drinks and are a little surprised by the less that fabulous quantity of alcohol. While the drinks are cheap, we were expecting our martini glasses to be filled to the brim. Not so much. Because here in Victoria, you can only serve 2 ounces of liquor per drink. And no, you can't do doubles. So we started calling that the "Victoria pour." After a bit, the music started to improve and we actually got up to dance once or twice. The music was all over the place but they did play a couple of my favorite songs of the summer. But . . . I'm used to the extended dance versions of these songs. Long enough to really get into them and to work up a sweat. No so much here. Both of the songs were strangely short and didn't include some of the fun chorus or anthem parts of the songs. So we started calling them the "Victoria Mix." When you recognize the song, but the song is sort of short and a little bit tragic. We ended up bailing a little after 1AM and headed back to the boat.

The next AM, I got up early to take some early morning photos of Victoria Harbor. It was very quiet in the AM which was kind of nice and I did get some good shots. But it was an early departure from Victoria because we needed to get to Roche Harbor by early afternoon so we could get a good moorage there. So we said farewell to Victoria, BC and headed back to the United States.

DC to Victoria

2009-08-15T11:30:00.008-04:00

So last year Museum Man invited me on his family's annual sailing trip up to the San Juan Islands in Washington state. We had a blast and it was so relaxing. And so this year he invited me again, and LawyerX as well. It would be the three of us, his Mom and stepdad, and then a couple they know from Wenatchee, Washington. And while LawyerX and I are going to Europe later this month, I really wanted to go. So we did.

Let me tell, first class is the only way to travel these days. Since we procrastinated in buying our tickets, I ended up using miles to get two first class tickets to Seattle. LawyerX is like 6'5", so he needs the legroom. And with a direct flight from Dulles to Seattle, we didn't have that OMG early get up that morning. Now I was a little concerned

about this trip because LawyerX hasn't seen me in my airplane mode. I see air travel as a series of obstacles to be overcome as quickly as possible and I never really relax until I'm actually in my seat on the airplane. But I think I managed to be fun and not to

o stressed. Mind you, we walked up to the gate and got immediately on the flight. So we were doing the just-in-time thing. Now they had switched out aircraft on us, so we weren't sitting together which kind of bummed me out. But, instead of seats, we got these kick ass little pods that actually let you lie flat. So nice. And some good quality entertainment with movies, games, and music. And the screwdrivers we had weren't bad either. We got to Seattle a couple of hours before MuseumMan, so we had lunch and then got manicures. Yes, we're that gay.

Once MuseumMan showed up, we got our bags and his Mom picked us up and we headed north to Anacortes which is the hopping off point for the San Juan Islands. Most of the north west ferries leave out of there and just on the opposite side of the ridge from the ferry

landing was the little marina where we picked up our boat. The Sienne. A 50 Bennato. For those who know those things. It was very nice and fairly spacious. And I say fairly because while we did get one of the

larger cabins, LawyerX is kind of big, and I'm not exactly petite myself. Needless to say there was a lot of banging of heads. But I digress. We loaded up the boat and started doing inventory while we awaited the rest of our party. They finally showed up and everything was squared away for a departure the next AM. That evening we had a fine dining experience at the Brass Lantern. Think small town dive bar/restaurant. I will have to say the fried olives were delicious!

The next day we got up, showered at the facilities at the marina (reminded me of being in a barracks!), had breakfast and then prepared to get underway. Since we had such experience sailors on board, they let us go without a ship check so we got underway a little

bit earlier than planned. Which was good because our plan was to bee line to Victoria so we can get a good moorage (parking spot) in front of the Empress Hotel. The weather was a bit cold and overcast. After a week of over 100 degrees heat which is really freakish for them, the pendulum swung the other way and we had highs in the lid 60s. So kind of chilly on the water. But of course, I loved it!

Anacortes is actually a little bit north of Victoria, so we had to swing a little bit south and sail just under Lopez island and then started to hug the coast of San Juan Island so we could cut straight across Haro Straight to Victoria. We did raise the sail once, but the wind wasn't really that strong and we had a mission, so we used the motor most of the day. As we approached San Juan Island, we got the binoculars our because that's where we would see whales if we were lucky. And boy were we lucky. We actually saw quite a few whales including one killer whale that breached, jumping out of the water, to slam itself back into the water. Quite spectacular. And I wish I had caught it on film, but I wasn't quick enough with my camera. But I did get a few semi-decent shots. Plus we did see some other wildlife. But eventually we had to leave San Juan Island and head to Victoria.

Sailing into Victoria is always so great. Such a pretty little town on the water. There were a couple of cruise ships who were there as well, but the sun had come out and the weather was great so it was a great trip into Victoria. After clearing Canadian customs (something we couldn't do last year, long story, don't ask), we got the princess parking in front of the Empress Hotel. Yeah!

Sarah Palin Kills Flies!

2009-07-26T21:32:00.004-04:00

So that blog title should generate some weird google search results. But let me explain.

So on Wednesday I had all new windows put into my condo. My old windows are crappy, either wouldn't open, or wouldn't stay open. So my association did some research and worked a deal where owners could buy new windows, get a decent discount, and get the tax deduction. Bingo, I'm in. So Wednesday was the day the two guys came to replace the windows. I think they were Russian. Cute I guess, but a little bit smelly. And they were late of course. But they did get the job done. The problem was that Wednesday was one of the hottest, most humid, days we've had so far. So having no windows to keep the heat out was not a good thing. I sat there and tried to do work while they were working and kept looking at the temperature gage go up, and up, and up. I think it got to about 84 degrees in my condo. And I'm a cold person. I like it cold. Without air conditioning it got super hot in the condo, but that's not the worst part. I also got a nice little swarm of flies in my condo now. Lovely. The good news is that I'm getting good at using the Time magazine with Sarah Palin on the cover to kill the flies. I think there's only one of those little buggers left. I know Sarah will get him!

Speaking of Sarah, I went to do a Youtube search for a song I heard on BPM and found this. Just too funny. And not entirely safe for work.

Ken & Ken and GC09

2009-07-19T21:28:00.003-04:00

So around a month ago or so, Lawyer X and I were at Nordstroms and we both liked the same shirt. I tried it on and I like it. He tried it on and he liked it. And we had a short discussion about which of us should buy it. And I was like, look, we both like it, so we should both buy it. It's not like we're going to wear it at the same time. And then a couple of weeks ago we were in Georgetown running an errand and we decided to hit the Lacoste store since they were having a sale. And we both found these distressed Lacoste shirts. Mine olive green, his a royal blue. And we had the discussion again. And I was like, they are different colors and we just won't wear them at the same time. And then last week, we got up in the AM to go to the gym and I realized that we were wearing the EXACT SAME Navy t-shirt. Oh well. We tried to avoid the whole Ken & Ken thing, but sometimes it happens. Yesterday, LawyerX picked me up so we could head to Bmore for a wedding. Just as I was about to hop in his car, I was like, "Umm, what color is your sportscoats." "Sort of yellow/gold with a black/brown pattern in it." Crap. We had to stop right there and check out the jackets. While they were similar, they weren't that exactly the same. But it was kind of funny!

Work has sucked my will to live lately which is one of the reasons that I haven't blogged much lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't kept up with the blogosphere. Especially as it relates to the Episcopal Church's General Convention. Held ever three years, the GC is where the Episcopal Church defines itself in rules, policies, budgets, and all of the other minutia of a large organization. But it was the policies that held my interest. The policies on same sex blessings as well as the policy of electing to ordained ministry GLBT clergy to the level of Bishop (or any level really). After the horrible decision that was made in 2006 on a moratorium on electing GLBT clergy to be Bishops, and the unceasing attacks on the Episcopal Church by those who would like to see the church turn it's back on its GLBT, the Episcopal Church, in a very American democratic way, finally removed any type of discrimination from the discernment process so that anyone who is called to the clergy may do so. In addition, the groundwork was laid for the creation of same sex blessing in those dioceses where state law allows same sex blessing. So very good news indeed and I'm very proud to be an Episcopalian these days. I'm sure the schismatics will use these decisions to foment misunderstanding and discontent, but atleast we're being honest and trying to live the Gospels as best we can.

One of the more interesting things I discovered while hop scotching across the Episcopal blogosphere was that Mathew Sheppard was an Episcopalian. Bishop Caldwell gave a very moving speech at a luncheon at General Convention. It's a little over 6 minutes long, but please watch:

Pet Peeves, Boston, and Obama

2009-07-07T20:58:00.004-04:00

So in general I don't mind going off to conferences. It's kind of a necessary evil in the DoD & IT world. But for the love of God, if you're going to put 100+ IT professionals in a room, can you please allow laptops and/or some sort of wireless access? Coming back to the hotel room (which is fab BTW) and downloading 200+ emails and trying to deal with all of the sh!t that happened in the office while I'm gone is just depressing. And using my crackberry during the meeting won't solve the problem, but it will help me triage the situation and figure how long I'll be working at night.

Boston. I'm so close to Ptown, and yet so far. Lawyer X has some stupid "ethics" training on Saturday, so my dream of skipping off to Ptown for a little fun weekend was dashed. In theory I could go to Ptown without him. In theory. But this is one of those things about being in a relationship. You just don't do that. Sadly, this will the first time in 8 years that I haven't been to Ptown in the summer. But I really can't complain. We've got the sailing trip in August. The cruise to Egypt, Greece, and then the Amalfi Coast. Kylie in Vegas. And then the food and wine festival in Disney World. On second thought, I can't afford to go to Ptown anyways with all of the trips we've got planned!

So I'm staying at one of the new trendy Aloft hotels in the Starwood chain. And I must say it is fabulous. It's like a Virgin America Hotel. Very hip, trendy. Cool little bar. Some soft techo playing in the elevator. The room is great. Huge shower stall. Ginornmous flat screen mounted to the wall opposite the king size bed. Just very, very, nice. And it's like a mile from the conference I'm at this week.

"I don't agree with the characterization of gay relationships in the DOMA brief submitted by the DOJ and I regret that my administration used such language." That's all Obama had to say. He gave a 20 minute speech to member of the GLBT community on the anniversary of Stonewall and if he had said those 26 words, I would have probably still been a bit upset, but would still support him. But he didn't say that. And he hasn't said that. And Robert Gibbs continues to say that Obama stands by the brief. And then you've got Gates talking about a more "humane" implementation of DADT and Mullen says he's advised the president "to move in a measured way" on overturning DADT. So there's a lot of talk. Bad talk. And no action. So while I really want to support Obama, he needs to support me as well. It's called loyalty up and down the chain of command. And yes I know he's got his hands full with the multiple disasters left over from the previous regime. But it really doesn't take much to issue a stop loss order or for him to not file a brief supporting DOMA, while Congress gets their act together to repeal DADT and DOMA.

I still think that Obama's trying to do the right thing on Iraq, torture, the economy, etc. And I wish him the best of luck. Our country definitely needs help turning around and getting on the right track. But I'm not going to give a single penny to any Democratic candidate or organization until I've got equal rights as a citizen of this country.

An Open Letter

2009-07-02T14:59:00.003-04:00

This is going to every democratic organization email address I can find:

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you to let you know that President Obama’s and Congress’ recent failure of leadership on LGBT issues compels me to withdraw my support for the Democratic Party at every level.

I was an early and vocal Obama supporter. During the campaign I not only phone banked for President Obama, but I gave money to him and other Democratic candidates and organizations around the country. While I wasn’t particularly thrilled with his stance on gay marriage, repealing DOMA, DADT, passing ENDA, Hate Crimes, etc would be good enough for me.

However, apparently the “fierce urgency of now” doesn’t apply to LGBT Americans. President Obama’s claim to be a fierce advocate in the White House ring hollow since he won’t actually use the inherent authority of Commander in Chief to issue a stop loss order on LGBT Americans who are currently serving in our military and only want the opportunity to serve honestly. As a veteran and US Naval Academy graduate, I find this lack of integrity extremely disappointing.

But it wasn’t his failure of lead on the DADT issue that caused me to write this letter. It was the DOMA brief. While many have argued that the Justice Department had to respond (and there’s a lot of people who disagree with that), it was the language in the brief that made me lose hope in the President and the Democratic Party. Comparing gay marriage to incest and pedophilia, the brief sounded like it came from the typical Republican hate filled playbook. And then President Obama, and several prominent Democrats, stood by the brief. They supported the most hateful, biased, ugly legal arguments against gay marriage and I felt like I had been sucker punched. While I don’t expect a lot of support for LGBT issues from the Democratic Party, atleast it isn’t actively working to take my rights away, to make me a second class citizen like the Republicans usually do. Or so I thought. The Obama DOMA brief proved me wrong.

While I appreciate President Obama’s recognition of the 40thanniversary of Stonewall, I think the more relevant event that night was the gay bashing by Ft Worth Police that left a young gay American in the hospital with a significant brain injury fighting for his life. The separate body of laws for LGBT Americans (DADT, DOMA, etc) continues to create an environment where LGBT Americans are less than equal, less deserving of support, less deserving of respect and so discrimination, harassment, and violence against LGBT Americans is okay, acceptable, commonplace. President Obama and the Democratic Party's failure to address these issues only perpetuates that environment. And that has to stop.

Until President Obama and the Democratic Party provide significant leadership in repealing DADT & DOMA, in passing ENDA and Hate Crimes legislation, I will not provide any support for the President or the Democratic Party at any level. Please immediately remove me from all mail lists, phone rosters, and email lists.

Respectfully,
Me

*Feel free to copy and send your own version. Here are the email addresses I've found so far:
White House: info@barackobama.com
Democratic National Committee: Democraticparty@democrats.org
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: info@dccc.org
Democratic Senate Campaign Committee: info@dscc.org
Democratic Governors Association: info@dga.net
Democratic Party of Virginia: info@vademocrats.org
Speaker Pelosi: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov
HRC: hrc@hrc.org

SHUT UP and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

2009-06-24T21:16:00.003-04:00

So I was driving to the base yesterday with the top down jamming to BPM and the new Katy Perry song, "Waking Up in Vegas" came on. The dance remix of course. And part of the refrain is "Shut Up and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!" So of course I had that stuck in my head all morning and when I wasn't paying attention, I would say to myself, "Shut up, Shut up, Shut up and put your money where your mouth is." Of course the last part would fade to a mumble, so the only part that was really understanbable was "Shut up!". Thankfully no one was paying attention to me so it wasn't that big of a deal, but kind of funny/irritating.

But speaking of "Shut Up and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!", I think President Obama needs to LEAD! Not wait for Congress to pass some LGBT legislation. If you are really a fierce advocate for gays and lesbians, then prove it. I don't want to hear any more about the need for a legislative solution to provide an enduring solution to the DADT, or DOMA, etc. You've got the power to issue a stop loss order. Just Do It!! Shut Up and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

Speaking of Money. I'm done. No more money for anyone related to anything in politics. I plan to write a letter to the DNC, DSCC, DCCC, etc saying that they will get nothing from me until they do something about DADT, DOMA, Hate Crimes, and ENDA. I can find lots of worthwhile charities to give my money to, and get the tax write off to boot!

So sing it with Katy: "Hey Dems! Shut Up and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!"

Pride, Faith, and Hope

2009-06-20T10:22:00.002-04:00

So Pride was this weekend. And I really did have a good time. Lawyer X, Museum Man, and I went to Town to see Rupaul Friday night. It was okay. Let’s just say that considering her famous tagline is “Supermodel, you’d better WORK!”, she really wasn’t working it. And yes some of it was the awful sound system, but even when they fixed that, I just don’t think she was that into it. It was still fun, but I seriously think I dropped three pounds that night just standing in the overwhelming crowd it was just that hot and sweaty. Ms. Thing didn’t come on till 1230, did a 30 minute set, and then Lawyer X and I danced a bit before bailing. But we got to hear my new favortite song:

On Saturday, I hosted my Pre-Pride Parade Party at my place. It was lots of fun and I had quite the crowd. Museum Man invited some of the gay and lesbian midshipman from the Naval Academy. Was I ever that young? I went with a champagne themed party with a bunch of different fruit juice mixers. I actually managed to get the food right as I had virtually nothing left over. But I continually underestimate that the gays are drinkers. About an hour before we were going to leave for the parade, I had to make an emergency liquor run to buy some more champagne! Around 6PM we headed out to watch the parade. Now it really doesn’t compare to NYC, SF’s, or Sydney’s parades, but it’s still fun. And despite the tres $hitty week (more on that later), it was good to go out and celebrate being gay. And I know there may be many who ask why we need to celebrate being gay? And it’s hard to explain. But if you’ve been listening to the news, if you’ve heard about the children bring bullied in school, the gay men and women being beaten and killed for who they are, then you’ve got lots of reasons for Pride. We’re standing up for them and for all of the gays and lesbians in small towns across the country who don’t get to be who they really are. They can't only not celebrate, but in fact have to hide who they are. We aren’t hiding any more. Go read Joe’s “Watching the Defectives.” It really is just the best explanation Pride that I’ve ever read.

On Sunday, I went to the Pride festival early to work the St. Thomas’ booth. You want to know the hardest job in the world? Working at a church booth at a gay pride event. With all of the crap that the GLBT community has gotten from organized religion, it’s almost like working in a danger zone. I worked the early shift as the crowds were just starting to build and I stood in front of the booth saying “Happy Pride” as the people walked by with a little dish of chapstick (cause everyone needs chapstick) and some lollipops! And while most people just gave me an odd look, a gay man trying to shill for Jesus? There were quite a few who stopped by to chat with us and pick up a piece of literature. I’d start to go into my schpeal about how St. Thomas is a historical Episcopal Church in Dupont etc. The responses were mixed. Sometimes I got the “Oh, one of the good churches” a young woman said to me. Yes, one of the good churches. One that is welcoming and inclusive and wants everyone to be loved by God. When I got a person like that, it felt good. When I got the “I don’t do God” I kind of felt sad. But I would say thanks for stopping by and enjoy Pride. Now, while most people stopped by for the chapstick or lollipops, I did have one admirer who was interested in St. Thomas, wanted to know what service I went to, and whether I had a boyfriend. I said that I did, but that we had lots of gays so he should still check us out. Kind of funny.

Hope. So it’s been a really crappy couple of weeks. I was an early Obama supporter. I remember refreshing my browser to get the updates on the Iowa caucas results and cheering as his numbers climbed higher. And I gave money to the Obama campaign. A decent chunk of change over the course of the campaign. While I wasn’t particularly thrilled with his stance on gay marriage, repealing DOMA, DADT, passing ENDA, Hate Crimes, etc would be good enough for me. And I supported his stance on the war on Iraq, torture, the econonmy, the environment, etc. I had hope that this man would be able to be the President that really led the country, unified it, helped restore it. And I think he’s done some good things. But then there was the DADT fiasco. I’ve met Lt Dan Choi (he actually hit on Lawyer X, while I was standing there!). And I kept thinking, oh Obama will do something. He’ll send a bill to Congress to repeal DADT. Or, if not that, just issue a stop loss order for now while Congress gets its act together. But nothing. And so my hope started to fade. And then the DOMA brief. Yikes, I can’t even begin to tell you what that did to me. Comparing gay marriage to incent and pedophilia? Did you just pull out an old brief from the Bush days and say this is good enough? And even after it came out, I still kept hoping that the Obama administration would say that it was a mistake, or something. But no, they stood by it. They supported the most hateful, biased, ugly legal arguments against gay marriage and I felt like I had been sucker punched. I’ve always considered myself fiscally conservative and socially liberal. And I’ve voted democratic since the republican’s weren’t really fiscally conservative anymore. But more to the point, while I don’t expect a lot of support of LGBT issues from the democrats, atleast they aren’t actively working to take my rights away, to make me a second class citizen. Or so I thought. The Obama DOMA brief just proved me wrong. And now my hope fades a little bit more.

The ironic thing in all of this is that while I’ve always supported the idea of gay marriage, I never thought it would apply to me. But with Lawyer X, that’s changed. I can definitely see us getting married some day. Or so I thought. Just when I started to buy into the dream, the President I help elect just made that dream a bit harder to realize.

Hope fades.

A Thruple

2009-06-03T16:29:00.005-04:00

So, I'm a little ashamed to say that I'm involved in a Thruple.

No, I'm not cheating on Lawyer X.

But I have met someone new. His name is Fritz.

Isn't he wonderful?

Yes I still have Sven. Hence my current tripartite relationship status. And while I did love Sven for a very long time, it's just gotten old between us. The love was gone. And so I kind of wandered a bit and then I found Fritz. He reminds me of the Baron, my first love. But with a cool, funky transformers thing going on.

Sadly, I think it's time for Sven and I to part ways. I want to say that I will always love him, but let's be honest. When I'm with Fritz and the top is

down, and BPM is playing loudly on the stereo as I cruise down 66, I won't be thinking about Sven..

Sven goes away

this weekend. To greener pastures where I hope someone will buy him, take care of him, and love him.

Paris (Part 1)

2009-05-31T15:33:00.007-04:00

Note to self. Saving $300 on a plane ticket to fly a connecting flight to Paris on US Airways does not equal a direct flight on United where I get Economy Plus seats. Yes I get points for the US Airway flight, but I’ll never get the leg room, or the chance for a semi-decent night sleep on the flight, if I fly US Airways. I’m not a snob, I’m just saying.

Having said that, despite the dash through the airport in Philly (which I don’t remember being so big), I had a decent flight to Paris. The Nyquil helped. When I awoke, something was wrong. It was sunny. I was on the right plane, and we were descending into Charles de Gaulle, but it was sunny. In Paris. So odd.

Got my luggage and my BNL was there to pick me up. And again with the sun. I actually needed sun glasses. Usually when I come to France. It’s cold. And raining. All the time. We fought our way through the traffic into the 16^th where I crashed for a quick disco nap and then I got up and after a quick baguette sandwich, I started on my trek through Paris. The goal? Keep moving. Stay in the sunlight. Try to force myself to adjust the new time zone as soon as possible. So my first stop is always Trocadero, overlooking the Eiffel Tower, it’s like my first “Bonjour” to Paris. I made my way down to the Seine and then walked along the water till I got to the Grand Palais where I cut across to the Champs Elysees. Up the Champs to the Arc and then along the Foch back to my sisters place. I did step into Zara's to do a little bit of window shopiing. Mind you, everything is insanely expensive, but still. Now here's the thing. French men are twigs. I think they like their cigarettes so much that they want to look like one. And I am not a stick. At all. But I see a shirt I like and I thought I would try it on. You know what words I hate? "Slim Fit." You know what's really disgusting? "Super Slim Fit." That's right, when slim fit isn't tiny enough for you, now there's "super slim fit." I tried on the shirt and it was not pretty. Really bad sausage casing. Okay, I get it. I can't shop in these stores. But I feel sorry for the odd french guy who doesn't have a 28in waist. Where does he shop? The other fashion comment I'll make is that it's hot and sunny outside and people are in long sleeves, sweaters, and jackets. How can you possibly not be just sweating to death. Oh, and only the French would have "summer scarves"? Seriously, WTF? Anyways, my trek like a 4 plus hours long and it was great. But it was sunny, and hot, have I mentioned that? So I was just ugly sweaty by the time I got back. The kiddos were back from school then so I got to spend some quality time with them.

Note to self: Need to practice my Wii skills.

Since the kiddos we out of school (for Ascension?) we had to have a mission for Thursday. When they aren’t in school, you really need to make an effort to get them out of the flat and away from the Mac, Wii, and TV. So that’s what we did. We headed out to Auvers. Auvers is where Vincent Van Gogh lived right before he died. So we all piled into the minivan and made our way out of the city on another GLORIOUS sunny day in France. It was about an hour or so out of town, give or take some mis-direction by bitchy Betty (the GPS wench). Auvers is cute. A very small, quaint little French village. After parking the car, we made our way o the châteaux which had been converted into a museum about Paris around the time of the impressionists. It was oddly fascinating. While I had been expecting to see rooms filled with period pieces, instead we learned of the building of modern Paris. How the trains opened up the French countryside and how that impacted the impressionists. It was very interesting. And I do love the audio guides. After the audio tour, we walked around the gardens where some people were setting up for some performance art thing. One woman has these huge white cloth wings that she was waving back and forth. In the middle of the garden, two women were wrapping themselves up in a huge piece of purple cloth. After the tour of the chateaux we had crepes at a little creperia in the middle of town. I’m good with sweet crepes, but I’m still getting used to the savory crepes. After lunch, we headed up to the cemetery where Vincent and his brother Theo are buried. Kind of cool and it was a good outing and we had spectacular weather. We managed to make our way back into Paris without incident and had a nice quiet dinner at home. The BNL makes a mean Kir Royal. Love them.

Friday AM we were off to the Grand Palais to see an exhibit by Andy Warhol. The Grand Palais used to be this huge palace that is now one of the main exhibition spaces in Paris. It’s huge. We got the relatively early, but there was already a line. At 1000. Which was kind of shocking since the Parisiens don’t really do early. My nephew has a standing aversion to anything that has the word museum in it, but he was a trooper and made it through the exhibit. So I know a little about Andy Warhol, but it was definitely interesting to learn more. First of all, the Andy Warhol Museum is in Pittsburgh? Most of the pieces were from there, though there were many that were donated from Paris, New York, Cologne, and Tokyo. The exhibit was huge and took you through all of his major phases. It really is interesting and very different. And the Society for Cutting Up Men? SCUM? I knew he had been shot, but not the rest of it. I guess in his heyday, he was charging $25K per portrait. Nice work if you can get it. And he would paint businessmen and royalty to earn a living and then return to New York where he did more of his experimental work. So very interesting. After the exhibit, we headed to the lower part of the 16^th questing for a solar car. Long story short, my nephew’s teacher gave him a little solar car for him to put together and it got gone. Lost or stolen we’re not sure. So we hunted for this store that I will say reminds me of the Discovery channel store to look for a replacement. We get there and they don’t have it. And while I love the French, their customer service skills suck. “It’s out.” No, “we’re sorry”. No: “Do you want me to check another store”. Just: It’s out. Thanks. And my sister speaks pretty good French, so this isn’t a language issue. Now my nephew was not happy, so we pestered the sales lady to call another store to see if they had one. They did. So we were off to another part of Paris. We did finally obtain the solar car. Afterwards, we grabbed some baguette sandwiches and picnicked in a nearby park. It was another sunny beautiful day in Paris so we just hung out in the park for a bit. And while it wasn’t crowded at first, it definitely got more crowded as we hung out. I guess when the weather is nice, everyone leaves their small little apartments and just hang out in the parks. So it was a good day.

Marriage Equality

2009-05-27T04:37:00.003-04:00

So the Prop 8 ruling wasn't that surprising, but it still hurt.

I guess the only silver lining is that there are still 18 thousand married gay and lesbian couples in California. Still legally married. And at some point, people are going to understand that having married gays and lesbians is not going to destroy the families of California, but help strengthen them. And that marriage is a fundamental civil right t

hat belongs to all people, not just heterosexuals, and not just to the special, and lucky, 18 thousand gay and lesbian couple who managed to make their way over the rainbow during that brief moment in time in California.

I went down to Dupont Circle last night to support the Day of Decision rally in Washington DC. It was great to see all of the people who came out, in the rain, to stand for marriage equality. Young, old, black, white, gay, and straight. It really was great.

But a rally isn't enough. We all need to do something. We all need to join the movement to repeal Proposition 8.

Rock the Vote!

2009-05-19T13:27:00.002-04:00

I'm off to Paris.

Don't hate.

But your mission . . . . . . .

should you choose to accept it . . . . .

is to . . . . . .

Gay Blinders

2009-05-16T14:37:00.002-04:00

So one of the fun little interesting things about the whole gay community is that some people, not all, but some people, get issued a set of invisible gay blinders that allows them to see the rest of the world, but not certain people. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen someone I know or have met (either via a date, a hook up, or at a random encounter at a bar) whose eyes just seem to glide right by me without recognizing me. Now I'm not pretending that we're friends. But I think acknowledging the other person's existence with a simple, civil, polite, little head nod, isn't asking too much. It's just a simple acknowledgment of the other person.

Ironically enogh, it now seems I need my own blinders. Someone who I thought was a friend sort of faded away. Not exactly sure why, but it happened. But the problem is that he lives really close to me. So I'm bound to run into him around the ghood. And sure enough I saw him a couple of months ago at Commissary and he wouldn't look me in the eye. My first thought was that he was on a date and didn't want to appear rude. And I didn't want to interrupt, but it's clear now that he's studiously avoiding me and refusing to recognize me. And this was someone who I once thought of as a friend. I've now had two close encounters with this person and since he's acting like I'm not there, now apparently I'm supposed to act like he's not there. It's all very strange. And sad. At one point I thought it would be good to try to re-connect with him, but now I don't think it's a good idea. And he still lives close to me. So I guess I need to keep my invisible gay blinders handy for when I'm walking around the ghood.

Star Trek, Morning Walks, and Car Shopping

2009-05-11T21:31:00.004-04:00

So SuperLawyer, his BF, Lawyer X, and I went to see Star trek on Saturday night. Loved it! Lawyer X had some problems with the story line since it kind of broke with Star Trek canon. But hey, if you're going to re-boot the franchise, then you need to make room for some new story lines. And creating an alternate world by changing the space time continuum seems like a no-brainer to me. So Kirk was hot, but I have to tell you I think young Spock was kind of hot as well.

Morning walks. So I'm spending a lot of time over at Lawyer X's house since he has Shiva to take care of. And yes even pets have nicknames on this blog. And Shiva is a pretty good one since we also call her the "Princess of Destruction." Anyways, in the AM, sometimes after the gym, but sometimes not, I make the walk back to my place. And I won't call it the "walk of shame" since it's not a hook up. We're dating, well more than dating. And sure sometimes I'm walking down P St in the clothes I wore the previous night and a bad case of bed head, but still. And trust me, I've seen the folks making the walk of shame down P St. So I'll just call my commute from Laywer X's house to my place just a little morning walk. ;-)

So why does buying a car suck so much? I went out to a VW place in Fairfax and the slimey sales guy pulled out the whole bag of tricks, "What would it take to put you in a car today." An act of God. I'm just trying to get information. "What would you say if I would give you 3K for our trade in." I'd say I'd still like to know how much the car I'd like to buy is going to cost me. "What if I gave you $4K?" "What if I gave you $5K?" I'd say that even if you offered what I originally paid for the car I'd still like to know how much the car I want is going to cost and you still haven't answered my question. Agh! I finally got the answer, but it was like pulling teeth. And then we got into a beyond insane conversation about mortgages. Don't ask. I still want the car. Just not sure I'm going back there again.

Kylie 2009!

2009-05-07T21:32:00.005-04:00

Lawyer X scored tickets!!

And you know what they say, "What Happens in Vegas . . . . . "

Maine Rocks, Crazy Marion Barry, and Kylie's Coming to America!!

2009-05-06T18:46:00.004-04:00

The governor of Maine signed into law today the bill that would allow same sex couples in Maine to get married. I watched/listened to some of the debate from the Maine legislature via the intertubes and couple of times I just got so choked up listening to men and women, gay and straight, young and old, arguing for equal rights for all of Maine's citizens. And just a big thank you to the governor for changing his position and signing the bill. So Maine makes 5! Do you know what that means? That 10% of the states in the US allow same sex marriage. I know we'll lose some battles along the way, but I really think we are winning this war and history will look back and say, "Really, you were freaked out by this? How sad."

Of course, some people just won't be happy. Including our own crazy Marion Barry who after years of being an advocate of gays rights, has decided to side with the wing nuts. Another poster child for the right wing. Multiple divorces? Check? Problems with the law? Check (tax evasion), Check (drugs the first time), Check (drugs the second time), Check (hit and run accident), and Check (bribery). So to Marion Berry, I'd like to dedicate this song (so totally NSWF, but oh so fabulous!)

And the most important news of the day (okay, maybe below the announcement from Maine), comes word that Kylie Minogue is coming to the United States. OMG! Must go see her. Must. Ms. Showgirl is only playing in like 6 cities, and not DC, so you know what that means don't you? Road trip! Need to see if we can get tickets when she plays in Las Vegas! I *must* get tickets. Must! So excited.

Ms. Kylie was the soundtrack of my coming out while I was Down Under. Here's the song that started my love of all things Kylie:

Today's Post Brought To You By the Letter "B"

2009-05-03T13:39:00.002-04:00

B is in BOGO. Buy one, get one off. I've seen it before, ad nauseam, on those Payless Shoes commercials. And I guess it makes sense for relatively low cost items. But when I was home in Colorado I was flipping through the really tragic local newspaper and since I'm sort in the car shopping mode I was checking out the car ads. And there on the back of the Sports section was a BOGO add for a car! Yep, if you buy one 2009 Hyundai, then you would get a like a 2002 Hyundai for $1. Now, let's forget the whole, it's a Hyundai thing. I still think it's kind of crazy that they are doing BOGO for cars. But i guess it's a sign of the economy, especially in the car business these days.

B is for Boytoy. Lawyer X has now started to refer to me as his boytoy. Which I think is a little bit presumptuous and not really accurate. For one thing, I am older than him. And I'm fairly certain that I make more money than him. But he thinks it's cute/funny and it sort of is. So I'll let it slide. For now. ;-)

B is for Big Breasted Bigots. Specifically, Miss California. Sigh. I get that you don't believe in same sex marriage. Fine. But here's the deal, atleast be able to CLEARLY articulate why. If I was a judge, I would have given you low marks not on the content of your answer, but on your inability to articulate what you are saying. I'm guessing her major isn't in communications. Of course, now that's she popping up on ads for NOM, interviewing on The 700 Club, I guess I could be wrong. And I'm not really appalled by fact that she has breast implants. Hello, she's from California! But I do find it interesting that the Miss California organization paid for them. That's interesting. Anyways, I hope Miss California has learned to do her own hair and make up, because after her remarks at the Miss USA pageant, there isn't a gay man in the US who's going to help her dye her hair again. Those hair and make up gays will make her look like Broomhilda if she ever makes the mistake of asking for help from them.

Parentland

2009-04-27T20:06:00.003-04:00

So after another awful trip to Nof&ck (and is there really any other kind), I drove back to DC, had lunch with Lawyer X, and then caught a plane to Colorado Springs aka Parentland.

I hadn't seen my parents since Christmas and they are getting up there, so I wanted to go visit and check in on them. I arrived on their 49th anniversary, so I scored the bonus points there. Of course, I can't believe they are still married since sometimes they snip at each other pretty badly. But if you've been living with someone for 49 years, no doubt some of it will rub you the wrong way.

Anyways, they are doing okay for their age and I'm really happy about that. But coming back to the Springs is a weird experience for me. Most of my high school friends have moved on, so there's no one there for me to hang out with. So it's the parental units, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And first thing Firday AM, it was time for the chores. Oh yes, I had a long "honey do" list to accomplish. Mom was certain that Dad had wired the new VCR incorrectly since she couldn't program her shows. And after a good half hour trying to figure the thing out, I finally realized that the VCR/DVD combo doesn't have a tuner. So it can't record her shows. So we get saddled up and head to Sears where she had bought it. And why Sears I have no idea. And the nice guy at Sears basically confirms that you can't buy an old style VCR anymore. They sell the types that will play VHS tapes, but they can't record shows. Unless you want to shell out $300+ bucks. Pass. We're off to Best Buy. Where the strangely thin and overly tattooed "geek squad" helper explained that technology has moved on and it's all about DVR now. They did have a VCR recorder, but again it was in the $300+ range. And really, isn't it time for my parents to wake up and smell the Tivo? So we purchased the Tivo despite my Mom's fear of any new technology and headed home. Now the real work began. I had to move the VCR from the downstairs den to Mom's bedroom. The VCR from the upstairs den to the downstairs den. And then install the Tivo in the upstairs den. Quite the drill of musical VCRs. But I got it all working and I think Mom even understands how it works. I hope so, it is really easy to use!

Friday night, I joined Mom and Dad at the Martini club. It's a group of their friends that get together once a month for drinks and "heavy horses" as my mother says (hor d'ourves). I was easily the youngest person there, except for one lady who may have been a trophy wife. Not exactly sure. Anyways, it was very pleasant and I played the dutiful son quite well. When asked about my family, I just replied that I was single. No need to go into the whole gay thing. It would definitely make Mom and dad feel weird and just not something I needed to go into. I didn't lie about it, I just didn't talk about it.

Now, one of the highlights of the trip was that I was going to get a chance to catch up with Lawyer X's sister, Agent K. She lives in the Springs and so we had planned to get together for drinks and dinner on Saturday night. So she came over to my parent's place where we had a drink with my Mom and Dad. It was all very civil and very nice. So that was good. Afterwards, we hit this cool new restaurant (well new to Agent K and I) in the Springs called Blue Star. It's in a part of town that I would call sketchy, but it was really nice. Of course, we open the door and the little lobby area is packed with the prom set. Wow. Do I feel old or what? But we made our way to the bar and sampled an adult beverage before we got our table. Had a great time eating, drinking, and just chatting. So much fun and Special K is just great. After a very filling (and yet oddly cheap (well by DC standards)) dinner, Agent K dropped me off back at my folks.

Sunday was interesting. I know have a glimpse into what divorce kids have to go through. On Sunday AM, Dad and I went to the Episcopal church and Mom went to the Anglican church. There's a huge back story there that I won't go into, but needless to say, it's all very odd. After the service, we drove up north to an Italian restaurant for brunch which was good. I'm now now shy at all about ordering a cocktail at brunch. If I'm not driving, why not. After a post brunch nap, I climbed up on the roof to try to caulk the skylights over the deck. (I called Lawyer X on Saturday to tell him I was cruising Homo Depot looking for caulk. I thought it was funny, but he was not amused!) Anyways, I climb up to the roof to try to caulk around the skylights which I guess leak during rain/snow melt. It got rather cold up there and when I was done I looked towards the mountains and they were gone. The storm was rolling in and the mountains were no longer visible. A clear sign that I needed to get off the roof.

When I woke up this AM, it was actually snowing! Friday, sunny, 70s degrees, shorts weather. Monday, snowing! Yep, that's Colorado for you.

Anyways, with the exception of some missing luggage (details!), the trip back was uneventful. Lawyer X was waiting for me and it was great to see him again.

I think that's my last trip till Paris at the end of May, but Lawyer X goes into trial mode so I'm not sure how much of him I'll be seeing. Kind of a bummer, but I'll deal. I seriously need to get back into my gym routine.

Tilghman Island

2009-04-22T22:16:00.001-04:00

You know what’s weird? Now that I have a social life, I don’t seem to work insane hours (well as insane) which is good I guess. But I apparently don’t blog as much either. Hmm, go to dinner with Lawyer X, or blog? Wii bowling with Lawyer X, or blog? (Insert almost anything) with Lawyer X, or blog. Seems the blogging is losing out in this deal. I’ll try to find a way to balance my real social life and my online life a bit better.

Anyways, so Lawyer X and I passed a major milestone last weekend. First it was our 6^th month anniversary (the exact date we started officially “dating” is kind of arbitrary, but that’s what I’m saying it is) and we had our first trip together! Yep, we decided to skip out of town and where did we go? Tilghman Island, MD. Yes, I know, how random, and not very gay, but it was great!

We actually ditched work on Friday and around 1030 or so we headed out to Annapolis. Can someone please explain to me why traffic SUCKS heading out of DC on a Friday morning? Anyhoo, we made it out to Annapolis and the weather was GLORIOUS! After some rainy, dreary, cold days, the weather had finally turned and it was just amazing. We had lunch at Chick and Ruth’s, a serious dive from my midshipman days. The food was good and the milkshake was delicious! Afterwards, we walked around the Yard (USNA campus) and I showed him the Chapel, John Paul Jones’ crypt, some of the academic buildings, Bancroft Hall, etc. It was fun, though I can’t seem to remember a lot of the details anymore. It must be that getting old thing. We hit the Midshipman Store for some quality shopping and then got on the road around 4PMish for the eastern shore.

So the drive was fine and we made our way to Tilghman Island Inn. Now I had heard about this from the Washingtonian’s website and it looks really nice. Plus they had a really nice restaurant and Lawyer X is a foodie. So I knew he would be happy. The Inn was really nice, on the edge of a channel and across the water is a marsh area where you could see all sorts of egrets, ducks, etc. Very nice room, with a fireplace on a timer and a bathtub spa! After settling in a bit, we sampled the cheese plate and champagne that we got as part of the weekend package. Very nice. After a couple of glasses of champagne, we went down to dinner, with a quick stop at the bar for a cocktail to enjoy as we watched the sun setting. Since the Inn is on the western edge of the eastern shore, we had a beautiful sunset over the water. Dinner was amazing. And included a couple of glasses of wine. And then we had a dessert wine to finish the meal. If you are counting, that makes basically 6 different drinks. Needless to say, after dinner I wanted to make sure I got a glass of ice water to take back to the room. At the bar was the executive chef. When we had come down for dinner originally, he had been at the bar working on his 3^rd or 4^th glass of scotch, or so I thought. Well by this point he was pretty buzzed and very chatty. He’s talking about his grandkids, etc and now I’m tired and starting to tune him out. And then all of a sudden, he’s talking about his partner!! Apparently they own the Inn and one runs the Inn and the other the restaurant! So I guess it was going to be a gay weekend after all.

Saturday AM, we sort of slept in and then got up around 10ish to grab a quick light breakfast before heading up to St. Michael’s. St. Michael’s is just the cutest little village. It’s a short drive away. We parked and then basically walked about the town. Had lunch at a restaurant in the harbor and then wandered around the little shops that lined the main street. The weather was amazing again and the little town was packed with tourists. We wandered over to the local winery for a tasting and since the outside area was full we were taken deep into the winery where the settling tanks are and where they have another sampling area. It was kind of dark, and cool, and it was kind of romantic back there. We sampled some wines and most of them were good. Lawyer X bought some a cabernet, while I got the chocolate zin (a-ma-zing!). After that, we discovered that the local brewery was right next to the winery (talk about some city planning!) and so we had to sample a flight of the local beer. Some good stuff and some interesting conversations with the locals. Afterwards, we drove down to a small town that has the oldest, consecutively running, private ferry which took us across the river to Oxford. The ferry could probably only hold 9 cars and it was a short ferry ride, but it was just fun to do. Oxford is another one of those picturesque towns and the waterfront houses are all just so pretty. And I’m sure quite a pretty penny. Our whole mission to Oxford? To get ice cream. Apparently the ice cream place there is quite well known and we both got two HUGE scoops. Birthday Cake Oreo and Carrot Cake for me. OMG, so good. And if you notice a food and alcohol theme for the weekend, you wouldn’t be wrong. At all. Back on the ferry and then back to the Inn where we did an encore of the afternoon cheese plate and champagne. Yum. Then I had made reservations in St. Michael at another high end restaurant. Apparently Rumsfeld and Cheney eat there occasionally. If I had known that ahead of time, then I would have gone somewhere else, but as it was they were not there and I didn’t have to try to do a citizen’s arrest on them. Dinner was again phenomenal. And included some great wine. We were fat, buzzed, and happy by the time we made our way back to the Inn.

Another leisurely get up on Sunday AM. I will say that it’s weird to hear boats going by in the morning. But they actually have a real fishing fleet at Tilghman Island, plus all of the wannabe weekend fisherman, so the channel was hopping. Brunch was included in our package so we settled in to another great meal. Gumbo, eggs benedict & French toast with grand marnier, and then a brownie with ice cream for dessert. All so delicious! Now, you know how I hate to talk about other people, oh wait, I actually like to do that. So let me tell you about the other guests having brunch. A nice couple (boring), a cute young gay couple (hate them), and then we had this one straight couple. He was a bit older (late 40s), a bit dumpy, glasses, tragic comb over. Just kind of sad. His “companion”? She was Asian, much younger, but not really that attractive. Sporting a black bustier that highlighted her ample chest and then some black short, shorts. For BRUNCH? This is what you wear to brunch? After I pushed my eyeballs back into my head, I’m like, “don’t look at them, don’t look at them. “ But it’s like a car wreck. I can’t *not* look. That’s when I notice the short shorts have a big metal zipper that goes all the way up. Lovely. When he starts to feed her salad (salad?!?!?!), that’s when I’m like, we gotta go. Just too weird.

On the drive back to DC we hit the outlets just before the bay bridge and did quite a bit of damage.

Overall, the weekend ROCKED! Just some good quality time with Lawyer X. We got along amazingly well. The Inn was fabulous! The food was great. And the liquor was copious! So it all adds up to an amazing weekend!

Joint Custody and Those Crazy Fundies

2009-04-12T21:02:00.002-04:00

So with Lawyer X virtually sequestered preparing for some legal thing (yawn!) on Tuesday, I've gotten joint custody of the Princess. I was just going to walk her highness this evening and then I succumbed to her "poor little me" look and decided that since Lawyer X was working late that she should spend the night with me. She's already claimed her spot on my good red chair and when I went to fold some laundry she just hopped up on the bed and curled up. No, please. Make yourself at home! I'm assuming that Lawyer X will show up at some point as well.

And if this is all sounding slightly domesticated, it is. And secretly I'm loving it.

Now, I'm used to pop culture stealing things from gay culture and turning it into something hot and trendy. I got that. But now it seems the fundies are trying to steal some of our things and needless to say they aren't good at it. Sigh. Teabagging Parties? Really? Are you kidding me?

And then it was Two Million For Marriage, but they thought they would be hip and call it 2M4M. Wow. Really. Is it possible to be that cut off from reality? Or to not have the common sense to look up what these things mean before you decide to make it the centerpiece of your political message? Of course, considering who these people are and how archaic their political message is, I think they deserve all of the ridicule that they get!

These people really need to get a life.

Iowa, Vermont, and Thomas Jefferson

2009-04-08T06:40:00.005-04:00

Wow, what a crazy couple of days.

Iowa. Again wow. Who would have thought that change, dramatic change, would happen so quickly in the heartland. Bravo to the Republican judges who ruled in support of gay marriage. Bravo!

And I love this clip. Kind of makes me tear up inside:

And Vermont! You paved the way for civil unions and now this huge step towards equality. Thank you! I'll be having some of Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream to celebrate your vote (vote! not court decision!) and to help out your economy. And while I love Americone Dream already, if you think about it, the American dream is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So it just makes sense to celebrate with Americone dream!

Despite the fact that work sucks my will to live lately, I surfed around the intertubes looking at the responses to both the results in Iowa and Vermont, I stopped by Jimbo's blog where he had some famous words by Thomas Jefferson that are inscribed in the walls of the Thomas Jefferson memorial on the Mall:

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

Were our founding fathers amazing or what? I'd like to take some of our current politicians down there to show them what a real statesman looks like. I've always liked the TJ Memorial the best. I need to go back down there again soon.

At Sea (The Last Day)

2009-03-29T22:25:00.007-04:00

Six little words.

I’ll start my diet on Monday.

Seriously, like I need to see that at the pool first thing in the AM?

The morning after the White Party is always interesting. The gays like to party hard, and then sleep late. And with the White Party going till 9AM, it means that the pool deck is strangely empty until about 11AM when the first round come out to bask in the sun and burn away the demons from the previous night.

Of course I’m up early, but I’m off to the spa for a hot stone massage. Fan-tan-stique! As the French would say. Insanely expensive, but great. And then it’s back to the pool deck to bask in the sun. But I’m actually getting a little bit toasty so I wander into the solarium to work on book # 3.

I did go to catch some of drag bingo with Ms. Ritchfield. She’s hilarious! So much fun.

And then it was time for the last Tea Dance. And it was one of my favorites. So much good music. So many hot guys. Just a great, great time. As the sun began to set, we burned across the pool deck dancing like there was no tomorrow.

After the tea dance, I had a leisurely dinner and then started to pack my bags. Sigh. The last event for the cruise is the Last Laugh Comedy Show, this time with Alec Mapa. Again. Hilarious. So much fun and a great way to end the week. There is the final “Last Chance” dance, but I’m done. Stick a fork in me. Another great Atlantis vacation.

I won’t bother you with the details about the logistical trip back home, except to say that it was great to see Lawyer X again.

At Sea (Again)

2009-03-23T08:45:00.011-04:00

Up again early. The same ole routine. And I get my good spot on the pool deck. Close to the pool and close to the bar. I get my diet coke fix and settle in to read my book. But I’m distracted by a very hot couple who are lounging in the pool. Too hot. And too cute. And both must be wearing cockrings as I don’t think Fedex delivers packages that big. Anyhoo . . . .

It’s sunny and hot and I pause from book # 2 to jump into the pool to cool off. It also gives me a chance to try to be sociable. And I try, but it’s not really my strong suit.

Around 1PM, we have pool games: the Mommie Dearest Obstacle Course. I love this. They get a group of guys together and make them run to different parts of the pool deck where they have to re-enact parts of the movie: “NO MORE WIRE HANGERS . . . . EVAH!” as they spank one of the atlantis guys with a wire hanger. “Christina . . . Bring me the Axe” and then they proceed to cut a rose from a railing. Then they chug a Pepsi and scream, “Don’t FUCK with me fellas, this ain’t my first time at the rodeo.” And the last is where they actually put on a one piece woman’s bathing suit, a swim cap, and do a quick lap in the pool and the come back to say, “I’m bigger and I’m stronger and I will always win!” And of course, the gays being the big drama queens, every re-enactment becomes more dramatic, more overacted, more insane. It really was quite funny.

After a bit more time in the sun, I head in for a quick disco nap. The White Party is this evening and I need to rest. And I do, a bit. But I’m going to be needing that 5 Hour Energy shot later. After my nap, I get dressed and head back to the pool deck for the Atlantis Newlywed game. So they get couples who have been together for less than a year, between one year and three years, between four years and 10 years, and then over 11 years and then ask them really horribly personal questions. It’s hilarious. One of the couple is this overly muscled couple who are hot/cute. They’ve been together for just over 4 years. So when it’s time for one half of the couple to get up and leave, Malcom, the cruise director, asks the bottoms to get up. And neither of the muscle couple leaves. It’s just hilarious. And eventually one of them stands up and walks off. Time for questions: “Your partner has a very big *blank* and an itsy-bitsy *blank*. Wow, getting kind of personal aren’t you? “Logo is making a movie about your love life, the theme song to the movies is: Shook you all night long, I Touch Myself, Silent Night, or 8 Days a Week?” “Your partner finds you in bed with another man, does he: stalk off, join you, or stabs you with an icepick?” And some of the answers were just painfully funny.

After the game, I headed to the martini lounge which was packed for a cool beverage and then I went to the formal dining room and had dinner with two very nice couples from San Diego. The older couple had been together almost 35 years and they were a riot!

Instead of going to see Chita Rivera perform, I went back to the room to check email (loser) and then get ready for the White Party. Now apparently Chita Rivera was amazing, but I’m not really a broadway queen, so I passed.

For the White Party, I just pulled out the white football pants. It’s actually a pretty look on me. But several other guys had the same idea and I think they pulled it off a bit better. The costumes for the White Party are always insane and this was no exception. Lots of great costumes, and lots of hot men. The music was great and there were actually songs with words in them! I wandered around taking pictures, dancing a bit, and just people watching. There was a lot of good people watching. I made it till around 330AM, and then call it a night. I know my roommate didn’t make it back until after 6AM. And I think at 730AM they forced the remaining partiers to the Sky Lounge so they could clear off the pool deck and get ready for the day.

One of the other great things about the White Party (or any of the parties really) is that a lot of the ships crew will come up to watch and even dance a bit. I’m fairly certain that they don’t get to do this type of things on the other cruises they do.

Willemstad, Curacao

2009-03-20T22:39:00.010-04:00

So needless to say I got up early. Did the normal routine but this time I took my book to the pooldeck to reserve my lounge chair even before I go to the gym. Work out. Breakfast. Just a small note here. I think the food is good in general. With two exceptions. The eggs are always runny. Get an omlette instead. And the breakfast sweets are awful. They’ve made all of these really delicious looking pastries, but they all kind of suck. They just aren’t really that sweet or they taste weird. So definitely not worth the calories. I keep trying them in case there is one that is decent. So I take a bite. I grimace. And then I put it down and walk away. How’s that for some freakish dietary discipline? Anyhoo . . .

After showering and cleaning up, I head back to the pool deck. And my lounge chair is gone! And now I don’t really care, but I’ve got like 30 pages left in my book and I want to finish it. I walk around and finally spot my chair and book. I just grab my book and walk away. I don’t need any drama thank you. So I pull up another chair and I complete my book. That’s one down. Two to go. So I pull out my second book and a guy a met while we were waiting in line to board the ship comes up to chat with me. He was all bitchy about the ship not leaving on time and staying in Fort Lauderdale for Kimberly Locke. “Some American Idol runner up.” Really, you’re bitter about that? By a 5 hour delay? Well, first of all he says that he saw her and admitted she rocked the house. So there. But then he proceeds to tell me this awful story of how his partner of 4 years apparently decided to end their relationship about 3 weeks ago. And they are both on the cruise. In the same stateroom. And he’s trying to work it out, but his partner just thinks they are friends now. Yikes. It was like a little soap opera taking place in front of me. And while I do feel bad for the guy, I’m also like: Look, I was really happy just sitting here reading my book. Agh! But I did make a dent on the new book after a bit.

Around 1PM we pulled into Curacao and I’ve opted for the Beauties of Curacao tour. It’s supposed to be a tour of the island to see some of the country side and it “implies” that we’re hiking because it says you need comfortable walking shoes (no flip flops) and be able to walk over varying terrain. But no, we spent most of the time on the bus exploring the western & northern part of the island. I try to slip into my tour bus narcolepsy, but the woman’s voice is loud and a bit irritating. I doze, but then I keep hearing her say “young cock.” And the first time I think, wow, I’ve never actually had a dream on a tour bus. But then I hear her say “young cock” again and the two guys in front of me are snickering. So I know I’m dreaming this. Well the third time she says “young cock” I’m trying to figure out what the hell she’s talking about since I’ve missed most of her shpiel. And then I see the sign. “Jung Kok.” It’s dutch, and obviously pronounced “Young Cock.” It’s a salt flat named for one of the original settlers. And out on the salt flat you can see some flamingoes. Too far away for picture, but still kind of cool. After a brief stop at an artist’s gallery, we head to the north shore. And I’m trying to stay awake and I will say that I think Curacao is very pretty. And I think they are lucky to be under Dutch rule. They still have some poverty issues, but overall I think the island is much better than Dominican Republic or Haiti!

We reach the north shore and stop to see the surf crashing into the rocky shore. Very cool and just oddly similar to some of the shore line I’ve seen in Ireland. The sun is out, the wind is blowing, and it feels good to be out in the countryside exploring. After a quick soda break, it’s back on the bus and we’re heading to one of the public beaches on the western shore, near West Point. It’s nice, but I didn’t think swimming was an option on the tour so I didn’t bring a swim suit which is a bummer. The drive back into town takes forever and the four of us in the back of the bus are being bitchy about being trapped on the bus for this long. We return to the ship just as a heavy storm cloud proceeds to spit rain. So I huddled quickly onto the ship. But the town looked so cute and I wanted to go shopping, so after I *thought* the rain had stopped, I headed out. And I get right to the bridge that takes you over into the downtown area (cute, cute, cute), and it starts to rain. Now at this point it’s clear that all of the stores are closed so I’m like, never mind. Back to the ship, a quick dinner, and then I needed a disco nap badly if I was going to make it to the night’s party.

I wake up just before 11PM, get cleaned up and head topside to see the fireworks. The local gay community in Curacao hosted a tea dance this evening and then they were going to have fireworks for us as we left the harbor. And no I didn’t go to the tea dance. I think the men there would be more to Museum Man’s taste than mine. And I’ve got a man. So I slept. The fireworks are good and I’m slowing sipping my vodka and 5 hour energy shot. Now the good thing is that the 5 hour energy shot really worked. I was not tired at all during the dance. The bad thing is that I took it at 11PM. Do the math. Right. So at 3AM when I decided that I really needed to go to sleep, not so much. But in the mean time, it was time to get my groove on!

So the 90’s Diva party is one of my favorites! So much good diva music in the 90s. Madge, Whitney, Mariah, etc. One of my favorite Annie Lennox’s dance remixes came on, “And it feels like you’re 17 again!” Love that. Had the best time. I did stop to get a beverage and ran into the ship’s security officer. I had seen him before and he is HOT, HOT, HOT! Umm, you can take me to the brig anytime you want. Needless to say if he ever went to the 14^th deck forward, he would be *very* popular. But it’s not like there was a shortage of hot, hot, men out that night.

Around 230AM, we ran into a small rain squall. And while maybe half of the crowd disperses for cover, the rest of us stay as Cher is blaring from the speaker: “Cause we’re Strong Enough! . . . . “ And we’re loving it. The cool rain is washing the sweat off of the hard muscled bodies on the dance floor, cooling us off as we continued to burn across the pool deck. Just amazing. The squall passed and then the dance floor becomes packed again. I’m not sure what time the party ended. I quit at 3AM and *tried* to go to sleep. With some success, but tomorrow is the White Party and I need to be ready for that!

Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic

2009-03-15T12:29:00.011-04:00

Put the pizza down. Step away from the buffet. And no one will be hurt.

Seriously.

I must stop having a late night snack because I’m having the most messed up, trippy, dreams. My favorite is where I’m street luge-ing (yes me, street luge-ing) down the streets of Paris (of course) when I discover a school full of perfect little children. They are clones being grown so their organs can be harvested. So it’s like a mix of X-games and X Files. All to a kickin dance track that is probably echoing in my subconscious from the party I left the night before. On the other hand, if the dreams are this good, maybe that piece of pepperoni isn’t such a bad thing. ;-)

It’s another early get up for me. Try 730AM. And I hit the gym again. My routine on these cruises become fairly routine. ;-) Breakfast, shower, change, and then I did some work in my room as we pulled into Casa de Campo.

Hmm, not sure what to say. It’s a gigantic pier that they’ve built to attract the cruise ships, but I think the main tourism draw is the golfing. Apparently there are tons of beach/golf resorts around here. And instead of doing the beach or snorkel thing, I’m thinking, this is my first time in the Dominican Republic (and damn it I don’t get a passport stamp for it!) so maybe I should do something cultural. See the country a bit.

So I sign up for a tour to a nearby town called Higuey which is famous for its basilica. So I’m like, I’m in. Now the downer is that they ask everyone to cover their knees and shoulders. So no shorts and tank tops. And I only brought one pair of pants, my jeans. So that’s what I’m wearing. But apparently they didn’t tell everyone that and most of the guys (I think 20 of us) are wearing shorts and T-shirts. And no it didn’t make a difference. What they didn’t tell us, and which was a serious downer is that Higuey is like a 45 minute drive. In a hot, crowded bus. Not fun. But with my tour bus narcolepsy, I was zoned for most of it. Which is hard to believe considering Clemente (our tour guide) was talking VERY LOUDLY! I did remember passing through fields and fields of sugar cane and also some sad little villages where all of the roofs were made of corrugated tin. Kind of sad really. We get to Higuey and it’s a dusty little town that could be anywhere in the Caribbean. Pretty non-descript. Which makes it funny when you see the monstrosity that is the Basilica that the town is famous for.

It’s huge, it’s ugly, and it’s made entirely of cement. Apparently some French architect designed this in a competition that he “won.” Ugh. We stop for some photos and to check out the basilica. It’s the middle of the day and there are a few people there. In the altar area there is a famous painting of “Our Lady of High Grace” that is very famous and revered by the local population. Apparently after it was painted it was sent to Rome to be blessed by the Pope. And there is a little walkway for you to go up and see it closely. We all get in line and I notice that people are putting their hands up to touch the glass frame around the painting like they are praying to it which I find weird. It seems kind of like idolatry to my. But one of the recovering Catholics in my group explains that saints are intercessors who people pray to so that the saint will intercede on their behalf with God. And I think I’ve heard that before.

Afterwards, we go to the old church which is actually quite beautiful, if a lot smaller. As we walk around, there is a group of church women who are praying and it takes me a minute to figure out that they are doing Stations of the Cross. Very cool. Of course it’s all in Spanish, so I don’t recognize any of it. But I can figure out some of the little station paintings and what they say. The old church is very damaged and I guess they are trying to restore it. It was so pretty, but definitely in some need of help.

After Higuey, we head to the small fishing village of Bayahibe. Which it seems its only claim to fame is that is where the tourists come to catch a boat to go to Saona Island which is a natural park and supposed to be very pretty. I’m not sure why we went there. We weren’t going to Saona Island and there wasn’t anything to do there. I did walk around to take some photos. Is this not a great picture of me. Love it. It’s my Diesel picture. Diesel Jeans. Diesel Shirt. And if the clothese make me look like that, then they are worth every penny. Anyways, I wandered a bit until I started to get hassled by a child begging and that’s when I was like, I’m over this place. Time to get back to the boat.

Today’s T-dance is the Classic Disco tea dance and it’s a very popular. But it’s definitely not my favorite. The music is only so-so and the fashions are horrible. And yet gay men still find a way to turn hideous fashion into something that looks sexy. I did have a good time even if I didn’t know hardly any of the music. Half the fun of these dances are to look at the outrageous costumes and to take a few pics of hot men. So voila!

After the dance, I grabbed something to eat and then prepared for the night’s entertainment. But I started to feel a little bit sick and I think the sun and maybe the alcohol was a bit too much as I ended up missing Ms. Richfield 1981 (love her!) and went to bed. I wanted to stay up for the Brazil party, but I was just a goner.

Labadee, Haiti

2009-03-15T12:23:00.007-04:00

So I love that the first time I came to Labadee that they didn’t call it Haiti. Either is was just Labadee, or it was Labadee Hispaniola (which is the name for the whole island). I guess it’s now okay to say Haiti again. But I decided against going ashore in Labadee. It’s a perfectly nice island, but since I wasn’t going to get a massage there, that meant that all I’m going to do is lay on the beach and tan. And I can do that from the ship.

Before the long day of tanning though, I needed to hit the gym. So it’s like 8AM and I’m heading to the gym. And there are people in the hot tub already. Scratch that. In the hot tub still. From last night! Wow, talk about party people. I’m too old for that. Anyways, I make my way to the gym and could it be more packed? I did manage to get 30 minutes of cardio in and a little bit of weights. It was hard to focus with all of the gym gods surrounding me. The gym gods attires always kill me. Some are in the high tech athletic gear with breathable mesh, and some are in the kind of urban, street attire. But I do love the T-Shirts: “I Like White Trash Boys” and “No, He’s Only My Workout Partner.”

After breakfast and a shower, I went up to grab my lounge chair. Getting a lounge chair near the pool is like the holy grail on the cruise ship. Lots of guys get up early, or stay up late and put towels and stuff on chairs to reserve them. And then they make their grand entrance later in the day. But I managed to grab a decent chair and started my day of tanning. I did go up and ask for a Diet Coke in the largest glass that they had. And they gave me one in a gigantic beer mug. Score! I’m going to bet set for awhile. So I went back to my chair and started reading my book. With no wind, the sun was very strong and I was covered in sweat in no time and I was LOVING IT! Lie on my back. Flip to lie on my stomach. Sip of Diet Coke. Lie on my back. Flip to lie on my stomach. Sip of Diet Coke. Repeat. Again and again and again. I did cool off in the pool once or twice.

After a late lunch, I had the brilliant idea of using my gigantic beer mug for an adult beverage. So I ordered a double margarita and they filled the mug to the brim. With drink in hand, I decided a change of scenery was in order, so I collected my stuff and headed up to the Solstice deck. It’s got these cool lounge chairs and these little cabana type things that I thought would be fun to check out. And when the ship is underway it usually really windy up there, plus that’s where people go to sunbathe au natural. And even on a gay cruise, it’s never the people you want to see naked who are up there. Though the percentage is better than you would think. I did find a lounge chair and proceeded to drink my margarita and get a bit buzzed. Lying in the sun I started to zoned a bit. I had turned my iPod off and I’m casually listening to the conversations around me. Have I mentioned that I love the gays? Gay #1: “Oh, I never wear my steel cock ring when sun bathing naked anymore. I learned that lesson on my first cruise.” Gay #2: “Why is that?” Gay #1: “You fall asleep and the steel gets really hot and you end up burning your balls.” See, you learn something new every day. Of course the question I want to ask is: why are you wearing a cock ring when sunbathing anyways? But I think that’s not really the point.

I escaped from the Solstice Deck and went down to the room to rinse off the sun screen lotion in preparation for my massage. And while the massages at the spa aren’t cheap, they are pretty good. I had a deep tissue massage and it felt great. But the thing I hate is that they ask you to fill out a little form to let them know if you have any problem areas (and I make the mistake of being honest) and then they use that information to try to sell you stuff. Look, you’re harshing my mellow with this hard sell stuff. Yes, I’ve got dry skin. And yes a milk bath probably is a good idea. But I’m not spending $60 on a small bottle when I just forked over some serious kwan for the massage.

It’s a Small World Part I: At the Atlantis Alumni cocktail party, I run into a friend of a friend from DC. Let’s call him Alex. Apparently Alex was doing the roomshare (where Altantis pairs you up with other single people) and his roommate is like Uber Hot. And apparently UberHot decided that they should be roommates with benefits for the cruise. Now Alex is definitely not opposed to that. And after seeing UberHot, I wouldn’t either. Now ready for the “It’s a Small World” part? UberHot is my next door neighbor! He lives in the row home two down from my condo building. I’m sure I’ve seen him before, but I’ve never seen so much of him before.

It’s a Small World Part II: Tonight there are two parties. There’s a regular dance party on the pool deck, but in the Sky lounge there is the 80s dance party. And I love me some 80s music, so I start there. The music is good and there’s something oddly funny/wonderful to hear the whole dance floor sing along to Whitney’s “How Will I Know.” Good times. As I’m dancing, I see this guy and he looks really familiar. And after 5 minutes or discreet staring I’m like, he really looks like the guy who lives in the row home across the street from me. But that’s definitely not his partner he’s dancing with. I must have him confused. And it’s hot in the Sky lounge and the ship is rockin quite a bit, so I decide to head out to the pool deck to cool off and check out the other party. As I walk along the deck overlooking the pool deck, who do I see, but the partner. Playing tonsil hockey with another guy. I guess it is a small world after all.

Well, at this point, I’ve decided to call it quits. So time to sleep. Tomorrow is Casa de Campos in the Dominican Republic.

At Sea

2009-03-15T12:17:00.011-04:00

So I woke up at 7 this morning. Sigh. It really is a curse being a morning person. But I figured I might as well hit the gym before it got too packed. And at 730AM, on the very first morning underway, the gym was already hopping! I got my burn in on an elliptical and then I did a set of legs. Mainly because they were the only machines that didn’t have a line waiting for it. Bench Press? Forget about it. Shoulder pulldown? Get in line. And the barbell area? Don’t even think about it. Oh well, maybe next time.

After the gym, it was time to hit the Oceanview café for a little breakfast. The food is good and there certainly is plenty of it. After a quick change, I headed up to the pool deck to grab a chair and begin my very strenuous day of tanning. And while the sun was out, it was VERY windy. Like almost cold windy. But I persevered and found a decent chair in the sun and began the basting process. At some point I sort of drifted off and it felt just so good. When I finally woke up I was like, hmm, time for a cocktail! And at this point it was getting warmer (maybe the wind was dying down?) and so a nice cold frothy drink was just what I needed. And that gave me theopportunity to look at the scenery. And did I mention my body dismorphia issues? Umm, can you figure out why I’ve got issues? Wait, don’t answer that.

After a rough day of tanning, it was time for the Dog Tag Dance. Military (or uniform of some sort) is the attire for the dance. And as you arrive, you get hande

d a dog tag upon which you put a sticker. Green for single and looking to mingle (or more). Yellow for buy me a drink a

nd we’ll see what happens. Red for partnered, but still fun. The dance was just amazing. So much fun and so many hot men. I gotta give props to the Canadians. Theyalways come out in force on these Atlantis trips. But my question is: how do you get that many gay men to wear the same thing and get them to show up at the same time?

I danced until I was hot and sweaty and then went up to get blown away by the wind as I tried to snap a pic of sunset. I think that’s Cuba in the background.

As I head down stairs to change, I discovered the after Dog Tag dance underwear party. I had met some guys waiting in the line to board the ship who had told me about it and invited me. It’s in a suite that’s apparently larger than my condo and they thought there were going to be 200 hundred guys there. While tempting, I decline the offer. Sounds a little bit too

claustrophobic for me.

Shower, costume change, and then off to see the comedy showcase. All of them were really good, but I love Alex Mapa. He’s a riot and not afraid to talk trash about the owner of Atlantis. “F#$k it, I’m on a series (Ugly Betty) so I can say what I want.” A late dinner and then it’s time for the Mardi Gras dance.

Now I only brought costumes for two parties. The dog tag dance (some cammie shorts, I know, so exciting) and the white party (some white football pants). But some people go all out for the Mardi Gras Party. Lots of great costumes. As is usual on these trips, less is more. I.e. less clothing is more hot. And with the wind, ornate or extravagant costumes can become giants sails to catch the wind. I ran into some folks I’ve seen on previous trips that had two foot tall Marie Antoinette hair-dos. And they were holding on to them the whole time.

I think I made it to 1AM that night. Getting better!

Not So Much

2009-03-10T10:23:00.003-04:00

So the live blogging isn't working so well. I didn't bring any software to make the pictures smaller and it's taking me forever to upload pics. And I'm getting charged by the minute. So I'm going to wait until I get back to post more about the trip. Sorry. On the plus side, I'll have better pics to include.

L is for . . . . .

2009-03-08T21:42:00.006-04:00

Laptop. Yes, I’ve brought my laptop on my cruise. So that means that L is also for . . . .

Loser. Yes, I am a loser. This is the first time I’ve brought my laptop on a cruise, but there’s just a ton of stuff going on at work and we are seriously undermanned, so I just can’t disappear for a week. Sad but true. But, looking on the bright side, L is also for . . . . . .

Live Blogging! Yes, I’ll actually be live blogging the cruise! So instead of a trip report after the cruise, I’ll be able to post while we are actually underway.

So let the live blogging get underway . . . . . . .

So let’s see, I got up at the crack of dawn (doubly harsh due to the time change) to catch the flight down to Fort Lauderdale. I actually did some work on the plane (see the "L is for loser" comment above). I saw some of the other gays and we caught a shuttle to the Celebrity Solstice. There was no line for checking in (amazingly enough), but the ship wasn’t ready yet, so we cooled our heels waiting in the ship terminal. And that’s when I began to take in the scenery that would be joining me on the cruise. Umm, yum!

Got on the ship and went to my stateroom. It was nice, very nice. Actually everything about the ship was very nice. I checked out the topside areas, including the Solstice deck which had little cabanas and resting beds. The solarium. The pool deck. All, just very, very nice. After lunch I continued exploring and found the martini bar so I had to sample a beverage. Deeeelicious! But then it was back up to the pool deck to get a little sun and just veg a bit.

After the emergency life boat, I climbed up to the spa to get my reservations in. I really wanted to get a message when we are in Labadee, but they were already booked up. But I’m still on for a hot stone massage the morning after the White Party. After the spa trip, it was back to the pool deck for another adult refreshment and I sort of wandered around for a bit. Seeing all of the perfect bodies, my body dismorphia issues are running rampant. Must go to the gym NOW, NOW, NOW!! Oh, and the gym is really nice and I’ll probably go tomorrow. Anyways, I think I’m squarely in the middle of the hotness bell curve. Atleast I like to think I’m squarely in the middle.

After drowning my emotions with alcohol (okay, I had 2 drinks, big deal), I grabbed a bit to eat and headed down to see Kimberly Locke perform. She’s a former American Idol contestant and I’ve got a couple of her songs (the dance remixes atleast) and so I was looking forward to the show. OMG! She was totally amazing. What a great voice and a great performance! And she sang some of the songs I have, in their original, slow, non-dance remix, version, and she just killed! And she’s funny to boot. I guess she did an Atlantis cruise last year and she’s like, “Look, I don’t ever want to see another vodka drink, or another hot guy in a speedo walk by who I’m never going to sleep with!” Just too funny.

Here's one of the songs she sang:

So a good day, with a slight exception which brings me back to the letter L.

L is for Lawyer X. I miss him and wish he was here. I’ll still manage to have fun without him, but . . .

More tomorrow!

Mannequins, iMac, & Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

2009-03-04T21:49:00.004-05:00

"Please don't touch the mannequins" I said sharply to Museum Man.

Lawyer X, MM, and I had come into the Commonwealth to do some chores and we were at the Sports Authority and MM was basically groping one of the mannequins. MM blushed and moved on. He was on a mission for some new sweat pants. I, on the other hand, was just window shopping looking for my next impulse purchase (which seems to happen a lot when I'm with those two!). And as I wandered I saw a really cool Underarmour baseball shirt on a mannequin. Grey, but with red sleeves. I looked at the shirts in the rack next to the mannequin and of course they didn't have a red one in my size. And then I thought. I wonder if the mannequin is wearing a medium. So I went up to the mannequin and looked at the tag on the shirt. Yep, a medium. And as I was feeling the fabric I may, keywork may, have touched the mannequin's chest.

"Um, did you just feel the mannequin's pecs?" Lawyer X said? Damn, busted! But I'm not going to let on. "No, I was just check in the material. So do you think they would let me take the shirt from the mannequin since they don't have any more mediums?" I asked to try to change the subject. "Oh, so now you want to see the mannequin shirtless." He responded. Sigh. I can't win. BTW, I did get the sales people to strip the shirt of the mannequin and that was an ordeal. They had to remove both of it's arms. Kind of disturbing.

So Apple just reduced the price of the iMacs and I'm going to take the plunge on Friday. My home PC is atleast 5 years old. I can't even load my digital pictures to it anymore without it just freezing up. My sister & BNL have an iMac and it's soooo pretty. And I like the huge 24" monitor. And sometimes size does matter.

Speaking of size, let's talk about shoe sizes. So Lawyer X is like the jolly green giant and I'm . . . . . um . . . . not. Not even close. So we head to Nordstroms to look at shoes and we both like the same pair. And he needs the extra large pair, and I need the rather small pair. The guy who was helping us looked at us and just laughed. Whatever. I'm getting the shoes! And they rule!

Oh, and Kelly (in the video below), totally NSFW.

Reward & Punishment, USMC, and SOTU

2009-02-24T22:22:00.003-05:00

So I was supposed to get a massage on Monday. With the success of my fitness regime I wanted to treat myself with something other than food (which is kind of self defeating when you think about it). So I thought getting a massage would be a good way to reward myself for losing 20 pounds. But . . . . unfortunately I got on the scales Monday AM and I'd gained almost 5 pounds back. So if exercise and diet helps you lose weight, then not exercising and not dieting means you gain weight. And the trips to San Diego didn't help with the diet or the exercise part. And will say that I've made an awful discovery in Americone Dream! Damn you Stephen Colbert!! Damn you!!

So instead of rewarding myself, I'm now punishing myself. Yes, it's time to go back to my self-esteem crushing gym. I looked at my workout book and apparently I haven't lifted in a month. And I'm going on a cruise with teh gays soon, so I need to crack the whip and get back on track. So goodbye creamy rich ice cream, goodbye french fries, goodbye bread, goodbye alcohol. It was nice knowing you.

Spinning the subject wheel: The US Marine Corps. So I watch VH1 in the AM since that's pretty much the only time they play videos. And lately as I've been watching I notice this ad/infomercial for Black History Month about some of the first African American Marines. Apparently the ad/informercial is produced by the USMC. And I have to tell you, it rocks. And I think it's great that they are doing that.

Spinning the subject wheel again: State of the Union. Wow. It's the first one I've watched all the way through in 8 years. Again. Wow. It was really amazing. Andrew's got some good responses, and I feel for them all. It's the first time in a long time that I felt a politician was talking to me as an adult. We're in a tough situation. It's not going to be easy to fix. It's not going to get fixed overnight. But we're Americans and we can do it. Wow. Thank you for being honest with us. Thank you for treating us a responsible adults. Wow.

Oh, and Nancy, honey, please . . . . SIT THE F&CK DOWN!! Yes we got you are happy (so are we!), but you look like some sort of demonic cheerleader jumping up from your chair every 5 seconds.

I Swear I'd Be A Better Man

2009-02-19T09:05:00.003-05:00

Back in San Diego again. And I love the cool, hip, trendy hotel I'm staying at. It's been too cold/I've been to busy to enjoy an adult beverage on the roof top bar, but maybe tonight.

I bailed from the convention early last Friday to start to make my trek back to DC for Valentine's Day. For the first time in a long time I've had someone I wanted to share Valentine's Day with, so I used my US Airway miles to get a ticket from San Diego back to DC for the weekend. It was good to sleep in my own bed, but I really went back to spend time with Lawyer X (how's that for a nickname?). We ended up doing chores together on Saturday afternoon which seemed very domestic of us, but it really felt nice at the same time. Go figure. However, I'm not quite sure how we went to do HIS chores and I somehow ended up paying $200 for a pair of Diesel jeans. Yes, I know that's insane, but they really do fit well. So I'm slowly becoming a label whore. But I'm just trying to help the economy! Really!

You aren't buying it, are you?

Anyways, Lawyer X and I did have a very nice Valentine's dinner that night. Well, -ish. I picked a cool, hip trendy, restaurant for us to have dinner. And we had a really nice time. The food. Well, not so much. The food just wasn't that great. And the service was actually pretty bad. And for the price, it just wasn't a good time. So it wasn't all that, but it was time with Lawyer X that I needed. So that's good.

Flew back to San Diego and landed in the pouring rain. Nice. Back to DC tomorrow. And then I think I'm in my own bed for atleast a week! Yeah!

Oh, and I love this song:

Work and Politics

2009-02-12T09:41:00.003-05:00

Well they say you should never mix work and politics. And boy are they right. Because when it does happen, it's rarely pretty.

So I work for a defense contractor, so it's a pretty conservative environment, though I'm out and it's common knowledge (or so I thought) that I'm a little bit towards the left on the political scale. And my CEO likes to tweak me sometimes about it. And whenever that happens I usually go, "Oh, look at the time, I've got a meeting, gotta run, ciao!" And it works.

So last Friday my CEO comes into my office and asks, "So how did you end up giving $X amount of money to the Obama campaign? That's kind of an odd amount." And I laughed a bit to buy some time, and then said, "Well, I gave money at various times, kind of spur of the moment. Usually when I got mad. When Hillary won NH, when Palin was announced, etc." And he laughed and said that he had been on the FEC website and I asked him if I was the only one who had given money from our company and he didn't answer. He did say that I could go online to see who he had given money too. Umm, that's okay. And I'm not really worried about the conversation as my CEO and I trade light barbs back and forth pretty frequently. After the Inaugration I gave him a chocolate bar that had Obama's face carved in it. So it's all in good fun.

So I'm in San Diego (which is colder than DC and WTF is with that!) and I'm having dinner with some other people from my company including my new boss who is really hands off, which is good, but which means I haven't really gotten to know him really well yet. So over a glass of wine I thought it would be funny to tell the story about the CEO coming into my office. Wow, what a mistake. If my CEO is conservative, my new boss is rabidly conservative. And he just went off on Obama lying , etc and I was just kind of stunned. And of course now I'm like, back the f%ck off. So I kind of responded with the littany of lies that the W administration spewed. Then one of my good friends said, "So you know what you're giving says about you, right? That you don't like women." And everyone laughed. Because it's obviously not true in the sense that he means, but it kind of is true since I'm gay. And then I thought, hmm, I wonder if my new boss knows I'm gay. Sigh. That's another coming out and I'll save that for another day.

Spinning the subject wheel completely. I *L*O*V*E this song. And oddly enought I've got the dance version (natch!), but I like this version better!

Salad Snob and Coming Out (again, and again)

2009-02-06T18:07:00.006-05:00

So I just got back from Nof&ck. Yes, my favorite place. And to be honest, this was one of the most useless trips I've taken down there.

Anyways, one of the reasons I don't like Nof&ck is because the food is not great. I'm back on my Atkins diet (after a weekend of key lime pies and a MONSTER brownie sundae at the the local hipster hangout) so I'm working the salads. And on the Navy base, not so much. So I spend lunch at the Ruby Tuesday. Yes, I know. But it's close to the base and the food is slightly above marginal. The pickings are slim so you take what you can get. But here's the deal, the salads are okay, but would it kill you to mix the salad for me? After the nice salads at Cosi or Chop't, I kind of expect my salads to be pre-mixed. And it's not like I'm lazy. Well, kind of. The real issue is that when you've given me this beautiful salad with a stip of tomatoes, a strip of chicken, a strip of cheese, a strip of hard boiled eggs, etc across the bed of lettuce, it looks really pretty. But it's a pain to toss it myself. I end up getting a good portion of it on the table. You've got the big bowls back there to mix the salads, can't you do that for me?

Well enough of complaining about that.

So . . . . I had dinner with an old Navy friend of mine while I was in down there. And it's not like I ignore my old Navy friends, but most of them aren't in the area anymore so I haven't had a chance to tell them that I'm gay. And I did tell somone via email that I was gay and apparently you're not supposed to do that. It's not quite as bad as a text message breakup, but still. Anyways, it was great to see her and we started to catch up on our lives. And I knew the whole gay thing was going to come up. And when she mentioned going on chuch missions, I kind of winced inside. I'm like, this could be ugly.

And after giving her five minute highlights, she said, "So what's going on with you, who are you seeing, what's her name?"

And so I smiled a bit said, "His name . . . . . is X."

And she smiled in return and laughed a bit. She said she was cool with alternative lifestyles and kind of rambled on for a bit.

And while I am happy that my coming out isn't going to be an issue with our friendship, I've got to be honest and say the whole "alternative lifestyle" thing rubs me the wrong way. It kind implies choice. And being gay is definitely NOT a choice. But I think that mentality and the use of that phrase is kind of common among certain people of a certain age. So I just sort of bit my tongue and kep on with the conversation. I really appreciate her accepting me as I am and I didn't want to make a point out of it as I don't think she really has an issue with it.

Anyways, so the coming out process continues.

Etiquette Lessons and the Ghost of Boyfriends Past

2009-02-03T06:48:00.002-05:00

Now I'm not Emily Post, but I was raised right as my mom would say. So I know how to behave at formal dinners. Apparently that isn't as common as one would hope.

Last week for work, I ended up having to go to a formal lunch with some dignitaries from France at the Pentagon. The government lead took us up to the Commandant of the Marine Corps private dining room. Now we had a really swanky lunch when we were in Paris, so it was our turn to put on a nice meal. Sans wine of course.

Anyways, the French senior representative noticed that while it says USMC on the plates, it also says Department of the Navy. And one of the senior US guys was trying to explain how the USMC is part of the Department of the Navy. And then one guy goes, "The USMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Department of the Navy." Wow, what a great line. I must use that around my USMC friends sometime!

Anyways, the host (seriously senior guy) shows up and we sit down to eat. Now being a slimy contractor, and the youngest person at the table by far, I'm at one end of the table. Across from me is a Navy CDR. So we sit down, and I have a sip of water. Well the servers come out and bring out the soup. And they serve it kind of oddly as I get my soup before the guest of honor, or the host, does. So I sit there patiently. Well, my CDR friend across from me proceeds to dig in to the soup and starts eating. I'm trying to catch his eye to wave him off, but it's too late. Anyways, the soup is finally served to everyone and we start to eat. Sort of a corn chowder with some sausage in it. Very good. Well I'm half way through my soup when the CDR decides that he's done and puts the soup aside and moves his salad on top of his plate and starts to eat the salad. While everyone is still eating soup! Anyways, when the soup is done, the servers take the soup away and then the host pulls the salad to the center of the place setting to start to eat it. Now mind you, since the CDR already ate his salad, the server took away his salad plate and his soup bowl, so he's just sitting there and not really participating in the conversation. Just odd. We have the main course, spinach and feta stuffed chicken. And it was good. Well they bring out the dessert and of course my CDR friend is served first and what does he do? He grabs his spoon and starts to dig in before everyone has their desserts. I'm like, wow, you need to get out more.

That night we flew down to Key West (hey, don't be a hater!) with the French. We worked on Friday and of course at lunch on Friday (a more casual affair) we see then storm clouds building. We go back to our meetings and when we leave for the day, the temp has dropped atleast 30 degrees. Yep, my only free day and it was cold in Key West. I just can't win sometimes.

Leaving the hotel on Sunday, I've got a late check out. I pack all of my bags and head down to the lobby. As I enter the lobby, I see a familiar face. And my first thought is no, it can't be. But I round the corner and it is. It's Norton (obviously not his real name). What are the odds that my former boyfriend (-ish) is staying at the same hotel as me in Key West? We say hello and exchange greetings. It's all very civil. And that's not to imply it was every ugly. After 5 or so months, I asked what we were doing and he said that he wasn't ready for a boyfriend. And I was okay with that, I said I still wanted to be friends. And then I never heard from him again. Which to be honest I thought was a little disappointing. I thought he was better than that. Oh well.

The good news? He didn't really look that great and I on the other hand have dropped 20 pounds and look fabulous! And that's all that really matters, right?

Obama-rama 2009

2009-01-24T17:49:00.010-05:00

Notice how I threw 2009 in there? That's to separate it from Obama-rama 2013 when he's sworn in for his second term. Nothing like a bit of . . what's the word I'm looking for . . . . oh that's right . . . hope!

So I was at ground zero for the Obama-rama and while I did not partake in a lot of the festivities, I did go down to the National Mall to see him sworn him. Me and the other 1.8M people. But it was such a great experience.

Superlawyer, his children, and and his BF crashed at my place Monday night since the bridges to the Commonwealth were going to be closed. We all crashed around 11PM and then I heard an alarm go off at 430. And I'm like, if we're leaving at 0530, why are we getting up at 0430. And Superlawyer is like, "You obviously don't have kids, do you." Ah, good point. And even getting up at 0430, we didn't leave until 0545 where we started to trek down to the Mall. Coming up to Scott Circle is where we saw the first of the military guys standing watch. It was harshly cold and they were bundled up pretty well. We hit the Caribou Coffee at 18th and M and then started walking down 18th towards the Mall. When we hit Consititution, we cut down 17th between the Washington Monument and the WW II memorial. Once we were on the south side of the mall, we cut towards the Capital. Needless to say, it was already a mob scene by 0630. And by 0700 we had come to a forced stop right in front of the Smithsonian Castle. Not anywhere close to the Capital, but we just hit a wall of people. So we stopped, pulled out the blanket that SL had brought, and sort of sat down.

Now as the Mall began to fill up, people were packed in all around us, and trying to push their way through the crowd. While we were playing Uno. Um, hello, see this blanket. No you just can't cut through. Where you want to step is the discard pile. Please go around. And most people did, and some people just ignored us. For the most part it was okay and there was very little ugliness by anyone. And I'll have to say that part of that was due to the cold. It was FRAKKIN COLD!! The weatherman had said mid-30s, but they lied as usual. SL, the expert planner, in addition to the blanket and Uno had brought sandwiches, snacks, and water to help tied us through the morning. At some point the jumbotrons started playing the We Are One concert. Which was good. It helped take your mind off of the cold. And then the pre-ceremony stuff started being shown. And the crowd was loving it. The huge cheers for the Obama children, and the big boos for W and Cheney. I said nothing and just observed the crowd around me and their reactions. Black, white, young, old, and everything in between. And the reaction was nearly unanimous. No one was sorry to see W and his cronies leave town.

The oath. Dear God! You're the Supreme Justice, you couldn't read the oath properly! I froze a bit when it happened, but it's all worked out. And then the speech. It wasn't great. But it was good. It was a somber reminder of the situation our country faces. The challenges we need to overcome, both here and abroad. And the thing I like about it most, is that we finally have a President who will speak to us as adults. No platitudes, not obfuscation. We're American's, we can handle the truth. And we finally have a President who will tell us the truth. During his speech, he mad some comment about how we weren't going to trade our freedoms and civil liberties for security, and just when he said that, the jumbotron cut to W and I just had to smile. That's right. We don't. America is strong enough in our ideals and our principles to have the civil liberties and freedoms that all of our ancestors have fought for, while still maintaining our national security!

After the speech, we bailed. Sorry about the poem and the benediction. We'd been there for over 6 hours, we were cold and we were leaving. And we weren't the only ones. We cut through the Smithsonian Castle gardens to Independence Ave. A couple of narrow gates caused some severe bottlenecks and people were just trying to push through. Again, it was a recipe for some ugliness, but I saw none. SL and his crew headed east to walk to Eastern Market to catch the Metro. And I started west. It was hard to fight the crowd down around the Washington Monument. I felt like a salmon going upstream against the masses of people heading L'Enfant Plaza. But that was nothing. As I wormed my way across the Mall through the masses, I finally hit 18th St and looked up the street. It was just a sea of people, from building to building, all the way as far as the eye could see. It was just insane. And I knew most of them were heading for Farragut North Metro, and that would just create more of a cluster. So being smarter than the average bear, I thought, I'll skip over to 19th, walk up that and avoid all of the madness. Good plan in theory, but . . . . 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd were all closed to PEDESTRIAN traffic! WTF?? That I don't just get. But figured it was not a smart move to ignore all of the soldiers who were directing traffic towards 23rd. So needless to say I took a very round about way back to my condo.

That evening Museum Man, SL, and his BF and I hit 1789 for a celebration dinner. Dressed up in our tuxes, we looked great and had a great meal. I had the smoothest cosmo and then a little wine with dinner. We toasted to our new President and it was just a fantastic way to end the day. Well, sort of. SL and his BF headed back to the Commonwealth so since MM and I were all dressed up and no place to go, we would hit the ultra-hip lounge near my place. Had a drink there, which was not so good, and then finally went home since I wasn't feeling so well. Had a really rough night. Sort of like Andrew's: "I swear I didn't drink too much and suspect food poisoning or some bug, but I spent much of the night projectile vomiting into the bathroom porcelain. Maybe it was some kind of psychosomatic response to the end of the Bush administration."

Well that too, but I think it was some severe dehyradation (since I didn't want to battle the masses for the port-o-potties) combined with some strong drinks and rich food.

Anyways, that's the wrap up of Obama-rama 2009. It's a new adminstration, a new point in history, a new day for America.

Wish Jeans, Milk, and Being Bitter (-ly Cold)

2009-01-18T12:02:00.004-05:00

So I'm still alive. Still sick. Of course. But still alive.

My trip to San Diego got canceled, but that's probably a good thing. There's lot of work for me to do here. And the whole logistics of it all really sucked. My flight back was supposed to be on Saturday (yesterday) with stops in Denver and Boston. Yep, apparently trying to fly into DC over the MLK/Inauguration weekend is a serious haze.

So, the diet and exercising is working. And I'm now actually managing to squeeze my still fat a$$ into my wish jeans. You know, you buy the jeans wishing some day that you'll be able to fit into them. Well my wish has come true. Sort of. I still need to lose some more weight, but I'm making some good progess. And how long ago did I buy these jeans? I'm not sure, but they are 2(x)ist jeans and I don't think they even make them anymore!

Finally got a chance to see Milk. It was really good and I'm not a huge Sean Penn fan, but I think he did an amazing job. The whole story was just amazing. I will say that what I thought was particurarly interesting is that back in 1976 (?) during the Prop 6 effort (where they wanted to ban gay teachers), the established gay and lesbian groups were pushing a message that was focused on human rights but didn't actually use the word gay. It reminded me of the arguments in the aftermath of a Prop 8 where the leading GLBT groups did the same thing. They didn't actually use the word gay, or show gay couples in there advertising. And that was a huge mistake. To be effective, you need to make it personal. It's one thing to say that you're going to ban gay marriage, but when you've going to say that you're going to prevent your Uncle and his partner of 10 years from getting married, it turns it from an abstract concept to a very personal reality. Personally, I think the anti-prop 8 groups needed to run commercials like this:

Anyways, since everyone else is doing, I'm going to also. Dayum it's cold out there!! It is just bitter. In theory it will warm up a bit before the Inauguration. Even making it into the 30s would be good. Superlawyer and his kids are going to camp at my house on Monday night and then we're going to get up at the crack of dawn to head down to the Mall. I haven't decided whather I'm going to watch today's festivities on TV, or brave the cold. I'm still trying to get over this cold, so maybe staying in will be a better option. Anyways, stay warm everyone!

Snotty and Sniffling

2009-01-04T10:04:00.002-05:00

Yep, I'm sick again. As is quite typical on my trips to Paris, I usually get sick a day or two after I get back. And while I usually blame the walking & talking viral factory that is my niece, I actually think it was my Mom this time. So I've been trying to lay low for the past week or so to try to recuperate.

Christmas in Paris was good. Ish. Five adults and two children does cause some interesting family dynamics. But I think it went better than I thought. And while the weather was pretty cold, atleast it didn't rain much. So we did managed to get out of the flat every day for little adventures or the daily chores.

Let's see, Christmas highlight? I have to say that it's my niece listening to my iPod and singing along to Pink's "So What" at the top of her lungs!

"So so what?
I'm still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And I don't need you"

Just too funny and too cute.

And the trip back rocked! I got bumped to business class (thank you United!) and the flight got in an hour early!

I stayed in on NYE. Museum Man and I watched a movie and had some kirs. Nothing too wild. Though we did have an exceptional brunch at Fahrenheit at the Ritz Carlton in Georgetown with the Glamazon on New Years Day. We had several cosmos and we were feeling pretty toasty by the time we left about 3 plus hours later. Definitely a good time.

Started the new gym routine yesterday. It's been three months since I started at my self esteem crushing gym and I need to mix up my routine to see some new improvements. And like any gay man, I normally ignore my lower body. Well, with the cardio I do, my lower body is fine. But I finally decided to add some legs to my routine. Plus I'm mixing up my other workouts. I want to lose 15 pounds by the cruise in March. So that's the goal!

Plus ca change . . .

2008-12-17T21:51:00.003-05:00

. . . . .the more they stay the same.

Had a good time at my bday/holiday party. Too good of a time. Well that and Museum Man mixes a mean cosmo. I was pleasantly inebriated by 10PM, and then over-imbibed by midnight. Needless to say it was not a good night, nor a good morning. I pretty much spent the next day in the fetal position. Now I remember why I don't drink alot.

And then that night was my company holiday party. And after skipping last year, I had to make an appearance. It was good, thought I'm not sure it's really fun to be the only sober person at your company holiday party. I did manage to escape and make it back home by midnight.

My office has moved to Ballston. So I'm dealing with the new commuting challenges. It's not too much of a haze. Our building is sweet. Though I was really hoping for an improvement in the climate control. They haven't "balanced" the system yet and I've been in my office freezing. Not fun. On the plus side, there are a lot more eating options. Which considering my diet status, is not necessarily a good thing.

Off to Paris on Friday PM for the holidays. The rentals flew out Monday night so they got to see my niece and nephews holiday concerts. That whole work thing kept me in DC till Friday. Oh we'll I'll be gone a week and that's perfect!

Previously On All About Trey

2008-12-11T20:18:00.003-05:00

Our hero had just returned from a fabulous trip to Mexico tanned and rested only to be thrown into the chaotic fast paced drama he calls work.

Well -ish. I have been busy. And in sort of a good way.

Let's see, on the good news front, I've either lost 20 or 30 pounds depending on what you take as the starting point: my "normal" pre-diet weight, or the just got out of the hospital weight from a year ago. So that's good.

And I'm loving the new clothes I'm discovering in my closet. Even more amusing is that some of my 34 inch waist pants are loose, and some of the 36 inch waist pants are tight. It really is just insane and depends on the cut. But I'll deal.

Oh, and I went in for my CAT scan and I'm officially cancer free after one year.

So all good news.

Currently in No-f&ck. Yeah, I know, my fav. And it's just a torrential downpour out this evening, so I stuck with the crappy hotel restaurant food. I should have just gotten wet, the food was really that bad.

Let's see, I'm forgetting something . . . . . oh yes, now I remember.

My birthday is tomorrow!

And I'm loving this song right now:

And I gotta give some props to my sister as she was loving Lady Gaga in September before it was hip. Though she does live in France, so they get all of the good stuff early.

Captain Cardio and Cold Showers

2008-12-03T17:56:00.002-05:00

So I've recovered from the gluttony of Thanksgiving. I'm back to my pre-Tday weight. So that's good. But I've had to overdose on the obsessive compulsive exercise I've been doing. Which basically means I'm doing 2-a-days. In the AM, I'm at my self esteem crushing gym (SECG) at 545AM for some cardio and core work out. And then after work, I go back to lift and do more cardio. Cardio is my friend.

However, cold showers are not. I usually bundle up in the AM, go work out, and then come back home to shower and change for work. But one of the "features" in my condo is that the hot water heater also feeds the heat, and in the winter, the systems doesn't work so well. Even without the heat on in my condo, the water never seems to rise above tepid in the winter. Which is oh-so-enjoyable after you've walked back in the cold from your gym. So, my new, new plan is to lug my work clothes to the gym and use the showers there.

And that works. The locker room at my SECG is really nice. Very high end and they have nice shampoo and product from the hair salon that's part of the gym. And more importantly, there is plenty of hot water. Unlike at my old gym, while they do have TV's on, there is no volume. Only some very soothing tranquil music that really does seem to relax me as the hot water courses over my body. So it's been working for me. ;-)

Thanksgiving Weekend Purge

2008-11-29T21:19:00.002-05:00

And no, I'm not talking bulimia. I've tried that and it just doesn't work for me. Though, after the gluttony that was Thanksgiving Day, I should re-think that option.

No, what I'm talking about is my annual tradition of cleaning out my closets and getting rid of things that don't fit or that I haven't worn in a year. Plus it gives me the opportunity to clean up my closets and chest of drawers. So the good news is that this year, I'm actually getting rid of clothes that don't fit because they are too big. Yeah! While I'm still fat, I'm less fat than I have been in a long time. So that's nice. And the beauty of the purge is that I get to discover clothes I bought years ago and haven't worn because I couldn't fit into them. I was kind of depressed that I only had one pair of decent jeans. And voila! I found a great pair of black jeans and then some jeans that are sort of low rise jeans that actually work on me. So that's a pleasant surprise.

The results of the purge? Four trash bags full of clothes that I dropped off at Goodwill today. My closets look great and are stuffed with clothes any more.

Since we (Museum Man and myself) ventured into the Commonwealth to go to the Goodwill drop off, we decided to brave the crowds at Tysons. And it wasn't as awful as I thought. I did pick up a couple of things. Museum Man is a bit of label whore, and some of that rubbed off on me. But while I did buy a Diesel and Hugo Boss shirt, I got them both on sale.

Tonight if my energy levels stay up, we're going to hit Town. Should be fun.

A Thanksgiving Blessing

2008-11-28T13:21:00.002-05:00

A blessing for each
A blessing for all
Now let abundant blessings fall

Upon the present
Upon the past
A rain of blessings that will last

Never forgotten
Never unknown
God’s blessings find you and lead you home

Healing your mind
Healing your heart
Healing your soul so you won’t be apart

Bringing you peace
Bringing you love
Bringing you solace from heaven above

Deep in your heart God’s love will abide
Deep in your heart – like a nightlight inside
Deep in your heart, you’re safe in this light
So close your eyes tight
And rest well this night

PV Pics

2008-11-26T12:13:00.004-05:00

I'm playing hooky from work (well not really, since I'm working from home) and thought I would post some pics from my trip to Puerta Vallarta. I've still got a bit of a tan left, but with the cold weather we've had lately, it seems like PV was another lifetime ago.

Reclaiming Hope

2008-11-16T22:36:00.007-05:00

So I marched in my first gay march yesterday. I've been to Pride before and never really felt like marching in a Pride parade. Sure I'm out and proud, but marching really isn't my thing. But on Saturday I took part in the National Day Of Protest against Prop 8 and for gay marriage.

Saturday AM, I hit the CVS and bought a poster board and some markers so I could make my own poster. In my not so great handwriting I wrote, "Equal Rights For All. Fight Hate." And then Museum Man and I took the metro down to the Mall. We got off the metro at the Smithsonian stop and then walked the rest of the way down the mall, and I was carrying the sign so everyone could read it. As we made our way to the reflecting pool, I could see the crowd that was starting to form there. We finally made our way there and kind of blended into the crowd. It was really an interesting experience. A very great, positive vibe. A little disorganized to be honest, but there was something real, and hopeful, about it. Lots of great signs. The gays are pretty funny. But the crowd wasn't just gays and lesbians. There were tons of people (I've heard 3000) there, gay, straight, black, white, young, old, etc. It was really amazing. So techincally it wasn't really a gay march. It was a march for equality.

After some cheers and some speeches, we started to walk down the mall. While the weather had been warm and partly sunny earlier, big heavy darks clouds had rolled in. But still we marched. Down the south side of the Mall towards the Washington Monument. Carrying my sign, I jointed in the cheers. "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Prop 8 Has Got to Go." And it made me think.

Why I am marching for Prop 8? What causes me and hundreds of thousands of people like me around the country who don't live in California to come out to protest and march for the rights of gays and lesbians in California? I think we are there trying to reclaim a little bit of hope. First Vermont with civil unions. Then Massachusetts with marriage. Then California. Despite some setbacks, the forward progress for equal rights was happening. It was only going to be a matter of time before other states (thank you Connecticut!) would follow suit. So to see the people of California give in to hate, to fear, and to pass Proposition 8 was just a body blow to our collective hope for equal rights across the United States. If any state should support equal rights, it would be California, right? But no, the people of California lost sight of the inalienable rights of all citizens to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This march, and the hundreds like it around the country were just our way of reclaiming hope that equal rights will come some day. That we can make it happen if we work together. If we show the rest of the country that we won't settle for second class rights.

Despite the pretty torrential downpour, we walked around the Washington Monument, up 17th St, and then over to LaFayette Park in front of the White House. The group was pretty big and stretched for several blocks. And we walked for quite a bit. And despite the rain, I think the positive attitude of everyone who marched was just amazing. And despite the traffic jams we caused, I only saw people waving or honking in support. Nothing bad or negative. It was really a remarkable afternoon.

Oh, best signs:

"More Gay Marriages = Less Gay Sex. Happy Now?
If I Can't Marry My Boyfriend, I'll Marry Your Daughter.
Single and Bitter, but Still Support Marriage.

Dan Savage is made of The Awesome!

2008-11-13T22:06:00.001-05:00

Love him!

And he was HILARIOUS! on Colbert!!

The Gift of Hope

2008-11-10T19:58:00.000-05:00

Love this:

Bear Island, Twinktown, and Sunset Swims

2008-11-09T14:56:00.001-05:00

As I write this entry, I’m somewhere over the middle of the United States, en route to Chicago and then eventually back to DC, hopefully before midnight.

Yes the vacation is over and I’ve already cranked out some of my monthly reports on the plane. Yes, that is a big L on my forehead. But the vacation was a blast. So much fun, so much quality downtime. It’s a good thing.

So we had a pretty decent size bear contingent on this trip. And if you could hear the rise cheering, then you could tell they were doing shots. Oy vey, did they like their shots. And you don’t even want to know what was in the shots. One of them was Daddy’s Milk. It was beyond foul. And they would use an inflatable raft as a drink barge to take the shots out to the middle of the pool where they would all congregate around a slightly submerged little island. It was just below the water level so you could lay there on your back and most of your body would be underwater, but your face, etc would be above the water. This little submerged island became Bear Island. And the bears even went so far as to move several lounge chairs, little plastic tables, and even some umbrellas to provide shade. Look, they may be bears, but they are still gay, and you know how the gays love to decorate.

In response to Bear Islands, the twinks felt like they were being left out, so they create Twinktown. Just a grouping of lounge chairs where all of the twinks would hang out. They were the ones with the Obama-Biden signs at the pool on Tuesday. So they created new signs that said Twinktown. So yes, Twinktown was across from Bear Island. Look, on an Atlantis vacations you get all types and everyone gets along. It really is one of the great, but strange things about Atlantis vacations. It seems like everyone checks their egos at the door and everyone is nice to everyone. It really is very warm and friendly. Whether you are a twink or a bear, or somewhere in between.

Despite predictions for rain on Thursday and Friday, it was sunny and gorgeous both days. We really did have spectacular weather the whole time we were there. Friday afternoon was the last T dance. It was amazing. The theme is tropical wear, so lots of people in sarongs. Yes, even me. And dancing in a sarong is a bit challenging. But do-able. Some great music again. Love T dance music. As the sun began to set, the crowd moved down to the beach with their drinks and their cameras. I took a number of great photos as well. When the sun finally set, I handed my camera and my sarong to a friend and ran into the ocean, plunging into the warm gentle water and just reveling in the amazing experience I had this past week in PV.

I Know Hope

2008-11-05T17:59:00.003-05:00

Looking back at yesterday, I still get chills.

Several times during the day, I slipped back to my room to get my internet fix of news, updates, etc. Love me some Andrew! He was a rock and the stories he posted from readers across the U.S. caused me to well up with emotions more than a couple of times. Hoping that you're going to see something as spectacular as we saw yesterday, and actually seeing it happen just bordered on the surreal. And I've apparently invested a lot of my emotions in this election as I was tense, proud, worried, hopeful, inspired, saddened, and exhilarated as the night progressed.

I went body surfing in the crashing waves around 5PM here in PV. Great waves, and they wore me down. I was physically and emotionally exhausted by the time I parked myself in front of the large TVs in the lounge.

I plugged in my laptop as well so I wasn't completely trapped by CNN. I could get coverage from a number of sources. And I was drinking. If there was a time to drink, it was then. Vodka and cranberry. And the waitress kept bringing it. When the polls closed on the east coast, it was game on. And slowly over the night, the lobby began to get crowded. When CNN made the first projection for Obama, the crowd roared. And it would only get louder as the night progressed. I was also checking on Prop 8 in CA and Ammendment 2 in FL. I can't tell you how many times I pressed the refresh button on my browser to get the latest numbers.

The cheers for each new state called for Obama continued to grow louder as more and more people crammed into the lounge, or hung out on the patio outside. The highlights? Liddy Dole getting her behind kicked in NC. When Virginia was finally called for Obama. When Colorado was finally called for Obama. And of course when the polls closed on the west coast and CNN called the election for Obama. The raging cheers and screams of joy crashed around us, and I think around the world. What a truly spectacular night.

Needless to say by the time Obama gave his fantastic speech, I was just exhausted. I was spent and would have cried if I wasn't surrounded by a whole bunch of guys.

While America faces many problems, I really think we've got the right President to address them.

I know hope!

The T in T Dance Stands for Turtles?

2008-11-02T20:33:00.002-05:00

Okay, it's amazing down here. Yes, the flight was a haze and getting through immigration was seriously insane (think early voting type lines), but it so nice down here. Warm, sunny, the resort is beautiful. I'm on the 7th floor looking down on the pool, hot tubs, the palm trees and then out to the beach. It's just so spectacular.

So I'm trying this new thing. I'm trying to be more out going and try to meet new people. And it's not really working for me. Last night I got my first clinger. He was nice enough looking, a little bit older, but with some nice salt and pepper hair. Unfortunately he was drunk. Not an ugly drunk, but he just didn't realize the he was so drunk. And while I appreciate being called "hot", after the sixth slurred time, I'm beginning to think that hanging out with you is a bad idea. And I *hate* being the bad person in this situation, but seriously, you're trashed. GO AWAY! Anyways, to escape him, I ended up going to sleep early.

This AM I got up and did my workout at the gym. It was packed, of course, but I managed to do an abbreviated routine. Then it was pool time which was great. I heard a great new adjective to use to describe the muscle men: overbuilt! Isn't that great. Mind you, I still think they are uber-hot, but it is a great word. And there are several overbuilt men here. Just yummy.

Today was the dog tag tea dance. Loved it. I had brought a flight suit to wear, but it was so hot I decided to just wear my cammie shorts and no shirt. I can almost get away with it. Almost. Anyways, great music. Great time. Blazing hot in the sun and I'm just drenched in sweat from the dancing. So I decided to head down to the beach. I'm already cover in salt, I might as well dip into the ocean. So I ditch my shoes and walk out to the beach. The sun is setting and even though there are clouds blocking the view, it's still just so pretty. And I'm there sort of wading in the water. And then it happens. I start to get depressed. I really would love to have someone I care about with me at times like these. It's just so beautiful and I want to share it with someone. Well, to make sure I didn't slip into a pity party, I decided to go back to the dance and let the music take me away. As I go back to my shoes, just a foot away, six little sea turtles have crawled out of the sand. They are valiantly tryingt to get over a small sand ridge and they are just miles away from the water from their perspective. Of course I freak out a bit. I call one of the waitresses over and ask her if we should take them down to the water. She called a security guard so they could record the location and number of turtles, and then a group of us carried the turtles down to the water. They were small little things and struggling a bit to get out of our grasps, but we made it to the water and then released them! So we saved 6 baby sea turtles today! By this time, all thoughts of a pity party were gone and I went back to dance one last dance.

Love This!

Change is Coming!

2008-10-31T22:11:00.004-04:00

So I went down to Judiciary Square on Thursday AM to vote. I guess I went down in 2006 (?) to do early voting and it was a piece of cake. Thursday AM, not so much. I got there around 820AM. Ten minutes before the polls even opened and the line snaked through the rather big lobby atleast five times. It was just insane. As I waited the line, got longer, eventually snaking out the door, to the street, and then down the block. But it was all good. Half the people were hunched over their crackberries doing work (um . . . . guilty). The other half just stood there quietly or softly talking. It was pretty orderly. I voted! But I didn't fill out the whole ballot. For the races I didn't know, I just left them blank. I did NOT write in Carol Schwartz. There was a news camera there and apparently the lines were on the news Thursday night. And I guess after I left, they added additional electronic voting booths. So that's good.

The CAT scan went fine. I think I almost fell asleep. I'll get the results after I get back from Puerta Vallarta.

Since I failed to get my guilty beach reading earlier in the week, I walked over to Lamdba Rising to grab some books. And while I know it's Halloween, I just haven't been thinking about it much. So I saw lots of costumes. Some good, some bad. Some need to cover more skin. Tight short shorts and a muffin top are not a good look on anyone.

Anyways, Happy Halloween!

Go Vote!

Know Hope!

Adios!

Porn Star Playground

2008-10-29T19:46:00.003-04:00

My gym that is. Or to be a bit more honest, my self-esteem crushing gym. I swear there must have been a dozen guys who looked like they just walked off a Titan or Colt movie set. Clothed of course. Big, muscled, short haircuts, a little bit of scruff going. I'm surprised there wasn't a little trail of drool across the floor as I went about my work out. Sure, some people may see it as incentive, or examples to aspire to. Not me. It just reminds me that I'm fat. Well, less fat than before, but still fat.

Oh, but I'm hot. Radioactively speaking. I took the iodine pill today so radiation is coursing through my body looking for any cancer cell. I go in for a CAT scan on Friday. Should be fun. Not. And that will be my fourth trip to the hospital this week. Enough.

On Saturday I'm off to Puerta Vallarta with the gays. I can't wait. And while I'm fat (see above), I'm less fat that when I went last year. Plus I was off my thyroid medication last year in prep for my quarantine procedure, so I was also really tired and run down. So I should hopefully have a better time this year. Have laptop, will travel. So I'll be doing a little bit of work, but hopefully not too much. But still, all I want is a beach, a pool, and someone to bring me a cold beverage while I read my books!

Endless Pool and Phone Banking

2008-10-25T23:15:00.002-04:00

So I went to my self esteem crushing gym (SECG) twice today. Yes I'm a glutton for punishment, but we knew that. Anyways, I went there this AM to try the endless pools. You know those little mini pools where there is a current you swim against and you basically stay in the middle. So two things. One, it's not as easy as it looks. You've got to get the speed of the current correct or you'll be too close, or too far back and run into the wall. And I don't know about other people, but the speed I swim freestyle and the speed I swim breast stroke are NOT the same. So that was kind of weird also. Plus, while I don't use my legs much in a regular pool, they sort of trail behind me and aren't an issue. In the endless pools, my legs starts to sink, so I'm not completely parallel in the water which makes swimming kind of awkward. Anyways, my point is: it's not easy.

I guess my other thing is that the beauty of swimming is the weightlessness you feel when you are swimming. Say you've a little bit on the large size, in the pool you feel weightless and you don't really think about how fat you are. So there's this illusions of not being fat. Well the endless pool has a little mirror on the bottom of the pool. Ostensibly that's supposed to help you maintain the correct position in the pool. But really what it does is destroy that illusion of weightlessness when you are forced to look at the large amount of flubber you are pulling through the water. So not right.

After the gym and doing some chores, I limped down to the metro and went out to Ballston to phone bank for Obama. Another great experience. The vibe in the room was great and it was just packed with people. On a rainy Saturday afternoon. And such a great mix of people. Old, young (there were some teenages with their parents even!), black, white and everything in between, gay, straight, etc. It was just great. And the Obama campaign has got a great system going.

Know Hope!

Sprained Ankle, Cockrings, and 150K Makeovers

2008-10-24T23:41:00.003-04:00

Oy vey.

So I went to a church thing Thursday night. Had a good time. It ended just before 9PM so I thought I would join MuseumMan for a drink at the Duplex Diner. Well, as I'm walking down U St I step on some cracked pavement and sprained my ankle. Big time. And partially fall into the bushes which I'm sure kind of freaked out the very nice couple in front of me who realized that I wasn't going to mug them when I started to say "F#@k!" Repeatedly. Anyways, I managed to make it to Duplex which is quite the happening spot for the A listers on a Thursday night. We saw Andrew and his husband.

I stayed home from work today since I could barely walk, but I was fairly productive. And at 5PM I decided to risk going to the gym. I love my self esteem crushing gym and I've gotten into a good routine. And I've lost some weight. So I'm not going to let something minor like a sprained ankle stop me. So I lifted (yes I hobbled across the weight room floor) and then did the bike. It sucked, but I dealt with it. My ankle is still throbbing a bit. I plan to hit the endless pool tomorrow. We'll see how at goes.

Oh, cockrings. So I'm now used to the whole cockring poolside. Wearing a cockring under your swim suit lifts the goods and make them a bit more prominent. And so when I'm on a cruise or at Ptown, I don't even think about it. Well much. But I think the new thing is to wear your cockring to the gym. All I'm saying is that there are some pronounced packages being displayed in gym shorts and sweats being worn by the guys at my self esteem crushing gym. Oh, and I think I'm beginning to see a trend in the guys at my gym. I think the muscle bears are taking over. And not so much bears in weight, but with the facial hair. I suspect that Resluts will end up being the twink gym and my SECG will be the muscle gym. And let me tell you how upset I am about that. ;-)

Wow, $150K on clothes? That's just insane. Though the Valentino jacket is amazing. I kid! Seriously, if I had $150K to blow, I'd hop on a plane to Brazil and hire the best plastic surgeon in the country. I'd have everything done including that procedure in Gattica where they made Ethan Hawke taller. I've be 6 foot tall, with a 50 inch chest, and a 30 in waist. Hey, you have to have a dream. The only procedure I'd recommend for Sarah Palin would be a lobotomy, but I suspect she's already had one. And I can't let it go, $150K for clothes? Really? WTF were they thinking? Can she just go back to her tanning bed in Alaska and leave us alone?

Know Hope

2008-10-23T17:58:00.002-04:00

Via Andrew:

And this is just inspiring:

"Here's an early voting story from a medical student in Evansville, Ind.:

I squeaked in just before the 7pm deadline to find two very frustrated poll workers and a line of a couple dozen people, due to problems with the computerized voting system not accepting people's driver's licenses. It was taking about 7-10 minutes per person just to get the computer to accept them as valid and to print out their ballot, causing very long delays.

For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn't in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president. Anyone who doesn't think that African-American turnout will absolutely SHATTER every existing record is in for a very rude surprise.

There were about 20 people in front of me but remarkably not a single person left the room without voting over the 2 hours it took to get through the line."

Know hope! And VOTE!

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

2008-10-21T21:56:00.003-04:00

And just admit you're drooling just thinking about it. ;-)

Yes, I've cooked this evening. No there is not a tear in the space time continuum. I'm in DC for a whole 2 weeks so I thought I would actually buy groceries and cook! I had the bacon wrapped meatloaf at a restaurant in No-f&ck and thought I would try it out here. I've cooked it once already and it was okay. I made some small changes this time, like pre-cooking the bacon, so we'll see how it works out. That's dinner tomorrow night.

Yep, I've been doing the no/low carb thing and it's working! I've lost over 10 pounds! I'm almost afraid that I'm going to jinx myself, but even with some trips I've managed not to loose the bubble and keep a focus on the diet. But I'm also exercising again. The foot problems are gone and I am now able to work out again.

I love my new gym. I call it my "self esteem crushing gym". Seriously. It's where all of the A list hottie gays are going now. And do I need that? No. At 0530 when I've rolled out of bed and make my way to the gym I do NOT want to see pretty people. It's like punishment. It's just not fair. But I've been going and I'm almost back into my old routine.

And my little home improvement effort is complete. Check out the new and improved living room. Can you say sweet?!?

Around the World in Three Days

2008-10-16T10:12:00.003-04:00

Okay, halfway around the world.

Monday: Paris, France.
Tuesday: Washington, DC.
Wednesday: San Diego, CA.

I am so jet lagged I'm not even sure what my name is.

Paris was great as always. Good to see my sister and her family. Spend time with my niece and nephew, even if they don't appreciate it.

"I don't want to visit Uncle Trey, he's EVIL!!!!"

Yeah, do you feel the love? But that's just him. And I love him regardless. I will say that I did score this time with the Pokemon DS game. So I've got that going for me.

On Saturday we went shopping at Decathalon, a sporting good chain in France, and finally saw some hotties. French guys are all stick thin little twinks. But in Decathalon I finally saw a hot muscular DILF with huge biceps. And you know how I am about big biceps. Unfortunately as I was leaving, I saw him sucking on a cancer stick. Sigh.

On Sunday we went to Givernchy, which is where the impressionist painters would go when they left Paris to go into the countryside to paint. We actually went to Monet's house and garden. It was really amazing. After seeing so many Monet paintings, we were actually walking through the gardens, and along the water lilly pond, that he painted and made famous. So very, very cool. After that, we went to an abandon chateau (which was more like a castle) on top of a hill over looking a small village in a valley. The weather was amazing and the kiddos had a good time rumpusing across the castle and the hill.

Flew back on Monday. Worked in DC on Tuesday. And then caught a flight before the crack of dawn on Wednesday to make it out to San Diego. Here till Saturday.

I made it to 830PM last night (1130PM DC time; 0530AM Paris time) and then I woke up at midnight (0300AM DC time, 0900 AM Paris time). Today's going to be a long, long, long day.

Quote of the Day

2008-10-06T19:21:00.002-04:00

"When I was a boy I asked God please make me normal and the prayer never got answered and I realized why. Because God would've made somebody else he wouldn't have made me."

- Father Geoffrey Farrow

Coming out against Proposition 8, and coming out to his church.

Thank you Father Geoff. And God Bless You.

There and Back Again.

2008-10-05T20:58:00.002-04:00

I'm back. Sort of.

Sort of dropped off the radar for a bit. Work is work. Sucking my will to live.

And the whole Palin thing. Really? REALLY? Sigh.

Went to France for work. Not quite a boondoggle. Got to visit my sister and her family.

Going to France again. Don't ask. Long story.

Then San Diego for work.

So I'm quite the traveler.

Or an airline mileage slut.

You're call.

The Commonwealth of Cancer

2008-09-08T21:41:00.003-04:00

First off I want to say that I'm NOT a DC snob. Yes, it's great, but I work in VA, I lived in VA for 4 years. There are some great areas in VA, especially NOVA. But . . . . . I joined the Manassas Mail Man (M3), SuperLawyer, and Museum Man (M2) at Freddies on Friday night for Kareoke night (the horror!). And it was fun ish. But I just haven't been in a bar that allows smoking in so long that the smoke just seemes to burn into my retinas. And after we left, I desperately wanted to take a shower. Like immediately!

Now I'm in No-fuck and at a crappy Radisson. In theory my room is a non-smoking room, but as soon as I walked into the room, I could tell that it used to be a smoking room. Sure they've used a thousand gallons of cleaner to remove the smell, but unless you've burned the inside of the room down to the wooden frame or steel girders, it's still going to smell. Like cigarrettes but with a weird cleanser smell on top of it. Ugh.

Tired from my 3+ hour drive, I didn't feel like getting in the car again for dinner. And the hotel is downtown No-fuck. But in like a scarey part of downtown. So it's not like I'm going to walk outside for dinner. So I went to the hotel pub. Which of course was full of smokers. I ordered my meal from the bar, but then found a seat as far away from the bar and the smokers as I could. Ugh, it's going to be a long week in No-fuck.

Here, There, and Everwhere

2008-09-07T21:40:00.002-04:00

I'm back. The sailing trip was great. Very relaxing, very fun, and just a good time overall. I'll write up a trip report on that soon.

Off to No-fuck tomorrow for work. Down there till Thursday. I should definitely have time to blog down there as there won't be much to do at night.

I don't know where to begin on McCain-Palin. All I can say is: Really?

I'll write more on that later also.

In the meantime, here's a pic from the trip.