cj_riverside

cj_riverside @ 2007-09-27T14:23:00

2007-09-27T21:30:06Z

Things are moving along at a nice pace on the one hand, but on the other..it's pretty scary around work right now. Business has slowed to a crawl. In fact, we only sold 3 houses in the month of September. Lots of layoffs as a result and morale around the office is pretty low. It's the nature of the beast, I suppose. We've had so many years of unbelievable gains in the Seattle housing market, I think everyone just got lulled into thinking it was never going to happen here. The upcoming months are going to be interesting.

I got asked to design a tree this year for the Providence O' Christmas Trees auction, so am pretty thrilled about that. Unfort, the sponsor that I'm dealing with is being a bit anal about everything, so that makes it nervewracking. And the theme she wants is Huskies. I have no doubt that I'll do a great tree, but that severely limits the market for the design. I don't know of many people that are going to want a UW Husky tree in their living room, but we'll see. It could be a pleasant surprise. Overall, it feels great to be meeting some new people and doing new things.

Fall is in the air!

2007-09-19T14:55:21Z

I think it's officially Fall out here in the Pacific Northwest...my favourite time of year! Even after having lived in New England for a year, I still think Seattle is the best place to be for autumn!

One of the biggest things I noticed in New England is that their leaves change so much later than out here. I had a friend come visit the first week of October to see the change and we planned a weekend out in Provincetown on Cape Cod to enjoy the scenery. Problem was, everything was still perfectly green and bushy that time. Leaves didn't change until late October / early November! It was pretty beautiful when they did change, but I don't think it's anything better than what we see here. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything better than a nice sweater, a pumpkin spice latte' and a walk down 15th Street on Capitol Hill in the crunchy falling leaves.

Did I mention this is my favourite time of year?

Lots been going on lately, resulting in major life changes. It's all very exciting to be moving forward in life and focusing on myself for a change. Much more on that in the coming months tho.

1 step behind

2007-08-24T16:21:27Z

It always seems that I'm just, as my mother always put it, a day late and a dollar short. I just always seem to be 1 step behind on all the latest business.

I finally started doing this LJ business (though not as frequently as I'd like)at the urging of several friends. So, now that I'm on here, they all seem to have stopped posting of closed their journals.

I finally bit the bullet and started paying for bear411 so I could be on it whenever I wanted, and now everyone seems to have bailed on that and don't know where they've all gone. A friend from East of the mountains says I should go to biggercity because that's where everyone is.

I didn't get swept up in the myspace stuff as I totally thought that it was for 14 year old girls. When everyone finally convinced me it wasn't, I got myself all ready to go on there, only to discover that everyone's now moved to facebook.

So, I've got the basic facebook now and the basic biggercity (which is just 1 picture and no profile as that's all they let you do).

I'm not sure I've got the patience or energy to sign up for both of these now and have 2 more passwords to have to remember.

What happened to the days when you'd get cruised at the bar and meet people that way?

Great...I've officially become old.

Live or Memorex?

2007-01-30T22:22:31Z

It's been awhile since scribbling some thoughts on here. I need to get better at that.

For what it's worth, I thought I'd better leave a message for any that might peruse this space once in a while. I was alerted today by a kind Samaritan (that I don't know), that I ought to change my passwords as he knows my ex and knows that the ex has been randomly logging into places using my passwords and changing info, chatting and deleting things at will. As if I didn't think he was a big enough loser, he does this to prove it? Wow. Pathetic. I guess it wasn't enough that he stomped on my self esteem, took me to the cleaners for a couple thousand dollars, used me for a free ride for almost a year and proved to be a habitual liar. I guess he really wants to make sure I know what a lowlife pathetic loser he really is. Wow.

So, I don't know if he accessed this account or not, but if random things from "me" have popped into your life recently that seemed out of character, now you know why. Apologies to all.

Should you be bored, I suppose you could always thank him for compromising not only my integrity, but also for scamming any of you at danocles@yahoo.com or by going to his yahoo 360 page "peregrinus" or "danocles" or at bear411.com/peregrinus I'd caution you to not get sucked in by his "aw shucks" attitude as he's proven to be nothing but a habitual liar who uses people for whatever gain he can get. At least I didn't lose a condo out of the deal like his ex before me. Phew.

And since you probably check out this page as well: Get a life douchebag and leave me alone.

Cheers ~

cj_riverside @ 2006-11-22T11:16:00

2006-11-22T19:16:38Z

I was reading some blogs this morning and came across a great posting referencing a column in yesterday's USA Today. The column was written by a Baptist minister which really surprised me! I think I've mentioned before that I grew up in a Pentecostal (for those of you not in the know, a "holy roller" church). So, faith is important to me and I'm grateful that I was raised in a home that instilled morals and conscience into me, but on some days I still have trouble with the "gay issue".

At any rate, I posted the article here to maintain a copy for myself, and for anybody that reads this. Check it out below:

When religion loses its credibility

Galileo was persecuted for revealing what we now know to be the truth regarding Earth’s place in our solar system. Today, the issue is homosexuality, and the persecution is not of one man but of millions. Will Christian leaders once again be on the wrong side of history?

By Oliver "Buzz" Thomas

What if Christian leaders are wrong about homosexuality? I suppose, much as a newspaper maintains its credibility by setting the record straight, church leaders would need to do the same:

Correction: Despite what you might have read, heard or been taught throughout your churchgoing life, homosexuality is, in fact, determined at birth and is not to be condemned by God's followers.

Based on a few recent headlines, we won't be seeing that admission anytime soon.

Last week, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops took the position that homosexual attractions are "disordered" and that gays should live closeted lives of chastity. At the same time, North Carolina's Baptist State Convention was preparing to investigate churches that are too gay-friendly. Even the more liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) had been planning to put a minister on trial for conducting a marriage ceremony for two women before the charges were dismissed on a technicality. All this brings me back to the question: What if we're wrong?

Religion's only real commodity, after all, is its moral authority. Lose that, and we lose our credibility. Lose credibility, and we might as well close up shop.

It's happened to Christianity before, most famously when we dug in our heels over Galileo's challenge to the biblical view that the Earth, rather than the sun, was at the center of our solar system. You know the story. Galileo was persecuted for what turned out to be incontrovertibly true. For many, especially in the scientific community, Christianity never recovered.

This time, Christianity is in danger of squandering its moral authority by continuing its pattern of discrimination against gays and lesbians in the face of mounting scientific evidence that sexual orientation has little or nothing to do with choice. To the contrary, whether sexual orientation arises as a result of the mother's hormones or the child's brain structure or DNA, it is almost certainly an accident of birth. The point is this: Without choice, there can be no moral culpability.

Answer in Scriptures

So, why are so many church leaders (not to mention Orthodox Jewish and Muslim leaders) persisting in their view that homosexuality is wrong despite a growing stream of scientific evidence that is likely to become a torrent in the coming years? The answer is found in Leviticus 18. "You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination."

As a former "the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it" kind of guy, I am sympathetic with any Christian who accepts the Bible at face value. But here's the catch. Leviticus is filled with laws imposing the death penalty for everything from eating catfish to sassing your parents. If you accept one as the absolute, unequivocal word of God, you must accept them all.

For many of gay America's loudest critics, the results are unthinkable. First, no more football. At least not without gloves. Handling a pig skin is an abomination. Second, no more Saturday games even if you can get a new ball. Violating the Sabbath is a capital offense according to Leviticus. For the over-40 crowd, approaching the altar of God with a defect in your sight is taboo, but you'll have plenty of company because those menstruating or with disabilities are also barred.

The truth is that mainstream religion has moved beyond animal sacrifice, slavery and the host of primitive rituals described in Leviticus centuries ago. Selectively hanging onto these ancient proscriptions for gays and lesbians exclusively is unfair according to anybody's standard of ethics. We lawyers call it "selective enforcement," and in civil affairs it's illegal.

A better reading of Scripture starts with the book of Genesis and the grand pronouncement about the world God created and all those who dwelled in it. "And, the Lord saw that it was good." If God created us and if everything he created is good, how can a gay person be guilty of being anything more than what God created him or her to be?

Turning to the New Testament, the writings of the Apostle Paul at first lend credence to the notion that homosexuality is a sin, until you consider that Paul most likely is referring to the Roman practice of pederasty, a form of pedophilia common in the ancient world. Successful older men often took boys into their homes as concubines, lovers or sexual slaves. Today, such sexual exploitation of minors is no longer tolerated. The point is that the sort of long-term, committed, same-sex relationships that are being debated today are not addressed in the New Testament. It distorts the biblical witness to apply verses written in one historical context (i.e. sexual exploitation of children) to contemporary situations between two monogamous partners of the same sex. Sexual promiscuity is condemned by the Bible whether it's between gays or straights. Sexual fidelity is not.

What would Jesus do?

For those who have lingering doubts, dust off your Bibles and take a few hours to reacquaint yourself with the teachings of Jesus. You won't find a single reference to homosexuality. There are teachings on money, lust, revenge, divorce, fasting and a thousand other subjects, but there is nothing on homosexuality. Strange, don't you think, if being gay were such a moral threat?

On the other hand, Jesus spent a lot of time talking about how we should treat others. First, he made clear it is not our role to judge. It is God's. ("Judge not lest you be judged." Matthew 7:1) And, second, he commanded us to love other people as we love ourselves.

So, I ask you. Would you want to be discriminated against? Would you want to lose your job, housing or benefits because of something over which you had no control? Better yet, would you like it if society told you that you couldn't visit your lifelong partner in the hospital or file a claim on his behalf if he were murdered?

The suffering that gay and lesbian people have endured at the hands of religion is incalculable, but they can look expectantly to the future for vindication. Scientific facts, after all, are a stubborn thing. Even our religious beliefs must finally yield to them as the church in its battle with Galileo ultimately realized. But for religion, the future might be ominous. Watching the growing conflict between medical science and religion over homosexuality is like watching a train wreck from a distance. You can see it coming for miles and sense the inevitable conclusion, but you're powerless to stop it. The more church leaders dig in their heels, the worse it's likely to be.

Oliver "Buzz" Thomas is a Baptist minister and author of an upcoming book, 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't Because He Needs the Job).

Posted at 12:16 AM/ET, November 20, 2006 in Forum commentary, On religion column, Race Issues/Civil rights - Forum, Religion - Forum |

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2006/11/when_religion_l.html

Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T18:24:59Z

It's hard to believe that the holidays are here again. I know, we say the same thing every year, but it always seems like a surprise when they arrive.

On one hand, I'm excited to kick off the holiday season and see it as just another start, but on the other hand, I'm fighting a little depression. The past 2 years, Ken and I went to the Macy's Parade in NYC. The first year was while I was living on the East Coast and he flew out for our first "face to face" meeting and we had a blast. Last year for our "anniversary", I took him back to NYC. In my mind I already knew that it wasn't going to last, but I used the trip as maybe a last ditch attempt at reviving things. Didn't work. So, now that I'm sitting in the office today, rather than a plane, it's hard not to be a little bummed over it all...not being at the parade, not being with him, etc...

But, despite the little bit of regret, I have tons to be thankful for. When I moved back to Seattle, I was prepared to go back to the old job and somehow make it work. Instead I got a kick ass job at a different company and have loved every minute of it. The people are great, the owner's great, the pay is great. It's amazing the difference it makes when you don't get up every day dreading going to work.

I've got a great place to live...the best and nicest place I've ever had.

I've got a good family that loves me. They're complete hillbillies and are sometimes a bit of an embarassment, but they're what I've got and I love them.

I've got good friends. I didn't realize how much my friends meant to me until I left them all behind and headed East. The scale of several friendships became much clearer after I said goodbye. It's something that I've committed myself to not taking so much for granted now that I have it back.

I live in an amazing part of the world. The beauty and quality of life here in Seattle is truly one of a kind and I'm so grateful to be able to enjoy it!

There's so much more in my life that I'm grateful and as Thanksgiving gets closer by the hour, I hope that all my friends know how much I appreciate them and all that they add to my life!

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.

You're out...

2006-11-10T19:25:08Z

Last night was a great time! I went with a friend to the downtown Seattle Macy's store for a Project Runway fashion show, hosted by Tim Gunn. Crazy Jubilee Jumbles Angela was also there.
The way things turned out was pretty much a crock, but it was still fun to see Tim and listen to him talk a bit about Project Runway and himself. The big problem was that at the end of the show, the Macy's manager came to the stage and said to pull out tickets out and only people with a red dot sticker on their tickets would be allowed to meet Tim and get an autograph and a photo. What?! So, I left work early, got downtown from the Eastside and managed to be 3rd in line for this event for no reason?? What a rip.

So, the event was free. We just had to call the store a couple weeks back and get on the "list". The seating was general seating, so getting in line early was important and I managed to secure us the 3rd spot in line. A store employee told us that if we wanted, we could go peek in the room and scope out where we wanted to sit. So, the lady in front of me went and then when she came back, I went. I stepped inside the door and took a look at the room...there were 600 people coming and it was set up just like a real runway show. As I turned around to go back out front to the line, I walked right into Tim Gunn! He was gushing about what a fabulous space it was, but before I could say anything, this nasty giant had-to-be-dyke woman with a Macy's badge, snapped at me for being there, so "tail between legs", I went back to my spot on line. I just wish I'd had the presence of mind to say hello to him or something as I've heard how nice he is at his appearances so I'm sure he would've just shook my hand or something.

When the doors opened at 5:00, we went up to a table and gave them our name and they handed us a ticket and we proceeded to the hall. Kathy and I took seats right along the main runway and truly felt like Nina Garcia and Michael Korrs...well, I suppose I looked more like Michael Korrs only if he'd eaten Nina Garcia and then finished off with a few Big Macs for dessert...ha!

The Macy's manager came out and thanked us all and then told us all that all the winning dresses from the show were on display on the 2nd floor for us to check out after the show. Then he told us that we'd all be getting a giftbag courtesy of Project Runway and Elle Magazine. Everyone cheered and applauded and then he clarified, "With every $75 I.N.C. purchase". What?! You want me to spend $75 to get a last month's copy of a $4 magazine and a T-shirt that from the looks of it, would only fit a 13 year old anorexic girl? I don't think so!

Then Tim Gunn came out and chatted a bit. Told us that Seattle is the #1 market in the country for Project Runway, which was cool to hear. I guess we really do have alot of homos in this city! He answered a few questions and then brought out special, special guest...Crazy Angela! I was totally hoping she'd be covered in her silly fleu de champs or whatever she called them, but she didn't really have any on her outfit. She did, however, have a crazy balloon skirt on with ugly boots and looked a mess. Yay! They then took their seats at the end of the runway and we jumped into a Macy's I.N.C. show.

After the show, the manager took the stage again and gave us the free with $75 purchase spiel again and then revealed the red dot scam. We were pretty bummed, but decided to do some shopping and go downstairs a bit later and see if we could get to meet Tim anyway. I've read all over the web how gracious and friendly Tim is at these appearances and how he's always staying late to greet people and stuff so we felt pretty good about our chances.

When we got downstairs, the line to him was just about gone so we jumped on. There were 5 of us left in the line and none of us had the magic red dot and bitchy, large, must-be-a-dyke woman wouldn't allow us to meet him. Tim and Angela were sitting there, still with a giant stack of photos that he was autographing, and bitchy, large, must-be-a-dyke woman told him that was it and rushed him out of the room. Before he got up, he looked at her kinda blankly and saw the 5 of us standing there and questioned her, "That's it??" and she said yes and rushed him out. Talk about a bitch! It would've taken no more than 5 minutes for us to meet him and get a quick photo. She wasn't even one of his "people" as she had a Macy's badge. And they couldn't have been in a big rush to the airport or anything because Angela (who was bored beyond belief the entire time because NOBODY said hello to her or asked for her autograph, even though she was sitting there right next to Tim) hopped down and started doing a bit of shopping and looking at some skirts before bitchy, large, must-be-a-dyke woman came and snapped at her and drug her off.

So, I didn't get my pic with Tim but it was still cool to see him and to see all the winning dresses in person. And while we were wasting time, Kathy bought a $400 coat from their stupid store. AND, because the coat wasn't I.N.C. label, she didn't even get the crappy last month's issue of Elle and worthless t-shirt gift bag!

Both Kathy and I agreed that the dresses look much better on models and with accessories. They certainly weren't as glamourous or cool just hanging on mannequins in a dept store, but we got pictures anyway and it was still really cool to see them up close and personal.

Oh, and later we went to the Broadway Grill for dinner and saw Reichen. big whoop.

cj_riverside @ 2006-11-06T08:43:00

2006-11-06T16:43:48Z

As jealous as I get when I see other people's "sophisticated" LJs with tons of friends, I like the fact that I can still rant to myself and feel sorry for myself and nobody will really know it.

Was online after the bar on Saturday night and out of the blue get a message from the ex informing me that I could say hello once in a while and that he's not mad at me like I seem to think he is.

Well, let's see...he packed up and moved away without even saying goodbye, lied to me for months saying that he was back in OK when I knew he was in Oregon and then when I emailed him last and asked if he'd email over the pics we took on our trip to NYC for Thanksgiving last year, he emailed back and said "No, you don't deserve them". Wow, I guess I don't really see why I've written him off. ha!

But the absolutely stupid thing is, is that now I'm sucked back in emotionally. Granted, I wasn't completely over him, but had made huge strides in trying to put the mess behind me and now I'm all full of doubt again as to whether I really made the right decision in ending it with him (of course I did) and having a little bit of happiness in knowing that he must still have me on his buddy list and somewhat keeping tabs on me...even if it's only thru bear411.

I'll never understand these guys who can just moved from guy to guy to guy without ever getting bogged with with the emotions. Oh well, as easy as they seem to have it and as happy and uncaring as they seem, I guess I am grateful to be a good guy and have a conscience and a heart because that's what makes me, me. Someday the tide will turn and I'll get mine....I just have to hang onto that.

cj_riverside @ 2006-11-03T12:28:00

2006-11-03T20:28:27Z

Sometimes I have to shudder at how gay I am. So, sitting in the office today with the iPod on shuffle, so I'm currently getting to enjoy the Heigh-Ho song from Snow White. HA! How can you not smile at that?

Fall has officially kicked in out here in the Pac Northwest. Rain, rain, and more rain. Oddly, however, I love it! I like my share of sunny perfect days as well, but a nice dreary rainy day here and there really perks me up. Add to that the fact that Starbucks rolled out Eggnog Lattes today and I'm rolling, full-steam ahead. We're on a fast track to the Holiday Season! I couldn't be happier.

Big news of the day is the prominent evangelist in Colorado that's being accused of gay sex and drug use by a hustler who claims he has solid evidence against the guy. So, that once again has me torn. On one hand, I feel happy that the guy's being knocked off his high, anti-gay horse. On the other hand, being raised in a Pentecostal Christian home and such, I feel bad that another so-called Christian is giving non-believers more ammunition.

I've always been torn by my sexuality. Believe me, there are few that have fought harder, prayed longer, or made themselves more miserable than I in trying to go straight. I grew up with fire-and-brimstone sermons, you can't wear makeup, thou shalt not go to movies, and OH, YEAH...the gays are the worst. I still on occasion have nightmares about the horrors that were preached to me growing up. But, I've finally reached a stage where I'm mostly ok with being gay and having to believe that God must have some purpose for me.

The dating scene is very bleak, but I'd still like to someday be able to marry and have a life content with being who I am. Unfortunately, these high profile, hate-spewing Evangelicals keep squawking about it and holding us back. Yet many of them are now being shown to be living these secret lives. Talk about hypocrisy.

When I first moved to Seattle and was full-on trying to deal with being gay and making myself straight, I got involved with Overlake Christian Church...a big megachurch in Bellevue. I grew up in a church that had 50 attendees on a good Sunday, so it was pretty exciting to be in a church that had 2,000 at each of its 3 Sunday services. Anyway, the pastor was a great teacher (and well respected across the country) and I found myself learning alot. The problem was that every single week he'd somehow get a dig in about the gays going to Hell. Every single week. Oftentimes, I'd leave church feeling more hopeless than when I'd gone in. Imagine the surprise when he was caught doing the "George Michael" in a mensroom in Florida. Even more surprising when many past male church members came forward with stories of being inappropriately touched by him in the past! (Sidenote...I used the urinal next to him once and he didn't grope me...I don't know if I should be insulted or grateful, but I digress...). That was a few years back, but more and more this seems to be happening to these guys.

So, question is still...do I feel glad that they're being exposed for the frauds that they are or do I pity them and feel anger that they're once again giving the real Christians a bad name.

I guess, in the big picture, it's not really my job to do either. As my mom used to say, "Sweep off your own back porch before you start sweeping somebody else's".

Yikes!

2006-10-31T17:45:10Z

Happy Halloween! Sorry to say that it's not really my favourite holiday. I think it might be because I dress up and do stupid things all year round, so Halloween kinda seems like Amateur Hour. Wow...how bitter do I sound?

Saw Amy Sedaris last night and was pretty funny. She has a new book out about entertaining and it seems to be partially serious and partially her regular comedic stuff, so it made for kind of a strange appearance. The guy that sponsored/hosted the event was majorly irritating and found himself to be way more witty than the rest of us did. I don't think he was quite sure of whether to take the comedic route or the serious route, so there was a lot of awkwardness, but Amy managed to hang in there and keep us entertained and attentive.

I've only seen a couple episodes of Strangers With Candy, and it's pretty creepy seeing that alot of Gerry Blank's mannerisms are actually Amy's as well. Maybe she's just played the character so much that she's melded into it. Hard to say.

She told us about something that she does, which I found to be a great idea. Apparently she hosts lots of dinner parties and get-togethers with her friends. Toward the end of the evenings, she sets up a table near the door and arranges "junk" on it that she's wanting to get rid of. DVDs, CDs, half-used lotion...anything that she's had laying around and wants out of the house and then sells them to her guests on the way out. Most everything is twenty-five cents and people can only pay with quarters. So, she gets rid of stuff that other people might want and uses the quarters to fund her laundry. So, in essence, a dinner party yard sale. I thought it was very clever!! I may have to bust that idea out at a game night gathering or something.

Hung around at the end and got her to sign her book and she was a super nice gal! All in all, a great night with great friends!!

cj_riverside @ 2006-10-30T14:27:00

2006-10-30T22:41:41Z

Wow, the changing of the clocks sure takes a toll on people! Everybody just seems a little off kilter today, myself included. How can 1 hour really make that much of a difference in life?

Had a good weekend. Saturday night I went out for the festivities, but everyone seemed majorly lowkey this year for some reason. We started at CCs, which was dead as can be...and not in a good "I'm a Halloween zombie that can't be stopped, so hang on and enjoy the ride". I remember just a couple years back when CCs went crazy with the decorations for all the holidays and it was so delightfully tacky that you couldn't help but love it. Those days are nothing but a distant memory now.

The Cuff was a bit better, but still not as fun as years past. Again, most people seemed to not have dressed up this year. I actually can't even remember any standout costumes...and there's usually a couple that catch my eye and make me laugh. No such luck this year. There were 2 guys in football uniforms that were pretty hot, but I think that's pretty much a given. Ah, the fantasies... Other than that, about the only one I remember was Eric dressed as Alice (was an Alice in Wonderland theme), but had a giant dick for a neck and head and was carrying a basket with giant Viagra pills in them. Obviously a play on her drinking and eating that stuff that affected her height in the original story, but Alice as a Dickhead? I didn't quite get it.

There was also the weird thing of a couple of different people coming up and talking to me and then getting a bit insulted/irritated that I didn't remember chatting with them online the past few weeks. I haven't really even been online in the past few weeks, with one of those weeks being in Florida, but they were sticking to their guns that we've chatted and are pals. One of the guys who argued the most is someone that I've had a thing for for years, so believe me, if he'd chatted me up, I wouldn't forget it. So, I've had a couple friends tell me the past few months that they've seen a guy that looks like me and only when they've gotten close enough to talk, realized that it wasn't me. I think I might've found this creature. He chatted me up online yesterday and told me that he'd seen me at Cuff on Thursday night during the Rocky Horror movie and was bummed that I didn't remember seeing him. Now, if you glance at his profile pic and maybe squint your eyes a touch, he could possibly look like me. And he says that he's 6'6" as well. Could I have found my doppleganger?

And, most importantly, can I trick my longtime crush into hooking up with me before he realizes that he was actually chatting with the other guy and not me???

Hmmmm......

cj_riverside @ 2006-10-27T12:10:00

2006-10-27T19:18:28Z

Went and saw/listened to Barak Obama speak last night here in Seattle. I was impressed and definitely interested in what he had to say. He only spoke for about 20 minutes, as he was here officially to promote his new book, but I could have listened to him for a lot longer!

The intro guy from Elliott Bay Books told us that Seattle was by far the biggest crowd that he's had during his book tour. Oh yeah, it had to be held at Benaroya Hall and was completely sold out! The day before, he had been in Denver and they were able to hold the event in a regular small bookstore venue. I'm glad that "my city" was so welcoming and excited.

This is my first year delving into politics. In fact, I just received my first ever ballot in the mail this week (I opted to vote absentee so I wouldn't feel pressured). Based on what I heard last night, it makes me want to get his book, but I'm not sure how into it I could get. We'll see.

Obviously, after last weekend's comments, someone asked him when we could begin working on his campaign for President and he simply said, "This is a book signing, not an announcement".

Today I googled the speech he gave at the Democractic Nat'l Convention in Boston that really put him "on the map". Pretty good reading, in my opinion. The link is below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19751-2004Jul27.html

Making a difference?

2006-10-24T20:07:31Z

So, my goal of writing in this everyday seems to not be going so well. Dang, I'm so jealous of people who journal every day and have all these fantastically interesting things to say. What am I doing wrong? Oh well, we all have to work with what we've been given!

I'm a bit embarassed to admit, but I have finally registered to vote and have received my very first ballot in the mail! At friends' urging, I went the absentee route which, hopefully, will be less stressful than trying to figure out the whole process at a voting center manned by 98 year old volunteer grandmas. It's so overwhelming to me, to think that I might make some small difference. Well, it's not so much the difference as it is the responsibility. I'm completely nervous that my lack of dedication to politics might result in helping things turn out worse than they are. I've never voted before because I hold to the idea that a non-vote is better than an uninformed vote. I mean, you wouldn't take your car to be fixed by someone who'd never looked under the hood before, so why vote when you have not idea what's going on there either.

I admit to also being a big pessimist. It's my own opinion that our country is one of the most corrupt in the world and think that our entire government needs a major overhaul. Unfortunately, there are way too many people that are happy to just be blindly doing what they're told by a political party (on both sides) that really could care less about them.

But, for now, whether my little votes make a difference of not, I'm going to cast my first ballot and join the ranks of responsbile adults. Like it or not.

Weekend's here

2006-08-11T23:10:32Z

Man, this has been one long week. Still recovering from Vancouver's excitement last week and then the not feeling so well have made this week drag along at a slug's pace. But, it's all fun and games now that the clock's slowly ticking down.

Off to the doctor's office today. I love having a gay doc. Heard all about his trip last week to Rome to see Madonna and some of his fun stories. Got to razz and harmlessly flirt with the transsexual receptionist who I have an odd fascination with. Was a good afternoon. I got a new prescrip for allergy nose spray. The one he prescribed last time actually makes me more stuffed up within minutes of taking it. Hopefully this new one will work better. Got a prescrip for some Ambien. Wahoo. I'm completely looking forward to getting a good night's sleep finally. And, how embarassing, got a few samples of Viagra and 2 others. I've been having a real rough time since the break up in maintaining the wood and even tho I know it's all in my head, it's been pretty traumatic. He said that he didn't think a full on prescrip was needed as guys in my predicament often just need a few samples to get them over the hump and to get their confidence back. I sure hope that's the case beccause I'm pretty freaked out about it all. Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance to test it out.

Tomorrow I'm off on the Tacky Tourist Cruise ( http://www.ttca.org ) wiht buddies, so it's going to be an all day drinkfest out on the water. Lots of cute guys, most with their shirts off. Can't beat it. And, sadly, most people think it just rains all the time here and that we don't have any fun. Too bad for them!!

What a weekend!

2006-08-10T21:50:57Z

The Pride weekend in Vancouver was the most fun I think I've had during my years of going. Everything seemed to click and there was very little drama, which is a big surprise. The weather was perfect, the company was nice and the liquor was freeflowing. In fact, I think I might still be a bit hooched even now. Ugh.

I seem to have picked up some kind of a bug while up there tho. My throat is killing me and a bit swollen and I just feel out of sorts. Probably a cross between the liquor, the sun and the air conditioning, with just a touch of allergies thrown in for good measure.

Went to see Little Miss Sunshine last night with the Movie Bears and have to give it an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up. What a great flick! It falls right into the vein of movies that really touch my soul like Pleasantville, Garden State and Elizabethtown. Movies like these just rejuvenate me and really get under my skin, in a good way. Every time I watch Pleasantville, I cry. Same spot. Everytime. I guess I'm a dork in that way, but hey, that's just me I guess.

Gearing up for another wild weekend here in Seattle. The Tacky Tourist Cruise is on Saturday. Another day of sun, booze and shirtless guys that I have no chance whatsoever of even speaking to. Oh well, I'll be with friends and that's the most important part!

Almost the weekend

2006-08-03T19:22:52Z

Wow, another night of no sleeping. This is getting out of control. Since I was so late getting to sleep, I overslept this morning and woke up yelling (out loud) for help. Must've been quite a dream.

Tonight I'm out on a lake cruise with work people. One of our vendors that we're currently struggling with invited us for dinner and a cruise, obviously trying to suck up to us. I don't have any say over how much of our business they get, so I'll get to just enjoy a great evening on the water. Sun, fresh air and the water will surely help get my spirits back in check...3 of my most favorite things! I'm looking forward to it.

My 20 year reunion is next year, so they've started tracking us all down. I saw a friend's name in one of the latest emails, so sent him a "catch up" note and was glad to hear back from him. The biggest surprise is that he's bi, and has outright said that he was always bummed that we didn't hook up in high school. It took me quite a while to get over that revelation. Wow. I definitely wasn't out in small town Idaho high school and it took me a long time to get as comfortable with myself as I am now. Maybe knowing that I wasn't the only one would've made the high school years a bit more bearable. I'm officially old now that I say things like: kids these days don't know how good they have it. There's a long way to go, but they're still ions ahead of where I was back in the day.

Yaaawn

2006-08-02T16:22:32Z

Never in my life have I dealt with insomnia...until lately. Wow, it sucks. I'm completely wiped out during the day and often have trouble not dozing off here in my office, yet when I go to bed at night, I'm just laying there wide awake. Nothing seems to help. Laying there watching the minutes tick by on the clock just makes for more stress because I'm silently calculating how much less I have to sleep.

I've ended a relationship back in April, and he always had dealings with insomnia. Even had a prescription for sleep aids. Dang, I wish I'd nabbed some, especially since he never used them.

Debating about going to see Clerks 2 tonight with the movie bear group. I only saw the original about 6 months ago and while it made me laugh a bit, it wasn't anything that I can't live without. Plus, never really knowing anyone in the group and having to sit by myself in a theater full o' fags is sometimes troublesome to my fragile phyche. Ok, not really, but I love the drama in saying it!

Let's do it to it...

2006-08-01T22:16:57Z

I've always been jealous of those journal writing folks, so I'm finally doing something about it. While I don't promise that it's going to be anything earth-shaking and riveting, it might allow me to get things off my chest that I otherwise just keep in. Who knows, maybe something will be of some benefit to somebody somewhere.