Thanks! Now for the Giving

Thanksgiving went as expected: low key turkey dinner with the family.  I even missed all the excitement of the annual parade by waking up after noon.

Black Friday also went as expected: waking up at 5 in the morning for 8 hours of outlet shopping at Woodbury Commons.  And as expected, I bought more presents for myself than anyone else, including this, this, and this.

Saturday I had my last minute "Left Overs Luncheon".  The premise is to have all guests bring over their Thanksgiving left overs (hopefully coupled with some freshly-made dishes).  Unfortunately, I gave very short notification and only two guests made it.  I got over the lack of attendance quickly as we stuffed our faces with herb-crusted turkey, roasted rosemary-garlic potatoes, and chocolate chip cookies from scratch (baked by yours truly).

After the luncheon, I went to see Rent with my new boytoy.  It was okay; some songs just don't do anything for me.  I saw the play nearly six years ago and I was impressed by the movie interpretation.  The vocals were amazing, and Taye Diggs is just delicious!

Sunday was dim sum at a vegetarian place in Chinatown (don't ask why).  It was so horrible I had to find some meat.  It led me to Bodies: The Exhibition at the South Street Seaport.

The exhibit was amazing: real corpses preserved and sliced open so that muscles, bones, nerves, and organs are displayed.  After seeing a tarred lung, it definitely reinforces my choice not to smoke.  (And it should for you too!)

Ack!  Kwa-hanu-mas is right around the corner!

Weekend and Thanksgiving Week

After volunteer tutoring this past Saturday, I went to volunteer again for Out of Bounds at the Gay Life Expo.  Kimberly Locke did her 7 days and 7 nights song.  She was looking fine, but her hair was all done up wrong in braids.  C'mon girl, stop the madness.  Get your hair did right.

JPG (that's Jean Paul Gaultier) was there promoting their men's skin care line; or as a friend put it, 'repackaged women's makeup'.  But I thought to myself if Greg Giraldo was brave enough to get a make-over, so was I.  Pictures coming soon.

The rest of the weekend was nice, including a dinner at the all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet, Minado, but didn't include me seeing the new Harry Potter.  I just can't stand being a statistic.

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Seems like a few people have decided to hibernate for a while.  They must have seen the calendar because it sure ain't the weather telling them.  What I mean is: We're in the middle of November and it's still 50 degrees (fahrenheit) over here!  I wonder if global warming has anything to do with it... and if migrating animals have decided wait until the busiest time of the year to travel, Thanksgiving.

I'll be spending Thursday trekking the whole 8 miles into Queens to be with family, and possibly spending Black Friday (or is it Green?) putting into practice my 'belly-dancer hip bump', 'rhino shoulder smash', and 'crouching-tiger sweep kick' as I make my way through the throngs of other shoppers trying to get presents for myself.  I wish you all luck; especially if you come between me and anything 70-80% off retail price.

But in case I don't see ya, Happy Thanksgiving!

All Because of An Email

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

I started singing that today because being happy and skipping down the office corridors without singing something is borderline crazy.  And then the more I sang it, the more bittersweet it sounded.  Now I'm just kind of melancholy, and I feel like I should mope around the office in an emotional breakdown state while wailing the song.  I swear I don't have PMS.

Nevermind, I just made myself laugh with the thought of it all; not that being sad is funny, but imagining my co-workers reactions to my emotional instability.  Not that I would ever do such a thing.

Thinking about it, it's one of those songs you can either sing it happy or sad (to be dramatic).  I even have a vague recollection of it being in some horror flick: some little girl sings it in the background, then *STAB!*, everyone dies.  Any ideas?

It's Never Easy, Is it?

It's never easy for me to stop talking to someone.  I think it's because of my desire to please everyone.  Or my insatiable desire to be liked (as a friend, of course).  As if this blog doesn't scream 'Love me, Love me' enough.

So when McW said he didn't even want to be friends with me, I felt like I've failed.  I felt like Superman in the presence of kryptonite: a weak, blubbering fool, unable to save myself from a dire situation.

But it does help when the other person is being sarcastic, hurtful, and serves up ultimatums.  Like a soft, comforting iron curtain.

"...just as friends."
"If you can only hear what's going inside my head right now, you'll see you're not my friend ... you are acting like such a child ... but thank you for telling me now so I'm not wasting another [Friday night] ... so, no, we can't be friends ... deal with it ... enjoy wearing your sign around town."

The passion, the intensity!  I've made a big mistake!  This is the guy I want to spend my life with!

Not.  I'm moving forward.

Also, there's no justification for being mean.  Not even if it comes from a 'hurtful' place.  And another thing, don't serve it up if you can't take it, okay?!¹

Okay sanity check people.. am I just being petty now?

¹ I'm talking about sarcasm.

Accolade

Last Friday I was invited to Accolade, Heritage of Pride's annual pride awards ceremony at Crobar.  Free vodka, hors d'oeuvres, dancing.  Oh yea, and awards.  Read more [+/-]

And one for me!

I was one of two recipients of the Spirit of Stonewall award because I was mad as hell and I wasn't going to take it anymore!

Or more like tricked, annoyed and decided to contact the media.  Same difference.  The other recipient was my partner in crime being victimized.

Due to an oversight, I was notified about the event the day before, and only had a mere 24 hours to round up my own cheering section.  A flurry of emails later I managed to gather a gaggle of gays and a handful of straighties.  I even thought it would be a good idea to wear my Halloween costume.

My instincts were right.  The crowd loved my stunt, almost everyone had a good time (and I won't go into why some didn't), and the rest of the night turned out most favorably.

So Yay me!

By the way, isn't my new profile picture sexy?!

Dinner for Two

"A recipe is just a story that ends with a good meal." ~ Pat Conroy

Last Thursday I tried out my own original recipe for salmon soft tacos (for two).

The story was new and exciting.  The ending was amazing.  And I'm not just talking about the food.

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Thanks for all your thoughts and affirmations on my 'break up situation'.  While this might weigh on my mind, I'm still looking toward the future.

Friend or Foe

I recently stopped dating this person, let's call him McW.  He emailed me with, "Do you think we should still see each other?" and I replied, "No.  I think we should just be friends" and citing my reasons.  I know this is bad form, but he email me first.

It turned out to be a harder break than I anticipated; my reasons did not go over well with McW (his were different reasons) and he thought I was being unfair and resented the fact I used those reasons as the basis for my decision.  After a heated exchange which included him bringing up old arguments, he decided that it would be okay for us to be friends.

Was I stupid to believe it was going to be that simple?  As I tried to carry forward as friends, our conversations have been rittled with his sarcastic remarks (more insulting than teasing, referencing the reasons I used to stop dating).

He was a nice person when we were dating.  But after these episodes, I realized how bitter he could be.  Could it be that he was on his best behavior?  Is he trying to make me feel guilty now for the breakup?

But the more important question I find myself asking now is, "Do I want a friendship with someone like that?"  One thing I'm absolutely sure of now is that we would never have had a healthy relationship.

Halloween Weekend (Part 1)

Halloween.  The only time of the year you can dress up as someone, or something, else.  Well, unless you're an actor.  Or a drag queen.  Or a Christmas elf.  Or pretending to be a sailor during Fleet Week.  Read more [+/-]

Anyway, my Halloween was nice.  I didn't have a costume change like I did last year, but this year I came up with the best idea ever drawing from my 15 minutes of fame: being a No Stopping Or Standing sign!  For those wondering, I made it myself.

Donning my own publicity armor (that's right, it was also self-indulgent; I always say, "If you got it, flaunt it"), I went to a few parties.

The first party was thrown by a friend of a friend.  It turned out to be an apartment turned sardine can.  And wouldn't luck have it that the hot, straight boys left right when I arrived.  It didn't matter, I got to see the life of the party anyway (which K thought drove them hot 'stroys' away when she started performing).

At one point during the night, I recognized someone from across the room.  "Was she from my past?", I thought to myself.  At first I gave her a chance to approach me; but when that didn't work, I went up to her to play 20 questions.  "I know you.  Where are you from?"  And so it went on until I finally realized that she was a friend of my sisters' from junior high.  That was all that was interesting to say about that.

The second party I went to was at M1-5.  I met up with Little Miss Muffet, her lil' tuffet, and some of her friends.  And since there was more room and an actual DJ, I finally got my dancing fix.  I even brought a few snap lights (aka glow sticks) and we got our groove on.  Ah, the amazing power of shutter speed.

As the night wore on, the crowd got smaller.  When the hot trojan warrior left with the Ambiguously Gay Duo, I decided it was my time to head on home.

(to be continued...)

My Halloween Costume

If you just said to yourself, "Huh?", this is my inspiration, with more here, and here.

You may now lavish me with praise.