It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm glad at least there were some sunny days to enjoy.

Hopefully good weather will following me to P-town for my second annual "Trip to the Tip!" Unfortunately, it's not what it sounds like. Or is it?

Halloween in a Word

Oh yes I did. And yes I went to work like this. And here's another one.

By the way, I'll be participating in the GLWD's Race to Deliver this Sunday, so head on over to my donation page and show some love!

A Casual Friday

After reading this NYTimes article on men wearing shorts to the office, I decided it would be fine for me to do it at my office. This is what I picked out:

Surprisingly, most people enjoyed it; I saw it through all their laughter.

It was awesome. Unfortunately, no one sent me home. Oh well.

Pride Month Remembered

As evident by my lack of posting, I've been pretty busy. With work, events, volunteering, I hardly had time to think. So here's a quick rundown of Pride Month 2008.

June 1, Japan Day
Standing in line for 20 minutes under the summer sun for free fried dumplings. They were pretty good.

Did I mention they were also free?

June 3-6, Birthday Week
My birthday celebration consisted of a four day feast! Each day I was treated to a wonderful meal, from Next Door Nobu, to Le Cirque, to Grand Central Oyster Bar, to my favorite Szechuan restaurant, Szechuan Gourmet in Flushing.

I probably gained in my belly as much as they lost in their wallets. Tee hee.

But seriously, I really loved each and every meal. The friends, the food. But mostly the food. I mean the friends. I mean the froods. Wha?

Which reminds me, I still haven't had an official birthday party yet, so watch out July!

Oh, and somewhere in there I decided it would be a good idea to go to The Web after a year plus hiatus. What a disappointment. Aside from the half-naked go-go boys, of course.

June 14, 18, Central Park Zoo and Ikea
In mid-June, I visited the Central Park Zoo with my sister for the first time ever! Can you believe they keep two polar bears in that zoo? And out in the open air on a hot and humid day! Don't they have some sort of sub-zero temperature room or something?

Afterwards, we stopped by an event put on by Adventures NYC in Central Park and saw some awesome trampolining.

Mid-June also saw the opening of Ikea Brooklyn. I saw it opening weekend. Take the Water Taxi, it's awesome, fast, and free. Yay!

June 22nd, Celebrating Pride; with Nakedness
For some reason, I decided to agree to my friend's crazy idea of celebrating Pride by having the most expensive lunch known to man - eating at Per Se. Ironic that this friend is still not out to his family? Hm. No judgment.

The brunch itself was flawless, from the food to the service. Thank goodness I took some pictures, because it will be a long time before I get over the shock of the cost and think about returning.

Later that day, I partook in a yearly ritual I like to call Folsom Street East. This year, I went with this man. His first time! I know! I was shocked, too! So shocked I had to take the ball-gag from my mouth so my jaw could drop. Kidding.

Nothing out of the ordinary; just some half-naked people in leather bondage performing fellatio on each other.

That night I continued on the theme of half-nakedness; I went to Broadway Bares 18! The show as good, not great. But the best part (aside from introducing my friend to some culture) was I got to see Step It Up and Dance reality TV stars Mochi and Jerry Mitchell! I even got to tip some dollars in Jerry's undies! Yay!

June 30, PRIDE
The day after a horrendous Pride Run race result, I soothed my wounded pride by marching in the Pride parade with HOP! It was my first time in the parade and aside from small hiccups (the flash tsunami at 2:30pm) it was a total success!

It even earned me a lone ticket to the Pier Dance. Going by myself confirmed the suspicion I had: it's just not nearly as much fun if you go by yourself. But I did see Wilson Cruz, so I suppose it wasn't a total loss.

That's it! And I'm spent! Whew!

Happy Holidays!

Half A Month

Has it been that long since I've updated my blog? And more importantly, can I really be that busy at work?

Unfortunately, work has been taking up more time than I'd like it to - but I won't go into that. But can I just tell you how exasperated I am by the fact that all this work is taking so much time that I haven't even started making my holiday cards yet?!

Well, between work and all those holiday parties.

Speaking about working late and being fellatiated in photos, I haven't done any gift shopping either. For other people I mean - I bought myself a cute sweater and two pairs of pants that make my ass look amazing from Brooklyn Industries.

Anyway, here's my holiday message to you: Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Oh, and if you're on my card list, I'd probably expect it sometime mid-January. And probably as an e-card. Eh... Cheers!

Why Is My Body Revolting?!

Before you jump to any conclusions, I do not have a body dysmorphic disorder; I'm pretty happy with how I look and acknowledge that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Now that I've said that, I really do think my body is revolting; against me!

My sinuses' have been acting up in the morning and I can hardly breath without hacking up a loogie. My gums started hurting a few days ago, behind my upper right molar, and it feels inflamed - ugh!

Then last night, in the midst of a huge heartburn attack (brought on by ibuprofen taken for the 'gum' issue), I find out I have a huge, painful to touch, zit! That's not on my face.

What have I done to deserve this, oh body of mine? And how can I make it up to you?

Stop the Paparazzi!

Me and my adopted Nigerian baby. Angelina Jolie and Mattox's got nothing on us!

Dream #241 Comes True!

Thanks to a very generous person, I was able to get the much coveted Anya Hindmarch "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" bag that I lamented about!

We've been inseparable ever since (except when it rains - who knows what might happen when it gets wet)! We went to work, to the gym, out to dinner. Here we are shopping on Saturday afternoon!

I had to rock my "I'm Not A Plastic Fag" tee (buy that here) and my white short shorts.

So thank you generous person! You helped me take my gayness to a whole new level!

Geek or Greek?

Every time I hear there's some Comic or Sci-fi convention going on, I get giddy and this incredible urge to do anything (and everything) possible to attend wells up inside me. And even worse, I start getting pre-halloween delusions of the perfect 'outfit' (some would say 'costume') to wear. One time, it was Xena.

As a teen, I used to collect comic books and play video games (a lot). That was a previous stage in my life, though I will still enjoy a game here and there. And who doesn't like to dress up, eh?

Ultimately, I can never rationalize going and let it fall by the wayside, living vicariously through news reports and online photographs. And then I stumbled on this on Wired:

I think I might have to try harder next year...

Photo credit: Wired.com: Knights, Heroes and Vixens Converge at Comic-Con 2007

My Plans Tonight

I got the following message from the mothership tonight after dinner (in a delicious cookie container):

And when I'm done cleaning up, I'll continue to read Harry Potter (which finally arrived in the mail today). Don't you dare tell me what happens!

Can You Tell How Excited I Am?

It's the day before the seventh, and final, Harry Potter book comes out. Obviously, there are tons of events happening around the city. To me, this is absolutely insane. When was the last time you heard of a bookstore open at midnight? Oh right, when the last book came out.

It's crazy! Of course, being a Harry Potter fan myself, I'll be attending some of those events. Wand making, potion making, live owls! It'll take all my self-control not to knock those little brats over to get to the front, but I think I can do it. No promises on the squealing though.

Steam Explosion Rocks NYC

Taken en route to dinner at a nearby restaurant.

More on this here.

Oh the Anticipation!

I just had a fabulous pre-birthday weekend!

It started with a wonderful lunch at Isabella's; a stroll through the MoMA; a delicious vegan Sunday brunch at teany; and finished off with a home-cooked dinner complete with home-made bacon and shallot salad dressing and home-made stracciatella ice cream (not in the same dish)!

That was just the pre-celebration! And now it is my birthday!

I can't wait to see what's coming next! Whee!

Love Bites

I was awoken in the middle of the night by an elbow and shove to the ribs. "I had a bad dream and now I'm mad at you," he said as he rolled away from me.

Ignoring his comment, I rolled over to him and promptly fell back asleep. Figuring out what happened can wait until the morning.

*cue Greig: Peer Gynt's Morning Mood*

The following morning, I asked him about the elbowing and this is what he said:

I dreamed that we went to a club, and it was early enough that we got in for free (author's note: which I am apt to do). But I didn't like the club and loud music, so I stepped outside for some fresh air (which he is apt to do).

When I tried to get back in, the doorman stopped me and wanted me to pay a cover charge! I told him I got in already and just needed some air, my boyfriend's inside, but he wasn't listening and still wanted me to pay the cover (don't you hate that?). $79! I wasn't going to pay that!

And then this manager lady comes outside wondering what was going on; after hearing the situation she decided to give me a discount of $59 instead. No way was I going to pay that either!

And that's when you come out asking,
"What's going on?"
"They won't let me back inside!"
"Why not?"
"They want me to pay a cover charge!"
"Oh yea, there's a cover for people over 30."

And that's when I woke up...

...mad at me.

Horns in Trouble

"Horns" is going through a rough time - stop by and give him some love.

I'll be visiting him soon - and yes, that'll probably mean pictures coming soon, too.

Conservawha?

So I read this article on Wired.com about Conservapedia; yep, it's just what it sounds like - the conservatives' wikipedia.

As cited in the article, there's already a lot of hilarity to be found on the site; aside from the blatant hypocrisies in most of the articles I've read. Why, just take a gander at the discussion of their main page.

My favorite is their entry on Intercourse; uhm.. protected to prevent re-creation? I'm surprised their Sexual Intercourse entry doesn't include the stork.

And you KNOW I had to read their homosexuality page - how is it that Intercourse is deemed unfit, but the sections about anal sex are? Hm. But what is really interesting is the discussion of the page, especially the Biblical Relevance portion where it gives the true reason for Leviticus 'lie with man' verse.

Anyway, here's what I think about the whole thing, in a thousand words:

Shout out to my cousin, the lovely lass in the photo!

Pegg'ed!

I'm still giddy from seeing a screening of Hot Fuzz last night.

From the same guys that brought you Shaun of the Dead, this time they bring you their homage to the 'buddy cop' movies. It was really good (even though there was a bit too many of those 'cut scenes' which I assume is just part of the 'tribute' to the 'buddy cop' movies).

Even more exciting was the Q&A session afterwards with the stars and writers! Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the flesh! It was just the icing on the cake. They spoke on writing techniques, working with veteran movie stars, and how it felt to beat The Living Daylights out of James Bond! (joke credit: Nick Frost)

And can I just say that Simon's normal speaking voice was so deep, entrancing, and British that I didn't want him to stop talking? He could be reading the dictionary or a bible for all I cared. Except he wasn't dull; he was clever and funny! *swoon*

And the rainbow sprinkles on top of the icing was the fact that the adorable Simon Pegg actually touched me! See his hand on my shoulder in that photo? He was so nice and accommodating and even said "Cheese!" when prompted by our photographer! Too cute!

I'm never washing my shoulder ever again! Well, maybe not never never.

Meaningless Valentines

I don't buy into the whole Valentine's Day thing. I honestly believe it's one of those 'holiday's whose sole purpose is to drive capitalism. Now, while I'm all for making money off the saps who want to spend it, let's not confuse it with genuine intention.

It's the same as New Years resolutions. If you really wanted to celebrate the red-hot passionate, or puppy, love you share with someone, why do you need to wait until this arbitrary date? You don't. Just like you don't need a date to start 'eating healthier'.

Of course, I have no problems when couples choose to celebrate their love on this day, but the fact that this day is 'required' defeats its purpose. If you're expected to do it, it doesn't mean you want to do it. And if you don't want to do it, then it's meaningless. Choose a more meaningful date, like your anniversary.

What I consider even worse is the pressure it puts on people. A day to make those sappy singles out feel worse about themselves. And did you know that Feb. 14th is the date with the highest suicide rate? No? Probably because I just made that up - but it's something to think about next year when you're thinking about buying roses and chocolates, eh?

My main beef with Valentine's Day is it allows people to have 'lazy' relationship. "Great, here's one day of the year I say 'I love you', and I'm set for the year!" No wonder St. Valentine was a man. If it's expected, where's the spontaneity? Relationship atrophy. (It took me forever to remember that word!)

And when these expectations can't be met, they become unnecessary disappointments. Like when your Boopy is away with his family and can't enjoy a Valentine's Day dinner with you.

Fortunately I don't buy into the whole Valentine's Day thing. I realize that any day can be special enough to celebrate our love. Seriously, would you be okay with having sex just one day a year?