Month: February 2006

the catch-all-egory

Ow! my aching back…

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Today has been a busy day; the new couch arrived, and I have been completely redoing 2 rooms (the old living room, which is now the “sitting parlor”; and the new living room, which is, well, warm and inviting). I am exhausted. Pictures will be posted tomorrow; even some before and after ones. I gots to give you folks perspective, after all!!!

And, thanks to all my APWBTGTTD peeps who showed me such a good time last night; it was awesome. I can’t believe we only do that once a month! Oh well… till next month, eh?!

mixed media

project runway prediction

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Today is a lazy Friday, and my brain is stuck on “weekend” (since this is a three day weekend coming up); so for now, I am going to post something frivolous and fun… my prediction for the winner of Project Runway. I don’t know if you all are watching this show, but I have, and I love it. If you missed it; make sure to catch it when Bravo replays it like 100 times.

Anyway! The final three were determined on Wednesday night to be Chloe, Daniel V, and Santino. Now, Santino has been one of my favorites from the beginning, because even though his personality is brash and in your face, he is a great designer. I also really like Chloe and Daniel V.; but after looking at the pictures for each of their collections for Fashion Week, I have to say that my prediction is a 100% bet that Santino will take the gold. Check out the collections for Santino, Chloe, Daniel V, and Kara (who was the decoy… but her collection was fantastic, and one of the best!), by clicking on each person’s name. Who do you think should win? I think Santino is going to win just based on this dress I have posted here. If I am wrong, so what, but that is my prediction, bitches. Happy Friday!

[image from newyorkmetro.com]

venting

Netflix, you sneaky little bitch!

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First, let me say thanks to those of you that posted your comments on HIV testing yesterday… it was interesting to see that most people just don’t think that much about it; other than for insurance/cost reasons. Perhaps that will spawn another post at some point down the road. But for now, I want to talk about Netflix.

I remember when I joined Netflix, I was so super excited; I had unlimited rentals at my fingertips, and I was going to be able to rent without going to a store. No more Blockbuster (!)… and, I would be able to get everything I wanted, and as much as I wanted for a little less than $20 a month. Sweet!

BUT… It was all a lie. Netflix has duped us all, and I for one am pretty pissed off about it. Let me explain. First of all, before I get into it, Netflix has the right to change their policies at any time, so if any of this comes as a shock, or sounds like something you didn’t see in your agreement with Netflix, then you should check again, because they changed the policies on you, and it is in there now.

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well?

does it make a difference to you?

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Everyone probably knows that I work in HIV prevention, and there is one issue that surrounds testing that is always debated, and is honestly something that I think about a lot. (Note: While I am NOT talking about work, but am talking about HIV prevention, the obvious connection is there, but I don’t want anyone to think that there is any motive by my asking, or any true tie between the two. They are just related based on in intellectual interest and sheer curiosity. Again, this is NOT FOR or ABOUT WORK!) The issue of which I speak, has to do with whether or not people that get tested for HIV are deterred in any way because the test is confidential vs. being anonymous. In case you don’t know, confidential testing does record some identifying information about you that is recorded and reported to the county in which you test, and ultimately to the government (HIV prevalence and all that good stuff); whereas anonymous means you get the test, and that’s it, nobody knows who you are, and you are identified by only an arbitrary number (of course, if you test positive, it is recorded, but it is not associated with you, it is the number that is recorded).

Basically, out of my own intellectual curiosity, I want to ask you this: if and when you test (you better all be testing regularly… even you straight ones) are you more or less likely to test somewhere or in some situation because the testing being offered is confidential vs. anonymous? If so, then why? Does it even make a difference to you? (and this is a personal preference type question; no one is wrong here, and there will be no consequences to any answer; as I stated, this is mere curiosity.) If so, which test do YOU prefer; and how does it effect your willingness and frequency to test?

Seriously though, just to state again, this is not related to work; it is my own curiosity. It is something that I honestly think about a lot, and find very interesting. Hopefully you have found it interesting enough to read through this post, and even interesting enough to provide you own responses.

show the love

obligatory valentine’s post

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Now, like many out there, I don’t necessarily believe that today, Valentine’s Day, is actually a day worth celebrating. I too believe that it is a day that was created by the greeting card companies and the florists of the world, in an effort to foster a great first quarter profit margin. I do believe that the hype of the cards, the balloons, the flowers, the candy, and the plush bees with the words “beeee mine” embroidered on their asses is a little too much. But, let us not forget that Valentine’s is good for one thing; being on the receiving end of any and or all of that shit makes you feel good.

Getting the box of chocolates when you are obviously on a diet (hello Abs diet!, day nine, for those of you counting!), getting flowers that will surely not live past next week at this time, and having tons of those little conversation hearts everywhere (like in between the seats in your car), is just part of the “celebration”. Having your partner (or lov-er, as today is all about love, right?) scrounge through the mob of people frantically trying to secure that last box of He-Man and She-Ra Valentine’s cards for little Suzie’s class at 9pm on the Monday before Valentine’s, just to piece together some semblance a card, some candies, and a toy you never want to see in your house the day after Valentine’s, is all worth it. It is all worth the feeling that overcomes each of you as you exchange your candies and whatnot’s, and you feel, well, in love. But you were in love yesterday, and will be in love tomorrow… so you don’t necessarily need this day to affirm that through treats and goodies; but it sure as hell feels nice.

Well, despite my “silent” protest on the commercialization of yet another day in the year to make money, and make other people feel bad; this year, I kind of went a little overboard in Valentine’s department, let me explain.

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listen up!

durable health care power of attorney

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Last night, we were watching the L word, per our usual Sunday night TV fest, when one of my biggest fears was portrayed on the show; Dana was in the hospital, and they wouldn’t tell her partner anything or let her see her, because she wasn’t “family”. I literally watched horrified, as the doctor snubbed Dana’s partner, and then worst of all, Dana’s parents followed suit and treated Dana’s partner like she didn’t even matter.

This is honestly one of my biggest fears, and it is a real one people should have; especially if you are in a gay relationship. Heaven forbid that your partner have to go into the hospital for anything; but not being able to see them, or be informed of what is happening, topped off by an insensitive and uncaring in-law situation, can only make a bad situation unbearable, and make you feel totally powerless.

Now, I know that I told everyone that reads this blog about James and my decision to go and have our wills and other important documents drawn up, so I bet you are wondering why I am still worried about it, right? Well, the fear is still real, and still inside me, and it probably won’t subside just because I have a piece of paper.

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is it just me?

damn you olympics!!

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Every time the Olympics are on, I vow vehemently not to watch; but every time, I am sucked in. Case and point, last night, I went out with a few blogger buddies, and the bar we were at had the Olympics opening ceremonies on TV. So, since we couldn’t avoid it, we decided to use it to our advantage; drink for every country that ends in ‘a’. Yeah, all the names were in Italian, so that means, you guessed it, most of them were ending in ‘a’. Maybe the Olympics do mean good times…

But, even though there is drinking game potential, I still don’t want to watch the Olympics. For one thing, I think that they are kind of boring; the only thing on when you WANT to watch is curling or something else silly (yes, I called curling silly… even the name makes me giggle like a 12 year old girl). And, there only so much figure skating even a fag can take. More hockey would be a plus… Olympic people; write that down. Also, one of my biggest pet peeves is the “no drugs”/harsh drug policy at the Olympics. As dutifully pointed out by my buddy Kim, the deletion of that rule, would only serve to make the Olympics more interesting. Think about it, you’ve gotta admit that super human performances would make it more interesting. If Michelle Kwan threw a quintuple axle, you would cheer your pansy asses off.

But, perhaps I have judged the olympics too soon… I have heard everyone talking about this Bode Miller (that’s him looking all cute in the Roots gear), and never really gave it any thought; that is until I saw him while I was on the StairMaster at the gym. Um, hello, can we say HOT?! He is going to melt that snow if he’s not careful; and hopefully win some gold medals, because apparently he is a big talker. Perhaps he could prove to be one more reason why I won’t be able to escape the Olympics again this time… but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

[I do not claim that picture to be mine, yo.]

"pointless"

i’m sorry, it’s not ready…

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Last night, before I went to bed, I must say that I got a little excited at the prospect that the living room I was sitting in, would not be the living room the following night. Nope, we would be transforming (!) the guest bedroom that is just off of the living room into the new living room, and the living room would become a formal sitting parlor or some uber gay junk like that. Well, much to my dismay, those plans have been halted in their tracks by the willy-nilly dumbness of a little leather daddy that works at American Signature Furniture. The couch we purchased that was GUARANTEED for delivery for today, is well, not in. And, to top it all off, it won’t be coming to our house until next week. (Next week!?!?! That deserves the biggeset gay sigh I can muster!)

BUT! At least we get shipping for free, and we don’t have to go and get it now. At least I can take some solace in that. I love that when I called, this leather daddy (I saw the sticker on his car, I am not stereotyping based solely on the hand gestures and the handlebar mustache) says, “I am just a complete moron, huh? I can’t believe I messed this up this bad. This is totally me. I totally apologize.”

It’s fine queen Anne’s lace, don’t fret a little hair on your, well, body. We haven’t even finished painting the room, nor have we gotten rid of the bed yet. Perhaps… this is a blessing in disguise?

On another note; why is it that I am such a sucker for sales? There was a clearance sale at REI today, and I ended up buying a kick ass northface fleece that is to die for. Before any of you say ANYTHING, it was only $45 bitches… it would have been a crime to NOT buy it. I think that I even made money by buying that, at least, if you use my logic. Either way, you will be jealous when you see me in it; that, and my “homosexualize” shirt. Oh yeah.

Finally, another lesson from the Abs Diet chronicles:
Protein Powder is the devil. At least, it is something related to fire and brimstone; because it smells god awful, and it makes your stomach hurt and burn. But it is good for you right??? Then I will have another please! Man, beauty hurts!