It's Halloween and The Weekend in Review

It's Halloween. I remember how I used to get so excited for Halloween when I was a kid. We used to get Barbasol Shaving Cream, stick a pin in the nozzle, burn the plastic around the pin, pull out the pin and whamo! you have a shaving cream spray gun. After hours of roaming the neighborhoods planning shaving cream attacks on other groups, we would eventually make our way back home, completely covered. My parents always thought this was the craziest shit, which it was, but that is what made it fun. No more shaving cream attacks or even giving out candy to little kids. Since I moved into my loft, we have no visitors. Which is kind of sad. I even miss the teenagers that used to come to my house, not dressed up at all, just wanting candy. Next year. This past weekend was great. Charlie made it up from Florida. Went to the GT/Clemson game for some tailgating, then went to Atlantic Station again, then to some parties on Saturday night. Charlie and I were Ken dolls...I was Sandstorm Ken and Charlie was Renegade Ken. Saturday night at Jungle was amazing...it was packed. Sunday was a lazy day which ended up with a tour of the Oakwood Cemetery. Great idea, great company, bad tour guide. Ms. Anti-climatica. And then???? She never finished her stories...talk about being left with blue balls. Then it was on the salmon cook off. Charlie and I went back to my loft to prepare two types of salmon...mine was salmon covered in a concoction of julienned bartlet pears, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, in addition to a drizzle of brown sugar based bbq sauce. It was baked at 350 for ~25 mins and then broiled on low for 5 mins to crisp the glaze. Charlie made his with mainly garlic...he flash fried the salmon then covered it in a concoction of olive oil and garlic with ground pepper and sea salt. They were both very good...one sweet, one seasoned/garlic. It was a great weekend in all…great weather, great friends and good times.

US - China Relations

It's Friday, which in itself is a great thing. Charlie is in fact coming to the ATL this weekend, so I'm excited about that. There is a home GT football game tomorrow, which means tailgating on a beautiful Southern Saturday with a bourbon and coke in hand, good times indeed. But an email I received from my friend Timber "all the way over on the west coast" absolutely made my day. Check out this link and then let's discuss:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648&pr=goog-sl

Ok. Pull yourself together. Amazing. Yes this is just two Chinese students lip-synching a BSB song. But, wait, it is so much more. What is the Chinese infatuation with Western Culture? I love the Houston Rockets jerseys and the fact that their roommate behind them is also wearing a jersey and completely oblivious to the goings on behind him. I don't even think that they know English very well, but damn if they don't know every word to this song. I saw this when I was in Paris as well. No English, but Madonna, Like a Prayer...every word. I think this bodes well for US - China relations. The younger culture in China is not Communist; they are just following an old, established regime. There are a Billion people in China. 1/5th the World's population. Who knew our secret weapon to capture their minds and push them towards Democracy were the BSB and the Houston Rockets? I'm sure that Barbara Bush would be appalled. "What, they are wearing a Houston Rocket's jersey? They may want to come live here, that's the scary thing!" Living in the US, I don't think we fully see how our culture influences the rest of the world. This is just a glimpse into our power...not nuclear or Bushinator power, genuine influential cultural power.

Choice

I was flipping through the channels last night and ran across a show with a raspy voiced woman preaching. You know the show...a woman standing up on a stage, with her pulpit, bible and adoring audience. So to amuse myself, I decided to watch for a while. To my surprise, she actually had a lot of interesting things to say, minus all of the scripture quoting. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not the most religious boy in the choir, but I do have a strong sense of spirituality and Ms. Joyce Meyer was hitting on a few topics that I have often thought in my own mind. The main difference however, is that she continued to say "do it for God, be good for God, be strong for God" and I focus on myself...selfish you ask? Not at all. The only one who is going to pick you up from the floor of the bathroom after a night of drinking, or be in there with you during that important interview, or make that call to the guy you've been interested in, or force yourself into the gym, or to finish that last mile, or to frankly, get out of bed in the morning, is you. A lot of Americans may think its easier to create a fall back or think that they are not worthy enough to just do it for themselves or think for themselves, so in comes God. Do it for God, be good for God, be strong for God. What is that? Do it for yourself! Be good for yourself! Be strong for yourself! No, I'm not saying that having a higher being to answer to is a truly bad thing, or makes one weak, but interestingly enough, when good things happen, people thank God. When bad things happen, why don't they blame God? Damn you, I didn't get that job! I drank too much! I lost that race! I had a car accident! It’s always, your fault then...you need to follow God more closely, they'll say…very lopsided if you ask me. In listening to Ms. Meyer, I did see a semblance of congruence between our belief systems. I believe you must focus on yourself, your inner forces, and your conscience. She says that God lives in you, and therefore you must please God. Are we speaking the same language? Perhaps. The difference is that I praise myself for the good and I am disappointed in myself for the bad. I don't blame myself, just know that in life things happen and I have to move on. Having God inside you, can provide a crutch, a reason to please Him and not to move yourself forward. Either way, you have a choice. Make decisions that please yourself or that please your God, but at least recognize that complacency and indecisiveness to push yourself, for whatever reason, will leave you spinning in place and in the end you’ll continue to fight the uphill battle.

Close Up

Ms Howard sent me this pic today...a beautiful day in Helen GA! Sunglasses courtesy of DG, Cleveland GA.

Thanks Wilma

Wow, Wilma did some good work down in South Florida. 6 Million people are without power, which means that my boy Charlie will be heading down to West Palm/Ft. Lauderdale, since he works for the Power Company. What that also means is that he will not be coming to the ATL this weekend. What has taken me back is the fact that I'm genuinely disappointed. I was really looking forward to his visit. He will be in Southern Florida for about 2 weeks...and I'm heading to Argentina in 3 weeks, so basically the next opportunity for us to see each other is in December. This has started me thinking. I just don't think long distance relationships can ever work. Talking on the phone, seeing each other once a month or even longer, just is not cutting it. What to do. It sucks, but it is what it is.

Weekend Update

The Freaky Friday/Weekend Extravaganza came to an end yesterday resulting in another hook up free 3 day affair. Ms. Howard came out the big winner with a Saturday night wrangling. The weekend in all was a lot of fun. Friday night we felt the wrath of God with some crazy thunderstorms that literally flooded the street at the Faye Gold Art Gallery show. There was an original Ansel Adams print for $46,000...on the price tag it then stated that the frame was an extra $170. Damn, you'd think for $46K they would throw in the frame! Ended up at Red Chair and then on to the Heretic, where the Varsity team was represented and the Junior League stepped it up. Saturday was the Halloween Parade in Little 5 Points...Atlanta has some unique neighborhoods, but I think that Little 5 wins the prize for most eclectic. Dinner at James' turned into a short stop at Davida's and then on to Jungle for a fun night. Traded some phone numbers but ended up at home making cookies. The trick to being drunk and making cookies is to not fall asleep on the couch. I awoke to smoke pouring out of my oven, yikes, a few more minutes and it could have been trouble. Sunday was amazing...temps in the 70s and sunny. Beautiful day for a long run. Sunday night brought my first trip to Atlantic Station. That place seems really great. Like a small city in a city. Charlie is bearing down in Melbourne with Wilma knocking on his door. He's coming up for the weekend and it will be good to have him in town.

Busy Day

Every once in a while I have a very busy day at work...today is one of those days...this is the first chance that I had to even attempt a blog entry, but have been pulled in a number of directions and have been putting out fires...so I leave you with this thought:

"If homosexuality is in fact a disease, can I call into work 'gay'?"

Katrina, Rita and Wilma...Oi Vey

Being the weather geek that I am, I was completely amazed to hear this morning that Hurricane Wilma is now the strongest Hurricane ever on record, based on central atmospheric pressure. Currently the central pressure is 882 mbs...that's the lowest pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. Ever. Absolutely amazing. With the inverse relationship between central pressure and wind velocity, the correlation is producing winds of 175mph, already. The crazy thing is that this Category 5 hurricane was a Tropical Storm only 24 hours ago. This shit just doesn't happen. At least it hasn't happened in the history of recorded weather statistics...that's ~130 years of records. In addition, this is the 3rd category 5 hurricane this season, which is another record. I don't think scientists fully understand why this is happening. A 1 degree increase in average water/air temperature over the past century couldn't possibly be the cause, could it? Could this be a cyclical pattern, which hopefully will be followed by many years of calm and low volume hurricane seasons? Perhaps the government officials should get their heads out of their asses and begin to consider Global Warming and release of carbon emissions as a main source for the increase in destructive natural disasters. Looks like Wilma is charting a path towards southern Florida. Since my cuddle buddy works for Florida Power and Light, this would not bode well for his trip here for Halloween. Instead he would most likely be fixing the damage caused by this hurricane. So for my sake and of course the safety of our state to the south, Wilma, go on now go...walk out the door...just turn around now (sorry Mexico), cause yer not welcome anymore...

Back from The City

Finally made it back into Atlanta last night at 11PM. Long trip to NYC, but it was a lot of fun. Spent time with my college roommate and his wife in Hoboken...got into town on Saturday and had an Omaha Steak Feast with Murph...eventually headed over to NYC for drinks and dinner and etc...started with Margaritas at the Rocking Horse Saloon and then headed across the street to Gym, which was interesting...I really don't understand why the bathroom was basically an open room in the middle of the bar...we talked some football smack with the Jersey boys on the front patio and then jumped in a cab to head down to the SoHo Grand. My friend Ryanne works there and my goal was to surprise…mission accomplished. A couple of drinks later we were heading back to Serena in Chelsea…By this point it all gets a bit blurry...managed back by Gym, which I again say was interesting and finally to Chelsea Diner for some Karaoke. Small bars jammed with Karaoke singing just can't be beat. People in there are having a damn good time. Sunday brought football watching in Hoboken...Giants lost, Falcons won. Headed over to meet up with Ryanne at his apartment in the West Village. The fact that I actually made it there without looking like a tourist and asking for directions, was a huge accomplishment. The evening started out innocent enough...met Fabi and saw the other Ryanne Smith again, also met a pretty girl named M. Jane. Ended up going to see Junior Vasquez spin at a club in the Meat Packing District, just down the street from the Gansevoort Hotel. Met one of Ryanne's friends there...Ednon…that's some good stuff, damn good. Ended up leaving and going to Hero, I think, and then to another place after that. It was one of those nights when you look at your watch and its 10PM and then you look again and its 3:30AM...damn! Needless to say, I made it back to Hoboken in the morning and tried to get some more shut eye. Met Newms in the city on Monday for lunch and then tried to shop, but the city was unforgiving to a tired Southern boy, so nothing was purchased and I headed back to Jersey...after a number of flight delays, landed in Atlanta and made my way home. I had a great weekend and am very lucky to have college roommates that I can keep in touch with…Whenever we get together it’s like old times…and that is something for which I am very grateful.

Halloween

Sounds to me like its going to be a big Halloween for Atlanta this year. The New Orleans trip has been canceled by the Junior League and a lot of other folks are staying in town as well. Heard of a couple parties and it should be a lot of fun. Went to a great new Greek restaurant last night on Juniper, Avra, thanks to Feldman and was able to see De La Plage again and also Mr. Coke, and not in that way, Twon and Ms. Howard. Over Hummus and OOPAs we were brainstorming ideas for Halloween costumes. The only one we settled on was Ms. Howard, who did an amazing version of Michael Jackson last year. This year, he is losing the white face and gaining some hair color and a big fake flower. That's right y'all Ms. Howard is transforming into the delightful, mysterious, masculine yet feminine, hard-ass yet pussycat, mastermind of the Atlanta transformation, one Ms. Shirley Franklin:

Does she have an endorsement contract with a fake flower company? I have never seen a picture of her without a flower. Somebody tell her...no more! Ms. Howard, this actually kind of looks like you, so you're half way there...

Heading to The City for the weekend...NYC that is...to visit with my college roommates. It's always a good time when we hang out and catch up. Thanks to http://genex.typepad.com/ for the Insider list of places to go...I'll definitely hit a few of them.

Aspen

I saw this picture posted on weather.com this morning and wanted to share it. Nature can be absolutely amazing. This picture was taken in Aspen, after the recent snow they had in Colorado. As I sit here in my office, looking at this picture, I can imagine the crisp air, the clear water and bright sun. Damn, I wish I was there right now... and Happy Birthday to my adorable nephew Jack, who turns 3 today!

London Calling

The internet can be used for many amazing things. I've discovered a truly bloody great series of radio channels that stream all the way from London. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/ I turn this on when I get into my office and play a number of the stations through-out the day. It is quite amazing in the quality. Since it is not streamed live, there are few (if any) interruptions in the music. Technology can be amazing. Can you imagine if we still only had AM radio? It's funny to think about my parent's Silverado that had the push button AM radio back in the mid 70s...

First Time Caller, Long Time Listener

On the way to work this morning, I was listening to a local radio station, Q100. An interesting topic came up and it made me question, have we really evolved at all with our level of tolerance and understanding of gay issues? A caller was worried about his son, his 3 year old son, who wanted to be a ballerina for Halloween. Immediately the "Bert Show" addressed his concerns with jokes and laughter...indicating how horrified they would be if their child had approached them with a similar issue. Melissa, who is on the show and who is gay, was trying to be as PC as possible pointing out that this is exactly the problem. When she asked the caller, why he was so concerned he said, "If I run into my friends with my son, I'll be embarrassed and horrified of what they will say." The other members of the morning show agreed. In fact the lead guy, Bert, went as far to say, if my son turned out to be gay, I'd be completely disappointed, but yeah, I'd still love him. Bert, you are so generous. Isn't this exactly what we deal with everyday? The fact that so many of us live continuously semi-closeted lifestyles is because we don't want to disappoint our parents, siblings, friends...but what the fuck? We are the ones who continually bear the burden from all angles. This is a form of discrimination that is so close to home it is much worse and more damaging than any expletive or demeaning remark a stranger could yell. If we still don't feel like we are accepted at home or within our inner circle, have we really evolved as a society to be accepting of the gay culture? It is the classic not in my backyard argument. I know that many people will argue, my family wholeheartedly accepts me for who I am, but I honestly feel you would be in the minority. The damage to this man's son is already done. The resentment never leaves. Years, distance, apologies and sincerity will never, ever remove the feeling of when a parent expresses disappointment or even anger at something so innocent a child could never understand. How can we expect society to be accepting of the gay culture, when in many, many cases, our own core unit puts on a smile, but secretly wishes things were different? We have come a long way, but evidently, we still have a long way to go. Core values permeate generations…and it will take generations to instill true, heartfelt unconditional tolerance.

Drunk Donkey

This past weekend we made our annual voyage to the North Georgia Mountains for Oktoberfest in Helen. Once again it provided for an opportunity to drink a lot, a lot of beer. Each of these mugs was 32 ounces, about 2.5 beers and I think we each had 3-4 in a 3 hour period. My problem was that I forgot to eat. I saved the table as everybody went off to get brat, sausage, kraut, etc...so needless to say, drunk donkey made an appearance.

The weather was absolutely amazing and the company was even better. I think this was the biggest group we have had up there to date...the only bad thing that happened was that UGA beat Tennessee...other than that the day was great. I met a few folks, a furniture builder from NC, a bartender, a group of Buckhead girls...at one point I turned into German pimp Donkey...

Asleep by midnight, finally hiccup free. Ran 9 miles yesterday in the mist as I begin my marathon training. It was a great weekend and the Donkey Twon lasagna last night topped it off...I think that should be a new menu item at SIMB.

Home on a Friday Night?

Yup, it’s true. 10:30 Friday night and I'm home listening to the rain on my tin roof. I actually have a tin roof since I live in an old warehouse converted to a loft and it sounds really soothing when it rains...I decided to stay in tonight and rest up for the big trip to Helen tomorrow. Helen Georgia is a small town about an hour and a half north of Atlanta. It literally is like a small German town set in the North Georgia Mountains. Every year they have Oktoberfest and it's always a lot of fun. We start off the day at The Troll for lunch and then on to the Wurst Haus for beers and the hokie pokie. We usually end up talking to hot girls from UGA and staring at their frat boy friends. Always a good time. I seriously can't remember a Friday that I haven't had a drink of alcohol...it feels good to take a break. I just saw on weather.com that the rain should end by morning...that's what I'm talking about!

It's the Little Things, Y'all

Simple things in life that make me happy:

• Dunkin Donuts coffee
• A great run on a sunny day
• Leaving the Dentist's Office without any cavities
• Drinking Bourbon at a Georgia Tech Football Game
• Traveling to visit friends/family
• Sitting on the beach
• Evenings in the Fall when you actually need a jacket
• Watching a camp fire
• Thunderstorms
• Blueberry Pancakes
• A great find at Valu Village
• Margaritas
• Tear jerking reality TV
• Reminiscing
• The quiet after a snow storm
• Pizza
• Waking up and realizing I have another hour of sleep
• Being part of a great group of friends who make me laugh, a lot

Ms. Harriet

The nomination of Harriet Miers to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Conner, could be the most important decision GWB will make in office; At least in my opinion. This Justice will become the new swing vote on many influential issues that will directly impact my human rights and the rights of many Americans. To be honest, I look at politics as something that happens, but doesn't directly impact me or my family. We are middle class Americans, Italian/Irish Catholics from Upstate NY...Democrat by birth; in fact I think it says so on my Birth Certificate. But that doesn't mean that I am necessarily Liberal. In fact, I'm about as close to the middle as I can get, without crossing over 'that' line putting me in the gray area between Republicans and Democrats. I would never wear a gray suit, nor would I let my hair go gray. I'm sad when the skies are gray and if you take out the R in gray (a letter I'm not too fond of and that scares me on Election Day) you have gay, which makes me a bit more comfortable. But when GWB had another opportunity to appoint a Justice, I knew this was big. John Roberts is replacing a Conservative; that's a wash. Sandra D...she flopped a bit...even though she was appointed by Reagan, she voted her heart and her principles evolved. But, what to expect from Harriet? I've been doing some research...I'm feeling as if I could actually exhale a little bit...

"Even in Dallas, home of groups such as the Texas Eagle Forum and the Republican National Coalition for Life, some religious conservatives say Miers, 60, has demonstrated an insufficient commitment to family values. They cited a questionnaire she filled out for a gay rights group in 1989 as a candidate for Dallas City Council, indicating that gay people should have the same civil rights as straight people and that the city should fund AIDS education and services. After her election, she appointed an openly gay lawyer to an influential city board."

She holds the future of equality for all Americans in her hands. What will happen in the future is unknown...wouldn't it be ironic, the President that has been so openly Homophobic, appoints a Justice that swings like O’Conner and in the light of creating all Americans equal, swings our way...sounds so logical…I thought I read that somewhere before...

U.S. Constitution: Fourteenth Amendment
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

If she is a strict Constitutionalist, as GWB contends, we should be alright. Its amazing how GWB is preaching that the Supremes should not legislate from the bench; what he wants them to do is preach. The future will be here before we know it, let's hope we are all treated equal some day. Even though complacency is a language most Americans speak, I'm learning, as I hope that many young Americans will, that participation in politics does matter.

Chutzpah

Spent the weekend visiting Marcus and Jeff in DC. Their new place is amazing...as always, Marcus and Jeff have done it again...they are so funny though. Always wondering and questioning whether they did the right thing...or whether this looks good or that fits there. Boys, it looks amazing. Congrats! The neighborhood will come around and the roof top deck is great and who needs a hot tub anyways! They are classic go getters...within the last year alone they have bought a new apartment in DC (while maintaining their house in Atlanta), furnished it with all new furniture (Storehouse says Thank You), leased another new car, went to Hawaii, went to China, are going to Japan and Guam, traveled to Football Games, Charleston, P-Town, and Atlanta, each started training with a Personal Trainer and Jeff is training for a Marathon while Marcus is training for a Half Marathon. In addition Marcus is rising up the ranks at his job and Jeff has started a new job, again. These boys have chutzpah. They live life like it should be lived. And judging by their friends I have met in DC, they continue to spread the love and build close relationships. Y'all how do they do it all? They inspire me to pull the trigger; problem is I can't get the safety lock off my gun. We all draw strengths from our friends, whether they know it or not. I think that's what makes true friendship. We lose the dead weight and pile on the elevators (that's what I call somebody who consistently brings me to a higher level, either through laughter, conversation, inciting introspection, or pushing me is a new direction.) We all need elevators in our lives. I feel lucky that I have many in mine; I just have to learn to get on and not always want to get off in Women's Lingerie. Kidding...of course. I'll continue to grow. As well all do.