Bower of Bliss

I think I am going to start publicly shaming men who don't wash their hands in the restroom. Between my various jobs and all the different groups of people I interact with, I find myself in a lot of different bathrooms throughout the day, and it's disgusting how many men either just don't wash their hands or do the quick rinse and shake, as if running cold water over your hands for 3 seconds isn't actually spreading the germs. It's the worst at my full-time job, where these people I witness perpetrating this crime of sanitation are going to interact with me all day. If I have to be around these people, and they are not going to be embarrassed at not washing their hands, then I am going to start speaking up: Dude, wash your hands. No one wants your feces on his fingers.

Words that make me cringe, just from the sound of them. In no particular order:
tampon
fudge
cud
fraternize
umpteenth
muncher
felch
crockery
fickle


And a few words and phrases I love:
fuck knuckle
the ham slam
cunty
bulbous
rutabega
ignominious
clack

I spent the weekend being an outsider. I think it serves us well to every now and then experience life in the minority. Friday night we went to a birthday party for a woman that SweetieKins works with. She's Columbian, and the party was mostly family of her and her husband. There was music playing, which i assume was Columbian, and everyone (except us) was dancing these crazy salsas and merengues. it was very cool that they all knew how to dance like that, and you could tell the older people had been doing this for a lifetime. They kept trying to get us to get up and dance, but it was too intimidating, through probably the best opportunity to learn how to dance like that. On Sunday we went to a wedding. The bride is half Spanish, and there was a lot of Spanish music, to which her whole side of the family knew the words and the different dances that went with the songs. Again, it was interesting to watch from the fringes.

I'm glad that I have this kind of diversity in my life, that I am not so sheltered that I only hang around with people who are just like me, that somewhere in my life I realized the value of kicking it with the "other." Being a gay person in America definitely has its drawbacks, and for all the crap that we have to put up with on a daily basis, it's different than a racial otherness. Growing up white in America does lend itself to certain social provileges still, unfortunately, and it's good to be put on the outside every now and then, just as an observer, to see how similar we all are to each other.

What Book Are You?

Turns out I'm a book I've never read. Is this one of those chick books?

You're Anne of Green Gables!

by L.M. Montgomery

Bright, chipper, vivid, but with the emotional fortitude of cottage cheese, you make quite an impression on everyone you meet. You're impulsive, rash, honest, and probably don't have a great relationship with your parents. People hurt your feelings constantly, but your brazen honestly doesn't exactly treat others with kid gloves. Ultimately, though, you win the hearts and minds of everyone that matters. You spell your name with an E and you want everyone to know about it.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

The annual Gay Pride parade in Manhattan is fast approaching. Every year we say that we are going to go, and every year something comes up and we end up not going. I've never actually been, and it's something that I want to go to at least once, to have the experience, to share in the community, to see what the big deal is about, to see some big wigs on parade. It's kind of like New Years Eve in Times Square, the 6th Avenue Halloween parade, Mardis Gras: it's something that you should do once to have the experience (and in the case of Times Square on New Years, only once), and once again something has come up this year. I took the week of the parade off from work to use the time to refinish the hardwood floors in our house. My plan was to start the process on Saturday and take however many days it takes, and leaving for the whole day on Sunday might throw the whole thing off. I can't spend any more than that week, and ideally I don't want to spend the entire week doing that, since my vacations are few and far between. This year I feel especially like we should go because of all that is happening in the country right now. It's important to have our numbers there and be an example to the bigots in this world. Deny us marriage if you must, motherfuckers, but we are not going to stop being who we are! This is a hugely important election year, at least for me in my years of eligibility as a voting citizen, and the heat is only going to get more intense as we get closer to November and Bush gets more and more nervous, doing what all frightened children do and attack those that they are afraid of. He should be afraid of me.

People who have let their dreams die will try to keep you from reaching yours.

I'm normally a pretty calm and relaxed person, but lately my body has been in mini revolution mode. I'm waiting to hear about a job that I am very much interested in, and the interview process has been long and challenging, and now all I can do is sit around and wait for the decisions to be made. As much as I am trying not to think about all that has been going on, my body is letting me know just how very stressed I am. My right eye has been twitching every ten minutes, a little muscle spasm in the lower lid. It's actually the whole right side of me in revolt. I have a weird soreness to my scalp and skin on the right side of my head and a swollen gland under my neck. I just went to the chiropractor for some rackin' and crackin', and the eye twitch has seemed to have subsided (for the moment), but I need to find a way to either accept the anxiety of the next few weeks or do something to get rid of it, because pretending I am not freaking out over this is making things much, much worse.

I Always Thought I Was an Ernie . .

. . . but anonymous Internet quizzes don't lie.


Grover on Ecstasy



You're funny, you're loveable, you're entertaining,
you like to call yourself "Super
Grover!"--You're obviously on ecstasy.
But that's why we love you. Be careful, ok?


Which Sesame Street Muppet's Dark Secret Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Libations for Summer
Summer is here and nuthin’ says summer like delicious fruity sangria! A lot of people ask me for my sangria recipe because it’s just so damn good and the perfect drink to lounge around the pool with. I normally make red sangria but have been experimenting with success with white sangria as well. My advice is to make twice as much as you think you will need. I normally make more than I think I’ll need and end up running out faster than I imagine. People love them some sangria!!

Ingredients:

• A big bottle of red/white wine. You can really use the cheap stuff for sangria. It would be foolish to ruin a great bottle of wine by adding all of the other ingredients. The fruit and other stuff will completely change the taste, so don’t be afraid of using the big cheap jugs o’ wine. I normally use a burgundy, but I also have used cabernets and merlots with success. Mixing different kinds is also not a problem. For white, I’ve used chardonnay or pinot grigio.
  
• fruit: For red, I use lemons, limes and oranges. For white, I use apples, peaches, grapes and lemons.
  
• triple sec or citrus-flavored vodka: I prefer the Triple sec, but have found that vodka works well in a pinch!
  
• brandy
  
• sugar
  
• seltzer/club soda/sparkling water

In a big pitcher, slice the fruit into small pieces and add the red or white wine. Let the fruit soak in the wine overnight. The next day, add about 5 shots of the triple sec and five shots of the brandy. I either substitute the vodka for brandy for the white sangria only because it changes the color, or I will use a lot less, just a splash for taste. Add about five tablespoons of sugar. I normally dissolve the sugar in a little hot water first so it doesn’t settle at the bottom of the sangria. Taste. Adjust ingredients for taste. I honestly never actually measure anything, so these measurements are approximations! Keep iced/cold until serving.

I usually wait to add the seltzer until it is served as I like my sangria with a good amount of fizz. But if it is easier to mix it all together at once, then go crazy! I like to serve the sangria equal parts wine and seltzer, with a lot of ice and fresh cut up fruits.

Enjoy!! And make sure you invite me over to partake of the deliciousness!!

The rabbit/deer/mole/fox/bug war is officially on!! Our garden went in this weekend, with gate and chicken wire protection, so just try and get my cabbage you little fuckers!!

I probably shouldn't throw down to the deer. I don't need them trying to jump our fence and collapsing the whole thing. I'm not a carpenter by any stretch of the imagination, so the garden fence I so unprofessionally put up could very likely come crashing down if a rabbit were to put a little shoulder to it.

I'll be looking into some natural organic critter repellents to keep the woodland creatures at bay. Being right on the edge of the woods I feel like we are now screaming "Give me your hungry and your furry, our feeding stations are open!"