Category: madness

Pretty Pretty / Cha Ching

My gym schedule has sucked lately. Mainly due to the demands on my time. I knew it would happen and it will only get worse before it gets better. If I’m lucky, I’ll only have a month between class ending and starting a part-time gig as an EMT. I’m planning on putting that month to good use by spending extra time in the gym. After I start working as an EMT, I’ll be lucky if I get two days in a week.

I’ve been feeling like a wet noodle lately. I finally got into the gym today before work. I went yesterday but they were closed. (Damn them to hell!)

Don’t ya just love that feeling after a good work-out? You look in the mirror and your muscles are all pumped and tight. Oh yeah!

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On a completely different note, my bank account is having a fit. I’ve been on a small shopping spree lately. Nothing frivilous, just the necessities. A new crock pot for the kitchen (I make a killer beans and rice dish). A new triple bin hamper for the laundry along with some wood hangers for the closet (CHRISTINA! NO WIRE HANGERS!) A new bluetooth adapter for the home pc. (The old one mysteriously broke when I dropped it 5 stories out the window). A new case for the pda/phone and an extra set of styli. Oh! And a new ergonomic keyboard for work. (Workers Comp. will reimburse me)

See, nothing frivilous or extravagant. . . uh….um. Ok, well there was that one thing. Remember, ages ago when I blogged about bluetooth stereo headsets? Well, I sorta bought a pair. Just one pair and I really needed them. (Yeah, NEEDED them!) Ok, I didn’t need them but I wanted’em really bad. And I get some credit, I waited till they came down to the $100.00 price mark! And all the stuff cost less than $400.00 total via Amazon, Overstock.com, and Ben’s Bargains.

That’s my story officer and I’m sticking to it!

Scarface

My EMT class is fast coming to an end. I only have 4 classes left and I’m done! Well, when I say done, I’ll be finished w/the first hurdle. I have to find a part-time job as an EMT, get my 500 hours, and then I go back to classroom for the actual Paramedic training.

Most of the lectures now are on refining skills we’ve already learned. (Notice I didn’t insert mastered here. I’m far from being proficient. That’s where the real world training comes in.)

So while I’m on the subject, lately the instructor has had students from his previous classes help out w/scenarios. There is one particular student who is more than a little attractive. Add to that, he has a 2×2 inch scar on the side of his face from a childhood accident. Ya see, yours truly has a thing for scars. Don’t ask me why, I haven’t a clue. As long as I can remember, I’ve always found scars to be very sexy. Not the total disfigurement type, just the smaller ones that most people pick up in the course of an active life. For the purpose of the blog, we’ll call said fella Nick. Nick is clearly straight however, I couldn’t help it. All thru class this week, I kept sneaking a peek at his sexy scar. I think he caught me a couple of times but he was cool about it.

One of the really great things about living in SF, most straight guys don’t freak out every time they catch a gay guy making eyes at them.

Return of “The Thing.”

Sunday, Bobby and I are going to see John Carpenter’s The Thing from 1982. I’m actually looking forward to it. The Castro Theatre is hosting a double showing of the 1950’s original and the 1980’s one. I never cared for the original as much.

For it’s time, it had cutting edge special effects. The scene where the decapitated head turns into a roaming spider rocked! Unlike a lot of today’s flash/bang flicks, it had a well developed plot as well.

Pictures to come I’m sure.

Photoshop Bliss

I’m up late so I thought I’d rant. I had an ‘occurance’ today and figured I would share it. I’m on a break from work and I run over to Taco Bell for some food. (That nutrious and healthy place that it is.) This guy stops me and says hello like he knows me. Sorta breaks into conversation. I assume he knows me thru the blog and wants to introduce himself. I could tell after I started talking we weren’t on the same page so I finally just asked him how he knew me? It took me a moment to realize who he was. When it hit me, I was secretly shocked. This guy looked nothing like his pics and I do mean nothing! Ok, I know I’m sounding crazy, let me explain. He has a profile online and has chatted me up before. We’ve exchanged pleasantries, blah blah blah. What I didn’t know until today, his pics are so photoshopped I would never have recognized him. Never! I finally told him too. I said, “you know, I should tell you I think you need new pics as I would never have recognized you.” He was like, “Really? you think they are that far off?” Without really thinking what I was saying, I then proceeded to blurt out, “yes cause the ones you have are so photoshopped, I don’t think anyone would recognize you.” I didn’t really mean it to be rude but I think he took it that way. He got real un-friendly and didn’t offer much conversation after that.

So basically, he lied about who he is and then got “huffed” when someone called him on it. I guess I ruined his ego for the day. I’m such a bastard sometimes w/o even knowing it I guess. Sorry.

**Note, I looked for his profile when I got home and it is “no longer available”. Maybe he took the hint. Ya think?

Gay Genes II

My last rant, sometime back, about “gay genes” referred to genetics. This time I’m referring to the very stereo-typical version….SHOPPING! I didn’t get many of the “gay” genes however, I got the ‘shopping’ one in spades it seems. So today’s rant is a rare indulgance in the purely materialistic love of shopping!

For the uneducated, there are 3 types of shopping. Oh yes, there are different types. And all this time you thought it was just “shopping”. First, you have necessity shopping or shopping for items like groceries, staples, etc. Then you have desire shopping for items you want but don’t need. The third is merely a combination of the first two. Today was the third. Needing some new housewares, I decided to put the video game down for a bit and go shopping. (Having beat it once, I’m no longer in-thrall to it.) But I digress. I like to check out the discount stores first. Just on the off chance, they’ll have what I want for a fraction of what it normally costs me. As luck would have it, they did. Of course, I didnt’ stop there. Oh no, I also had to have a new Ralph Lauren coverlet, Polo athletic socks, some new towels, 6 flawless (see I do speak gay) new kitchen utensils, and the set of Mikasa glasses I originally went in looking for. All for under 150 buckaroos! Now that’s shopping friends!

Of course, all was not perfect. I didn’t find the Sateen cotton sheets I wanted. I absolutely refuse to sleep on anything less than 600 thread count. Anything under 200, you can usually see thru after the first wash. The 200-500 count usually ends up w/those awful little “beads” after a few washes. Hella annoying. I never mind paying full price if the item is made well and exactly what I want.

So there you have it. My unexciting rant about the joys of bargain shopping.

Hon! Have You Seen My Morals?

I often find that conversations involving morality (and monogamy but thats another rant ) always seem to end up in a bitch fight. Neither side is willing to listen or relent and both end up vehemently attacking the other.

I’m trying to collect my thoughts to make this rant sound coherent but ideas keep colliding w/each other so I’ll ask you to bear w/me. . . I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m tired of the factions within the gay community constantly at war w/each other. One side uses their morality as a shield w/their self-righteous speeches proclaiming they’re superiority because they have morality on their side. The other side uses their sexual freedom as an ax to chop away at the traditions society has built up for years and years. Yet, neither side really tries to listen to the other. No one tries to find a middle ground. It’s always “my way or the highway!” Ya know what folks, that same attitude is what has this country in the political quandry its in today!

I still feel like I’m still missing my point. Maybe I can focus on the term itself.

Morality is defined as

1. descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or,
1. some other group, such as a religion, or
2. accepted by an individual for her own behavior or
2. normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.

At first read, both definitions sound the same. If you read it that way, re-read it until you see the difference. It is pointless to read further until you understand the above definitions differences.

*ok I stopped here out of frustration. I couldn’t find the right words so after several hours of reading, I found what I was trying to say, albeit not so elegantly.*

…. it is not useful to adopt a definition of “morality” as meaning the code of conduct accepted by the members of a society because in many large societies, not all members of the society accept the same code of conduct. Nor is it useful to adopt a somewhat more general definition of “morality” as the code of conduct accepted by the members of a group because it is not only always possible, it is often the case, that not all members of any group accept the same code. A natural outcome of these problems is to switch attention from groups to individuals. If what is important is what code of conduct people accept, and members of a group do not always accept the same code of conduct, then why be concerned with groups at all?

This consideration leads to a new descriptive sense of “morality.” “morality” is taken to mean that guide to behavior that is regarded by an individual as overriding and that he wants to be universally adopted. [See R. M. Hare, Moral Thinking] In this sense of “morality,” it refers to a guide to behavior accepted by an individual rather than that put forward by a society or any other group. But “morality” does not refer to just any guide to behavior accepted by an individual, it is that guide to behavior that the individual adopts as his overriding guide, and wants everyone else to adopt as their overriding guide as well. This sense of “morality” is a descriptive sense, because a person can refer to an individual’s morality without endorsing it. In this sense, like the original descriptive sense, morality has no limitations on content. Whatever guide to behavior an individual regards as overriding and wants to be universally adopted is that individual’s morality.

This quote was taken direclty from Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Now we are getting somewhere! The picture once fuzzy becomes clear. (well at least for me.) We begin to see that morality is an ambiguous term at best. How can we expect to come together as a group if we are all focusing on our morality instead of our equality. It should be quite clear that we’ll never have the same morality as those who oppose and hate us.

If we don’t learn to move beyond our multi-cultural/racial views on morality, frankly folks, I think we are doomed as a species.

Well, I’ve beat this horse to death so I’m moving on now. Discuss, comment, or bitch as you will.

Third floor Lingerie!

I keep having this reoccuring dream. Last night was the third time in a year. I always seem to be working in a high rise building and any time I take an elevator, the elevator seems to be hellishly out of control. Forgetting for a moment that I always seem to be a childish CEO in the dream, I’ve never been afraid of elevators. In my dream, I’m not even falling. It is more like the elevator is loosely attached to its cables and it goes sideways as well as up and down. I always end up ok in the dream but I find it odd that I’ve had the same dream several times now.

There was an earthquake last night. I wonder if that has something do with it. A small earthquake mind you. But not being from here, it always seems to wake me up. I can’t remember if there was one last time I had the dream. However, I’ll make note for next time. Maybe my subconscious is tying the effects of an earthquake to the shaking of an elevator, who knows.

The Tax Man Cometh!

I frelling hate taxes!

Taxes from HELL!

Leave it to bureaucracy to make something that should be simple, incredibly difficult. I’ll never understand why they don’t just take what you owe out of your check the first time. Then, you would only need to file when and if you had credits, deductions, changes in income, etc. If you make the same amount every year w/o fail, there is no reason to have to ‘guesstimate’ every year. It’s not like the IRS doesn’t know what I make already.

Death to Tax Man!

I filed my taxes w/just 30 minutes to spare last night. I had a busy day of training at work so it only served to aggrevate my mood. I normally claim just enough every year so I end up owing a little or getting a little back. However, the last two years the owe amount has been getting higher. Since nothing on my end has changed, I can only assume it is because of changes in the tax laws. *Thank you once again for fucking me Dubya – At least you could use a little lube*

I do have some good news. I didn’t know I could deduct my work for charities as the IRS only offers “noncash” deductions in the form of real property. Well, it never dawned on me until recently that the work I am providing for the BCC is a “real property”. It is digital but still a physical object. If the freaking recording industry devils can sue people for copyright infringements for music then I sure as hell can claim my work as a deduction. So, for the first time in 3 years, I am getting roughly $500.00 back.

The bad news is I owe California roughly $450.00. I’m still ahead $50.0o bucks so I shouldn’t complain. I spent $30.00 of that e-filing my state return. I used to have to pay for both but this year a lot of the online sites offer free federal turns to everyone. I stuck w/H&R Block’s services as I’ve used them in the past. It was a good thing too as part of my state deductions were based on how much I paid last year. I couldn’t remember but H&R had it on file and imported the data for me seamlessly. This one single item was the saving grace of my mood last night.

I had an opportunity to go out w/Mostovic last night but I was in such a mood I didn’t think I’d be much fun. He went out w/the gang from the BCC. I really wanted to go but I know how I can get sometimes.

My mood is better today but still a bit fowl. I went to bed early but proceeded to wake up at 2:30am and spend 2 1/2 hours watching tivo’d shows. I finally crawled back in the sack around 5:00am.

Evil Smokers

**If you are a smoker, you probably shouldn’t read this post as I’m sure to offend w/my comments below.**

That said, I absolutely detest cigarettes and everything that comes w/that. I grew up in a house w/both parents smoking. Lucky for me, I never picked up the nasty habit. So for those of you who do smoke and you went ahead and read this against my advice, I have just a few suggestions for ya.

1) No one thinks it is cool that you can talk w/your cigarette in your mouth.
2) The next time you wonder “whats wrong w/me?” Its not you, its the cigs.
3) No, it is not polite to stand in a crowd and just spew nasty smoke into the air.
4) What is the point of going outside if you stand in front of the door & let the smoke blow right back into the building?
5) No, I’m not moving away from you because you’re ugly, you stink.
6) No, I don’t have a light. Not everyone has such a disgusting habit.

I’m leaving the Castro today and I’m standing on the corner waiting for the light. Idiot Smoker walks up and stands just in front of me and then blows out a huge lung full of smoke, which of course, blows right into my face. I let him have it! Needless to say, I didn’t make a new fan. Nasty, filthy, disgusting habit. I think I’d rather have my head set on fire and put out w/a sledge hammer than smoke a cigarette. blech!

Offended? Well, I told you not to read.