Okay, Okay, I'm a Gleek Too

Blame Dan and Steve. Both of them have been telling me how great Glee is and they couldn't believe I wasn't watching. I had caught most of one episode and I was impressed but I kept telling myself I couldn't take on another show. However, I was strolling through Target one Sunday and saw the DVD set for the first part of Season 1 on sale. I bought it because otherwise I wouldn't have reached my required minimum purchase amount for trips to Target. You know, you go in for one thing and spend $50 bucks. I came home, unwrapped it, admired the cute guys, and began watching.

Hooked.

I watched all 13 episodes over 3 days. Work days. I watched a few that Sunday, then woke up Monday morning and watched one before work, then watched a couple before bed, then one the next morning and the rest that night before bed.

FUN!! FUN!! FUN!! I love it.

Now I'm watching the new episodes weekly. The Madonna episode was cute.

Are you a Gleek?

Anatomy of a cake

For Dan's birthday, each of us decided on a dish to bring for dinner. I decided that I would make dessert. The plan was to bake a birthday cake knowing that I'm close enough to a few decent bakeries that if I messed it up, I could still bring a cake.

Baking isn't an issue for me. It's the decorating process that I found daunting. Originally my friend Steve was going to be my teacher, but the weekend we were going to have the party was switched so I was on my own. Below are the various stages of the cake.


The recipe was one from Cooks Illustrated Magazine. It was simple but from the ingredients I could tell that the finished product would be moist, thus making a good layer cake. This cake would be a two layer cake.


I decided on a chocolate icing, and a raspberry filling. Below, I've created an outer border of chocolate icing and I'm adding the raspberry preserves.


Layers are stacked and the cake is frosted.

Now the decorating begins. To contrast the chocolate color, I chose a light blue. Slowly I added gel coloring, and this was my final result.

Before actually writing on the cake, I practiced on waxed paper. I had never worked with a decorating bag, I've never written in icing.

Next up was the outer border. I haven't quite mastered the star tip to where I can create the peaks and valleys but I think it looks pretty good. Okay, there's a spot to the right that's kind of messy...

The cake was actually finished at Dan and Luis' house. I had to wait until I placed it on the pedestal to add the blue bottom border. Again, my technique isn't perfected, so it's one big strand.

After a delicious dinner and a walk, Tina and I put the candles on the cake and brought it out.

When we all sat down to eat, I was pleased that the cake was moist, full of flavor and it held together. I don't mean to brag, but it was delicious. It was a lot of work but also great fun, and worth it.

I'm on Tour

Saturday, I bought myself a new toy - The Blackberry Tour!


I kid you not, I think cell phones are internally programmed to fail at about the time the contract is set to expire or at the point where a customer can upgrade. Truth be told, I was beginning to have a problem reading the display on my phone. With my contact lenses in, I need reading glasses to see small print. My arms were no longer long enough to hold the phone at a distance where I could read it.

Dan recently upgraded to a Blackberry. He seems to like it. Again, I followed his lead and decided to make the switch. My previous phone was the same phone as his, except mine was orange. I got it not long after he got his. I almost got one the last time I was due for a phone but they seemed too big at the time. The Tour is wider than my last phone but it's thinner.

I have no clue what I'm doing with it. I've figured out how to make and receive calls. I even figured out how to send text messages and picture messages. I've updated my contact list. I downloaded an application for Facebook so all of my contacts with Facebook now have their facebook pictures in my phone. I'm still learning, it'll be a while. It's fun. It's no iPhone but I think I like this just fine.

Now if I can just figure out why it vibrates from time to time...

Happy Birthday Dan

Next up in the list of great birthdays in August is Dan's birthday. Today is Dan's Birthday, he's 41 today. A year ago, right at about this time, 6 close friends were sitting on a private boat on Lake Buena Vista in Florida enjoying the gorgeous fireworks display over The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Never have I kept a secret from someone for so long. We began planning the trip in January 0f 2008, the adventure began to unfold three days before his actual Birthday. A series of envelopes containing clues lead Dan to the conclusion that he was going on an adventure, luckily it included all of us. Definitely a memorable event for us all, especially him.

This year there was no trip. We're planning to get together this coming Saturday to celebrate. I can promise that there will be plenty of food and good times and we'll make plenty of new memories.

Happy Birthday, to my very best friend, Dan.

XOXO

Dan and Luis, June 2009


Polo, Dan and Me, June 2009.

Snot

I have a sinus infection. I've had it for about 10 days. I've been fighting it. I've been hoping it would just work it's way thru my system and go away. They usually do. This one is stubborn.



I feel pretty good. I'm just stuffy and occasionally, ugly snot comes out of my nose, or I cough up something ugly. Saturday I had a couple nose bleeds. My head was hurting on and off. Not too bad, I mean it doesn't feel like I've been smacked with a tire iron, just a dull ache. It hasn't stopped me from enjoying my weekend. But enough is enough.



I work in a hospital. I had the receptionist call me when my doctor showed up to see patients. I told him how I was feeling and he yelled at me for waiting so long. I don't like taking antibiotics. I'm not one of those people who runs to get a prescription when I get the sniffles. My body needs to fight things on its own. That way when I'm really sick and need an antibiotic, it'll actually work.



I was given a prescription for an antibiotic, which I will take for 10 days. I took my first pill about an hour ago.

This isn't going to be fun. Already my stomach is making weird noises.

Oh, and I can't drink. That means NO vodka.


*sigh* It's just 10 days, right? I will be able to drink again by the 18th. :)

Odds-n-Ends

Howdy! I haven't been around much in the past week. Not a whole lot to discuss so I'll summarize my week in one tidy post.

Last Monday and Tuesday I was off from work. I had lunch with my friend Heath on Monday. Heath lives in Texas and I haven't seen him in about 4 years. It was nice to catch up. On Tuesday I went to the beach and got some much needed sun. It was nice.

I came down with a sinus infection and I've been fighting it for a few days now. I haven't seen my doctor about it because I get them somewhat regularly and this is not a bad one, it's more of a nuisance. Related or unrelated, I've had a problem with an impacted wisdom tooth. Whether one caused the other I don't know. 3 out of 4 of my wisdom teeth came in and have been no problem. This last tooth has been a problem on and off for a number of years. It acts up, I complain about it and just when I'm ready to have something done about it, it feels better. It's feeling better now, but not 100 percent back to normal. It has definitely grown more in these past few days and it may not be impacted much longer.

Saturday, Denise and I were invited to Dan and Luis' house to be stand-ins for dinner guests who had to cancel at the last minute. As usual, Luis produced a wonderfully creative and delicious meal. The original guests had some dietary restrictions and Luis met the challenge and wowed us. He also impressed himself.

Sunday, my sister came over, we celebrated her 50th birthday (which is actually on the 30th). Denise joined us, as well as my friend Karen. I gave Georgette a Skagen watch and a handbag, hand crafted by Denise. It was nice that Denise was there to see Georgette receive the purse that she created. While I have no pictures from the day, here are pictures of the watch and the purse.
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It was back to work on Monday and the first 5-day work week I've put in since the 3rd week in June. So far it's been a good week, even though it's the last week of working with my current CEO. Tomorrow we're having a cookout for him, it's his last day. He starts his job in Pittsburgh on Monday.

So that's what's been going on. Not much, but that's not a bad thing. How have you been? I hope you're doing well.

Andersonville Midsommarfest 2009

File Under: City Fun

This past weekend was Andersonville's Midsommarfest. What started off as a cold, dreary day turned into a lovely day. By 2 pm on Saturday, I was out for day 1 of the festivities. For the first part of my adventure, I was joined by my friend Jim. We walked around and took in the sights. Here are a few early images from the festival. Please click on the cute little thumbnails for much larger images.

One of many food stands. Lots of tasty treats.

A rather sporty lad, obviously thirsty.

More food. Feel the clogging of the arteries.

Oooh, amusements. Looks like a space ship. What's with the tail end?

Oh my, that doesn't look right. Not at all...

Uh oh...

It's a BOY!

Time for lunch. Stopped for an empanada at Ole Ole. Here's me looking both big and gay!

My favorite bakers, the owners of Pasticceria Natalina.

Jim and I stopped to chat with my friend Lynn, whom I've known since grammar school. After a few minutes, Jim departed and as if the next shift was checking in, I ran into Dan, Luis, Denise and Polo. Tina could not join us this weekend, she was in Ohio. Thirsty and ready to explore, we got drinks. Then we walked.

Dan met THE Hamburger Mary! They became instant friends!!

The handsome Dan and Luis.

Shortly after, we met up with my coworker Andrea who was just taking in the sights and sounds on her own. She joined us, but Luis insisted she have bigger hair, so he practiced his teasing technique as Polo looks on.

He didn't have much success so we ate instead. Mmm...funnel cakes.

Taking in a concert. Luis and Polo are discussing something important. I'm sure of it.

Dancing? I'm not sure.

Day turned into night and we gathered at the other end of the fest to see the evening's main attraction, Sixteen Candles. They're a great band who perform the best songs from the 80's. They're fun to watch. I don't really remember seeing them, I think at this point I had consumed at least 6 drinks and everything was just starting to run together. Yet, I took a few pictures.

Luis, Dan and Denise, in the crowd.

My coworker Sonny joined us. She had some catching up to do. We quickly set her up with a couple mojitos. After downing those, she found the beer tent near the north stage.

Cheers, Sonny!

Andrea. I've decided this may be her new ID picture at work.

Polo, looking serious. Perhaps looking for a light, or for another beer.

"Seriously? Where's my beer?" or "What do you mean you're still sober?"

The crowd. Yes, Sixteen Candles is a very popular band.

Dan, with some random guys. Another beer, Dan?

This is where my camera's memory card was full and I was unable to continue snapping pictures. Here's what you missed. The concert ended, Andrea, Dan, Denise, Luis and Polo went home. Sonny and I decided we needed to find a bathroom, a drink and some food. We did all of the above. We ended up enjoying some Mediterranian grilled chicken from Reza's. The festival was beginning to wind down for the night but we weren't (even though we should have), so we went in search of an establishment at which to continue drinking.

Our first stop was Cattle Call, a new bar in the neighborhood. It was crowded so we didn't stay long. We each had a beer, then decided it was time to move on. We hopped in a cab and went to Jackhammer, my usual hangout. At that point, it became clear to both of us that we were running out of steam. We each had a drink, said goodnight to our bartender, and hailed cabs to go home.

For obvious reasons, Sunday was a much slower start. I made a feeble attempt at going to the gym. Finally at about 2, I felt human enough to head back out for day 2 of the festival. It was a warmer day than Saturday, sunny and close to 80 degrees.

Shortly after I arrived, I met up with my friend Steve, his partner Bill and a number of their friends. We hung out and watched local band Cat Fight. I stuck to drinking water as I didn't think I could stomach alcohol. I did manage to eat a corndog (food on a stick - YUM!), and later I enjoyed some thai food. Below are a couple more pictures from Sunday's festival.

Steve and I, standing in the crowd.

Cat Fight, entertaining a large crowd of people.

A view in the opposite direction, booths of food, and assorted street fest goods (jewelry, clothing, odd things for your home)

Alas, all good things must come to and end, and so does this post. It was a great weekend, lots of fun with great friends. Festival season is off to a great start!

My Mirror

File Under: Reflection

Recently I received an odd email that included the question “when you look in the mirror, do you like what you see?” I didn’t directly reply to the email but since the composer was commenting on things that were read in my blog, I guess this is a reply of some sorts. Perhaps it will be seen, maybe not. I was going to leave it alone but even weeks after the email, friends are still talking about how bizarre it was. This could go on for a bit, go get yourself a drink, or scroll on to the next post.

Alright, let’s start with the physical analysis. I’m 5’9” tall. I weigh 158 pounds. I was 165 back in December but imagine that, I lost weight over the holidays and I’ve kept it off. Yay me! More on that in a bit. I’ve got thinning hair. I’m okay with that. I know, if I had hair it would be great hair but I don’t and what I have is fine. When I let it get long, it stands straight up and it looks Muppet-like. I have green eyes. Sometimes I wear glasses because my vision sucks. I have to wear some sort of prescription lenses in order to not walk into walls. I’m not legal to drive without glasses or contact lenses. I have a mole on my left cheek. Every so often a hair grows out of it and I need to pluck it. It’s hard to shave a mole. Aside from the occasional hair, I like my mole. It makes me unique. I’ve got good teeth. My upper teeth are nice and straight my lower teeth are crooked but they don’t look too bad.

I’m of average weight for my body size. I look pretty good at this weight. I work out regularly, my upper arms are defined, and my chest looks okay. I don’t have great pecs, but at 42, I don’t have man boobs, either. I’ve got a tummy, it’s a family trait, my dad had one too. I do ab crunches and sit-ups at the gym but it will never be gone. I guess I just do what I can to keep it at a minimum.

(This part gets a bit personal but I’m going for full disclosure here so skip this next paragraph if you’re sensitive)

I’ve got a decent penis. What I lack in length, I make up for in girth. If I had another inch I’d be really happy but I don’t and that’s alright. What I have works just fine and received generally favorable reviews of it. I’ve got a nice ass. This I know. It’s round and not flabby. It’s not as great as Dan’s but It looks damn good in a pair of jeans. Again, given the fact that I’m 42 and my ass isn’t sagging, I’m rather proud of it.

Not sure what to say about my legs. I suppose they look good. My feet on the other hand are ugly. I do not have pretty feet. I’ve broken my little toes on both feet so many times they kind of fold under the 4th toe. My big toes bend inward and my right big toe is calloused. Having said that, my left foot was pretty enough to garner some attention at the gym a while back. While the whole foot thing isn’t my cup of tea, who am I to deprive someone else their pleasure.

Okay, I don’t have a special mirror that allows me to look inside, this is just my observation of what’s going on inside.

I’m a good person. I am responsible; I work in a profession where people depend upon me to receive a paycheck that is on time and correct. Further, some depend on me to perform my tasks on a timely basis so they can begin working. I’m the face they see after they’ve been offered a job; I’m the face they see when they are learning about their benefits.

When I’m not at work, I’ve got family responsibilities. My elderly mother lives with me. She’s mainly self-sufficient; I just make sure that she does things like take her pills, check her blood sugar and eat when she’s supposed to. In doing so, I have given up the freedom a 42 year old single gay man might have. For now, it’s the way things have to be. (Improper English, ending a sentence with a preposition).

I balance things out with the most amazing group of friends a guy could want. My best friend Dan is my defender, my confidant and my rock. My partner in crime and the person with whom I share a brain is Vahona. To this day we can get together and finish each other’s sentences. She and I get together and just laugh until it hurts. Steve is another friend with whom I share a brain. We meet for happy hour martinis and just laugh at the most insane stuff. What’s funny is that Steve and Dan are friends from way back, before I knew either of them. When we’re all out, Steve and I will go off on some tangent, resulting in a great deal of laughter, Dan will look at us and just shake his head.

The list of friends goes on and on, from Lynn, with whom I’ve known since our first day of Kindergarten, to my pal Patrick, who, when we’re imbibing in adult beverages, is the “Patsy” to my “Edina.” I have great coworkers who I consider to be great friends. We go out and have lots of fun, but when we’re at work its all business.

And, imagine this. As an angst-ridden 14 year old, I found comfort in the music of The Go-Go’s. They broke up, the reunited, they broke up again, and reunited again…the story goes on and on. 28 years later, they’re still around, somewhat. I somehow managed to become somewhat familiar with the band and consider Jane to be a friend of mine. In my book, that’s pretty damn cool. :)

Even with all those friends, I can go out by myself and still have a good time. I’ll strike up a conversation with anybody when I’m out, and I find entertainment in just watching the crowd. Sure, I’d prefer to be out with friends but rather than sit home, I will go out and perhaps make a new friend.

Are there things I don’t like? Sure. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I fall fast and hard when I meet people, even when I try to hold back. I am generous to a fault, sometimes when it means having to give up something for me. I’m also kind of messy. Not dirty, I’m just not good about managing clutter. I have a bit of a short fuse; I get easily frustrated with people. Not all people, just the stupid ones. As a result, I swear a lot.

But, going back to paragraph one and answering the question “when you look in the mirror, do you like what you see?” Let’s see… I’m 42 years old and I’m a reasonable attractive guy with a decent body. I’ve got flaws but I can identify them. I don’t stress over them. I’ve got a big heart, a fun loving personality. I love to laugh, and I’ve got a diverse collection of friends who enjoy spending time with me. Rock stars know my name and hug me when they see me. So yes, I like what I see. As a matter of fact, I LOVE what I see. I fucking ROCK!

Any further questions?

Party Pictures

File Under: Food, Friends and Fun

Friday night a group of us assembled at Dan and Luis' home to bid farewell to our friend Khan who has decided to move back to England. As we have proven on past occasions, we're more than capable of throwing together a party. Here's a sampling of what we dined on throughout the evening:

Lemon cupcakes. I took a page out of Sandra Lee's book and used a boxed mix to create something special. Vanilla cupcakes became lemon cupcakes with some lemon zest and extract. The icing was home made, with some zest and extract and yellow food coloring to give it a punch. Some were covered in coconut to add some visual and textural distinction.



Denise and Tina were in charge of the meat, vegetable and cheese platters and put together these gorgeous arrangements. I labeled the cheeses, as envisioned by Tina.

Our friend Steve showed up with an appetizer of bacon wrapped breadsticks. You can't go wrong with bacon. These were DELICIOUS!

Another cheese and olive platter.

The gathering begins in the yard. Ariel, in the black sweater, arrived with Khan, the guest of honor. Chatting with them are Preston and the lovely Tina.

Night has fallen and the party is well under way. Here we see Khan, Polo, Steve, Dan and Preston. I'm not sure what they're watching, but Dan looks just a bit worried.

Here our are hosts for the evening, Luis and Dan. No, Dan did not pass out, Luis is not reviving him.

The table, covered with food and wine, along with the remainder of the grilled pizzas made by Luis.

It was a pretty amazing late spring Friday night with good friends.

Happy Thoughts and Good Wishes

File Under: Friends

Shout out to my very dear friend Dan. He's going through some medical matters, which he mentioned in his blog today. While I'm 100 percent convinced that everything will be fine, that the matters will be resolved but a few extra good wishes never hurt anybody.

Thanks!

My Shining Light

File Under: Friend, Indeed!

We go through life with a number of "best friends." When we're young, we had a new best friend sometimes weekly. Kids are fickle. As we get older, we connect with different people who become our friends but then there are those people that you just know will be a constant and there for you for life. That friend who is there for you, on call, and at the ready to be your defender. I know that a lot of my friends fall under this category, but the one who stands out is Dan. He and I have shared a lot, been through things together, and we've been there for each other. Dan is my my Shining Light.

Annie Lennox released her greatest hits record recently. On it are two new tracks, one is this song, "Shining Light." I've always been a fan, I think she's so intelligent and talented and a brilliant artist. Lyrically, I think this song speaks more about a romantic relationship but the general message speaks of that one person who makes the difference in life and makes it all worth it.

Please enjoy this video clip, Annie Lennox performing "Shining Light" on a UK television program.


This song is actually a remake of a song done by the band Ash. I'm not familiar with them, but kudos to them for writing such a beautiful song.

Sunday Dinner

File Under: Fun with friends

At about 9:15 this morning, my cell phone rang. Well actually it vibrated on my night table and I glanced at it and in a blur I saw that it was Dan. I was barely awake. A few minutes later I was awake enough to listen to the voicemail message that Dan left, and it was an invitation to dinner. I promptly called and accepted.

This afternoon, Dan and Luis hosted an impromptu dinner party. In attendance were Denise, Tina, Polo and me.

The menu for this dinner party was quite the spread. Prime rib, chicken, roasted fingerling potatoes, simmered mushrooms and onions, macaroni and cheese, and salad. Luis, the chef, along with his sous chef Dan, presented everything beautifully.

Not one to show up empty handed, I made individual chocolate ganache tarts which finished us all off and sent us into a food coma.

The food was great, and as usual, the company was second to none. It was nice gathering and visiting with some of the greatest friends a guy could have. A perfect way to end the weekend.

Day Off

File Under: A Proper three day weekend

I took today off from work. My last day off from work was January 2. I decided it was time for a long weekend.

I have no plans, I've got some chores to do but no set schedule. I'll check in from time to time with what I've accomplished. Right now I'm sitting at Starbucks. I got up at my usual time because I decided it was important to get going early, rather than sleep late and putter around the house for half the day. Sitting around me, there are people reading their papers and books, writing notes in their planners, checking their messages on their phones. It's sunny and cold, right now it's about 25 degrees. I'm sitting in the corner, next to the fireplace but across from the door and with the wind coming from the east, I feel a cool blast every time the door opens. But, it's a corner seat and if I want to scroll thru Dan's blog , I can do so without the fear of shocking anybody. :)

My Closet

File Under: A Proper Mess

Dan's post about his new closet prompted me to post these pictures. These were taken a couple years ago, when I was in the process of swapping out one season's wardrobe for another. One of my QTS friends used to sell custom closets and went on and on about his fabulous closet and the ones he designed. I posted a little tour of my closet for all to see. It's about 7 feet deep, 4 feet wide. I think I've efficiently used the space, don't you?


Brown cardboard box on a shelf. What do you suppose is in there???



Heating pad, camera bag, games, a poster.




Well, these pictures are obviously out of order. That would be the "After" shot, those would be winter sweaters.


Empty shelves, hamper on the floor, ties and belts hanging from hooks, shoes hanging from a sorter on the inside of the door. To the right are 2 levels of hanging space. The items on the bottom rack drag on the floor.


Another "Before" shot with the shelves emptied. Oh look, my halloween pajamas hanging on the hook next to the shoes. :)