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?

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

File Under: Scream for it!



Doug's Big Gay Ice Cream Truck launched at Brooklyn Pride last Saturday. He had a blast. Read about it on his blog...HERE.



Just as exciting is this great article from Sunday's New York Post!


(click to enlarge)

Cool, huh?

Bits-n-Pieces

File Under: Stuff

Sorry I've been out of touch this week...really hasn't been much to report. This was an ordinary week save for my minor lower GI episode on Wednesday. By Thursday I was pretty much better, today I feel fine. :)

This weekend in Chicago, in my neighborhood in fact is a very fun 2-day street festival called Midsommarfest. I live in Andersonville, a neighborhood in Chicago whose early settlers were predominantly Swedish. The neighborhood has a number of Swedish businesses and has a museum, too. The King of Sweden visited a few years ago. I missed him, I was at work. Anyway, the street festival is about 5 blocks long, has 5 stages, lots of vendor booths, lots of food and lots of opportunities to drink and be social. It looks like this is going to be one of our cooler events, as the high temperature tomorrow is supposed to be barely 70. Sunday's high is supposed to be a few degrees warmer. We will see... Regardless we all manage to have a great time. I posted many pictures from last year's event in last year's entry about the event. I'll have my camera with me and I promise you more pictures.

Those of you in the New York City area may want to head on over to Prospect Park for Brooklyn's Pride event. There, you'll find The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. Doug and co. will be there tomorrow serving up treats for kids of all ages. If you go, tell Doug that Jim from Chicago sent you!

That's all I've got for now. It's been a slow week. I promise more lively posts next week. In the mean time, thanks for reading and be sure to check back!

xo

Jim

One Day Closer to Ice Cream

File Under: Let's all scream for ice cream!

More media exposure for The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31104373/

Yes, it's a mention on MSNBC.com. How freakin' cool is that?

Almost Time for Ice Cream

My friend Doug's Big Gay Ice Cream Truck is about ready to roll. He reports that his permit is in the mail. Updates can be found at his website.

He's also getting some mentions in the media. Here's an article from The Gothamist.

Here's another very nice mention in a prominent NY blog.

As busy as Doug is, he hasn't slowed down blogging about the experience. Read all about it, here! Check out the links to his merchandise. I'm loving my shirt. Z (mom) loves her mug!

If you're in the NYC area and want some ice cream, locate Doug's Big Gay Ice Cream Truck and tell him that I sent you!

Thoughts

File Under: Thoughts and Musings

Tuesday, 10:30 pm. It's June 2 and today's high temperature was 60 degrees, but that was away from the lake. Where I live, it was in the mid-50's. It was cloudy and we had some rain, too. Tomorrow is going to be only a few degrees warmer. I want JUNE weather, not MARCH weather. But, that's just me being selfish.

Somewhere out in the Atlantic Ocean is a mess of remains from a flight that virtually vanished early Monday morning. One minute, 200+ people are traveling from Brazil to France, probably excited to be traveling, the next minute, their lives have ended. Search crews have begun to find wreckage, no human remains have been located as of yet. It's way too early to tell what could have happened to the flight. Did it encounter storms? Was there mechanical failure? Was it a criminal act? Who knows if we'll ever know.

We've got one life to live on the big marble that is known as Earth. It is what we make of it. Be happy, find things that make you happy, and if you're not happy, fix that! There will be good days, there will be great days, and yes, there will be bad days. But, as long as you're here, do what it takes to make it a good day. And if the weather's bad, suck it up, it will get better.