| Monday, October 18th, 2010 |
| 2:05 am |
My Life
My life is abnormal in a number of ways. I like to live my life to quote Thoreau (yeah I know it's over done) "I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life," I'm learning to skateboard at 42. I've bungee jumped, jumped out of a plane, hiked in the Himalayas, the Andes and done numerous other things that many people consider edgey but every now and then things happen that remind me I walk to the beat of a different drummer. Twice in the last two months I've had people ask me if Red or White wine goes better with Cocaine. The first person might have been joking (he's a bit of a jokester) and my flip response was "white of course." The second time I ended up in a detailed discussed about how cocaine supresses your appetitie so you want to service last or just before the desert course and so you want a sweet wine (of either variety). Stranger yet, neither of these conversations struck me as odd at the time. (For the record I've never actually used cocaine). I was at the Hayloft (one of the two semi leather bars around showing some people how to use a singletail (this is a type of whip you can crack) and an older drag queen acqaintence comes up to me and is like you know what would look good with that whip? And I'm like what Danielle? and she says "Bacon". Thinking I didn't hear correctly I engaged in a conversation which I confirmed that's what she actually meant. So yes I have a 15 minute conversation with a very mature drag queen about how I'd look good holding a whip and some bacon (btw ironically she's a vegetarian). On the zombie march (which was strange enough to being with but LOTS of fun) at some point I'm talking to a zombie skateboarder (with an obvious headwound bleeding) and his gf and she's like oh how did you do that nice bruise combo bite mark it looks cool. Checking out my arm I'm like "oh it's real and I forgot about that." They abruptly stopped talking to me. (although they both a cool white eye contacts in) I spent 2 hours the other day figuring out how to get mens size 12 silver strappy pumps for my halloween costume (margarget cho) after the online drag company screwed me over and couldn't ship them before theatre bizzare. The converstaions with the ladies at the three different shops (and with a few drag friends on the phone) were hilarious. I'm not at all a cross dresser typically. I occasionally do it for halloween and it's usually very unfunny because I'm not remotely feminie. That said the one older spit her drink out when I tried the shoes on in front of her. And the other kept asking me questions in a way that made it clear she didn't think it was for a halloween costume. I'm not sure I could make things like this up if I tried. And I tend to average one surreal twilight zone moment a month. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. |
| Sunday, October 10th, 2010 |
| 10:11 pm |
Zombie Walk!!!
       The dead walk the street of Detroit (and I joined them) (photos are here!It was my first time participating in a zombie walk, I'd spectated at the one in Ann Arbor in 2007. Folks who expressed interest in going with me all wimped out, but I motivated myself and I met Michael Web and company there. I had fairly nice face paint despite ametuer supplies and tools and it all melted when I sweat to death in the car. So I got there and mixed up a bunch of grey in my hands and rubbed it all over my face, powdered with cornstarch and let loose with the blood. I expected mostly goths and perhaps some burners or somesuch, but it was largely families with kids. It was also way more gorey than I expected. Unexpected quote during the lineup "don't worry more blood will make it look better." If you ever wondered what people do with the gallon of fake blood here's an example and more. Despite all of the organizers warnings there was a trail of fake blood covering the entire route, several people were dripping with it. A few teenagers were drinking it (and spitting on things). The Lion's game got out just before the walk started in the middle of greektown (wondered why parking so such a bitch). That said there was an endless parade of spectators in AWE of the zombies. Lots of hilariity. There were a few preachers there with god signs but they meshed right in with the "It's not a choice" and "Zombie Pro life" signs. Only a few drunks were assshole about the hole thing and the zombies quickly dealt with them ;-) Turnout was 621 +2 dogs. I'd definitely do it again, although if I can get a group I may have to break out the liquid latex ;-) |
| Sunday, October 3rd, 2010 |
| 11:17 am |
In need of inspiration
I need inspiration with my halloween costume. Especially if I manage to get Theatre bizzare tickets (faling that I have 3 bar nights and 2 parties I'm hoping to attend the majority of). Here the ideas I've had so far. Let me know if any of them (or anything else) jumps out at you. captain american linsey lohan Alex from Clockwork orange BP Oil spill cleanup guy lady gaga (meat outfit?) Sue Sylvester Dalek from Dr. who Rainn from the office (dwight) Eric Northman from Trublood It's likely that BP oil guy, gaga and linsey will be overdone this year (and they're a bit trite). I'm unsure if I can differentiate myself enough to pull an obvious Eric Northamn or Rainn. And even Sue might be hard. That leaves captain america (I did green lantern last year) and Alex (who's my front runner but all the youngin haven't seen clockwork orange). Let me know what you think. |
| Friday, May 14th, 2010 |
| 9:10 pm |
Violence against cyclists
I don't know if it's telling or a weird observation or what. I've been harassed three times this year biking on Huron river drive (not three miles from my house.) On guy even through a metal ball trailer hitch at me. I'd have been seriously worried about it except that he misjudged the weight of it and it barely made it a third of the distance between us. I picked it up and it's in my car to remind me that driving and getting where you going fast are just not that important. I've also had someone yell at me (get off the road) and someone else try to edge me into the ditch (I'm pretty sure it was intentional as they slowed down while passing me but they could've just been clueless for 3 minutes straight). It's utterly ridiculous and beyond belief that I can ride through a ton of Southern Ohio and never feel in danger or anything other than welcome, but here in Ann Arbor I get harassed. That said I've come to a conclusion that it's that stretch of huron river drive (the curvy section near town), I never have problems on the Dexter side of Zeeb. Someone in Ohio was so friendly he offered me his 25 year old daughter (she didn't seem interested in getting on my bike and I was like the 20th person he'd offered her to.) People in Waverly Ohio were well interesting (in a way that reminds me where I grew up). |
| Saturday, March 27th, 2010 |
| 8:23 pm |
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| Thursday, March 25th, 2010 |
| 1:38 am |
OK So I can't sleep
The new health care debate (and laws that look like they're becoming a reality) have caused me to have several, I guess I'll call them heated, debates for lack of a better word with my friends. One of them even called me a weak-willed eclectic (I think he's trying to say I'm a bit off so my opinion shouldn't matter). The weird part of my view on it, is that I see it as a massive grey area where everyone else seems to think it's very cut and dried / black and white (okay I'll stop mixing metaphors right now). On one end of the spectrum people want Universal health care to take care of others and community. This is a rational desire born out of a lot of altrustic behaviors. Even if you take care for your fellow human being out of hte equation, it makes sense in a lot of ways. We're arguable paying for it right now the way we run our hospitals (and will likely run many of them out of business) and if done correctly it has the potential to help our financial and job market not to mention being a life line for the 10%+ of the population that's current unemployed. I view this as a rational perspective. On the other end people want complete control of their own health care. Want to make sure they and their own are taken care of first. They want freedom to decide where their $$ (and their tax $$) are spent. They don't want to be forced into a lower standard of care and they fear (rightfully so) that government has enough influence in their lives as it is. This is a totally understandable position as well. Now people can take BOTH position to extremes I disagree with. I don't like the folks who think unemployeed shouldn't be entitled to health care just because they don't earn it. I also think the fringe anti-government folks are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I also think this is a serious problem in the US both with how much $$ we spent on it today and the insane amount we're going to spent as the baby boomer age and it continues to become more costly. I think there are some edge issues here as well. Everyone's concerned about financing this, and it's a legitimate concern, but if we don't do something we're all going to pay and in more ways than just financially. Personally I'd like to retire someday and not fear that my health benefits are going to be an ongoing issue. Abortion and other wedge issues are also thrown into the mix (some as extreme and mis-informed as death panels). And for reasons that are 100% this seems to be a fairly strongly racially charged issue. An acqaintance of mine who's got serious medical issues (advanced HIV and other complications) and has been unemployed for 2 years now, told me "the medical system in the US is totally fucked. And politicians aren't likely to fix it." Does that mean no one should try? That said times of crisis tend to bring the worst out in people and everyone wants to hold on to their piece of the pie even more firmly (even if it means that slice will dwindle to nothing). I'd love it if our legislature could work together to solve problems, but we seem to be getting more and more extremely partisian and less functional (or perhaps I'm just geting jaded). I expect health care will be a contentious issue for the rest of my life and beyond. Hmm..... perhaps this will take some of the heat off of being gay. |
| Monday, March 1st, 2010 |
| 9:08 pm |
masochism
In the last three months I've cut a wart off my hand (repeatedly) with a knife, filed a chipped tooth til it was smooth and removed an ingrown toenail with pliers (it grew back, I think I need to see a doc to get it cauterized). That said my frustration at work lately has been more than my inherent masochism can handle. And I've stopped blogging about it for a variety of reasons. Hopefully I can get some snowboarding in this weekend to take my mind off it. And on that note i'm off to search for a drink. |
| Monday, November 30th, 2009 |
| 12:56 am |
Life (and life)
I realized the other day I haven't been posting to LJ because of work. Not because I can't find time, or because it's inappropriate but I've had a very stressful time at work. As a manager I have to be careful in how I feed things back to my staff (it's actually been a hard lesson for me to learn) and several of them read this journal. Now I could exclude them or do some other techie solution, but the mere fact that I'm being less free about my LJ is some inhibitive in and of itself. Hopefully it'll work out eventually. Last week has been insane, in addition to a ton of work, I went out to Gigis Monday to see some old friends and back again on Wed night for customer appreciation night (also got to see my friend Tori albiet briefly). For Thanksgiving I stayed in town and went to dinner at my friend Matt's with his family. He put out quite a spread (best one I've seen) including deep frying his first turkey (w/o incident I may add). I made garlic/rosemary parmesan and prosciutto mashed potatoes which were a hit (thanks for the inspiration Jeff). Played a bit of trival pursuit (I suck at it) and came home and chilled. Friday I got up early and drove to Grand Rapids to help my brother with his computer issues. His PC has massive malware infections and when i remove them they just come back when it's rebooted. (I think PC Defender is the nasty one). Anyway so far the experts I've talked to have recommended wiping the entire thing and starting over. After that it was up my parents so share some quality time and horederves. My nieces were quite entertaining as well waking me up at 6am on Sat. I helped my mom with thanksgiving dinner on Sat. Although I discovered I can't make gravy from scratch in under 5 minutes w/o botching it. But carved the turkey which turned out decent. Then it was back to Ann Arbor, on the way coordinating 3 friends whom I picked up and went to Macho City (at the R&R) in Detroit. The music was fun but I could barely stand up. Rich and I came back and crashed, I got up early today and went shopping and then cooked my dish for Rene's alternative thanksgiving. I made cactus + pork shoulder in a tomatilla sauce. The dish was passable with interesting flavors despite getting burned twice. Helped renee carve up the turkeys, enjoyed the food and passed out in a chair in his living room. Now I'm home struggling to get a handle on work before I take off for DC on Thursday. The holidays depress me for a lot of reasons I don't have eneryg to get into but between work and everything else I'm going to be too busy to notice this year. |
| Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 |
| 10:10 pm |
Halloween costume
 a few more photos here!I need to make a matching mask (tinting liquid latex is a pain). Feedback? Thoughts? Suggestions? I was going for wow, but I've kinda run out of steam with it. |
| Monday, October 12th, 2009 |
| 1:54 pm |
final urban exploration of the year
        Yesterday I braved the cold (and cops, dust, debris and other fun) to go urban exploring in the long abandoned Michigan Central Depot in Detroit. Full photos are here. I wasn't the principal photographer and some of my more stylist comrades dressed up for the occasion. It's an interesting contrast between urban decay and gucci sheik. I told one comrade that if he was going to break the fashion rules to break them big. I think he accomplished it with the pink tie and silver shoes. The Depot is really surreal in a lot of ways. There's an insane amount of busted marble even after all of these years and despite graffeti being on every vertical surface (and there's a LOT of vertical surface), you can't help think back to what it was like in Detroit haydays. It was every bit as awe inspiring as Grand Central Station (NYC) or Union Station (Chicago). Amusingly there are a few photos of a wedding party that parked out front to take photos of themselves with the station in the background. I wish they could do something with this station, it would make killer lofts, but it's unlikely they'll do anything other than tear it down and even that probably won't happen. |
| Sunday, October 11th, 2009 |
| 12:43 am |
business cards
I have some fun new business cards from Moo.com. The truly cool thing about them is they have my picture on the back. And not just any picture, but I have a selection of five different pictures. (got get them all.) On a more serious note if you want to check it out they have packs of free 10 sample business cards for FREE for first time customers. Go here!. |
| Monday, October 5th, 2009 |
| 6:59 pm |
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| 6:44 pm |
big house big run
      Pics from my first 10k are here!I got up mega early to do my first 10k on Sunday morning. I was amazed at the number of people there, parking was a fiasco and I got into line just to hear Mary Sue Coleman (who walked the 10k). I was amazed at the number of people who show, the sheer volume was impressive. It was cold and my asthma flared intensely at the start of the run. That said by the time we reached the diag it gave up the ghost and I was doing better. Back down around the stadium for the second time around the loop and my right foot/ankle went numb (no clue why). I walked and ran until it stopped and finally looped back through and into the stadium for the finale. 1:08, not what I was hoping for but good enough. I got to see myself on the jumotron. The stadium seemed smaller (perhaps it's just empyier). It started to rain as I watched the 5k'ers off (includng a friend who'd just done the 10k) and put my warm hoodie on just as it started to rain. I had some bannanas and a slice of pizza and went home to crash. Today I feel like I'm a 100 years old (sore everywhere, stiff and low energy). That said, while I'm not sure I've reached the point I'd call myself a runner, I'm not giving up on it yet. |
| Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 |
| 3:16 pm |
Bar column for September
It's up here! Feedback is APPRECIATED! I can post the photos from gigis last night or the think to the full photos from R&R Sat (you can figure it out from the thumbnails if you're really curious). |
| Monday, August 24th, 2009 |
| 2:00 pm |
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| Friday, August 21st, 2009 |
| 12:48 am |
My First Triathalon
        Wednesday evening I did the final triathalon in the Running Fit Dinosaur series. While it was the third in the series it was my first triathalon. My photos are Here!
In the water shots I'm the second person from the left with my back to the camera. And I'm behind the running women exiting the water.
My time over all was 1:39:49 well under my 2 hour goal. I was the 400th person in out of 474. That said I was third from last in the 40-45 year old age group.
All of my times during the competition were better than in practice. Swimming was 17:19 (.5 mile), biking was 41:48 (12.3 miles) and running was 37:20 (3.2 miles). My first transition was 2:02 (swim to bike) and the second was 1:21 (bike to run). Formal results are here!I'm very happy with the results, I was only competing with myself. WIth a month more training I could've probably knocked 10 minutes off my time but that's about it. The bike ride demonstrated that I'm really not competitive. Although it was occasionally interesting to pass people who'd been condescending when I passed them going up hill for the third time. The swimming was a bit of a surprise, I had to jog back to the car in my flip flops to get my swim cap (I hate them), they're mandatory (wish I knew this) I almost missed my wave going out (I was in the 5th one). Lesson #1, (put the tracking / timing chip snuggling around your ankle) I'd put it up higher on my calf and it slid down and had serious drag during the swim (and I was nervous I was going to loose it). Lesson #2, when swimming follow the women. The guys are all over the place but the women seem to travel in a straight line between the buoys. I was about 2/3'ds of the way back in my back exiting the swim. I neglected to dry my foot off enough during the transition and had a wet sock that lead to a blister during the biking (weird place for a blister thankfully wasn't an issue with the running). The biking was hard for the first 4 miles then my body adjusted and it got easier. It was hillier than I ancitipated but nothing too bad. I got passed a lot early on but kept my pace up and passed people later. I could've done it faster but I wanted to have some energy for the run. Lesson #3, take your time during the transitions (to avoid blisters if nothing else). The running just sucked. I don't know how else to describe it, my asthma had flared up, I had muscles spasming all over the place and my feet where killing me. I owe my thanks to a very nice 53 year women old with new replacement knees who encouragedme and effectively verbally dragged me much of the final 1.2 miles. Rich missed taking a photo of me finishing because I was about 5 minutes earlier than he expected. I largely was in a vegetative state for awhile after that until Rich found me and we headed out. I'm mildly surprised I've accomplished the hardest of my three exercise goals for the summer (doing a triathalon). And I was 100% self motiviating. I did all of the practice run's by myself and had a pushed myself to do this. i very much appreciated Rich being there and cheering me on. |
| Sunday, August 9th, 2009 |
| 8:33 pm |
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| Friday, July 31st, 2009 |
| 10:29 pm |
Update on life
My bar column for August is up. I'm unsure if it's worth to keep doing it. Perhaps I'm just under the weather. The previous post with links to Detroit bars. If it's not clear we have so many gay bars in Detroit because they're dives and it doesn't require a lot of capital to open one nor do yo have to have a lot of $$ coming in to stay in business. Gigi's makes enough $$ on a Monday night to stay open the rest of the week (and their Fridays are almost as good). Additioanlly the cops have other things to do than harass you (although you may have to pay them off from time to time.) I love my friends who all scored better than my 90% on the quiz of where states are in the middle east. I still can't believe a public school teacher could get less than 50% but oh well. BTW, the photos from my party (unedited unlike the facebook ones) are up here! I don't have the energy to pull out best off thumbnails. Work continues to be stressful but I'm in problem solving mode with it which helps. I'm also off early tomorrow until late Wed. I'm going up to Lake Ann to chill with family for 5 days. That said I suspect I'll be drinking. I need to find a period when I'm not going to drink for awhile. See folks next week. |
| Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 |
| 9:04 pm |
Detroit
Referring to this post. I don't know whether to be scared or happy. I've been to all of those bars and I've been considered at regular at at least two (likely still am for the eagle). At various points in the past (even the recent past) Detroit has had more gay bars than Chicago. I suspect it's fairly obvious why. |
| 12:36 pm |
Middle east
So take this geography quiz of the middle east and see how you do. http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/MidEast.htmlI was talking to a friend who teaches history and lit, and was appalled by his lack of geography in the middle east. Perhaps my expectations are off. I managed to score 90% my first time (I keep thinking Turkmenistan should be next to turkey, and I have a tendancy to confuse syria/jordan and oman/yemen). But as much as this area has been in the news I'd like people in the US should be able to find IRAQ on a freaking map. That said I may be somewhat of a hypocrite as my ability to find things in South American and Central America really sucks (under 50%). And I was travelling there last year. That said all of this was started by this post about fox news. At the time I was what do you expect it's fox news. |
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