App of the Month

Actually, I think it's been two or three months since I've actually done an App of the Month segment. My bad.

While not planned to hold onto this for today, it kind of works. It is the 12th, after all.

Apple / iTunes has a 12 Day of Gifts app - for free, of course. I'm still me, you know.

Each day you get a free gift - be it a book, movie, song, app, etc.

Did I mention it was free? The app and the gifts?

Granted, I don't know what you'll be receiving. Or more to the point, what I'll be receiving. Me. Me. Me!

'Tis the season.

It could be something awesome like a cool game app or a Miley Cyrus download - which is like the equivalent of getting a lump of coal in your stocking - but you know with the NSA and all, Apple knows when I've been good or bad.

You still have plenty of time to get the app, as the presents don't start arriving until December 26th - which I kind of found odd. One would think.

Oh, who am I to judge (I know, I wasn't buying that line either)? It's some freebies from Apple.

If I don't like, I can delete them, I suppose. If I get a really cool app, I get two gifts - another post for next month!

Go for it.

Losing My Mind

If dementia came on in a 24 hour period, I'd be a little more worried, but I don't think it works like that.

At least I hope it doesn't work like that.

In the last day, I've lost my wallet, misplaced the dog's harness and somehow cut my finger without knowing how or wear.

When not traveling, I don't use my wallet a ton, so I had to think back to when I used it last - which was the day before at the grocery. Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), they had the wallet - why they didn't bother to call me, is beyond me. Nor did they ask who I was when I stopped at customer service to pick it up - they just handed me the wallet.

I'm also forgetting an incident that happened yesterday where I couldn't find something, but I forgot what that was too. This isn't pretty - or all the humourous either. I ain't laughing.

I did text 710 to let him know of two of the three incidents - he knew about the cut the night before - you know just to watch out for me.

Oh - and before you assume or ask, I haven't had a drink since........Saturday, so it's not that.

Hopefully my biorhythms are off (do people still chart these so-called biorhythms) and they'll just get back on track. It's a blip - or.......I'm off to assisted living.



Song by: Pet Shop Boys

Crazy

I'm not a baker. Mostly be design, but let's face it - competency falls in there somewhere. Or lack there of.

It's too much science. At least with cooking you can screw around with recipes - amounts, ingredients, etc.

With baking you kind of have to follow things to the letter.

I remember back in the '80s, Jon, FG, 710(?) and Sheba(?) got together for a holiday cookie making day. Well apparently it does matter which order you add the ingredients to a bowl as the chemical...chemical...chemical reaction changes. So my cookies didn't come out.

C'est la vie.

If anyone in this family bakes, it's 710. While he might (or might not) have a better talent for it than myself, he certainly has more patience.

So while others might know this recipe for cake, I've never heard of / seen / tasted it before being with 710. His grandmother made it in the '40s due to lack of eggs during wartime. She brought it back into existence when a young 710 was going through food eliminations for allergies.

His family (and maybe others?) call it: Crazy Cake. Again, I never heard of it, but my mother was never a baker either.

It contains very few items:  cocoa powder (1/4 cup), flour (1.5 cups), white sugar (1 cup), baking soda (1 t), oil (6 T), vanilla (1 t), salt (1/2 t) and vinegar (1 T), cold walter (1 cup). No eggs. No butter.

Sift the dry ingredients together into the pan you'll be baking the cake. 

Create three wells for the wet ingredients. These were all somewhat even, but you need a small well for the vanilla, but a bigger one for the oil. 

Fill the wells with the wet ingredients. 

Mix with a fork. Don't beat it.....beat it......   Just enough to incorporate the flower.  Due to the baking soda and vinegar, it foams a little like a volcano you made in grade school saw on the Brady Bunch.

And smooth out and bake. 350 for 30 minutes. 

I suppose you can frost it, but "we" didn't. (I didn't do anything but take pictures and eat it.)

It tastes just fine - light, moist and tasty. I suppose this is good for folks on pseudo-diets, with food allergies or for those ever-annoying vegans.



Song by: Icehouse

My Music Monday

Remember in some post in the not so distant past, where I was "lamenting" Rebecca Black not having a follow-up single to "Friday"?

Well - folks, be careful what you joke about. Karma is a bitch.

So I think I'll go in quite the opposite direction today of Ms. Black:  the Clash.

The group was part of the first wave of British punk back in the mid to late '70s. The were punk before it truly had name, and became the unofficial leaders of the pack (along with the Sex Pistols) for the genre.

I'm pretty sure I haven't done a Clash song before. Their debut, self-titled disk was ok. London Calling was great.  Their follow-up to that, the triple album Sandanista! was amazing. And then, I felt they totally sold out with Combat Rock, which made their other music harder to tolerate. Yes, that last disk had their two biggest hits with "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Rock the Casbah" which just totally annoyed me.

Yet, on a recent trip, my phone played "Brand New Cadillac" from London Calling, and it's been playing in my head for days. It's just a great song and a great rendition.

Just over two minutes long, and it's not even an original song - at least to the Clash. It was a 1959 song that has been covered by numerous bands, but the Clash version always just makes me want to crank up the volume even louder.

Turn it up!

Site of the Month

Apparently, I'm not even half-way gay.

I have an air of faggotry about me. Anyone who has met me could tell you that.  Or at least 48% of you.

I know a Mitch, but never met a Moe.  Welllllll..... you know what I mean.

I've ridden the Metro, but I don't believe I am a little metro - nor do I think any of you would think that either.

Anyway - you can figure out how gay you may be here.

They ask all the important questions that I'm sure Alfred Kinsey would have asked had he still been alive and been aware of texting habits, musicals and cherry Coke.

And you have to answer all the questions even if they don't relate to any of my choices: see musicals or any Coke products.

Clearly this is a throwaway, and I considered taking it again, answering as gay-ly as I could to see what the description would be for 80-100% homo. And I figured one of you who would take this has to be gayer than I am.

Hopefully, in those versions they don't have typos.

Slap and Tickle

Petey Porn Day.....with some Sophie thrown in for good measure.

The "kids" get along just fine, but sometimes Sophie likes to antagonize. Thursday she just kept popping up and whapping Petey.  Harmless swats that didn't do a thing. 

She was also stalking him on Thursday. While I went to change to take Petey for a walk - and him anxiously waiting by the door - Sophie opted to hop onto the kitchen counter (which is a big no-no). Petey was right below her.

And on that walk, Petey got vocal for the first time in months!

For a bonus treat, John, over at the possibly defunct I Got Somethin' to Say, posted this on Facebook yesterday and it just made me smile.

Song by:  Squeeze

Another Day (that time forgot)

Oh the irony.

Yesterday I was going on about not taking a day off and that I have stuff to write about.

Today  - well.......not so much.

I had nothing planned. No stand-by posts. No nothing. I could chat about the weather, but who really cares? It was nice and now it is supposed to be bad. There.

But  then Mr. Mandela died yesterday. So, I guess I could write about that, but I don't have anything specific to say. I never delved into the specifics of Apartheid and Mandela's role. I remember boycotting Shell Oil because their business interests supported Apartheid. I think I finally used them after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

I don't meant to be rude, but I was amused all summer long when, the then 94 year old, Mandela was in intensive care and reports said he was "recovering", but the news items made it sound as if his recovery would be taking him to some state of normalcy.

He was 94!!!!  (at the time)

I get people wanting or needing him to survive, but nonagenarians are not spry beings who are easily ambulatory after weeks or months in intensive care or that fully "recover". But the 24 hour news cycle is one mean mistress, so they'll milk a story of possible recovery of a much beloved man into the dirt.

Oh, I guess besides Shell, I was aware of Apartheid via Little Steven (from the E. Street Band) and his Artists United Against Apartheid boycotting playing Sun City in hopes of bringing recognition to the problem of racism in South Africa.

So - why not show it.  It seems the most like me to do, instead of write about.





Song by: Neil Diamond

Another Year

Here we are  - another 12 months of continual posts.




Song by: Lori Carson

Head First

338 days ago I wrote that I had one goal for 2013. To achieve Crow pose in yoga.

Mind you, I still have 27 days to make it happen, but I'm not hopeful. Maybe it's the length of my arms to the ones in my legs, but getting my knees into my armpits might be futile.

However, months ago, I've tried to take a new philosophy to this whole approach - to stop saying: "I can't". 

I might keep trying. I might keep failing, but I'm trying to be more positive.

I used to say "I can't" about headstands as well.

Not that I'm completely trying to rationalize my physical and mental inability, but in most classes, there is a flow and where they might take time to readjust you, the instructors don't really have time to advance your skill set. The classes are too big.

And too crowded - space-wise. No one wants a newbie (or oldbie) teetering over and falling on top of them. There isn't that kind of room usually. Heck, they don't want that even if there is room.

Last Saturday was the exception.

David and I got to class at a new studio (free passes, dontcha know) a few minutes ahead of time and we were the only two people there. This would-be, almost individual instruction, was short-lived as five others showed up at the very last minute (or even late to the class).  Drats.

Still, it was a nice space and seven folks is not a big class. And when the instructor asked if there is anything we'd like to do during class, David chimed in for me - on the headstand. I had to inform the instructor I didn't need help getting better, just being able to do it at all. To be "better" would have to come later.

Overall, the class was great. Billed at an hour and fifteen minutes, we went for almost two hours. It was a tough work out. The both of us really enjoyed it.

The instructor tried to get me into headstand and her tips were helpful. However, not as helpful as David and the other male in the class, Steven (or possibly Stephen). Both gave me pointers and I was up in a ridiculously short amount of time.

It took a few tries to get my neck in a position that didn't compress (but that neck compression s.u.c.k.s. and is painful), but other than that.......

Well, not completely "other than that"...  I did my headstand against a wall. I swear it's not cheating.

One should (?) do this to find where they are, in getting to their goal without hurting themselves or others. At least that is what I tell myself. But seriously, it was important to me to find how to get into the pose, where my balance center was, and how to safely come out of the pose

So I did it over and over - maybe four or five times till I got comfortable.

Lest you thinking I'm being overly proud of myself, I only need tell you the rest of the story. After that, I got to watch Steve doing a handstand - and doing push-ups in that pose at that. And I got to view that while being upside down.

So my next goal - even before Crow, probably - will be to do the handstand with no wall assist. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling confident.

I CAN do it.


Oh - and Steve also gave me a tip on how to roll my mat so when I unrolled later, the bottom and top edges would not curl.

It was a helpful class.



Song by: Philosopher Kings

To Be Forgiven

'Tis the season - Oscar season, that is. (Mike - I'm coming for you!)

A few weeks ago it was Robert Redford and last Friday (hey, I had regularly scheduled posts slated) it was Judi Dench in Philomena.

Without major spoilers, it is about a woman in search for the son that was taken away from her after giving birth out of wedlock at a convent 50 years prior.

Dench, as always, is great and no doubt a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination.

I've been a fan of hers since her small rolls in Room with a View and 84 Charing Cross Road. And 710 and I were happy to stay in on Saturdays to watch her in the BBC's (PBS here) series As Time Goes By. She was the only truly great thing about Shakespeare in Love and she did a good job as M in the Bond films. She might be in iffy projects, but she is never bad.

The story is good (if you can make it through the first 30 heart-wrenching minutes) and not extremely predictable.

Philomena is as much about faith and forgiveness as it is about the search for a son. Based on a true story, if the real Philomena could have mustered even half the faith and forgiveness that is portrayed in the movie, she deserves sainthood.

The film has garnered good buzz, unless you're New York Post or Washington Times, who believes the movie is nothing but a hate-fest for the Catholic church and the Reagan administration / republicans. And while they take their lumps, they are not undeserved and the title character lets them both off the hook.

The movie ran the gamut of emotions - where you laughed, felt extremely angry and I'm not ashamed to say that both 710 and I teared-up.....and not just at the sight of Mare Winningham still being allowed to act.

While the movies was playing at our local art house, we saw the film at the mega-plex. The seats are way more comfortable, though we should support the independents more often.

Here was the scene going in:

I posted the pic on Facebook and joked that Philomena was going to be a huge box office success. The reality was - everyone was there to see the Hunger Games,which was playing on 6 of the 20 screens. Or maybe they were there to see Black Nativity, which oddly enough is not a Tyler Perry movie.

Of course, the joke was kind of on us. Yes, we saw a Judi Dench film at the 15:10 show, and assumed it would be empty. We barely got two seats together, it was so packed. I think 3-4 other folks were younger than us (no surprise). Granted it was in the smaller theater, but still........

The movie is one I wanted to see, so we got that out of the way. Four more to go, which might be a tough one to do by year's end, but the previews were decent enough to think about two or three we'd like to view.


2013 Movie Count / Goal:   8 of 12. 

Song by: George Michael

My Music Monday

Today is a Simon & Garfunkel mood.

After they disbanded, Paul Simon had some good music, but some that if I never hear again, it would be too soon ("50 Ways to Leave Your Lover").

Art Garfunkel had some minor hits with "That's All I Know" and "Bright Eyes".  He never matched the popularity of Simon's solo career or their combined efforts.

They really were never as good apart as they were together. Their harmonies really worked and they had some great material.

Garfunkel's mastery of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" was sullied by Simon's saying he was sorry he let Art take the lead vocal on it. I don't think it would have been as incredible with Paul's vocal taking the lead.

But they had some of my faves, like "the Boxer", "Homeward Bound", "For Emily - Wherever I Might Find Her", "My Little Town", "Scarborough Fair" , of course "Bridge" and my pick this week, "America".

I always come back to "America", though I don't think it's my favourite.

With Garfunkel providing muted harmony, Simon takes the lead and does it well.

"America" is a tale of a trip, but to me is seemed more about loss of direction for a generation. It seems palpable in the line "Kathy, I'm lost.....I'm empty and aching and I don't know why "   Simon can deliver a line with emotion that can grab at you.

Actually, it is that line that makes the song for me. It's why I keep it on my playlist.

You've Got the AIDS

I know I can be crass.  Yes, it's true. Completely true. Ask anyone who has known me for something longer than three days hours. And I get that some readers will chastise me over today's World AIDS Day post - but all my entries can't all tug on the heart like my 2010 post or smack of a little condemnation like 2011.

People live with this disease every single day - and if you couldn't smile or laugh now and again, even its face, then the disease wins. Sometimes, you have to inject a little humour into bad subjects - and no doubt I'll get some backlash over this, but.....

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying AIDS is funny, but sometimes you have to laugh during the most dire of circumstances. I'm not sure I could have made it through my cancer thing without making fun of it the entire time.

Was Monty Python the first to make fun the Spanish Inquisition? ....or was that "too soon"?  Hell, there were Challenger jokes hours after that "major malfunction'.

I've never claimed to be hyper-sensitive about most anything, but Family Guy has a way of touching on very taboo topics (I still think they're the only show to do 9/11 gags - oh yes, they've done multiple). And they are possibly the only show to make jokes about HIV or AIDS.

I think I like Family Guy more than I should because at they are potentially the most crass show on television. And in primetime, yet. The storylines are not always funny, but you watch it for the set-ups and the cultural reference flashbacks.

The first clip made me smile. The second clip was never shown on tv and is considered a 'deleted scene. .....and then there is the third clip.

The barbershop quintet...wellllll... the first time I saw it, I'm not sure you could have been able to pick my jaw up off the fucking floor. The second or third time, I'm sorry, I couldn't help but laugh. I think the fourth time I was singing the song.

Out of the last 10 years, I've written maybe seven or eight posts on World AIDS Day - like the two I referenced earlier. They are all contain some despair with a little hope built in there. I couldn't write the same post over again today.

It's not that we should forget the fight or those who have the disease or have perished from it. I don't think that is possible - even with a little tongue in cheek humour.

If this is the first time you've seen the third clip, eventually you'll pick your jaw up off of the floor as well.  And maybe you'll even smile......just a little.









Song by: the Family Guy Barbershop Quintet

Can I Have a Kiss?

You know the day. You know the blog theme.

I swear Petey knows "Can I have a kiss?" better than "Sit!". Which is ok because I get better benefits from doggie kisses than him giving me his paw - which never actually ends up in my hand.

Beagles have the softest tongues.

Here he is - up on the couch. He's really taken to sitting with one of us in a chair or on the couch. We love the companionship.  I'm not sure what he's getting out of it.  But on occasion, I get kisses. 

Yes - another (temporary) bed. Petey co-opted the old cushion from the leather chair. It now resides next to his other two beds....which don't include the chair or sofa. 

Just a quick 12 second film of Petey lovin'. Had me a blast. 

Song by:  Kelly Clarkson

When Black Friday Comes

It's been done 12,000 times by other bloggers, writers, news folk - but ugh on Black Friday.

It's not that I care so much about the sanctity of the holiday and not opening stores at 06:00 on Thanksgiving - or anytime during that day.  It is more the stupidity of the shoppers.

Personally, I don't care if these asshats get trampled to death. It's Natural Selection at work.

Proven time and time again that these are NOT the best deals of the season, nor is it the busiest shopping day of the year, I see no reason to sit out in the freezing cold (now no longer overnight but currently for 3-4 days ahead of time), to get one shitty off-brand TV. But you can't tell these uneducated, non-news reading, souls a thing....unless it's Sarah Palin telling them what and what not to do.

Yes, I'm generalizing.

And of course if you camp out in line, where do you go the bathroom.  That is the $64,000 question*.

If I never set a foot inside a store from November 15th - January 20th, I'm a happy man. There is very little that I cannot get on-line and the stuff I want to acquire for people most likely won't be found at the big box stores.

I feel worse for the Pizza Hut manager who got fired for bucking the system and closing on Thanksgiving - though allegedly that day has a high rate of pizza deliveries. Supposedly, Kentucky Taco Hut is rehiring him, but in a way I hope he does not accept.

In my mind, I already have the things I need to buy - some are already purchased, but that was a place / time rationale, not a "deal" to be had. Either way, it's going to be a light year, and that is just fine.

And now that stores are open at 06:00 on Thursday, can "they" even call it Black Friday?



*Rates apply to 1955-1958 rates of inflation



Song by: Steely Dan

Thanks a Lot

I won't go on about my usual malaise for this holiday. You can read that in previous T-giving day posts.

I'm just posting for:

A. getting in a post to continue my streak.

B. the picture.  I mean - c'mon!

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for many things, but the uneasiness of going around a table to say them seems odd to me.

Clearly I am thankful for my husband and our family. And my friends. And my general health - though this year it has been a little trying.

I don't need much more than that in life.

Enjoy your day - your food, your parade, your football.

Oh - and Happy Hanukkah. You won't see the merging of these two holidays for the next 79,000 years - or 2070, depending on who you believe. Either way, I'll be dead.


Song by:  Raul Malo

the Big Chair

No, not that electric chair kind of thing.

We bought a chair almost four years ago - which was a substantial purchase. Chairs, leather or not, are not cheap. That is assuming one, or both of us, could agree upon.

I was looking at chairs after I hurt my back and couldn't find a comfortable one to rest my weary bag of bones.

Yet one would expect an expensive chair to hold up longer than say, two and a half years, right? I mean, the leather is fine, but the seat cushion collapsed overnight about 18 months ago. For six of those months, I just let my fat, hairy ass sink to the base of the chair and lived with it.

But for the last 12 months, I've avoided the chair completely unless we had guests over. I'd sit there so they wouldn't have to sit in that shame.

Finally, I did something about it. Not expecting, or wanting a thing, from the store, I called just asking where the best and most reliable place in Cleveland would they suggest I go to get a new foam insert - as that was the only real thing that went bad.

A quick look-up from them told me that the cushion was under warranty, and that they would order a new one right away. That, I was not expecting.

I would have sworn they told me the leather was covered but the innards were not. Maybe it's the opposite, or maybe I got wrong info or maybe the front desk of the store eff'd up. Either way, I not only got a new insert for the butt part of the chair, but for the back as well.

The old backing is just fine, but I"ll put the new one away for a day when that deflates.

Here's the sad sad cushion. It never sprang back. I swear I'm not that heavy. 

And here is the new and improved version. I'm almost afraid to sit on it. 

I'm assuming you can all guess what has happened to the old insert?



Song by:  Tears for Fears

Blowing in the Wind

The 2013 (or is it 2014?) Farmer's Almanac said this upcoming Winter, for our neck o'the woods would have average snow fall, but would be colder than normal.

I'm sure there is 'normal' somewhere out there, but I don't know what that is and am too damned lazy to look it up.

But by "winter", I assumed they meant December 21 - March 20. I didn't think they meant bone chilling cold in November - almost a full month away from that dreaded season of interminably long dark days.

Saturday I was coming home from Columbus and stopped to get gas. JFC - I froze just paying and getting the pump ready.

I truly know how good I have it when I can wait inside a fucking Mercedes while I fill it with petrol. I don't know how the homeless (or those frontier people) ever survive a night, let alone weeks or years of this. I'm not sure I could make it two hours.

We are now on day four of this.

Sunday, pulling into my parents development, the roads were untouched, and the wind was howling - blowing the snow everywhere. Then the houses that already had holiday lights up, had them on. It certainly felt more like we were going over for a holiday celebration than a regular Sunday dinner that landed before Thanksgiving.

Even yesterday morning we woke up to single digit temps. Today is supposed to be better, but still calls for snow and wind. It makes walking Petey a challenge. His double walnut sized brain thinks he can do the long walks, but his paws hurt, I know this - but getting him to comply and take the shorter route is a bear.

And it's all I can do to not scold my neighbors when I get an email to send to the entire neighborhood about their kitten who never came home the night before. WTF is a kitten doing out in sub-zero temps??? They should have that cutie taken out of their custody.  AND.....it came back, but then neighbors found it again hours later - meaning these assholes let him out......AGAIN.

Maybe I'll just steal the kitten next time I see it. Petey is interested in him.

Anyway, there looks to be little warm-up in the next week. 30 as the high (not counting wind) for the next seven days.

Fudge.



Song by: Bob Dylan

My Music Monday

Lordy 2013 was a questionable year for new releases. Not only did I not review something new for each month, I didn't even buy anything additional to what I did post for my Record of the Month.

Sad sad sad.

I'm hoping 2014 is a little better, but it almost has to be, right?

In January, one my my favourite artists,  Rosanne Cash, is coming out with her first album of original material in seven (plus) years with The River & the Thread.

Cash, while seemingly country in nature, one would be hard pressed to truly classify her in that genre. Americana is closer to the bucket. And that category probably shows more in her new record than her previous ones.

While Johnny was from Arkansas, Rosanne as born and raised in California. By her own admission, she only lived in Nashville for nine years - and has been in New York City for 20 odd since. But she's big on her heritage, all the way back to Scotland, where a lot of Appalachian music has its roots from there.

So with her father's side of the family being from the South, she opted to explore that aspect of music with this album.

Her first 'release' from the disk is "A Feather's Not a Bird". I'm really digging it.

Yes, it has that southern quality that made Bobbie Gentry (who Cash has been covering the last few years in concert) so great. I love how Cash's voice has actually gotten stronger over the years.

If her full album is anything like this song, I will be a happy man.

When I Write the Book

One Dr. Spo  has made a MEME about blogging.  These questions are a conglomerate of questions bloggers and non-bloggers have asked him over the years.  The answers, however, are mine. 

What you like most about being a blogger?

Just because of my OCD, I like the consistency of writing it. I don't have a life-changing blog in terms of politics of gay culture. Hell, my subtitle is 'stuff & nonsense' - though it is mostly just 'stuff'. 

How many bloggers have you met?

13 known bloggers. Either people I follow, or have followed in the past. There might be one or two more that have stopped blogging a while back, but for the most part, I'm going with a baker's dozen. 

Do you ever go back and read your old entries?

Sometimes. I shouldn't, but I do.

If I look at my stats to see what is trending and can't remember what a post was, I might hit it and read it. Or if I need to find a post to link to a current on, I search for it. The problem is if then you start reading a succession of older or newer posts from that one. I catch things i could have said more clearly or see a typo that I want to fix - but I resist the urge to go down that rabbit hole. 

Do you share your job skills here?

I really don't. You get something of my travel or work frustration, but no real specifics about my job, my company or things of that nature. Besides being another rabbit hole to avoid, why get the work g-ds mad at me? 

Have you changed your views about anything thanks to blogging?

Yes, but not in the way most would think. Reading gay political blogs, I find I don't always agree with the majority. Case in point: I found the high praise of Dan Choi to be mostly because he's gay and a soldier - and not just the fame whore he wants to be. and g-d fucking forbid if you commented anything that didn't see him as the next gay hero. I find many gay political blogs hate the intolerance of many straight people toward gays, but are the first to be EXTREMELY intolerant of our own kind if you're not on their bandwagon. 

Do your coworkers know about your blog?

Not that I know of. Friends have posted links to some of my posts on their Facebook page and sometimes have "tagged" me in the process. It is possible some of those co-workers / Facebook friends have seen the tag, clicked and then found the blog. But since I don't share things about work, I don't foresee trouble - though they'd have to scour 3000+ posts to know I don't talk about work. 

What advice would you give for successful blogging?

It would be to consistently post. If you do one or two a month - or a full week and then nothing for a period of time, you'll never gain a following, if that is what you want. If you're blog is too specific (i mean, there a knitting blogs!!!), you're going for a core audience that you'll never expand upon - and that's fine, if that's all you are going to talk about. 

What is your opinion of aardvarks?

They have kept our ant problem under control!  Though they do look an awful lot like Renee Zellweger (or vice versa).

Do you publish everything you write ?

Almost everything. I've drafted a few things that never went anywhere and I deleted them. It could be argued I shouldn't publish half the things I write. 

If you could make ‘three rules’ for blogging, what would they be?

1# Have your own voice. I appreciate (somewhat) original content. I'm not big on bloggers who copy media stories and while not crediting as their own, certainly don't recognize the actual source. They don't even put in their own thoughts most of the time in regards to their copied post. 

2# Have a sense of humour. Not everyone is going to agree with what you post, so don't get your nose out of joint when someone disagrees - at least if they have a semi-logical "argument". 

3# It's nice to ask a person if you can blogroll them and not just do it. Not only do you know someone is reading you, but appreciating you enough that they want to acknowledge your publications. It's nice to know where some the sources of your readership too. And it might turn you on to that person's blog and their own blogroll of folks.  (Don't ask assuming they will blogroll you back.)

Do people help you write your blog?

Now and again, someone (a cousin or friend) will provide a link to a topic they think I would find funny - knowing I might blog about it. Do they actually write it or get to provide feedback on my draft? No.  

But many people (a cousin or friend) will be the inspiration for an entry - or 10. 

Who are your blogger super-heroes?

You know this can go nowhere good, right? Someone is bound to be hurt or left out, and that is not my intention. But I have a few: 

Mike's Short Attention Span Theater (when he writes / wrote it) always made me smile. He was clever with his words and though he'd loathe to admit it, has the same sense of humour as myself. 

Erik, over at gambrinous with griffonage comes closest to my taste in music. But he seems like a nice guy and one of the bloggers I truly want to meet. ...and if I ever got a tattoo, he might be the guy I'd let do it. Though I truly do NOT understand his fascination with Dr. Who, but........  

Patrick over at Pac's Pad.  He's a great writer. He is clever and always comes full circle with his posts and always makes me want to comment on them. That is high praise. 

And Chris from the Mangina Monologues - because he has the right amount of wrong in him that makes me smile. 

Final question (if you dare!) :

Have you slept with any of your fellow bloggers?

Define: sleep


Song by: Rockpile

Peace Dog

It is Saturday. Petey Porn Day. 

I'd like to say these are throwaway posts, but they are not. I love showing him off and people seems to ooh and aah over him, so I see it as a win-win. 

Just an FYI:  never jump in a pile of leaves. Sure it was fun when we were kids. I just didn't know dogs pissed on every single pile they came across. And, ummmm, sometimes drop a deuce in them too. 

On a completely unrelated note: I have barely used a poop bag in the last three weeks!

Oh, so now he's interested in the camera!  ...or in 710.

Petey has taken to taking up residence in 710's chair. No one is stopping him, so, he has full rights. 

Sometimes he uses his multi-tiered bed system. Big yawn. 

Of all the pictures I've taken of him, this one might actually be my most favourite. 

Song by: the Cult

Abraham, Martin & John

Do you remember where  you were?

I'm assuming I was in my crib, as I was only 101 days old.  But today is the 50th year that John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Of course, I could have been in a high chair, though I think I couldn't have supported myself in there at that age, so we'll go with 'crib'.

I've made no secret that the JFK assassination was probably my first acknowledgement of some OCD-like behaviour.  I read the entire Warren Commission in sixth grade and started down a path of dozens of books about that day in Dallas.

After a while, you either got the scientific versions or the crackpot editions. Rarely did the two meet and even while I tried to stick to science, of course there were conflicting data elements and conclusions. Personally, I don't believe that Oswald acted alone....but that's just me.

Actually, it's not just me. A recent poll says only 24% of Americans believe Oswald acted alone.

I've never harbored any delusions on what a great man or president Kennedy might have been. In reality - he wasn't. His times in the House and Senate were short and plagued with long bouts of medical leave, so his experience was little.

As president, JFK's approval rating at the time of his death was around 49%. Only in death was he immortalized. He was a womanizing, back room, nepotism-prone politician. His father was corrupt, and clearly the Kennedys, even to this day, get preferential treatment from both the law and religion (seriously - you're married 20+ years, have four kids and the church gives you an annulment???). Bobby Kennedy prosecuted thugs (if Hoffa was considered a 'thug'), but in reality was one himself - the way he (mis)treated others.

That said, the country, if not the world, came together for three days 50 years ago.

Sure, 1963 was arguably a simpler time, but I'm not sure that could happen now - for an American president. Maybe for another Princess Diana, but not for an elected head of state.

As much as Kennedy's death possibly moved the passage of Civil Rights Act up measurably, the same is true with our involvement in Viet Nam. To be fair, Kennedy didn't start us in Viet Nam - that was much earlier - but he didn't help the process one little bit.

But the time of '63-'68 left an indelible mark on our history. Like the Kennedys or Martin Luther King, you can't say they didn't profoundly change the world - even if the former was more mob like mentality. People wonder how much more they would have done had they lived. In certain ways, I think things got accomplished much more quickly due to their deaths. Maybe that is harsh, but I believe it to be true.

Actually, a number of years ago (yikes! six!!!), I wrote a piece for a group blog, which no longer exists - Gay Men Rule. I just reread it and am still kind of happy with it - as it stuck with the theme of the meme.

But I've moved on. I'm not longer obsessed, compulsively or otherwise. Though I will honestly say I showed a little interest in the NYT article on Jacqueline Kennedy's pink suit.  And yes, the New York Times has a decent interactive site on the assassination.

Yes, cable has a plethora of shows on the assassination running this entire month. Some I've caught - some at which just to roll my eyes. And whenever I'm at Arlington National Cemetery, yes, I'll go to both John and Bobby's graves, but that's it.  No more books. It's all circumspect now and unless there are unreleased government documents, destroyed coroner records, missing body parts from the autopsy - and no actual truth to definitively be known - it's all left up to interpretation.

A half-decade later and no one really knows tons more than they did five years after the event.

No, this is more about the passing of time. Plenty of history has been made in my lifetime (the first walk on the moon or say, Charo's 17th guest spot on the Love Boat), but arguably (actually, inarguably, I believe), Kennedy's assassination is the first real demarkation of a lasting historical event in my life.

Where does the time go?



Side Note:  

I took the title image, this past summer, at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. They were setting up for a Warhol exhibit and I was instructed, "no photography" - flash or otherwise. You can see how well I listen. 

This is part of a Warhol series called "Sixteen Jackies", which is by far my favourite piece he ever did. Of course, it all plays into that younger me, who was fascinated by that time in November '63. 



Song by: Dion

Shopping with Blobby

Yet another installment in the drudgery that is everyday shopping. The camera-phone makes it a bit more fun - though I get looks whenever I take pics of products. Like I care what people think!

You know we joined Costco for their dog food. Petey, being the high-maintenance cutie that he is, can eat their salmon and sweet potato chow, since he is allergic to most meats and grains.

Anyways, since the food bag is 30lbs, we don't frequent Costco too too often. They do have other stuff I like  - the gigundo pack of granola bars. Sure they sell them in the grocery store, but the price for a box of 10 is only slightly different than a box of 60 at Costco.

The problem with Costco is all the other things you don't need, that you think you do, because they are on display.

Yes, I needed new heads for my electric toothbrush, and yes, they are expensive no matter where you go - but did I really need to buy eight of them, because that was the only way they were packaged? Or the 52 disposable razors? I needed like, eight of them, but you can only get one for each week of the year.

I rarely shop for food there, because as I've said in the past, I'm not feeding an orphanage. I don't need or want two pork tenderloins - there are only two of us. I'm sorry you don't sell single ones, but.... And I don't need 12 peppers - mix of red, orange and green. I like peppers, but 12 will go bad before I ever had the chance to use four of them.

Sometimes you're just not practical Costco.

On the other hand, there are deals there. Well, I assume.

I mean, when wouldn't you need this?

I'll tell you when:  when I suppose the 32 capacity safe just won't do!!!

Apparently guns are "adventures" 

Please remind the parents from Sandy Hook that. Their panties are still in a wad that guns were killing machines. Go figure!

Still I haven't really done the math, but exponentially, the addition of 16 more guns really drives up cost quite a bit. I mean, a true bargain shopper could get two 32 gun capacity safes and still have it be $1400 cheaper than the 48 - and you can store way more rifles and ammo. 

And if Costco were really doing their job, some nice senior would have been handing out venison samples right next to this display. 

Site of the Month

Oh, it's that time - though I think "of the month" is becoming less of a sure thing.

Maybe it's a good thing that my 'stand-by' posts are not needed, but now and again, it is good to bring them back.

But like two or three weeks ago with My Music Monday, this SotM is being brought to you by Meredity.

I'd say, she might just want to write my blog, but then I remembered she has a blog that she started two years ago and has been dormant for the last 2-3 posts, so........maybe that's not a the best idea.

Anyhoo...Dith sent me to Head's Up Now, because of Blobby Robby.

Honestly, I don't know why she'd be at the site in the first place, let alone how she might stumble upon Blobby Robby.

As she said in her text to me: "these things just write themselves sometimes...".

But they don't. I do. And it's work, people. WORK!

Here is Blobby Robby's description:

A squishy fellow who is about 4 inches across. He is all smiles, with stretchy arms, legs & hair thrown in. Squeeze him to your hearts content to get some sensory feedback. He goes right back to his original rolly, poly shape. He has a soft feel to him. 

I saw that and figured, yeah - that's me. Except for the hair.

Then I first saw 4", I was all like "Bitch, please!"   ...but then I saw that it said 4" across and I went, "yeah - that's about right!"  It's all about the girth, folks.

And I'm not all squishy.  {wink}

Love is a Battefield

Today is the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.  Only 268 - 273 words in length (depending on which draft one actually believes was delivered - there are five known), but it stands as one of the greatest addresses ever given in American history.

Oddly, Lincoln was not even the keynote speaker that day at Gettysburg, but he followed Edward Everett's two-hour speech with his own, which lasted a little over two minutes.

While it's doubtful that many of us know the entire speech by heart, I'm guessing most of us could recite the first line - and possibly the last. It is highly improbable that anyone knows any of Everett's oration.....unless you happen to be an Everett historian. Of course, that is the crowd I'm going for in my readership, so one never knows.

Ken Burns thinks it is a great speech too and has started Learn the Address.

People are uploading their readings of the Gettysburg Address - including all five living presidents. ...and Louis C.K.

Of course, others participating are the obligatory congressmen on both sides of the aisle, but you also get Whoopi, Colbert, Nina Totenberg, and esteemed historians such as, Martha Stewart, Alyssa Milano and naturally, Vicki Lawrence.

Apparently, Sherman went down to Atlanta to turn out the lights...for one night.

All visitors are encouraged (ok, invited, maybe not encouraged) to do the address themselves. And why not? It's a good history lesson, if nothing else.

There is a line in the Address where Lincoln couldn't have been more wrong:  "the world will little note; nor long remember what we say here".  

Yeah, I took a shot at this - though I don't do well. I can do public speaking and possibly even give my own speeches, but to recite one - let alone one of the most famous ones - I don't do it justice. Even Alyssa Milano has me beat there.

That bitch!

I'd have been better off singing the title of this post.  ....but don't hold your breath on that one.

I have not decided to (or not to) submit to Ken Burns' site.






Song by: Pat Benatar

My Music Monday

INXS and "Don't Change" have been on my short list for a while - i just never quite got around to do committing it to the blog.

There are a parts of the group I truly liked, and parts that just became annoying to the Nth degree. And most of both of those categories were the lead singer, Michael Hutchinson.

Early INXS was good. Very good. I'm a big fan of their albums Shaboo Shoobah and the Swing. Today's selection was a coin toss between "Don't Change" and "Original Sin".

I kind of liked their disk, Listen Like Thieves. But I also noticed that is where, for me they started to decline. When they got to Kick, I was done. Their stupid-ass rhyme scheme on "Meditate" was so annoying - and the MTV overkill of "Need You Tonight", "Never Tear Us Apart" and "New Sensation"just grated on my last nerve.

I was also getting tired of Hutchinson's faux Jagger movements in everything he did. He was ok, but he was no Jagger.

That all said, I'm still fond of some of their songs, "Don't Change" being at the top of my list. It sits on all my various iPod / iPhone rotations.

Oddly, I'm not sure I've ever seen the video for this song - and maybe that's not a bad thing. The man kind of creeps me out.

Leather

I have become that absent-minded {post} middle-aged man. Apparently, I'm "that guy" who has to be reminded that today is our anniversary. Queue one episode that has been written for every sitcom ever.

The third anniversary is Leather - dontcha know. Well, I didn't. I had to look it up.

Sure some might like Tin, Silver or Gold more, but eh. Leather is so much more versatile.

What?  I mean, belts, shoes, jackets or ....you know, chaps, harnesses, cockrings and such.  See? Versatile!

Years ago, Morty got me a black leather candle (yes, you read that correctly), that actually smelled well, like black leather. I don't know the occasion. I'm not sure there is an occasion for getting black leather candle.

I moved from Columbus to Cleveland with it. Had it at two separate houses until we moved eight plus years ago. 710 made me toss it. I never lit it. I almost didn't want to, but I liked the smell. I'm sure it was cheaper than buying chaps. I mean, I'm guessing!

But there is no leather that will be exchanged today. Except for dinner somewhere, I'm not sure we are celebrating at all. It's not that the thrill is gone or anything, just life getting in the way.

I'm not even sure that dinner will be our celebration. We made tentative plans to go out with friends, not that they wouldn't celebrate with us, but it is not expected or even discussed.

No celebration takes a back seat to leaf clean-up. Continued clean-up that is, though we're getting close to the end. Yesterday was about taking a stab at getting most of the rest of the leaves off the lawn. There is possibly one more small clean-up to do in a week. Last leaf pick-up by the city is in 11 days.

(feel free to insert clumsy penis metaphor here.  hehehe...I said "insert")

The gas-powered leaf blower is great. I never cared for the electric one, but this one is way more powerful and got me to clear the lawn in a little over an hour's time. ....and I look mega-butch with it, no?  (the question is rhetorical - so keep the lips sealed.)

Yesterday morning, before lawn maintenance, we had our neighborhood 'men's breakfast'. Still serving steel cut oats (meh), but at least the company is fine, though we seem to be in the same invite rotation as the last two. I wouldn't mind us getting in a slightly different mix of men (there are multiple gatherings, but generally you're invited to one per year) - not that there's anything wrong with the gents with which we ate. It can just be interesting changing up the list here and there.

Still, it's a great gesture and one of those things that make our neighborhood a little unique.

So, here we are - year three of official marriage. Sure, there were those pesky 25 years of non-marriage, but we're still not recognized by the state of Ohio. Maybe that will change soon.



Song by:  Tori Amos

A Warm Place

Saturday. Saturday. Saturday.

Why hasn't Rebecca Black followed up her mega-hit single?   Ohhhhh yeah......now I remember.

Anyway, it is Petey Porn Day.  You knew it would be.

For pushing 12 years old, he still has times of being a playful pup - especially when it's about going outside. He knows walk times.

Of course, he dictates walk times. And his internal body clock will tell him to tell me that it is morning or evening walk time. 

It's been a cold few days (into the twenties - as the high!). He's been taking to getting out of his bed, and finding sun to sleep in.  I worry about his old man bones and him needing heat. This is a new development.  But as you can see, Sophie plops down right next to him and they have a slumber party. 

And it was time again to wash his beds. He gets so confused when one disappears (even though he has a second). But on the big one, he wasn't letting me put the cover back on. He just sat his beagle butt on it and would not budge. 

Stubborn pooch.

Why not a short 20 second (or so) video of Petey excited to be going out. It's an ok shot, but sometimes he is much much much more animated.

Song by:  Nine Inch Nails

Intro

You know, Facebook has a lot of reasons to be a bad thing. I suppose, like anything, it is in how you use it.

I know people who have 700+ "friends". C'mon - they don't even "know" 700 people. But the mentality is those with the most friends wins.   ....and then they block these friends, but still count them in their bucket.

Me? I have no use for that. Hell, I even ignore immediate family member requests. Granted, I have a handful of people who know me through others (though I've never actually met), and a few of you who follow this here blog (whom I have never actually met....yet), but for the most part, those I connect with are friends and a few cousins, whom I counts as good friends.

(Truth be told: I have a former co-worker who I like personally, until he opens his mouth about politics and I just loathe reading his crap, so he just might get shit-canned. AND, he's not even the former co-worker who is now a VP at Fox News!)

Anyhooooo - I've done this on and off series of posts on how I know my closest and dearest friends. Ok, technically, I've only truly written about Becky and Meredity. Oh, you hear a lot about Morty and Jon, but not the true origins. I'm sure those will come in time.

This post kind of covers Morty.

Kind of. Maybe more than kind of.


Around two years ago, I accepted a FB request from someone I will call "Girl Jackie". I call her that, because that is what we all called her.

She gets the qualifier as "girl' because in the soon-to-be periphery, there was a Boy Jackie. I even think, and Morty can correct me, there was a Black Jackie somewhere in that mix. But there had to be qualifiers so people would know which Jackie you were referring.

Even though I had not seen nor heard from Girl Jackie since maybe 1990, she played an ginormous part in my life. And Jon's.  And of course, to Morty, Ditto and Becca.

In 1987-88, for the most part, it was just Jon and myself when going out. Sure, we had FG (don't ask) tag along, but the core was Jon and me.

One fateful night, Jon and I went to an after-hours party at a big empty, soon to be refurbished, house on Columbus' east side. It was there we encountered Girl Jackie.

She was a social butterfly, who had no problems talking to anyone. She and her friend, Susan (Morty / Rebecca / Jon - Susan Lee was her name. I'm not crazy!  She existed) chatted us up and Jackie, with her sing-songy hands, insisted we meet her friends, Morty and Mitchell.

See back then, Girl Jackie would talk as much with her hands and her mouth. Not that she was using ASL, but she seemed to have broken wrists and they'd kinds of lightly flail about as she talked. She'd cock her head side to side a lot too as she spoke. It made her seem a bit, well, flighty. More than she actually was.

Morty was nice and great to talk to. Mitchell, wellllllll....he was a little cold and aloof. Of course, after we parted ways with them that evening, Jon and I immediately talked how Mitchell hated us. We would hold onto that belief for years.

To be fair, and I did love Mitchell, at first he probably thought we were hitting on Morty, as they were dating at the time. And we probably were flirting, though Morty wouldn't have recognized it if we were hitting him over the head with a 2x4.  He might have been drunk!

Later, Mitchell would just be annoyed with me, because on a daily basis, I would most likely be drunk, hanging out with his equally drunk roommate. We were annoying, so he had every reason to roll his eyes and just go upstairs and leaving us be.

Later in bars, Girl Jackie would find us and again reintroduce us to Morty and Mitchell.

Morty, being super social, (I think) invited us to parties, usually where he lived. And it was there a friendship began. That friendship begat ones with Meredity and then Rebecca.  Sure there were peripheral acquaintances too, but the core group was kind of set.

No way Girl Jackie could know what she was doing then - not that we could have either.

Sure it was possible at some point we would have made Mort's acquaintance, but it didn't seem likely. Girl Jackie was a catalyst for a lifetime of friendship.

The irony (?) is that she, being possibly the most social, dropped away and eventually moved to Australia, not that any of us knew that. Until Facebook.

Girl Jackie is back in Ohio for a few weeks visiting family. She made the 9,800 mile trek here, so I felt I could take the last 21 miles to meet her for lunch yesterday.

We had a great time. Though 23 years had passed, it seemed a breeze to chat with her and just kind of catch-up. I've long given up on trying to fill in with people the last two decades of missed connection. And she could piece some of it together from our FB posts anyways.

Hopefully, since she's here for another 12 days, we will be able to get Rebecca and Morty together with us for one more lunch. I'd like Meredity to go too, but I know her plate is full these next few weeks.

So, as lame as FB can be, seemingly for many many 'what I ate' pictures, it does have some usefulness.



Song by:  bt

Catch

As I alluded to in yesterday's 12 of 12, today would be a food / cooking segment. I actually just typed 'fool', and almost left it.....as it wouldn't be too far off, in any regard.

So, I was picking up provisions for part of the week and looking for a dinner idea. Fish seemed to be in order, so I headed and talked with my fish monger.

You know, Sara Moulton always says to get to know your fish monger, and to be fair, she is correct.

Of all the folks at the grocery store, I never get any, let alone good, advice from the produce manager or butcher.  But the fish guy (and it always seems to be a 'guy'), is always helpful, no matter what store I might be patronizing.

Yesterday was no exception.

While Mr. Monger didn't really steer me too or away from any particular fish, we talked about certain freshness aspects, things that are easier to cook (remember, our great stove / oven has no built in broiler, so options can be limited to certain dishes).

I went with cod. I don't remember how much - but it looks like more than for two people. But it turned out to be just right (though a tiny part was left over). The fish monger (I probably should get his name) suggested doing a multi-season coating and then topping the fish with Gruyère.

Interesting. At least interesting enough to try.

And easy. As you can see all the ingredients I used. And can I tell you how many grocery stores do not display lemons at the fish counter? Ours does, and it's always great, as I don't have to trek back to produce.  It really is the little things.

The seasoning is one anyone can find in some form: paprika, garlic, onion, chili, etc. The problem became I wasn't sure how much to use. With my first bite I knew I had used too much, so cut back to about half of what you see here.

Then you top with the Gruyère, in a lightly sprayed dish

..and bake for 15-20 minutes, uncovered.

You might want to go easier on the cheese as well, as it is salty. Knowing this, I did not salt the fish at all. And perhaps it would be ok with this amount of cheese but less seasoning. The combo was a little overwhelming.

The dish presented nicely - if I say so myself.

I would definitely try this again, with some adjustments, but you can see the prep time was nothing. The cook time was next to nothing and clean up was one pan.

We like fish - I'm just always looking for ways to make it more exciting.



Song by:  the Cure