…or so a five-question computer survey says. Yep, according to the Internet, Boston is my type of city.
Hell, I could have told you that.
| You Are Boston |
Both modern and old school, you never forget your roots. Famous people from the Boston area: Conan O’Brien, Ben Affleck, New Kids on the Block |
For my parents 40th wedding anniversary, my gift to them was hardwood floors. Actually, that’s not true. It was fake harwood floors (like Pergo) since they’re reportedly more durable. And, with Dusty and her occasional “accidents”, we read that real hardwood floors could stain permamently after a while. This seemed the better option.
Anyway, the floors were installed a week or so ago and I was able to see the finished product this weekend when I visited my parents to celebrate (to celebrate the anniversary, not the floors). The floor looks amazing, too. It sure beats the light blue wall-to-wall carpet that was down when they bought the place.
In fact, the new floor makes the place look much larger (it didn’t hurt that they were forced to purge and move things in advance of the installation). I couldn’t be happier with the results (and neither could they).
However, I suspect that Dusty isn’t too pleased. She used to run from the living room to the sliding glass doors off the dining room whenever she saw a person (or dog or squirrel or bird or mosquito…you get the picture) walk by the woods behind their place. But now she runs and can’t stop…and smashes into the glass.
Similarly, she occasionally loses her grip when she tries jumping on the sofa to sit with you…and ends up leaping face first into the front of the sofa. The poor thing. Deflated, she’ll sit, straighten herself back up, and look at you pathetically until you pick her up.
But she’ll get used to it. I mean, when she lived with me and Matt we had hardwood floors and she adapted. Actually, that is partially how she got her name: Dusty. She would run and slide under the sofa and come out the other side with dust bunnies attached to her. She was going to be called either Dusty or Zwiffer.
And the only reason Dusty won out was because Matt and I were on a Dusty Springfield kick at the time.
I took a sick day yesterday (cough cough) and was bored to death. I’ve had a wee bit of a cold (just congestion/runny nose) so I figured I’d stay home and rest it off instead of going to work (which is what I did all last winter when I kept getting sick over and over again…and that’s probably part of the reason why I was constantly sick).
But I noticed that the one thing I used to look forward to on my sick days – the talk show, Ellen – has been moved up from 11AM to 9AM. That simply doesn’t work for me. If I’m sick, I sleep late. If I sleep late, I miss Ellen. See how that works? It’s quite simple.
So, through this blog, I request to my local ABC affiliate that they put it back where it belongs: late morning.
Amen.
There is a new tenant in the unit above mine. I’ve not yet seen this person, but he/she moved in shortly after the first of September. The previous two tenants were mostly quiet. I never heard the most recent one. And the fellow before her was completely silent except for every few months when he would apparently take care of a little child for the weekend. And said child would run up and down the hall from the living room to the bedroom….for hours.
The latest tenant appears to have built a bowling alley up there. And prefers to bowl at midnight. I swear! From the minute he/she (let’s call it Pat, shall we?) comes home, Pat thuds back and forth non-stop. I suspect Pat might have some sort of OCD or Tourette’s condition that requires him/her to make violent banging noises on the floor. Constantly. It’s the only reasonable excuse I can think of.
In other news, my Liberalism, Religion and Democracy was interesting last night. It looks like the debate should be pretty good. Most students are taking it on-line, but there were about 20 or so students in the classroom and the group was rather diverse (making me suspect there should be sufficient differences of opinion). Based on the title, and it being liberal Harvard and all, I was expecting an uber-liberal, atheist professor. When in fact, it’s a youthful looking middle-aged Jewish woman who said she wouldn’t respond to emails on Friday nights through Saturdays because of religious observances. She even sends her five children to religious schools that require her to commute great lengths to teach…but it’s very important for her kids to be taught in a specific religious environment.
She mentioned in the class that if she didn’t manage to offend all of us by the end of the first class, it would happen by the second class. This should be fun!
And speaking of democracy and such, I voted this morning at my little North End voting place (the Knights of Columbus). The place was dead – so get out there and vote everybody!
I’m normally the type of person who loves the changing of seasons and actually looks forward to the cooler temperatures of autumn. But there was something about the summery weather this past weekend that is making me long for a few more weeks of it.
Friday night I got together with Randy again for dinner in the North End and then for some Strangers with Candy (on DVD). I think we both had a great time. Saturday was the party up in Salem. I had a good time reuniting with old friends (and making some new ones – particularly two lesbians who are getting married in two weeks*).
Sunday, though, was the pick of the weekend weather-wise and I went up to Crane Beach with my friends, Marin and Roger. Seriously, it was a picture-perfect day. We ended up staying until around 5:30PM. At one point, Roger (at 6′-4″ tall) decided to give me a shoulder ride. Now, I’m not afraid of heights. I’ve walked across the Rio Grande and I’ve explored outdoor roof decks on top of some of the tallest buildings in the world. But wobbling on the shoulders of a tall man made me nervous. I mean, my head was probably only 10-11-feet above the sandy beach, but it was rather disconcerting for a bit. It didn’t help that my balls were being crushed against the back of his head (probably a major reason you see so few adult males riding on top of another man’s shoulders). Plus, being a virgin to such activities, I was a bit wobbly up there and felt like I could teeter off to the side with every step he took.
In the end, it was rather fun – and he agreed to give me a ride the next time we’re watching a parade.
Otherwise, it was an amazingly restful and beautiful day – one that I needed after the past hyper-social week.
Tonight I start my class for this semester: Religion, Democracy and Liberalism. I’m looking forward to it, but debating my decision to take is as a graduate course (instead of just auditing it). I suppose I can change that later.
*I love the fact that gays and lesbians can actually get married in Massachusetts. Not just commitment ceremonies but actual state-recognized marriages. And I love the fact that after two-plus years it just seems normal (though, this could change in a year or two).
I had such a blast last night. Once again, I got together with my friend, Jen. She arrived shortly after 6PM (after snarfing a parking spot in our secret location). We chatted for a while about life, love (or lack thereof) and work (by the way, she’s looking for an administrative job so if anybody out there knows of any openings in the Boston area, let me know!)
We ended up going to dinner at the Boston Beer Works where I did what I always do: overdose on appetizers so that I’m unable to eat even a quarter of my meal. We started off sharing an enormous spinach and artichoke dip so that when my actual meal arrived, I barely made a dent in the chicken, ate only a few broccoli florets and took, perhaps, 3 fork-fulls of mashed potato.
During the appetizer, our table was rather isolated so we talked about anything that popped into our heads. For some reason, it seems sex was on our minds and the conversation revolved a lot around sex (or the lack therof). Unfortunately, this talk continued as a group of women was seated at the table next to us. By the time their drinks and appertizers arrived, I fear they were overhearing us talk quite openly about everything from “hot karl’s” and “dirty sanchez’s” to anal warts and syphillis*. Meanwhile, Jen and I were practically in tears laughing.
I ended up bringing home the remaining 3/4 of my meal and putting it in the fridge for lunch today. Then Jen and I logged onto the computer to play around with www.urbandictionary.com. For about 45 minutes we just looked up definitions and laughed hysterically (now I finally know what tossing the salad means). She had tears running down her face again and my head was KILLING from laughing so hard.
Ah – good times. So wholesome.
Oh, and then I freakin’ forgot to bring the left-overs to work for lunch today! ARGH!
*and, for the record, neither of us has either of those STD’s…and neither of us has ever partaken in hot karl’s or dirty sanchez’s. And, if you know what’s good for you, you will not look up “Boston Pancake” on that site. Seriously – don’t do it.
I’ve been extremely, and inexplicably, social lately. After a quiet Friday night, I got together with three people on Saturday (met Randy for lunch, Mike for a movie in the early evening, and Scott for dinner and DVD at night). On Sunday, I met Randy (for the second time) for lunch, some shopping, then walking around the Arnold Arboretum before meeting Laz, Marin and Roger for dinner and game night.
Monday I got together with another friend, Jay, to watch some stuff he’d saved on Tivo (Golden Girls and Ellen….yes, we’re gay).
Tuesday night was the Big Brother season finale. Although I watched it alone, I went to bed that night and had dreams about being kidnapped and in a crowded high school cafeteria…making me feel as though I had been social.
Then last night I got together with Randy* again (he grilled some tasty broccoli and rabe chicken sausages with peppers, squash and onions). YUM. We finished it all off with some ice cream (a scoop of Edy’s chocolate with Nestle Crunch pieces and a scoop of Toll House cookie dough).
Oh, and while we were watching TV eating ice cream, we flipped stations to some hour-long crime drama program and they showed some board with a bunch of sequential numbers (stuff like: 22 . 151 . 39 . 22 . 2148 . 33 . 4797, etc…) But it went on for rows after rows. That reminded me that I’d seen a similar thing in a storefront along Mass Ave in Cambridge yesterday morning.
Then this morning on my way to work I noticed a similar thing written in chalk onto the sidewalk. What the hell is this? Help me folks, I feel so in the dark.
*OK, so I know a few of you are asking “What’s up with this Randy fellow you’ve been hanging out with so much lately?” Well, I guess they’ve been dates – I’m not quite sure. Well, they probably are dates, technically. I’m just not sure that I’m ready for serious dating (and I’ve been up front with him about this). Looking back on my history the past few years, I seem to fall into (jump into?) relationships shortly after the previous one ends and I don’t think that’s the healthiest path for me to follow. That said, Randy’s an interesting fellow and I enjoy hanging out and learning more about him. I suspect he’ll be appearing on this blog again in the near future.
I rarely recall my dreams. I wish I did, but I simply don’t. However, I managed to recollect strange portions of last night’s dreams.
It seems that it was inspired by the Big Brother 7 series finale….a clear sign that I need a more exciting life. Anyway, in the dream I was apparently a contestant on the show and made it to the final three (it was me and the actual final two contestants: Erica and Mike “boogie”).
As in the real show, Mike won first place. However, because Erica made such a poor showing in the question/answer section of the final episode (in real life and in my dream) I managed to come in second place. However, when Julie Chen (the host) asked Mike what he planned to do with his winnings, he made comments that conflicted with the rules of the show (we’re back in dreamland here). Apparently, he said he wanted to open more restaurants but since one of the corporate sponsors of the show would also be involved in his restaurant expansion, it was decided that it was a conflict of interest and the first place prize was awarded to me instead.
The next morning, I was to appear on the CBS Morning news. But during the night I was kidnapped. I soon discovered that my captors were world-famous caricaturists who wanted to sketch me before anybody else had the opportunity to do so. They were quite good to me and fed me yummy smoothies while engaging in fun conversation.
They released me in the hallway leading to the cafeteria of my high school the next morning. The school building was Barnstable High (back home on the Cape) but all of the students were co-workers from Harvard. Everybody was gathered around tables where vendors were selling class rings. Then I woke up before I could make it to the CBS studios for my interview.
What does this mean?
Yep – it’s only mid-September and I’m getting into the holiday spirit already. A few weeks ago I received my first piece of mail advertising Christmas tchotchkes. That junk mail was actually addressed to my friend, Regina, who died nearly two years ago. But since I’m executor of her estate, I still get random pieces of oddness sent to my address. Then last week I heard a television commercial for the Radio City Musical Hall Rockettes Christmas Show.
Then I woke up this morning after having left all of my windows open last night and found my place happily chilly. Ah yes, the seasons are changing.
Tonight is the Big Brother: Season 7 series finale so I’m quite excited by that (and saddened that it’s all coming to an end). I’m not particularly fond of the final two contestants, but after dedicating three months to the show, I can’t very well drop out now.
Oh, and per Will’s request yesterday, here are some photos of the jeans I bought over the weekend. They were taken with my computer’s webcam instead of a digital camera because, truth be told, the complexities of setting the timer on the digital camera gives me an ulcer. Consequently, these pictures are a bit grainy…but you get the idea.
I’m a bit delayed updating my blog this morning. I got sucked into the CNN pipeline feed showing the actual news footage on 9/11 as it happened (when they were going on word of mouth because nobody could have imagined the reality). At one point, the anchorman was saying that there must be some sort of navigational equipment malfunction affecting the radar equipment of planes. Scary stuff…but very interesting to see the things unfold “live.”
Anyway, despite (or because of) the somber vibe of today, I’m going to blog about happy things…like my good weekend.
Friday night was completely uneventful. I read, I watched TV, I played online and I went to sleep. AHHHH.
On Saturday I got together with somebody I’d met online recently: Randy. We met up for lunch and to walk around the North End. We had a great time….conversation flowed smoothly and we agreed to get together again. Later that night, I met up with Mike to see “Another Gay Movie” for the second time (I won tickets). Going to the movie almost didn’t happen, though, as Mike called to bail on me just a few hours before we were supposed to meet (I’d invited him three days before, on Wednesday).
I actually went off on him and, I think, guilted him into going. I don’t like that part of myself. I so rarely see it and hate to think of myself being pissy like that. Well, let me clarify…I hate allowing myself to be in a position that gets me to be pissy like that. So, I’m not sorry for being pissed at him (it’s warranted)…I’m sorry that I’ve continually put myself in that situation. Lesson learned.
After the movie, I got together with Scott – another person I’d met over the past month – and we had dinner and watched Sordid Lives on DVD.
On Sunday, the temperature cooled off quite nicely and I managed to get in contact with Randy in the morning so we got together for lunch again (notice how my activities often revolve around food). After lunch, we walked up and down Tremont Street in search of a shop called Motley. Scott, from the night before, had purchased these really cool jeans and he let me try them on (I know, so gay). I really liked them so decided I should get a pair for myself. These are the first pair of fashionable jeans (not Levi’s or H&M). I think they’re called Z-brand or something? Very low waist, slim fit/straight leg.
Randy and I got to the store and I ended up buying a pair (size 31 waist! WOO HOO). We then drove to the Arnold Arboretum and walked around…and sat around once we reached the top of one of the hills overlooking part of the Boston skyline in the distance.
We lost track of time and left at 4:10PM. That gave us 50 minutes to get back to the car then drive to the opposite side of the city (North End) so I could pick up the board game I was supposed to bring for game night with Marin, Roger and Laz (which, ironically enough, was in the other side of the city again (Fenway).
Miraculously, I made it to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (where I agreed to meet Laz) exactly at 5PM. We walked to Marin’s place and had a yummy meal (he’s an amazing cook) and then played Pervartisty (a combination of Pictionary and Charades…where the things you draw or act our are all sex acts/terms). Good times.
Laz and I won the first round. Then Laz and Marin won the second round. I ended up at home around 1OPM and, exhausted, in bed at 10:30PM.