Two flags, one country.

Photo by Kelly Stern.

Click on Kelly’s name above to find out how you can post this picture and show solidarity at your blog with your gay brothers and sisters.

Spider keeps ‘em coming

Okay folks, I put together another meme for you today, via Spider. To some they may seem trivial, but you can really learn a lot about someone from these. Once again, if you want to play, you’re more than welcome.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what did you say? I wish I could find time for a haircut.

2.When is the next time you will kiss someone? This afternoon, when I get home.

3. What’s a word that rhymes with “DOOR”? Shore. (Where I would desperately like to be.)

4. Favorite planet? Earth. In the pictures I’ve seen from space, it always looks so calm and serene. I suppose appearances can be deceiving.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell? Justin. May 28th @ 4:05 pm. Couldn’t tell you what the hell it was about or why I missed it.

6. What is your favorite ring on your phone? The least annoying one.

7. What shirt are you wearing? A pickle green dress shirt. (It’s one of Justin’s faves.)

8. Do you “label” yourself? “Redneque homo” comes to mind.

9. Name the brand of shoes you’re currently wearing? Alfani

10. Bright or Dark Room? Bright room. I’m very sensitive to the absence of light and it effects my psyche negatively

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? I think Spider is one of the most compassionate people that I’ve never met.

12. If you’re alone in a room with two beds, which one do you sleep on? The one that is already made.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping for sure, but maybe I was talking or snoring as well. You’d have to ask Justin.

14. What was your last text message you received on your cell? A message from my life long friend, Courtney, reminding me that it was (her ex-boyfriend, sometime boyfriend, friend, all purpose yard boy) Adam’s 29th birthday.

15. Where is your mail box? Right by the front door.

16.What’s a saying that you say a lot? God damnit.

17.Who told you he/she loved you last? The fabulous Mr. Justin, of course.

18. Last furry thing you touched? I guess the bird doesn’t count since he has feathers. (Although he is very cuddly.) It would have to be our retarded dog, “Duncan”.

19. How many times have you done it in the last three days? Once.

20. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed? None. (C’mon, don’t you know everything is digital now?)

21. Favorite age you have been so far? 28.

22. Your worst enemy? Myself.

23. What is your current desktop picture? I don’t have a picture on my desktop at the moment, but I do have a stick drawing of me by the cute computer guru, Ryan. (Go back and read the archives if you’re curious!)

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? “Congratulations on purchasing your home.”

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, which would you take? A million bucks. I’m afraid of heights.

26. Do you like someone? Sure.

27. The last song you listened to? Jimi Hendrix came on the radio while driving in to work this morning. “All along the Watchtower.” I jammed. It was all good.

28. If the last person you spoke to was getting shot at, would you jump in front of the bullet? Hell Fucking No. Don’t even know him.

29. If you could punch 1 person in the face who’s in your life right now, who would it be? I’m sure given time, I could come up with someone that desperately deserves a good punch, but what’s the point of getting in a foul mood?

30. What is the closest object to your left foot? The computer underneath my desk.

A meme caught in a web

Spider, my good friend at A Spider’s Web in Thornton Park, created a meme, and since I was named in the post, (as being a grumpy bear, which I am not. I’m pleasant, damn it!) I decided I would play. It sounded like fun to me. Here’s how it works: You answer all of the original 15 questions that I have posted here, then you add 5 more of your own. I won’t tag anyone, but if you feel like it, go ahead and play.

Best summer: The summer of ‘98. (I looked good, felt good, was single and really living large.)
Best car I’ve ever owned: ‘73 Dodge Charger. (Purchased in ‘92 with only 70K miles.)
Best cruising song: “Running on Empty”, Jackson Browne.
Favorite meal: Rare rib-eye with loaded baked potato and cobb salad, maybe some shrimp scampi on the side, but not nescessary to complete the meal.
Favorite season: Spring.
Proudest accomplishment: Being promoted to Manager of the Mid-South region and V.P. at my previous employer. (I was only 25 at the time.)
Best Christmas gift: Nothing really sticks out, I get so depressed at that time of year, anyway. Last year, Justin gave me a really cool leather jacket that I had been wanting.
Most embarassing moment: At fourteen, my uncle telling me that hair grows in your hand when you play with yourself. Then immediately checking my palm to make sure there was no hair.
Best slow dance song: “Is This Love?”, Bob Marley
Best night: The most recent and easiest to recall would be when Justin and I went out for dinner and then to the Carole King concert afterwards.

Per Spider’s rules, these are the five that I have added:

Favorite pet: “Simon”, my beloved siamese that died almost four years ago. That cat and I went through a lot together. A close second would be “Elvis”, the cockatoo that I have now.
Favorite crush: John Goodwin. (From high school. He was a really cute blonde.)
Best vacation: A trip to Seattle with my friend, Linda.
Best relationship: The current one. Justin. (I know you’re thinking that I have to answer that way, but it is true. Justin and I get along so well with each other. Even friends comment that it seems like we’ve been together forever.)
Favorite dessert: Tiramisu

Photo courtesy of flickr, by Digital Rules

Something else to play with…

Alarm clocks and laptops

Thanks for all the comments to the last post, folks. Everything is fine here with your blog host. Somedays (in this case, nights) one feels a little blue. That, combined with complete exhaustion from volunteering one last day at the festival that shall not be named. But, I’m through for another year. Things should get back to normal here at my little portal to the world fairly quickly. If we’re all still meeting here on the front porch a year from now, remember: May is a tough month here.

So, I am off for Memorial Day. In my haste to jump in the bed and to begin sawing logs last evening, I forgot to turn off the alarm. I’ve been up since seven. I really could have used the extra sleep today. Oh well, gives me a chance to chat with you before Justin and the critters all wake up and get going.

We’re going to look at a laptop for Justin today. Best Buy (large, impersonal, big box retailer that it is) has a sale on a Toshiba laptop for $399. Appears as though it has decent power, as well: Intel Celeron M, 40GB hard drive, 256 MB of memory. (Might upgrade the memory for him.) We’ll cruise out there this morning and take a peek at the little jewel. I’m excited because it means I get to do some geek stuff. While Justin is checking out the laptop, I’ll be checking out the wireless routers. No need for him to be tethered by a cable, right? It’s not that I just like doing this stuff or anything like that.

I hope you enjoy your day off, just remember those who’ve fought and died for our freedom as you go about your day.

–Minor breaking news…–
I’ve added a new link today, “Another Brad”. This is another guy named Brad that really has a unique outlook on life. Since I added Brad, I decided to give him and Stephen at “Stranger Shades of Grey” their own area under “Risque Links”. Since my blog is PG, I wouldn’t want someone to click one of those at work and get the shock of their lives.

Very good writing at both, they just have, shall we say, “creative” photographs.

Photo courtesy of flicker, by yvestown

Sunday morning, Bee Gees style

“…Life goin’ nowhere.
Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah…”

“…I’ve been kicked around since I was born.
And now it’s all right, it’s okay.
And you may look the other way…”

Lyrics by the Bee Gees
Photo courtesy of flickr, by Peter Matthews

A reason to hate Brad

Everyone is complaining about the price of gas. For good reason. I see the price at the pump. It’s close to what you pay for a gallon of milk. To me, that is outraegous.

But, let me whisper something in your ear: I don’t pay for gas. Not one cent. I drive a company vehicle and all of the gas is on the company’s dime. That’s why you don’t see me going on and on about how expensive it is. I don’t pay for it.

Oh, sure, I suppose in a much larger sense I do. The price of food, goods and services are going up with increased fuel costs. But, I’m not getting the immediate hit at the pump like most everyone else. I’m not forking over fifty or sixty bucks out of my wallet when I fill up the SUV.

As many of you know, I close loans on homes. Today, I had a couple in my office that were buying a home much closer to work. Sixty miles closer. As I explained to them what the monthly payment for the house would be, thay both looked at each other and smiled. It was approximately what their fuel bill is per month with both of their vehicles.

So, my guilt is immesurable and I feel your pain, but the fact remains: I don’t pay for gas.

Bloggers Beware!

Somedays I’m just too busy to make a post. Then, somedays maybe nothing is going on. (The only thing beebopping in my head is the American Idol stuff from last night. Yes, I can be that shallow. Gotta say though, when Prince came out to sing it blew my mind! Loves me some Prince, you know.) But today, I’m content to be a lurker. That was my official blog duty before I became a blogger. Just popping in and reading, going back and reading comments. I did that for many months before I decided to blog on my own. Most of you in my links were stalked daily, having no idea who the hell I was except for maybe my name. When I started blogging, I gave up quite a bit of anonymity to step into the sunshine, I suppose.

But today, I lurk. I lie in wait. Keep posting, I’ll be right there to comment. It seems like old times, doesn’t it friend?

Let’s play House, M.D.

I’m not sure how many of you watch “House” on the Fox network. I watch it because the show is written very well and has clever story lines. The acting is fantastic, Hugh Laurie does a superb job. Oh yeah, I watch because Jesse Spencer plays an adorable young Australian doctor on the show. (Click on the link to see more pictures, some shirtless.) If the accent doesn’t make you fall in lust, then the blue eyes or the sandy blonde hair will.

I rarely miss an episode, as a matter of fact, I watched last night. I couldn’t tell you about the plot, (well, really I could, but) because I was far too busy watching sweet little Jesse.

He also starred in a movie called “Swimming Upstream” in which he plays a swimmer, people. I have it on my list of movies to see, just haven’t found the time, yet. This is a picture from the movie.

Photo from the movie “Swimming Upstream” by MGM

I’m up on the Presidential Podium

The President’s thoughts on “Brokeback Mountain”:

“I’ll be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven’t seen the movie. I’ve heard about it. I hope you go—you know—I hope you go back to the ranch and the farm is what I’m about to say.”—Explaining that he hasn’t yet seen Brokeback Mountain, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 23, 2006

On George Washington:

“That’s George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three—three or four books about him last year. Isn’t that interesting?”—Showing German newspaper reporter Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006

On friends:

“I like my buddies from west Texas. I liked them when I was young, I liked them then I was middle-age, I liked them before I was president, and I like them during president, and I like them after president.”—Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 1, 2006

On mothers:

“I’m going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it’s the Mother in me.” —Washington D.C., April 14, 2005

On sexual identity?:

“I want to thank my friend, Sen. Bill Frist, for joining us today. … He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. (Laughter.) Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me.”—Nashville, Tenn., May 27, 2004

And finally, words to live by:

“When the President says something, he better mean it.”- Buffalo, NY, April 20,2004

Photo courtesy of flickr, by Stacey Huggins