wwcitizen

This 5-day trip to Disney was a lot of fun! We did Epcot for 3 days till we were so full of the park that we didn't have anything left to do. We did all the movies we'd never done (Canada, France, etc.) and discovered parts of the pavilions we didn't know existed like in Morocco, Norway, and Japan.  We didn't do everything in Japan or China, so we did leave some things for later visits. Plus, Epcot is always changing up stuff in Futureworld (at the front of the park).  They had a really cool educational Piggy Bank game to play.

Next time, I think we want to spend more time in Hollywood Studios. We did one 3/4 day there, as usual, and that's never enough; we've never done the outdoor shows or The American Idol Experience. Hollywood Studios is more geared for older kids and adults than the Magic Kingdom.  We spent one full, full, full day in the Magic Kingdom - till like 1AM.  When you stay on Disney property, the parks provide extended hours so you can be in the parks - either before/after the parks are officially open; they're called "Magic Hours".  During the Magic Hours, the ride lines go down and you can get on EVERYTHING till your heart's content (you have to flash your hotel/resort key). We went on It's a Small World 3 times, I think, and Space Mountain 2 times (well, Matt did - my back was out). In Tomorrowland, we were all able to go through Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (a definite precursor to Toy Story's Midway Mania) about 5 times.
It's always fun to do the parks with the kids, too. They know the parks really well, too. Michael (11) and Samantha (13) have been probably 25 times and Gianna (5) has been probably 7 already; Gianna got her first haircut there - at about 8 months old!! We always do at least 3 character meals (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) where characters come to your table for pictures and autographs. Yes, the characters sign these little autograph books - great marketing for Disney!! 
Disney is always starting up new collecting schemes. The one that Michael and Samantha slowly got me into was the pins and lanyards. All over the parks and in all the Disney stores, there are these great quality pins of all the characters (hard to find Winnie the Pooh, though), signs, vintage signs and park names, elements of the parks - like Cinderella's castle, the monorail, a turkey leg (it's a thing at the parks), the rides, the areas of the parks (Adventureland or Tomorrowland, etc.).  Some of them are so cool, but stepping outside the Disney frenzy and fervor, you realize they're absolutely wasteful.  Still, I've bought like 12 of them over time. The kids have EASILY 100s of them. 100s.  OH!  And AT the parks, the characters (any employee working around the park) will have their own lanyard with pins that only characters can purchase. The characters have them to trade with the kids running around the parks. Then the kids get the coveted "character pins".  It's a great marketing scheme.  The pins that the characters get from the kids, then go back on the shelf for sale!  They're making money hand-over-fist at the parks.One thing that's always fun to do - for us - is to wear our Pride Mickey. When we wear those, everyone comes out of the woodwork. We strike up conversations we'd never have otherwise. Sometimes, we also get a little special-er treatment, such as getting a roll of  stickers to win the kids' sticker contest or get seated in a restaurant without reservations (happens more often than we realize, actually). We also found "family" throughout the parks on rides with their families or at the tequila bar in Mexico - that was a fun evening for sure!  We were told every time we came across a "family" member that we were there a week early.  LOL  Gay Days are June 2-4 this year.I catch myself feeling the pull of the Disney fervor more and more. And by the end of each trip, I'm sick of Disney stuff but still wanna look at it and shop around.  It's a love-hate relationship.  The Disney stores spread around the country's malls and outlet centers provide very different stuff than you find at the parks. That stuff is not nearly as good as what you get in the parks, either - from quality, quantity, and selection. They want you to be at the parks because they make SOOOO much money off every person or kid that goes there.

They even make money off the seniors that go. Matt's Aunt Jenny (who loves Donald Duck - below at Chef Mickey's) went with us this time without her daughter - she's probably 83 now. Matt's sister rented her a little scooter that she could use every day and get recharged overnight for the next day. She drove that thing around the parks all day. Granted, you have to have a little finesse to drive them and park them, but at least she wasn't thoroughly exhausted every day and could keep up with the clan more easily. At the parks those scooters rent for $75 a day - on top of all the other fees - hotel, food, park entry.  This scooter Tricia rented was about $25 a day and was really sturdy. Thing is, if your scooter's not Disney property and your battery dies in a park, you're really screwed. But, thankfully, that never happened!Notice the sidewalk pic (above)? That picture was taking moments before Jenny almost whacked off her head on a chain!  Yeah, that's the picture of Jenny entering what we now call, the "Death Trap For Scooters". She rounded one of the inner corners and got spooked when the scooter jolted a bit. Instead of releasing the accelerator, she clamped down, speeding the scooter INTO a section of chain! It took FOUR BIG BURLY MEN - including Matt and me - to move her on her scooter and the scooter away from the chain to a safe place. Jenny had grabbed her neck, releasing the accelerator (thankfully) and one of the men quickly threw off the scooter key (so it wouldn't move anymore). From where I was standing with the kids, it looked like Jenny was having a seizure and we all jumped into action. She's OK, but beyond her purchases for the weekend, she's got some pretty bruises on her arm, shoulder, and neck to prove she had a fight with a chain and won!  That was surely a scary Disney moment!

Getting there and being in the hotel alone is pretty pricey. You can get a meal plan which is - in the grand scheme - economical (I think you can get this even if you're not staying on Disney property - somehow tied to your park passes). If you're paying to be on Disney property, you can take advantage of lots of "free" things - like Disney's Magical Express (AWESOME!), which takes your bags when you arrive in Orlando and transports them to your hotel room within 3 hours of your arrival, and when you arrive at the airport, they transport you to your resort. Same when you leave, but you can check in for your flight at your resort and you don't see your bag till you're at your home airport. Matt and I did that and took off to Epcot for almost the full day before we boarded the plane to come home!  We squeezed in a couple more things - like lunch in Morocco (EXCELLENT!) and a couple of beers in England.  We found out this time around that the restaurant in the Japan pavilion is AWFUL! AWFUL! AWFUL!Very memorable trip indeed. I took many fewer pictures this time around, too, than in times past, because I've now got them all - except the new goofy pictures of us in the parks, with each other, with the kids, around the characters, etc.  Oh, but at Epcot, this weekend we were there was the last weekend of the Epcot Flower Festival! Many, many Disney characters were highlighted around the park and World Showcase as topiaries.  They were (most times) really well done. The peacock under the Epcot ball was hard to photograph, but was really breathtaking.  I was pretty disappointed with the Bambi topiaries in a butterfly net house, though, because they weren't made of any flowers or plants at all!  But all the major ones were pretty good. There's also a Mickey topiary at Hollywood Studios that I captured and show at the end below.

When I'm at Disney, my inner kid comes out - fully.  Even the kids told me that I'm a bigger kid in Disney than they are!! LOL  I think that's fun.  When I get on the plane to go to Disney, I completely shut off from work and any stress around town that I've been feeling leading up to the trip - it's all gone.  It's truly always a de-stressing trip!!

We probably won't return to Disney World until 2014, when they finish the NEW FANTASYLAND!  They removed Toontown, which is probably good - it was very much a little kid's place. The new Fantasyland looks like it's going to be really cool!  They're also expanding a section of the Grand Floridian Resort, where we've not stayed yet. The picture below shows the expansion. There's also a video of our time in Spaceship Earth at Epcot and here's a link to our game you can play that we posed for (if our game doesn't show up, enter the code KQCQ2FMXMMRH8Q for our game). Enjoy!

Every time we come to Disney, we have a sticker contest with the kids. I'm all into it because I like stickers too! It's usually Michael (11) and me against everybody else!  The last 2 times, we were essentially tied.  This time was different.

See, we got a guy on the inside, see. And he really hooked us up!  dude sauntered back to his drawer... and whipped out this roll for us.

Duh! Winning!

I'm ripping off some of the stickers for me and giving the rest of the roll to Michael.  Yay for Uncle Steve!

EDIT: Corrected "role" to "roll". Remember: Auto-correct on a "smart" phone is NOT your friend. Especially if you have fat finger syndrome.  :-D

Welcomed to our first day by birds in the courtyard behind a white crepe myrtle tree. There's a pretty white bench along a path out there that's so inviting!

I called the front desk to find out our breakfast options in the hotel. Took four tries on the phone to speak to someone; the system got to a point in the automation and hung up on me. When I did finally get someone, they said, "There's nothing in the hotel for breakfast. Have a magical day!" rushing me off the phone.

I walked out of my room and around the corner to find a coffee/breakfast kiosk with fruit, bagels, cereal, and assorted pastries.  How's that for "nothing in the hotel"??

Have a magical day!

Matt and I have had a long discussion over the last 2-3 years about my car. Every once in a while, he'll pick it up again and we start deliberating.  Yesterday, I picked up my car from Firestone, where I've gotten a few things done on it over the last month:

• New battery, 2 new tires (with rotate/balance), Oil/filter change (synthetic oil and recycle the old)
• 2-3 different electronic and systems diagnostics
• Brake fluid and fuel line flushes (good to do if unused for 2-3 years!!)
• Coil, spark plug, and belt replacements: alternator, power steering, and fan (check engine light was on)

We've been using my car more and more over the last 2-3 weeks, too. Matt still complains that, "It's not new and flashy and 'modern'" (i.e. no Sirius/XM, no steering wheel volume/radio channel control, no GPS, no dashboard screen display, manual headlights, etc.).  But, I think he realizes that it's a good decision and my car's fine - not awesome, but fine. From my point of view, we can go on more vacations happily without a new monthly car payment hanging over my head.

In total, all repairs ran me about $1400. I've not spent more than $500 on my car's maintenance in 4 years, also paying it off 4 years ago. That means, insurance and registration notwithstanding, I've retroactively spent around $40/month for the last 4 years to have my car. My car's now good to go for at least another 70-90K miles; aka 5+ years. That means, too, that without further repairs, the monthly "charge" for my car would work out to be less than $20/month for 8+ years. Why get rid of it, if it does what we need it to do - get me from point A to point B safely and comfortably?

I don't need a new car and I'm happy about that. I love VWs and I love my Passat. They're good, solid cars.  Last week, I even got about 28-30 MPG (miles per gallon) to go to Princeton for dinner with a friend.

When I pulled my car away from the car wash a few weeks ago, it sparkled and made me smile. I kept looking at it thinking, "Wow, what a beautiful car!" 
The only problem with VWs is the VW service department. VW service departments SUCK! They SUCK big time. I've told a couple of them how badly they suck, why they suck, and why I couldn't wait to go somewhere else because their service department sucks - all of them that I've dealt with. They suck because 1) they won't take you right away, 2) you have to schedule an appointment, 3) if you don't schedule your service appointment, you get "punished" and can't pick up your car for DAYS. DAYS!!  4) when you leave your car there for service for days, the charge goes up exponentially - not for storage, but because 5) they keep "finding other things" to do. 

With Firestone, the first time I took my car in for a battery, basic diagnostic, oil/filter change, and new tires - on a Friday at about 1PM. I had the car back by 6PM.  When I took my car in this last time, it was at about 4:30PM when they close for the weekend at 7. I knew it was going to take some time, so I told them, "No rush."  They got it back to me at the end of the very next business day. How great is that?!  On TOP of that, Firestone gave me a $125 discount (!!) for being "inconvenienced" once (the shield underneath had come unfastened the first time I went there and they gave me a coupon for my next visit). At the VW dealership's service center, I would bet $10K (tee hee) that the work would have taken 4-5 days and cost me an extra $2000 at least.

I'm very happy with my decision.  If the car lasts me another 5+ years, then, that's $25K+ that I will have saved. One thing that my father taught me that I've learned is about choosing a car wisely and not spending too much money on them, because from the moment you drive them off the lot, they become a quickly depreciating asset.  Well, I appreciate my VW and it's sticking around with me as long as it'll have me.  :-) 

A good friend of ours from Toronto, Pascal, sent me a note last week that he was going to be in town for a couple of days. We hadn't seen Pascal or his partner in a couple of years. It was a nice surprise. Thing is, the only day he was going to be available for us to meet up was Sunday - yesterday - Mother's Day. The planets aligned and we were able to meet up with him and have a very spontaneous, very exciting day in NYC. 

Pascal suggested we go see The Best Man.  We quick looked up tickets for the matinee performance of The Best Man on Broadway and bought three. We bought extremely well-placed seats at 1:45PM for a 3:00PM performance (HURRY!); Pascal had just checked into his room (GO NOW!) and raced out as we raced out of our place in NJ (DON'T BE LATE!). Due to really bad traffic getting into Manhattan, we decided last minute to take the ferry across - good decision! YAY!

We made it to the show in record time and missed only the first 3 minutes, which was just fine, given the distances we all had to go.  The Best Man stars two-time Tony winner James Earl Jones, Tony winner John Larroquette, Eric McCormack and five-time Tony winner Angela Lansbury, as well as Candice Bergen, Tony nominee Kerry Butler, Michael McKean and Tony winner Jefferson Mays.  We were 5 rows from all of them and they were right there! It was so great to see all of them - right there! 

We left the theater and took the subway to TriBeCa for dinner at Pepolino's, a Florentine Italian restaurant. Matthew and I had seen a show on NYC restaurants a while back and had wanted to go there for dinner sometime.  Pascal is a foodie, as are we, so we were excited to share the experience with him.  Pascal is also a professionally published photographer and has worked with friends on cookbooks, so he knows good food:Our dinner started with warm and spicy tomato flan for the thick-crusted, Italian bread. We ordered a bottle of Vermentino (white) wine, which has a flowery bouquet and citrus overtones with a bright finish.
Appetizers:
Fried artichokes and zucchinis
Fennel salad with orange sections, olives, and Parmesan
Deep fried soft shell crab with arugula/tomato salad
Goat cheese and pear home made raviolis
Spinach & ricotta gnocchi
King fish wrapped in pancetta (mine)
Braised Mediterranean sea bass
Dessert:
Coffee, panna cotta AND the BEST.RICOTTA.CHEESECAKE.EVER!!!
The waitress also treated us to a glass of Grappa at the very end.

We left there to take Pascal to the Stonewall Inn; he'd been by the place a few times, but never inside. It was completely dead inside, so we took off to Ty's - of course.  It was PACKED! We had a fun time and a couple of drinks.  At about 12:30AM, I told Matt we needed to catch a cab before the last ferry, which I had thought was at about 1AM; however, the last ferry was leaving - at 12:30AM - right as we checked the departure times.  Alas, we hopped in a cab, took Pascal back to his hotel, and left for NJ.

$75 and 45 minutes later, we were in our car to go home, only to stay up till 4AM because we were so wired from the awesome day! Here are some pictures from the day:

Tonight, Matthew and I ventured into the city to meet up with Phil (dendren) and Bob - IN PERSON!!!  WOW! What great men. Had a very fun time with them and some friends I introduced them to. They had coordinated with a couple of other LJ friends to meet them at Ty's and we all got along splendidly.  We didn't have too much to drink, either, cuz I had to drive home - in fact, I ended the evening with a diet Coke followed by a seltzer.  :-)

It's always great to put a personal, physical hug to a person's persona online. Phil and Bob give good hugs!  They are in town for their 20th anniversary. Matt and I are totally jealous that they have tickets to Book of Mormon - a show we've (lack-lusterly) have been trying to get tickets for. We will one day. I really hope that Phil and Bob enjoy the show, which I'm SURE they will.

Here are a couple of pictures from the evening:




At one point in the evening, I returned to the front of the bar to get a drink and a guy with a plaid shirt (Calvin) behind me tapped me on the shoulder. He said, "Excuse me, my friend really needs a hug. Would you mind giving him a hug?"

I said, "Oh, of course! I love to give hugs."

This sweet, gentle-hearted guy, pretty thin and pretty much no fur peered out from behind his glasses sheepishly. I said in my big burly voice, "Oh, you want a big, burly, furry hug, huh? You haven't had a hug today?! Everybody needs a hug!"

The guy just looked at me surprised and in disbelief that I just asked him the question.  He said, "Yes, I'd like a hug!"

I gave him a big bear hug. He was the sweetest guy and gasped satisfied.  I introduced myself around. A little later, the same guy, Calvin, came up and tapped me on the shoulder again to explain that his friend, Muhammed, was from Abu-Dabi. "You can't be out in Abu-Dabi and he's never had a bear hug. You gave him his first bear hug." 

Wasn't that sweet?!  I was very happy.  

The must-see recording of Rihanna's SNL performance last week.  I can't get the song or the tight, intricate, SICK choreography out of my head, either!

Because NC Amendment 1 passed with the language that would restrict protections for all unmarried couples (straight or gay), the courts are free to interpret the amendment to deny any protections to unmarried couples (straight or gay). The following points are true and have NOTHING to do with how my friends and family in NC feel or voted about the issue. 

NC courts can legally deny Matthew and me the right to:

• determine the disposition of either of our deceased partner’s remains (God forbid),
• visit each other in the hospital in the event of a medical emergency,
• make emergency medical decisions for either of us if either of us is incapacitated, and
• make financial decisions for either of us if either of us is incapacitated.

NC's attorney general said Amendment 1's lack of clarity will result in a significant amount of litigation on many issues, which will be decided by courts for years to come.  NC courts can now interpret Amendment 1 to invalidate trusts, powers-of-attorney, wills, and end-of-life directives by one partner in favor of the other. 

These are reasons why Matthew and I cannot step foot in NC for vacations and holidays. We will not spend money there. We will not order goods and/or services from NC (that we expressly know come from NC).

This is about our civil liberties, our civil rights, our safety, and us as a couple of US citizens making a life together, "created equal, ... endowed by [our] Creator with ... [inalienable] Rights, ... among [which] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with how any of my friends and family in NC have voted (even if ALL of them voted against the amendment, which I hope they didn't, but have no way of knowing).

This link opens a really useful article with an info graphic explaining state-by-state what rights are afforded the LGBT community.  Check it out, read up on it, be informed, and let's put our money where we're supported!  Let's go places we are supported and are safe!! 

I'm REALLY thankful that Matthew and I live in the US NE:

My home state has decided: They legislatively discriminate against gays. It's blatant, it's harsh, it's painful, and it's truly, truly sad. They were willing to sacrifice their families, seniors, children, single/unmarried women, and heterosexual domestic partners in order to serve up a double blow against the gay community. Same-sex marriage was already illegal in NC; domestic partnerships were not - now they are. The cascade effect of the broad-stroke wording of this amendment is the problem. There is no limit to the ramifications of this amendment socially, politically, and economically.

For as many LGBT folks that live in NC (it's fair to assume that there potentially almost 900K LGBT living in NC), this amendment was a referendum against them and our community - full stop.

Now's the time to work against that system. Now is a further uphill battle to tear down the amendment and overturn it.  Now is the time to boycott my home state. 

I encourage my community and all of those opposed to Amendment One living outside NC: Do not go to NC. Do not purchase goods from NC (as best you can). Do not promote NC. Do nothing that supports NC's economy.  Bank of America has already stated that they may have to move their headquarters out of NC.

It's not out of hate or anger that I'm calling for this boycott, even though NC has legislated hate and discrimination. This boycott is purely economically driven to show NC where their funding is coming from.  NC has chosen not to support our community and has legislated against us. Why should we support NC if we don't have to?  We've been boycotting Target for MUCH less!

Personally, Matthew and I cannot return to my home state because legally, Matthew and I are now legal strangers in NC.  We cannot return to NC until either the counties or cities we'd travel to (as across FL) nullify the amendment's effect or the amendment is overturned at its root.

We cannot feel safe in NC. We cannot rest in the knowledge that either one will be able to take care of our best interests if the other needs us for whatever reason while in NC.  We will not feel safe traveling to and vacationing in NC - as domestic partners and US citizens. 

If something were to happen to Matthew and he ended up in the ICU, the hospital could legally not allow me to visit him and he would be alone in a hospital in NC without his family; I would not be his legal family.  To NC Matthew and I are strangers, though we've been building a life together for over 8 years.  If he were to die in NC, I would not be able to be involved in any end-of-life decisions.  But that is a horrible thought.  Simply put, even if I used his ATM card, in the state's eyes, I would be committing theft.

It's a shame and it's painful, but it has to be done: BOYCOTT NORTH CAROLINA

Read this info about the legal implications of the amendment.

Wikipedia article about same-sex marriage - great information here that includes international scope.

Wow, what a fun, packed weekend!  Matt always tells me not to over-book us for stuff, "Less is more, sweetheart," he says.  For the most part, he's right and if I overbook, sometimes even I have to nix some commitment - it depends on how it plays out.

This last weekend, though, was great. We hit all the marks, even stealing some time to relax and re-group before diving back into the throes of meeting up with friends and being here & there for this & that. This was our schedule:

Friday evening/night:

• Dinner for Matt's niece's 13th birthday (yes, about 10 tweenies and two other kids screaming at the top of their lungs for about 2 hours).
• Comedy show - FUNNY.FURRY.FIERCE sponsored through Urban Bear at the Duplex in Manhattan.
• Bar night - later at Ty's (of course)

Saturday:

• Heat Wave: The Jack Cole Project at the Queens Theater for comped tickets (a WAY off Broadway show). The show highlights choreography and music from the 30s and 40s. It was an OK show, but we didn't like it enough to stay past intermission.
• 30-minute Park Stroll: Walked around the Flushing Meadows - Corona Park and took some pictures (below). I'd always wanted to go and it was really interesting - we have to return sometime.
• Cinco de Mayo Party - drove home to relax for about an hour before heading to Jersey City for a very nice party with a bunch of friends - some of whom we hadn't seen in a very long time. The food was awesome.
• Bar night - later at Ty's (of course), and at Rockbar - these were locations for the after parties from an Urban Bear harbor cruise.

Sunday:

• Urban Bear's Street Fair: Had to meet up with our buddy, Travis Smith, for his book signing. He and a friend wrote Guide to the Modern Bear, and we got a signed copy (of course). I was featured as one of their group's "beefcakes" last year.  We also ran into a few other folks we hadn't expected to meet, such as Shane Ruff (t-shirt designer), Tribal Son Peter (where I FINALLY bought one of his awesome pieces of jewelry), and Brutus de Groot, who has a new t-shirt line (??) and moved to Phoenix from L.A. (??).
• Cool-off dinner together: We went to one of our local new favorite restaurants across the street, Beyoglu - a Turkish restaurant. We literally had not eaten all day. My mood was waning REALLY fast and we both dragged our feet all the way to the place. We had food in front of us within minutes (we knew exactly what we wanted - pictures below).  We ate voraciously, took our time walking home, and basically crashed for about 3 hours before watching:
• Real Housewives of NJ and hitting the sack.

I could sleep for an entire day!

I saw this on a friend's Facebane wall tonight and clicked "Like". Then I commented, "SO TRUE!"Someone reacted to the comment by asking, "Why are we more worried about what Romney is doing with his money then what Obama and congress are doing with ours????" (NOTE: Four question marks, implying that they really DO.NOT.KNOW.)  I really cannot stand people who aren't informed and allow themselves to be spoon-fed FauxNews lies and vitriol. 

I had to reply with (and bear with this rant):
"Because if Romney is elected and handling our money, who's to say that he'll not outsource more of our businesses and work to the likes of India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and other countries, keeping jobs away from Americans. Or who's to say that he wouldn't develop/invent MORE loopholes for corporations and the ultra rich to not pay their fare share within our tax needs? If Romney lies about his taxes, hides money away in other countries (some not totally friendly to American interests, btw), how can we trust him with the office of the president??

"Romney will become just a pen-pusher because he's got the working 5 digits needed for the GOP to push things across his desk to sign. Romney clearly cares about himself and his own financial interests. Romney doesn't care about our country. Romney doesn't care about the needs of the many. Romney doesn't care about the down-trodden and helpless. He scoffs at the working class. He, the Tea Party, the GOP, and all the Republicans in all levels of state and federal and city governments are trying to create a larger working class by denying contraceptives to women, by denying abortion to women, by forcing women to birth children into poverty or lower income situations burdened by either an extra mouth to feed or the death of the mother, and by trying to spread abstinence as the "best option for a moral America". It's all BULL COCKY and lies. They're NOT trying to do good by our people and our nation. They are trying to drive our nation further into the dirt to create the ultimate corporatocracy, thank you very much!!

"Romney made his money in America - by killing companies and American jobs and corporations and "loving to fire people". Then he took his money and shipped it around the world so that he didn't have to pay American taxes - thwarting America's opportunity to be paid back for the opportunity America gave HIM to become ultra-rich. We have no way of knowing fully how much Romney made in a given year because for probably the majority of his monies around the world, he doesn't have to report the funds. Ever. He doesn't have to pay taxes to America for money stored in other countries. Ever.

"Romney is a liar, a cheat, and a dirty opportunist. Whoever votes for Romney is digging his/her own financial grave. Romney won't dig it for you. AND YOU will have to buy the shovel from HIM!

"Romney got around the draft by becoming a missionary. He flip-flops at every opportunity to get ahead and make more money. He's a legal tax-evader because lobbyists have pushed legislators to corrupt our tax structure. The lobbyists and billionaires he supports now fund his campaign, so that they can perpetuate their financial growth and our country's financial ruin. Is that enough reasoning for you?"

Oh, and IF Obama, god forbid, did hide money or avoid paying taxes, he would have been sent back to Illinois for sure.    

Matt has a rule for us when we're away from our "safe eating environment" (which he broke TWICE tonight - NOT HELPFUL!): If he suggests something for us to eat while we're away from home and I counter with a lower calorie option, he has to take the lower caloric option, hands down.  I forget this rule from time to time - like tonight.

Tonight on the way up towards our car parked in the Village, we were talking about having Greek salads at Manatus, which is a good, healthy, low-calorie option. I countered with the option that each of us have one slice of pizza instead, since we don't have a slice of pizza but maybe once every 4-5 months - if even THAT frequently; plus, given our day's light food intake, we could afford it. The Manatus Greek salad with feta, anchovies, and dolmadakias happens to be most likely equal in caloric content to a slice of pizza.

He said, "No, let's go for the salad." 

I reminded him that the last time we went to Manatus late at night, we ended up ordering a 3-egg white omelet, too, and ate some toast with butter, which wasn't that low calorie.

We got to Manatus and I didn't even open the menu, thinking, "I'm just gonna get the salad and be done for the day." 

Matt said, "We could get the broiled scrod, which is really good, along with the salad..."  I agreed, but suggested that we split the scrod order along with the extra veggies - broccoli and steamed green beans - both low calorie and healthy choices. Matt said, "Nah, let's each get a filet - it'll be good."

The scrod came with soup or salad, but we both really wanted the Greek salad, so we both opted for soup: He got chicken soup with low rice and I got the tomato soup (which turned out to have some rice in it - UGH!).  The waiter unexpectedly brought out an AWESOME basket of bread - which we both love ... and ate.

Sooooo, in the end, Matt went against his own rule TWICE (first with the pizza option and second with the scrod-splitting option). Of course, I could have put my foot down. But, I love Greek salads. I love grilled or broiled fish.  I love bread. AND I love tomato soup.  Separately, these things aren't bad. In other combos these things aren't bad.

At the end of a long day at midnight, all these things together on one table with two wide-eyed men who love food?  Not such a good thing and pretty high in calories.  The one-slice pizza option, as it turns out, given our propensity to over-order, would have been the lowest calorie and possibly most satisfying choice of all.

So, back to Matt's rule.  Next time, I'm reminding him of the rule. Next time, I'm putting my foot down and not giving into temptation so quickly.  In fact, the ultimate best option for us would have been to come home and have veggies here with my honey mustard sauce. Next time.

Last night Matthew and I headed into the city after getting my car fixed (by 7:00 PM).  A friend of ours is leaving for London in a couple of weeks to be there on business for about a month - or more.  I'm all kinds of jealous, but I've had my time with business travel (I do miss it sometimes, though!).

His partner held a going-away party last night at a new-ish place called Industry. Truly, they didn't spend all too much on decor in that place; the floor, for instance, kinda actually looks like the sidewalk outside or at least a factory floor that's been there for 100 years. Perhaps that's part of the decor or "interior design".  We don't find ourselves there often for a lot of reasons, but primarily because it's not our crowd of people.

But last night was really fun. There were about 50-60 of us all in the back area of the bar. We ran into people we haven't seen in a while, and I ran into one guy I hadn't seen for about 10 years when I lived in south Jersey close to Philly.  Turns out that guy's ex-partner, who I also knew, died about 2 years ago. His friends or family found the guy, Kevin, dead in his bed where he'd been for a couple of days. No one knows how he died, but it seemed to be from natural causes. Thing is, he had had a gastric bypass years before (back when they really went to town and chopped you up inside) - in fact those two broke up because Kevin had had the bypass without talking to his partner, Joe, about it. What's odd is, Kevin's favorite "holiday" was Halloween and his birthday happened to be Halloween, as well.  After Kevin was buried, they discovered pumpkins were growing from his grave site.  When Joe told me about that, I got all sorts of tingly and creepy and strange feelings.

Matthew and I had only had a salad for a late lunch around 2:30 in the afternoon. By the time we got to the party - around 8:30 - we were pretty hungry. I had two martinis and a diet coke at the bar and was pretty happy and warm for the rest of the evening - without another drink!  We went to Uncle Nick's for Greek, which is always good, but last night's dinner was probably the best we've had there: grilled sardines (the 6 on the plate were each about as big as a large Cuban cigar), whole grilled Branzino, sauteed dandelion, fried smelts (YUM!!), and a mixed appetizer platter that contained grilled octopus, keftedes (Greek meatballs), multiple spreads, olives, pita, and dolmadakia.  Uncle Nick's really knows how to do seafood - their octopus is some of the best you can get.  Awesome!!I wanted to post some pictures, but it seems like the photo upload isn't working for some reason.  :-(  I'll try to reload and see if that works.

Just got up from a wonderful power nap. Matt came into the bedroom when the mechanics called about my car, which has been in the shop today.  I haven't driven my car since last June, actually, as posted earlier this year, about a month ago.

When he came in the room talking to the mechanics on my cell phone, I woke up out of an intense dream thinking, "What's that? Who am I? Where am I? Is Matt up already? Have we had our coffee?"

That kind of reaction typically means that I had a pretty decent nap. I could probably sleep a little while longer, but paired with last night's awesome sleep (almost 8 hours!), I think I'm good for the evening.

We might go looking at cars tomorrow, but most likely, I'll keep my car now for a while - after spending $400 on two new tires, a new battery, a slight tune up, and an oil change. I think I'm pretty justified in keeping it at least another year or two. Right?  It still doesn't make good fiscal sense to buy a new car when I'm still a consultant with no guarantee of 5 years commitment.

Have a GREAT Friday evening out there and a wonderful weekend!

This was me today cuz THE SHUTTLE PASSED OVER NYC!!  YAY!! 


I took about 300+ photos within 15 minutes and had gotten up to the roof JUST in the nick of time to see the shuttle passing over. It flew REALLY close to our building.  I whittled the collection down to about 70 shots, which turned out pretty good!  Enjoy!  (...and comment at will...)

I also sent a link to this album to the Rachel Maddow Show; hopefully, she'll use a couple or more on the show tonight!

Here are pictures from time we spent on board the Brilliance of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship (no destinations are covered here - this is simply a brochure for the trip, if you will).  The ship is pretty old, but it still has a lot of charm.  Enjoy!   

Matthew watches this fabulous Korean religiously.  I can hear the videos when he's watching her - her voice is kind of high and she reminds me of shopping at one of our local H Marts.  Her name is Maanchi. She has both a website (with a store, of course) and a YouTube channel.  Sometimes when she cooks and explains what she's cooking (or has cooked), she wears a fascinator.

(I secretly wish sometimes that they made fascinators for men, but I don't think they'd catch on here.)    

It's somebody's birthday today
It's somebody's birthday today
The candles are lighted on somebody's cake
and we're all invited for somebody's sake
An old-fashioned table is set
for the one that we'll never forget
Happy Birthday to you and many more too
Because it's your birthday today.

This is an old song. I heard it at the very end of a video this morning that brought tears to my eyes. My sister sent this link on 22 Words this morning about secrets that this guy has collected over a few years. You should really watch this video - especially toward the end.  I tend to do the same thing that that person did - and how sweet a memory.

I've made a mission to get through constructing the updates to and posting the 1st Greece trip to Athens and Sounio (I know - the Map calls it Sounion, but all the signs say, "Sounio"...).  Anyway, it was an amazing day in Athens and would definitely want to return to Greece - in particular the Greek Isles, but that's another post for another day.
ENJOY

Morning.
Has broken.
Like the first morning - apparently for THESE birds.

I LOVE birds. Love birds SINGING. I cherish the spring for bird songs.  Their songs usually lift my spirits and make me smile. 

But, THIS morning - when I could have slept till 8:30 cleanly - the birds are singing so loudly that their songs became part of my dreams. Closing the window and turning on a fan didn't fully block their songs because one or two or three flitted up to and around specifically our bedroom window.

For some reason, the birds singing is louder in our bedroom than on the balcony. And, clearly, all the birds in our area enjoy hearing their songs bounce off all the buildings and houses around us. Their singing is almost like a competition to hear which flock or feather can sing louder or more proudly.

Morning. My morning - which was supposed to be full of much-needed sleep - has been broken. At least its silence has broken me out of my bed. Not complaining - love birds - just wish they'd started their reverberating cacophony about 3 hours later!

Christian Group Shows Up To Chicago Gay Pride Holding Apologetic Signs | Practikel

What do y'all think about this? Some folks are saying, "Well, it had to start somewhere," or, "Neat!" 

Personally, it has to happen and take place and be seen and covered by the media MUCH more than the one-off at Chicago.  Things like this have happened before - Chicago wasn't the first instance. This might have been the first instance that has gone somewhat viral. 

For as much as churches (not only the Christian churches, but also the Mormon church, Islam, and Judaism religious groups) have stood firmly against the gay community for so long, one or two hugs affecting a small, accepting congregation isn't enough. 

It didn't "have to start" anywhere, actually, but I'm glad this interaction was captured to show it's possible.

We've been having a wonderful weekend!!  The weekend started out on Friday with us getting our hair cuts.  We were about 2 weeks overdue for those.  Friday night, we visited our friends Tommy & Brian for Easter Egg coloring.  It was so much fun, and best to do with friends.
This is Brian with his most fabulous egg ever!  It's fun how some dying elements just happen and then if you take advantage of them - juuuuust right - you can make something amazing out of it! Brian cooks a mean Cornish hen and Tommy makes delicious guacamole! YUMMY!
That was the culmination!  Beautiful eggs, tons of colors, lots of creativity, and fun with friends. (Plus, I love Matt's face here: "That's enough pictures, Stephen!")

Yesterday, Matthew and I slept a long, long time. We didn't eat ANYTHING all day till dinner at Tony's di Napoli. There we met up with squirreltot*, texwriterbear, super_sean for the first time ever along with another Texan friend, Shane. Unfortunately,allsmilesbear didn't make it out, but mat_t did! jimwnyc and tinman11201* came out, too, and we met THEM for the first time in person, too!  It was a lot of fun, great food, and great company.

Dinner was arugula/pear salad, grilled shrimp, (libations - goes without saying), broccoli rabe, escarole and beans, veal salimbucca (thinly pounded veal cutlet with provolone and prosciutto) over spinach, chicken scarpiello with potatoes, peppers, and Italian sausage, and lobster raviolis with vodka penne. Don't forget the amazing Italian bread, and dessert: NY cheesecake, tiramisu, an ice cream cake (on the house), and cannolis.  Oh, and libations. Most everyone got appletinis.

Here are a few pictures from the evening (including some of the damage). More pictures from the dinner, you can find here.Afterwards, as everyone else retired for the evening, Matthew and I dashed off to Ty's for a nightcap. We hadn't been out in the city since about February, so were pretty overdue.  There we were glad to run into our buddy, Chris. Such a sweetheart.

Today, we're heading up to the Ramsay, NJ, for Easter Dinner at about 3:00 with Matt's family; we're not hosting this year (don't get me started!).  I'm kind sleepy from all this weekend activity so far; might have to go take a nap before breakfast and lunch!

Guess how much (we think) we won!!  We haven't turned in these lottery scratch-offs yet, but I think we won quite well.  What's the total?

Poll #1831658 LOTTERY WINS!!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

How much did S&M win??

HINTS:

Instructions:

1. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? (I'm constructing a video...)

6. Was learning cursive really necessary? (Not nowadays - I don't write a sentence in a given week - by hand.)

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died. (Right, Deborah?)

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind-of tired. (Yeah. Yeah, I can. It was today, actually.)

10. Bad decisions make good stories. (Sometimes)

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay. (TOOOO...OOOTALLY!!)

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. (For the record, it's the line called "maximum caloric intake").

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took (at least) 100(0) years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

... NOW. Go to your liquor cabinet, take out a bottle of your favorite liquor (even if it's 5-12 beers out of your fridge).  Drink a substantial amount and wait about 20 minutes. Return to this list and read aloud. It'll all make much more sense!  Enjoy!

What? That's what I did. Now, it's all clear!

This last week, Matthew and I have rediscovered incense.  I kept seeing our little vase of incense and a wooden stand awaiting our enjoyment.  I also wanted to pick up some new scents for a pomander I bought at L'Occitane years ago. Needless to say, L'Occitane sold out of and discontinued its incense squares. Undaunted and not wanting to be thwarted by that revelation, we went to Whole Foods to try and devise a new means of using the pomander.  I found a new incense burner for little cones, which sits nicely in my bathroom. 

Burning incense is so calming and the energy in the house has changed slightly for the better. The low-level negative energy came from 1) losing my wallet recently, 2) dealing with law enforcement, and 3) calling the credit card companies. I've also started minor meditation again.

Today, I should be wearing my Zen Mickey Mouse t-shirt. I like the sentiment and it pretty much encapsulates my recent need to center myself again (btw, I do replace "The Mouse" with "self".). 

There's definitely a sense of renewal in my spirit that intensifies in the spring, of course. New life and freshness are evidenced everywhere, much like the blue bonnets in Texas posted by erstexman and texwriterbear or the myriad of blossoms at Kew Gardens posted by changeling72.  The flowers this year seem so much cleaner and crisper (might just be the quality of the cameras, but I like to think it's the flowers doing it all).

I'm loving it.

The primary difference this year from last year in the spring is that we're not hosting Easter dinner this year for Matt's family.  That made us both pretty sad when the rest of the family decided they wanted to go to a country club - again - for Easter lunch/dinner.  Matt and I did SUCH a good job last year with the planning, the food, the decorations, the hosting, the leftovers (yes - everyone got a to-go bag!), the Easter baskets for the kids, the traditions from Matt's mother - down to the bunny cake!  Everyone loved us hosting Easter and appreciated the effort we put into it. I know we're good hosts, dammit!!  Alas, Easter dinner will lack tradition, be plastic, and short-lived.

Having a Spring/Easter dinner party to plan and prepare really inspired us last year. This year, Matt and I are finding new ways to be inspired and discovering other things to do.  This Friday night, for instance, we're getting together with friends to dye eggs and tie-dye t-shirts!!  That'll be lots of fun.

Then, of course, Matt and I are meeting - WOW - squirreltot, texwriterbear, and super_sean for the first time ever along with another Texan friend of theirs, and allsmilesbear (who - nudge nudge - hasn't posted in like forEVER - 3 years, actually), while they're in NYC on vacation. We're also meeting jimwnyc and tinman11201* for the first time in person, even though they're just down the road from us; our schedules and determination to meet up finally synchronized!  I think I've known some of these guys for 5-6 years at least online.

On Thursday night, whilst Matt is teaching, I meeting up with devil_cub52, durabear (wishing that malorso would make it up here sometime with him!!), gstorm17, mat_t, and perkbear for dinner.  This is going to be one LJ-filled week!! 

I'm very excited.

Why are we humans obsessed with our doom, gloom, and damnation? What's in these theories of destruction for us? Yeah, we will all die, eventually, and our natural bodies will return to dust - individually.  I don't believe that we will all as a collective die at once or that there is a specific end of humanity. Why would God set something so wonderful, in his/her/its image, in motion only to stop it eventually? Does that by default mean that God has an end, too?

Terence McKenna (on 'shrooms when he) came up with his end of humanity theory in his book Timewave Zero that on Dec 21, 2012, we reach a "singularity of infinite complexity." This is the moment when all possible probabilities are equally valid; i.e. we're all dead.  He used the Chinese 1 Ching (not solely the Mayan calendar) to plot out periods of "novelty" in human existence, which all pointed to the Dec. 21 Dooms Day.

McKenna is one of 1000s of End of World, End of Earth, Dooms Day theorists. Every year there's a new one or two or 50.  Why not choose, rather, not to stress oneself or others out?  Why not sit back, relax, do your job, make friends, come home, make good food, and breathe?  Find blessing and peace in breathing and being.  If even for a day.  Srsly.