Health And Fitness

I'm finally back to the gym as of yesterday. Surprisingly, I didn't gain weight on my vacation, but I know I lost muscle. So, while I am incredibly sore from weight lifting over the past couple of days, it feels great to be back in the swing of things.

Also, Joel Siegel from Good Morning America passed away last night from colon cancer. He was a very energetic man and always brought a smile to my morning tv watching as I got ready for work. Truly sad.

Also, my friend Lisa sent this information that I encourage my readers to read and sign the petition: here's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act (Senate 459/House of Representatives 758) which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on. Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than yourname and zip code number.

http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php

Post- Vacation Let Down

Its always rough coming back from Vacation, but this past Wednesday was a little ridiculous. There were the things I expected, calls from whiny families who want special treatment... the mountain (and yes I mean the mountain) of files that are in my cubicle. But then the bad news started.

I got a call from the department of education research position. They turned me down saying I was overqualified. Don't they realize what I do for a living and how it doesn't make me overqualified to clean up elephant crap at the zoo? I also don't understand it because if I am overqualified and i really want the job, shouldn't i get it and we can work past my over-qualifiedness of the position? Its also ironic because the entire process I thought I was so under-qualified I didn't have a chance. BUt that threw me into a bit of a depression that I'm still in. I now feel trapped and a big loser that out of four interviews last month alone not one thing bit. Am I that bad of an interviewer? Its like God is punishing me by forcing me to work in hell.

THen that night some friends and I went out for trivia night and then dancing. Then as I left I got a call that one of my best friends, who was dancing with us and only stayed out because he was being my wing man with the boys was mugged on the way home. I got the call as I was walking to my apartment and turned right around and headed to the hospital. I got there thanks to a speedy cab and he was a bloody mess. His face didn't look too bad, a little swollen, but not too bad. They got him in relatively shortly and it turns out he has a broken nose and a bruised cheek bone. He's shaken up (understandably), but he's ok. They didn't get anything. Apparently two guys just started punching him without asking for anything or saying anything. He ran and got home where his roomate took him to the emergency room. IT happened at 15th and Q. WTF?!??!!??! That's supposed to be a safe neighborhood. Its more my area than his based on where we live. So on top of the guilt that I feel for making him stay out late, I now am jumpy and feel unsafe.

Definitely not the back from vacation experience I wanted.

Sea-Por III

mike and I seemed to bust out on happening establishments as we walked around the city last night, so in lieu of that a story from the previous night I forgot to mention. We were leaving Silverados (the full nude strip bar) and it was an interesting thing to see outside as there were all these young gay hustlers. The joke has always been that any movie about young gay runaways or hustlers always end up in one of two places Toronto, or Portland. How true it was. Well we were walking to another bar and this guy had a sign on him that said "Give me verbal insults 4 for a Dollar." Well that upset me, so I went back and gave him a 5 and gave him something inspirational like "you can achieve anything you want." Mike also gave him a dollar but didn't verbally insult him. Portland is unlike other cities I've been to. What an interesting gay culture.

Back to Seattle tonight.

Sea-Por II

So I am currently in Portland visiting friends on the west coast. The train ride down was very nice. It was quiet and the ability to see some nature was nice. Last night there was quite amount of drinking. Starting with Mike and some of his friends at the Brazen Bean, a martini bar that had a relatively cheap martini special. Let me recommend the butterscotch martini for anyone that has a chance to have one. mmm mmm good. Then we went to 3 degrees, where Andrew (a student I am friendly with) and he came out with us to Silverados and some other bar that was a dance club. Had a good time, but did go home alone. One guy that was interested just was too drunk to go home with, so I let his friends make sure he gets home ok.

Today I had lunch with Lena and Sarah, who I havent seen in a very very long time. It was nice having dinner with them. They look good and seem to be acclamating to the city well. But it seems as if they are very stereotypically lesbians, such as they both work in eco-friendly non-profits, they live in a commune type facility, etc etc. If they had told me they just bought stock in Home Depot, I wouldn't have been surprised ;)

On the way home, Mike and I were half a block from his house. Upon passing a middle- aged black woman, who said "He's soo tall." We kept walking and didn't mention the comment. As we hit the corner,she turned around and very loudly said excuse me and came over to talk to him. She asked where he was from and when he said New York City, she was like, Oh, so you've seen a black person before? He replied yes, but not in Oregon. haha Then she persuaded to ask where he went out and hung out. Where he did work, what libraries he went to. She then said how could she get his phone number so that she can get ahold of him. He very diplomatically said that he wasn't giving out his phone number or dating right now, but she was undeterred and said that she'd get him eventually and she was not giving up. Hey, its better than the guys who thought he was gay and that we owned a dog together the other day.

On a side note: Ruthie bought a vespa the other day. He asked me a while back whether he should get a new or used one. He started it derogatorily saying he knew what my answer would be, but asked if I thought he should get a used or new one. I asked him what he wanted to hear, because it was clear he didn't want my actual advice but just wanted me to rubber stamp him. Of course, as my readers should be aware, i did not bend to his will and told him to buy a used one just to make sure it was a good investment. As of yesterday, he texted and said he bought a new one. Its his life and yes he can afford it, but I think this is a step where I need to wash my hands helping him with fiscal decisions. I don't do it just for the fun of him not listening to me.

Sea-Por I

Yesterday I left for a trip to Seattle and Portland on vacation. Lots to write before I go out for day two.

My flights were fine. I flew from DC to Memphis and then got a transfer to Seattle. On the transfer flight, there was much drama. This old lawyer guy sat next to me and as I sat down decided to start telling me how the guy in the row in front of us was acting weird and he thought that the guy might have been a terrorist. I looked at the guy and to some extent the guy was acting weird, but it seemed more like the guy had a child mentality and never flown before and he was excited by it. So the guy keeps going on telling me to look at the guy. ANd you know on an airplane everyone can hear your conversation, so i'm sure this guy heard it too. Then at some point, I looked over and the lawyer guy was writing a note to the stewardess about it. I was like "Oh no! You are not disrupting this flight on my vacation. I will throw you out over Wyoming if that happens." He never gave the note to the stewardess, but still so very dramatic.

Got to Seattle and my hotel is sooooo awesome. It is called Hotel Max and has an art theme throughout it, so i have an original painting in my room and there are blown up photographs for all the doors. If you are ever in Seattle it is so worth staying at.

I started the day by looking around at thrift stores. Didn't find much in the lines of things to buy, but I ran into like three gay bars. I didn't realize I was so close tot he gay district. Yay for fate. Then I went to the Space Needle, which was interesting and I took a lot of pictures from there. Then I walked to the famous Pike's Market, which had virtually everything closed by the time I got there, so I will try going there again, but what's up with the cruising that goes on in this city. I've been checked out a hell of a lot and when I went to use the restroom at the market, some Asian guy decided to show me his junk and proposition me. Ummm not in public guy, not in public.

I wanted to go out last night, but took a nap and then didnt wake up til this morning. Oops. So when I get back from POrtland I will have to hit the town.

realizations

Here are some realizations I had in the past couple of days. (ok since yesterday's post).

-My friends may all be the center of the attention, but I am the center of the group and without me the group falls apart.

-No matter how dirty, raunchy, or sexual a picture is, if you do it in black and white, its artistic.

-If you keep putting off going home with the old Asian guy, who happens to be the only guy in the bar hitting on you, he will eventually go home with someone closer to his own age.

-This may be a good thing.

-This may be a bad thing.

its all about me

Let me start by saying I understand the irony that someone with a blog is making this argument, but i will defend myself later on.

I've come to a conclusion about one of my big frustrations with the gay community. Its always got to be about you. There are so many attention whores out there that I just can't deal with it anymore. All but a very few number of gay men I know have to always be the center of attention. I wonder why I don't get noticed at the bars and I think this is exactly why. I don't make it about ME ME ME. And I'm frustrated that all my friends do that. Why can't I hang out with guys who can at least halve the attention time with other people in the group. What is it that makes these guys need to have every eye focused on them. These are the same guys who will tell you something as a friend and make promises to you, when really all they want is for you to be enamored with them. They don't want equals in their friends, they want people who want to be like them.

So where am I going wrong in meeting these guys? Am I doomed to always have these types as my friend as long as I have gay friends? Or is it more pervasive than I think and this occurs with straight men, straight women, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals, everybody on Earth.

Now, I know that I have a blog, which is inherently a medium where I make it all about me me me. Fine. But I put it out there and people can read it or not. This is more like my journal/diary and its me having me me me time with myself. Yeah, some friends read it, but they don't have to and I'm not forcing them to, like I would if I were hanging out at bars and forcing the same conversation topics about me and boys and me and me and some more of me. In fact, I rarely talk about me when I'm out with my friends (but this may be because I can't get a word in edgewise) ;)

Thank God my vacation is coming up!

vacation

I am excited to report that I will be leaving later this week to see Seattle and Portland! I am quite excited to see the Pacific Northwest. Have any of you gone before (other than the people I will see when I'm out there). Any recommendations for things for me to do or see?

update

It has been hectic at work lately, so that is my excuse for the lapse of postings this past week. There is quite a bit to discuss though.

I have become something of an interview whore. In the past month I've interviewed for four separate positions. On Tuesday, I went to this hearing that my Thursday interview put on. THey are a research org under the department of education. So I went to suck up and meet people that I had previously phone interviewed with. It was an interesting experience. But I found out this relatively big name in research (which I define as anyone i've ever heard of before) was also up for the position, so for two days I was like I don't have a chance, I should just withdraw my name now.

Later that night, while drinking Margaritas with DP, I got a call from another job wanting to interview me. So if nothing else, I had another possibility of a new job.

So on Thursday I go for the interview with a mentality of they'll get the best I can do and call it a day. WEll it turns out the interview went really well. I got along with them all great and I think they are looking more for a matching personality than the research experience. They asked for additional references when I left as well. But the executive director was hilarious. I had been warned that he was a character and known to use curse words.. THen he started dropping the f-bomb and s-bomb. It was hysterical. He even mentioned if they hired me they would help me with my dissertation... So we'll see. Next interview: Tuesday with UMCP.

Boy update: Well I get a call from waiter boy on Tuesday night. And he asks if I wanted to come out and i was already in bed so i said no. But then he said he thought he had broken up with. I asked why he thought that and he said that when he calls his boyfriend the phone message says the phone is not accepting calls. I was like its probably just a phone problem that will be fixed in a few days. Waiterboy doesnt accept that as an excuse and continues to protest. and i say it seems a bit extreme to break up with someone by cancelling their phone service or blocking a number. He really would owe you a discussion about the break up. But he continued on by saying that the relationship had hit a plateau anyways... to which i decided this was a conversation to gauge my interest in him currently. After all, a week before I told him i actually remembered our first night and everything i said to him.. like I'm completely interested in him.. etc etc and that i only pretended not too because i was fishing for information (i'm still under the belief that alcohol doesn't make us lie, even if it makes us say stuff we arent wanting to say). So he says that the bf hasnt contacted him since then, but it still seems odd... I wonder if he should be worried that his bf has disappeared. Why didnt that cross his mind? But we'll see.

Happy Pride everyone!

post 5k

So Saturday was my 5k. It was a huge event and the Susan G. Komen race for the cure collected more than 2.5 million dollars. Thank you to all who participated or donated money to the cause.

As far as my running, I felt very pleased with myself. I was able to run the entire time without needing a break to catch my breath. Technically my time was something like 38 minutes, but I blame that on how long we had to walk before there was enough room to run. In truth, I should've been able to do it in under 30 minutes. I probably could've run more than the 3.1 miles as well.

I also noticed that I got angry with people who didn't seem to take the race seriously and did absolutely no training. If you walked in the first mile, you should've done the walking race. Simple as that :) No one would've judged you poorly for doing that and you still would've helped the cause.

Sunday I decided to break from the gym and my legs thank me. Next race is the Nelnet 5k race for education. Very exciting!