Tuesday, August 12th - The Return of the Nerd

I know it's been a while since I've posted.  I had every intention of doing it Friday morning, but I slept in a little, went to the gym, got packed to go to Chicago, and then had to run into work for an emergency.  So, my morning got away from me, and since I had vowed to go a weekend without cracking a computer, I was blogless for much longer than I had anticipated.

Last week was pretty busy, because I decided I wanted to get all of my monthly reporting done before I left on Friday, which I was handily able to do.  I still have to get a few things worked out, but I think I finally have the monthly process down to be a whole lot simpler, which is always a good thing.  It is still some thing that annoys the hell out of me, and I'm not sure how long I can continue to do it.  Though that paycheck thing is a powerful persuader...

Anyway, we had a great time in Chicago.  While Maestro stayed with his ex in Boystown, Romeo, Blanche, and I stayed with our new friend, Jenna, who was awesome enough to open her apartment to us without having really hung out with us sober before.  She lived a couple blocks away from Michigan Avenue, which is just a great place to be.  I really do adore Chicago, and the more time I spend there the more I feel at "home."  I'm still not sure if living there will ever be in the cards because I would have to get a kick ass job to be able to afford it, but I love that I can visit pretty much as often as I like...as long as I can get an affordable place to stay.

Outside of shopping on Saturday and my solo walk around downtown, Millennium Park, and the Arts Institute on Sunday, pretty much our entire time was spent in Boystown at Market Days.  Since the weather was pretty much perfect, the crowds swelled to almost annoying levels, though since we are veterans now, we knew when to park it in a bar and not have to suffer through long lines.  It was pretty damn funny just how many people from Indy were there, which lead to us hanging out with the normal crew of people that we always do.  Of course, that leads to a certain level of comfort that is nearly impossible if you are in a strange town surrounded by people you don't know, but for someone like myself that can be shy in those situations, it certainly helps (as does alcohol).

Things I Learned at Market Days:

1. Handy Wipes are Handy - During Indy Pride, Mom carried around a travel pack of Handy Wipes which helped immensely in the sweat department for me.  So, since Mom was not going on this trip, I decided I would be the keeper of the Wipes.  They were good to have for antibacterial reasons, and if you've ever ridden the El then you know what I'm talking about.  However, they added to the hilarity of certain situations, especially when you consider some of the dirty business that happens when gay men and alcohol intersect.  Maestro thankfully reminded me of when I whipped out a wipe to push a guys balls back into his pants.  Yes, it was that kind of weekend.  (I am still chuckling about that)
2. I Am Officially Too Old To Deal With (most) College Age People -   Since Donnatella ditched Jenna to go to Cellblock for some leathery business and I didn't want to go there anyway, I tagged along with her and Kyle to a house party.  It was free booze, if nothing else.  Of course, it ended up being HELL on earth.  Seriously, I felt like Chris Hansen was going to jump out with the "To Catch a Predator" crew and ask me why I'm there with jello shots!  I have commented to a few people that it has only been recently that college types have started to look like children to me, and this just drove the fact home.  Even though most of these kids were med students, ugh, done thinking about it.  Though I can safely say that if a doctor ever came into my hospital room with a pierced lip, I would send him packing.
3. Stupid Saying Shirts Can Get Me Laid - Okay, maybe not laid, but that will be for the blog tomorrow, but over the past few months, I have been in the process of upgrading my look to incorporate more fashionable shirts from my usual ones with dorky or stupid saying.  Part of this was due to the Chicago trips last year, where I just got some weird stares by "A" gays who didn't get my sense of humor.  I do realize, that by subjugating my own wit and personality to be more of a fashion plate, I'm really doing myself a disservice more than anything else, but dammit, sometimes if you're not happy with the types of people you're attracting, then maybe you need to try something else.  Well, I can safely say that is just pretty stupid (mostly).  I wore my "Let's Play Doctor (Mario)" shirt on Sunday, and so many people commented and were generally friendly about it, that I just had such a better time than I had the rest of the weekend.  Not to mention that I got hit on and spent the rest of the evening with someone I would have normally considered unattainable, well, that just adds the final nail into the coffin of my attempts to be America's Next Top Model.  Now, this is not to say I cannot find some happy medium between the two areas because sometimes a shirt that says "WWJD for a Klondike Bar" is not appropriate for every occasion, but I shouldn't be so quick to change myself to fit in.  At 33, I guess I still haven't learned that completely...

More tomorrow!