So this was a very busy weekend (I know, when have I actually reported a NOT busy weekend). I left work a bit early on Friday so I could run some errands: hair cut, tan, and a little shopping. Friday was a pretty quiet day, so I didn't really feel that badly about leaving early. Plus, I had had a busy first bit of the month, so I felt I was due.
By the time I got back downtown, I had a little over an hour before I was to meet everyone at Cadillic Barbie's house to travel down to the Miss Gay IU pageant. Summer Clearance (the person formerly known as Blanche here on this blog) and I had gone a couple of years ago, and while it was generally pretty tragic, we had a good time with the addition of some flasks to the nights proceedings. This year, a friend of ours, Adessa Reed, was competing, so a bunch of the Indy Pride Bag Ladies, Sequoia Pentacost, Summer, Halle Pino (the person formerly known as Romeo), Cadillac Barbie, Aurora Diamonds, Bill, Randy, and myself packed into the cars to go support. For the record, I have never done drag except for Halloween once, and after putting on a black wig only to discover I looked frighteningly like my mother, I vowed I would never do it again. So, I'm really just a drag supporter of my friends, and no, that doesn't mean I'm a panty sniffer, which is someone who wants to date a drag queen.
Anyway, we went down to the pageant, and it was an extremely long night. There were only 5 contestants, but they insisted on long stretches of entertainment from lots of other people, which just dragged the night on. Plus, when did college kids get to be so young looking? Ugh...here comes the Oil of Olay! When we reached the end only to see our friend not win, we were all tired and ready to go home. After we arrived back, we all went our separate ways, and I actually went home. This became a weekend where I didn't set foot into a bar until Sunday.
Saturday was a normal day, punctuated by a glorious 20 mile bike ride up the Monon Trail to Broad Ripple, then around the Central Canal Towpath, which leads to the White River Greenway, Downtown Canal, and then back home. It was just a fantastic journey with the Lord of the Rings soundtrack blaring in my ears the whole way.
In the evening, I went to dinner at a buffet called The Journey with my family for my sister's birthday. Now, I love a good buffet, and I frankly consider the Vegas experience to be the pinnacle of such epicurean endeavors, but I have to say that this one ranked pretty well. Not only did it have sushi and other Japanese and Chinese delicacies, it also had a lot of American food for those less adventurous. I have to say their placement was a little weird, with the salad in the middle of the salad bar and pizza right next to frog legs, but that really just added to the kitsch. I'm not sure if this is a chain or not, because the interior was a cut above your average China buffet, but if you're an Indy local, I say check it out!
Now, I'm going to save Sunday for another post, because I have pictures I want to post, and because Sunday sort of dwarfed the rest of the weekend. I'll do that either later tonight or tomorrow.
Happy Monday!
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, August 15, 2008
Friday, August 15 - The Indiana State Fair
We decided not to go to the Indiana State Fair last night, because it was raining for most of the day yesterday. Of course, as soon as we called it and canceled with everyone, the sky cleared off. Grrrr...it looked like no elephant ear for me this year.
However, after a quick decision, I am happy to report:
The major plan for the night was to drive to Columbus, IN for the viewing of my godmother. Yes, I just went from elephant ears into death, but when you think about it, one certainly causes the other. So, it's like irony and stuff. Anyway, my mother sent me a freaked out email on Wednesday about the sudden death of my godmother, and while I cannot say I'm exacty torn up (heck, it's been nearly 10...maybe 15 years since I saw her) and its not like I'm exactly a model for the Catholic faith, which is what the godparents are supposed to do, I'm kind of more upset for what this means for my mother. My parents are 61 years old, and I think this may be the first of one of their good friends to die of natural causes. I think when you reach a certain age and your friends start to pass, its the human thing to start thinking about your own mortality. It doesn't help that Mary Beth died from an absolutely freak liver condition that she didn't have any idea she had until it took her life -- quickly. So, tomorrow, I get to have a wonderfully uncomfortable hour drive with my parents to a funeral, which have always given me the willys. Yes, tomorrow is shaping up to be a great day.
Okay, enough of that, back to the fair. After I got the memo that the I wasn't going to be able to get out of the funeral by going to the viewing tonight and once I got the details on my trip to tour the brans spanking new Lucas Oil Stadium tomorrow night, I decided to hop on my bike and go solo to the State Fair. In some part of my mind, I figured that the nearly 8 mile trek (with a trip to the ATM) would some how balance out the fact that I was about to throw lots of bad food into my gullet. Try not to laugh too hard...okay? In the end, I really didn't eat too poorly, I started with a turkey breast sandwich, then I had my favorite corn dog on the planet, washed down with a lemon shake up, and I ended the whole night with the above elephant ear. I figure that was a good 2000 calories. Oy...where's my feather!?
As I am prone to do when I'm by myself, I walked around and took pictures of the weirder things in the world. I'm going to end the blog with a slideshow, but I want to point out some of the ones that I loved the most:
1,500 Pounds of Cheese Sculpture:
Uhhhhhh:
Who said we're white bread?:
The Worlds Largest Boar (and you thought it was George W):
However, after a quick decision, I am happy to report:
The major plan for the night was to drive to Columbus, IN for the viewing of my godmother. Yes, I just went from elephant ears into death, but when you think about it, one certainly causes the other. So, it's like irony and stuff. Anyway, my mother sent me a freaked out email on Wednesday about the sudden death of my godmother, and while I cannot say I'm exacty torn up (heck, it's been nearly 10...maybe 15 years since I saw her) and its not like I'm exactly a model for the Catholic faith, which is what the godparents are supposed to do, I'm kind of more upset for what this means for my mother. My parents are 61 years old, and I think this may be the first of one of their good friends to die of natural causes. I think when you reach a certain age and your friends start to pass, its the human thing to start thinking about your own mortality. It doesn't help that Mary Beth died from an absolutely freak liver condition that she didn't have any idea she had until it took her life -- quickly. So, tomorrow, I get to have a wonderfully uncomfortable hour drive with my parents to a funeral, which have always given me the willys. Yes, tomorrow is shaping up to be a great day.
Okay, enough of that, back to the fair. After I got the memo that the I wasn't going to be able to get out of the funeral by going to the viewing tonight and once I got the details on my trip to tour the brans spanking new Lucas Oil Stadium tomorrow night, I decided to hop on my bike and go solo to the State Fair. In some part of my mind, I figured that the nearly 8 mile trek (with a trip to the ATM) would some how balance out the fact that I was about to throw lots of bad food into my gullet. Try not to laugh too hard...okay? In the end, I really didn't eat too poorly, I started with a turkey breast sandwich, then I had my favorite corn dog on the planet, washed down with a lemon shake up, and I ended the whole night with the above elephant ear. I figure that was a good 2000 calories. Oy...where's my feather!?
As I am prone to do when I'm by myself, I walked around and took pictures of the weirder things in the world. I'm going to end the blog with a slideshow, but I want to point out some of the ones that I loved the most:
1,500 Pounds of Cheese Sculpture:
Pig Pimping:
Uhhhhhh:
Who said we're white bread?:
The Worlds Largest Boar (and you thought it was George W):
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 29th - Pride and Peonies
Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am involved in the planning of Circle City IN Pride this year, and since the festivities kick off in a little over a week, the efforts are ramping up to make sure everything is in place. The planning committee, which is comprised of representatives of all the various committees, is now meeting on a weekly basis to update everyone, and Blanche, Maestro, and I were all in attendance at the one last night. Unlike past meetings, it actually felt pretty efficient and organized, which is excellent considering the massive amount of things that need to be done. There is literally something going on every night between Saturday, June 7th and Sunday, June 15th, and with well over 100 units in our parade and 150 vendors at the festival portion of the event, we are on track to meet or exceed record participation.Of course, the success of Pride actually comes down to the weather, which is always an iffy
notion. If June is anything like May, we could end up being screwed if it rains. Thankfully, the event Blanche, Romeo, Maramaduke, and myself are planning is inside! I think Pride Skate '08 is going to be pretty fun, and since it is only for a couple hours, we should be able to keep it jam packed and entertaining, especially in light of the involvement of the Naptown Roller Girls and the Pride Bag Ladies. I'm not sure if the pipe dream of an exhibition bout between the two will become a reality, but I think a race between them will still be pretty hysterical. To the left, is the poster that I created for the event. Not bad for my first shot at Photoshop, eh?Finally, the Peonies portion of the blog title.
I opened up my email yesterday to a forward from my mother. She apparently got this from a childhood friend of hers, and she wanted to pass it along to me:
I wonder if they come in different colors?
I wonder about the fragrance?
I wonder if it would help to put those preservative packets in the water?
I wonder if they bloom?
I wonder whether they would look better on the kitchen table or in the entry?
I wonder if they're cheaper by the dozen?
I wonder if they come in long-stemmed?
Captured at 115th and Allisonville Rd. in Fishers (Indianapolis).The sign is real and was up for two hours before someone stopped and told them how to spell PEONIES.-------------------
Wow...the less said, the better...Thanks, mom....
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Thursday, May 8th - The Greyness
Today is a grey day...
For me, I can handle every sort of weather pattern except for grey and rainy days. If I lived in Seattle, I am pretty sure I would have offed myself by now, because the weight of days of rain bears down upon me like the depths of the ocean in the Mariana Trench.
Today is a grey day...
Death.
Death and impending death have never been something that I have been equipt to handle. I understand that death is something that all must experience at some point in our lives, but I have never found pleasure in the tranquility of a cemetery or peace in the confines of a funeral home. It is not that I am particularly afraid of my own death or that I will be hopelessly lost by the death of people close to me, but I have an intrinsic empathy for those who are suffering, which includes the souls of people who may no longer be on this mortal coil. As much as people scoff, I do believe in ghosts, and I do feel that I have seen and felt them at many points in my life. Which is why I gain no solace from cemeteries, funeral homes, and even in hospitals where miracles occur every minute of every day. My mind often fixates on those who's lives have been cut short, and I am overcome with an overwhelming melancholy that I can only fight by not facing it and retreating into myself.
Today is a grey day...
I have received word from my mother, that my grandmother, who had successful surgery to replace two heart valves on Tuesday, and whom has remained uncommunicative and unable to recognize people, may have suffered a stroke, which is a convergence of best case and worst case scenarios that cannot be considered favorable by any stretch of the imagination. I am trying to prepare myself mentally for my trip to the hospital - alone - to see the strong, formidable woman who has such a tremendous impact on my life, imprisoned in a body that has rebelled against her.
Ever the stoic, I was doing a pretty good job of holding myself together, even when I started to write this, but it was at this moment, that the gods decided to throw me an ironic curve ball, with my internet radio randomly playing "Into the West" by Annie Lennox from The Lord of the Rings. The song played as Frodo, Gandalf, and Galadriel boarded the ship at the The Grey Havens to take them across the ocean to the Undying Lands, which was Tolkein's substition for heaven. It is an achingly beautiful song, which is obviously about death, and when taken into consideration with the fact that it was my grandmother who first gave The Hobbit to me and created a life long love of all things Tolkein, I broke down. I sat at my desk and cried. I cannot remember the last time I actually truly cried, and I am not experincing any level of sweet release with it.
Obviously, I am not letting go of my grandmother yet, but I also need to work through my emotions so that I can be there for my mother and the rest of my family. No matter the outcome, the next few weeks are going to be rough for everyone, and I know my family counts on me to be the strong one. I know I could have kept the knowledge of my breakdown to myself, but I chose to share it with you, my friends. I will appreciate any thoughts and prayers that you will have for my grandmother, but I also want to posit that I will not want to talk about it beyond what I have said in this entry.
"Into The West"
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All souls pass
Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don't say: «We have come now to the end»
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you'll be here in my arms
Just sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West
Today is a grey day...
For me, I can handle every sort of weather pattern except for grey and rainy days. If I lived in Seattle, I am pretty sure I would have offed myself by now, because the weight of days of rain bears down upon me like the depths of the ocean in the Mariana Trench.
Today is a grey day...
Death.
Death and impending death have never been something that I have been equipt to handle. I understand that death is something that all must experience at some point in our lives, but I have never found pleasure in the tranquility of a cemetery or peace in the confines of a funeral home. It is not that I am particularly afraid of my own death or that I will be hopelessly lost by the death of people close to me, but I have an intrinsic empathy for those who are suffering, which includes the souls of people who may no longer be on this mortal coil. As much as people scoff, I do believe in ghosts, and I do feel that I have seen and felt them at many points in my life. Which is why I gain no solace from cemeteries, funeral homes, and even in hospitals where miracles occur every minute of every day. My mind often fixates on those who's lives have been cut short, and I am overcome with an overwhelming melancholy that I can only fight by not facing it and retreating into myself.
Today is a grey day...
I have received word from my mother, that my grandmother, who had successful surgery to replace two heart valves on Tuesday, and whom has remained uncommunicative and unable to recognize people, may have suffered a stroke, which is a convergence of best case and worst case scenarios that cannot be considered favorable by any stretch of the imagination. I am trying to prepare myself mentally for my trip to the hospital - alone - to see the strong, formidable woman who has such a tremendous impact on my life, imprisoned in a body that has rebelled against her.
Ever the stoic, I was doing a pretty good job of holding myself together, even when I started to write this, but it was at this moment, that the gods decided to throw me an ironic curve ball, with my internet radio randomly playing "Into the West" by Annie Lennox from The Lord of the Rings. The song played as Frodo, Gandalf, and Galadriel boarded the ship at the The Grey Havens to take them across the ocean to the Undying Lands, which was Tolkein's substition for heaven. It is an achingly beautiful song, which is obviously about death, and when taken into consideration with the fact that it was my grandmother who first gave The Hobbit to me and created a life long love of all things Tolkein, I broke down. I sat at my desk and cried. I cannot remember the last time I actually truly cried, and I am not experincing any level of sweet release with it.
Obviously, I am not letting go of my grandmother yet, but I also need to work through my emotions so that I can be there for my mother and the rest of my family. No matter the outcome, the next few weeks are going to be rough for everyone, and I know my family counts on me to be the strong one. I know I could have kept the knowledge of my breakdown to myself, but I chose to share it with you, my friends. I will appreciate any thoughts and prayers that you will have for my grandmother, but I also want to posit that I will not want to talk about it beyond what I have said in this entry.
"Into The West"
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All souls pass
Hope fades
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out of memory and time
Don't say: «We have come now to the end»
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you'll be here in my arms
Just sleeping
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come to carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West
Today is a grey day...
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday, April 14th - F is for Monday
While I was working out this morning, I was thinking about what I was going to blog about, and I realized a pattern was forming.
This blog was brought to you by the letter "F"
- Friends & Firemen - On Friday after work, I met up with Liberty and Venus for some beers at the Rathskeller, and Blanche joined up shortly thereafter. It was rather cold outside in the beer garden, but thankfully, they still had the tent up from the winter. We were taking the opportunity to hopefully see some sexy firemen, because this past weekend brought some 40,000 firemen into town for an annual convention. It pretty much always brings out the horny women and gay men. While there were some nice things to look at at the Rathskeller (and no, Brian Bosma, Indiana House Minority Leader, does not count as one of them), we were terribly disappointed at the lack of firemen. We decided to make our way further down Mass Avenue to a bar that was closer to the actual firemen event, when Blanche gets a text from Jack and Ennis stating that they had actually infiltrated the party tent. With a look of delight on Liberty and Venus' faces, we made a quick pit stop at Metro to hit the restroom and pick up Mom, and then we made our wait into the heart of masculinity (male and female). It was sort of like a really bad high school prom. There was a bad band singing covers, but at least, there was free beer. Blanche even had a groupie grinding up on him. It was that sort of night.
- Fanatics - On Friday morning, Blanche stopped off at Olly's to drop off the posters and things for our Out for Hillary event on Wednesday, and we were feeling pretty good about the whole thing. The press releases and evites from HillaryClinton.com went out the day before, and there seemed to be a bit of a buzz going around. After we left Liberty, Mom, and Venus on Friday night, we made our way to Greg's for the usual festivities. We met up with another friend of ours, who had forwarded our evite to a lot of different people, and Blanche had made some palm cards from the poster artwork that were passing out to random people, even conservative gay bloggers (talk about a rare species). Anyway, a friend of ours who works at Olly's showed up later, and he informed us that they had to take the posters down because of complaints, primarily, from Obama supporters. Seriously! They were upset because we were holding a function at the bar? Seriously? I may not agree that Obama is the best candidate this year, but I would never begrudge a group from organizing a party to celebrate their choice in candidates. Apparently, one guy was so upset that he vowed to call Obama Headquarters, and since Obama was going to be in town on Wednesday, he was going to make sure Obama shows up. To which I say, BRING IT ON! Of course, I'm not an idiot like that person, who would actually think St. Barack would come to a gay bar to defend his nonexistant stance on gay rights, but I also knew that Obama wasn't going to be in town on Wednesday. Michelle is going to be in town, and well, I guess dressing Blanche up in drag to say "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am proud of my country..." to open up the party is out. I kid...I kid. So, it looks like I will be the goalie on Wednesday to make sure that things do not get out of hand. All of this reaction is quite silly, if you ask me. It is kind of interesting to be at the center of a scandal. Can we call it Gay-gate or something?
- Friends & Family - After recovering from a beer hangover, I spent most of Saturday shopping for a new digitial camera, pots for my balcony, and gifts for my sister's birthday on Sunday. After I got home with the final season of Charmed and a $50 Target giftcard for my sister (and Trauma Center 2 and Endless Ocean for my Wii), I had to get ready to meet Blanche and Maestro to go to a game night being hosted by Stella. Romeo met us there, and a fun time was had by all. Though we certainly learned a lot about Stella's purity. Sunday, I went out to the parents, and then we went to meet my sister and her brood a the restaurant for her birthday lunch. The highlight of that was some genetically engineered beautiful blonde guy as a waiter....hmm, maybe I should think about living on the north side. After dinner, we went back to my parent's place for dessert (ice cream cake and homemade pound cake and strawberries [my contribution]). While we were waiting for lunch to settle, my neice decided she needed to regale us with her singing ability in High School Musical: Sing It! for the Wii. Sensing a pit of hell approaching, I made myself a very strong, 32oz rum and diet, and instantly, the rest of the day went off without a hitch. Yay, alcohol!
- Fitness - After 4 weeks of doing the same lifting program three days a week, I've decided that the interval training I was doing on the off days wasn't helping as much as the lifting, so I have decided to refocus my gym time on just lifting from 3 to now 5 days a week. I just need to accept that I'm a beefy boy, be it fat or muscle. So, if I need to focus on muscle, I will. I'm still planning on riding a lot of my bike this summer, but I'm not going to be doing any formal cardio. I know this is the antithesis of what you should do, but after 5 years of working out, I know what my body responds to. I'm making progress, just not on the scale. I was wearing shirts this weekend that I have been comfortable in for a while, and I know if I keep up this frequency, by the time my birthday, Pride, and Las Vegas rolls around, I will be happy with the results.
This blog was brought to you by the letter "F"
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