I Could Use More Sleep....

Friday ended up not being all that eventful at work, and since the boss was out, I called it a day at noon.   This gave me enough time to get to the gym, shower, and get to a 4:00 showing of Harry Potter.   I usually go to a theater on the south side of Indianapolis, but since it is a megaplex with an IMAX, I figured it would be ground zero for all the annoying people that make me want to poke myself in the eye.  So, I chose the "art house" cinema at the Fashion Mall on the north side.  Now, anyone who knows me knows that I despise driving to the north side of Indianapolis, which should give you some idea how much I wanted to avoid packed theaters.  Oh, plus, they serve booze at this theater.

I don't think there is much I can say to add to the Harry Potter experience.  I agree with the greatness of it, though I also agree with some of the less than stellar reviews, but all in all, it was a grand way to end the series.  I'm sure I will view it again, which is the best recommendation I can give.

After the movie, I did a little grocery shopping, and then I went home to relax.  I had decided I would try to go out that night, though with it being Expo weekend (Indy folk know what that entails), I knew it would be a less than busy night, but Chelsea Nicole Parker, a local drag queen, was performing at Zonie's Closet.  Since she is about to move to Pittsburgh, I wanted to see her one last time.  Plus, Halle Pino was performing with her.  I love Zonie's.  If one thing has changed a lot since went on blogging hiatus, I have become an even bigger fan of drag.  Now, this is not to be confused with a panty sniffer, which is someone who wants to date a drag queen, but I do enjoy a good drag show.  The big problem is that while Greg's and Talbott Street, the two largest bars in town, have gone smoke free, Indianapolis does not have a city wide smoking ban.  Here's to hoping Melina Kennedy wins Mayor in November!  But I digress...  Zonie's is a very small, one room bar, with poor ventilation, and it attracts smokers  -- CHAIN smokers.  I kid you not, the smoke was so thick, when people would take pictures the effect would be like a fog and strobe light from a Whitesnake video.  It was horrible!  So, I only made it through three rounds, and then I decided to go to Greg's for one* drink.

Thus began a night that ended at 5am after gorging myself on fried food at Olly's....  Yeah, so much for the diet.

Saturday was pretty low key.  Since my parents were out of town, I pretty much laid in bed all day.   The major problem was that my landlords decided last week was the time to do some facade work on my building.  Now, they have done this work on three sides of the building, but they had left mine out, which was fine with me.   Well, ha ha, now they are working on my side, and the first step is to knock off the old plaster/stucco, which means hammers - lots of hammers, and unfortunately, none of workers bear any resemblance to Thor. They also apparently work on Saturday. This was my Facebook status update (as I laid in bed with a worker staring in my window):

Well, the facade work continues on a Saturday. I feel like I'm living Poe's "The Raven." --- While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. `'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door" --- Well, a Mexican day laborer, and nothing more...

At least, I was able to get literary.  Mom would be proud.

I didn't go out Saturday, but I slept in on Sunday.  I was able to get to the gym, and then I got picked up to go to Terre Haute for the hillbilly wake for a friend of mine's father.  Hillbilly was her term; not mine.  It wasn't all that bad, but it was very hot.  Plus, as more of the gays came onto the scene, you could see the one cute guy start to get a little uncomfortable - like we were going to make him sing the Village People or something.

After getting home, I watched some TV, and then I went to bed, which ended up being fitful and horrible.  I think I may have slept a total of an hour.  Joy... bring on the day. bring on the dangerous heat wave...    Happy Monday!



*three

Weekend Musings

It was a pretty interesting weekend. We had the snow hit on Friday, but it didn't end up being as bad as predicted (big shocker...I know). While I fully realize that cities along the eastern seaboard were walloped, you would think we were going to be snowbound for three weeks the way the media covered it. Of course, that caused people to hit the grocery stores, which has become a bit of a joke on Facebook.

While I had a birthday party to go to on Friday, I had fully intended staying in for a nice relaxing evening. However, guilt got the better of me, and I ended up going the party with some friends of mine. So, at least I didn't have to drive. It was a good party, and I ended up going out that night. Pretty uneventful...

On Saturday, I was going to go out to my parent's house to do some laundry, but in the morning, the roads were pretty terrible. So, I pretty much slept the entire day, which was kind of nice. Since my original plans to go to Dayton that night had fallen through, I went my posse to go see a bout of the Naptown Roller Girls Tornado Sirens. This is something we've done over the past three seasons, and since our friend, Kate a.k.a Katya Lookin, made it from the Warning Belles onto the Sirens, we pretty much try to go to every bout.

I know I've talked about them before, but really, if you've never been to a Roller Derby bout, you really need to go see one. They are pretty amazing, and the Tornado Sirens' themselves have really ramped up their game this year, which coincided with a move to the Pepsi Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. They were were up against a pretty mean group of gals from Memphis, but they still managed to beat them by over 100 points. It was a great time.

Sunday was, of course, Super Bowl Sunday, and after I got my laundry done, I hung out at home until meeting my friends at Talbott Street to watch the game. We had a reasonably good time, even though the venue didn't really come through with everything they advertised. Further, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the outcome of the game, because there really isn't much more I can add to it. It would have been nice if we won, but I'm not going to let it ruin my day.

Now, it is Monday, and we are on the verge of an even worse winter storm. Here we go again. I guess I need to go get some bread, milk, and eggs!

In Memorium - My Liver

Actually, maybe we should weep for my lack of cable. Anyone who has ever read this blog knows that I am a MAJOR TV junky. Last Wednesday, when I got home from work, I turned on my husband (my new 40in LCD), only to give me a blank stare. Unfortunately, the weekend was so packed with activities, I just couldn't make the time for the cable guy to come out. I could have had him out yesterday, but since the problem is more than likely not with the wiring in my apartment, I knew I wasn't going to get the emergency maintenance guy for my complex out there to open up the cable room. All in all, it hasn't been horrible because I have plenty of DVDs and haven't been home all that much, but it really sucked not being able to get my news on TV this morning before work. On top of all that, I get my internet through cable, too. So, I've been screwed!

With that out of the way, party season has begun, which only means I'm one year closer to cirrhosis of the liver. This weekend alone: Carb Day at the track (that's Indy 500 for you all), Party that night, Indy 500 Parade, Party that night, First Pool Party of the year, and then going out to see Halle Pino perform at the Metro. Saturday night, I actually updated my Facebook to say "I"m kinda ready to go back to work on Tuesday." Yeah, it was that type of weekend.

Now, this coming weekend, I am going out of town to promote Circle City IN Pride with the Bag Ladies AND hosting a tailgate at the NapTown Roller Girls bout on Saturday. Of course, there will be pool shenanigans on Sunday, as well, which only brings us to the following weekend which will mark the beginning of the week long even that is Circle City IN Pride. Oy!

Will someone please get me the paperwork for Betty Ford?

This was NOT a Weekend!

To say this was a busy weekend is probably the understatement of the century. While I did spend a lot of the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday trying to just relax and enjoy the weather, which was finally not resembling the Amazon rain forest, post-work Friday and Saturday evening more than made up for any level of pseudo-relaxation.

I've been going to karaoke at the Metro for well over 12 years now, and while I'm not as religious about hitting it every Tuesday, we have been a presence there for quite some time. For many of those years, Metro has held an American Idol competition, that I, for the most part, never really paid attention, too, mainly because it took place on Thursday, and there only so much karaoke histrionics a guy can take. Three years ago, after a debacle the year before, my friend who runs both karaoke and Metro Idol, asked me if I would be interested in being the show runner for the Grand Finals, and seeing as I was going to get paid, I figured why not. I'd been a house manager at a theater in a former life, so I know what it means to run a staff, and how difficult can it be to get people on stage on time? It has had its ups and downs, but I generally enjoy the experience, but the Grand Finals, which were Friday and Saturday, are just a very long time to be in a bar. We're talking at least 8 hours both nights. So, you can see why I slept in until 11 both days.

It was a pretty smooth running affair thanks to the fact that a number of them were returning contestants, and since I'm given the power to disqualify on the spot, they pretty much follow my rules. Once the show starts, I pretty much just stand back and make sure everyone, including the drag queen entertainment is on schedule. I'm happy to say that the show has never run late because of me. It's typically what happens on stage that makes us late. All and all, it was a good time, and I'm happy to say that a friend of mine won the whole thing, which for the record is not a pittance. It's $3000 worth of cash and prizes. Now, if only I could sing!

Sunday afternoon, I was bound and determined to not do anything other than sit on my ass and plow through some of my backlog on the DVR. I did a pretty good job of that until I opened up the Best Buy ad. I've been bandying about the idea of buying a new television, though I don't really need one. I just feel like, me, a defiant techno nerd is missing out on the HD revolution. So, after Best Buy tempted me once with a 10% off coupon for my birthday month, they sealed the deal when they advertised 3 years same as cash. I'd like to introduce you to my new husband:

He's thin and 40 inches.  I may never leave the house again...

Busy!

Kind of too busy to blog :-) Sorry, folks.

I did go on a 32 mile, 2.5 hour bike ride yesterday, and it was glorious! Today I am trying to work while it is going to be 82 and sunny, which will be the first time in a long time it has been like this.

The weekend is going to be rather busy. I'm meeting with my girls to go watch some firemen. Hopefully, I get to see a pack of the model hot ones. :) Then I am going with an old friend to see Patti LuPone in concert. It should be a full night.

Saturday, I have a meeting for Metro Idol, which is an American Idol type contest at a bar. It goes for much of the year, and for the last two years, I have stage managed for the Grand Finals, which are next week. After that, Indy Pride, which I am a Board member of, is having a beer bar at Greg's.

Then on Sunday, I have a 50th Birthday party to go to. I have a feeling that every weekend through the fall is going to be like this, but I suppose, it is better than just sitting on my ass.

I hope you have a great weekend!

What a Drag!

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!

Monday, November 3rd - Ahhhh....November

So, obviously, October was a busy month for me.  I neglected a lot of things from blogging, the gym, some work (which bit me in the butt last week), and just a whole host of things.  While the summer was an extremely busy and social time for me and the Mean Girls, it just seemed that October was the culmination of everything, especially with Halloween and the Grande Masquerade.

Last week, as you could tell from the stressed out or small updates, it was like everything exploded at work.  Due to a virus outbreak, we were blacklisted by four spam monitoring organizations, and the only way I could fix this was to go around to every computer in the office to figure out which one (or ones) was the problem child.  Being blacklisted meant that very little to no email was actually leaving our inboxes.  We were receiving just fine, but then nothing was going out.  It is very frustrating to diagnose a problem like that, because Microsoft literally has an error message that can actually mean 10 things.  I felt like I would probably be better off standing on one foot and point north to fix the problem.  I got it worked out, but it meant I put in a 13 hour day to get it done.  All of this on top of doing a major voicemail upgrade, working on one of the most heinous reports I have to do, AND doing last minute poster designs for The Grande Masquerade, well, I was about ready to lose my fucking mind!

I know I complain a lot about the reporting aspect of my job, but the reality is that I have done a pretty good job of juggling the IT part and the reporting for the last two years.  However, this past week was exactly what I feared most would happen -- when something IT related would interfere with the reporting.  What do I choose in this instance?  The deadline put in place by the Federal Government, or the people bitching at me in the office? Anyway, enough about that. 

The Grande Masquerade was an absolute success.  Sure, there were some kinks to work out, but for a group of people who didn't really have all that much experience on an event this size, I think we pulled it off and then some.  It was the largest attendance ever (620+), and it was one of the most profitable.  For me, it was just pretty surreal to see my designs all over the place.  From the program books at every seat at every table, to the backgrounds on the PowerPoint presentation that Blanche so wonderfully put together, and finally to the monstrous fairy girl that I put together - the mascot of the whole event - as the backdrop for the stage.  It was, simply, one of the proudest nights for me.  It was also weird that someone actually paid $50 for a framed version of one of the posters I designed for the event.  I actually called my parents to say I was officially an artiste now. LOL  It was even weirder later on in the night when I found out there was a war going on over who was going to get the blown up versions of the fairy girl.  Both Vivian of Talbott Street and Rob from Hoaglin Fine Catering wanted them, I seriously didn't know what to say about that.  I know most don't see me as an overly humble person (though, really, deep down I'm that insecure guy cowering in the corner), but I was really just humbled by it.

So, it was a rather amazing weekend.  Heck, even one of the volunteers for the Masquerade recognized me from by blog!  With all that though, the best part of the entire weekend is the fact that I'm taking the next three days off from work!  I'm going to make this a focus on me time.  Most of all, I'm going to go to the gym all three days, and I hope this will get me back into a groove.  I am ABSOLUTELY tired of my current appearance, and I have used this "being busy" excuse to keep me from the gym for far too long. It's going to be a beautiful three days, and I'll even be able to ride my bike to the gym.

Here's to getting back to the gym, back to blogging, back to a someone less busy life, AND to voting tomorrow!

Tuesday, August 19th - All Over The Place...

This was actually supposed to be the entry for yesterday, but my day got away from me and so did today -- Ah well...here it is:

This was one of those inactive/active weekends that really seem to zap my energy. While it seems like I did a lot, I can't say I really got a lot accomplished, especially with Grand Masquerade, Indy Pride website, and now St. Patrick's Day/Indy Sports Foundation website stuff to do. I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to get the host of these things done by the end of the month, especially the Indy Pride site, because I'd like to show that as an accomplishment before the board elections.

On Friday, I went to the Indiana State Fair, which was nice because I was able to ride my bike up there, and then after I returned home, I puttered around a bit before deciding to head over to Talbott Street for a drag show.  Blanche and Romeo had decided they were in for the night, and since I hadn't heard from Maestro, I figured it was the same for him.  Plus, since Talbott is within stumbling distance from my home, I figured it was a better call, especially since I had read that IMPD was having an impaired driving crack down this past weekend.

I did eventually hear from Maestro, but since my plans were already in motion and he hadn't even been home yet, he opted to take it easy for the night.  I really hadn't planned on staying out all that late, especially after texting Sequoia and Cadillac and hearing they were planning on staying in for the night.  Of course, best laid plans, I ended up staying for both shows and well after midnight, which boded ill for the fact that I needed to be up at 6am, so I could be at my parent's house by 7 to drive down to Columbus, IN for the funeral of my godmother.

It has been a while since I attended a funeral.  I would imagine it was the funeral of my grandmother (my father's mother), in the 90's, and frankly, I do not recall my mother and father crying so much during that one as they did for my godmother, one of their best friends.  I honestly don't recall my father crying at all, but I imagine when your wife is balling for well over an hour, it is kind of hard to hold back.  Indeed, even I, Mr. Stoic, was fighting back tears, but it was more in reaction to my mother than anything else.  In listening to the eulogies and other remembrances, I did realize that I did not take enough time to get to know the woman my parent's entrusted with my spiritual growth, and even though I scoff at that part because I do not think there was any hope for me being religious from the get go, that doesn't mean she wasn't an extraordinary woman with a story to tell, and it is rather sad that I didn't take the time to hear it.

After I got back to my parent's house, I finished my laundry and made my way back home.  I didn't really have too much time until I needed to meet Blanche and Olly's so we could go down to the Grand Opening of Lucas Oil Stadium, Indiana's latest monument to sports.  Considering I know what the prices for Colts games are going to be like, the chances of me actually seeing a game there are slim to nil (unless Blanche comes through with some tickets, but with it being a new venue and the Colts still pretty good, I don't count on that happening). I will be there for State Marching Band contest in October, but hey, I'm a nerd.

The facility itself is pretty damn cool.  The Hoosier/RCA Dome, which has been the home of the Colts, is/was a pretty utilitarian structure and this is much more well appointed.  It makes a good sister facility to Conseco Fieldhouse where the Pacers play.  I'm going to let pictures speak for themselves:



After that, Blanche and I walked back to Olly's, and I pretty much spent the rest of the night there flirting with the new bartender. I'm not sure yet if he's just being flirty for tips or what, but hey, who doesn't mind a little flirting, especially when it results in free drinks!

I got home around 2, and I watched some TV until 3, shut off my alarm, and promptly slept until 11:30. Sunday was pretty much a day a the Trump's pool, and it ended up with a game of cat and mouse with Romeo, who was drunker than a skunk, heavy lidded, and intent on driving his drunk ass home. He eventually got away from me, and thankfully, made it home without death and destruction. I wandered home around 6, watched some TV, and pretty much passed out on the couch.

There you have it. The weekend roundup a few days late!