BLLECCCHHH

Thats how I feel at the moment. I have spent the better part of the day in bed. I am not sure how I got this cold. Maybe from a co-worker, or it could have been pay back for taxing my system the other night at the party. Lets hope that it doesn't last to long. Its customer service week after all. It started in my throat and today I've had a fever.

At least I had a good time Friday and Saturday. Friday I was invited to this huge party in Newton. It was more fun that I was anticipating. Granted I didn't know most people there at first but I quickly mingled and met some people. I even got to meet some people that I had only talked to online. It was packed but it was fun and I may have partaken in too much of the keg. No mixed drinks for me that night. I think it was Sam Adams so I had no problem sticking to the beer. I guess these guys do this once a year and it shows since it was well planned. It was also cool that people were genuinely interested in getting to know me. It was a new feeling for me, and I didn't feel as if I was following in someones shadow. It allowed me to come out of my shell a little and to get out of the funk I have been feeling lately. At least for a little while. Although today's mood is based mostly on my current state of health.

It at least left me a chance to catch up with some of my writing. I have a general idea of what I want to do now and have put down a general outline. So I will definitely have some things to work on over the winter. Alright enough for now. I need to get some rest and get to bed early. Talk to you all later.

No I'm not the Phantom

But I did attend the Phantom Gourmet food festival today. It was fun I got to hand out mints and when they were gone I was passing out Purple Phantom Beads. Its was fun despite the fact that the dyed beads were coming off in my hands and my arm looked purple at the end of it. Quite a number of characters came in, worked and attended the event. I know wearing purple was encouraged but alas my wardrobe is deficient in that particular color spectrum. However the people in attendance did not have that problem. I saw feathers, ties, shirts, orchid necklaces, and one guy in particular went as far as to show me his purple boxers. Now the beads are free but that gentlemen earned a handful LOL. Anyways after all the mints and beads were gone we were able to enjoy the festivities. My roomate and I actually were able to get in on alot of the booths and even a bar on Lansdowne.

First Yummies was wet up right next to us at the entrance. They were giving away free Candy Necklaces and Purple Vanilla Salt Water Taffy. As a bonus I was able to meet up with an old college friend on mine that I hadn't seen in years. Turns out his fiance's family owns Yummies and as it turns out he also lives in Brighton. Who Knew!

Next was the slightly disappointing Emma's Pub & Pizza. This guys has commercials like used car salesmen. His prices are cheap and now I know why. His offering to the festival were his teriyaki like meatballs. The only thing original may have been the sauce since the Meatballs screamed store bought and not homemade. Oh well didn't expect much didn't get much.

Next up was individual bags of Dale and Thomas Popcorn, which was excellent as always in Movie theater butter flavor. I really did not even take time to savor I was so hungry. You can get their popcorn all over now but I first saw it in Whole Foods.

We skipped over Not Your Average Joes (Chicken Satay) and b.good (baked French Fries) lines were to long and like I said we were starved. We stopped at Wholly Cannoli's booth which was outstanding, not sure what they called it, but it was the best part of a cannoli dipped in caramel, then dipped again in chocolate and finally rolled into peanuts. It was incredible so when ever you get yourself out to Worcester be sure to stop by. It also helped that the guys running the booth were cute.

Finz out of Salem and now recently Dedham offered up some chowder, which I did not partake but I did indulge in their Buffalo Calamari, which was also surprising excellent. Not only was the Calamari perfectly cooked, it was not greasy, it was crunchy and equally surprising was there decision to not use the typical buffalo wing sauce which can be quite overpowering. I don't know what it was but it provided a nice spice with very little heat. An Outstanding dish, and worth getting at the restaurant.

Palumbo's Kettle Korn was good and provided a nice little bag which was handy for consumption later on in the day. They are available for parties and festivals.

The Loft's Lobster Macaroni and Cheese sounded nice and extravagant but I am hoping the need to create close to 20k samples effected the final product cause it was disappointing. The cheese sauce was curdled and the Lobster was not even flavorful. Like I said I hope the product in the restaurant is better because this would have been Phantom Flawed.

The Suasage Guy was too crowded to get near but having already sampled his goods before I was not to disappointed. Kowloon had wings which looked divine but I was starting to be selective at this point, and the line did not justify one wing.

Beantown Cupcakes offered up an awesome Red Velvet Cupcake. The Sunset Grill's Jambalaya was good and only strengthened my desire to got there sometime. Its mammoth selection of beers intrigues me.

I skipped over Beard Papa although good I also have tried them before and really have some not so nice memories associated with them at the moment.

One of the best booth's was Carl's steaks subs. It was long but well worth it. Even though it was a small portion, I will go on record proclaiming them as the best Steak and Cheese I have ever eaten. I seriously mean that. They have a location in Waltham and I will be going there sometime. The steak was tender moist cheesy, and the bread was soft and chewy. Just plain perfect.

Wicked Whoopie was there and gave out little mini whoopies which did not disappoint. I have sent them out as gifts before.

We waited in line for a freshly grilled Hamburger from Fuddruckers, while good it lacked the creativity you get from going to the restaurant and using the topping bar.

Finally the last thing we actually sampled was at Kane's Donuts. It was there signature coffee roll. MSN called them one of the 10 best donut shops and with what I sampled I'm not going to argue. Nice fluffly roll made with cinnamon, topped with what appeared to be a cinnamon icing and finished off with Cinnamon Sugar. I could feel my teethe screaming with every bite but it was so good.

There were plenty more places that were there but we were stuffed at that point. I could not even think of standing in line for Sal's Pizza (you know home of the 3lb pizza), Black Cow, Firefly's and Trani just to name a few. We stopped into the Rocket Bar for a beer and the day was complete. So next year when you see tickets go on sale I recommend you check it out because it was Phantastic.

And no I did not see the Phantom but I did see an Andleman.

Enjoy the links and I'll talk to you later.

I'm not working this weekend

There I've said it. Now I just have to follow it. I suppose its healthy in a way. Its not every day you find out that you have a neuroses stemming from an over abundance of responsibility. Can I help it if I want to do my job right and change the world for the better. Someone has to. Anyways thats a discussion for another time.

I'm going to have some fun this weekend. I'm going out tonight which should be low key, but nice, maybe a movie or something. Tomorrow is a house warming party at Seth's which I am still not sure what to bring yet. I guess I will find something at this point. That should be a fun time. Sunday I am volunteering at the Phantom Gourmet Food Festival. :) Something that I am really looking forward to so if you are out there on Sunday say HI! I'll be wearing a Sovereign Bank shirt. I would imagine it would be red.

I'm sure there will be a few other things here and there but I doubt I will have another chance to blog so I figured I pop on and talk a little before its another week without saying anything. I was not able to go up to LSC this weekend for the Homecoming. There will be other years to do so, besides after everything thats happened this year I'm not exactly sure I want to go back up there right now. A lot of memories are up there. They are all good but some I don't need to be reliving just now. How am I doing with all of that? Well you tell me because I don't know anymore really. I am just taking things day by day now. Which is different for the planner in me. Anyways no need to break into the philosophy on a Friday night.

I hope everyone has a nice safe and happy weekend.

Sunday Already

What the hell happened to the weekend let alone the week. Last I knew it was Wednesday. Work has been work, but my life outside it has been able to keep me partially sane. Of course it didn't help that I put in a full day's work yesterday. It helps in making Monday go smoother but had it not been for some friends I would have been woefully unrested. Thursday and Friday I was in all day training courses at my work entitled "Manage to Lead" Although I was able to take away some great skills in the arts of Motivation, Feedback, Goal Setting, Delegation, and Communication it came at a decent price. No work got done those two days so hence the need to come in on Saturday.

Well I was able to visit the Natick Mall err Natick Collection (WTF) on Wednesday and I was relatively pleased with the new renovations. As I get older I am becoming less and less impressed with Malls. The last Mall I would say I like would have to have been the Providence Place Mall. Alas I never really find that I am in or around Providence anymore. At least there they still have (or at least I thought they did) an Illuminations shop, which is essentially a more high brow candle store. Anyways back to Natick. At first the Mall (damn!) At first the Collection seemed to be no different than before, that is until I got to the center of the place and looked to my left and a whole new section was born. It looked good, and I found our new Clarks store. It was nice and fully stocked. I then continued walking down towards the end and a good number of stores are not open yet. I figure that is why they didn't stop me and ask for a credit check because damn they've got some expensive stores in there. I know I can spend money occasionally but Neiman Marcus, Tiffanie's, Louis Vitton all with several others dominated the end of that section. I don't think I'll be seeing much from that part of the mall.

I didn't get to see the rest of the place since it was getting late and I needed to meet up with my friend Jeff. We were going to meet at the Joe's Bar and Grill. It took me about as long to walk out of the mall and maneuver around the parking lot to get there as it took him to actually drive from Ashland. Guess where I am not going Christmas Shopping. Dinner was good and somehow the waitress was able to coax several rounds of drinks out of us despite the fact that we never did get our soup and salad. It was a little late by the time I got home but personally I didn't much care.

Work was work, but I did manage to fill up some events on the old social calendar. I don't think I'll be going to LSC this year for homecoming. I have a house warming party to go to and I can benefit from saving some cash right now. I do believe I will be having a rather active October though. I have been talking to my best friend Mat about going up there and visiting maybe on Columbus Weekend. Then I know the weekend after that I am kind of busy as I have recently acquired some tickets to see Wicked. Which is getting really good reviews by the way. I will be going with my Mom (stop laughing, its her birthday present). Then I have also have plans the following week to head down to NYC to see Margaret Cho. I haven't seen her in a couple of years and she was quite entertaining when I did so I am looking forward to that too. I am hoping that the weekend after that my friend Moe will have put together his Spooky Ghost Tour. One can only hope, and just like that the weekends are booked up, maybe I can squeeze in some apple picking.

One more note before I go, to all those fans of MST3k (Mystery Science Theater 3000) I ask you to please point your browsers to this site . Why? well go to it and find out. Alright fine Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy are still at it. This time they are taking on more mainstream movies, some are good some are flops. You have to experience it to appreciate it and they have free samples. I have done this and it makes some of these movies absolutely hilarious.

Alright enough for now. Talk to you later.

Rain Rain

Its Raining, I haven't seen it rain like this since the beginning of June. Which would explain why we are short on the water lately. Well lets see if it continues like this. I may not go out jogging in the rain. The last time I was in the cold and wet I got a nice cold (Worst 4th of July ever!).

Anyways I think I have finally picked a gym to join since they have made no additional effort to finish ours here at the office. I got a three day pass to BSC that I am going to use on Thursday. There are enough around me and so far from what I have seen it is much better than the meat market that is Gold's. I stepped on the scale this morning and found that I had lost a couple more pounds so I was excited. I also found a jacket from last year that was tight on me before and now slips right on with extra room. Its a nice feeling. I also found some nice military style cargo's that I had kicking around that never quite fit right, well this weekend they fit perfectly.

The other thing about the rain is we need it, not just for the towns that are short of supply but also if you want to see any semblance of nice foliage this season. Which is important to me if I want to go visit my alma mater. The Homecoming weekend is fast approaching and I think I may want to venture up North to visit. I have not heard a peep out of my Business department who had mentioned all these plans last year. Oh well. Hopefully there will be some familiar faces there. If anyone is going drop me a line maybe we can meet up.

Ever have on one of those days.

So earlier I mas marveled at the speed at which the day had progressed. I must have been on auto pilot for most of it, because the details of what I actually did are sketchy at best. I know I got hungry and was committed to getting some sort of breakfast earlier since I had not had one when I first came in. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be 11:40 AM. I had only 20 minutes until lunch. Where had the morning gone. What was even scarier is I could not immediately recall how I got to work. Who wants to remember a commute, right? Honestly for a good five minutes I tried to remember it. I remember walking to the car and then suddenly walking into the building. Weird. I must not have had any trouble with parking or had to deal with any crazy's on the way in. That's the only thing I can imagine that would make it so forgettable.

To bad we can actively choose to select something to forget. I know I would forget Uggs. I wish I could make everyone else forget them too. Seriously yesterday I saw a new pair adorned by some equally forgettable Lindsey-Brittney-Wannabe undergrad. You can tell they are new because they become even more ugly when they have been worn for 20 minutes. Come on people this trend died, granted I never liked them but stop with the madness alright. Saturday it was 95 degrees, just because it got cloudy the next day doesn't mean you have to dip into the faux winter wear. Maybe I'm biased coming from a shoe industry but at least I have not scene the love child of all fashion don'ts yet. What are they? Cruggs? They are horrid and those babies need to be thrown out with the bath water. I know people say "They are so comfortable" of course they are they are all foam and maybe if you don't get all your shoes from Payless you'd know that you can get a comfortable shoe that looks normal. I'm sorry people but shoes are a fact of life, and why are you willing to to wear nice jewelry and other non essentials and pay through the nose but you insist that you can't pay more than $19.99 for something you wear everyday and is needed for support. Fine I'll get off my soapbox now but don't even get me started on the sweat shop labor aspect, and the margins they make off of you are far better for this crap than any normal shoe you can find.

"Does anyone still wear a hat?"

Apparently the answer is yes. This morning coming back from work I was able view quite a number of women in hats. I don't quite think they are ladies who lunch, but more like ladies who go to temple. More power to them for wearing that get up today. Its quite hot and the temp is stil climbing. Change is in the air and I would bet this is the last time this year we see 90's. Still I am glad that I helped Seth move last weekend. Despite the work it was still easier than it would have been this weekend. In fact I know some people who are moving this weekend, here's hoping they have no stairs.

The heat should subside tonight so thats good, we may even see some late summer storms. We haven't had many this year I would like to have at least one more before fall sets in. Well I'm not sure what I'm doing tonight yet, but if its anything exciting you'll be sure to know.

YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO COMPLY

Brings back memories doesn't it. Well maybe for those of you that actually watched Robocop. So no this blog is not going to be about the height 80's cinema graphic dystopia. It is more about the disturbing news from Samsung.


Joel from BoingBoing is right. I can't even get my cell phone to understand my voice recognition, has AI come so far as to be able to understand that I am not a terrorist? Not that I would think these babies would be lining the streets but seriously these things just scream trouble.

Speaking of unnecessary violence I realized today something that pisses me off. As I was out this evening for my jog, I am getting passed by most everyone who's at the peak of their physical performance. A year ago I would have felt extremely self conscious running in front of them, now however whatever embarrassment I might feel pails in comparison to what I have already endured this year, so screw it get the hell out of my way I'm coming through. Anyways getting off the point. The thing that bugs me about most of them is how they are all damn color coordinated, and how despite the fact that they may have just run a couple of miles the actually smell good running by. ?????? WTF. I don't smell bad at that point but how does the girl who's hair is completely plastered to her body and sweat dripping from every limb still get to smell like Pantene. Then there was Mr. Irish Spring who lapped me twice. I feel as if I should get a matching track suit and bottle of Obsession before I head out running. Maybe I'm just a novice and eventually it will all make sense to me but for now as they pass me I feel like hip checking them into the water. Bet you won't smell to good then.

So I promise that will be the weirdest post for this week.

Temptation

So I can't tell you the last time I actually sat down to watch television before tonight. I needed to take a little break from the exercising. Tonight I figured I would watch a little and what do I get for my viewing pleasure? TEMPTATION which seems to be a bastardized version of a game show I really loved as a kid. THE SALE OF THE CENTURY was what it was called back in the 80's and I loved it. Now this abortion of a game show is here to try and carry on its name. Its pathetic and even disguises itself as a game show when in fact it is little more than an infomercial. No substance no challenge just lots of commercials and before the commercials you get an opportunity to call a 1-800 to get special deals on products. I am not kidding. It is that bad, the host is laughable and I am sure this show's existence will be short lived. Merv Griffin is rolling in his grave.

Well the fall season will soon be upon us so I want to give you my shows that I will be trying to make time for. Most are familiar but there are some new ones.

Heroes - After last season I could not ignore this show. It is easily one of the best on TV.
Battlestar Galactica- Its last season which really doesn't star until next year will grace us with a mini series this November.

The new program I will be watching that shows promise is Torchwood, which has already aired its first season in the UK. Basically the creators of the show wanted a spin off of the long running Dr. Who series with the feel of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "angel". So much so that James Marsters appears. No not as Spike but I hope its an equally good character. The other thing about this show is that some of the characters are described as being "sexually fluid". So there will be more than just a passing reference to Homosexuality and Bisexuality. I long for the day that this can be done well. Lets hope they can pull it off.

I also would love there to be a good sitcom. So far my hopes are on "Back to You". Yes I know it has Kelsey Grammar but so far it looks good, plus there is also Patricia Heaton as well, so my money is on this one.

Lastly for obvious reasons I will try to watch some Biggest Loser episodes.

Well that's all for now.

Since I'm The Expert

I don't know if all of my gay readers are out as much as I am at work. Trust me it comes with more hazards than you would expect at an open company. Why is that you say? Because when the slightest issue relating to the world of gaydom hits the news you become the bloody expert. I know this is a little late but I had to chime in. Senator Craig and his airport dalliances has been the topic of choice recently and with each new detail that's released I have a handful of people who need corroborate that the activity does occur. It makes me feel oh so good about myself. Yes this activity goes on its called cruising. Personally I don't participate in it, not just because I have a phobia of public bathrooms but I like to think I have a few standards. I don't condone it since it can be dangerous and its just not how I roll, if you know what I mean.

However, I can also understand the behavior especially when it comes to the two types of men that seem to exhibit this behavior. Public bathrooms, parks, and rest stops yes they are all places that this activity can happen in but before you go acting all disgusted remember one thing straight people, you do the same thing, only you have a place for it, its called a bar. Yes yes I know there are gay bars but when was the last time you saw one outside the major cities. So where do these lonely men get to go. You got it. The advent of the Internet has started to curb this behaviour somewhat by providing a place for people to meet, but it also has been able to centralize all the available info on these places, so someone can find a friendly bathroom from here to Nome, AK and beyond.

So yes these places do exist, and men do frequent them, yes there is some convoluted code/mating dance that goes on. I'll be damned if I know it or would recognize it if I saw it. Of course I am not quite the type. Senator Craig's type seem to frequent these places. As you have been able to see none of them describe themselves as being gay. By the way Senator Craig no one accused you of being gay, they just accused you of trying to solicit sex. Oh that's right you just have a wide stance and just happen to know the code/smoke signals. I laugh each time I see this ass on TV who once lambasted all these social groups who now he calls upon to help him. You see he's the worst kind of person, the self loathing kind. The one who hates himself so much he splits his life in half, on the one side are all his "good" qualities, and the other all the "bad". He hates himself and that is why he is disturbed. Maybe he should rectify between the good and the bad and it wouldn't be so self destructing for him. Oh yeah that's right because he's spent all his life setting himself up as some overzealous fucktard and it would ruin his career. I guess some people really don't get it. The secret is not how you should lead your life it is how you do and how you stay true to who you are.

That's enough for now. I am not even going to get into the irony that the guy who picks his replacement is called Butch Otter. That's just too easy, then again so was the Senator. LOL. Anyways talk to you all later.

Ragweed

Yes it is September now, and I can say since last week the Ragweed pollen has been progressively building. Fall has to be one of my favorite seasons, but I always secretly wind up wishing it would be over sooner rather than later. Why? Because my nose stuffs up and my eyes get all red and watery. This weekend ended with me needing to take come claritin. It may have been do to dust of helping a friend move but, it was more than likely do to that pesky devil to the left. Really the only thing that can kill the little Frackers is the first Hard Frost, and since that kills just about everything else Fall is over at that point. Sniffle. Anyways yes it is September and it is the month where I like to do alot of stuff outside as well. Normally with a companion but we'll see. I say every damn year I am going to get to Old Sturbridge Village again, but never seem to make it. Maybe this year will be different. Also coming up soon is Out in the Park. I am putting an open invite out there for any who may want to get together and go this year. This is another event that we all seem to want to get to but never seem to find the time.

Maybe I'm a little to big to enjoy it yet but Monday, eventhough I got a work out moving Seth this weekend I went for a 3 mile walk/jog. Admittedly it was more walking than jogging but its a start. A friend of mine (Katie) gave me link to a site that pulls up google maps and calculates the distance you go on your route so I plugged it in this morning and was surprised to see how far I went. However I plan to do it again today after work to see how fast I can do it. That is if I can get out of work at a decent hour, and not need to work from home like I normally do. Alright I will write more later but that is all I can fit into on one lunch break.