sex is risky
Sex is risky. Any sort of sexual, intimate contact with anyone may expose you to syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, genital warts, parasites, HIV, hepatitis, yeast, colds, flu, grumpiness, bad smells, nose picking, fungal infections, domestic discord and that greatly feared and unconquered syndrome: LOVE .
Your risk of exposure varies with what you do, how you do it, how often you do it, and how hard
January 26, 2005
and who is to say we’re correct?
Speaking about the current situation in Iraq and the death of another 36 soldiers today, President Bush had this to say:
“But it is the long-term objective that is vital, and that is to spread freedom. Otherwise the Middle East will continue to be a caldron of resentment and hate, a recruiting ground for those who have this vision of the world that is the exact opposite of ours”.
My question is this…
Who decides what the correct vision is? Why is our vision more valid than theirs?
I’m not condoning the terrorists or the tyrants that have taken over these countries, but if truth be told. We put them in power in the first place. Why is Iraq more important than the countries in Africa where there are millions being killed in racially charged attacks?
I still do not understand why we are there, but I have noticed that the term “freedom” is being thrown around alot these days as an explaination. Originally, we were told the war was to find the weapons that we were convinced were there. Then, when the weapons never showed up, we were told that it was to remove Saddam from power. Now that Saddam has been removed, we’re being told that our goal is to extend “freedom”.
I’m just sitting here wondering when the lies will stop, and someone will finally come out and just fucking say…
“Ya know what? We fucking did it to secure more oil and to get republican donors even more of the pie than they already have. We didn’t care about weapons or Saddam, hell why do you think we put him in there in the first place? We knew this would happen, and he was in on it. He’s out by the pool at the Crawford Ranch sipping Mai Tai’s and enjoying the billions we’re ripping off from the taxpayers.”
Yeah, the truth. Will someone please come forward and just tell the fucking truth? OH! and without any spin?
January 24, 2005
a whirlwind tour
I’m itching to travel internationally again.
Lets go back in time shall we?
Picture it. 1977 and a young impressionable gay questioning boy is glued to the television while The Love Boat cruises into his life. I worshiped The Love Boat like other boys worshiped Charlies Angels. (well, I worshiped Charlie’s Angeles too, but only for their fantastic hair styles)
Fast Forward to 1987 and a young impressionable gay no-longer-questioning boy is deciding what to do with the rest of his life. The vision of Julie McCoy and her clipboard safely directing embarking passengers to their cabins popped into my head and refused to depart. I decided then and there, that I too, would be a world famous Cruise Director!
“Mr. and Mrs. Jones, your cabin is on the Lido deck, up those stairs and to your right.”
“Mr. Smith, I hope you and your lovely wife enjoy yourselves on your honeymoon, if there’s anything I can do, please let me know. Your cabin is on the Promenade deck # 435 that way.”
“Single big basket passenger I get off at 10:00. Meet me on the Boat Deck for a blow job?”
Oh the life I’d live. Traveling to exotic locations, dancing with hot mustached, hairy-chested, big-basketed men. It would be heaven being the high sea’s whore. Once this vision of my future entered my head there was nothing I could do to remove it, so I gave in and signed up for the Travel and Tourism degree at my Father’s alma matter.
Fast Forward to 1990. Sitting in my parent’s basement, degree in hand with nary a job offer in sight. My brother invites me to visit him in San Francisco and I, wishing to flee the tyrannical rule of my parents, jump at the chance. [Someday, I'll re-live the summer spent removing pebbles from my father's new airstrip to prevent chips to his propeller, and share that story with you, but not today.]
On the last day of my visit to San Francisco, there was an ad in the paper for Japan Airlines. They were looking for Passenger service and Cargo service staff. I sent off a resume, using my brother’s California address and jumped on a plane back to NY, to the grueling task of the runway.
Luckily, they were interested in me, so I flew back out and managed to swing a job. Not the glamorous Passenger Service side, but it was a job, I was out of my parent’s house and I still had flight benefits. I took the job in Cargo Service hoping that I could transfer within the company to the passenger side of the operations. Funny thing was, I turned out to be very well suited to the cargo side and I’ve been working in air cargo ever since.
I was thinking about all of this recently when I stumbled across my first passport. The memories of my trips to Asia made me want to share with you the basics of my trips.
Here, for the world to see, are the dates of the stamps in my passports:
24 Sep 1992 Tokyo, Japan entry
27 Sep 1992 Tokyo, Japan exit
27 Sep 1992 USA entry
06 Apr 1994 Tokyo, Japan entry
06 Apr 1994 Tokyo, Japan exit
06 Apr 1994 USA entry
19 May 1994 Tokyo, Japan entry
19 May 1994 Tokyo, Japan exit
19 May 1994 USA entry
11 Dec 1994 Tokyo, Japan entry
12 Dec 1994 Tokyo, Japan exit
12 Dec 1994 USA entry
Feb 21, 1999 Tokyo, Japan entry
Feb 22, 199 Tokyo, Japan entry
Feb 22, 1999 Taipei, ROC entry
Feb 26, 1999 Taipei, ROC exit
26 Feb 1999 Hong Kong, ROC entry
02 Mar 1999 Hong Kong, ROC exit
02 Mar 1999 USA entry
14 Oct 2000 Singapore, entry
18 Oct 2000 Singapore, exit
18 Oct 2000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia entry
20 Oct 2000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia exit
21 Oct 2000 Tokyo, Japan entry
28 Oct 2000 Tokyo, Japan exit
18 May 2001 Amsterdam, The Netherlands entry
22 May 2001 Amsterdam, The Netherlands exit
As you can see, I made many short trips to Japan, and yes I did make a same day round-trip from the US to Japan and an overnight round trip as well.
Oh, and almost every one of these flights, I was lucky enough to be in business class or first. I’ve been lucky, and yet. I want to travel more.
So I’ve made a decision. I’m not going to ride in the California Lifecycle, I’ll be riding in a similar version here in Chicago. Instead, I’ll be taking that week and heading overseas.
But please. If you’re interested in supporting a very good cause, my friend Lars will be riding and I know he’d appreciate anything you can give. I’ll be supporting him both emotionally and financially.
January 21, 2005
am I crazy to even consider this?
This afternoon, I received an e-mail from a very dear friend of mine asking for money. Not the normal, “can I borrow $100?” kinda e-mail. No, this was a fundraising e-mail for an event that is very dear to my heart.
The California AIDS lifecycle. The 585 mile bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles raises much needed funding for AIDS organizations in both cities. I had ridden in 2 of the formerly titled AIDS Rides when they were managed mismanaged by Palotta Teamworks and was proud of my abilities to not only complete them, but to also raise in excess of $5,000 all by my little ‘ol self.
The first year I attempted, my knee gave out on the second day and I was bussed back to camp and forced onto the sidelines until I could walk again. I managed to ride the last day (in a huge amount of pain) but I didn’t ride every mile, so the following year, I trained and I trained and I did it! I rode every single mile of the 585 mile ride, some of them twice. I remember my ass hurting for weeks.
Anyway, after receiving this e-mail, it hit me. The question that is.
Should I take the next 6 months of my life and dedicate them to this cause? Should I take 1 week of my vacation time and ride 585 miles through the glorious California Countryside raising money and awareness for HIV/AIDS and the people it affects? Should I commit to raising $2,500 towards an amazing cause in this time when the Republican controlled country is reducing AIDS dollars? Should I?
What do you think?
January 19, 2005
If I were a rich man…
My friend the Republican has been going through some relationship/financial difficulties this week and while commiserating with her we got to dreaming about being rich, as is often the case when you are in the middle of tough money issues.
She’d said that she wanted to win the lotto. The value of the lotto in her state was over 100 million dollars. This got us to talking.
The Republican “I’d have to take an extended trip”
Brat “where would we go?”
TR “of course you’d have to go with me”
Brat “that’s a given”
TR “I’d rent a private jet”
Brat “we should go to Europe first”
TR “I’d have the jet stop in Chicago to pick you up”
Brat “We should go on a ship”
TR “No, I think a private jet would be better”
Brat “You think you can afford a jet AND travel?”
TR “No, one of the chartered ones”
Brat ” OH! that makes more sense then”
TR “Yeah, we should go to Europe, like lets start in Italy, but I definitely want to go to Greece”
Brat ya know what?!? We should cross the Atlantic on the QM2
TR “No, private Jet”
Brat “No, see the crossing would take at least a week, so it would allow us to slow down and prepare for a relaxed journey across the Continent”
TR “That makes sense”
Brat “The when we get to Europe we’ll be calmed down and ready to vacation”
clickety clickety of keys in the background
TR “Could you picture us in a Duplex Royal Suite on the QM2?”
clickety clickety “Only $35,000 for the crossing”
Brat “I could totally see us in that suite!”
“So, OK! We’ll disembark in France and take the TVG to Italy for like a week or two, Milan, Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, then we can take one of those cruise ships across the Aegean to Greece.”
TR “We’ll have to stop in NY for a few days for a new wardrobe before we board the ship”
Brat “Ya know, I love spending your money”
laughing TR “I know”
Brat “So then, we’ll shop in NY then head to Italy, then, Ooh ooh! We can take a ship to Greece and stop on Mykonos and Lesbos and all those other gay islands on the way to Greece”
TR “Nice”
Brat “and Spain”
TR “Totally”
Brat “ooh ooh ooh and then after a few months abroad, we can stop into Munich for Oktoberfest”
TR “how long are you expecting this to last?”
Brat “Until you run out of money”
ok, this is a re-creation of the exact conversation, but it captures the spirit or our collective dreaming.
If I won, I wouldn’t take her. I’d spend it all on cars and male whores.
January 17, 2005
w.t.f.?
as if my self-loathing isn’t high enough this bright yet friggin cold mid-western January day, I went to lunch with TLBO on our way to the airport for his return to the Los Angeles Basin Area (don’t let him tell you he’s from LA, he’s from the valley).
We stopped into the Taco Bell of Chinese food and stuffed our face with generic Chinese staples. Finishing off our splendid chinese-lite(tm) fare I opened my fortune cookie to be confronted with the words.
It doesn’t matter.
Who is without a flaw?
Lucky Numbers 8,15,22,34,42,44
and I thought, “what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
carzy, f’d-up weekend
The little Brown One (TLBO) has been in town all weekend visiting me. He does this often and it almost always throws my life into chaos. This weekend, for the most part was a welcome taste of nuttiness that has been long missing from my life since I’ve moved to Chicago. TLBO and I used to be roommates back when I lived in that hamlet of sensibility and temperate weather known as San Francisco. I’ve shared more of my history and life time with TLBO than with any other non-blood relative and therefore, we “get” each other and can be ourselves without feeling the need to put on airs or explain our inner workings and actions.
However, whenever TLBO and I get together, its the people around us that end up suffering and this weekend was no different. We get together and tend to bounce off each other, and when we get bouncing… someone’s going to get hurt if they get too close. When I heard that TLBO was visiting, I was very excited to have FL (Fashionably Late) meet him since TLBO and I have known each other so long, and FL and I have been checking out this dating thing for the past month plus. Well, this weekend, I shouldn’t have booked time with FL because, true to form, somebody got hurt and I feel like shit about it.
The plan was…
Saturday night, we hang out the three of us, have dinner, grab drinks, head home for a little snogging and cuddling before bed (FL and I, that is). Sunday morning, wake up in his arms (FL’s) and snog some more then grab brunch.
The actual was…
Saturday night, TLBO and I hung out, grabbed pizza and watched a movie (Vicodin and Vodka drinks), headed out for the fantastic Ketel One Krush ™ slushy drinks at Sidetrack. FL arrived after TLBO and I’d had 5+ Krushes, TLBO drunk, yours truly exhausted from 2 nights of drinking and also drunk. Home to the sack where we passed out until well into late Sunday morning. And in all this FL was throw aside in a manner that I’m extremely embarrassed and pained about. And I don’t have a clue how to fix it. I don’t know what to say to him or even how.
The hangover lingers from Sunday’s drunkenness (yes, that’s 3 nights in a row) and I’m f’d up over hurting someone so wonderful (notice a trend here?)
January 15, 2005
5 martinis
After 5 martinis I’ve realized, ok 7 martinis but who’s counting, I’ve realized that my last post was more to get sympathy than actually share my space in time. I was sad, depressed and feeling unloved. I’ve been spending way too much time alone, in front of my computer.
So the last 2 nights, I’ve been out with friends drinking.
Its 1:00am and I’m drunk on 7 ish martinis.
Laying in bed with the world spinning and Hoobastank blasting through my iPod that was just returned to me.
The world is better, but I still think I’lll have a little cry before i fall asleep.
tomorrow will be better… or should I say today since it IS 1:00am.