Breathing Room

This is a test blog to make sure that my new host has accepted my blog and will love me long time. One gigabyte of storage for $8.95 a month. Can you beat that?

Now, That Was Fast!

I changed my DNS servers yesterday, about 24 hours ago, and already it's resolved...on my end anyway. That's cool!

Day 8

It's been eight days since I became a full-time employee here. It's still great, and I'm so happy to be here, really. But every morning when I walk in the door, I have to remind myself that I belong here now. I'm on the payroll, I have my health benefits back, I have a desk and computer assigned to my name and not "Contractor." I had my picture and a short video clip taken this afternoon to be added to the company's intranet employee directory. Everyone has to do it, and I put it off long enough. But the sissy in me made sure I looked good every day just in case they caught me in the hall or something. Whatever. I think it's great, and I'm really glad to be here. I think it will be easier to slough off the contractor skin and assume the full-timer skin than I thought it would be.

Huh?

1. Colorblind :: Miss me, I know you'll miss me, I know you'll miss me blind...
2. Shallow :: Deeper than a River
3. Erotica :: Put your hands all over my body
4. Figment :: Do you think that love is a figment of your imagination?
5. Eviction :: Now they wanna put us in a fifteen-storey view and I can't stand it.
6. Composed :: So selfless, cold and composed
7. Chill :: It was a cold chill on a summer night
8. Girl :: Living in a material world, and I am a material girl
9. California :: Dreamin' is becoming a reality
10. Bond :: Shaken, not stirred...and I liked Timothy Dalton

So it's Monday again. I love the weekend, really, but I hate it when I have to compress so many things and chores and tasks into a mere 24 hours or so, taking into account the need for sleep and all that. It sucks that I don't get home until closer to 8 p.m. which doesn't allow me any time during the week, so I have to catch up on the weekend, and invariably, I'm up until midnight Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night trying to cram it all in. I can't wait to move closer to where I work.

I drove past the building we're moving into. It's right next door to a former client of my former boss. And the building is huge! Enormously huge! I can't wait. It's going to be totally cool. We're supposed to be full relocated by the winter holidays. I am very much looking forward to that.

There are five movies out right now that I want to see. I thought about making another full day of movies on Saturday, but it would take 12 hours and like $75 to see them all. So maybe I'll spread them out.

That's all. Happy Monday and all that. See you later.

None

OK, after I climbed out of the hole I had fallen in, on Friday night, I went to see The Stepford Wives. Damn, was that good? It was camp and terribly funny. The last twenty minutes of the show was supposed to be serious and touching, but really now. How could it have been? Oh we all just screamed with laughter. The house was full, chock full of gay men, lots of cute gay men like I hadn't seen in a long time. I always forget how cute Matthew Broderick is. He was just hunky and scrumptious in this show, totally edible. I sincerely apologize for not knowing who Roger Bart is! How adorable is he!

This weekend was another where I just stayed at home and caught up on stuff I neglected during the previous week. This commute is driving me nuts, no pun intended. I get home around 8 p.m. every night. Tell me how anyone is supposed to relax and accomplish anything in two hours a night? I barely eat dinner anymore, and sadly, I'm not losing weight. I can't wait to move. As much as I hate uprooting my home and placing it down somewhere else, somewhere foreign and strange, I simply cannot drive like this. And as much as I hate to admit it, I will miss the interaction that I have with H every day. We hate each other, it's true, but there's a caring and compassionate side to each of us that will miss the other when we have to go our separate ways. It has to happen. And besides, we've grown so far apart, it's not hard to see that this is long overdue. But I will miss him very very much. Yeah, yeah, forty miles isn't so bad. We'll be in different area codes, but when has that stopped us? It's not the same.

With that said, all of my plans for travel this summer and autumn are put on hold. I have postponed everything until I'm moved. I have to save every dime I can (bribe a landlord) to (let me) get a new apartment and furnish it from the ground up. I don't have any furniture of my own, I need dishes and appliances, I need linens. I need everything. So I can't very well go traipsing around Europe this summer and then expect to move into a new apartment by December. Like what? I'm going to sleep on the floor until I can afford a bed? No, sorry. I've done some rough calculations, and it will cost around $6,000 to move into a new place now, and that's shopping at Ikea and BB&B!

And, well, I don't exactly have the time to take off now that I'm a full time employee. When I was a consultant, I could come and go and work as I pleased, depending on the money. Now I have to consider the money as well as how much time off I have, and as of today, I have about five hours of time off. It will accumulate, but not quickly enough to take ten days off as I had planned. So my trip to England, the cruise somewhere on the world's oceans, the extended stay in Hawaii will all have to wait a while longer. I don't know if I should admit this, but I've been a little anxious about these trips because of an irrational fear that if I don't take them quickly enough, these places will go away. Now, we all (should) know that Hawaii is always moving and will one day disappear into the depths of the Pacific, but England probably won't. Neither will Eastern Europe or Montreal. And considering that the events of The Day After Tomorrow are completely implausible, I think New York will be around for a while, too. As I said, it's irrational, and I know that, but I feel like I'm running out of time to enjoy them. Oh, this is probably deeper than what I want to get into here, but gotta have something to talk about. I'm not paying to host this site for nothing, now, am I?

So, happy Monday. See you later.

Something to Keep Me Busy

1. Abundance :: Water (which is kind of a non sequitur)
2. Casino :: Sharon Stone, what a gritty movie that was
3. Shell :: Oil has the best car washes
4. Overpriced :: Shell Oil
5. Cancellation :: fees suck
6. Eternal :: Flame
7. Lyrics :: are cool
8. Faith :: Hill was great in The Stepford Wives
9. Because :: we like you!
10. Wimp :: Hey you, don't be silly, put a rubber on your willy!

Happy Birthday, Anastasia!

I went to high school with Anastasia. She was one of my closest friends during that ridiculous time. She, Kate, and I hung out a lot during our senior year and then after we all graduated. The three of us were all born within three weeks of each other, Ana first, Kate next in the first week of July, and then me in the second week of July...can't remember which day that is, though. Anyway, wherever she is, give her a big birthday hug!

You know how when...

...you eat a lot of garlic and then you get this aftertaste on your tongue and it's like almost as good as the garlic itself and how that aftertaste makes you want to eat more and more of it? I love garlic. And I am so thankful for living so close to where beautiful garlic grows. Have you ever driven through Gilroy in late summer with the windows rolled down? The scent of garlic inundates the surrounding area and infuses the air with fragrant goodness. We didn't use a lot of garlic when I was growing up. My mother only ever had a tiny little box that held three cloves of the stuff, and she used it sparingly. So when I came to California and started eating in the restaurants here, my tastebuds (and my nose) were in for a treat. When H and I started "hanging out," we ate at a restaurant in Felton, Ciao Bella I think it was, where we had our first exposure to a plate of chopped garlic swimming in a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar to be sopped up with pieces of bread. It was this little appetizer that I indulged in this evening and which caused the potentially funky aftertaste to appear on my tongue. And it's so good for you!

I Wish...

...that we could drive on the highway like we drive bumper cars. When someone ahead of you is going too slow, just bump into them to get them to speed up. When someone cuts you off, just slam into them and get them out of the way. When someone doesn't use their turn signals, bump the fuck out of them. I wish.

I'm exhausted! I have this marvelous new PC at work, well as marvelous as PCs can be, and for the last few weeks, I've heard nothing but static coming from the headphones and speakers. So, since I've learned that the IT group thinks me a frivolous and demanding kind of person, or shall we say onerous or burdensome, the sort of which I am nothing, and simply because I have made them work for their $10 an hour for the last few days, chérie, I have had to take a few things into my own hands. So I spent the last two hours this morning troubleshooting the sound card on this machine and figuring out why I get nothing but static no matter what I'm listening to. I fixed it! It was very simple really, but now I'm exhausted. But now I can listen to GaydarRadio again. And NPR if I so choose. It is Science Friday after all!

Oh right, I have this giant monitor, (mind you, I've inherited this technology...I would never expect to have a dual monitor set up, although it's ace right about now!), and the feng shui of this room leaves so much to be desired. My back is to the door, hello. So I dug up this little mirror that sits on the corner of your monitor so you can see what's behind you. It's just perfect for watching the people walk by and into my room. Plus I can always make sure to look flawless before trying to impress people. That's so important, of course.

Pink Saturday

This weekend was Pride in San Francisco. I always forget that this happens every year. I should know, living where I do, but the rainbow flags are up year-round now, so it all blends together. Anyway, I went with H to Pink Saturday, the fabulous pre-Pride block party in the Castro sponsored and hosted by the always deeeliteful and effervescent Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. As always, it was just streets full of eye candy and drink. These are the times when I wish I hadn't quit smoking. You couldn't walk two feet without running into someone's cigarette breathing in your face. It made me quite jealous. It was H's birthday on Saturday, so I thought was especially nice to have such a great big party that I didn't have to plan or commit to. What a great friend am I, I know, but 's OK because neither of us like the fêtes anyway. Mine is coming up soon, and I'd prefer to take the weekend off and go to the beach or something.

Though we returned home late (or early depending on your point of view), I was up at 9:30 am on Sunday. Didn't go to the parade. Didn't watch it on TV. Instead, I rediscovered the joys of iTunes and downloading music legally. And after a sumptuous dinner, we headed off to the Castro again to hit the beer busts only to find that there were no beer busts. Apparently, the bars do well enough during Pride to not have to offer cheap beer for any amount of time. Well... And so we sat and drank and stared at all the guys, wondering if they were from out of town. For me it's pretty easy to spot the tourists. I mean, on Market Street or in Union Square, they're always the ones in shorts and sandals. In the Castro, I'd say it's the boys with the deep, dark tans. Either they're tourists, or they vacation in the sun..._a lot_...or they're from somewhere south. It doesn't really matter because I wasn't "out on the prowl" as some would say (and I hesitate to write), and I just like to look anyway. Just like window shopping, no commitments, no disappointments.

As always, in events like Pride and the Folsom Street Fair, I am reminded of how great a region we live in. This town is so diverse and so interesting every other day of the year, but then when Pride comes along, even more of that diversity shines through. I so take it for granted. As much as I'll probably never afford to buy a house here, I couldn't move to where I could afford a house simply because I think it would be too boring. Quiet, safe, and affordable, yes, but less diversity. I'll never stop saying how great the Bay Area is due to the vast assortment of peoples and cultures that live here peacefully. I don't want to give that up.

And with diversity comes the variety of buttons and t-shirts and bumper stickers that are so entertaining. Among them, a button labeled "Outsource Bush," t-shirts that read "Tastes Like Chicken," "One Free Ride," the ubiquitous "Morningwood University All-Stars," and one that amused me: on the front read, "No one knows I'm a lesbian...," on the back read, "...except my cat."

So now it's back to every other day of the year.

Boom Boom Ba

So I'm walking through Fry's on a foggy Wednesday evening before I drive the drive home, and what do I find staring at me in the face but a DVD collection of Dead Like Me for only $34.99! It's such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. I love love love that show. I know, I should be saving my money instead of spending it so frivolously. Gosh, I feel like the whole world (or at least the tiny portion of it that reads this thing) is now my conscience.

And then I get an e-mail announcing the arrival of the second season of Dead Like Me starting later this month. So now I have to find someone who has Showtime and is generous enough to tape it for me. My resource moved. And I'm cheap. No not really.

I so want DirectTV but I am very hesitant to subscribe to something like that because I want to move out of here and there is definitely a contract that goes along with the dish. But it's hella cheaper than Comcast, and you get all the channels (and some premiums) that the Super Ultra Deluxe Gold Comcast Cable Package gives you for less than half of the Comcast price per month. So, there's such an incentive, just no personal stability. And I don't need to be sharing that here.