never fully-clothed or intentionally misinforming

Okay, okay. We went. Again. And I probably didn't tell you, and I'll probably catch a lot of heat for that, but that's okay. The first time you get to take a semi-secret rendezvous, you'll understand why I did it. Not to say thinking of my friends when I travel is a burden, but thinking of them when I've got less than two days to muscle in the entire northern half of the Las Vegas strip, a fancy french dinner, a musical, the Bellagio's famous conservatory, a 4 AM trip to down town, the forum shops, a stroll through Mandalay's shark reef, and more black jack than I can handle is. I just wanted a weekend with no phone calls. No distractions. And, with very few exceptions that I chose to make, that is exactly what I got. And I have the blisters on my feet to prove all the pavement I pounded in 43 hours. The trip was full of experiences, both good and bad. At first I thought it sucked that we were going to Las Vegas. With the exception of New Hampshire (which s

Here are a couple pictures from the Obama rally last week in Gainesville: Susan and Angela observing some of the crowd. The three of us in front of the podium, in front of the Hippodrome after Michelle Obama finished her speech. Michelle Obama visiting supporters.

These things gave me a snarky grin today. 1. Watching videos of Bill O'Reilly being an utter tool and getting owned by his guests. 2. Keeping secrets. 3. Knowing I experienced a once-in-a-lifetime political rally yesterday with my two best girlfriends. 4. The best of them all - in 8 days I'll be seeing the one and only Rehasher for the first time in years as they perform their return to the live music scene show at this year's Fest. Suddenly I don't feel like writing. This is tragic. This whole day has gone to the dogs. 1. My knees are aching today. I'm not sure if it's weather related or something to do with not moving around much in my sleep last night. Either way, the result of whatever really sucks. 2. After the political rally in Gainesville, I went to Ocala last night to work out. Angela and I rode in her car and when we got to the gym, I took my ring off and put it in the car door handle. And I left it there. That means I get to drive all the way back to

Thank you Laura for the link. This was interesting. I could relate to more than one of the posed situations. Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz... You Are a Doris! You are a Doris -- "I must help others." Dorises are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs. How to Get Along with Me * Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific. * Share fun times with me. * Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours. * Let me know that I am important and special to you. * Be gentle if you decide to criticize me. In Intimate Relationships * Reassure me that I am interesting to you. * Reassure me often that you love me. * Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me. What I Like About Being a Doris * being able to relate easily to people and to make friends * knowing what people need and being able to make their lives

Free your mind, and the rest will follow. . . How do you choose the candidate that represents YOUR best interests, YOUR well-being, and YOUR future? I really wish people would ask themselves these next questions and answer them honestly. And then -- apparently the hardest part -- vote accordingly. And I wish people would think a little further than the immediate questions. For instance: Health care: If America had a health care institution instilled that entitled all Americans to coverage, that would eliminate unpaid hospital bills. If you think of the hospital's services and products the same as you think of a supermarkets -- the more shoplifting that occurs, the higher the prices raise. If every person had health insurance, the 'shoplifting' (which really, what other option do they have but to suffer?) would cease and the cost of being treated would go down. Amazing. I know. Another instance: Education. Sure, getting a college degree might not be necessary for you, but i

So I haven't gotten a chance to watch the debate yet. But I feel the need to post this after two things today (a conversation with co-workers, and a bulletin post from a friend). Despite what it looks like that I missed the debate last night, I've been all kinds of alert when it comes to this election. I'm not about to burn in hell with the rest of America if McDinosaur and Madame Cavewoman get into office. If that happens, I'm packing my dogs up and leaving. Because if that happens, America is certainly going to Hell in a hand basket and I won't be on board that shit -- I mean, ship! And another little bit for fun:

It's campaign season. And oh how I just love it! I love hearing only about McCain/Palin & Obama/Biden because I just know there is absolutely NO other news happening in the world. Even much of what I've heard about the bail out has been centered around how McCain has put his campaign on hold... I can't help but laugh in sad, sad tragedy. If you ask me, politicians should get a very limited time to campaign. They should be allotted an amount of time -- use it wisely and use it justly . With a limited campaign period, there would be far less room for mudslinging and mudslinging itself would become less effective. Candidates would be forced to focus on pitching their plan to the American people. Our entire campaign season would be so much more pleasant and cut-and-dry. It's just too bad Americans thrive on drama. What gets me though is that cocky, "I am right and there's no two ways around it" attitude that politicians and almost all their sheep-like foll

The economy sucks right now. (Understatement of the year?) Everyone knows it sucks, but for the most part, everyone's still going out and doing things. Me for example -- I went to Target yesterday and bought half the store. Granted, about half of what I did buy was stuff I truly needed (deodorant, shampoo, whatever), the other half was stuff that was on sale. Yay for sales. Now I'm broke. I'm off topic. At Wendy's last week, I order two 5 piece chicken nuggets and my total was $2.71. Granted, that's not at all expensive, but it's also not at all much to eat. I did a quick scan of the menu when I was leaving. Nuggets, which were previously $.99 for five have now gone up to $1.59 for five. Considering the economy, it's no wonder, but it's still a hard pill to swallow. Realizing the increase in cost of the nuggets made me start thinking about what else has gone up. Sticking to the food industry, I can't imagine entree costs haven't increased at rest

Okay, so I've done these lists before. But this one came directly from an inspiring blog from my new favorite read -- Joe's blog . He wrote what I presume to be an incomplete list of things he wants to accomplish in his life. Apparently Joe and I both have a lust for lists. Here's my incomplete list of life goals: destinations - live in Boston - live in Baltimore - tour Europe - Visit New Orleans - live out of my backpack for a few weeks in Europe - see the Northwest part of America professional - teach English overseas - successfully publish/maintain a website - sell my photography - photograph more than just weddings - sell a painting - design and publish a book of local artists and writers - publish a calendar of my photography - own my own ceramics studio experiences - watch Wizard of Oz while listening to the Dark Side of the Moon - get a meaningful and tasteful tattoo (?) - get a meaningless and tasteless tattoo (?) - be recognized when I walk into a bar (and have it

Everything comes in threes. 1. Jonesy called two nights ago. It startled me a little bit. It was just 10pm, I'd just laid down and the telephone rang -- "private caller," I know that's him calling from home. We talked for several minutes while I tried to stay awake in bed. He filled me in on some of the happier updates in his life right now and while he was talking, I thought to myself, I cannot recall a time I heard a happier tone in his voice. There's definitely something to be said for recognizing true happiness in the heart of a person who seldom seems to exhibit it. And all I can think is that without her, he'd be in a far worse place right now. Getting to share the excitement of someone else's fresh happiness is one of my most favorite natural highs. Aside from being giddy about our respective happinesses, Jonesy and I talked about the Fest. It's his first time. Teehee. I'm actually really excited about it. I love sharing the Fest with first-

1 thing that makes Facebook worth it: I got a bumper sticker from the excellent Vania Lopez. This is what it says: "I'm leaning towards voting for the presidential candidate not endorsed by the worst president in American history." Ah, God bless America -- the only country who votes for a moron not once, but twice. And then, when given a third chance -- they choose to listen to the moron who screwed them up to begin with. Why would any semi-intelligent, self-respecting, heart-possessing American vote for a man who's campaign bears bone-chilling resemblance to the hideous, idiotic, and immoral past eight years we have all witnessed/experienced/died from? This is one of those moments -- maybe days -- that I want to yank some yuppie soccer mom (not a Palin jab, although it should be) out of her SUV, snatch her by the scruff of her neck, drag her hater-blocker wearing self to the back of tank she's driving, shove her plastic face into her 'I support our troops'

Dirty Hippie (12:59:21 PM): what about fate, do you believe in that? Mr. President (1:01:36 PM): I do and I don't believe in fate. This is going to get trippy and mathematical on you but here goes. I do believe that everything that is happening in our universe is already done (think of it like a simulation; everything has already been simulated). But that doesn't stop the moment to moment of the simulation feel like choices to me. Dirty Hippie (1:03:05 PM): so you're saying you do get options, but your options (and inevitably, your decision) have already been pre-determined? Mr. President (1:03:18 PM): In other words if someone from another dimension was watching me right now. To them I'd seem like a comic strip the beginning and ending are all on the same sheet of paper. But to me I'm living the moment to moment and cannot perceive the fact that I am in the comic book and everything has already happened Dirty Hippie (1:03:58 PM): so we're

I was looking over the list of musicians for the Fest. So far, out of the 281 listed 'confirmed bands,' there's only one person I can honestly say I don't give a hoot to see. Paul Baribeau. Last year, I literally did research to determine which bands I wanted to catch. When I came across his myspace page, I got excited. His pictures and his songs made me feel like he was a very nomadic/hippie/about love kind of guy. So I walked like 23 blocks, seriously, to his show (which was at a bakery?). Susan and I then sat on the asphalt with however many other fans and listened to him sing about doing things you want to do and loving the people you want to love in life before your time is up and not regretting any of it. When all his happy, heartfelt singing was over, Susan and I approached him to say a quick thank you and show our gratitude, and Mr. Baribeau completely blew us off. Apparently he had more important things to do but, by the looks of things, showering was not one o

It's been awhile since I sat down and wrote out my thoughts, unstopped. I'm not really feeling a steady flow of conscious thought right now, but I know I have things to say. So . . . I think I'll take from the Great and Invincible Joe and make a list (of things going on). 1. Various Concerts. October is proving to be an incredibly busy month for me. I've had a couple opportunities to see some really awesome bands and on all accounts, I've dropped the ball. It bothers me that I let that happen because everybody knows music typically is my life. But other things have been happening and I'm having to make unfortunate sacrifices. The beauty of rock and roll (and, in my case, punk rock) is that it's forgiving of me and understanding that sometimes it can't come first, even if I can't forgive myself. I'll probably resent myself for a significant amount of time regarding the Against Me! show. The fact that a perfect stranger held a ticket for me at the

I'm thoroughly pissed at myself because I didn't get online yesterday. I didn't get online and so I didn't see that a very friendly guy was trying to reach me to hand over an extra Against Me ticket. I'm even more pissed than I would be because I read Joe's blog and he wrote about how reliably awesome AM! is live. I'm so mad at myself. Here's to Kevin, the nice fella who tried his hardest to reach me and share his AM! tickets. I appreciate your kindness. Sent: 10-5 11:10AM If you still need one, I have one for you. Get back to me ASAP! Kevin

For the first time in a long time, I'm truly looking forward to getting up early and doing some hard core physical labor. Saturday morning marks my return to Habitat for Humanity . . . and I cannot wait. Truly. I am thoroughly looking forward to getting up, driving into town when the rest of the city still sleeps, getting myself some breakfast and busting hump before the dawn breaks. There's something about breaking a sweat early in the day that makes me feel sufficiently alive. And when I finish working on Angelica's house for the day, I'll hit the gym and probably go for a swim. Like habitat for Humanity, I haven't been to the gym in quite awhile . . . and I miss it. chronically. My plan is to shower and then hit the sauna. On Saturday early afternoons, the gym is effectively dead -- just the way I like it. So sitting in the sauna for ten or fifteen minutes is indescribably cleansing. After I sit in the sauna, I usually get in the hot tub and relax again (because