Posts from — June 2003

So I’ve joined NetFlix and have become addicted. (even though somebody broke The Seventh Seal, haha. it was the seventh angel, i tell you!)

Saturday I spent most of the day at Pride in a booth for Growing American Youth, a social and support group for GLBTQA youth. Must have handed out about three or four hundred magnets, and I think I’m reciting the stock explanation in my sleep.

The G.A.Y. booth was right next to the Showtime booth. I got to see the fundamental difference between the gay male and lesbian reactions to the stuff they had laid out:

*Gay men say “Oooh, tiaras! I want the one that says ‘Luscious’! Oh yeah, they’re starting a show about lesbians; I’m going to have to watch it.”

*Lesbians say either “Oh, that Brian is SUCH A WHORE” or “I sure hope Ted and Emmett work out together”, then invariably follow it up with a mocking “Hey, honey, want a tiara that says ‘Ladylike’? Haha!”

While I was there I ran into 2 boys I’d like to get to know better. The first, whom I’ll call RCB (for “Resurfaced Crush Boy”), I know pretty well already as a friend. As you may be able to guess, I had a crush on him, then he vanished for a while, and now he’s back. The second, whom I’ll call Flag Boy (read on for an explanation), I made eye contact with several times as he made the loop; it turns out I’m friends with his roommate (whose comics everybody should read and enjoy).

But it’s tough to go flirt with boys when you’re passing out magnets and info for 6 hours, so that evening I took my leave of the booth and went home (it was only a block). Took a quick little disco nap, ate a little, and cleaned up to go out.

RCB had told me he’d be at Attitudes, a local lesbian bar, that evening. (Well, not entirely lesbian. Most of the clientele are, but they always have a sizable gay-male and straight crowd. It’s a friendly, laid-back sort of place, with an 18+ door policy on Saturday nights.) I took the hint and showed up. Nothing prepared me for the line, though - apparently word has gotten out about the place, because even at Pride I wouldn’t have expected a 25-minute wait to get in. The line wasn’t bad, though; I was next to a gaggle of gayboys and we reviewed all the youngsters. (It was mostly along the lines of “Teach him grooming and get him in the weight room and he’ll be hot”.)

Once I got inside I sort of reverted to my usual club-self - wandering, quiet, and reserved, with a deathgrip on my drink. That isn’t usually very conducive to meeting the hotties, and it wasn’t that night. I saw RCB but could only muster a quick little “Hi” before introversion took over. But then his roommate accosted me and passed along their phone number… so we’ll see about that one.

Sunday, I took R* to the parade and festival. He had just done a 25-mile bike ride for diabetes research so he was a little tired, so I dragged his ass all over the park! HA!

First, though, we hit the parade. It was pretty hot out there already, especially in the direct sunlight on the pavement with little wind, but still the drag queens marched on in their 4-inch stiletto heels and still they looked fabulous. Damn, you HAVE to respect that. I gave R* the play-by-play (”Here we have HRC, a national GLBT rights advocacy group, and whoa! there goes their balloon logo!”). He seems to think I should do commentary on the radio for next year’s parade… hmm, it’s an idea…

The first group we saw in the parade was Band Together, a gay concert band. (how cool is that?) They were playing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” as a particularly fabú drag queen waved a rainbow flag and as Flag Boy marched in the color guard (hence the pseud). I was very impressed with how they sounded - for a bunch of amateurs, meeting only once a week, they were damned good. Coulda worked on their alignment, though. *cough*

The ACLU had people dressed up as Supreme Court justices carrying signs that read “YOUR LOVE IS NO LONGER A CRIME”, and everybody went fucking nuts as they marched past.

A group of gay physicians had the best chants - “Two! Four! Six! Eight! Let us check your prostate!” and “We’re here! We’re queer! Have you had a Pap smear?”

The local Quaker meeting had a small but feisty contingent - every so often they’d run in a big circle as if they were holding a large balloon. (Unfortunately I can’t find a decent link for them - anybody want to help?)

And PFLAG got the biggest cheer of all, naturally.

After the parade we hit the festival proper. Mostly we wandered the park, checking out boys, but occasionally we’d stop at a booth and get some info, or talk to someone one or both of us know. That only lasted a couple hours before we headed back to my nearby air-conditioned apartment for some food, drink, and relief from the heat. We had a nice little moment holding our bare feet near the AC vent while eating pizza and watching Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai for about an hour before heading back to the festival. He met up with a boy he’d been seeing, though, so after they got going I hung around for a bit and then left.

Dinner at the parents’ house, as is usual for a Sunday night, then home to finish the movie. It’s a terrific film, and I think it’s going to make my Required Viewing list. (partly because Kyuzo is a fucking BADASS.) Putzed around on the computer for a bit, then bed.

More later - time to wrap up work now.

Required reading time.

Bill Moyers on what it means to be “progressive”.

John Dean on whether or not lying about the reasons for war is an impeachable offense. (And John Dean knows a thing or two about impeachable offenses.)

Walter Dellinger and Dahlia Lithwick on Lawrence v. Texas and its meaning.

Read, think, grow. You know the spiel.

Yeah, yeah, blogslack, I know. Shut up already.

+++

So I’ve been to lots of baseball games lately. There was CD case day, when I sat in the work seats with R* and had to explain a few baseball details (foul territory, the yellow line, force outs, etc.). (Give him a little credit, he grew up with cricket.)

Then there was Scott Rolen bobblehead day. I was given tickets for those at 4:55 on a Friday, when I was one of the only people at the office. Wound up there with my younger brother, waiting in line only 30 minutes (at my ’secret’ gate) to get the doll. Fortunately the Cards actually WON that game.

Finally, we have this past Saturday’s Turn Back the Clock Day game between the Cardinals and the Baltimore Orioles. Both teams wore uniforms from the 1944 season, when they last met (as the Cards and the St. Louis Browns) in the World Series. Our seats were in the left-field bleachers and we had a great vantage as Garrett Stephenson’s apathy got the better of the entire team. (Dude, you are NOT supposed to lose to the Browns like that.) Unfortunately, I developed a very appropriate color scheme on my arms and head, turning a lovely shade of cardinal in the direct June afternoon sunlight.

+++

This morning on the way to work I was more than a little upset at the chain smoker in the car in front of me. OK, so it’s bad enough that you’re throwing crap out the windows of a moving vehicle, but do you really need to throw lit cigarettes?? I mean, hey, let me get trash from my car, light it on fire, and throw it out the window where it will fragment into thousands of burning embers blinding the guy behind me and igniting a small brush fire on the shoulder, just so I can be as cool as you! FUN!!

+++

Saw Finding Nemo last night. It was pretty good, especially when the Pixar guys worked in all their little allusions (the Buzz Lightyear toy, the Hitchcockian seagull swarm, etc.). Ellen DeGeneres really steals the show, though - she takes the ball and goes HOME with it.

Rented Drumline on Friday. It was a little cliché and predictable at times; the cocky young prodigy comes through and saves the program, etc. But I want to see more bands do Can You Feel It in field shows.

Also rented Jackass: The Movie, and yes, I am officially ashamed of that one. Although the bit with the golf carts was INSPIRED.

+++

I really don’t know why I’m being so caps-lock-happy all of a sudden. I mean, come ON, what is the DEAL here?

+++

Had a checkup at the doctor’s office last week. It was great for my ego - he asked if I had been working out, mentioned that my skin was looking great (? but i’ll take the compliment), and indicated that I’m doing much better than most of his patients (a big surprise, because he has some real hot boys under his care).

+++

Yay summer! It’s so gorgeous outside. Saturday Ed and I walked to the Festival of Nations for lunch (I had paella, he had a kebab) and we sat around in Tower Grove Park for a while, just enjoying the weather, the smells of so many different cuisines, and the steel drummer.