Brian gets home tonight. I'm sitting here wasting time on the computer until he gets home. His schedule this coming month is going to be tight. He will fly out Sunday afternoon to Medford Oregon and can't fly back to Dallas until Friday night. This will go on the entire month of February. Luckily, Brian, Steven, Brad and myself are all taking a mini vacation together to San Diego. We'll spend the day in the city on Friday, head to Disneyland on Saturday, Back in San Diego Sunday to visit the Zoo, Balboa Park and hit a few clubs that night. We'll leave Monday around noon for back home. Again, I'm like a little kid. I can't wait to get back to Disneyland. Will I ever fully grow up? I hope not.
Brian's going to be one tired SOB by the end of the month. I need to be on my best husbear behavior and make his weekends completely relaxing and no stress. I guess that means I have to put out a lot, huh?
I've completed the painting for my Niece.. I have another set to complete next week for the auction back home. Even though these paintings are NOT my style, it's work and it pays me money. I shouldn't complain. I'm just not comfortable enough with them to post them here for everyone to critique. I'm highly critical of my work and I've not reached a level of 100% satisfaction with them that I can achieve with my drawings. I probably never will, but at least I should improve and become more comfortable with them.
Now if I could just find some people to pose nude for some figure studies. I'm wanting to get together a nice body of work for this website I keep invisioning. If it ever happens.
I just need to get off my ass.
I got a call last night from Steven, who's in Louisiana dealing with the passing of his Grandmother. He was very close to her and he and the whole family have taken it pretty hard. There's some sort of tradition in Louisiana, where funerals take three days. The Funeral, viewings, the rosary, post funeral hang out at the gravesite thingy and of course potlucks. I was surprised when he told me all of the stuff that he has to attend. When they bury their loved ones in Louisiana, it's an event and they make sure things are done right I guess. Back home we go to the funeral, have a short graveside service and then have a potluck afterwards. All in a 4 hour period. End of story.
After I hung up with him, I got to thinking about my grandmothers funeral. We all met in West Texas. We all attended the funeral and then hung out at the bar she owned for a few hours. The non drinkers (Christians) had cokes and the others drank in sin. We all loved our grandmother, but were never very close. We saw her once a year when she came to visit. To me growing up, she was the big haired woman with a funny accent who gave you $20 every time you saw her. I was more upset for my Mother then anything else. Same goes for my grandfather. Most of us kids didn't like him but we felt bad for Mom. Never knew my Dad's parents. From what I remember, they died at an early age.
I won't get into talking about other funerals.
In unrelated news, I've been busy painting lately. My sister in law asked me to do a painting for her daughter, like I did for my Sister. It seems that my niece has wanted me to paint or draw her something for the longest time. I've also been asked to paint two more paintings for an auction my brother and his wife are going to attend. It's some high society event in my hometown to raise money for a charity. I didn't know my hometown HAD a high socieity, but I guess my bother and his wife are a part of it. What do they serve in central Nebraska at these events? Pigs in a blanket smothered in a bernaise sause?
I may not be famous and I may not hang my work in the swankest galleries in Manhattan, but in the eyes of my family I'm a superstar.
Sorry, that last sentence made me giggle.
We all have pet names for our significant other. Babe, baby, honey, sweetheart, poohbear. Yesterday while walking up to the grocery store, I was going to call Brian "Poodle Juice" (long story short, back in his Christian days, he wouldn't say cuss words and would substitute Poodle Juice instead *rolls eyes*) and for some reason it came out "Poodle Douche".
I think I may be the first person to call their partner that name.
In HGAW (hot guy at work) news, I commented to him a week ago while he walked to someones desk to get donuts, that he constantly eats. I never see him without food being shoved in his face. He got paranoid and called me (we sit two desks apart) and asked me if I thought he was getting fat. I told him, not at all. He then asked me if I thought his body looked good and in shape. I told him that it was very nice. He seemed very pleased.
A day later, he calls me back to his desk to show me a video a co-worker sent him. It's a video of some very young twink, dancing to a song called Pop and Lock or something stupid like that. The twink is shirtless, bumping, grinding and thrusting his junk at the camera. He was mesmerized saying that wished he could dance like that and he asked me if I could dance like that.
"Only for dollar bills", I said.
Just last friday, he was in a silly mood and kept coming by my desk and being goofy. At one point he grabs his stomach and said that he hurts from doing so many crunches. He then asked me if I worked out. I had to snicker. I said not on a regular basis. When I DO workout it's usually cardio and maybe some yoga. "Yoga, huh?", he said. "I bet you're extremely flexible then". I did everything not to laugh.
"You might say that", I responded.
At least we seem to have moved past the point of talking about poop.
Thought I would share with you the latest commission portraits that I was asked to do. One my sisters, co-worker's little girl and the other is a couple that we've met through going to The Ranch. A friend of theirs wanted the portrait done as a Christmas gift. I had to wait until now to post a picture since their picture didn't arrive until a few days ago, believe it or not.
It looks like I really need to seriously think of setting up a site for this. I have someone in mind I want to talk to about webdesign, but I also want everyone out theres feedback. If you know of someone who does webdesign and could hook me up with a great design to showcase my work and even order commisssion pieces online, please let me know. I'm seriously thinking about taking this to the next level.
I think it's about time.
It was an interesting night last night. I had today off from work for MLK day and Brian got to stay home this week since they're really slow out in Oregon on his assignment. We were invited out by friends to go drinking since most of us had the next day off.
We started off at The Door for the beer bust and proceeded to The Round Up after that. We ran into Wayne Smith who's quite the celebrity in this town. He's a drag performer who's known for doing an incredible Cher.
First thing he did when he saw me was to show me his wedding ring. I was so caught off guard and excited for him at the same time. I hadn't seen him in so long. I had been out of touch on what's been going on in his life. Then his husband turns around. A huge, hulking bear of a man and grinning from ear to ear. They were both so damn happy to have found each other. I think I got a little teary eyed for them.
We hung out with someone new. His name is TJ. Quite the sweet kid. He's only been out a year, so everything is still so new to him but he seems to have adjusted quickly. It's nice to meet someone who's not jaded and enjoys things so much and looks forward to new experiences and meeting new people. I remember being that way once when I first came out. I still love meeting new people and experiencing new things, but the whole gay scene isn't the same today as it was 15-20 years ago.
Our gay district was once a bustling community, crawling with tons of people. It was full of shops, restaurants and bars. Now a few of the bars have closed down and so have some of the stores. Our coffee shop, where the Dallas Gay movement was started, was in fear of shutting down last month until a lease offer came in at the last minute. People just don't go out as much anymore or hang out in the gay district for coffee or dinner like before. Times have changed. The internet has taken people away from all of that i feel. I just hope our area gets back on it's feet. I would hate to see it disappear into nothing but shopping centers and condo's. We already noticed a couple days ago while eating dinner at Hunky's how you would never had seen a straight couple with a child eating there. While we sat there, not one but TWO couples came in with their kids to eat. It's not a bad thing at all. Things are just changing.
We've become less social creatures over the years. Staying home more and not socializing as much with our gay brothers and sisters in an area we claimed as our own. There are times where I miss it down there. Miss hearing new music, hanging witih friends at the coffee shop or on the patio of our favorite restaurant. I miss enjoying a couple beers with friends on the patio of our favorite bar.
Maybe I'm just getting old.
Thats probably it.
Brian and I have been trying to think about all the cities we want to visit this year. He's wanting to go back to San Diego for a few days, driving up one day to Anaheim to go to Disneyland again. I love him for that. He knows what I like. We're thinking of doing that in February. We need to start planning soon.
The rest of the cities we want to hit this year are San Francisco, Palm Springs, Seattle, New Orleans, Orlando and NYC. We're not sure exactly when these will be, or if we'll even be able to go to all of them. Having a new job, the number of days I've accrued is small, but it's building. The other part of this, is that leaving my job for anything more then a couple days can be difficult due to the clients that I have. Taking a weeks long vacation is almost impossible. These trips will have to be 3-4 day weekend trips at best.
Seattle is a definate. We want to go up and see one of my closest friends Alison. We're thinking March or April would be best. Palm Springs in May for our anniversary. New Orleans for July 4th weekend and back to San Francisco for Folsom in September. Many might wonder what happened to GB:NYC5 in New York City. I think it's time someone else took over the reigns this year if they want to keep it going. Only a handful of actual readers of mine were at the last event. The rest of the weekend was spent hanging with bloggers I've gotten to know over the years. We decided that the next time we're in NYC, it's just going to be for a normal weekend to see everyone and not feel pressured to plan and entire weekend of activities for everyone to attend. Less pressure. So when we come to NYC is up in the air. After visiting Orlando last year with Brian's parents, we talked almost immediately afterwards how we wanted to go back as soon as possible.
Then there's the other cities we've talked about visiting. Chicago, Denver, Miami. Don't forget I've got to figure out when to go home to Nebraska a few times to make Mama happy.
We're also working on getting my passport so we can start thinking of a trip to Europe next year.
What are your plans for traveling this year?
I have this.....no, no my "friend" has this co-worker who seems to have crossed a line lately. He's a nice, handsome, strapping young buck. Over six foot tall, 200 pound of nothing but pure muscle. He's quite and soft spoken and always overly polite. He's play almost every sport, including college football.
Lately, he seems to have gotten more comfortable with me my friend. He talks to me my friend about his latest purchase, his new dog, what he's doing this coming weekend. The past few weeks, he's started striking up conversations with me my friend in the bathroom. Why in the fuck, straight men feel the need to do this is beyong me. Especially while I'm my friend is peeing and he's finished, standing a few feet away, rambling on about something. Any straight man out there reading this blog (and I know there are a handful of you) who would like to explain this phenomenon to me, I would sure appreciate it.
Recently, he's gotten so comfortable he's telling my friend about the consistancy of his bowel movements while standing in the bathroom. Letting him know it was a good one or not or that today's was .......well, I won't share the details. This state of comfortable has progressed to talking about how gassy he is and has even gone so far as to fart in front of my friend while standing at the urinal. It's usually because of all the fruit he eats or so he says.
Now he's takes his sweet time buttoning up his pants and tucking in his shirt, while my friend is standing there washing his hands. Of course, the conversation continues while he follows my friend out of the bathroom and back to their desks.
I think I've my friend has made a new best friend......
This past weekend, we helped out Robert (mama) by helping him Judge an area arts contest at the gradeschool he teaches at. This is nothing new for me. Over the years, I've been a judge or juried many art or gallery shows. Everything from gradeschool through gradschool.
The categories were fine arts, photography, dance, music and something else that escapes me. Brian helped judge music, given his background and I judged fine arts. Only 20% of the top scores will go on to state level competition. I felt as if we were killing some poor childs dream at times. Only a hanful were actually good and the rest were just ok. We were even surprised that some even made it to the Area competition.
The one thing that caught my attention was how each grade level interpreted the theme. "I can make a difference by...." Most kindergarten through 3rd grad were interested in saving a puppy, picking up trash or cleaning their room. Middle school students were more interested in recycling and planting trees and flowers. By the time I judged the highschool level, most ideas were anti-war, supporting our troops, saving the planet, cancer research, being a good parent or something more religious, like spreading God's word.
I found it fascinating to see the transition of what kids find important at various stages of growing up. Most all of the works had a positive message. Then I got to thinking about my days in college, gradschool and even now.
The older I get, the more cynical my work becomes regarding it's themes. Gone are the days of positive messages. They're replaced with what's wrong with everything around us.
There is a local group of gay men who meet for "networking". Typically these guys are IT geeks. I'm sure initially the group really meant for the purposes of meeting new people for the purpose of finding better jobs, making contacts for contract people, starting new IT related businesses. For the past couple years, we've gone to some of there happy hour networking meetings. Personally, I just think it's a reason for a bunch of gay men to get together to hang out and drink. Not like we have to have a reason.
Usually the groups average about 50 people, meeting at local restaurant bars. Lately, they've been working with some more of the high end bars, expanding their group to almost 250. Last night was at Ghost Bar, at the top of The W here in Dallas. We've been here before, but have never been back due to the fact that it's a $20 cover charge and drinks are ridiculously priced. Doesn't help that the clientele is mainly young, pretty and plastic. Any group, band, movie star that is in town performing or working meets there in the VIP lounge, adding to it's snottiness. But damn, it's fucking cool ass place to go. Top of The W overlooking the entire skyline of Dallas, complete with a glass bottom balcony.
The guest list for last nights event was 700 people. I'm pretty sure the place wasn't full of that many people, but probably 400 or so showed up. Any chance for us to hang out and get in for free. Hell, to get in and not have to be on a guest list.
We invited our friends, so we hung out there and had a great time with Mama, Steven, Brandon and Dusty. Of course, we ran into scores of people we slept with know. I still almost had a heart attack every time I ordered 3 drinks and had it cost me 35 dollars. Felt like I was in NYC. Three rounds of drinks and we were ready to go and decided to eat in the Victory Park area at Luna de Noche which was amazing.
Great way to start the weekend.
Yes folks, it's time again for Mark and Brian's Year in Review video. This year's montage is set to a really cheesy song from a musical which should be stuck in your yead for the rest of the day. You'll even see a few bloggers make special appearances. I know we missed some events or visits. We threw it together Sunday afternoon.
Thought I'd share the latest addition to our glass collection. Six glass shell-like disks from an artist called Scott Hegan. I just installed them over our bed.
Saturday, Brian, myself and Steven kept ourselves busy. We found out on the last day of the show that a Chihuly exhibit was happening in town so we headed over to see one of my all time favorite glass artist. After drooling over the work we headed to a new glass gallery we found online to check things out. What a fantastic place to buy glass art! We spent quite a long time in there and chatted with the owner and employees. As you might have guessed, we purchased a beautiful piece of glass and so did Steven. I think we put the glass bug in him.
Check out the pics from the show.
Just a quick not to say that I've not fallen off the earth yet. New Years was very quiet, although a tad bit of drunkeness was involved. I decided to make a batch of my World Famous Chili so I could give everybody a bad case of gas on New Years Day.
About 6 people came over to hang out, watch movies and drink. I knew the night was getting out of hand when Brian asked if I would break out the bottle of Absinth that I've had stored way for the past couple of years. Not the fake crap you buy in the states, but the real stuff from Europe. That stuff is nasty. A combination of 151 and Licorice. All it did was make us slightly more drunk. We did see a few faries, but none of the green variety.
Brian and I have just been spending as much time together as possible before he heads back to Portland on Monday. His 3 week "on the bench" time has come to an end and it's back to the grind for him. Although he hates to leave, I think he secretly is excited to be back to traveling and the chance to see his Brother again for a few months.
We're going to be working on our annual Year in Review video this weekend. It's a nice way for us to document all the things we did and the places we went over the course of the entire year. This past year was no exception.
Do we ever slow down? I think the best part of 2007 was being able to go to Disneyland and Disneyworld both in one year. I'm such a kid. The worst part of course, was losing my job and moping around the house for 3 months popping pills.
What was the best and worst part of 2007 for you?
