I don't even know what to say...

This is seriously about the most disturbing thing I have ever seen. Even worse, click below to find out how much you have to pay. Mind boggling. Simply mind boggling. Heavenly Pet Portraits Custom cat art and dog art of pets you love as companions and pets who have gone to the Rainbow Bridge. (A/K/A Heaven, in case you might have been wondering...)

Tweakin' the Blog

OK, I admit that I'm not all that smart when it comes to this blogging stuff. I don't know my MT from my WP or my CSS from my XML to save my life. I read posts on the Gay Bloggers Tribe sometimes and just scratch my head in puzzled wonderment. But, if you give me a few hours... (or days.. or weeks... or years...) I can figure it out. :) So, that being said, what do you think of the new header? :)

Missed Connection #2

Today was another one of those days where one thing could have made the day a total waste, but another thing, a brief shining moment, made it all worthwhile. Last night, the cats were restless and antsy, I had incredible sex (see yesterday's post), and I was all wound up. So I didn't get much sleep. As a result, it was really, really hard to get up in the morning. Still, I went to work and muddled through the day. Thing #1 that could have made the day a total waste was when I got the phone call from the car repair shop. I had turned my car over to them the night before in hopes of getting my brakes repaired and the oil changed. I didn't expect an estimate of over $1,800. Holy fucking shit! Of course, in addition to the things I needed done, they found a slew of other things wrong with the car. Of course. That's what these guys do. But I couldn't afford $1,800. So I got it down to $780 plus tax. That was for the brakes and a fan belt that needed to be replaced. He gave me the oil change and fluid checks for free. How generous. I started to contemplate how my bill could possibly be so outrageously high, when he wasn't completely REBUILDING my braking system, just replacing what needed replacing. He replied that he uses only "Heavy Duty, High-Quality parts." Yeah, they must be made of gold. Of course, by the time we had this conversation, he was already done with my car. Because I wasn't smart enough or fast enough to say "Whoa, buddy, that's high, let me bring it somewhere else..." So the damage is done. I have an $800 repair bill for my car. God Damnit. There goes that new credit card... So because of the whole car fiasco, I took the train to work today. Now granted, I should take the train every day. But I'm lazy as hell. It's hard to get up in the morning (and this morning was certainly no exception), and usually by the time I do get up, I am already running late. So I drive. A lot. Thing #2 that made the day worthwhile happened on the way home. After work, I rushed to the train station. I had to make it to rehearsal at 7:30, but first, I had to pick up my car. So there was a lot to do. I got to the platform and it was crammed with people. Of course. Cubs game. It took forever for a train to arrive. The platform kept filling up with people. And then I saw him. Blue-green eyes, blondish brown hair, maybe about 5'9" or so, maybe a hair taller. Cute, cute, CUTE. So of course he kept me distracted. I had my headphones on, listening to some mix CD I had put together. I watched him walk by, back and forth, looking to see if trains were coming, then back again. Eventually a train did arrive, but for some reason, after it stopped in the station, the distinct stench of an electrical fire followed it. And a lot of smoke. It was a little bit scary, and much more concentrated toward the front of the train. (I was at the back.) People started to board the train, but then the muffled announcement came that they needed to check the train for trouble (I am guessing, since I couldn't understand a single word,) and people started to file off the cars. Cute boy was still in the station. He was thinking like me... "Wait for the next one." Smart boy. The smoke started to get worse, but people still didn't move. And then it happened. Cute boy turned to me and smiled, shaking his head. I quickly shucked off my headphones. "I don't know why they bother," he said. "With what, the announcements?" I replied. "Yeah, you can't hear a thing they're saying." "Yeah, it's ridiculous. I have no idea what the problem is, but you'd think they'd just send someone down and tell us..." "Well I'm not going anywhere yet." Oh goody! So we chatted for a bit. I told him about my recent experience on the El with the house fire. He asked where I lived, and I asked him where lived. (Roscoe & Broadway. Boystown. Go figure.) Finally the smoky train moved out of the station and another one replaced it. As we continued to talk, we boarded the last car of the train. It was jam-packed. After we moved out of the station, the train stopped. Another muffled announcement came over the loudspeakers. We were stuck. "Well this is fun," I said. "Yeah, I just hope we start moving soon," he replied. "Could be worse," I commented. Finally the train started to move again. A seat opened up, which I offered to him, but he insisted I take it, since my trip was longer. I obliged. He stood in front of me. This cute boy with the blue eyes and great smile and wavy hair, This cute boy that was going to get off the train in a few stops, this cute boy that started talking to ME and made me feel all tingly. This cute boy whose name I still did not know... ...And never did find out. His stop arrived, he said goodbye, and I said take care. And as I watched him walk out the door... ...he glanced back at me one more time. DAMN IT! Why am I such a chickenshit!?!?!? Ahhh... but faithful and observant readers, the title of this entry is Missed Connection #2. That means there must have been a Missed Connection #1, right? Stay tuned...

Shameless Sexual Sexcapades

I'm a slut.

 

After all that innocent flirtation with the cute new Chorus boy, I sacrificed my better self for a night of tawdry, reckless, hot, man-to-man sex that I have needed very badly.

 

Please, like any of you are shocked.  OK maybe you are, because I really haven't posted of my sexcapades on my blog before.  But hey, I'm human, I'm gay, and I'm a man.  What more is there to talk about? 

 

So yes... Rick got laid last night, and he was cute, and it was good.  

 

And now I wish I had that couple hours of sleep back.  Oy am I tired.

 

But it's a good tired. :-)

Vodka + Rick Don't Mix and Other Flirtations

Ugh. It was a rough weekend. Oh I had fun... but the payoff wasn't so great. Saturday night I went to see Lipstick & Lyrics, a fundraiser for the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus at Hydrate. It was a great time, highlighted by the chance to see Nofo perform a couple numbers in knockout drag. Nice job, Heidi. I was going to be nice and not post a picture of her here.. .but then I read his blog and read this entry, and... well I'm feeling evil. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce you to.... The lovely, effervescent Ms. Heidi Holes Aw Jake I do love ya. I'm just jealous. And envious. And bitter jaded bitchy completely supportive of your affair newfound beau. :) SO ANYWAY... They had a $10 cover and for one hour you could drink all you wanted. So I chose... Vodka and Cranberry. What was I thinking? I should have known better. It's true that Vodka + Rick do NOT mix well. I've been suffering the afteraffects ever since. Upset tummy, feeling basically like I'm gonna 'hurl' even though I never did. I still feel shitty today. Blah. That's why my drink-of-choice is Rum & Coke. You can't go wrong with it, and it never, EVER gets me sick. I must remember this from now on. Sunday was rehearsal, and we got all of our music for the CGMC Holiday show, "Fa La La La Blah Blah Blah"... cute title, even if the song it belongs to isn't quite my favorite yet. It'll grow on me. However, the rest of the music is absolutely stunning. Patrick, our director, has once again written some simply gorgeous pieces for us to perform- one at the opening of the show and one at the end. In between are moments of hilarity, beautiful music, and other good times. I hope that everyone in the Chicago vicinity will come out and see us. It's going to be an incredible show. Ad over. After rehearsal, we went out to Crew, the new gay bar my friends and I visited not too long ago. Here is where I got to flirt with a cute new member who just a week ago was in a relationship. Well guess what.. no more! Apparently he had broken up with him during the week. He didn't seem all that upset about it. To hear him tell it, it was a long time coming anyway. Well... the guy is just damn cute. And young. And probably way out of my league. But dammit, it was fun to flirt. And he's in my section, too. So who can blame a boy for being friendly? ;) So the weekend wasn't a total waste. I think any weekend where you get some good hard flirting time in with a cute boy is a weekend well-spent. Hey, I gotta make myself known as much as possible. I'm not getting any younger, ya know. Besides, some other blogger (who happens to be in the same chorus as me) out there might worm his way in and snatch him up before I get a chance. Can't let that happen. Love ya, Jake. :)

The Word of God (?)

Florida's been getting a bad rap for the last few weeks. Hell, for the last four years, for that matter. But nothing's ever made me go "hmmmm" quite like this....

Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex (Nothing Much) Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex Sex

Attention-grabbing isn't it? I really have nothing to post about. After all, it's Friday, and nobody reads blogs over the weekend anyway. So here's a few tidbits for you to ponder: • If you're selling something on Ebay, and you hate the person who gave it to you, use this as a guide for your pitch. You'll be guaranteed a sale. (Thanks to WaterColourBoy for the tip.) • If you love Twinkies and Butternut Bread, better hurry. Their bakeries are in trouble. They may not be around much longer. Carb-Conscious folks are jumping for joy. • What happens when you land a spaceship in the middle of a classic, architecturally significant football field? It loses its landmark status, that's what happens. Trust me, they deserve it. As fabulous as Millennium Park is, (something the city did RIGHT), Soldier Field is a complete eyesore on the Lakeshore. (Wrong. VERY WRONG.) It's sad. • London without the double-decker bus? What's next? L.A. without the smog? • The latest election results: Kerry's ahead, 2-0. Of course, that's all null and void if this report comes true. • And finally, if you're this guy, (who must be a fan of Prince,) you'll never have to worry if anyone is talking about you. You know that they are. Er... That those people are, that is. What a wild world we live in.

Almost Famous

Thing about me #36: I have a solo on the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus's first CD, "Cool Yule." Thing about me #101: I will have a solo on the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus's next CD, "I Will Be Loved Tonight"!!!!!!!!!! The audition was today, and I'm totally thrilled to say that I will be on our next CD as one of the soloists on "Seasons of Love" from Rent. It actually is going to be a duet of sorts, as there were only four of us who auditioned for the two solos in the song, and Patrick, our director, decided it would be different if he had two people sing the first solo and two sing the second. But hey... it's still a featured moment. AND I'm singing with my good friend, Jeremy, so I'm even MORE excited about that!! So be on the lookout for more information. The CD will be released in November... and I'll be promoting heavily to all of you out there. And while you're at it, pick up a copy of "Cool Yule"... just in time for the Holidays :)

Gratuitous (semi) Nudity

OK I admit it. I'm a whore. I am an attention whore, an online whore, a whore is a whore is a whore. (That should bump up my hits a few notches.) ;-) So I was having some fun with my digital camera last week, and I took some new pictures. Just for shits and giggles (and hopefully a few erections and comments), here are a few of the results. I mean, what kind of self-respecting blog-owning gay man would I be if I didn't post some gratuitous, laviscious photos of myself for all the world to see? How do I expect to get a date if I don't sell myself? (No, not in that way, you know what I mean.) I've gotta work it, baby. I need hits. I need comments. Hell, I need a date. Now, I should forewarn you that there are no dick shots here. Sorry... But there were some taken... :) (I'm stalling... can't you tell?) So here you go. This is me. Take me or leave me. (Preferably take me.) This should get me tons of sick and twisted comments... go for it. I can't wait to hear them all. (Have I gone mad???) Thanks to Aaron for the suggestion. And thanks to you for sticking around long enough to get here. Could this take my blog in a different direction? I dunno... We shall see. Don't say I didn't warn you. Mister Serious(ly demented?) Say Cheese(y) Suck it in, stud. Posted by Hello

God Damn It All To HELL! (Insomnia Part II)

I finally fell asleep. At 6:00 in the morning. Here's the breakdown of the day's events. 6:00 AM - Fall asleep 7:55 AM - Alarm shrieking, I wake up with a start. I had to be at work at 8:00. Oh great. It's going to be a fun day. Thank goodness I took a shower last night. I throw on some clothes, gargle with some mouthwash and I'm out the door. 8:10 AM - I call work to let them know I'll be a "Few minutes late" 8:15 AM - Lake Shore Drive is a parking lot. FUCK. 8:30 AM - I arrive at work... a few MORE minutes late than I had hoped. Now here is where I must decide whether I want to blog about work or not, because someone might just read this. All I will say is that the reason why I had to be at work so early is because I was asked to come in early by my manager the night before to work on something, and he couldn't get a hold of the other two people in my area. So he got me. "Fine, I'll be there" I said. So when I got to work, BOTH of my co-workers were already there. And so... WHY again did I bust my ass to get here this morning? (I guess that breaks down the "blogging about work" bit.) 1:00 PM - Free lunch. Whooo hoo! I love when meetings get out and there's food left over. 3:30 PM - Meeting with manager and partner about project. I had to leave at 4:15 at the latest for a doctor's appointment. And to get home in time for my computer to arrive. Now they're giving me a project to get done in an hour. Uh-huh. 4:45 PM - I leave work, frustrated and handing the job off to my also-frustrated co-worker. 4:50 PM - Too late for the doctor's office. I reschedule the appointment, but still go home. I'm exhausted, after all. Plus, my computer is coming! UPS said they'd deliver after 5:00 PM. 5:15 PM - I arrive at home. No InfoNotice from UPS - they haven't arrived yet. Cool. 5:45 PM - Still waiting. 6:00 PM - Yep, still waiting. 6:30 PM - Hmmm... wonder what's on TV. 7:00 PM - You guessed it. 7:15 PM - I call UPS. They have no record that anyone had been to my house, but "They have to make an attempt today before 7:00 PM." "It's past that," I retorted. "Oh... well, sometimes they do run late." "We'll see. If they don't arrive with it I will have to call to make other arrangements." 8:15 PM - Still no delivery. 9:30 PM - Here I am, typing away on my blog, on my OLD computer. So let's recap. I had one sleepless night. I busted my ass to get to work, only to find my coworkers already there (who they said they couldn't get a hold of the night before.) I cancelled my doctor's appointment, I got home in time for UPS, and they never arrived. Plus, I was supposed to have gone to a chorus marketing meeting tonight, which I missed, because I was waiting for UPS. My day sucked. How was yours? I'm going to bed now.

Insomnia

I can not sleep. I've been trying to sleep for the last 3 1/2 hours. I've tried soothing sounds on my clock radio, drops of lavender oil on my pillow, different positions, different configurations, and now I'm up blogging because... I just can not sleep. So, lucky readers, you get to read my ramblings while I attempt to get tired. Not that it does any good anyway, since I have to be up in 1 1/2 hours. So usually when one has insomnia, it's caused by either stress, anxiety, or worry. Among other things. Let's see. What's happened in the last few days that has caused me stress? I visited my parents on Saturday. And while that would usually cause me some sort of stress, it wasn't so bad this time. It was actually a rather nice visit. What's stressful is that they can't decide whether to sell their house or stay there, and I think they'd be crazy to stay there. Long story short, they just can't take care of the house, the property and themselves. They need something smaller. But complacency is always easier, and they would rather stay where they are than bother with a move. Not that I blame them, but it is for the best. So yes, that would be a cause of stress. And worry. I have to go in to work 1 1/2 hours early today. That's stressing me out right now, considering I haven't slept yet. My cats are unusually antsy tonight. They've been fighting with each other, which is strange because they usually get along very well. That's stressing me out. And causing me anxiety. And keeping me further awake. I get my new computer today. That is, if I get home in time for the UPS delivery. So thus, I will be leaving early from work (since I am going in early) so I can meet the UPS delivery person in time. It'd be much easier if I could just stay home, but I can't (see above about going in 1 1/2 hours early - there is a reason.) So I'm stressed about that. OK and there was this guy that I met last week while out at the bars that I thought was really cute. We flirted most of the night and (I thought) hit it off well. We exchanged numbers at the end of the night. I was supposed to meet him and some chorus friends out on Wednesday but couldn't make it because I had to work late. I never heard from him, but knew I'd see him again tonight. Well tonight, he was out again, but was hanging all over one of my chorus friends. In fact, they were wearing these ridiculous T-shirts. His said "I'm J....'s Daddy" and the other guy's said "I'm C....'s Bitch" How charming. Men suck. So all these petty, stupid little things add up to more and more stress in my life. Are they enough to keep me awake at night? No. I am really not sure what the true cause is, but since I'm awake, and can't get my mind to relax, I might as well say what's on it. So there, that's what's on it right now. Back to trying to get some sleep.

I need a maid.

My place is a pigsty. My mom would be so upset with me if she saw it right now. I get home from work and I just want to vegitate. I have no energy. I toss the mail here, my socks there, my work pants here... it's starting to look like Fred Sanford's place in here. I'm embarrased to bring tricks over, let alone a potential date. This is wreaking havoc on my sex life. What's a bachelor to do? I need a maid. OK so maybe that's lazy of me. Well, fine. I will completely own up to the fact that I AM LAZY. There, I said it. But I'm also fairly poor and can't really afford a maid. I can hear you now: "Get up off your dead ass and clean." Yeah, yeah, in a minute. "Now, Mister!" Yes, Mom. I just hate trudging out the vacuum cleaner and attempting to suck up all the cat hair on the sofa. Mopping is a bitch. (I hate hardwood floors.) I don't have a dishwasher, so there's always dishes to do. And you can forget about windows, because they're replacing all the windows in my apartment building anyway. But the thing I don't understand is just how all this clutter happens? How do people keep it from accumulating? The thing that drives me the most nuts is the mail. I get so much SHIT that I can't find enough places to put it anymore. Mail sucks. I need a TLC Clean Sweep.