Ow!

give the gift of sweet cash

I finally got my AIDS walk page set up. I'm not sure what you're personal beliefs are but have a heart and donate. Just click on this link and go to the donate button. Then you have to put in "Topher" for my first name and "Darling" for my last. Yes, that's not really my name but that's the name I'm using. Then it will bring up my name. Click on that and it'll ask you how much to donate. I don't need you to donate thousands of dollars. Just a few bucks would be nice so I don't feel like the loser who didn't make any money. Thanks!

ET overload

My brother's first two initial are E.T. I don't believe my parents did this intentionally as he was born a year before the movie was released but my mother did end up going with it. In my room, we had ET bedding, ET sleeping bags, ET toys, etc. Heck, there were two large ET letters hanging up on our bedroom wall. It was overkill and it really turned me off the movie. ET was also the first movie I can remember seeing in a drive in.

Tonight, they showed ET in the park near my house. I've went to one of these showings last year (Raiders of the Lost Ark at the Laurelhurst Park) but I liked this one better because it was in my neighborhood. Plus, in carrying along with family tradition, I subjected my boy (the dog) to E.T. He wasn't impressed either.

the asparagus waffle

Jace Gace just redefined how I think of waffles and I'm afraid of where this might lead. We went to this friendly art space/cafe today and dined on an assortment of waffles. Pictured above is the asparagus/curry sauce waffle. Others had the Huevos Rancheros waffle or the Grilled Cheese waffle with provolone and tomato. I wanted to indulge so I had the double stacker Tiramisu waffle with a blueberries, cream, strawberries and an espresso-rum syrup. I will probably never just want to put syrup and butter on waffles again.

tubing or not tubing

That was the question before we began our day yesterday. It's my friend Jenn's birthday tomorrow so eight of us went tubing down the Sandy River from Ox Box Park to Danby Park. We weren't sure we were going to tube at all because it wasn't as warm as we'd have liked it but it ended up being fine. Then we weren't sure where to tube and fortunately, we decided on the river stretch with the Level 1 rapids instead of the Level 3. I don't think my ass could take the Level 3 in a tube.

I was hesitant about the idea of spending hours just floating but it was so serene and gorgeous. The water was chilly (I shrieked for the first two minutes) but our bodies adjusted quickly. There were a few shallow spots but that just broke up the monotony of the float. The rapid were a lot of fun as well. I think the best part of it was the scenery though. Damn, Oregon is beautiful. Plus, shortly after we set off, a deer spotted us and walked along the river shore with us for a while.

portland's last EB party

It was the last Eclectic Bastards last show tonight before one of them heads off to law school. The show was at the White Eagle Saloon which was a nice and cozy venue. I recorded a few of their songs with my camera and tried to upload them to YouTube but my connection keeps getting interrupted so I guess I'll just have to keep them for myself.

the body

On our way home this evening, we saw a police roadblock blocking off the intersection of Holgate and 26^th Ave. Like most people, we looked down Holgate as we drove by. There was a motorcycle on its side in the middle of the road and another pile of debris not far from it. Everybody on the scene was keeping their distance from both. Someone died there tonight.

I didn’t want to be a looky-loo but curiosity got the best of me. My roommate and I walked down the street but turned before we could get remotely close. I couldn’t definitely identify the debris as a body but the size, shape and situation surrounding it all pointed that way.

I’ve only seen a few bodies in my lifetime. All of them have been at funerals and all of them have been family members. Looking upon a stranger’s body on the street seems invasive and surreal. However, I did want to pay my respects, so to speak. This person died close to my house, apparently from a motorcycle accident on a road on which I travel practically daily on my scooter. I have to look today but I will take a different path tomorrow.

summer slothin'

I didn't do crap today and it felt great. I went to a birthday party for a parent of a friend where I ate and drank and then I went to a potluck party where I drank and ate. I met new people at the second one so I'm counting that as my new thing. Otherwise, it was just one of those lazy lazy days of summer.

carnivore carnage

I hate to be judgmental and I hate telling others what to do so it's hard for me to dine with people chowing down on a side of pig. There are some dinners that I just can't stand to watch people eat. Even when I ate meat, I couldn't watch others eat chicken off the bone. It reminded me too much of the Skexies lunch from the Dark Crystal. Today, I ate at a bbq joint, Russell St BBQ with some co-workers for a going away party for two co-workers. The lady who sat to my left ordered a plate of ribs with a side of meaty beans and some other meat. Meat with a side of meat and meat is disgusting. And she wonders why she has high blood pressure.

the passenger

There's no picture because my new thing today was giving someone a ride on my scooter. It doesn't sound like a lot but it was stressful and will take some getting used to. Hopefully I won't have to do it that often. It adds more weight and makes turning the bike a little more difficult. So, taking a picture while the both of us were on there would have been a BAD idea.

OCF 2008

Today, I went to the Oregon Country Fair today. At the risk of losing my status as a misanthrope, I do have to say that I enjoyed it a lot and most everyone there was pretty awesome. It just had a good feel about it. Before I moved here, this is what I pictured Oregon to be like. I'm glad I finally found it and I plan on working there next year so I can be there longer than a day.

i am the gate (up)keeper

When we moved into our house, our awesome landlord installed an inside gate to keep Dean from attacking the meter reader. However, gravity, shoddy workmanship and the rain have took their toll on the gate and the two boards ended up falling off, making a doggy door and defeating the purpose of the whole thing. Later on, the whole gate just fell off.

Since I was home alone this week, I decided to take this on and get it back up. The gate leaned slightly and didn't quite fit in their right. Plus, it was built with nails instead of screws. I took it apart, shaved off 1/4-1/2 inch, reassembled it, realigned the latch and put it back up. This process was greatly hindered by the fact that my roomies' tools are everywhere and they weren't around to ask where things are hiding. I would find one electric drill with a battery but no drill bit. Then I would find another drill and bit but no battery. Finally, I was able to put it all together. I had a great feeling of satisfaction when I cleared the weed out from underneath the gateway and a breeze casually blew the gate open.

a new day in three parts

I did three new and awesome things today! Here we go:

First, I LOVE Zipcar! For those who don’t know, Zipcar is a shared-vehicle program in several metropolitan cities, including Portland (YAY!). I signed up for it after I bought my scooter last year. The idea was that I would sell my car, primarily use my scooter and then use the Flexcar (which it was called at the time) when the scooter wouldn’t cut it. However, I kept the pink Lincoln, using it only sparingly and never really NEEDED the shared vehicle. Then Flexcar became Zipcar and I didn’t bother changing over my info.

Before I headed back to Nebraska, I started to become interested in the Zipcars again, mostly because one was parked close to my house. So I started the process to update my membership and successfully gained $25 in credit in the process. A Zipcar membership costs $50. To take a car out, you pay $9/hour or $66/day. Some select cars are more but this is the rate for the majority of them. The part that sold me on using it today was YOU DON’T PAY FOR GAS!!! Each Zipcar comes with a gas card. If you do any repairs on the car or add oil, Zipcar will reimburse you! It sounded fracking sweet to me so I drove a new Scion Zipcar instead of my Lincoln to get me and my scooter’s exhaust pipe downtown.

That brings me to my second thing. I had a screw loose (ha ha) on my scooter a while back and it ended up staring to crack my exhaust pipe. My scooter mechanic suggested I take it to get it welded back together. Fortunately, Riot Cop Alex is a welder. He was able to do a top-notch job. Afterwards, we recorded some background audio for the new Riot Cop album.

Finally, I had to put my scooter back together again. Not being very mechanically inclined, I was a little worried about this part but it wasn’t so bad. I just redid what my roommate undid on it yesterday. Simple as pie but it was fun getting it all done.

not in portland anymore

I've spent the weekend in Kansas, doing various new and different things because I don't get here that much. I came down for my sister's wedding five years ago. Before that, I paid her a visit seven years ago. Anyway, it's nice to see her new house finally and her cats and rabbit. Of course, it's nice to see my sister, brother-in-law and my two adorable (but quickly growing) nieces too. It's nice to visit. I just know I couldn't live here.

I am a Northwesterner. I live and value that label now. For one thing, it's damn humid down here! I am drenched just from walking to the car. With humidity comes mosquitoes which I can do without as well.

Then there's the culture of the Midwest. I'm told my plenty of people from Lawrence, Kansas that it's different there but I'd have to see it to believe it. Surprisingly there are vegetarian options here or at least veggie burgers on sales at the small health food stores and the huge box stores. But there's not much for a gay man to do.

While walking around my parent's hometown in Nebraska earlier in the week, I passed by a few farmer boys by a pickup outside a video store. They eye-balled me and one sneered. At first I didn't see what their issue was. Then I realized that I was nicely color cordinated and my purse matched my sneakers. I high-tailed it out of there casually and didn't really feel like leaving the house without an escort. After all, I only know four other people in town besides my parents.

Here in Emporia, KS, I thought things would be a little better because it's a college town. However, the gay and lesbian shelves are completely dwarfed by the five or six bookcases of Christian history, Christian fiction, Christian kids books, Christian cookbooks, etc. And then there's Hancock.

I didn't want to see this movie. However, I went along with the crowd and followed my family there. Predictably, the movie fell short of enjoyable and everything decent was in the previews. I could have looked past all of that though except for the homophobia in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Will Smith (Hancock) was being shown comics of superheroes by Jason Bateman (cute PR guy/Family man). He asked Smith what he thought of when he saw the pictures. Smith responded by repeating "Homo." He ended with calling the blond superhero a "Norwegian Homo" which Bateman agreed with.

Now, this isn't the worst thing I've heard in movies by a longshot. However, it really hit me because I was in a theater in Kansas with feeling no support whatsoever, surrounded by people who were laughing at the Fag Joke. In a more liberal setting, I would've felt like people were laughing with us queers. However, this was definitely a laughing-at-us scenario. THe only saving grace was that I was with my family who love and support me. Still I was uncomfortable and mad. And I am never watching another damn Will Smith movie again.

I miss home.

my first winery

When one thinks of Nebraska, one thinks of corn, cows and Johnny Carson. One doesn't think of wine typically. There aren't a lot of wineries in Nebraska but fortunately there's two outside my parent's hometown.

Today, I went to the Miletta Vista Winery with my mom for a wine tasting. It was very nice and they had a great selection of wines from Nebraska grapes. Plus the building was on top of a hill overlooking a great valley which was very beautiful. I ended up buying a bottle of white wine. I forget the name of it now because we drank it already. However, I will remember this pleasant little spot on my next visit home.

dining with my elders

Being a good grandson, I went out to lunch with my grandmas this afternoon at a fabulous cafe, Elyria Gardens, a gem in this town of less than 100 people. Everyone says that you should get to know your elders while they are around. I try to do this but it's difficult. It's hard to sit down and have an honest conversation with them while not letting them know about one of the biggest aspects of my life, that I'm gay.

Therefore, I keep a distance. I keep everything on the superficial and try not to get too personal. Primarily, I wanted to keep my Grandma P from pestering me about why I don't have a girlfriend. Luckily, she didn't do that this time because I think I just would've come out and told her that isn't going to happen. But it didn't come to that. So we talked about the weather and work and dogs. It's frustrating but I understand that maybe they wouldn't understand. Until I'm in an involved relationship where I can't help but talk about my man, it's not really necessary that they know.