crapuary

I am so glad this month is over with. It's been utter hell. What's odd is that the tension is going to drop off justlikethat come February. It's my birthday month too for an added bonus.

Tonight, I celebrated by going to a Hawaiian shirt party at Balam's new space up on Killingsworth. It's an awesome space and I hope it does well. I should have dressed the part though.

movie gems

Recently, my movie snobbery has flared up and I realized that I've been watching too many Judd Apatow movies lately. What's wrong with me?

I rented an independent film the other night, "Save Me" about the ex-gay movement. It was a really good movie and Judith Light (Angela from Who's the Boss) did a fabulous job. Tonight, my friend Sophia had an extra ticket "Rumba on the River," an independent documentary of life on the Congo. It showed at Whitsell Hall at PSU. If I was in the mood to oppose popcorn cinema, this was the perfect place for me. However, I need to remember that independent doesn't automatically mean good. This movie did nothing for me. I only managed to stay awake because I was enjoying watching the guy in front of Sophia fall asleep.

There are definetly good movies showing in Portland that I can indulge in and still have a good time. Take tomorrow for instance. I'm going to go see a late night showing of TRON! Woo hoo!

college?

I turned in my admissions application to PSU today for their Masters of Social Work program. I've been going back and forth as to whether I really want to go back to school or not. I think I'm currently thinking that I do want to go.

When I decided to leave 'Braska, it was with the intent of returning to school, only I was going to get a degree to teach English. Life happened and my plans changed. But now it looks like I'm going for it.

So now, I wait. The acceptance or denial letter won't come until April. I'll have plenty of time to change my mind several different times about which letter I want before then.

let's get ready to ROOOOOLLL

It's been my goal for a while to go see the Rose City Rollers as one of my new things. After getting my college application done this week and my taxes done today, I felt the need to treat myself.

Despite what many may believe, roller derby is a sport. It's not just people bumping each other while skating in circles. However, I could not tell you the rules. I could try to explain them but I'd probably mess them up. By the end of the first bout, I think that I had a general idea of how it went but there are a whole lot of things I don't get as well.

It was fun though. The skaters each have clever names and I got to watch it with good friends. I would definitely go again but maybe I'll study a little more on how it's played so I can get a little more out of it.

scandal?

Usually, I'm not one to defend politicians but tonight, I went to a rally to support one.

Sam Adams, the newly elected gay mayor (and first gay mayor of a major US city), admitted to having slept with an 18 yr old. Ummm...why is this an issue?

People say they're upset that Adams lied about sleeping with the guy when he was running for mayor. Ummm...why was he asked in the first place?

A straight man would never EVER be asked if he slept with an 18 yr old female just because he had been acquainted with her. However, since Sam's gay, people think that his sexual life is up for public discussion.

I've seen this a lot. Out queers are often asked about their sex life as if it's okay because, well, the person already knows a little bit about your sexual proclivities so why shouldn't they know more? Because it's none of their damn business. Sam Adams' is Portland's mayor, not Portland's boyfriend.

finding a way to study

At the end of the Breakfast Club, the athlete ends up kissing the basketcase, the criminal kisses the princess and the dork kisses...his paper.

Tonight I was up late...with my paper. I stayed up, stayed sober and forced myself to write my admissions request to PSU. So this is how it begins. I'll put off essays until the last minute and then stay up late, isolating myself from everyone and finishing my report so I can go to bed and wake up early the next morning for work.

This better have a better ending...

guitar hero

I originally started going to Crush on Tuesdays because a co-worker of mine, DJ Sappho, spun during happy hour right after work. Then I started going for the atmosphere after she left and another DJ took over. Soon after, I began making it there just for That's So Gay trivia. Now I found out that they have live performances there. Nice!

I love acoustic guitars. I have never tried to actually play one but I love listening to others when they're good. I think it's sexy. Tonight, there was an live act at Crush, a guy covering songs in acoustic form. I would have liked to hear some original work but I listened to him anyway for a bit but not long because we were in the middle of trivia. I think I'll pay attention to Crush's upcoming performances and try to make it there then.

smoke-free

As I've said before, most of my friends smoke. It's nothing I want to do but I've come to accept that I'm going to around. Tonight, I went to an all-new but old-and-familiar pub. It was new because there wasn't a haze of smoke. There is enough area in the pub to where the smoke doesn't linger but it was nice (for me) to not even have it be an issue. When people put rest their lit cigarettes in their hands or in the ashtray, the smoke would seem to follow me. I would put up with it for a while and then I would have to brush it out of my face, making the person either annoyed with me or feeling bad. Now, it's not an issue. I feel bad for my friends who smoke because Portland winters can be inhospitable to stand in but I think that I may really grow to enjoy, you know, breathing.

perfectly portland

I am so very very happy to be back home. Today, I literally hit the ground running as I jogged/power-walked/walked to work. I didn't care if it was only 32 degrees out. That's 36 degrees warmer than it was back in Nebraska.

I also felt like doing something tonight that was quintessentially Portland. Fortunately, I found out that the Bagdad Theatre was showing the beginning of the last episodes of Battlestar Galactica for free. Like when the Mission showed Buffy, I expected there to be a crowd but there were four blocks of people lined up waiting to get in. And when we jumped in, at least another block or two lined up behind up. My housemates and my friend's boyfriend and I all found seats around each other.

It was cool seeing it in a crowd for the additional crowd reactions but it was annoying seeing the large meat commercials. It's good to be back!

alma mater

Today, I stepped back in time and walked my past.

Given that I am going to go back to school someday soon (and I needed to get transcripts), I decided to get in the mood and revisit the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

This is Thomas Hall, HQ for the English and Journalism department so it's where I spent most of my time here, except for that one semester where I watched 'A Time to Kill' and switched my major to Political Science so I could be a paralegal and then I came to my senses and went back.
This is the periodicals section in the basement of the library. I spent many many many hours down here. I actually really enjoyed writing term papers. Damn, I am a dork.

Then I went off campus for a while and visited two of my previous employers, Hastings Book, Music and Video (which I didn't want to hang around in too long because I felt bad for the people still working there) and the Archway, pictured above. I liked working at both places, primarily just for the people that I worked with.

At both places, I worked with Jessica. Later on that evening, I went out for dinner and drinks (mmm...Peach Wheat) with her. I got to meet her new guy and found out that they're planning on moving to Portland. That's awesome! Now I'll have more of the best parts of Nebraska up here. Now I just need a few more friends to jump on that bandwagon...

the hippie

In Nebraska, things tend to be pretty much black and white (mostly white) so if you're not a meat-eating, war-supportin', god-fearin' cornhusker, you're a hippie. That's the label I had to accept in Burwell, NE when my brother, his wife & I went out to lunch with my grandmas. I can't recall the name oh the restaurant but they had one veggie sandwich, the hippie. Really, it was a decent sandwich and a nice place to eat (if you don't ask my grandmas) but I hate labels that people just slap on me. I'm not a hippie.

one uncle to another

Last night, my uncle picked me up at the airport and, because the weather was so bad, I had to spend the night at his place. I like my family and everything but I've never really been close with my uncle. Plus this was the first time we've had a 1:1 chat since he's come out.

This particular uncle was never like the rest of my dad's brothers. He wasn't into sports, liked interior decorating and was much more comfortable in the kitchen with his mom than watching the game with the boys. I can relate so I've pretty much always suspected he's queer. I'm not sure that he knows I am though and I really didn't know how to approach it with him as we drove 3 hours to my folks house. It was weird. I felt some obligation to be a queer confidant to him since I didn't go his way, raising a family with a wife for 20 some years which proved to be self destructive. But instead we made light conversation, avoiding the elephant in the car which is what my family tends to do. Oh well, at least I feel a little more of a connection with him now, one gay uncle to another.

fly like paper

I'm heading back to 'Braska today and I'm armed with a way to update my blog from the airport for the first time ever. Maybe this blackberry will work for me after all.

uh, how do you start this thing?

My mom wanted me to get a GPS device for Christmas but, since I was due to upgrade my phone, she decided to chip in for one as long as it had GPS (I think she thinks I get lost a lot). So I got a Blackberry Storm.

I thought it would rock my world but I couldn't figure out how to work it. I went through the menu and started yelling at it to send a text, which was one of the simplest features on my past phone. Later on in the evening, I let the phone sit for a bit and it locked. I tried to unlock it but it kept saying, "Locked." The instructions said to press the lock key but I searched around the damned thing for about a half an hour, pressing the pad in several different places and pushing all of the little side button keys. I gave it to my roommate, who was an IT guy and, to my credit, it took him 15 minutes as well. Finally, we found a little itty bitty button on the top of the little bugger.

Once I got it moving, it's pretty much as close to the 'future' as I've been. I mean, really, what's the difference between this and a tricorder...besides the fact that Kirk never got locked out of his.

to the nines

Tonight we had a late birthday party for V! and Wendy. It was a cocktail party and a lot of our friends were all glammed up which is quite a change from our usual party attire. We had awesome hors d'œuvres, nice decor and a whole lot of drinks. I made several different types of martinis for the first time. Normally I'm one of the first to ditch out on the party, even if it's at my house but I enjoyed this one and stayed up for quite a while.