confessions of a video store snob

Power is precious commodity and people tend to grasp what little power they have and flaunt it for all it's worth. As GI Joe taught us, knowledge is power. When I worked at a video store, I was pretty damn knowledgable and I loved that power.
When I worked at Hastings Book, Music and Video in Kearney, NE, I didn't have to watch a hell of a lot of movies to gain knowledge about them. I spent the majority of my waking day there and I would just absorb the knowledge like through osmosis. Watching the previews, reading the backs of boxes, talking to the customers and belittling and getting belittled by my co-workers (thank you Jessica) gave me most of my 'power.' When you hear enough people come in and ask for "that one movie with that one guy" or "I can't remember the name of the movie but it has this in it" and you're able to read their mind or run them into the ground, you gain a bit of an ego, as pathetic as it is.
Now that I am not one of the elite anymore, I can't stand the video snobs. Portland has one of the biggest independently owned video stores I've ever seen here, Movie Madness, but I won't go there because I cannot stand the employees and it is sometimes difficult to find a movie without asking them what category they put it in. Instead I go to Clinton Street Video where the people are all on qualudes. They are so low-key and will not flaunt their video store power unless you poke and prod them. The only problem with Clinton Street is the selection isn't the best around. It's good but there is better out there and I'm not just talking about the Madness.
Today, my new thing was going to and setting up an account at Videorama in Ladd's Addition. I've heard of the place from friends and it's on my walk home so I decided to check it out. Above is their selection of Gay and Lesbian films. It's a pretty nice assortment with some pretty rare titles. It beats the hell out of Blockbuster which lumps their seven G&L films under Alternative along with skating films and other non-mainstreams. Their documentary section was mouth-watering as well. I do feel like I've cheated on Clinton Street and I could easily see myself going back for more even though it's a little more expensive. The employee seemed really low-key and one of their employee picks section reminded me of what I would have selected, if I still had the power.

the kimchi experience

FROM WIKIPEDIA: “Kimchi is made of various vegetables and contains a high concentration of dietary fiber, while being low in calories. It also provides up to 80% of the daily required amount of ascorbic acid and carotene. Most types of kimchi contain common ingredients like onions, garlic and peppers all of which have well-known health benefits. The vegetables being made into kimchi also contribute to the overall nutritional value. Kimchi is rich in vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium and iron, and contains a number of lactic acid bacteria. Kimchi has a reputation of being a healthy food. The US magazine Health named kimchi in its list of top five "World's Healthiest Foods" for being rich in vitamins, aiding digestion, and even possibly retarding cancer growth.”

There are 187 documented versions of kimchi. Today, I had one that tasted like sauerkraut and looked like beets. A friend of a friend who I worked out with today made it and brought it over the other day. It is said to have living enzymes in it which are said to be good for you. It weirds me out that there could be something living in there going down my gullet. But I’m always open for something new…yikes.

tip top type

There’s a client at my job who busies himself with a typewriter throughout most of his “work” day. However, when I was in Europe, his typewriter ribbon ran out. This hasn’t stopped him from typing though. He mostly likes the idea of pushing buttons and thinking that he’s making lists. After he’s done, he’ll give the paper to me and tell me what it says, even though it’s blank.

Today I went to a typewriter store (for the first time) and bought him five ribbons. What amazes me is that there is still a typewriter store around.

little rewards

Life is so much more enjoyable with small rewards. For me, it’s usually a mocha. If I have a hefty task in front of me, I start my day off with a mocha and get to it. Or if I’ve had a rough day, a strawberry margarita may be in order. Today I decided to reward myself for watching my spending with a beer and a haircut at the same place.

I’ve never gone to Bishops before because I couldn’t stomach the idea of paying $19 for a haircut. But like I said, today was a reward and I wanted something different. My haircut was slightly different as well, although no one can really tell. Hell, it barely looks like I got my hair cut. I didn’t want it too short because that’s what a good friend advised me on. So I kind of told the stylist to trim it a bit and let her handle the rest from there. I may have to reward myself with this more often. Hell, $19 isn’t SO bad when they give you two or more beers.

the rear ending

They say that bad things happen in threes so I’m nervous about what’s coming next. Today, I rear-ended somebody. I would love to say that this is a new thing for me…but it’s not. It’s happened once before when I was driving towards Clackamas on SE 82^nd. At a stoplight, the car next to me began to move and I was day-dreaming. I thought traffic was moving so I hit the gas and hit the car in front of me. It didn’t look like I did any damage to the car ahead of me but I followed them as they pulled into the right lane but then they cut across into the left lane suddenly and into a parking lot. I followed them and parked. I got out of my car to talk to them and they pulled away quickly. My guess is they didn’t have insurance. My car was fine so that was fine by me.

Today, I hydro-planed with my big Lincoln full of clothes on Grand near Broadway. I tried to stop but it was impossible. I smacked into the car ahead of me pretty good. We both pulled over into a Wendy’s parking lot and neither of us saw any damage so we agreed to forget about it. As we were talking in the parking lot, we saw another rear-ending. I think there may have been something wrong with the road. When we were driving back by it on MLK, I noticed that there were police lights there so there was probably another rear-ending. Crazy.

Anyhow, with my punctured tire and now this, I wonder what my next car mishap will be.

milwaukie's best

I don't think much of Portland's suburbs but Milwaukie is close by so Dean and I headed there early today for a walk around Elf Rock Island for the first time. It's a beautiful park and I love the fact that it is so close by. It's basically in Milwaukie, right off 99E but it still feels like an escape, especially with the sky being clear and the air crisp. I inhaled deep and I could feel the chill heading down my throat and into my chest. It was a beautiful way to start the day.

playing it straight

I noticed that whenever I go to work on my car, I put on my jean jacket. That may be because I don't want to get any of my other jackets dirty but it might also be because I want to look the part like a straight man. There aren't very many queer mechanics around. If there are, they don't have calendars of half-naked men hanging in their lobby. They keep it nice and quiet.
I think I'd pay twice as much for car repair if the mechanic was an out queer guy.

Earlier this week, a tire went flat on my car. I avoided driving until today when I had time to check it out. After filling it up a bit at home and then more at the gas station, I realized that there was a large nail sticking out of the sidewall. When I find the bastard that did this, I am going to b-word slap them to Christmas. But in the meantime, I had to get it fixed. As long as I didn't pull the nail out, it would hold air long enough to get me to the tire shop Ashes uses.

Before going, I checked my wardrobe. When I was there, I made sure not to pull out my phone or limp-wrist it. I normally HATE it when people assume that I'm straight but I didn't want to get taken advantage of (financially) so I played the part of an auntie tom and got it done. I've never experienced any homophobia from these guys when I've went there with Ashes but I was being cautious. If I knew more about cars, I could be a little less defensive but I don't. As it was, two of the guys there mumbled horribly, like Boomhauer mumbling. I had to look to a third guy to translate and then he spoke car lingo so I still didn't have any clue. I heard $25 and one of them showed me a decent looking tire so I said "That's good!" and I went and waited in the lobby, underneath a picture of Miss November in a bikini.

winding down

We watched the most delightful musical today. It's not for everyone but if you like offensive humor, fabulous musical numbers and mocking cautionary tales, you need to see Reefer Madness the musical.

I got it from the library and thought that I might watch it maybe. I tend to check out movies there that are mildly interesting to me but I don't always get around to watching them. Tonight, we were all in post-holiday wind-down. I was exhausted from not getting enough sleep and "working" today. We went to one day-after holiday dinner but didn't stay long so we came back home for some good campy fun.

At work, I did go out for Mexican food with my boss which I haven't done before and I hadn't been to a dinner party at this other house before so I can count them as my new things. However, I am sick of taking pictures of food and the musical was just so much fun!

happy harvest dinner!

Here's to new friends, new foods, a bigger and better party every year (and a better picture next year)!

something in the air

It’s odd how you can feel “holiday” in the air the night before. After I finished cooking, Dean and I went for a walk up Woodstock and the air was chilly but thick with festive anticipation. Despite my grievance with the idea of holidays, I couldn’t help but soak it up. There was an unspoken obligation to be nice to strangers and greet them with a friendly hello. Because we were in the area, I took Dean to the liquor store for the first time. I’ve never seen the line so long. I spent my first thanksgiving in Portland by myself. Well, I had Dean and a bottle of bourbon for company but that was it. It was okay because it was a day off work but I found myself hoping tonight that the people here in line weren’t going to be spending the holidays with their bottles. If that’s what floats their boats, then more power to them but I hope they aren’t drowning their holiday sorrows.

the hunt for the holy soy whip

I found a recipe for a no-bake oreo cheesecake which I will turn vegan. I started making vegan cheesecakes for Harvest Dinner three years ago. The first year, Victory gave me a recipe which I later lost for a no-bake cheesecake that we added caramel, pecans and chocolate shavings to. It turned out divine. The next two years, I used various other recipes I found which required the cake to be baked. They turned out bad. They were edible still but their consistency was soupy. I think the problem was the fake egg combined with powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar. Anyway, I got enough of a head start on it this year where hopefully it will turn out better.

My recipe is easy and consists of cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, oreos and whip cream. I have the oreos and I can buy tofutti cream cheese anywhere but a vegan whip cream was a lot more difficult to find. The recipe said “non-dairy whipped topping” which made it sound a LOT more common than it is. I went to New Seasons, Trader Joes, Safeway, Fred Meyer, Food Fight (my first time at their new location) and finally Wild Oats as a last minute resort. At Wild Oats, I found it and felt like I had just discovered the fracking holy grail! Soyatoo! Soy Whip. I am tired now and not cooking until tomorrow!

preparations

I know that I said I would stop taking pictures of my dinner but Harvest Dinner (our thanksgiving) is coming and the occasion is pretty much all about food so this blog will probably reflect that for a while.

We host a large dinner on Harvest Day every year so we really started preparations today. We brought an old couch and broken dryer to Goodwill. First, we tried taking it to Salvation Army but they were closed. Then we went to the Goodwill Outlet (my first time) but they wouldn’t take it. Then we brought it to the regular Goodwill. So now our garage was ready to be fixed up.

When we got back, I went to make burritos real quick because it’s simple and easy. Then I decided to get more creative and make them enchiladas. I know this is probably boring as hell but I think that it’s good to add a little extra flair. Anyway, they turned out fabulous. I’m just getting my kitchen apron warmed up now!

outreach

A couple of months ago, I went to a book reading by a guy named Jack Malebranche who is trying to spread the term, “Androphilia.” Androphilia is roughly defined a sexual attraction to men by men. You might be thinking, “Um, isn’t that what gay is?” Well, yes and no. Malebranche has declared that men attracted to men don’t need to be different than straight men, other than the fact that they sleep with men. “Gay” generally encompasses more than bedroom activities. It is generally thought of as a lifestyle. “Gay” permeates a gay man’s wardrobe, mannerisms, sense of design, speech, music, arts, etc. Androphiles are ‘one of the guys.’ They are masculine. They don’t like Madonna, they don’t “Hey-ay,” they watch sports not soaps and they don’t wear pink.

In Malebranche’s defense (I don’t know why I’m defending him), he does say that the androphile identity isn’t for every man who likes sleeping with men. There are people who aren’t masculine queers and he says that’s fine. Another point that Malebranche makes that I kind of agree with is the falsehood of ‘community’ in the queer community. What makes a community? Why should I feel closer to queers than to straight people who share my same values?

I like Madonna. I say “hey-ay” from time to time, I watch soaps instead of sports and I wear pink but only as an accessory. However, when I walk into a gay bar, I don’t immediately feel that I am surrounded by my brethren. I think that it’s mainly the class and consumerist differences that I have a problem with. I also don’t see the need to ‘front.’ I don’t do the ‘Proud Mary’ snap. I don’t call other gays, “Girl!” and I don’t let them call me that. Like I’ve said before, I don’t like fitting into stereotypes.

Yet I do see the need to try to socialize with other gays. I love love love my friends but I think that if I were to start hanging out with other gays from time to time, I would find something that I’m missing right now. So today, I e-mailed a gay social list that was advertised in Just Out. It may turn out to be defunct or it may suck but it may also be just what I need.

(Once again, props to Justin P for the photo!)

it's not easy (or cheap) being green

When I was a kid, my parents used to take my sister and I to the recycling center where we could see collected soda cans turn into well-earned nickels. I remember heading down the dirt road up the street from my house on a Saturday morning with my sister. We should have been at home watching cartoons but instead, we each had a side of the road that we were scouring for aluminum cans. We stumbled upon a twelve pack of Budweiser with more than half the cans in it unopened. We were young and way more interested in the nickel than the beer so we opened up each can, emptied them out and tossed them into our sacks.

I've always been grateful to my parents for instilling a sense of environmental responsibility in me early on. Since then, it's been a persistent voice in the back of my head, asking me if what I'm about to throw out is recyclable or reusable and it evolved to consumerism, asking if what I'm about to buy is damaging to the world or its inhabitants.

Today, I went to the Give Green Festival at the Double Tree Suites here in Portland. It was a nice little gathering of homemade, organic, environmentally friendly vendors and services. The above picture is an electric car. I want an electric car and I want a small one (maybe not that small) but the maximum speed on it was 25 mph. A lot of the things we saw were nice but not functional living items like accessories, not clothes and wine but not substantial food. It was nice to see green alternatives though.