to the top of tabor

Not much to write other than I loved this walk and this day and my dog and my man. It was a great day to hike up a volcano. Fortunately, it's also the closest nature walk to me. Dean loved it although he's hurting now. Poor old guy.

What else?
For my new thing, I tried new drinks at Sapphire Lounge and had a new special at J&M today for brunch.

Yesterday, my new thing was hitting a new bar/restaurant while Andrew and I waited for the doors to open for the new Bond film. Daniel Craig is great but it was a very formulaic Bond movie. The villain would have been better without blonde hair.

getting ethical

I  consider myself a good person but I have to admit that my views may not always be the most professionally ethical. Today, I took a course on ethics as part of my internship. I signed up for it only to easily answer one of the points of learning in my internship guidelines. However, I actually learned a lot and it's made me think.

With my job, there are things that I do that may not violate policy but may be under scrutiny when looking at the ethical considerations. I think I'm gonna be better about it. I can justify what I do in a number of ways but when it boils down to it, it makes me less of an ethical worker. I could be all 'radical' and think, "Well, screw the man," or I can just keep my nose clean and do the right thing. Huh, and I thought I knew everything. :)

thank the gods

I don't believe that Obama is the savior and I don't agree with a good amount of his policies. Yes, it sucks to have to side with the lesser of two evils but that's what I felt I had to during this election.

I'm not as glad that Obama win as I am that Romney lost. As a feminist gay man, the ideas that he & his party were pushing made me nervous. Facebook hasn't eased my concerns, hearing friends & mostly family that supported Romney. It made me nervous.

Tonight, I rejoiced with Andrew & his friends & a good bunch of Portlanders at the Bagdad Theater. I'm also celebrating for Washington State for supporting gay marriage & Wisconsin for electing the first openly gay senator.

Yeah, the political parties suck and so do a whole lot if government policies. However, starting slightly ahead instead of 50 years back is definite progress & I'm happy for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll work towards real change.

saga

Nothing extraordinary today but I started a new comic series, Saga. It's written by Brian K Vaughan who did Y the Last Man which is my favorite so I'm giving it a chance. I saw the first volume when I was at Powell's yesterday but didn't buy it. Today I was meeting Andrew at happy hour directly after work but wanted to read while I waited for him so I went into my work's store and found the first issue for 99 cents! Score! I liked it. I'm hoping it will grow on me more.

looking forward

I've been in a rut for a bit. That's part of my excuse for not updating my blog. The rut mainly consists of school and work and the rainy weather. However, we had a semi-dry weekend, I'm skipping school this week to watch the election coverage and I got caught up on my work last Thursday so here's a blog update.

Today, I had a great day, working out in the morning, getting a latte around noon at Powells while I read the latest Walking Dead comic, walking around the hood with Arturo and eating vegan milkshakes at Dick's. I also booked the Gearharts beach house for Christmas with Andrew since I'm not going back to Nebraska until my new nephew's born in January. The beach house is what I'm going to be the light at the end of this school quarter's tunnel.

What else?
I thought about going back to update October but for the most part, my new things consisted of new foods or new experiences at my internship. Here are the exceptions and/or the things that stood out.

On Saturday, October 6th, I went to the last night of the PLGFF in which they showed Cloudburst, a lesbian road trip movie with Olympia Dukakis. I can't recommend it enough. Afterwards, Andrew and I went to the afterparty at Crush which was fun but I liked the kickoff party better.

On Sunday the 7th, I watched the Timbers game at Long Haus on a projector in the back porch which has been nicely redone. Also, I joined Bastard and MLE at Ship's Ahoy afterwards for birthday drinks and good conversation.

On Wednesday the 10th, I woke up to the sound of scratching in the drywall behind my bed.

On Thursday the 11th, I met a new guy, the exterminator named Jason.

On Friday the 12th, Xbox and I had a great conversation about the house. Also, I went to see Margaret Cho who awesome as were her opening acts. So so so funny. I also went to Bare Bones bar with Jen, Ashes and Victory and later Justin and MLE. While we were there, we saw Chris Chandler from OCF. When I stopped him to tell him how much V and I enjoyed his library show at the last fair, he sat down with us and chatted for a while.

On Saturday the 13th, Andrew and I went to Brews for New Avenues. My old internship is really good at fundraising and they almost always incorporate booze into it. :)

On Sunday the 14th, I went to the Walking Dead season premiere at the Academy with Jen. It's a series that's really meant to be seen in the theater! Andrew and I also gave Dean a bath!

On Monday the 15th, I downloaded LibreOffice, a freeware version of Micro-shaft. I like it a lot more and I won't go back.

On Saturday the 20th, I took the day to work on my first paper for the term. I finished it in good time. Sophia made vegan chili so we ate that all day and, after I finished my paper, we played a new game which ended up being a D&D game. Yes, I have crossed that threshold.

On Sunday the 21st, Andrew and I went to see Blood Simple, the Cohen Bros first movie. It was great! We also went to Pastrygirl, the bakery/coffeeshop for the first time.

On Thursday the 25th, I biked to Clackamas for work for the first time since my accident (where the top pic comes from).

On Saturday the 27th, I DJ'ed Ashes' 33rd bday party. Since it was his 33rd, it was a Jesus/religious theme. I went as Lot's Wife (a salt shaker). I was one of only four or five people in costume but I still had fun.

On Sunday the 28th, Andrew and I went bar-hopping up Belmont during the afternoon, lightly drinking and snacking while playing cards. We ended up at Hob Nob Grille for the first time where I taught Andrew how to play Backgammon...and he beat me two times. It was also the 10th anniversary of my coming out. 10 years ago, my friend Joe directly asked me if I was gay and he was the first person I said yes to.

On Halloween, I didn't do a thing except go out to eat with Andrew. I really feel that I failed Halloween this year.

On Friday the 2nd, Ashes and I walked to a client's home on NW 23rd as part of my internship. I love working in the same building with him and getting to do breaks together. It was a lovely day for a walk too!

On Saturday the 3rd, Andrew and I went to the Republic downtown where I ordered a new dish. He's never been there and I haven't been there for years. We also went to Seven Psychopaths which sucked so hard.

And that's it. I'll try to update more often and to take more pictures.

pec-upuncture

Ashes and I tried the gym this week. I was determined to do something since I was feeling well enough to ride my bike. I tried bench pressing, moving my weight down to 135lbs but I was only able to do two reps of 7 before my pec starting hurting. It's the same injury that I had earlier this year which stopped me from working out for a while. I don't want to wait that long to be well again so I went to get acupuncture today.

I saw Matt, a new-to-me acupuncturist at the Brooklyn Acupuncture Clinic who did the acupuncture a little different than I have ever had it done before which proved to me to be more effective. He also gave me some good after-care ideas. I believe that acupuncture works but I've never really felt that it worked for me before today.

What else?
Andrew's been sick this week so we haven't gone back to the film fest. Today, they were showing Men to Kiss, a German film that I thought looked funny so I went to check that out by myself. Before the movie, they were showing a documentary on rape in the military called the Invisible War. I knew it would be a hard documentary to watch but I thought it was important to see and it was. I'm glad I stayed for Men to Kiss though because I needed a good distraction after such a heavy topic.

an internship in three parts

Second week at my internship and I'm still loving it.

Since I'm going by bike again, I was able to bike in to the first time (pictured above). They have two bike rooms on the first floor of the building and more bike parking in the basement parking garage as well as several sets of racks out front. The commute was pretty much a straight shot from my house although I don't like biking over the Morrison Bridge that much due to the incline(s).

At my internship, I had three distinctly different contacts with three different clients of my supervisors. One lives in a nursing home and has been diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive." She's 90, unresponsive and only weighs 82lbs. It's jarring to hear the nursing home staff talk about her impending death.

The second person that we saw was a young woman with profound DD that lives in a group home. We were there mostly to check in on the group home and talk to the manager. We looked at the facilities and I realized that I knew one of the other residents there from my real job.

The third person was a client in her 60s who lived independently. She has some mental health issues so we bring her medication to her to take. I guess that will be one of my responsibilities soon which is cool by me.

It really interesting seeing all the variety that this job encompasses. I have to admit that I was out of my element with the nursing home situation but I think I can learn to be okay with it. It'll just take some more time and experience.

weekend at the movies

I don't think I've ever gone to the theater this often, even when my friend was the manager of a theater. Yesterday, Andrew and I went to see Raid on the Rainbow Lounge, an independent documentary on the raid of a gay bar in Fort Worth, Texas in 2009 on the anniversary of the Stonewall Raid. We had met the director the day before at the showing of Gayby and he was happy to hear that we were talking about his film. It was well done and very thorough.

Then today we went to The Falls, a movie about two Mormons on their mission and coming to terms with the fact that they're gay. It was a good drama but I really loved the humorous parts of it. The director and a lot of the cast and crew were there as well since it was made in Portland.

It's really nice being able to see these movies and get in for free. I'm going to have to do something nice for Yvonne who got us the passes.

What else?
My new thing yesterday was eating at J & M. They didn't have much for vegan options but their vegetarian selection (and quality) was good. Plus I just loved the look of the place.

Today, my new thing was hauling a vacuum cleaner and my bike from Long Haus to my house in a car2go. It's good to know that in an emergency or bad weather this winter, I can opt for a car2go with my bike.

pdx lesbian & gay film fest '12

This evening, I went to the opening night of the Portland Lesbian and Gay Film Fest. It's always been of interest to me but never enough to get me there. Andrew's friend is a driving force behind the FF so she got us full-access passes. We went tonight to see Gayby, the movie about a gay guy who likes comic books who lives with a straight girl who does bikram yoga. It's a strangely familiar setting.

Anyway, the movie was HILARIOUS and then we went to the opening night party which was fabulous! We met the director of one of the films and a couple who is driving from Edmonton, Canada to Hondurus. They happened to stop through Portland tonight with a craving for a movie. They saw the marquee pictured above and they were welcomed with open arms. The whole party felt very classy but yet comfortable. I just probably shouldn't have had as much vodka as I did.

my day in court

I spent the morning in court for my internship as a learning experience. A client was in court and they wanted me to see what the trial would look like. I had the chance to see lawyers, witnesses, cross-examinations, pleas to the judge, and a settlement that left everyone satisfied. It was great!

saddling up once more

I haven't worn my bike hat since I crashed on Labor Day.

It's been so long since I've ridden my bike that it almost feels like a new thing. I've been running this week every direction to catch the bus (I'm soooooo tired of the bus) and it didn't really hurt my tailbone so I figured I could start riding again. It was a short ride but I felt great in doing it. I feel whole again.

What else?
My new thing was taking the HIPPA test at my internship today. It was silly but a nice set up for the test and a lot more educational as a course on information releases than I have ever had.

my professional placement

Earlier this year when I interviewed for my last internship, I was really nervous about the prospect of working in cubicle culture. The transitional house for homeless youth where I worked for my first internship was very relaxed as my current job can be. Today, I realized what I've been missing.

My internship is great! I'm so excited about it. Today, I went in with butterflies in my stomach and left with a song in my heart. It's a professional environment but the change from my current job is this place actually appears to be filled with professionals. It appears to be actually about making a difference instead of a dollar. Plus, my friend that got fired from my current job now works at my internship, just one floor above me. This is going to be awesome.

I met with the division's director today who's a cyclist. He was friendly and knowledgeable and easy to talk to for hours. Later on in the afternoon, I met with my supervisor who's also friendly and experienced in the job. She's got a lot for me to do but she seems willing to let me get my feet wet first before just throwing me in.

This year is going to be awesome after all. Yes, it will be busy and challenging but I think I've been missing having a good challenge lately. I think I'm up to it.

the beginning of the end

This is it.

I have 9 more months to go.

Today, I started my last year of higher education. I can't believe it's almost finished. I've got to not get ahead of myself and actually settle in this year and focus. I'd be lying if I wasn't tempted just to keep my head low, get the papers done and graduate so I can be done with it all. However, I'm not one for biting my tounge.

I had a new instructor today. He was my first white straight male instructor at PSU. I kind of enjoyed the fact that I was always taught by someone who wasn't a white straight male because that's the oppressive class but he recognized that today which was cool. I did call him out on his outdated teaching material (he had a evolutionary chart of theory which showed how it has evolved from 1970-1990 and then just stopped) but I'm willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. He has many years in practice so he's not all academic which is nice.

My main issue with the class is it appears that a large chunk of it is going to be family therapy. I don't want to be a therapist and I definitely don't want to be a family therapist. I'm hoping that's just my initial impression and it will be more varied as we move along.

Anyway, the above clip is a video that he used to start the class. I already have senior-itis. Starting the school year by showing what is essentially a commencement speech is not going to ground me any quicker. :)

by the power of gay skill

The diabetes walk is okay but the AIDS walk is fabulous! So many more people show up and dress up. A lot of costumed people were mythological beings, hence He-Man and She-Ra above! Too AWESOME!

Andrew came with me this year as well as some of my regular friends and co-workers. It was a small group of us in comparison to last year but I liked it more. Dean came again this year and did great!

Also, we went straight to Ashes' soccer game afterwards so Dean got to come there too. The game was fun and Dean got a lot of excitement today although he looks pooped in the picture above. It was great because I'm anticipating being really busy next week and really for the next 9 months as school starts again so I was thrilled to have a great weekend with friends and Dean.