2113.

Any guesses as to what that number signifies?

That's how many e-mails were waiting for me when I got back into town.

Maybe 100 of them were real e-mails that I needed/wanted to read.

That vacation feeling has completely disappeared now.

I've toyed with the idea of asking someone to guest blog for me, but the only people who I can think of who would do it are fellow bloggers, and it wouldn't be fair for me to impose.

So I'm afraid you'll simply have to do without me for a week.

Yesterday, as I mentioned was rather sweet. In addition to all the fun things from the awards ceremony, I read a couple of books; both of them were gay coming of age novels. The first was 'Peter' by Kate Walker, an Australian. I enjoyed it. It wasn't great, but it was a little better than 'Geography Club'.

The next book was 'The World of Normal Boys' by K.M. Soehnlein. This was one I started before I went to bed. The next thing I knew it was four in the morning and I'd just finished. It was an amazing book. Go buy it and read it. I can't really do justice to the book by my lame description.

So, on to today. I had breakfast with Mike'nDavid. That was fine. Then I went to the office for a few hours. Got a haircut. Met up with David for coffee and conversation. Went back to his place and watched a Bette Davis movie (oh, yeah, we're gay). Had several wrestling matches with Goblin; a word of warning, she fights dirty. All in all a very, very pleasant afternoon.

This evening I went out with another David (my third of the day) to a bar called Park on the west side. Very nice lounge. The music was too loud but the crowd was very hot so that was okay.

Ran into one of my co-workers there.

Now I'm tired and I have to get up early to pack and clean and all that fun stuff. Oh, well. At least I don't have to work this week.

I should also point out that MAK and I were both wearing suits and, if I may be so bold as to say, we looked fucking fierce.

At least that's what all the hot boys at the Web thought when we went there for drinks after the ceremony.

Well, okay, there were only a couple of hot boys there and they didn't really look at us, but we still looked fierce.

Great, great time tonight. MAK is a perfect companion for these kinds of events. Snarky, but not overly so. Emotional, but not overly so. And best of all, we weren't cruising the same men (our tastes are divergent). Not that MAK was cruising men; don't worry, K.

As I said, tonight was great. The event was a bit of a cluster fuck organizationally speaking, but who cares? The food was good, the entertainment was great (and cute, cute, cute) and I had a lovely time.

Odd story. I was accepting an award on behalf of my firm. But they made the award out to me. That sucker's going right on my resume, believe me.

Other funny note, I won the raffle. I have remarkably good luck with raffles. Tend to win something. I've won plane tickets, concert tickets, t-shirts, uniforms, cash . . . all sorts of cool stuff.

Tonight's prize was a trip to Trinidad.

How cool is that? I don't know if it's tickets for two, but if it is I'm inviting MAK since he was my date for the evening.

Now I just need PatCH to tell me everything about Trinidad since he is from there.

Too much to do. So I'm just not going to do any of it.

I'm going to get a haircut. Then go to this awards ceremony with MAK. I will drink and have fun. I will not think of all the things I have to do. I will not be pissed off that the plans I had for today fell apart as they always do. What's the point?

Fuck it all.

England won the rugby world cup. Will wonders never cease?

I'm very disappointed that I chose to sleep last night instead of watching the game. From what I hear, it was a real nail-biter. Can't wait to watch the replay.

I'm feeling a little better today. In fact, as long as I don't move, breathe or swallow, I feel just peachy.

Thank God for cold medecine. At least I can kind of function.

Kind of.

Tonight is the final match of the rugby world cup. One of the guys on our team is hosting a party to watch it. I really want to go. But I really need to sleep. Choices, choices.

I also have to pack. And clean out the fridge. And do all the crap I've been putting off around the house and at work.

Too much to do, too little time.

Tonight's awards ceremony was the best one of the week (so far). It was for a great program that helps at-risk kids in the Bronx. Best of all, Ossie Davis was the emcee. He was amazing.

Okay, time to go home.

I made soup last night. I always feel better when I make soup. This was a veggie soup with red new potatoes, red chard, spinach, chickpeas, tomatoes, fennel and celery. And a heaping helping of garlic to help with the cold.

I wish I had some right now, but I guess I'll just have to wait till I get home.

When I get sick, my brain gets fuzzy.

Today I got off the subway and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to get to my exit. That was because I'd gotten off a stop early.

At work I was getting ready to add Equal to my coffee. Which I'd already done. That would have been some super sweet coffee. Nasty.

It didn't help that when I got into the office I walked past the receptionist, said hi, then proceeded to walk back to my office. There were no secretaries. No attorneys. Nobody. I had almost decided that the rapture had come and only the receptionist and I were evil sinners, when I realized that they were probably running a fire drill. Sure enough.

I hope this cold medecine kicks in soon.

Now, I'm off to read the continuing Faustus drama . . . already in progress.

Sneezy, Runny, Achy, Phlegmy.

Not the lost Dwarves (Dwarfs?) from Snow White, they are my symptoms that have been sneaking up on me this afternoon.

Bollocks.

It's like my body understands that I'm about to go on a well-needed vacation and is attempting to ruin it.

Ah, well. As long as I feel better by Monday.

I just got an e-mail offering me a chance to purchase a "My Twinn Doll." This doll is manufactured to look like "that special child in your life."

Insert Michael Jackson joke here.

Anyway, with all due respect to what I'm sure is a wonderful product, am I the only one who would have been massively creeped out getting one of these? I would have lain awake nights worried that as soon as I dozed off, the doll would come to life, grow to human size, take my place and turn me into a doll.

Surely I'm not the only one who would have thought that.

Massachusetts Governor Speaks Out
"I agree with 3,000 years of recorded history," Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney said. "Slavery is an institution endorsed by the Bible and our constitution and laws should reflect that."


Okay, it's not exactly what he said, but I hope you see my point. As the old song goes, "The things that you're liable to read in the Bible, it ain't necessarily so." And just because it's always been done that way, doesn't make it right.

Quiet day, it seems. Few comments. Few updates on the other blogs.

Am I the only one not doing jack shit at work?

Sigh.

I guess this means I have to tackle that huge fucking pile of paper on my desk.

I've also got a bunch of friends to call. Lots of people leaving me messages over the last week. Nothing pressing; just wanting to catch up. Funny thing is, when I'm down like I have been, the last thing I want to do is talk to anyone. It's just too much of a chore to act like I'm happy when I'm not and I don't want to burden my friends with my problems.

So now they just think I'm a dick for not calling them back.

Eh bien, what can you do?

Well, time to make the donuts . . . so to speak.

I imagine this is what Purgatory will be like.

This is my week to read books. Or rather, this is my week to avoid doing laundry and going to the gym. Monday I read 'Geography Club' by Brent Hartinger. Last night it was 'Everybody Dies' by Lawrence Block (one of my heroes).

'Geography Club' was a light read. Very obviously written for teenagers using lots of cultural references (it seems that many of the guys at this particular high school looked like Abercrombie and Fitch models or like they just stepped out of an Old Navy ad). Luckily, this book will likely be forgotten before it's too dated. I mean, it was a good little read, but it didn't cover any new territory at all. Boy meets boy (one of them a school nobody and the other the jock hero). They fall in love, nearly get outed and jock boy decides he can't deal with the pressure.

Kind of a 'What's Wrong With Angry'/'Get Real' thing. Like I said, no new territory covered.

But then, it's written for high school kids. How many of them have read 'What's Wrong With Angry' or seen 'Get Real'?

And if it helps any kid deal with being gay, then I'm all for it.

'Everybody Dies' was good. Comfortable, I suppose, is a better word. I've read all the other books in the Matthew Scudder series. I like the characters. I feel like I know them and enjoy reading about their lives. And this was a great book for that. It really dealt with some characters in the series that don't have much in the way of back story and it fleshed them out a lot. And it killed off a couple that had been in there for a while (kind of an Ed McBain sort of thing).

The problem was the story. Someone is trying to set up one of Matt's friends. The rest of the story involves Matt trying to figure out who's doing it and why. The 'who's doing it and why' is revealed late in the book, and while it doesn't get explained enough to make it very believable, the motive is revenge and it at least holds together. The problem for me was that the book sets out fairly early that one of the people in Matt's friend's inner circle is betraying him and setting him up to be killed. And although it isn't revealed until right before the end, it is painfully obvious who it is. And while I suppose it's okay to read a book in order to see when the characters will finally put everything together, it wasn't what I wanted from this book. Matt Scudder is a detective. He'd been a police officer. In short, he was too smart not to have seen this coming.

And that bothered me.

Now like I said, I'm glad I read the book if for no other reason than some of the character development. That and the fact that Lawrence Block is an amazing writer no matter how you slice it. When you read one of his books, you are transported into it. It's also pretty cool that the series is set in New York and that he uses real places (one scene in the book took place in the church next door to where I used to live).

But I still felt a little cheated.

So tonight I guess I'll finish 'Dorian' by Will Self or that Timberlake Wertenbaker play I've been picking up and putting down.

Oh, baby, baby, Oops, I did it again--damn it! Get that song out of my fucking head!

So David scooped my blog entry for today. Well, fine. I'll teach him. I'll just blog about something else.

Um.

Okay.

'Cause to lose all my senses that is just so typically me. Oh baby, baby--crap!

Okay, fine. Someone stole all my pens from my desk at work. Now this wouldn't piss me off if it were just the crappy little pens that the firm gives out to everyone. No, these were nice pens that I purchased from Staples. Granted, it's not like someone came in here and stole a Mont Blanc, but still. It's the principle of the thing.

Got that out of my system.

I'm not that innocent--Aargh!!!

As David mentioned, I was thinking of writing about what's been bothering me lately. Some of it is rugby stuff. Some of it has to do with some of my friends.

Deleted

Okay, I edited what I'd just written. Sorry about that. I just don't want to get into everything right now. I'll write about it when I'm not at work. But oddly enough, the last verse of the song that refuses to leave my fucking head kind of captures some of how I'm feeling.

You see my problem is this
I'm dreaming away
Wishing that heroes, they truly exist
I cry, watching the days
Can't you see I'm a fool in so many ways
But to lose all my senses
That is just so typically me

Anyway, I'll get into all that later.

Since Sherry recently pointed out that weblog entries aren't copyrighted, I'll leave you with this:

Dan is sitting here making rude comments about my last blog - to be expected I guess, but he ought to be careful considering all he has on are a towel and his glasses!

When you work for Satan, bad things happen to you.

The point of the previous post is that I've had 'Oops, I Did It Again' stuck in my head for two days. Or rather, just the chorus since I don't know any of the other lyrics.

Yesterday morning, NPR had an interview with Richard Thompson about his new album (sorry, CD) '1000 Years of Popular Music'. The genesis of this project was a survey by Entertainment Weekly where various musicians were asked to list their top 10 songs of the millenium (with the understanding that by "millenium" they meant the last 20 years).

Well, he called their bluff and sent in songs plucked from the last 1000 years.

They didn't print his list.

So now he has a CD with some of his choices on it. He sang a few of the songs on the air and they were amazing. The songs he chose to sing were 'Shenandoah', 'Blackleg Miner' and, believe it or not, 'Oops, I Did It Again'. He did Britney's song a little slower and with an acoustic guitar. Made it sound a little bit like Clapton.

But one of the more amusing things from the album is the final track, 'Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt'. It's a Renaissance style version of 'Oops, I Did It Again'. He calls it a traditional melody from Brittany (clever little pun).

Check out his website for info on this album (sorry, CD) since I don't think it's on Amazon or B&N just yet.

Odd thing at the Expo yesterday. One of the guys on our team bought a Utilikilt (non-traditional urban kilt . . . whatever). Then another. Then another. I think 5 or 6 guys in all bought them.

This was our team president's thoughts on his purchase from an e-mail he sent out this morning.

"Today i'm suffering some kilt regret, or as the French say, 'l'ennui du kilt de yesterjour.'"

Brilliant.

I'm planning to get a kilt, but I'm getting it in my family tartan with all the traditional accessories.

Something I forgot to mention. Back in July I wrote about my date from hell with a freak, freak, freak who hit on me at the Pride Pier Dance.

Well, I saw him today. Walked up to the table where we were working. Right up to me. Looked at me and said, "So what's this group about?"

He didn't recognize me.

I knew I'd grown the beard for a reason.

I just did my 'MmmBop Dance' and feel most merry. All it takes is a few long-haired Oklahoma boys . . . um, I think I'll stop that sentence right there.

Anyway, I'll now share a brief, but amusing (at least to me), Hanson story. My friend Mike (of Mike'nDavid) loves music. And Mike is an amazing fellow when it comes to music. Loves the blues; has an extensive collection. His boyfriend is an opera singer. Together they have hundreds of CDs. He loves old-school punk and classic guitar rock. The Ramones, the Stones, Clapton, Iggy Pop, Ry Cooder, Lightning Hopkins, Pinetop Perkins, Robert Johnson.

And Hanson.

I tease him no end about this fact. This music-loving guy . . . the one who is even upon occasion a music snob . . . has a weakness for bubble-gum pop.

He attempts to justify it. Hanson write their own songs. They play their own instruments. They are real musicians, not just well-miked dancers. They just happen to be young and their music somewhat pop-sounding.

Valid arguments to be sure. Usually after he makes them, I bring up the fact that he also likes Britney Spears.

Normally at this point he tells me to fuck off and starts getting grumpy.

Tee hee.

Needless to say, whenever we go out to a bar or restaurant, he goes straight to the jukebox. He always chooses some great classic rock or old country or punk. If we're at a good Irish bar, it might be some good Gaelic music or Irish protest rock.

All of which I enjoy as well.

After he comes back to the table/bar/whatever, I go over. I always choose music I'll enjoy, not unlike Mike's choices, but maybe a little more top 40s pop. Invariably, I also manage to find the two or three songs that will annoy Mike.

In a few of the bars it's 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion. To Mike (and many guys I know) listening to Celine ranks up there with chewing on glass on the list of fun things to do. Me, I love her. And I know that song lasts just short of forever.

Tee hee, again.

There are also several bars that have compilation CDs. In two of the bars we frequent, those compilation CDs have Hanson's 'MmmBop'. Mike never seems to remember this and never bothers to read what's on the compilation CDs.

So it always comes as a surprise.

We'll be sitting there, engrossed in a conversation, when the opening chords play. He usually doesn't catch it, but I do. I start moving my shoulders in time with the music. By the time the lyrics start, I'm doing a seated version of my 'MmmBop Dance'.

This is the point that Mike seems to be shrinking into himself.

Because people are instantly able to tell which table chose Hanson. The table with the weird dancing guy and the obviously humiliated one.

Considering how grotesquely self-conscious I usually am, I'm amazed that I do that. But fuck it, I'm having fun. And despite his protests, I know Mike does, too.

Since today has done little to improve my mood, I'm fighting it using the hard stuff. Bubble-gum pop music.

Right now it's S Club 7. Next is Hanson. And Savage Garden. If I'm still awake, it'll be Barenaked Ladies.

But the truth is that I feel much better after just a couple of S Club 7 songs, so that is a good sign.

Today was okay. I worked at the Gay Expo manning the Out of Bounds table. This group serves as an umbrella group for over 30 of the GLBT sports teams in NYC. There were probably about 16 of the rugby guys there over the course of the day.

After the event a bunch of people went over to McHale's for dinner. This means I'm really, really full.

Best part of the day was finally getting to see Faustus do his thing . . . um, cheerleading, I mean.

I don't think I can do justice by describing the cheerleading squad. It's not the kind of stuff you see on ESPN in the tournaments, etc. I mean, these are folks who have jobs and lives and do this in their free time. That being said . . . they are so much fun to watch. They clearly are having a great time when they're doing their routines and they pull you right in with them. I had a great time. This was the first time I'd seen them do any of their big stuff (all the really cool acrobatics and dance). They performed at our bachelor auction in the spring, but it was at SBNY and it was packed so they didn't have room to do too much of the big stuff.

So as I said, I got to see Faustus perform. Now I've seen Faustus before; we met once at another Expo. He's cute; I've thought that since I met him. And I knew he was athletic having seen his pictures on the Cheer New York website. But when you see him perform . . . well, he's just amazing. He literally beams. He seems to be having the time of his life.

It's so fucking awesome to see.

I hope I look like that when I'm having a really good rugby match.

So despite the petty annoyances that I let get to me this weekend, I got to meet two of my blog heroes. I'll call that a good weekend.

Sounds about right:

Which Founding Father Are You?

Right now, I'm pissed off and feeling whiny and full of self-pity. And while I'm sure indulging these feelings would make for interesting reading, I'm going to try something new. Rather than bitching about it right now, I'm going to sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning.

So let's focus on the good things from the last couple of days. Pooh's party - The pool was awesome and for once I didn't obsess about how I looked walking around in a swimsuit (or less). I just got in the water and swam and enjoyed myself. More than half the guys got in the pool. Maybe three of them wore bathing suits. I love pool parties. I did the polar bear club thing of hanging out in the pool, going into the sauna for a while, then going outside and sitting on the patio (it was around 33 degrees or so) until I couldn't stand it anymore (probably five minutes or so). I'm one of those odd people who really likes the cold. I just hate the cold when it's humid or raining.

Today's matches - We won the first match (Our A-side vs. Philly's A-side). We lost the second one (Our B-side vs. Boston). The third match (Atlanta v. Philly B) was great. It was one of those matches where the outcome was uncertain until the end. Philly started off with a couple of scores and Atlanta just started whittling away at it. It looked like Atlanta would score in the final seconds, but it wasn't to be. The final match was a harlot match. Anyone who wanted to play. It was a pretty good match, but I don't know how the scoring went.

I'm not going to blog about tonight's party yet, but I will mention that I got a very pleasant surprise. At one point fairly early in the evening (about an hour or so into the party) one of my teammates brought someone over to me and said "This is him." Turns out that the person who had been looking for me was Bob. So I've met another of my blog heroes. We didn't get to spend a lot of time hanging out (sadly, he was looking for me by asking for Crash . . . only about 10 or so teammates know about the blog . . . so he spent a lot of time not knowing who I was), but I have a couple of Bobservations based on the time we hung out.

1) Bob is a very nice, friendly guy.
2) Bob is even cuter in person than he is in his pictures on his site.
3) He was willing to pay $20 to hang out with me despite only getting to have a couple of beers (he dropped by on his way to another event) and having to put up with about 150 drunk ruggers in a very confined space (upstairs at the Eagle). That earns major points in my book.
4) Meeting him absolutely made my night.

One other thing that made my night, there were three zulus. As I have explained, it's a rugby tradition that when a player scores his first-ever try (like a touchdown in football) he performs what is called a 'zulu'. I don't know why it's called that; it just is. In most matches (college and above . . . I don't know if they do this in high school . . . I might have to drop by Xavier and find out), the player strips naked once the game is over and runs once around the entire pitch (a rugby pitch is a little bigger than a football field). Last year at this event, one of the Boston guys was in the middle of performing his zulu, when a couple of Park Rangerettes came over and read us the riot act. Fine. Sure. Whatever.

So we do our zulus at the bar now. Tonight there were three; two of the guys from Atlanta (or Philly . . . I've forgotten) and one of our boys. Our boy swore up and down that he didn't want to, wasn't going to, and couldn't be forced to do a zulu.

Yeah. He did it.

Sadly, from my vantage point, I missed seeing . . . um, the goods. Pity, too, cause he is very, very cute (and also a great guy). The fellow who is filming the documentary about the club got the zulu on tape, but I'm sure he'll be discreet.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to skip Adam's after-party due to my general mood . . . which I'll blog about later. I'm going to read a few chapters in my latest quick read ('Geography Club' by Brent Hartinger). Maybe once I've done that, I'll feel like heading over.

I didn't get much further than the headline of this article, but I am so going to visit Cincinnati soon.

Tonight is the first event in what will be a weekend of wild debauchery. Pool party at Pooh's house. While most of the guys will keep it fairly tame (they have to if they want to play tomorrow), those of us who are fat lazy injured will be partying for the rest of them.

While the drinking will be kept under control, as soon as people start getting into the pool, it will turn into a skinny-dipping fest. And from what I've seen of the Atlanta boys, this could be a lot of fun.

Can't wait, but I wish I had time to grab a quick nap.

Windy, windy night. Because of the way my apartment is situated, it is not a pleasant place to be on a night like tonight. Drafty, for one thing. The wind moans and screams in the stairwell next door to me. My window, which is on an airshaft makes it sound like a hurricane outside. And something is scratching on my window. Very creepy.

Tonight's awards ceremony was nice. It was at the Museum of the City of New York, which I'd never been to. It was very good time. Beautiful building and very nice exhibits. I only saw a couple of the exhibits. I hope to go back soon to see some of the other ones. The first exhibit was all about Harlem and the architecture up there (Harlem Lost and Found). It was amazing. Beautiful photos and drawings. Very cool.

The second exhibit made me think of Mark . . . especially because of today's entry. The exhibit was all about Steuben glass (Glass and Glamour, Steuben's Modern Moment). It was amazing. I'd never really seen any Stueben glass, especially not pieces as old as these. Beautiful hand-blown glass, subtle etching . . . it was stunning.

I need to spend a lot more time hitting the museums around the city.

As I've mentioned before, my rugby club is sponsoring a tournament this weekend. I hope you'll all attend. Well, those of you in this area; I suppose it would be unreasonable to expect those of you in distant locations to fly in for one weekend.

The info about the tournament can be found on our website. There will be four games, the first starting at 11 a.m. The pitch (field) is a bit of a pain to get to. Anyway, check out our site for driving/public transportation directions.

If you aren't up for the games, but you want to party with 150 hot rugby players from New York, Boston, Philly and Atlanta, you can come to the after-party at the Eagle (27th between 10th and 11th . . . closer to 11th). For a mere $20 you'll get food, beer and lots of gratuitous nudity. What a deal!!!

The drink up is supposed to begin at 5 p.m. (we're starting it early because we'll be partying at Adam's/bar hopping in the evening [after 9 or so]). So drop by the Eagle and party with us.

I just saw this post on Gawker.

I will admit that I'm thrilled at the thought of Simon Rex doing more porn (I really, really liked his early pre-MTV work with Brad Posey). But the mere thought of having to see Paris Hilton's scrawny little body just kind of ruins it for me.

Plus, I'm still hoping that someone will release a Simon Rex/Carson Daly video.

Last night I baked.

I suppose it was a fairly boring evening, especially compared to Tuesday. I did laundry and baked bread. I also watched 'And Then Came Summer' . . . I don't recommend it, although it had some good moments and could have been a pretty good film with more of a budget. And better actors. And a better written script.

But other than that, it was okay.

Well, at least the bread turned out well. And my laundry did, too.

Things I learned last night:

1) MAK is a fun drunk.
2) MAK is a cheap drunk.
3) MAK's mom is a sweetheart and remarkably tolerant of drunken highjinks.
4) MAK spills all sorts of spicy secrets when he's drunk.
5) I talk about sex . . . a lot . . . when I'm drunk.
6) Um, lots of stuff I'm not going to blog about for fear of retribution.
7) Friends don't let friends use their cellphones drunk.

The point is, I had a fantastic time last night. It seems I needed a night out to blow off a little steam.

Plan: one or two drinks in a couple of hours.
Reality: four or five drinks in a couple of hours.

Drunk.

But it was fun. Got MAK to spill some Faustus dish. Got to talk to MAK's mom. Got to hang with MAK's friends. All in all, great damn evening.

So without further ado:

Hot Drunken Quote of the Day
(to MAK, who just bought some Ben and Jerry's)
Deli guy: Do you want a spoon?
MAK (drunkity, drunk, drunk, drunk): No thanks, I'm just going to take it home and lick it with my tongue.

Rugby practice or drinks with MAK? Stand outside in the cold watching my teammates play? Stay inside with alcohol? Choices.

Well, alcohol always wins in the end.

Coach, feel free to write something nasty in the comments section (but bear in mind I'm taking care of the raffle this weekend and my happy ass will be on Randall's lining the field early Saturday morning).

This is really funny. And horrifyingly accurate.

Quick favor to ask. I'm trying to come up with some items to raffle at our post-game drink up. If any of you work at businesses that might be willing to donate things or could get your hands on some free movie or theater tickets, could you let me know?

I had my 10,000th hit today!!! You like me! Right now you really like me!!!

Okay, truth be told, it's probably the same 10 or so people obsessively checking to see if I've blogged about them, but what the hell.

So yesterday . . . not much happened. Went to the gym (yea me) and watched '9 to 5' on DVD. I'd forgotten how much I liked that movie. And damn, Dolly Parton had some big ole titties on her.

I'm going to try to hit the gym on a regular basis in order to get into shape for the Bingham Cup Tournament in May. Come hell or high water, I'm going to be playing. Now I just need to start back with the physical therapist.

My parents are coming up in February. That gives me approximately three months to hide my porn. Living in a studio has certain disadvantages.

On the plus side, they've gotten tickets to 'Wicked' and 'The Producers' (with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick). That's right, be jealous.

Went to Mike's to celebrate his new job. Took a bottle of port. We drank it. I now have an evil headache.

I'm going to bed.

One other thing. My birthday is in a month. I think I'm going to throw myself a party on Saturday the 6th or Sunday 7th. What I did last year was get everyone together at the Phoenix, let them all buy me shots . . . um, then I guess someone poured me into a cab and sent me home. My last memory of the evening was leaning against the pinball machine and sliding slowly to the floor. I wonder if it turned into a Jody Foster moment? I hope so.

The plan will likely be the same. Either the Phoenix or the Web. Actually, any bar where the patrons aren't hairy and wearing leather would be fine with me. Hmm . . . maybe we'll have to have it at Heaven. Mmmmm . . . smooth college boys.

Point being, mark your calendars. I'll post more info closer to the date.

Last night's party was fun. It was a little under-attended and mellower than I would have expected considering it was Turtle's b-day party and he's one of the guys who is universally loved by the team. Literally and figuratively.

Anyway, I spent most of the night staring at the door . . . waiting for MAK who promised to come by . . . sadly, he never showed. Turns out he was blowing me off like the skank he is at home sick with the flu. If you get a chance, drop by his site and wish him well. This is supposed to be a nasty flu season.

The party was fun, as I said. The theme was "white trash." I just wore the same clothes I wear back home (in Texas) and everyone assumed I'd dressed up. Ah, well. In keeping with the theme, the food ran toward the "hot dogs in biscuits," "Wonder Bread" and Pringles variety. Drinks were Schlitz, etc. I brought Bacardi. Not very white trash, but delicious. If I'd wanted to be really authentic, I'd have brought Captain Morgans.

For our viewing pleasure, we had "South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut," Jerry Springer's uncensored tape, "Bum Fights" (which is truly disturbing . . . I'm glad those guys got arrested for making it), and of course, cheesy porn.

Truth be told, if we'd all been pretending to be straight, it would have been like any weeknight in my old college dorm. Except I would have gotten laid at the end of the evening. (Side note, why is it that I was getting laid so much more when I was hanging out with straight guys?)

All in all a good party. And I got home before 3 a.m. which was nice.

There is another party tonight. The guy who's throwing it is nice and all, but we're not particularly tight or anything, so I may blow it off. Don't know. I may be going out with Mike tonight to celebrate his new job. Anyway, the party is in Williamsburg and God knows I'm not hip enough to hang with that crowd.

So last night's party . . . um. Well, truth be told, I got home around 7:45 p.m. so I decided not to change; I figured I'd wear my work clothes and go with that "rich daddy" look. I decided to sit down in my comfy chair for a minute before heading over to xl. Next thing I knew, it was well after 9 p.m.

Yep, slept through the party.

Damn, I'm getting old.

Anyway, I still managed to do laundry, so the evening wasn't a complete waste. And tonight is Turtle's party so there will be much debauchery.

I just went to Starbucks for my afternoon coffee; Cute Asian Boy 2 pretty much blew me off. But Cute Asian Boy 1 was being very flirty yesterday.

Let's see . . . what else? Oh, I heard from my friend Stuff. He's still in China, working hard. Managed to get himself a boyfriend. A bell boy in the hotel where he's staying. Cute fella, too.

And Mike got the job. Vice President of something. Big raise. Company car. Other cool things. I'm very psyched for him, but part of me wishes he'd just continued to write. But I understand his need for security. And it's not like he won't still be writing, he'll just be doing less of it.

I got my flu shot today and my arm is hurting. Plus I'm feeling a little sick.

I guess that's it for now.

Since rugby is canceled and I can't get anyone to go to the Web with me, I'm going to mosey down to XL for Boards, Balls and Blades. This is a party hosted by the fabulous Jeff Kagan (of the gay hockey league, among other things). Each monthly (?) party spotlights a different gay sports team. Great recruiting tool.

Heh heh . . . I said tool.

Anyway, lots of cute guys, most of them jocks of one type or another. Tonight it's spotlighting the pool league. Not the speedo type of pool. The long sticks and big balls type of pool.

Should be fun.

Tomorrow night is Turtle's birthday party. That means I should get plenty of sleep tonight. That and get on the liver transplant list. The party has a great theme (involving costumes and props) but since the theme is a surprise and I don't know if Turtle reads the blog, I can't talk about it. I will on Saturday, though.

I just saw some pictures from Adam's Halloween party. I think I'm going to start dressing as a monk on a daily basis. I looked pretty good as one. Other than in the picture that Brian took . . . I was doing something, well, not very monkish.

Tomorrow's party is sure to be a blast.

Tonight I'm going to go home, download porn do laundry, eat a whole pizza cook some vegetables and stay up till two go to bed early.

One other cool story. Mike (of Mike'nDavid) has been looking for a job. He got a call this week regarding an interview. Not only did the phone interview go well, but they wanted to fly him out to California for a face-to-face. He's there now. I really hope this goes well. I know he is excited about it.

Okay, David is off the hook.

Scott and Mark . . . I'm waiting.

Hey!! Palochi!!!! Update your damn blog!!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're sick. Boo hoo!! Blog, damn it, blog!!!

You too, Mark!!!

And I can't help but notice that Faustus is back and updating, but David hasn't updated his blog yet.

Just because all of you guys have lives doesn't mean that you aren't still obligated to amuse and distract me with your witty entries. Come on, cut me a break here. I'm bored.

You'd think that if you'd *invited* 50 some-odd people to a mandatory meeting, you'd have gotten a room with enough chairs. You'd think that you'd have prepared enough materials. You'd think if you'd scheduled it when most people take their lunch breaks you'd have at least had a little food, even just cookies or something.

Nope.

At the end of the meeting, after sitting through all this technical crap about folder management and naming documents and all that other bullshit, I went up to talk to the trainer. I told her that although I deal with litigation matters and I'm in the litigation department, my matters are technically considered administration.

She told me that this seminar really didn't apply to me then.

Fuck.

I want my hour and a half back.

I'm very, very tired. I was up entirely too late watching porn Family Guy episodes.

Feel like death warmed over. Whatever the hell that means.

Anyway, I'm hungry, I haven't had any coffee, I have an upset stomach and I've been *invited* to attend a mandatory meeting at noon. I bet they won't even feed us.

At least I had a good night. Before watching the porn Family Guy episodes, I went over to Mike's and got almost caught up on 'Carnivale'. I'm really digging that show. Plus, Nick Stahl is hot.

Okay, time to start pulling myself together for my bloody, fucking, waste-of-time meeting.

My latest cool thing from a gift bag is Aretha Franklin's new album. Haven't listened to it yet.

My blog is looking all fucked up. It's cutting off in the middle of a post. Don't know what's wrong. Hopefully, it's just something on my computer, but who knows. Damn my lack of technical expertise.

Maybe it's just the blog god's way of saying that I should go to bed.

I'll blog more about this later, but mark your calendars. The Gotham Knights are hosting a rugby tournament on Saturday, Nov. 15th. It'll only be four teams: us, Boston, Philly and Atlanta (plus any other IGRAB players who decide they want to show up). There will be at least three games of rugby, so it will be a pretty full day. We'll be out on Randall's Island. If you're interested in finding out more, go to our website (see link at right).

Of course the important thing is that we will be having parties galore that weekend. If you've ever wanted to hang out with the team, this is the weekend for it. Details will follow.

Damn, Bravo has a lot of friends. I've gotten over a hundred hits from his site over the course of the day. Ah, to be young, pretty, intelligent, well-spoken, etc. At least I'm . . . um, well . . . ah, hell, I've got nice furniture. I guess that counts for something. And I've been told that I'm mildly amusing.

Anyway, welcome to all of Bravo's acolytes. I hope this blog doesn't bore you to death as it has so many others.

Time for a recap of the weekend's activities.

Friday: Adam's party. I've more or less blogged about it. The highlight of the event was getting hit on by two teammates' boyfriends. Yes, they were both totally wasted. One of them told me, while rubbing my thigh, that it would really turn him on to watch me blow a certain other guy on my team. Then he went over to that other guy and told him the same thing.

Mmm'kay. I probably won't be able to face the other guy anytime in the near future because I'm sure he thought I'd put the drunk boyfriend up to it.

Not surprisingly, it was not long after this that my teammate dragged his drunk boyfriend home.

Good times. Nothing like an evening of being cock-teased to really start a weekend off right.

Saturday: Youth Conference at the Center. It's funny, we did a lot less outreach than I expected. Most of the kids just went outside to enjoy the weather instead of visiting with all the organizations that were set up inside. In fact, it turned into more of a networking opportunity for all the various groups that were there. We spoke with a couple of guys from GLSEN about outreach to high school kids and we met with several representatives of various colleges. With any luck, we'll be able to get our youth rugby team going in the spring. As always, the hardest part is to convince kids that it's okay to be gay and play sports. So many gay kids have had horrible experiences in sports; I know I did when I was a kid. And there aren't a lot of gay sports figures as role models. Usually it's only the players whose careers have ended that can come out. What kind of role model is that? Keep closeted until it doesn't matter? Not the right message.

Enough soapbox talk. Coming back from the conference I had my Bravo sighting. Then coffee with David who has chronicled the event in somewhat embarrassing detail on Faustus' blog where he is guest-blogging. In case my teammates are worried that the naked rugby pictures he refers to were pictures of them . . . well, yeah, they were. Deal with it. Just be glad I didn't post them on this site (or rather, didn't figure out how to post them).

Saturday night was Lee's housewarming. His apartment is great. It was a fun, if somewhat subdued, party. Most of us were nursing wicked hangovers. Didn't stop us (well, me) from drinking though. Fun time. After the party, some of the guys went out to Slide where Yaniv works. I was too tired.

Sunday: didn't do a damn thing. Slept until early afternoon. Spent way too much money on art books on eBay and Alibris. I'm turning into a bit of an eBay junkie. Need to keep an eye on that. In the evening I watched 'I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'; pretty funny movie. I'd only seen bits and pieces of it before this. Great blaxploitation parody. I'm surprised I only got around to seeing it now.

Anyway, I'm now well-rested and ready to face the week. Which is a damn good thing because there is a rugby board of directors meeting tonight and I have the feeling there is going to be drama.

Man, I'm getting too old for that kind of shit.

Okay, I made it home and my liver is . . . um, shaken, not stirred. We'll just call it more or less intact. Next big party is in six days; Turtle's birthday party. I hope my liver has time to detox at least a little by then.

One of my more exciting happenings today was a Bravo sighting. I don't know if any of you read his blog, but you should. At first, I started reading it because, frankly, he's adorable. Then once I started reading it, I realized that he's smart and funny and pretty clever as well. I always enjoy finding someone who makes me think that there is actually hope for this world. Bravo certainly makes me feel this way.

Just a suggestion, if you visit his site, start at the beginning. The coming out stuff is pretty powerful.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I saw Bravo and friends walking down 7th Ave. today. I really wanted to say something . . . how junior high is that? . . . but I felt like I'd be intruding. He doesn't know me from Adam, and as a matter of fact, I don't know him at all, either. It's odd how reading someone's blog makes you feel as if you know them, despite there being no human connection.

So I think I saw Bravo. And oddly enough, it made my day.

Coffee with David was delightful. Now I'm off to the rugby party du jour (du nuit? de la nuit? Whatever.)

Should be fun, though I already can feel my liver trying to escape.

Youth Conference was cool. Just amazing how different gay high school kids are today.

Still hungover, but slightly better. More of the gossipy stories from last night are filtering back into my consciousness.

I'm off to grab some coffee with David. Should be fun.

Brief Rundown of Halloween (and today)

Paul comes over to change into costume.
Have some port.
Watch 'Young Frankenstein'.
Mike comes over.
Have some port.
Start changing for party.
Watch some porn.
Stop changing for party.
Watch more porn.
David comes over.
Watch more porn.
Mike takes off.
Eventually tear ourselves away from porn and go to party.
Tequila.
Tequila.
MAK.
Tequila.
Rum and coke.
Hang out with MAK for an hour or two till he has to take off.
Rum and coke.
Vodka and coke.
Tequila.
Wrestler boy.
Angel wings.
Santi as Lorne from 'Angel'.
Time Warp.
John and Mike.
Um . . . Mike?
Doug.
Ted.
Doug and Ted.
Um.
Little Shop of Horrors.
Home.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Head hurts.
No, really, head hurts!
Blog.

Time to get ready for the youth conference.