With apologies to . . .

Tommy Lee Jones (who clearly needed money or was blackmailed into starring in this movie) and the entire audience of Man of the House which includes everyone in the State of Texas (especially those who went to or currently go to UT) and special needs patients across the nation.


George: "Where's your happy fayyyce?"


Condi: "This is my happy fayyyce."

Mixin' and Minglin'

I want to go out Saturday night after the Gay Expo (visit me at the Out of Bounds booth and I will prattle endlessly about gay sports in New York). So if anyone wants to join me, I'll be going to:

HABIBI PARTY
Middle Eastern gay/str8/bi/mixed party...
Dance and chill with Rai, amr diab, alabina, ishtar, rachid taha, khaled, faudel...
DJ iz
featuring the amazing EDUARDO

Saturday February 26th, 10 p.m.
at
RARE
416 w. 14 street
Manhattan
$10

I'll admit to being curious as to what exactly makes EDUARDO amazing.

Anyway, here's what I'm wearing, so none of you other byotches better show up in the same thing.

Texas, It's Like a Whole Other Middle Eastern Country

I'm sure the fine minds at the Texas Tourism Department didn't really think too hard before coming up with their latest slogan, "Texas. It's Like a Whole Other Country". Or maybe it's just that their original choices "Texas. It's the 9th Circle of Hell." and "Texas. We hate queers." never really caught on.

So here is the latest news about some of the fine, upstanding citizens of the great Whole Other Country State of Texas.

Two Men Unhappy With Restaurant's Service Threaten To Blow Up Pentagon

"Texas. If our fries are soggy we'll blow up the Pentagon."

What Happens in Bratislava, Stays in Bratislava

"You had me at 'Hello'."

Another Food Entry

Fuji apples . . . mmmmmmmmmmm.

Food Glorious Food

This weekend was all about the cooking. I'm trying to dig myself out of this huge pile of debt and eating at home seems to help. Plus, I love to cook. And I'm a grumpy old man no one wants to hang out with, so my social life doesn't really interfere.

Point being, my apartment smells great and the fridge is stuffed with food.

I roasted turkey thighs one night with a lemon and capers. Then I mixed the pan drippings with sour cream to make the sauce. That was delicious.

I roasted a chicken stuffed with lemon, basil and garlic. I stuffed the breasts with basil and put sliced garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil on the skin, which crisped up very nicely.

I made a slightly different version of David's parsley salad. I chopped up four tomatoes and a bunch each of basil, cilantro and parsley. Mixed them together. Covered them in olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkled with salt and pepper. It is fantastic, especially if you like strong, fresh flavors.

Then I made a bunch of baked chicken breasts. The first batch were meant to be baked in red wine, soy sauce and raspberry preserves, but I didn't have any red wine. So I used red wine vinegar. This would have been okay, but I used nearly a half cup of vinegar, so the chicken really tastes a little too tart. Next time, I need to halve the vinegar or just run to the store and buy some wine. (I just saw a recipe for Boysenberry Chicken, so I may try that soon, too.)

The second batch wasn't quite what I wanted either, but that is because Gristede's (the nearest grocery store) sucks donkey dick. Lousy produce, lousy selection. I wanted to get some mushrooms. Shiitake, oyster, whatever they had. All they had was portabella. They didn't even have white button mushrooms. Just a bunch of old withered portabellas. So I had to buy canned. Anyway, this wasn't a gourmet recipe to begin with (it uses condensed soup), so I shouldn't be too upset. But I still hate fuckin' Gristedes.

I baked these chicken breasts with Campbell's mushroom soup, canned mushrooms and a half cup of dry sherry. It still turned out tasty.

I have plenty of food for the rest of the week (half the roasted chicken, five chicken breasts, lots of salad), but I also have a bunch of stuff left to cook (tofu, squash, red chard, green cabbage, red cabbage). I have a recipe for braised red cabbage that I'd like to try (luckily, cabbage keeps for ages, so I'm in no hurry). I just wish I had more time to cook. All weekends should be three days.

In non-cooking related news, I went to the blogger meet up at XES Lounge last Thursday (fun stuff . . . you can read about it in other places, so I won't go into it too much). It was great meeting some of the guys who I only knew through their writing. Joe.My.God., EvilBuddha, Robocub. I also found out another of my rugby teammates is a blogger (and his blog got a great mention in Gawker). I need to update my links soon to include all of them.

Saturday night was MAK's birthday party at Therapy. I brough Stuff along. Fun night, but I wasn't in much of a mood to be festive. I spent most of the night just talking with Stuff, Wayne, Rich and Jase. Jere was there, but we didn't really hang out much (we were all in a long, narrow space, so it was hard to mingle), but I got to talk with him at the WYSIWYG show. I also saw MAK's boyfriend K., who I hadn't seen since before his show went to LA, so it was nice to see him.

I also keep meaning to mention that the previous weekend, some of the blogger boys (Jess, Marc, a non-blogger friend of theirs, Michael Vernon and I) went out on Saturday for dinner at a Ukrainian place and then drinks at XES Lounge. We were joined at XES by BoiFromTroy, who was in town on a spur of the moment trip. His being there introduced an unusual dynamic to the evening: having someone there who we know from his blog, but who we don't know well in person since he lives in LA. It led to us all being a lot more chatty than usual. It nice to be able to share stories with someone who hasn't already heard them a million times before. All in all, a very pleasant evening.

Speaking of meeting new bloggers, I forgot to mention that I met Gymrat and Hugo at WYSIWYG. They were sitting right behind my friend Dino and me at the show. Good blogger turnout at that event. Jere was there, Frank, TinMan . . . the usual suspects. Can't wait for the next ones. I know someone in each of the next three performances. Hopefully, I'll be able to make it to all of them.

So that's my life. How was your weekend?

Meme

Because I'm sworn to secrecy about last night's blogger event.

Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band: The Carpenters

Are you male or female: Johnny Angel
Describe yourself: It's Going to Take Some Time
How do some people feel about you: What's the Use
How do you feel about yourself: This Masquerade
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend: Hurting Each Other
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend: Solitaire
Describe where you want to be: Close to You
Describe what you want to be: Let Me Be the One
Describe how you live: Hideaway
Describe how you love: I Just Fall in Love Again
Share a few words of wisdom: Touch Me When We're Dancing

Lenten Update

Crash - 1

Satan - 3

At least I haven't had any cokes. And really, that was what I was planning to give up for Lent anyway.

Mark Your Calendar

'Cause That's What Friends Do

See this link?

http://bluehouse.speedsurvey.com

Click it. Take the survey. Consider it a mitzveh.

WYSIWYG

Got your ticket to Spawn. Of. Worst. Sex. Ever? I do.

Because you know with MAK, Faustus and Chris, it's gonna be good. And what better way to get rid of the Valentine's Blues than by listening to people talk about their bad sexual experiences?

My Dating Philosophy

Happy Valentine's Day

Martoonis

Shaken, Not Stirred
Live Jazz and 2-for-1 Martinis
Marco New York
142 West 10th Street
between Greenwich & 7th Avenue South
Tonight: Thursday, Feb. 10, 9pm - 1am

Featuring live jazz music by
the Johannes Wallmann Quartet

Happy New Year Birthday Ash Wednesday

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Now run out there and grab a piece of this lovely lady's birthday cake. But don't eat it! It's Lent and eating sweets during Lent makes Jesus cry.

So Happy New Birth Ash Day!!

NB: It's tradition on Chinese New Year for married people to give red envelopes with money in them to their single friends and family members.

I'm single.

I'm just saying.

So for Lent this year, I'm giving up my usual. Sodas. Alcohol. Sweets. Sex. Sadly, the only thing I tend to miss during the forty days is the soda. I was tempted to give up TV, but then I realized that a truly merciful God wouldn't want me to give up Buffy reruns and cooking shows.

So any of you good and faithful people of Christ planning to give up some vices for Lent?

UPDATE: Well, I already broke one of my Lenten promises. And before you sickos ask if I rubbed one off in the men's room, it wasn't that. I had a donut.

This is still better than the Lent where I had given up soft drinks, but drank my morning Dr. Pepper without realizing that it was Ash Wednesday, not Mardi Gras.

Anyway, keeping three out of four Lenten promises is still pretty good.

Blogger

Well, it took so long to get into fucking Blogger that I've forgotten what I was going to write about.

So instead, here is a picture about how work is going for me.

Great Weekend

Awesome night at the Web.

Anyway, I've finally figured out the whole photo blog thing. Expect many more hot guys in the future.

Not Rugby Union, But Okay

Another One

Cute Rugger

How I Feel Today

Drinks

Tonight. The Web (40 E. 58th St.). 11 p.m.-ish.

I'm Not As Think As You Drunk I Am

I haven't had a drink in ages. I had five in about two hours tonight. I'm a wee bit drunk.

You know how, when you drink, you go through the James Bond phase? You're charming. You're clever. You're debonair. Then, eventually you sober up enough to realize you were really just Foster Brooks, only not as cute, with a nastier attitude? (Those of you who are young will need to look that up, if you care.)

Well, when trying to chat up those cute 19 year olds, I felt like James Bond. Now, I realize I was Foster Brooks.

Fuck me.

Anyway, at least Blackadder was on when I got home. And now it's Thin Blue Line. Who needs hot young guys when you have BBC-America?

Again, fuck me.

Ah, well. Some day my prince will come.

Kool-Aid

Who do I have to blow to get Kool-Aid in this fucking city?

I'm sick. Have been since late last week. I was out sick on Monday and Tuesday. Still feel like crap today, but deadlines are deadlines, and while I'm expected to cover for others when they're out, no one does my work when I'm out sick.

But that's a whole other bitchfest.

Anyhoo . . . when I'm sick I want a few things. One, grilled cheese sandwiches (this is assuming I'm not so sick that I can't eat). Two, Campbell's Cream of Tomato soup. And three, Kool-Aid.

Now, usually when I'm sick, the last thing I want to do is cook, so I've relegated the first two items to the happy days of youth when my mom would take care of me when I was sick. However, Kool-Aid is a piece of cake. Tear open packet, mix with water, and drink the artificially-flavored goodness.

The hard part, however, is finding some goddamn Kool-Aid.

My own fault, I suppose. I'm picky. I want sugar-free Kool-Aid. And it has to be in individual packets. I went to five stores last night to try to find some because I'd run out of my stash at home. Five stores. In the cold. When I was sick. And not one of the places had Kool-Aid.

So long story short, that is why I'm in a miserable mood today. That and having to be at work when I should be sleeping.

And here is a quick Product Review for the day:

New Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper - Revolting.