Are you ready for The Friday Five?

1. What was the last song you heard?
"Wicked Little Town" by Ben Folds Five

2. What were the last two movies you saw?
In theatres? I think they were Cold Mountain and LOTR: Return of the King.

3. What were the last three things you purchased?
A Pepsi, a popsicle and a Coke.

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
1) Snuggle my honey.
2) Watch Wrestlemania XX.
3) Clean up around the hosue
4) Ummm... trim the hedges?

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
In some sort of order:
1) Darryl, my editor
2) Tonia, our classifieds person
3) Gaylea, one of our ad people
4) Kathy, my lovinest
5) Carla, our receptionist

I've Got Something to Put in You...

At the Gay Bar

Gay Bar

Gay Bar!!!

I'm feeling a bit better today. Still kinda down over everything, but Kathy has worked overtime to cheer me up. Thanks, Bunny!

Also, Thankees to Ombra for your comment. You're a flower, you are, as Holli would say. :D I might still get a little down here and there, but just bear with me, folks. If we watch out for one another, we'll all better off.

Carry the Stones

I have been bearing an incredible load over the past few weeks, and I fear it is weighing me down so much that I may not be able to stagger back to my feet.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned of something going on in my family that I thought would never happen. This event has fucked with my mind since then, to the point that I am questioning the value of friendship, of family, and even of my own faith (in many things).

I used to have panic attacks a long time ago, until I found the strength within me to overcome them and live a "normal" life, like most of the rest of humanity. Now they've returned, and more frequently than ever. This past Friday, I took our car to Boone for servicing, and while I was there I spent the night at Kathy's mom's house, even though she wasn't there. Friday night I suffered four panic attacks. At one point I woke up screaming my wife's name.

What's worse, when I got home Saturday, Kathy and I got into a vicious arguement over something that 99% of the time could have been resolved with a simple "I love you" and a hug.

Getting back to the problem, though, I wish I could talk about what's going on in my family right now, but I feel so fucking vulnerable right now that I feel as if I'm taking a risk just posting this admittedly vague message on this blog. All I can say is that someone I once forgave for personal crimes against me has gone and perpetrated other, equally heinous crimes against other people who couldn't protect themselves, and this person should have goddamed known better!

I've been expecting them to call me to talk and I've been warned to keep things civil and not let on the truth I know, lest something slip out prematurely. As it stands right now, however, if that person was to call me, I would be VERY hard pressed not to let out a torrent of anger at them; anger that I have suppressed for a lifetime and from a myriad of different sources.

Why is it I'm always the last to know about family matters? Why do people feel the need to keep things from me until it's too late? Why do I feel like a pariah in all of this, not only with family but with friends? God, I just wish I could laugh again without feeling self-conscious. I'm just so motherfucking miserable.

Shit.

New Sonogram pic

Some of themail I get

I swear to God, some of the e-mail I get! This is one that I got in my Yahoo acount this morning:

ixtoovn afoal
Mar 4 4:14pm
'Get Put Locate Dislocate Find' 'for more bigger higher transfer better'

And that's just the header. The body is even "better":

Hello olstws ubbigwo gp!
CILAIS more better then vigaara.
For more info open attach.

Oh the places I've been!

create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

Not bad, but I wanna visit 'em all!!!

I promise, my big gay wedding post is coming!

75% Dixie

Well, I'll be!

Yankee or Dixie quiz

mp3 roulette

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it might be cool to try:

Step 1: Open MP3 player or Winamp (or some application that plays mp3s)
Step 2: Put all of your music on random.
Step 3: Write down the first ten songs it plays, no matter how embarrassing

1) "No One is to Blame"-Howard Jones
2) "Lincoln Portrait"-Aaron Copland (composer), James Earl Jones (narrator)
3) "My War"-Black Flag
4) "Rocket Man"-William Shatner
5) "Baker Street"-Gerry Rafferty
6) "Eminence Front"-The Who
7) "If I Loved You"-from Carousel (I think it's Shirley Jones and Howard Keel)
8) "Breaking Us in Two"-Joe Jackson
9) "Sealab 2021 Theme"-Calamine
10) "My Heart Will Go On (South Park remix)"-Celine Dion, Trey Parker and Matt Stone

Innnnteresting, at least to me.

Love, marriage, and... ummm, stuff

I've finally reached a point where I have to write about the issue of gay marriage. 'Scuse me while I pull out my soapbox.

Over the past few months, I have heard the arguments for and against legitimizing same-sex marriages.

544

...as of today. Iraq Coalition Casualties

"How long, how long must we sing this song?"
-U2, "Sunday, Bloody Sunday"

been a long time since i friday fived

the friday five:

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
Most daring? Hmmm, I'm trying to think of what that would be, and I'm thinking it would probably be the tattoo I got.

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?
Yikers, I picked an odd week to start doing the FF again! I suppose the one thing would be... Aw, heck, I can't think'a nuttin'!

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)
I'm about a 4.

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?
The best thing that ever happened was when I decided before I worked my second year at Snow Camp that I would shoot for playing the lead. I ended up getting cast!

5. ... and what's the worst?
The worst was probably when I got to the third year and decided to go back. Worst outdoor season ever.

Corn-You-Copia

Sorry, things have been pretty damn busy lately, and I haven't had a chance to catch up on my blogging. So, what's kept me so preoccupied?

1) Baby stuff! Kathy got an "all clear" on her various tests for birth defects, which is definite good news. She also had another ultrasound, and we now know the gender of the turtle. No fair telling what it is, at least not yet. For more details on this, go to The Married Life.

2) Mock Con! This past weekend, I had the pleasure of covering W&L's quadrennial Mock Convention, where the students of the university try to predict which candidate the unpresidented party that year will pick as its nominee. This year, they picked John Kerry and John Edwards as their ticket. We'll see if it bears out. By the by, I've always wanted to go to a political convention and take photos. Hopefully I can go to one of the big boys some day.

3) Super Bowl!!! I went out to a local bar to watch SB XXXVIII, after unsuccessfully trying to get a party together. Turns out, it was pretty damn cool sharing the experience with strangers. Coincidentally, I went to a bar to watch the Bowl two years ago, when the patriots were in it, and when they won it on a last-second field goal. The difference this time (among others) was I was rooting for their opponents. Sorry, but I had to cheer for the Panthers come Hell or high water.

4) That's about it. Maybe I'll write more later.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Oops, I guess it's actually Monday now. My bad.

We made it back from NC yesterday, right ahead of the winter storm that's dumped several inches of snow and freezing rain on our vicinity. Snow report to come in later.

Just a quick update for now. More later.

For all you Deanamaniacs out there...

This ROCKS!!!!

And We're gonna go to Boone...

And then to Roanoke, and Lexington, and Charlottesville, and Davisboro, and Aiken, and Tampa, and San Antonio, and Beech Mountain, and then we're gonna go to Washington DC, and we're gonna take back the White House!!! YEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I've just spent the past half-hour listening to remixes of Howard Dean's concussion-- I mean concession speech following the Iowa caucus. :) If you want to hear some of them, click here. Some of them are pretty hilarious.

Anyway, if you've been to my honey's blog, you know that she's made it through her final jury before her final grad recital, and I don't know which of us is more relieved, me or her. Honestly, it's pretty rough being a diva's consort, let me tell you! :P

I promised a few words on the President's SOTU speech from earlier this week, and here they are as follows:

Ehh. Meh. Kinda goofy. Loved the reaction to his "parts of the Patriot Act will expire in a matter of months" line. I think it hurt him more than it helped. That's all.

On a sadder note, Bob Keeshan, aka Captain Kangaroo died today. It's sad to think that he and Mr. Rogers are no more.

More later. And seriously, dude, go and listen to the Deano Machino remixes.