Vibrant.(Still) Unrepentant. Badass. Old. Queer

For now, here are some pix . Must get ready for happy hour now! *smooches*

SEIZURES! BEER BATHS! Walking 'til my feets fell off ... AND MORE! Can you stand it? Details coming soon, kittens!

Start spreading the news! I'm leaving tomorrow! I want to be a part of it. New York! New York! My train departs at 11:30(?). I arrive at Penn Station sometime before 3. Try not to miss me. I'll be crying a little every night because I won't be blogging. Until I return on Friday, around noon. Then you will be treated to a New York Photo Extravaganza Special Edition! *woot* Unless I forget to take my camera ... Anyway, until Friday, kittens. *smooches*

I put heavy whipping cream in my coffee this morning and am dining on random snacks I find still littered about the apartment. The candy corns and their honeyed-sweetness called my name most loudly. Perhaps the sugary richness of both the candy and the cream will give me the energy to get this day started ... at 10:15! OMG! I love not having to work! No big plans for today. I need to finish cleaning from my weekend o' fun. I need to organize and pack for my trip to NYC tomorrow. And I need to finish my resume and cover letter for a job in a cold, cold city not so far, far away. The rest of my weekend was quite fun and relaxing. I spent most of Saturday in bed (ah!), alone :-( ... At 1:20PM, I awoke with a start and realized my hair appointment was at 3:30. Much rushing around ensued. I managed to make it on time, and my hair has been restored to its rightful color. Yay. I feel like me again. I forced myself to stay awake until 10PM Saturday night, and, then, I crashed. I didn't...

And, I swear, this is the last you'll hear of the BYOP until 2008. Promise. I got home from work around 5:30, and, knowing that I had at least two hours before the guests starting arriving, I took my time getting ready. I warmed up a bowl of chili for myself. I made a cocktail. I casually arranged plates and cups and napkins and tableware. I checked the time - 6:15. "Excellent," I thought to myself, "I have plenty of time before I need to start putting out food." I pushed the swiffer lazily around the living room again. At 6:30, my phone rang. "Hi, it's Mike," Mike said. I thought to myself, "I wonder how late they're going to be?" "We're here," he continued. "You're joking ," I responded. *click* The phone cut off. He must be joking, and I waited for him to call back to tell me so. Then, I looked out my window, and there they were! ACK! An hour early! ACK! PANIC! I knew they'd be hungry so I cranked u...

I'm *still* too tired/overhung to give you a full accounting of the festivities, so here are couple of pictures: The Decorations The Beverages The Spread The Carving Stay tuned for more details (possibly Sunday evening or Monday afternoon).

When planning what to pack for a 4 day trip to New York City, how many pairs of shoes should one take? 6 or 8?

[and not a post about my 6th Annual BYOP Pumpkin Carving Party and how I'm getting stressed out that no one will come because it's cold and rainy, either. *ahem*] I've come across two fun blogs recently. Check them out: Technically Lost's Lost in Thought and Java Jones's My Life, or Something Like It Go. Read them now. Ok, not right now, but, like, after you finish reading my blog. Eventually, I'll be adding these two lovely ladies to the List of Blogoliciousness . WaPo has a fun article about Pumpkin Carving today. You can check that out here . Who loves ya, baby? VUBOQ, that's who!

Are you sick of me rambling about the 6th Annual BYOP Pumpkin Carving Party yet? Too bad! I swear, this will be the next-to-last entry. Or the next-to-next-to-last entry. What's the word that means that? Penultimate? Excuse me, while I go consult with Merriam. It would seem that penultimate means "next to last." Is there a word that means the one before that? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? So, last night I was Super Busy. I made syrup. I made chili. I cleaned. I organized. I arranged (and rearranged. and rearranged again.). I put together an iTunes Party Playlist. I vaccuumed the friggin' sofa, for Pete's Sake (the things I do for my friends with cat allergies)! I decided not to make the punch, because I didn't think there would be room in the fridge for it. I will make it this evening. Today, I'm going to pick up a 6-pack of beer, a bottle of white wine, and a bag of pretzels. Hopefully, there will be enough food. If not, the kittens wil...

OMG! I'm back from the Whole Foods (strike that off the list ... except I forgot to buy pretzels. I will have to pick those up tomorrow). And, can I just tell you how much I love the olive bar and the cheese section? I love it so much that I can't even remember what I bought. I know this: From the olive bar : kalamata olives(!), mexican olives(!), olives with cinnamon and cardamon(!), and baby gherkins/cocktail pickles/whatever they're called (!). From the cheese section : gorgonzola(!), applewood smoked gouda(!), something that begins with a W and has cranberries in it, and something else that I've completely forgotten, but I know I bought 4 different cheeses. And, I totally splurged on those yummy Spanish almond things. I can't remember what they're called either. I needed an olive bar/cheese section intervention. Do you think that's enough olives and cheese (and nuts! and pickles!) for a party of between 15-20 people? Or should I get more? [ Edited to not...

Today: Buy final items at Whole Foods . Make simple syrup . Make chili . Clean kitchen , bath , living room , and spare room . Determine final food/drink/carving set up. Arrange furniture . Again . Make punch (sans club soda). [No room in fridge. Will have to do tomorrow.] Take out compost and trash . Make special ice cubes . Make iTunes Party Playlist. Find tablecloth . Tomorrow: Buy "forgotten items" at Whole Foods. Buy "just in case" beer and wine? Top clean. Reheat chili. Set out food and drinks. Organize carving area. Have pre-party cocktail and bowl of chili. PANIC!!!! Relax. Have good time. In other news ... The SuperFantastic Cuzin's surgery went off without a hitch. Yay! Thanks for sending good thoughts. Also, over the weekend, the SuperFantastic Cuzin's little brother (also my cuzin) became a DADDY! And, I became a SuperFantastic First Cuzin Once Removed. Welcome to the world, Cooper [It's my grandmother's maiden name, btw]. I'm think...

As I put the cans And bottles And boxes In the cupboard, I feel his hands around my neck Like a lover Caressing, stroking. Soft. As I line up the liquor bottles By height And move the furniture one more time, I feel his grip around my heart. Bony fingers tightening With each passing hour. I make my lists And plan and organize And he's beside me Watching. I sweep and clean. And tidy and straighen. And he is there. Waiting. For his moment, For me to form his question: What if no one comes?

I braved the continuing rain (which, I suppose, is good for the drought and the slugs eating my chrysanthemums, but bad for my leaking shoes and wet socks) to visit the likker store, which, as luck would have it, is right next door to my office. It's practically the only thing I like about my job. Does proximity to a big likker store count as a perk? I picked up a couple of bottles of wine for the party. Then, I remembered I was out of sweet vermouth. Then, I thought, "I have sweet vermouth, what if people at the party want to make Manhattans? I don't want them drinking my good bourbon!" [Ha. I kid, People Who are Attending My Party. OK. I'm not kidding. Keep your clammy little hands off my good bourbon.] So, I purchased a still good, but not quite as good, bourbon for them (and me!) ... if they (and I!) want to drink Manhattans. If they (and I!) don't, there will be other booze options. I might have a Manhattan tonight though. Mmmm. Manhattan. Aft...

At the start of my break, the sun started peeping through the blanket of gray clouds, so I packed up my troubles and headed to Safeway. Halfway there, it started raining again. GAH! Umbrella-less, I continued on my journey ... where I found: Pumpkin Carving Kits - 60% OFF! suh-WEET! And, CANDY CORNS! OMGWTFBBQPONIEZ! I LOVE CANDY CORNS. I bought 3 bags. One for the party, and two for very special friends overseas. The BYOP is FAST APPROACHING!!! Can you feel the excitement? CAN YOU?!?! I had a funny story to relate next, but the yarn I ordered last week arrived and I've forgotten the story. Maybe it'll come back to me in a minute ... It did! Another reason to be excited about the BYOP, besides the aforementioned Carving Kits and Candy Corns, is this party will be the debut of the Made in NC blue pottery chip-and-dip bowl, which my parents bought for my birthday. After showing it to Y last week, along with the matching big plate/bowl thing and relish tray (both previous gifts ...

Whatever shall we do? I know! Let's all be late to work. And, thus, I'm the only one here. *sigh* Has anything gone right this morning? Slugs are eating my chrysanthemums.* My shoes are leaking. My socks are wet. Every. single. one. of. my. coworkers. is. late. On the bright side , last night, I hung up some of the Mexican banners and they look FAN-forkin'-TASTIC! YAY! Also, it would seem that one of the chili pepper plants in the Chili Pepper Graveyard has survived and is bearing fruit. *woot* AND, on my way out this morning (before I discovered I am wearing leaky shoes), I met SCGB. SCGB : I'm looking forward to the party. ME : Have you bought your pumpkins? SCGB : Yeah, we have two small ones, but I think we should buy a big one. ME : Size does matter. SCGB : It's not the size of the pumpkin. It's how you carve it. ME : Only people with small pumpkins say that. hearty laughter ** Plans for today: Bank. Shopping at Safeway***. Laundry. Cleaning. Waiting for t...

I am suddenly feeling strangely discombobulated and a little stressed out. Not sure what is going on ... Update [at 1:30PM] : I had to get out of the office, so I'm at home for the next hour or so. Lunch. Mmm. And here are the photos I promised in my previous post: Pottery Creation: Sunrise: And, to prove I actually took those sunrise photos, VUBOQ at the Ungodly Hour:

The one good thing about having sleepovers at Y's after pottery class is that I get to see the sunrise. This morning, the sun painted the clouds flame red . It was stunning. I'll post photos this evening. Pottery class was good. I trimmed the two vases I made last week . Then, I made another slightly larger vase [Photo to be posted later]. What the hell am I going to do with all these vases? ( Christmas Presents !) Next week, we start glazing, which should be fun. After pottery class, I went over to Y's. I made a big salad for dinner. Then, we looked at the photos from our trip. I took a shower and went to bed. Fun times. One of my co-workers went to Mexico over the weekend. She brought me some really great Day of the Dead streamer/banner/things (kind of like this , but different) to decorate my house for the 6th Annual BYOP Pumpkin Carving Party . So Excited! I still have a LOT of party prep to do. Today, I'll go to the grocery store to buy the ingr...

A few days ago, someone left a comment asking me to write about gay eating disorders. Once, after being asked one God Damn Time Too Many why I am, and I quote, "such a skinny bitch," I replied, "I vomit after every meal." Then, one of my friends, who overheard me, put me on Bathroom Watch. Which was kind of annoying. [Apparently, he didn't know that experienced bulimics can vomit silently.] For the record, I am not bulimic. I don't binge. I don't purge. Why am I such a skinny bitch? I eat (mostly) healthy food in moderation. I (try to) limit junk food. I come from a long line of genetically skinny bitches. And I also exercise regularly. It's really not a difficult concept to understand. That explains the skinny bit. I'd rather not delve into the bitchiness aspect. Read more about gay men and eating disorders here . And here . If you suspect someone of being a friend of Mia or Ana, read this . Or this .

Nothing like coming into work in the morning and having three crank calls on your voicemail, the last one being "I want you to choke on my load." Happy Monday ... which despite being a Monday and the start of the long, slow slog through the workweek, it is becoming my favorite day of the week because I have pottery class. I *heart* pottery class. Anyway, my weekend ... Friday, I went to happy hour at Nellie's, the gay sports bar on U and 9th with Mike, Tomoko and SCGB. Of course, Mike decided to drive and, because of traffic and then picking up Tomoko and more traffic and finding parking, we didn't get to the bar until after 7. A quick mathematics lesson: low blood sugar + low blood alcohol level = very cranky Vuboq . But, the booze was good. The food was adequate. The company was great. The waiter was sucky. The tab was expensive. The waiter "neglected" to inform us that the vodka, which has been part of their happy hour since we started going to...

You think Earl Cootie is the only blogger who can wander into dangerous homo-hating land and snap a few photos of Fall foliage? Do you? Well, you are wrong! VUBOQ can too! Behold, the foliage along Virginia's Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Valley: But, wait! That's not all, my pretties, VUBOQ does Earl Cootie one better . Here are the pictures of More Than Plain Old Foliage. Photos of foliage and VUBOQ. How could your lives get any better? Behold! Teh CUTE: VUBOQ's World. You are Just Living in It: *smooches* Update : Bonus photo of my pussy!!!