The weekends are important to me. Since Mark and I don't live together yet, this is the time that we spend together. Even on the weekends that I work, Mark is there. On working weekends it's rare that I'm up to doing much more than dinner and crash on the couch with him. So when I have a weekend off I like to enjoy it as much as I can. This was one weekend where there was a lot going on and I didn't feel rushed or like I couldn't' have a minute to really enjoy it with Mark.
It would be known as the weekend of waiting in traffic.
Friday night was the local production of Into The Woods at the Bellevue Little Theater. One of Mark's friends played Lucinda, Cinderella's wicked step-sister. It's definitely a comic role and she was never on stage enough for me. We both think she could've played The Witch. Not that the actress who played The Witch was bad. But Mark's friend definitely would've brought more of a personality to the role. In such a big cast of characters we each had our picks for hits and misses.
I didn't get home from work til 630pm. The show started at 8pm. This didn't leave any time to have dinner. About half-way thru the first act my stomach started growling. Loud! The sound of it was only eclipsed by the noisy children behind us. Granted, parents can obviously bring kids. Even though it's based on fairy tales and their characters, I don't think Into The Woods is meant as a kids show. It has it's adult moments that aren't suitable for 4 year olds who can't resist constantly kicking the back of my seat. By the time we got out of the show it was 1115pm. As we made out way home we ran into construction. Five lanes of interstate traffic reduced down to one lane... It was 'fun'. We were in a hurry only because we were hungry. By the time we got home with drive-thru food it was midnight. After food and a couple Ti-fauxed shows we were fast asleep.
Saturday was going to be another big day. After a morning assault on McDonald's to pillage every form of sausage they had, we headed out to Nebraska City. It was Applejack weekend, a local holiday in my hometown. There are a ton of crafty type activities going on. Nebraska City was always known for outlet shopping. To put that on top of a couple hundred craft fair tents set up at various spots in town, it'd be busy!
The drive to get out of Omaha had it's delays. Two places had traffic reduced to one lane. What normally would be a one hour drive was a two hour tour. But surprisingly enough neither of us were really in a hurry. We had the windows rolled down and just enjoyed the ride. I've driven that road a few hundred times, but it's interesting to see it when you've got time to stop and look at the scenery on the roadside. Plus to see it through Mark's eyes was fun.
We arrived in NCity just in time to find a parking spot opening up close to the parade route. The parade was slated to last from 1-3pm. Two hours for a small town parade? Seriously? Like every parade in history of NCity, they started off with fire engines, ambulances, and other various rescue vehicles. Every. Single. One... not just the entire hometown arsenal, but a few vehicles from other communities that were nearby. Even after 34 years I don't understand the need to have them in the parade. And even if they are... why have their sirens blaring? Who enjoys that? There was a kid in front of where Mark and I were standing that was screaming bloody murder with the passing of each screeching rescue vehicle. Mom eventually packed up her kid and left. She had to be from out of town. Poor kiddo...
After an hour of high school bands, marching veterans, and political candidates Mark and I made our way to the side streets in search of a cold beverage and some air conditioning. There was a couple shops that I wanted to expose Mark too. They always stuck out from my childhood as being somewhat freaky places. Small homes that had been converted to shops full of knick knacks and curious goods. There is always a room with dolls of some kind, which you know I 'love'. The shops were full of middle-aged to elderly women and 'family'.
Oh... And things like THIS!!!
I was a bit disappointed in the visit to the orchard/Arbor Lodge. I knew there'd be a ton of people. I knew the traffic would be hellacious. In addition to the downtown shops this was the main attraction of the town. Why not have more set up there? As it was, there were only a few vendors with their home crafted items. The Morton Orchard was charging folks to get in to their various Tree-themed tours. Are you kidding me? I mean, I'm not really surprised on the desire to make a buck or two, but really... they aren't making a shit-ton on the sale of apples and every apple related food known to man?
Mark and I braved the melee to actually go INSIDE the main orchard building. This will be known as Mistake #1 for further conversations. We talked about getting some apples, but did we need to go inside to do so? Probably not. We ventured deeper in that just the few couple of tables that held bags of apples. Why? I don't know... About ten minutes in a sudden dislike for crowds in small places kicked in and we needed to move back outside. As we made our way back outside a local mother prodding her two kids summed up our feelings nicely. "This is insane. What are we doing here? We're FROM here. We can come back when there isn't a million people wandering around."
While I might be inclined to question her population estimation, I fully agreed with her sentiment.
Mark and I took in the historic ground of the Arbor Lodge before declaring our tiredness and heading back home.
What we decided from the day is that we need to come back when there isn't as many people. It's kind of like Mardi Gras. You can experience the same things when it's not a holiday time. You don't have to deal with the crowds and you still get to see all the 'sights'.
I posted this @ 9/23/2008 05:06:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
2/14/2008
FELL IN LOVE WITH A BOY
On this, the day for love and couples it may seen odd to talk about exes, but hear me out... I'm going somewhere with this.
I think that people can learn from most situations. Whether things turned out in your favor or not, we can learn something from it. Relationships are no different. Looking back at people that I've gone on a date with they've each helped me get to where I am now. From them I have a clearer idea of the type of guy I want to be with. I want someone who is honest, trustworthy, and sincerely kind. I like the strongly opinionated. I don't like the strongly oppressive. I like the creative type. Music-minded. Make me laugh, and I'll do my best to make you laugh too. I like the Thinkers. Speak your mind. Deep, get-lost-in eyes and a great smile go a long way. Combine that with an infectious laugh, and you've got a winning combo. Sure this just scratches the surface, but it helps paint the picture. It draws the outlines at least.
You could say that I wouldn't have to date someone to figure these things out. It does help to refine the overall idea. In their own way, good or bad, they helped me realize that I have an amazing man in my life. He's thoughtful, fun and funny, caring, strikingly handsome... he's the one that tucks me in with a good night call and the first person I think about when I get up in the morning. He's the one that is probably a little embarrassed right now reading this. Which... sorry babe. You know me. Sometimes I just gotta say what I gotta say.
I posted this @ 1/01/2008 12:01:00 AM.............Need a link?..........
12/23/2007
DON'T THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME AT ALL
I'd been meaning to write about this, but just didn't get around to it til now. Mark and I released our catty-bitch sides for an evening (just an evening you mutter under your breath) and drove around Omaha checking out Christmas lights. We didn't stick to just one part of town or even one socio-economic part of town. Why do I bring 'money' into it? Simply put, just because you have money doesn't mean you have taste.
My own disappointment with the evening is that I forgot my camera to photo-document that experience. Looking back on it, it's probably a good thing. I ran a stop light and stop sign as we were touring. I wouldn't have needed a camera to be another distraction.
I am pretty particular when it comes to Christmas lights. There aren't really 'rules' per se, but there should be some pretty easy to follow guidelines.
-First of all. Don't mix styles of lights. If you have some blinking lights, some colored lights, some big bulb lights... don't put them all out. Pick the kind you like and stick with that. Too much mixing looks sloppy.
-If you are going to insist on wrapping your leaf-less tree in lights, trunk and branches are fine (even if you do pick some bizarre combo of colors). decorating just the limbs is fine. But taking one strand of lights and wrapping is haphazardly around the trunk is not.
-Led lights hurt our eyes. Please stop.
-If you like those inflatable decorations, keep it limited to one, maybe to. Do not make the decoration larger than your house. Yes I'm taking to you Mr Neighbor who has an an inflatable snow globe that sprays fake snow around inside it around some wintery scene and is literally taller than your house. Your neighbors hate you.
-When decorating a pine tree of some kind try and decorate the whole tree, not just part of it. "Part" being defined as... just the top part or the side facing the street. I'll give you a pass on this if it turns out a strand of lights were burnt out.
-Try not to do the exact same thing as your neighbor. People won't know who did it first and it'll end up with both of you looking foolish. Break out your own idea.
-If you are going to break any of these... 'rules' then by all means GO BIG! Go all out. Over the top circus tacky, can be fun too. You'll get visits that way as well. But don't phone it in. You gotta commit to crazy.
I wish I had photos to show you examples of each of these things. But I don't so instead I give you...
...MORE CRAZY STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIALS!!!
In this clip, The Wookies are high as kites and Carrie Fisher gets someone to sing for her. My vote is Florence Henderson.
I posted this @ 12/23/2007 04:54:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
12/06/2007
YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE
I enjoy decorating for the holidays. Having the apartment lit with warm Christmas lights is like having a few hundred candles going. I should take more care when I am putting them away. I do my best to wind them into a neat coil, but something about having them sit... motionless... for months... apparently gets them all tangled up?
I'm pretty particular when it comes to Christmas lights. They should be all the same style. All white. All blinking. All chasers. All multi-colored. All large bulb. Whatever... as long as they are consistent. You can be over the top. You can be uber-cheesy or campy. That's fine too. But if you're going to do that go all out.
My tree is pint-sized. Living in an apartment, it's hard for me to justify making space for a large tree that the majority of the time only I'm seeing. Mark is a tree-trimming aficionado. If we were living together I'm sure there would be some changes to the type of tree we had. But for now, my little table-top tree works just fine.
Overall I like my apartment decorated. If I didn't think it would be odd I'd keep the lights up all year around. I hope everyone has a very happy holiday.
I posted this @ 12/06/2007 03:51:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
11/21/2007
I WANT TO THANK YOU, THANK YOU
It's that time of year. I wanted to make a somewhat cliche "What I'm Thankful For" post.
Overall, even tho I complain... a LOT. I really don't have much to actually complain about. I have a job, thankfully... after months of looking. Thanks Brenda. I have good friends who are willing to call me on my shit. Thanks Mike. You too Bryan. I have a bunch of great friends, some that I've known for years and some that I've only recently met. You know who you are. Besides there's too many of you all to mention. I'm thankful that I have someone who loves me for me, that I can be my dorky self around. Thanks Mark! I have a family who drives me crazy, but I'm thankfully for a lot of the choices that they made when I was too young to make them for myself. And even tho I put my grandmother on the spot a few hours before Thanksgiving dinner many years ago, by telling her I was gay... she still talks to me.
It wasn't anything as comedic or dramatic as this clip from Will & Grace... thankfully.
I hope that everyone has a very good Thanksgiving holiday! Remember, no matter who you are... there is at least one person who is thankful that you are a part of their life.
I posted this @ 11/21/2007 01:43:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
2/14/2007
I FEEL LOVE
I have been thinking about this topic for sometime, but I thought I'd save it til I had a clearer thought fleshed out in my mind. Valentine's Day seems like the perfect time for such a thought.
Boyfriend. Girlfriend. Lover. Hook-up. Steady. Main Squeeze. There are a lot of terms and terms of endearment that a person might be called. Some people don't like such pet names. Some people see them as labels, ineffectual ones at that. Some people do nothing but exist to be someone's boyfriend... girlfriend... husband... wife...
Personally, I don't mind the term boyfriend. While I admit it does have an immature feel to it. Thirty-two years old and calling (and being called) someone boyfriend? Seems silly, right? Is the term boyfriend a label, a title, a term of endearment?
When you think about what two people, who are exclusively dating, there are many terms that you might apply to them. Using my own situation here... Saying "a couple" seems fine, but non-descript at the same time. A couple of what!? Life Partner is too politically correct. Too sanitized of feeling and emotion. Significant Other falls in the same category as Life Partner, no emotion. It's what you say about someone and the person their dating when you aren't sure what exactly you might properly refer to them as. Husband comes with some legal implications and while the term is fine, I think it really should be used carefully and not easily tossed around. Someone I Have Strong Feelings For And Enjoy Spending Lots Of Time With... is a mouthful, but accurately gets the point across. Which brings us back to boyfriend. Is the Cute Teacher a boy? Hardly. But Guyfriend doesn't really sound right. My best friend, Mike, is a 'guy friend'. That is more of a term for friends. Manfriend sounds like you're speaking Caveman-ese. "This Cute Teacher. He Cris Manfriend."
So we're back to boyfriend. Which I'm perfectly ok with.
I think it's similar to how we feel towards public affection from our parents as we grow up. There is an awkward middle age where most people shy away from such overly sappy type displays from our parents in front of friends or relatives. Similarly, I think there is a middle age that the same thing happens with the term boyfriend. It's cute when a child has a boyfriend or girlfriend. It's also kinda cute when someone who is retired, perhaps widowed, has found a boyfriend or girlfriend. But that area in between... not so much. I guess you can either embrace it or shun it.
As for Valentine's Day itself, I once was a hater of it. Mainly in high school and early college. At some point I just didn't care anymore. I wasn't a big dater back then anyway. So being single on Valentine's Day wasn't an issue I really gave any thought about. I could be just as depressed about being single anytime of the year. I didn't need a special day to remind me.
Conversely, being un-single on Valentine's Day is nice, but not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I don't need a special day to remind me of my feelings for someone. I can say how I feel any day of the year, and typically do. Having said that, I will say that it is nice to be thought of though. It's not hypocritical of any previous statements I just made. Simple put, whether you are single or not, it is always nice to know that someone is thinking about you. Hopefully it doesn't take presents or flowers or chalky candy hearts with trendy sayings. Hopefully someone is thinking about you on other days besides holidays. Or let someone know that you are thinking of them. It doesn't have to involve romance. It could be something simple as a card or a phone call or a surprise visit. So while I'm not a flowers and presents type of guy, I really do think it is the thought the counts. Be thankful for those people in your life that you care about and the ones that care about you. Let them know it.
I posted this @ 2/14/2007 12:51:00 PM.............Need a link?..........
I'm a 30-something student of human nature. A music-lovin', groove-shakin', laugh-inducin', dish-cookin', gossip-slingin', type of guy. This is my diary of sorts...
