Homer'sWorld

Brian came down from his ghetto hood in Phoenix and we went to The Grill where I had the usual (spinach ravioli in pink herbed sauce and a salad with thousand island dressing). It was delicious and I only ate one of Brian's tater tots.

Afterwards we went to the Josh Rouse concert at Club Congress. He has a lovely voice and seemed to be enjoying singing in Tucson.

I did all my chores (include mopping!) yesterday so this morning I went over to Patrick & Brady's to feed Kitty Catt and then settled down to watch a little telly. I got sucked into Top Chef and was strangely enamored with mohawked Dale, who could be my Top Chef any time he wanted, as long as he made me vegetarian meals.

Attention conservative politicians and religious extremists. Among the disgusting, perverted things I have done in the last 24 hours:

- mopped the floors
- installed new toilet float
- gave a site tour to a City councilwoman
- watched Dr. Who on Brady's enormous 42-inch-wide telly
- cleaned up Mollie's accidental mess in the living room (this was the disgusting thing)
- considered giving money to Barack Obama (that's the perverted thing)
- planned a trip to the craft store

I know, I know. Many people would think that I spend all of my spare time tapping toes or sending nasty messages to teenagers, but really, that only happens if you are a Republican.

Things I like about Tucson:

- the weather. I don't really mind the super hot days (I think that is because I grew up in northern Michigan).

- the relaxed attitude toward clothing. No one cares that I wear sandals and socks- at the same time!

- my house, which I purchased for $85.5 k in 1999. It could use some upgrades (I hate my bathroom) but will be paid off in 10 years.

- my friends.

- my job.

- the fact that the desert is only about 750 ft from my front door.

I don't usually put pictures of shit on my blog. But look, there's Mr. Frowning Pile-o-Shit in the picture below, otherwise known as General Peter Pace.


Nasty person, inside and out.

We are at war! So we are supposed to be all patriotic and say only nice things about the military. It's too bad that General Pace can't stop saying nasty things about soldiers who happen to be gay or lesbian: "Are there wonderful Americans who happen to be homosexual serving in the military? Yes. We need to be very precise then, about what I said wearing my stars and being very conscious of it. And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law."

So let me be unpatriotic and note that the United States military has killed thousands of innocent men, women, and children in Iraq since 2003. Many thousands. Sometimes on purpose ("Let's bomb that restaurant because Saddam might be inside!"), sometimes sorta on purpose ("Let's shoot at a bunch of children in Haditha to avenge the death of a fellow soldier!" and sometimes by accident ("Oops!).

Isn't killing people a major no-no for Christians? As I recall, noting that I've never actually read the entire Bible because basically I'm not into fairy tales and myths, the sixth Commandment is something like "Thou shall not kill/murder/shoot carloads of children/ etc, etc."

It must be really nice to feel so fucking morally superior to other people. But then shit is always unpleasant stuff and its much nicer when you can't see or smell it.

Annoying things about Tucson:

- road construction everywhere. It takes me an extra 15 minutes to drive the 7.5 miles home from work in the afternoon.

- lack of direct flights. To get to most places you have to switch planes at some other airport. This makes flying anywhere a full day event.

- fall weather makes me stir crazy. And by this time my vacation time is mostly gone.

- don't get me started on the possibility of finding a bf!

Fall. Arrived this week, so sudden I had forgotten what it was like to feel "cold."


Scruffy.

Makes me want to lie in bed and look out the French doors and listen to the birds chatting. But instead I go to work and struggle with the computer and wonder why the computer guy doesn't come by and fix it. But that is a question involving faith and mystery and those can never be answered to anybody's satisfaction.

Things I didn't know, part 1: "Cupcakes are portable, cute and relatively inexpensive. They are also “feminine and girlie,” Ms. Kramer Bussel said, so the majority of cupcake bakers and fans are women." So sayeth the New York Times.

Ms. Kramer Bussel didn't attend my birthday cupcake party last week (wasn't invited, I'm guessing). She is all jealous or something, and decided to say spiteful things. I am not a woman (not that there is anything wrong with being a woman!) and yet I love me some cupcakes with frosting mounded on top. I like peeling the paper away (don't care for the more manly aluminum, that stuff is nasty if you get some in your mouth) and cramming as much of the cupcake in my mouth as possible. With my current bushy beard, that tends to make a terrible, yet masculine mess.

I remember taking cupcakes to kintergarden for my 6th birthday. My mother had put little plastic animals on each and I picked the one with the llama. Since Pamela wasn't there, I got a second cupcake (the one with the tiger). I can still see those plastic animals in my head. I wish I still had them.

I'm going to have a craft party sometime in the next few weeks. Because I can! You know, it's all about creating good self esteem. Lots of praise and finding good in other people. And in the end, when the guests leave with their creations, something to remember the event by.

So anyways, I think I'll have a "Make your own sandwich" spread and a selection of chips- you know, the fancy ones at Trader Joe's made from panda breasts and artichoke hearts. Finger food type things.

Problem: what sort of dessert should I make???? Cake is messy to eat, so is pie. Cookies don't seem like a real dessert. Suggestions for a dessert that you can pick up and eat with your fingers???

Panda picture groupie!


A red panda at the Chengdu Research Base Of Giant Panda Breeding on September 19, 2007 in Chengdu, China (photo by Paul Gilham).

Better watch out, they'll Eat Your Face!



I hope Miranda didn't get killed by vicious pandas! I noticed that her blog was deleted and I'm really fearful for her safety!!!

So 14 months or so until the election and I'm already so over it. I wonder whether Karl Rove is hunkered down in his bunker thinking of nasty things to say about the Democrats.

Speaking of comments, I rarely edit them. In the past I have removed racist or body fascist comments. I've edited comments to remove my last name since I'd rather people Googling me find my archaeological or genealogical materials first. You get 1,430 hits when you Google my name in quotes. When you just Google "Homer" I'm number 15. That's almost worth an exclamation point. !

I've removed a picture from my blog at the request of the person in the picture (he didn't want a shirtless pic of himself floating around the net). I removed a picture and text about a religious shrine, at the request of a friend who thought I didn't understand the solemnity of the shrine (I admit, I didn't).

I recently did not remove a post when someone asked me to, because the reasons they provided were untruthful, thereby proving the point I was making.

I don't make a big practice of editing or removing comments, but once in a great while it is necessary. I also do not restrict who comments, although I did ban someone once who made a threatening statement towards me.

This dull as dirt post is made possible by the chocolate cupcake I just ate.

Baboquivari



Yesterday I traveled out to the Tohono O'odham Nation to attend a meeting at their new cultural center and museum. Behind the museum the jagged Baboquivari Peak, where I'itoi, the Elder Brother who brought the O'odham ancestors to this land and lives in a cave, was visible. Hawks, vultures, and crows were gliding about in the strong winds blowing yesterday. Nice way to spend a Monday.

44 cupcakes, one for each year.


Patrick's lemon and chocolate cupcakes.


44th birthday self-portrait.

Thank you Patrick, Brady, Jeffrey, Forrest, and Tina for making me feel special.

Today's adventure. Locking myself out of the house. And leaving my cell phone inside too. I checked all three doors. Yes, they were locked. I wondered about the small bathroom window, and was able to push it open the rest of the way. It is 10 inches wide and about 2 ft tall. I propped the stepladder up against the wall and was able to go through, feet first, on my second attempt. I felt like a total idiot.

I didn't watch President Clusterfuck's speechifying last night because there weren't enough buckets lying around to collect all the vomit that would have been flying around.

Instead I thought about my upcoming birthday (Sunday!, 44!) and wished I looked forward to that day like I did when I was a child.

Instead, I'm starting to realize that even the guys my age mostly want 20 or 30-somethings. Brian and I laugh at many of the personal ads we come across online (example: ONLY CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE DEAF!), but it is mildly depressing that so many 40-something men want to date other men young enough to be their son.

And so on. When I was a young son my Mama would give us $5 on our birthday so we could pick out our own present. That saved her from having to figure out what we wanted. I mostly got Breyer horses, which were the right size for GI Joe to ride around on. Later it switched to books about Pompeii. Britney Spears hadn't been invented yet, so I didn't have to worry about purchasing her latest CD, which also hadn't been invented yet.

This year, no plans for the 44th anniversary of me being cut out of my mother. Maybe someone will surprise me (hint:Brady).

Up early so I could drive over to the old fort and finish the mapping we are doing. The fort was established in 1873, abandoned by the military in 1891, and the recently acquired part was used as a tuberculosis sanitorium from about 1908 to the 1940s.


Kitchen ruins.

The city and county recently purchased the last portion of the fort in private hands, and I've been preparing a report on the history of this portion.

In the afternoon Forrest called and we went to La Indita for dinner.


Forrest at night.

Afterwards we wandered up and down 4th Avenue and looked at tied dyed t-shirts at the hippy store. At the thrift store the records were too pricey, I wish I had a record player.

We sat outside the bar and watched the ants try to drag too-big bugs into their tiny hole. They just never wanted to give up. Silly little ants.

Potatoes. It is starting to cool down here in Tucson and I can cook again. I made roasted baby potatoes the other day. I could eat potatoes all the time. I like them mashed with lots of butter. I love me some tater tots. French fries! Least favorite- boiled.

What is your favorite way of making potatoes?

This blog entry is paid for by the State of Idaho and the Toe Tapping Association of Boise.

Vince's carrot cake birthday cake came out very well. I just had a thin slice for breakfast.


Slicing the cake.

Yesterday I sneezed a couple of times and a co-worker asked if I was sick. Nope, I'm healthy as can be. Except I woke up with a sore throat that is getting sorer and now I'm getting a tad feverish. Tres annoying.

So I'm staying home, maybe I'll watch some stories on the telly. Usually when I get sick I clean house (two unpleasant things at once!). But the house is mostly clean so instead I'll probably lie in bed and play with the cats.

Today's interesting fact. Barack Obama is my seventh cousin. Our common ancestors begin with James Welborn and Mary Isabelle Teague.

Later. TJ asked me to look up his family. Turns out he is a distant cousin of an ex-bf of mine.

My best friend Les is coming to visit the weekend of October 19th. He'll be super pleased to know that it is Tucson Leather/Levi Weekend. Les, please remember to bring your leather codpiece and that spiked collar, you know, the one your mom gave you back in '89. The invitation also says there will be a "hanky Flagging Party" and that we are to "Ask a Tucson Leather Committee Member for a Hanky Code."

Buster the Balloon fetishist will also be there and maybe Les and I will get a little liquored up and participate in one of his ballon blowing-up contests. What happens in Tucson, stays in Tucson! Except they videotape it and sell it to other balloon porn fetishists. I'm pretty sure Les has never been in a porn movie, but there is that weekend back in 1992 that he doesn't remember.

It is, of course, a charity event. The $3.00 donation goes to a pet charity. This afternoon when I stopped by the Venture there were two cute dogs wandering around the patio, one of whom came over for some head-patting.

Don't forget your Hanky, Les!

I forgot the golden raisins for Vince's birthday cake. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I've never made a carrot cake before, Brian was kind enough to find me a recipe since the Cake Bible didn't have the right one. I'll be sure to take a picture, but where's that food stylist bf? You know the one with the mad camera skills.

Otherwise a low key day, the highlight of which was a trip to the pet store to buy kitty litter. I know, I know. Life in Tucson is pretty superb.

Some fuckin' idiot wrote last week that gay blogging would be dead in a year. Yeah. Right. I had to laugh about that. Why is it that certain people get so melodramatic when they quit blogging? Just because they quit, I guess they want everyone else to quit too. So sorry.

I'll still be baking cakes, hanging out with my friends, and occasionally writing about by job in September 2008. I like being able to see what I was doing on this day in past years(in 2003, finding out that an ex had cheated on me while we were together! lol). And if people want to read about it, well, good for them. Maybe someday I'll quit, but I guess I'll have to find a good reason to do so.

Beard Friday.

When I'm not busy telling little children that the Easter Bunny isn't real, I'm busy taking care of old Mollie, whose health is slowly failing.

Blue door self beardtrait.

She's having difficulty walking and has lost strength in her back legs. My house has mostly wood or tile floors, and she can't stand on those anymore, her legs slip apart. So nows she's restricted to the living room, which has a rug, and has regained much of her agility. Still, she's about 15 1/2 years old and that's a lot for a hound dog.

I've never had to deal with an elderly pet before. My dogs (Pouncer and Curley) got old and passed on while I was in college. So this is all a little strange for me, wondering whether I'll know if it is time to call the vet.

In other news, some people have complained about the panda entry on their blogs. I've been accused of being a nasty person. Well, whatthefuckever. I'm clever enough, I guess, to make multiple blogs and comment back and forth on them. I just don't see the point. As an exercise in creative writing, I can see that a bored person might get into that. I guess these individuals have a lot of energy invested in their various blogs, because they go bonkers when someone points out a factual inconsistency or a borrowed photograph. Then there are long, convulated explanations followed by altered entries and deletions. And while this is happening the multiple personalities of the blogger are busy calling other people nasty names. Whatthefuckever.

What surprises me are the people who believe that "if it's on the internet, it's real." And who fail to distinguish between a chunk of computer memory and a real, living person. I feel like asking them, "Is it possible to hurt the feelings of a fictional character?" And what about the real people who have interacted with these fakes? Or listened to their medical advice? Or been called nasty names by one of their personas? At this point, my advice is believe what you want. The Easter Bunny is, in fact, real.

I'm trying to figure things out and sometimes feelings overpower common sense. It's one of those cryptic entries, and you know, when I go back and read the old ones I usually have no idea what they are about.

So I think I'll just say I wish things were different.

Post 1369. Patrick sent me an ITunes gift certificate (thanks!). Any suggestions on what I should download?

So what's the difference between being gay and being homosexual? In my mind homosexuals are people who desire sexual relations with someone of the same sex. There are certainly a lot of 'em out there. I used to think the 10 percent figure was maybe a little high, but nowadays, not so sure. There are an awful lot of married men on Craigslist looking for away-from-home loving.

The thing is, I'm not so sure I would call those guys gay. In my mind, perched up inside my cranium with its somewhat oversized inion, being gay means being open about yourself to your friends, family, and the people who happen to come across your blog. It boils down to being comfortable in your own skin. For me, I went from being a closet-case homosexual to being gay at age 21. Life got so much better.

It's unfortunate that there are tortured people like Senator Craig, never quite able to come to grips with the feelings they have inside. Craig said at his news conference, "I am not gay," and I believe him. Of course, he could not truthfully say "I'm not a homosexual," because as far as I know, there aren't many truly straight guys into sucking cocks.

But of course, I could be completely wrong about that.

Brian came from Phoenix and brought three gifts. It was like Christmas but without the myrrh. Instead I am now the owner of the Cake Bible and I will soon be making a cake from it.


Indian lunch.

We had Indian food for lunch. I love me some samosas. With that sweet tamarind/plum sauce.


Homer and Brian at the sewage treatment facility.

Afterwards I took Brian to a Qwik Stop. Why do they mispell Quike? We then went to the Sweetwater Wetlands to commune with nature and sewer smells. At one point he asked me if we should be walking down a certain path because the vegetation was growing so wildly. It was exciting. We saw a cinnamon teal and some turtles. Actually, the big surprise was to see some native fishes swimming around- that was the first time I've seen fish there.


Cobban.

In the afternoon Ray and Cobban came up and we went to karoake at IBTs. It was wretched. We then journeyed over to Venture Inn.


Homer and Ray practice tapping our feet.

We sat with Justin and Kevin and talked about our fetishes (redhead!). And there was a very cute redhead there.

This morning I'm making mac & cheese before I make a cake. I think I'll take a nap first to celebrate Labor Day.