Homer'sWorld

Happy Blogday to me- I've been writing about my super-exciting life now for 366 days. Thanks for reading. It seems that scantily clad photos are pretty popular (Friday's pic generated the most comments I've ever had), but really, I'm not that photogenic. Besides, I'd rather show you in person.



Bowl abstract.

To celebrate Blogday I'll be cleaning, painting, laundering, washing, plastering, and a few other -ings. It will be the busiest Blogday ever, I'll wear my fingers to the bone. And if you happen to stop by I'll be wearing the painting shorts.

Acid reflux, I wouldn't wish it upon anybody. Slow burning, lasts all day long. I take the little purple pills and chug pepto. I'm used to it now so it doesn't interfere much with life, just makes the quality not so hot.

Avoiding painting tonight, probably should finish the plaster work. But geez, Friday night and I would rather be doing something else. Went for a drink with W., a woofy guy, but the sparks weren't there, I think he likes younger men. Oh well. The dating pool in Tucson is so small that a little incident like that sucks. But I'm not complaining, it could be worse. I could be dateless and have acid reflux. Wait, wait, wait, I meet those criteria. Suck!

I put on my painting shorts and started painting practically the moment I got home. A light yellow for the walls, a light blue for the ceiling, "eggnog" for the cabinets and trim. Those shorts have the paint from the last two rooms I painted, dark blue bedroom, mango bathroom. Now they will accumulate the new paint in the kitchen and bathroom.
 



I only painted a section of the wall and ceiling, checking to see the colors worked. They did. Then I focused on the cabinet and its doors. I'm hoping the doors will go on Sunday and with the tils mostly completed, I'll have one of the projects mostly done.

In other news, John Kerry rocked in his speech tonight. He's a stud. Makes GW look like a big ole wuss.

Lots of lightning and thunder today, one bolt scared the crap out of me it was so close.  Nice and cool at the moment, hope it stays that way. Got soaked trying to run to the historical society as a Democratic fundraiser weaseled a contribution out of me.

Yuck, I just made the mistake of really looking at my keyboard. How does all that crud get down in there?

Hung out with Curtis after work. He suggested paint colors for the kitchen so maybe tomorrow I'll buy several gallons. I like painting, fast and inexpensive way to change things. I've been agonizing about color choices, so I guess I'll just have to do and perhaps regret it later.

Hey, I've updated my blog links. Expurgate has gone back to My Name is Sam and a couple of new blogs have been added. Say hello to MelloBoy.

I've been emailing Todd, who used to live in Tucson back in the mid-90s.  Like Ryan, I had an awful crush on him. Oh my, I used to lie in bed thinking what a sweet guy he was, so cute and funny. I had the biggest crush.

Todd and Ryan hung out with a group of guys that was headed by M., a friend of my roommate. For some reason M. decided I was a geek, and I found it better to stay away from the guys, many of whom spiraled into out-of-control drug use. The bottom point was when S. injected himself with special K and sunk to the bottom of a swimming pool. What a waste.

A couple of years ago I ran into Todd at Christmas time- he had moved to LA and was doing well. And last summer I went to a party at Kurt & Dwayne and there was Ryan, it was so much fun hanging out with him and taking him to the airport. From what I've heard most of those guys have moved on, made better decisions with their lives. I sometimes wonder why M. was so nasty to me, but honestly I just felt sorry for all of the time he lost. 

In other news, Goddam weatherman Chuck George keeps interupting The Amazing Race over some stupid thunderstorm.  Doesn't he know that is my favorite telly show?

I like libraries- they are filled with books, some with nice pictures, a few are actually worth reading. However, as Jonny will tell you, other library patrons can be a nuisance. Example, today at the university special collections I had to listen to the annoying history buff bother the librarians with his ultra-fascinating questions. I felt sorry for the women sitting behind the desk, his insistence that some unknown librarian had catalogued something incorrectly was met with a luke warm response. I'm sure that his less-than-stellar hygiene and his general wierdness didn't make talking to him very pleasant. 

The Democratic convention is on the telly in the living room. I wandered in to watch Jimmy Carter- he is a great guy. After he left office he spent his time doing good- Habitat for Humanity and election monitoring are two cause I know of. Contrast that with George I, who obsessed with adding millions to his family fortune and periodically parachuting to show us he can still get a woody.

A picture is worth a thousands words. Please memorize the next 3,000 words and be prepared for a test tomorrow.

 

Doug starts tiling the counter.


A photo for Jimbo.


Mike's dog Faja.

On my home improvement show, I worked on plastering cracks in the kitchen. It is a messy task, and it really looks like this is the first time I've ever done this sort of thing. However, the major cracks are filled and maybe with some sanding and a final thin coat it will be dandy. 
 

Giant cracks-be-gone.

Then into the bathroom, where I removed the old toilet and pulled up most of the linoleum and the underlying plywood. I knew the toilet had leaked once, but soon discovered that it was still leaking and that the wooden floor around the outlet pipe was all cruddy. So I ran over to the lumber store and bought oak flooring strips that will replace the messed up areas. I didn't remove the sink- the plumbers are going to have to come replace the cold water valve underneath because it won't shut off and it starts to leak when it is turned. I just have to remember- "I'm increasing the value of my house!" Last week I bought a new old-fashioned-looking toilet and sink for this bathroom, too bad the cats are the only ones that ever use it.


Looking in from the study to the nasty bathroom floor.

I feel like getting in my car and just driving, driving away. I'm a little stir crazy. Work is dreadfully dull, waiting for something new to come up. I'm finishing up some old projects, but there isn't enough to do. At home there is sawdust and plaster everywhere- when I walk bare-footed my feet get dirty instantly. It's hot and humid and I have piles of stuff everywhere. The disorganization is starting to be a bother.

But at the same time, going someplace means sitting in a car- yuck- and driving to some equally hot place where gas is as expensive and so on. So I guess I'm feeling a bit unsatisfied. Is this what a mid-life crisis is supposed to be about. How come I couldn't have a more exciting one with a lot of drugs and apologies in the morning and shameful secrets? Maybe I'm having the dullest mid-life crisis ever. Wouldn't that be funny?

I took the day off to buy a toilet, a sink, and do some more plaster work (I'm playing with the new Blogger colors, forgive me).  While I was doing the latter I spent some time thinking about gay Republicans. I've had recent run-ins with two- one just seemed to be an idiot, the other was all about personal responsibility and cutting taxes so his paycheck would be bigger.

Jump back in time to 1989- I was attending grad school at Arizona State and ended up being co-chair of the lesbian and gay group on campus.  I was introduced to D., another gay archaeologist, and was smitten. He was really good looking, furry, had an interesting way of speaking, etc. The archaeologist thing was kinda nice too. Unfortunately (and isn't life full of unfortunatelys?), D. also was conservative. He didn't particularly like being gay, probably would have changed to straight if he could. However, he liked dick to much.

The gays in the miltary thing was just starting and as head of the campus group I wrote a letter making fun of Arizona State's head of ROTC program, who was quoted as saying that gays shouldn't be allowed into ROTC because "some people don't like them." He didn't bother naming them, of course. That's a great way of thinking, I must remember to apply that sometime. But I digress, so D. called me up and chewed me out for being a "militant gay guy." D. never quite made the connection between social activists who campaigned for gay rights, and the fact that he could go out to gay bars without the fear of being arrested.  Weren't gay rights given a kick in the ass by the drag queens at Stonewall (by the way, we need a postage stamp commemorating that event).

The two recent gay Republicans seem to have forgotten this as well. They both told me that since the marriage amendment wasn't going to pass the Senate, that everything was fine and dandy. I brought up the recent rise in gay bashing here in Tucson, the fact that moderate Republicans were being pushed out of the party, that sitting around and keeping quiet never results in positive social change. In both these guy's minds it is all about keeping more of their paycheck, I guess they figure that having dollars in the bank means they will be safe.

I wish I could be so complacent, but I'm not. As Palochi writes in his story (good job, by the way!), if gays aren't diligent and make our votes and dollars heard, things aren't going to be so grand. But I suppose those greedy gay Republicans will have enough money to buy their way out. Geez, I guess I'm being one of those pessimistic liberals (must think positive!).

Roger the dog gnawed on my arm as Sandy and I chatted. That dog, a white Schnauzer puppy, was so cute. But with a name like Roger, he is bound to be naughty. Seems like everyone I meet named Roger needs to be spanked. Kinda like all men named Scott turn out to be gay. And guys named Homer, they are just plain wonderful, of course. Not that I'm into generalizing. 

When I got home from buying a retro-looking fan the cats swarmed over me, sniff-sniff-sniffing, trying to figure out what the strange dog smell meant. Mama Cat and Puff like to lie on top of me in bed, but even with the retro fan blowing luke warm air at me, it is too hot and I advise them to park their furry behinds somewhere else. How many more months of summer?

 

After another round of plastering I went over to David and Abe's casa and, along with Doug, we watched the Amazing Race.  We were pretty catty and kept shouting at the telly- "Run!" or various other type things.

 

Abe and Doug.

I have meetings tomorrow and so on. Work is really dull at the moment, have I whined about that? I guess being an archaeologist isn't all glamour and whips and gold chalices.

I got plastered tonight, well my kitchen walls did. I managed to spatter myself pretty thoroughly. As the coat dried, I sat on the back steps and took self portraits. I'm busy growing a beard back, the sides are auburn red. You'll have to wait for a picture, Blogger seems to be having problemos.


I thought I was going to DC, but the boss changed his mind. I wasn't to happy about this, the report I'm writing is dull as dirt, I was hoping to get some new info. Oh well, maybe I'll just go anyway, except money is kinda tight as I work on the house.

I think Panchesco will agree, swamp coolers suck Satan's left teat. Speaking of which, why do I keep running into queer Republicans???????!


Homer plastered.

Hidden in the walls of my kitchen were fragments of 1940s wallpaper. Some housewife, maybe named Maggie or Joan or Edith, slathered wallpaper paste and carefully hung the colorful paper up. It featured a kind of Pennsylvanian Dutch farm theme- a hitching post, a blacksmith, a woman quilting. Later, as the wall cracked, someone else applied a thin skim of plaster over the wallpaper, sealing it in.
 
Before I plastered over the area where I had cleared around a crack I took one of my business cards and wrote the date on the back and dropped it in between the lathe. Maybe someday someone will find it and wonder who Homer was.
  
 

Catching up. The last month or so has seen three people from my past suddenly make an appearance on Homer'sWorld. Yesterday the phone rang and there was Patrick calling from Germany. I met him back in 1988 when I was starting grad school at Arizona State. At that time the atmosphere at ASU towards gays was awful- I mean just plain awful. So he and I volunteered to go speak on a panel in front of a psychology class. A couple of the students were nasty to us. The big laugh was when one of the students asked Patrick if he had ever wanted to ask me out on a date.  He's lived in Germany for the last seven years and praises the attributes of German men. Maybe I'll have to go visit sometime.
 
Earlier I got an email and phone call from Brian. We had a bitter falling out over his ex-boyfriend who, unfortunately, had a drug problem. Oh well, after 10 years it was nice to catch up. And last night I chatted with Steve- a guy who dated a couple of my roommates back when I lived in Ann Arbor in the mid-1980s.
 
I just read Pua's account of meeting her birth family in Hawaii.  Oh, it made me all teary-eyed. I'm glad everything went well and she got to catch up with her mother, brothers, and sisters.

They should just let Martha teach home economic skills to people or something useful. It irritates me that they pursue her while Kenneth Lay lounged around. I wonder if it had anything to do with her donations to the Democratic party or the fact that she is the most prominent female business owner in the country. Gotta keep the uppity women in their place, which used to be, ironically, the kitchen.
 
Chatted with Jimbo on the phone this morning. Next week I'll know whether I'll be heading to Washington DC in mid August for work.  It'll be nice to see Jimbo, Chrisafer, maybe Zenchick, and my friends John and Kelly.
 
I'm at home with acid reflux tummyache. Oh it is like a skanky sauna, the humidity is evil. Even the cats are super cranky and are fighting. Puff is whining at me as I type this. Sorry, puss, not much I can do about the situation.

The New York boys drunk dialed me- Patrick and MAK and Atticus. They were at some loud bar and the reception was horrible. I felt envious, New York can be so much more exciting than Tucson.
 
This afternoon I went over to Gavin's and sat in his little backyard pool and chatted. His hair is bleached out from the sun to a nice auburn color. Afterward we went to Ali Baba's and I ate lovely hommous and we ogled the very cute waiter with the incredible ass.  I wonder if he knows how lovely it is.
 
At home Joey is sitting on my lap as I type. She made her little noise that means "Pick me up, dammit!" so I complied. I scratch the base of her tail and she looks at me, very pleased. She's been a good kitty for the last month. Hope that continues.

Things that happened today. I learned that in 1911 the U.S. army had a total of 12 trucks and many people thought that was more than enough. I wrote two pages of text. I was pleased to read that the anti-gay marriage amendment failed. The dentist says I have no cavities and was impressed at my brushing thoroughness. Doug and Jason drew interesting things on my kitchen wall. I made an insurance claim and the woman consoled me over my downed power line incident. At Hot Campus Boy Safeway I stood in line behind a hot campus boy and admired his freckles, rosy cheeks, and waifish looks. Afterward I flipped off a woman, who never saw me, driving a van with a bumper sticker "Marriage= Man + Woman." That was the second time I flipped her off without her seeing me. At home I am hot and sticky, swamp coolers really suck in July and August.

Caption contest: Readers, please think of an appropriate caption for this lovely picture of Pat Boone and Rick Santorum. Post the caption in my comment section.

Winner gets????? Thanks...

Hey it is Tuesday. I had a letter in today's Tucson Citizen. It is storming again- Adam and Brian up in Phoenix were probably in the awesome dust storm they showed on the news tonight. Tucson is always at least five degrees cooler than Phoenix, where it was 112 yesterday. Yuck.

A dirty secret- my all time favorite show is The Amazing Race. I find myself yelling at the television when people screw up. I'm rooting for the team that includes the dwarf woman- I like her attitude.

I sent an email to a woman who had sent me an email from Bush/Cheney about how awful Kerry/Edwards were. I replied to her that I thought B/C were evil people. She replied that she believed that "God picked the winner." Oh. I guess I should just forget voting. On the other hand, I wonder where 'God' is registered to vote. Florida? Texas? North Bumfuck?

When it rains... So the strong winds have made various electrical lines come loose from the pole to my guesthouse and so on and so on. John and Mark, my regular electricians, have come to save me. Yikes, $650 to fix things. I guess the fact that Mark is the CUTEST electrician ever makes it a tad better. I mean, if I have to spend $$$ I deserve some visual satisfaction. The roto rooter man a while ago met that expectation, and the plumber a couple of weeks ago at least had a charming accent.

Mark the electrician.