Progress

I had an appointment with the fitness coordinator at my gym this morning. I wanted to get a confirmation that all of my hard work at the gym has been paying off.

I was a little disappointed with the results! After several months I have only lost 12 lbs., I went down 4 inches in my waist, and my body fat has decreased. But the measurements on the rest of my body haven't really changed much. My bicep, thighs, chest, etc have gone up a little, so little in fact that it is hardly noticeable.

So I either need to quit working out or I need to make some changes to my workout and my eating habits. I have chosen to make changes to my workout and eating habits. I don't eat badly; I just don't eat the right things so I have an appointment to meet with a nutritionist. Those of you who thought I was a food Nazi before better be prepared. I am officially starting a healthy diet (after I finish my chorizo, egg, and potato burrito)!

I am also going to cut back on the amount of alcohol I consume. If I cut back to about half of the alcohol I consume I can probably loose a few lbs. So...no more happy hours (every day), no more going out every weekend and drinking, no more!

In two months I will go back to get a reassessment and I better see some drastic changes.

Wish me luck!

Date Night

I had a date tonight.

With a younger man.

He is 25 and very cocky (as in confident...you dirty). Is it me or are younger guys more confident these days?

It didn't go very well, we didn't have much in common, and the conversation wasn't really flowing. It's a good thing one of my friends happen to be on a date at a restaurant two doors down and he stopped by joined us for a while.

The guy is very touchy and has very strong hands. He walked up behind me and started rubbing my shoulders...I was so tempted to bring him back to my place for a rub down...but I decided against it.

No second date for him.

These Boots Were Meant for Walking

I said I wasn't going out this weekend but I couldn't help it. I went to a birthday party and I ended up drinking a little to much and then going to the gay bars after. Since I wasn't planning on being out late I wore my boots. I love these boots but I don't get to wear them often because they hurt my feet. I have had them since April of 2005 and I have only worn them 4 times because they are just not very comfortable but they look so good. How can women wear uncomfortable shoes all day?

At the b-day party I learned I am an asshole. I was talking to a guy I met about a year and a half ago at another party. We run into each other at the bars or at other get-togethers every so often but we never really get to talk to much. Apparently he has been after me for over a year and every time he calls me I tell him how busy I am and how I won't be able to get coffee or have lunch with him for a few weeks and ask him to call me later. Every time I tell him this he gets discouraged. As he was telling me this I felt like an asshole. I am sure he thinks I am a pretentious little bitch. So I did what I do best, I made a joke out of it. I ran into him at the bars later that night and he was getting a bit to fresh with me so I quickly put a stop to that. I don't like him in a sexual way.

Which kind of ties in with a conversation I had with my sort-of-ex in the afternoon. He called yesterday but I was on my way to the Taste of Dallas so we couldn't talk. Anyway, the conversation turned into who we were dating, why we are not dating, and so on. Apparently he thinks I am way to picky (and I agree) and we had a good two hour conversation about relationships. He gives good advice.

Several Things

Picture from AP


Picture from photobucket.com

I was listening to NPR this morning on my way to work and I heard the story of Russian President Vladimir Putin kissing a boy on his stomach. Have you guys heard/read the story? You can read more about it here or here.

Anyway, I heard this story right before I started pumping gas and for some reason I found it extremely funny and I could not stop laughing. Some of you know how I get when I can't stop laughing, it's loud, I snort, and I get teary eyed. People were staring at me, It was awful but I had a good laugh. And after the week I have had I needed a good laugh.

In other news - I think my trainer is trying to sabotage my workouts. After our workout this morning we went to a Mexican restaurant and had breakfast. Last week he recommended this Mexican restaurant that is in my neighborhood and it is soooo good. I haven't had good Mexican food in Dallas but this place is amazing. It is a hole in the wall and the owners are super nice and friendly. I have now taken 4 people to try this place and everyone has loved it.
They have weird hours but I can work around that.

My school semester will be over in 2 or 3 weeks. I can't wait for a month vacation from school. I have ordered a whole bunch of books from the Library, hopefully I will get them in time to catch up on my reading.

I have more to update but I will stop now since it is already a long post. If you haven't checked out Swirly Girl's post about a conversation we had check it out and give your opinion.

Confession - Social Situations

I am always on the go to some sort of social activity. Some of my friends think I am a "social butterfly" but that couldn't be furthest from the truth. I secretly abhor being thrown into situations where I have to talk to strangers.

I should probably clarify, I don't have a social anxiety disorder, I just don't like making mindless chit-chat with strangers that I will probably never see again. I use alcohol as my social lubricator and after a drink or two I will talk to anyone about anything...as mindless as it may be.

Unfortunately, I have to do it. So I am trying to break out of my cycle and learn to enjoy it and be better at it. If that is even possible. So I have been reading a book about networking and how improving memorization skills. I also tend to forget names. I can remember faces and event entire conversation but don't ask me to remember your name.

Does anyone have any tips on mingling?

I got lucky

I got lucky last week. I normally have the worst luck in the world but the stars aligned, the planets were in the right house...the point is that I got lucky.

I went to a really interesting conference last week where I had to opportunity to see some old co-workers. They were raffling off an ipod shuffle for everyone who attended...and guess what? I won? I was just thinking about buying an ipod so now I won't have to spend my money. I am thinking about trading it in and getting one of the bigger ipods.

I am so excited.

Unsympathetic

I have talked about my friend Horatio,
here and here. Here is the quick summary. Horatio and Mike have been dating for 4 years now. They have broken up once about two years ago when they lived in another city in TX because Mike was cheating on Horatio. He confessed and everything. They moved to the DFW area after Horatio finished with optometry school and Mike basically stays at home and lives off of Horatio. Horatio is in his early 30's and Mike is in his early 20's.

Guess what? They are pregnant! No, not really. Mike is cheating on Horatio again. Well, I say again but he never really stopped. We ALL knew about it but Horatio never wanted to believe it. I got a call from Horatio last night telling me that he has broken up with Mike and has kicked him out. Mike has been sleeping with other men while Horatio is at work. He also goes out to the clubs and whores around. Horatio found out because one of the guys Mike has been seeing told him. Yeap, it is all very interesting. Well, not really.

Last night when he called I couldn't help it...but I just wasn't interested. I think he was expecting a lot more sympathy from me but I just wasn't able to give him any. I heard the story, he told me he was better off without him, and all of the usual breakup stuff. Normally, I would have been supportive and would have told anyone else everything they wanted to hear...but I just couldn't do it. Especially when he tries to pretend he just found out...uhmm...NO, you have known about it for almost 3 years. My comments were more like "Didn't you already know he was cheating on you?".

We are suppose to be at a BBQ on Sunday and I am dreading going because I know he is going to tell the story to anyone that will listen. He likes to play the victim and leaves parts of the story out that make him like look like he is at fault.

Anyway - Have a great weekend!

Did you make the cut?

I have made some changes to my blog roll. Some have been deleted (just ones that i don't read anymore...all of you are still there) but a lot more have been added. It has been a while since I have added the new blogs that I read so below I have listed new blogs that you need to check out, ready?

SM

- I am sure you have seen SM around. She is one of my good friends from high school and I love her to death! Check her site out!

Joey Destino

- Alright so not a new blog but Joey has changed sites. Check his new site out. Joey is a great writer and some of you have made comments about what a great writer he is.

I think I need a new heart

- Have you not been reading Kriss’ site? Where have you been? Nicest guy in the world

Will

- Check his site out. He and his partner have been together for several years now. An inspiration for all of us who think gay relationships are a myth.

Chad Fox

- Another blog I have been reading for a while. He is funny, a great writer and is cute.

Earl Interrupted

- I am also adding Mr. Earl. He is funny and has some great stories about his.


So what did you think of these sites?

Does birth order affect sexuality?

Here is an interesting article. Read it and discuss. I would like to hear from those of you who are gay if you have an older brother? And if you do, what do you think your birth order affected your sexuality?

If you are not gay, what do you think of this article?

I don't agree with the use of the words sexuality and homosexuality to refer to the LGBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transger) community. But that is another discussion.

***********************
Does birth order affect sexuality?
Men with big brothers more likely to be gay, researchers assert

11:04 PM CDT on Monday, June 26, 2006
Los Angeles Times


Having one or more older brothers boosts the likelihood of a boy growing up to be gay – an effect due not to social factors, but biological events that occur in their mother's womb, according to a study published Tuesday.

In an analysis of 905 men and their siblings, Canadian psychologist Anthony Bogaert found no evidence that social interactions among family members play any role in determining whether a man is gay or straight.

The only significant factor was the number of times a mother had previously given birth to boys, according to the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Each older brother increases the chances by 33 percent. Mr. Bogaert said that assuming a 2 percent base rate of homosexuality among men, it would take 11 older brothers to give the next son about a 50-50 chance of being gay.

"Biological older brothers, even ones they are not reared with, seem to be increasing the likelihood of male homosexuality," Mr. Bogaert said.

In a previous study, Mr. Bogaert and his colleagues estimated that about one in seven gay men in North America – roughly 1 million people – can attribute their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order.

Mr. Bogaert said he doesn't know what mechanism is behind the effect, which he and a colleague first identified 10 years ago.

The leading theory is that women pregnant with boys are exposed to male proteins that their bodies view as foreign, and they respond by making antibodies to fight them, said Mr. Bogaert, a professor at Brock University in Ontario.

Those antibodies could affect the developing fetus, and the more times a woman has carried boys, the stronger the antibody response would be.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/062706dnnatorientation.17caebb.html

Car woes

I had an early facial appointment on Saturday morning. The gear wouldn't move (I have an automatic...not sure if it is called a gear or not) and yes, the car was on. So I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the manufacturer and they walked me through what to do but told me I needed to get my car to the shop ASAP.

I was about 20 minutes from home and there is a car dealership close to my house so I was planning on driving home and just having someone pick me up from the dealership but I couldn't get a hold of anyone. Luckily there was a car dealership close to where I was having problems so I just stopped there. A few hours later they determined that my brake something or other was broken.

After a few hours of waiting I was so frustrated. I hadn't had breakfast or lunch and I had a horrible headache and it wouldn't go away. One of my friends brought me some extra strength pills and those seemed to help so we went off to dinner. I guess the day started off bad but it ended well.

You want to know what the best part of having my car break down?
They cleaned it for me :) I had not cleaned my car in about 9 months and it really needed to be cleaned.

Invisible

Have you ever been in a room full of people and felt completely invisible?

Well, I did...tonight.

I was my friend Chico's plus one at the end-of-season dinner for the gay rugby team in Dallas. I knew a couple of the players and everyone there seems like really good people. Unfortunately the restaurant staff didn't see me all night. Everyone got their dinner...except for me. Everyone got their dessert...except me. WTF?

At the end of the night the waitress came over and apologized, she was really sincere so all was good.

Anyway - tomorrow is Friday. I am so ready for the weekend!

Is anyone else excited?

The Arts Journal has published a partial list of the Dallas Museum of Art acquisitions for this year :)

Check out this link to see a partial list of the new stuff.

Take Action: H-E-B Grocery Chain Under Attack for Supporting Diversity

H-E-B Grocery Chain Under Attack for Supporting Diversity
Let H-E-B Know You Support Them!

On Thursday, June 15th, a San Antonio Christian radio talk show host for KSLR radio began an assault on the H-E-B grocery chain for its sponsorship of San Antonio's PrideFest 2006.

Adam McManus urged his listeners to flood the H-E-B website with protests, and to talk with in-store managers and ask them to reconsider sponsorship of PrideFest.

H-E-B has a long-standing commitment to honor the diversity of their partners (employees) and the communities they serve.

"Diversity asks us to understand and respect ethnic cultures and heritage, work and life experiences and personal attributes such as age, education, religion, physical appearance, to name a few. H-E-B's workforce differs by race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, physical abilities, marital status, parental status and in many other ways. We have a Partner (employee)-friendly organizational culture designed to develop the unique talents of each Partner and offer feedback consistent with each Partner's individual goals." Source: H-E-B website

Just last weekend, over 75 H-E-B partners (both gay and straight) participated as volunteers at the Pride Texas '06 Festival in Austin. H-E-B's commitment to diversity affords their employees the opportunity to actively participate in their local communities, and to do so with the support of their employer. This commitment to diversity should be honored, not attacked.

Please let H-E-B know you support their commitment to diversity!

Is he or isn't he?

Have I mentioned that I am not very good at telling when guys are flirting with me? Most of the time I just think guys are being friendly.

So here is a hypothetical for you: Let’s say I met a guy at an event last night. We didn't talk very much but we exchanged business cards. Later at dinner I caught him looking over at me a couple of times and sort of smile.

This morning he calls me and we chat about his job, my job, etc and he suggests that we get together for lunch or drinks sometime. We didn't set a day or time. So I can't tell if it is one of those things people say like "I will call you or let’s do lunch sometime."

Later, after the phone conversation I get a message saying how glad he is he went to the event last night. He didn't say it was because he met me...but I sort of think it is implied. Or am I wrong?

Do you think he is kind of flirting with me? A little? I can't tell. I normally send an email after attending an event telling people I met how great it was to meet them, maybe he calls people instead of emailing them.

I don't know. But he is cute; he is 32 but looks like he is in his early 20's.

Opinions? Observations?

I am tired

I am tired of people bitching about issues going on in the world or in their lives and then doing nothing about it.

You don't like the way gay people are being treated?
Do something about it

You don't like the way African Americans are being discriminated against?
Do something about it

You read an article you don't agree with?
Do something about it

Sitting on your ass and complaining about it to me is not going to get you anywhere. I will be more than happy to listen to you bitch 3 times, but if you haven't done anything about it after the third time don't expect me to be as nice about it. You are just wasting your time and mine.

I understand we all need someone to vent to but if the issue is really important to you then please do something about it. Don't take a passive role and expect someone else to do all of the hard work for you because if that is the case things will never change. I am not expecting my friends to go out and change the world but how nice would it be if everyone who is concerned about a social issue actually did something about it? Can you imagine the social impact that would have?

Cheers and Jeers

This post is a couple of days late but here it is:

Are you wondering how your senator voted on the marriage amendment act? Follow the link to find out: Results

How did your senator do? Do you want to thank them or give them an ear full for voting the way they did? You can find out who your senator is and their contact information HERE

TX senators voted for the amendment, they both got a nice little e-mail for me.

Don't be afraid to let them know what you think...and remind them if they will be getting your vote next time they come up for reelection.


Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs ---49
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-NE)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Stevens (R-AK)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

NAYs ---48
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Sununu (R-NH)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 3
Dodd (D-CT)
Hagel (R-NE)
Rockefeller (D-WV)

Hola

Can you believe the week is already over? It has been a very busy week with a lot to update so I am just going to do bullets today.

• Work

Work is going well. I have been really busy and I will probably be busy for the next 5 months. I am going to Mexico next month and I may be going to Malaysia in August. Not sure about Malaysia, I was suppose to go a few months ago and it never happened. Things are better at work and I like it a lot better now. Things have changed a lot.

• School

I just took an exam last night for school and I just remembered that I have to submit some process maps for one of my class before midnight. I am really enjoying my classes this semester, I am actually learning a lot and my classmates are all really awesome. Do you remember the guy I was taking a class with? Well, he is turning out to be pretty cool. He is all jokes outside of class but he is very smart, and always has great comments during class. We have been hanging out outside of class a bit. Cool guy.

• Free Time

I need a vacation soon!

• Work

Oh, is it bad that I smoked with my VP today? He was smoking, I wanted a cig, and he offered. It made me feel part of the club.

What is it about me that screams cheap whore?

I think I have mentioned that I have been going to the gym on a very regular basis, I haven't really kept you guys updated with my progress but it is going very well. I am now down from a size 33 pants to a size 31 and I have lost 10 lbs. It is very exciting for me and it helps motivate me to keep going back. Oh, and my arms are getting bigger hehehe :)

Anyway, on to the real story. After a long workout I like to go to the steam room and sit in there for 10 minutes before hitting the showers. One day I was sitting in there and an old man comes in and starts rubbing his crotch. He ws sitting in front of me so it was kind of hard not to notice. I didn't say anything just looked down and tried to ignore it as much as possible.

Yesterday I was sitting in there and an older man comes in and starts talking to me about my workout. I didn't think anything about it, I just thought it was a nice old man. As the conversation progressed he too starts rubbing his crotch and occasionally lifts his towel to show me his penis. It was nasty and I quickly made an exit.

It would have been one thing if these guys were anywhere close to my age but they were both at least 60 if not older. What is it about me that screams cheap whore?

Ladies who lunch

Did I mention I have been off of work since Friday of last week? Yes, I decided to take a few days of vacation and I have really enjoyed my time off. I haven't done much but I have really enjoyed everything I got to do. I was suppose to be in California during this time but that didn't work out so I just stayed home.

I drank way to much, I started drinking on Wednesday of last week and I have had a drink every day since then. Normally it is just one or two drinks, but that is still a lot of drinking. As of now, I have no plans to drink for the rest of the week.

My typical day has consisted of the following; getting up, going to the gym, meeting a friend for lunch, shopping, meeting a friend for dinner and/or drinks. Oh, I also tried to get some studying done during the week (not much though). It has been a very carefree week. I come and go as I please without having to rush to work, school, etc. It has been wonderful.

During lunch today I decided I want to be a lady who lunches. I met my friend for lunch at the restaurant in Neimans and there were so many ladies just shopping, having coffee and enjoying their day. Why can't I be one of those ladies? There are two issues right off the bat, 1. I am not a lady and 2. I don't have a rich husband or a husband for that matter. But wouldn't it be great to just enjoy your day without having to work for a living? Imagine all of the things you could do...all of the places you could see...imagine. I need to win the lottery so I too can be a lady who lunches.

Birthday Surprise

No it's not my birthday.

I was shopping for my nephews birthday present and I bought him a shirt and pants, while I was there I decided to buy myself something nice. I bought some underwear. Yes, some of my trashy underwear. Since I am not very good at wrapping I decided to have the store wrap them for me. Normally I would just buy a gift bag and throw the gift in but I decided to put some extra effort into this one.

I went to the customer service department and handed over my packaged to be wrapped while I did some more shopping. The gift was wrapped beautifully.

When I got to the party my nephew started opening gifts. Most of them were toys as you would expect but he did get some interesting stuff. When he got to my gift he pulls out a pair of pants, a shirt, and yeap...you guessed it...a trashy pair of underwear. My sister looks at me and I can feel my face getting RED and all I can say is "Those aren't for him". What else could I do or say? I am going to try to get a picture of him holding up the underwear so I can post it on here. :)

If you are in the US, I hope you are having a great day off.
If you are at work, enjoy your Monday!