Sunday MopUp 06/29/08

Wall-E

Beautiful. Thoughtful. Perfect "Date Movie", seriously! I loved everything about this charming tale of a robot longing for Love.

Between this and "Kung Fu Panda", I feel like Hollywood is really trying to talk to me. Themes of Consumerism, Lethargy, Apathy, Self-Love, and Idealism are all OVER these two computer generated tales. Sure seems like The Universe is out to get my attention. I open my arms and feel myself in Its embrace.

I cried during this movie. Can't put my finger on why, exactly. I was just swept up in the Intent of the storytellers here. Tears collected and poured down my cheeks. It's just a very beautiful movie.

Go see it.

Dating

Spent time with DQ this week. We hadn't seen each other in quite a while, and he told me more than a few times how much he had missed me. He makes me smile. I admitted that I had missed him as well.

I like it when he crawls into my bed and just wants to sleep. But, we didn't sleep this weekend. We got into bed and then messed it up pretty good. He had a show to prepare for (ugh!) and I had errands to run, so our time together was pretty short. But it was sweet. Sex, then dinner, and a WHOLE BUNCH of yacking and kissing before, during, and after. The kid can talk. And, ya know, so can I...

He has a family reunion to go to next weekend, so I am kind of stuck on what to do for the 4th of July. It's not a big deal. But I'll miss him during the fireworks, whereEVER I see them, because I'll be thinking of OUR fireworks. Pretty cheesey, huh?

Gay Zombie!

A little sumthin-sumthin I found over at Joe.My.God (the best gay blog in the universe).

SMILE, You're On "Cram It Camera"!

This is my boss. He's already annoyed with me and my camera. I suspect he is jealous of its awesomeness.

He's really a nice guy, when you're not hounding him to "try and look like a nice guy!"

This is Rick. He one of the department's video technicians. He likes to jump out at me from around corners and shout my name. I intend to kill him one day.

This is Paul, one of the Operators that I supervise. He is quiet and well-mannered and often times brings me coffee. If I had to rescue one person from my department because the building was burning, it would be Paul. I need my coffee THAT much. Besides, he laughs at my jokes. Also, he's small enough for me to fit into a pocket, which is a plus when you are rescuing someone from a burning building.

Don't think you're getting off that easily. There will be more of this. You have been warned.

Sunday MopUp 06/22/08

Today's MopUp is all about one thing: I have gotten a Summer Cold. I believe I wore myself down a bit last week by increasing my workouts at the gym to TWO one-hour sessions a day. The first at 6AM, and then another at 7PM at night, with a full day at the office wedged in between. About three days of this and my body just said "Fuck it!" and I began to get sick.

I know. I pushed myself too hard. It's that obsessive/compulsive part of my personality that just can't deal with Moderation. No, when I like doing something, I overdo it. Every time. This explains my issues with food, sex and, at one point in my life, cocaine.

It's a lesson I have to revisit over and over again. Silly bear!

So, I took two days off from working out, bought some of that Zicam stuff, loaded up on Vitamin C, increased the fluids into my system, and have been sleeping every chance that I get. I must admit, compared to the Snot Farmer that I was on Thursday, I am in MUCH better shape now.

I went back to the gym yesterday, walked for an hour, and feel like I haven't gotten off track badly at all. In fact, the two days off might have been really good for my workouts. I felt strangely strong as that bitch The Treadmill, worked my ass over.

I'm going back today for another session, but I am not getting out of bed at 6AM to do this for the time being. 7PM is a much more reasonable time for me during the week. I just can't handle the extra stress right now.


How About A Video?



I don't know why this song reminds me of Summer, but it does. I guess it's the images in the video. I just know I have always loved this song, and I always pull it out around this time of year.

Take care of yourselves, my friends. Thanks for checking in!



Late Edition Addition!

I forgot to mention that I won a new digital camera in a contest at work. You betcha! It's a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS that shoots 8.o megapixels and has all kinds of groovy shit to go along with it. This pleases me greatly because I have needed a camera FOREVER! I've never owned a digital camera before, in fact. The only thing lacking with this baby was that it came with a 32MEG memory card. Fuck that. I hoofed it over to the electronics store the night I got it and bought an 8GIG card for 39.99!

So, in keeping with learning how to use the boogar, I offer you a portrait of the trash toys I've collected from the summer movies that I have seen so far (I'm STILL pissed that I can't find anything Hulk):


For those of you keeping score, that's Ironman on the left, Po, the Panda on the right, and Speed Racer's Mach 5 up front.

Sunday MopUp 06/15/08

Well, hello there! Nice to see you. Come on in! I was just pouring myself a bucket of coffee and sitting down to catch a few friends up on what has been going on around here lately. I call this my Sunday MopUp. Feel free to sit a spell.


Lap Band Update

Drove out to Houston on Thursday, not really knowing what to expect. When I was there two weeks ago, I had a 5 pound loss for the previous two weeks. I wasn't very hopeful on this trip because I had to take a full week off of working out in order to let the blisters on my left foot heal up. So, I only had one week of working out under my belt in this two week period. I told myself that if I dropped three pounds that I would be satisfied, all things considered.

When they weighed me, I discovered that I had dropped another SEVEN pounds in that two weeks! SEVEN POUNDS! I just about floated off the scale.

This puts me at 62.2 pounds so far. It also means that I am 13 pounds from being able to use the scale at the gym to monitor my weight. See, I am currently too large for the scale, and the only way I know how I am doing is by making this 3 hour trek to Houston. It's ridiculous.

Anyway, Dr Davis was very complimentary of my progress and gave me another HALF a cc of saline into my band. This puts me at 7 cc's. He wants me to slow down on these fills, by the way. It would be VERY bad to overfill the band. It can cause lots of complications. In fact, I sat in the waiting room with a woman who is about to have her band removed and get the bypass because of complications from getting the band overfilled. It was a cautionary tale for me. Being overfilled can keep food from passing into the lower stomach so much that food collects in the pouch and you begin to stretch the pouch out. Too much stretching and the pouch can overhang around the outside of the band, which can cause food to be trapped, and also can create an opportunity for the pouch tissue to grow onto the band. Either of these scenarios is not good.

So, I'll probably forego a trip in two more weeks and see how I feel in a month. I need to slow down a little. The doctor says three and a half pounds a week in weigh loss is really kind of fast for this procedure. He was fine with me losing two and a half a week, but wants me to focus on eating well, and not overdoing it at the gym. He pointed out that I run the risk of losing muscle mass by losing this fast. That's when he got my attention.

I don't want to fuck this up.

Movies

Saw two this week:


I loved this movie. Old, tired story. Nothing new to it. But a great message for kids about self-acceptance, and acknowledging your own strengths. Lots of fat jokes, but done in a charming way. Jack Black was the perfect voice for Po, the daydreaming Panda. Dustin Hoffman did a terrific job as his Master. The other voice-over talent was a complete waste of money. Why use Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogan, and Jackie Chan if you aren't going to showcase them in any way? Their parts were so small it was ridiculous. Still, I liked this movie so much, I went on a crusade to find a Po action figure at MacDonald's. Took a while, but I found one. YAY!

Next...

All the online reviews I read just TRASHED this movie. Too bad. I enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as Ironman, of course, but it didn't suck. My main complaint is that they used Liv Tyler. This chick is NOT an actress. Never liked her, never will. Please, Hollywood, stop using this woman.

All in all, what this movie lacked was a sense of humor. WAY too serious for a comic book movie. But, it didn't suck.

I'm pissed that there are no Hulk action figures at any of the burger joints. I seem to be collecting the trash toys of the summer movies I see this year. I have an Ironman, a Mach 5 from "Speed Racer", and now a Po. Stupid, huh?

The Fag Bomb - Another Dickless Video

Courtesy "Goodie Bag" and the amazingly cool Kirby Ferguson. He never lets me down.

Sunday MopUp 06/08/08

My sunburned scalp is crumbling off the top of my head in chunks that look like fried rice, I drank a beer because it's so hot and humid outside that I am UBERcranky, and the beer has given me a bloat attack, and I got a total of 3 hours of sleep last night.

This is my Sunday MopUp, and if I puke on ya, I'll just have more to talk about while I hose you down. Some days, it doesn't seem worth it to show up here, huh?

Nudity Done RIGHT!

Went to a pool party Sunday night with the usual assortment of hairy, gay men. At 9PM, everything was very civilized and proper. I took DQ and he didn't seem impressed. By 11:30, the social lubricant had been applied generously and the pool party turned into a skinny dipping Extravaganza. Well, without too much "skinny". It was really wonderful to be surrounded by happy homos who weren't the least bit shy in sauntering around the pool naked, bumming cigarettes off each other, stealing the best beer in the coolers, playing Grab-Ass with any and all passers-by, and congratulating each other on endowment.

Not everyone got naked, plenty of guys remained clothed, but this was a charming and innocent gathering of friends who were delighted to be in each other's company, and it showed. There was no leering, or cruising going on. Just old friends on a hot, hot summer's evening. I reminded the host of what a great group of friends he has. Everyone was lovely.

There was no sex, no drug use, and no drama, but there was also no hiking boots, leathery saddle-bag butts, posing, or apparent skin cancers (as opposed to what I witnessed at Hippie Hollow last week).

Four dozen naked fat guys in a pool can be really fun to be around. YAY!

Little Victories

1. My skinniest pair of jean shorts fell to my ankles as I went up the stairs here at home this weekend. Now, granted, I wasn't wearing a belt, but I believe I am approaching the next smaller size of pants to wear.

2. I am now up to 3 miles on the treadmill in 60 minutes. I was supposed to go to a Big Man's event at a local gay bar this evening to socialize, but chose, instead, to hit the gym. The get-together will be every Sunday through the summer, so maybe I can be more organized and make next week's.

Father's Day

is next Sunday, and I found a book for my Dad that I think he will get a kick out of. It's by a writer from Sports Illustrated, and this guy signs on to caddy for some BIG names in the world of golf, as well as some big celebrities, and gets them to tell stories. Dad, being a golf FREAK, should dig it. It's called "Who's Your Caddy?" and will go into the mail tomorrow with a card, reminding him of what an amazing human being he is.

Poop Du Jour

Seriously, I had a bowel movement today that was kinda scary. Huge. Well formed and healthy, but unnatural in size. Long, it was. Have you ever been startled at something that came out of your butt?

Relax, I'm done. It's a fair question, but I'm sure you are disgusted with me. Sorry.

TGIF!



No sound on this. But I think you can still hear the pain.

Sunday Mop Up 06/01/02

Yes, I missed my deadline this week. Shoot me, 'k? It was a busy day. It's my Sunday MopUp on early Monday morning. Feel free to eat me if you have a problem with my timing.

Hippie Hollow

Austin has a place on the lake called Hippie Hollow. It's a "clothing optional" section of the lake. Yes, Austin has a nude beach. Well, it's really a nude part of the lake, there's no beach. Not even kinda. Turns out, it's on a part of the lake flanked by limestone cliffs and in order to navigate your happy ass to the water, you have to have the climbing skills of a mountain goat.

Let's all think back on my propensity of being a klutz and then try to imagine ME trying to walk on little, uneven, woodsy trails where one false step means you plummet to your death off of the cliff face and onto the jagged rocks below ( where naked people are spread-eagled and sunning themselves like big, weird lizards).

Yes, this was my Sunday afternoon, kids. Jimmy went to the nude beach. I have lived in this town since 1979 and I had never been before. I thought it was time. A friend invited me to meet him and a few friends and I couldn't really think of a good reason why I shouldn't experience this place.

And the reason turned out to be: because nudists are some crazy fucks.

Now, it's "clothing OPTIONAL", so there were many of us who remained in some type of attire. I, personally, kept my shorts and shoes on at all times. But LORDY there were some fierce ass cracks scaling those cliffs. Not just men, mind you. Women were all over the place as well. You would be walking down a trail and, out of nowhere, some naked guy would pop out from around the corner, all bronzed and flopping, or some woman would trot by, her brown boobs bouncing in the Texas sun.

I think it's strange to see a completely naked person in hiking boots, by the way. If your FEET need that kind of protection in the Texas brush, what kind of sense does it make to have your genitals waving at people passing by on a narrow trail surrounded by shit that could scrape and scratch and poke chunks of you? Why would anyone want to sit on the ground when it's covered in ants and gravelly bits? Texas has the Killer Bees, ya know.

And, if you are all proud of yourself for being a "Naturalist" , would you please leave the goddamned cellphone back up in the parking lot?

Do nudists fart around each other? Just wondering...

So, I spent about three hours in the blazing sun. I drank three beers and nearly fell to my death twice. It was fun. I went home proud of myself. For surviving, and for not getting an erection the entire afternoon.

Even though I bought a bottle of spray sunblock with an SPF of 75, I got fried. The part that hurts the most is on the top of my head. Yes, I didn't think to protect the place on my body where the protective hair of my youth is thinning to the point of non-existence.

I'm gonna be peeling like a leper in a few days. Should be gross.