This Boy Elroy

Postcards from Yo Momma

I found this blog though Michael that had me laughing for hours today at work, Postcards from Yo Momma: A repository of modern day maternal correspondence.

Some of my favorites so far:

Watch out for that Babyolaaa. What is monkey woo-woo? Please inform.

That one had me laughing for a while.

My favorite because it totally sounds like a note I'd get from my mom about my dad.

Meme

I was tagged by Gooster to do a meme, here it is. I haven't done one in so long.

1.) What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was in my senior year of high school, had just broken up with my girlfriend and admitted to myself that I was gay. It felt great.

I was also holding a job with my best friend Heather at an animal kennel in N. Scottsdale where we would care for the pets of Scottsdale's elite. Some of the dogs of note were two Terriers named Gucci an Dior who ate a diet of cottage cheese, baby food chicken sticks, and bottled water. There was also the Dachsund, Ruby Selph, who had a condition that required daily application of an ointment to her vulva. I left that to Heather because, like I said, I was still feeling good about being gay.

2.) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)
1. Breakfast
2. Sell the condo
3. Coffee
4. Work
5. Work out

3.) Snacks I enjoy
Yogurt, granola bars, Chef Jay's Tri-o-Plex Chocolate Chip Cookies, Fruit, air-popped popcorn.

4.) Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

Set the family up for life with trust funds

Philanthropy

Travel

Save the Orangutans and Tigers in southeast Asia

Promote energy conservation and alternative energy sources

Go back to school and study architecture

5.) Three of my bad habits
1. Impatient
2. Condescending
3. Cannot resist clicking retractable ball point pens over and over again.

6.) 5 places I have lived:
1. Staten Island, NY
2. Scottsdale, AZ
3. Tucson, AZ
4. Dallas, TX
5. Moving to San Francisco in June

7.) 5 Jobs I have had:
1. Sandwhich maker
2. Kennel attendant
3. Lab whench
4. Research Technician
5. Research Assistant

I'm supposed to tag 5 people but I don't like that. Do it yourself if you like.

Pieces

Mid-day yesterday I remembered that it was the 12th and that I should have been taking photos for 12 on 12. No matter really, I was home nursing the last bits of my cold so there wasn't really anything interesting to document. Brad went to have lunch with his parents and I stayed home, watched Radio Days, typed up the minutes for our homeowners association meeting that we had on Thursday (I was elected Secretary), and slurped up doses of Airborne.

Airborne is magic IMO because I feel better today. I'm glad because more than anything I was starting to get grumpy that I couldn't go to the gym. That's how I am lately, nothing really bothers me except things that prevent me from going to the gym. It's become an addiction, but it's a good one to have.

Meanwhile I continue to be amazed at how Asshat is still trying to sell a bridge to nowhere even after the Pentagon has had to eat some crow over the "incident." 70% of the people think he's a failure and he still exhibits this hubris. Amazing, no?

Read This

What to do.

Snippets

I found out today that the only other gay guy at my place of employ is leaving at the end of this week to return to France. Aside from the numerous lesbians, who don't really count, I will be the only gay in the village.

It came to my attention that there will be four new students coming from France in February, three men and one girl. I hope the men are hot, there is a serious dearth of eye candy at work meanwhile the lesbians have a wide array of pretty things to look at.

I made Xmas cookies and played video games all weekend, it was heavenly.

So far, Final Fantasy XII is starting to consume my every thought much the same way FFX did five years ago. Mastering my gambit and defeating mythical creatures will take priority to learning more about the pathology of lupus, sorry kids.

You cannot blame me for not wanting to help the kids, I'm just following the example of my president.

This week is going to go very slow for me, I can feel it.

I didn't bring any cookies for myself to have with coffee at work, big mistake.

I was made for lovin' you baby...

We had a lab lunch and White Elephant gift exchange today. I started out with a horribly ugly ceramic watering pail with a frog sculpted on it. Then, I decided to steal the Rubick's cube that I had brought back from someone. My Rubick's cube was stolen from me, which turned out to be a fortunate turn of events. My colleague Gina had a calendar in her possession that I HAD to have so I took it from her without the slightest bit of hesitation.

I'd say this gift exchange was a success.

Legal Fishies

This is totally boring but it's just something I needed to post. 

Recently, I posted some opinions based on factual observations that were quite strong.  However, there came a situation where I thought it was best to remove those opinions in the interests of avoiding unnecessary quarreling. 

With that said, I want to make it clear that no matter how brilliant or retarded they may be the thoughts, observations, and views expressed herein are solely my own and are not those of my employer or any other organization that I am affiliated with.  Please note that this disclaimer is also on the left side bar of this blog, all the way at the bottom. 

Because I value transparency, truth, and honesty I take pride in the fact that this blog is an open forum; all posts allow comments, and I am able to be reached by email at thisboyelroy@gmail.com.  Most of the time your comments and suggestions are positive but I know that even my regular readers won't always agree with me and passers by may be taken aback by the candidness of this space.  Whether you are a regular reader or a passer by, if you take offense from, or disagree with my opinions in any way I prefer that you leave a comment or email me directly and we can discuss the matter one on one.

And now for something completely different:

R&R

My weekend was exactly as I wanted it to be, restful and relaxing; especially after the previous weekends debauchery and tom foolery. Since we canceled cable Brad and I have been renting a lot of movies from Blockbuster; Friday we watched The Good Shepherd. Normally I'd shy away from this kind of movie but not having cable has forced us to become a little more forgiving with our selection in movies (when we had cable we just couldn't be bothered with mediocre movies because it cut into our precious Project Runway and HGTV viewing schedule) . It's been a good thing because the last couple of movies we have rented turned out to be surprisingly good.

The Good Shepherd immersed me into the intrigue quite quickly and all the Skull and Bones business was so hot! Who doesn't want to be part of a club where there's naked mud wrestling and nude confessionals...reminds me of church (Catholic church that is. Protestants wrestle in marshmallows). Anyway, the movie just compounded my extreme apathy, and even disgust, for the upcoming holiday. As a kid I used to be so excited for the pageantry and patriotism (I like to play with fire) of the 4th but in the last couple of years I just want to vomit if I hear even the slightest bit of a fascist "patriotic" song. I just can't get too weepy about how great our country is when we've done so many terrible things. It's an odd feeling because this is my home and I want to like it but this relationship is very strained lately, I keep hoping it's just a phase...we'll see. Then again, I find all forms of overt patriotic display very creepy, no matter which country it's originating from.

We also rented Prince of Persia: Rival Swords and I absolutely love the game. I haven't played a Prince of Persia game since the very first one but It's nice to see that they've kept a lot of the same elements from the original. Usually I grow weary of 3-D stealth games (I could not get into Metal Gear Solid at all) but this one totally has my attention, probably because it has platform/puzzle/obstacle course elements to it, aspects that I thoroughly enjoy in a game. Also, it doesn't involve guns, I cannot stand games with realistic guns in them. Swords and daggers are so much more relaxing to contend with. The Wii remote really brings you into the game with all the stabbing motions you have to do in fighting and in scaling walls. Now, I probably sound like a psycho fan-boy, but I really can't imagine gaming without a wireless remote like the Wii has, I don't ever want to go back. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to spending my entire Wednesday off (I hope I don't get a blood sample and have to work on Wednesday) with this game. Fourth of July spent playing a game with a Persian hero. Hows that for juxtaposition!

Folsom Room Seminars

Tomorrow at a local hospital there is a day dedicated to men's health. I find it terribly ironic that these seminars will be taking place in the Folsom room.

Folsom Room, Roberts Hospital, 17th Floor
The Need to Know – Urologic Health – Presented by Matt Shuford, M.D., & Eric Smith, M.D., Urologists, and Brian Berger, M.D., Oncologist
Men of any age can experience prostate or other urologic health concerns. Learn about your urologic health issues and the key timelines for check-ups. Our experts also will discuss prostate disease and the many treatment options that are available.

Folsom Room, Roberts Hospital, 17th Floor
It’s a Guy Thing – Conquering Prostate and Testicular Cancers – Presented by Thomas Hutson, D.O., PharmD
It’s a delicate subject, but are you at risk? Learn about the risk factors for prostate and testicular cancers, including diet and family history, as well as prevention, screening and treatments, including clinical trials.

SF Summary

Finally, I have some time to sit down and ruminate about all thats been going on lately. So here's my report:

Brad and I had a great time last weekend in San Francisco for pride. We arrived on Thursday night and we whisked away from the airport by our gracious hosts to the Powerhouse to meet up with the gang there. It was great to see old faces that we seldom get to see as well as seeing some familiar faces in person for the first time.

Friday we spent bumming around the city and hitting some touristic spots with our hosts, Kalvin and JR, and the incredibly candid Matt Blender. The best part of our meanderings was seeing Matt's reaction to his first time in San Francisco especially when we drove through Pacific Heights and he first saw the bay and said, "wow!" Although I relish in my unconditional love for the city it's nice to know that I'm not just some sap who's alone in that. Later on Friday night we went over to the party that Dan organized for the bloggers and just like last year we had to endure all the baseball fans on the Muni on the way to the bar. At one point I was certain we'd get run off the train when Matt started speaking at normal volume about the absurdity of baseball and how stupid he thought it was that people in his office could prattle on about it for hours. I told you he was candid, did I not? We made it to the party and proceeded to get drunk which you can see the photos from in my flickr.

Saturday we woke up and headed down to Dan's place to hang out. We watched "The Towering Inferno" which was actually a nice, corny disaster movie. I thoroughly enjoyed Paul Newman in it, all sweaty and blue eyed. One thing I didn't get was why Fred Astaire was cast in that movie, he didn't even dance. He was just old and there. However, I thought that Faye Dunaway was completely underutilized in that film, much like Parker Posey in Superman. Later Saturday night we made our way up to the Pink Saturday party which was just so-so for me. I found the whole scene to be incredibly tame and boring, and the crowd was very young; too much underage bridge and tunnel for my tastes. Luckily some of the others that were in town were hanging out at Kalvin and JRs place and we had our own little party in their place, good friends and good times.

Sunday we were a bit late getting to the parade but eventually we made it down to see at least one porn star float and the gay christians holding signs about how jesus loves all of us, standard pride parade fare. At that point I was ready to get over to the festivities in front of City Hall which I find much more interactive than the parade. By some chance, I don't remember how, we found everyone in the mass of people and enjoyed hanging out mostly in the Radical Faerie village. It was probably because there was shade and naked men, not necessarily hot naked men but when combined with shade its enough to make you stay put. Brad and I thoroughly enjoyed a cabaret act in the village that could be best described as an Almodovar movie musical with songs written by The B52s. Oh, and the public masturbation was great to see also. Later that night we met up with the boys at the Eagle, which I found to be very tavern like and not at all like the one here in Dallas which is very back room-esque. We proceeded to get silly; my hoodie and shirt was removed and never seen again. A small price to pay for a good evening though. In any case, when we left the bar I had to wear Brad's corduroy jacket buttoned up like a shirt. I told you we got silly.

On monday our flight was canceled because of weather but we got back to Dallas on a later flight safe and sound. I felt like we were gone much longer than four days which is a good thing because that is the goal of travel in my opinion, to hit the reset button. This year was different from last year's trip, there was no weepy goodbyes and no lingering sadness on the way home. That's not a bad thing and I suppose you can't expect to duplicate what happened last year, it's still quite inexplicable. This year was definitely fun though even though the spirit was markedly different and I hope we continue coming together once a year in San Francisco to see one another.

I probably could have podcasted all of this but that takes a lot of time and because of the rain here in Dallas my internet has been spotty. When it was out for a day I found myself going through withdrawal and asked Brad if I was addicted to the internet. Brad told me that saying that you're addicted to the internet these days is like saying you're addicted to electricity, it's become a keystone of our daily lives that it's natural when you're without it you feel stranded.

All right, time to get back to work.