Test Day: Watch This

and you must check out the watches, which are hot!

Test Day: Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3, 1-2-3

You Are a Green Light

You take life at a fast pace. You act quickly and decisively. You have good instincts and trust your gut. You're confident and brave. You are determined and ambitious. You don't allow yourself to waste time. It's no surprise that you get a lot done. You are efficient and productive.

What Color Traffic Light Are You?

(actually, it is a surprise, since i never feel like i get anything done!)

Home Today...Waiting for the Plumber...

Put a Ring On It

the only Campbell's Soup post i neglected was the one with the title referenced above. long story short*, i woke up on Valentines' morning and found the hunkiest man with a steaming cup of coffee and a black velvet box with this baby inside:

*this is, most certainly, old news to almost all of you who read my blog, since most of you are also my friends on Facebook, but i just thought i'd brag anyway.

Belated Apology

things have been crazy in the land of TSG, so i'm probably not gonna get to write any of those posts i promised last week*. work has been unexpectedly busier, which is always good, 'cuz the busier i am the less likely i am to be downsized, right? Stephen's been very busy with schoolwork and the last minute prep for Bathroom-a-palooza 2009**, so evenings have been reduced to home, wii-fit, cook, eat, and bed.

this past weekend was spent picking up all the new fixtures and other bits for the bathroom (new toilet, vanity, etc) and a quick trip to Costco. the rest of our time was spent doing all the laundry and cleaning the house so the contractors don't think we're total animals (it helps perpetuate the myth that The Gays are neat and tidy). the most ironic bit of time was cleaning the bathroom till it sparkled. (partly because i took "before" pics i'm gonna post here and on Facebook and partly because i couldn't bear for the workman to tear apart a bathroom that one couldn't eat dinner out of the toilet). we also, finally, bought a new stove. the old one has bene on the fritz for a few months now (maintaining a 50^o swing in temperature), and i finally couldn't take it anymore. it set me back a mind numbing $1500 (which may not sound alot to the real adults out there, but left me more than a little dizzy and breathless). between all the cleaning and toting and running and stuff, i'm pooped. last night's dull-as-dishwater Academy Awards was an incredible letdown (was anyone else embarassed for Hugh Jackman, or was i alone?).

this week is going to be even crazier** so i apologize in advance for my spotty comunications (also, our MS Outlook is currently down here so e-mail is out). at the very least, i'll try and post some charts, quizzes or other fluff just to amuse....

*Campbell's Soup Version: we had a brilliant time at MS's House of Fabulousness; 2 days of non-stop Rock Band 2 for the Wii gave me a serious yen to run right out and buy the damn thing. however, because of the renovations on our bathroom and the $1500 stove, i didn't. i've reconnected with several people from my past over the last couple of weeks, via Facebook; people i'd stopped being friends with for various reasons. this has prompted me to re-evaluate the people with whom i was terribly close and have cut out, and i've decided to re-open doors i had closed. as i said to one former friend "we don't have to be friends again but is there any reason we can't be 'friendly' and see what happens".

** Starting tomorrow, and for the next 8-10 days, the renovation for the new bathroom begins. Stephen's overseeing the entire affair, acting as General Contractor (or, as i like to think of him, the Homo Despot). as of this morning, all the ducks are in a row; all the actors know their blocking and lines. the most frightening thing, to me is that starting tomorrow evening we will not have a shower till the new one is installed. also, this saturday, the new stove will be installed!

Test Day: Office Politics

You Are a Post-it

You have a good memory. You're memory is so good, in fact, that it can be down right annoying at times. You don't mean to nag, but you like to remind people what they're supposed to be doing. You may be a bit of a pest, but you're awfully cute. So no one minds it all too much when you pop up. You would make a good manger, salesperson or attorney. You can cram a lot of info into that head of yours.

What Office Supply Are You?

Mary Had a Little Lamb (and Cheese Fondue, and Beef Empenadas...)

(i've beem mad busy kids, so please bear with me on the fact that this post is 2 days late)

Valentine's weekend was spent doing that which the huz and i do with great passion: eating. Saturday night found us at the Marina Cafe on Staten Island where we enjoyed an absolutely wonderful dinner...with my parents.

Stephen's dinner: crispy shrimp dumplings, veal spedini with fresh papardelle & a chocolate pot (it was an egg cup filled chocolate ganache, with fresh fruit and biscotti for dipping; kind alike cold fondue) with with a double espresso.

CawfeeGuy's dinner: surf & turf sushi (rare filet mignon and shrimp tempura), chicken breast stuffed with broccoli rabe and fresh mozzarella over gnocchi with pancetta, & chocolate cheesecake with a double espresso.

after dinner we picked up the puppy and drove to the best kept secret in all of Connecticut, Magenta Sequins' B & B. we got there a little after midnight and proceeded to have one of the best weekends imaginable. we talked and hung out, drinking homemade mulled cider and began a marathon of Rock Band on Wii*, the 1st round of which lasted till a little after 2:30.

Sunday morning, the house awoke to Stephen's Granny Smith muffins (always a crowd pleaser and, and the most fantastic amaretto coffee. later on, MS unveiled the most splendid homemade beef empenadas and proposed an intriguing taste test: baked vs fried. i don't quite remember, but i'm pretty sure it was 3:1 in favor of the fried pockets of love (crunchy vs flaky). she also "threw together" the most amazing salad with baby greens, raspberries, pears and GOAT CHEESE (i need a t-shirt that says, I love Goat Cheese) and a salad dressing that could only be described as delicious. a little later on she whipped up an exquisite Gruyere fondue with bread and apples; totally hit the spot on a lazy sunday!

the (culinary) highlight of the weekend, though, was the leg of lamb she made for sunday dinner. words cannot describe how much i enjoyed this meat. lamb is, by far, my favorite of all "red meats" (veal runs a close second; yeah i'm an ogre, what of it?) and Leg O' Lamb is my favorite way of eating it (as opposed to chops, shank or stew). whereas, i'd only had it one way (mom's recipe with rosemary and a bottle of red wine), MS took the backroad approach and seasoned the high-holy fuck outta it with garlic cloves and thyme and some other stuff that, honestly, made it the best piece of lamb i'd ever had...bar none. it was so good i almost forgot about the herbed couscous and roasted brussel sprouts she served with it. almost. the evening was capped off by Aztec Chocolate Souffles made by yours truly (chocolate + cinnamon + cayenne pepper).

we really had a fantastic time with MS, Dug & Chewfus. i firmly believe that food only serves to make a good time better. some of my most fun times and favorite experiences with my friends involve food, which is why it got its own post. aside from the fantastic food and drink, though, MS and Dug are just fun people to be around. dug is such a sweetheart and MS is not just a pretty face and a hot body (she's also a phenomenal cook and a kick ass inn keeper)!

*that's a whole other post, folks.

So F'n Exciting

Wonder Woman Official Trailer

[Insert Punny Title Here]

what a glorious weekend this was! so glorious in fact that my blog-blocked doldrums were completely dashed upon the rocks of a wonderful husband, fabulous friends and a leg of lamb. i'm a bit busy at the moment but here's a teaser of the titles for what's coming...

1. Jumping on the (Rock) Bandwagon

2. Mary Had a Little Lamb (and Gruyere Fondue, and Beef Empenadas...)

3. Burying the Hatchet(s)

4. Put a Ring on It

until later!

Test Day: the Eyes Have It

Your Eyes Should Be Gray

Your eyes reflect: Intensity and drive People find you to be: Mysterious, brilliant, and charming Your best trait: You're completely fearless and willing to take on anything What's hidden behind your eyes: A sensitive soul

What Color Should Your Eyes Be?

Old Faithful

i'm not sure when it happened, but i've become a creature of habit; same schedule, every day, with little or no change...

5:20 am~ rise and shine
5:21-5:30 am~ shower/shave/ablutions
5:30-5:50 am~ get dressed, feed puppy, check out facebook, watch NY1 for weather
5:55 am~ catch bus
5:55-6:35~ bus ride to 34th street; read/play DS
6:37-6:40am~ wait for F train; read/play DS
6:40-6:55am~ travel into Brooklyn; read/play DS
6:56am~ get coffee from Man-In-the-Box
7:01am~ ass in chair
7:01-7:30am~ go through e-mails, blog, browse Amazon/Uncommon Goods, etc.
7:30-9am~ random work stuff
9am~ breakfast (FiberOne or Kashi bar & Coffee #1); blog/browse
9:05am-11:30am~ random work stuff
11:30: 1st batch of mail
11:35-1pm~ random work stuff
1:pm~ 2nd batch of mail
1:30pm~eat 1/2 of lunch; blog/browse
1:35-3pm~ random work stuff
3pm~ eat other 1/2 of lunch; blog/browse
3:10-4:50pm~ random work stuff
4:55pm~ dash to elevator
4:55-5:05pm~ wait for A train
5:05-5:25pm~ train ride to 42nd street; read/DS
5:25-5:35pm~ wait for bus back to Staten Island
5:35-6:00pm~ bus ride; read/DS/Ugly Betty on iPod/sleep
6:00pm~ text Stephen from Goethals bridge
6:15pm~ Stephen picks me up at gas station/bus stop
6:15-6:20pm~ drive home, get mail
6:20-6:35pm~ puppy kisses, change into Wii-Fit clothes
6:35-7:20 pm~ Wii-Fit
7:20-7:30pm~ post-Wii-Fit shower; pj's
7:30-7:35pm~ prep clothes for next day
7:35-8:15pm~ dinner with Stephen; random DVD (Dr. Who, Buffy , Torchwood, the Closer, etc)
8:15-9:55pm~ continue DVD; Facebook/DS/puppy time
9:55pm-10pm~ evening ablutions
10pm: bedtime

that's my week, monday through friday.
when did i get so predictable?

On Time

do you remember when you were a kid and hours lasted days and days lasted weeks and weeks lasted months, etc? the school year (9 months) felt like three years and the 3 month summer vacation seemed to last a year so that by the time labor day rolled around you were almost glad to go back. Even high school and college seemed to last forever since one was a prelude to the other and the other was a prelude to the"real world".

then, sometime around the age of 22 or 23, when you're out there in "the real world", it's like somebody hit the fast forward button and then lost the remote. days no longer dragged, weeks began to fly by and it seemed like there was rent or bills due or a holiday to buy gifts for, every other week. there were never enough hours in a day to cram work, socializing and sleep, but that was okay because you didn't really need to sleep (wake, work, club; lather, rinse, repeat).

sometime around your mid to late twenties you began to see what all those adults meant when they told you how fast you were growing up and how big you'd gotten since they last saw you; you'd look at nieces or nephews or younger cousins and wonder when they stopped being babies. teenagers were now "those obnoxious kids" and you hear "Sir" or "Ma'am" way more often than was comfortable. life started being less like a John Hughes comedy and more like Four Weddings and a Funeral as all your friends started getting hitched. the mall job/retail gig gave way to a "real job" and the wake/work/club combo is now a thing of the past 'cuz as it's not quite as easy to walk into work after an all-night dance-a-thon or hanging out with drag queens till 3am.

then thirty hit. those married friends now own homes and are starting to pop out kids with alarming frequency and even your gay friends are settling down and getting dogs/cats. your parents are looking less "vibrant" and, sometimes, just plain old. hearing them called "grandma" or "grampa" isn't quite as strange, because they're starting to look the part. there are people you work with who were born in the '80's and are unable to get any of your pop-culture references. your taste in music is now considered "old school" or "retro".

still...time keeps flying by. somehow you went to bed a kid and woke up an adult, like in Big. you've become responsible to/for somebody and you've got a home and a dog of your own. weekends go by in the blink of an eye. work days almost can't be long enough and are sandwiched between dreadful commutes. deadlines, mortgage payment, doctors appointments, weddings, christenings, and meetings are always right around the corner. you have to schedule time to see your friends, who you used to see daily, weeks in advance.

what the fuck happened?

My Hero Pt 2: Team-Up

I needed the other half to my dynamic duo; an Iron Fist to for my Power Man, a Hawk to my Dove, a Cloak to my Dagger, a Zann to my Jayna. so here's Stephen's superhero...

Test Day: "He's Got a Great Personality"

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (46%) medium which suggests you average somewhere in between being calm and resilient and being anxious and reactive. Orderliness (40%) moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment. Extraversion (60%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

My Hero!

Thanks, BL. This is coolest thing, ever!
make yours here!

It's Fun, I Tell You!

i've been meaning to steal this for ages and ages! (or at least since Thomas posted it at CNCDN).

Anytime you leave a comment anywhere, or sign up for anything, and it has one of those nifty word verification boxes, come up with a definition and post it.

For Example:
inmolast - a beauty mark found inside one's butt-cheek.


See???? FUN!

Work Out

when i started this job 5 years ago, on my 1st day, my co-workers played the usual ice-breaker/getting-to-know you Q & A session. when we got to the inevitable "girlfriend?", i laughed and said "no...boyfriend" and that was that. there were no repercussions, no bad vibes, no condemnations. my closer co-workers even came to our wedding, 4 years later. as you may expect, i'm not the only gay guy at work. i am, however, the only out gay guy. our wedding picture sits on my desk, i've got an HRC post-it note block, a rainbow in my e-mail signature and, quite frequently, a pretty damn gay desktop theme on my PC. i talk about stephen openly to anyone who inquires, and when new people see my ring and ask about my wife, i tell them that i've got a husband and a yorkie.

all the other gay guys around here operate pretty much under the radar. when talking to their co-workers, they refer to their "roommate" or "friend" or not at all. nothing is ever discussed, out loud. the other day a guy, from another department on another floor, who i know is gay and who knows that i know (but has never said anything outright), asked me about my weekend and i told him that the huz and i went...wherever we had gone...and he looked surprised. when i inquired about his, he got all conspiratorial and whispered that he had gotten married in Boston...to his boyfriend of 5 years. i congratulated him and he whispered all the details to me and then i told him about ours. when i left his desk, i was left with the distinct impression that none of his co-workers knew he had gotten hitched that weekend; that one of the biggest events in his life was swept under the rug and went unacknowledged by the people he spends a minimum of forty hours a week with. this made me feel both incredibly sad and very lucky...

i've been out since college. not completely, mind you, but out nonetheless. the 1st person i told was one of my closest girlfriends (who happened to be dating my very best guy friend, at the time) whom i'd known all through high school. i wrote her a letter, as was our custom, and waited on tenterhooks till she responded; her affirming response (which inadvertently outed me to my mother) left me feeling relieved and comforted and though she and my friend stopped dating, we remained fairly close for several more years. since my 1st experience was (largely) positive, it was a domino effect from there; i told almost all my other friends, one by one, and they all remained supportive (except, ironically, my best guy friend but that's another story). after about four or five years of being out to everyone but he, i came out to the last person on my list, my father and, all things considered, that went pretty damn well too. coming out to him, though, in short, the entire "coming out" experience was a good one for me and, since i started out pretty early, i've made my way through the world (ok, through my itsy-bitsy corner of the world, which is basically the 5 boroughs and some bits of New Jersey) as "a gay man". as such, i haven't switched a pronoun or "pretended" since the early '90's, and can honestly say that i've never met even the smallest amount of opposition or bigotry. i don't know what people might say behind my back or when i'm not there, but it's all sunshine, lollipops and kittens when i'm there.

i find it hard to believe that my experiences, in both the workplace and in general, are the that uncommon. i'm, quite honestly, flummoxed why more people aren't out . the amount of time we spend with co-workers is quadruple what we spend with husbands/lovers/"roommates" in a week. it boggles my mind why, in this age of Proposition 8 and Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Dark Ages of Bush, you'd choose to remain invisible. Visibility and honesty are what breed tolerance, acceptance and support. no?

Truth or Consequences

more music charts

Newest Psuedo-Post Fascination

get used to these charts/graphs kids. they look like they're gonna be very interesting filler posts.
send your appreciative e-mails to Dr Bri-the-Pie-Guy.

more music charts

Musical Mondays: Math Even I Can Wrap My Brain Around

this may seem random and/or schmaltzy, but i was just thinking of how much i love my husband, when this came on my iPod...

the Power of Two~ the Indigo Girls

Now the parking lot is empty
Everyones gone someplace
I pick you up and in the trunk Ive packed
A cooler and a 2-day suitcase
Cause theres a place we like to drive
Way out in the country
Five miles out of the city limit were singing
And your hands upon my knee

(Chorus)
So were okay
Were fine
Baby Im here to stop your crying
Chase all the ghosts from your head
Im stronger than the monster beneath your bed
Smarter than the tricks played on your heart
Well look at them together then well take them apart
Adding up the total of a love thats true
Multiply life by the power of two

You know the things that I am afraid of
Im not afraid to tell
And if we ever leave a legacy
Its that we loved each other well
Cause Ive seen the shadows of so many people
Trying on the treasures of youth
But a road that fancy and fast
Ends in a fatal crash
And Im glad we got off
To tell you the truth

Chorus

All the shiny little trinkets of temptation
(make new friends)
Something new instead of something old
(but keep the old)
All you gotta do is scratch beneath the surface
(but remember what is gold)
And its fools gold
(what is gold)
Fools gold
(what is gold)
Fools gold

Now were talking about a difficult thing
And your eyes are getting wet
I took us for better and I took us for worse
Dont you ever forget it
Now the steel bars between me and a promise
Suddenly bend with ease
The closer Im bound in love to you
The closer I am to free

Chorus

Irony

going here on Saturday night* for Jaegerschnitzel, spaetzle, reibekuchen, allgauer kasespatzle and gulaschsuppe and then here for brunch** on Sunday afternoon for pastries, brioche, Eggs Benedict and mimosas. somehow, i woke up this morning, starving, and all i've got for breakfast is a kashi bar and coffee. i'm not gonna survive till lunch.

seriously though, i ate my way through the weekend and somehow gained only a pound since last sunday; my husband keeps telling me how tall and skinny i look. there's something wrong here...

*we went with the Pie-Guy clan and it was seriously the best german meal i'd ever had with the best company i could imagine!
** i haven't brunched in forever and, lemme tell you, it was amazing! this really was the most fun i've had at brunch in a really long time. i'm hoping this sparks the begining of something more regular.