You (Unfortunately) Can't Spell Christmas Without Christ

The other day I was goofing off at work on break, checking out Facebook, when I saw a friend’s status update mention that he and his husband were out to eat and he was less than thrilled because a religious Christmas song came on. It got me thinking:

I, myself, am not religious. While I was raised Roman Catholic, and spent about 16 years in the Catholic educational system, I remember reaching a point in that education (around senior year of high school) where I found it all quite distasteful, duplicitous and shameful; owing to having known too many Catholics (both professionally and recreationally) who were just awful, rotten people. Still, I wound up attending a catholic college (for the education) and it’s been more than a decade since I last received Communion or sought penance; since to do either seemed hollow and hypocritical. Nowadays, with all the crap being handed to the gays by right wing religious nuts, I find most organized religions abhorrent and especially bristle when it comes to “Christians”. The “Christians” drive me particularly nuts, since most of them are so ridiculously cult-like, preying on the dimwitted, weak-willed and empty; not to mention the tentacles of evil that have wound their way into politics. Nope, I’m not a fan of religion.

 Except when it comes to Christmas. I love Christmas; always have and always will.

 

Phoning It In

So, yeah, the vacation's almost over and the huz and i are about to leave Mary-land, where we spent three really great days with her and her man, at her wedding. everyone looked fabulous, the day was gorgeous and we had a wonderful time. mozol tov, to you two crazy kids!

for no reason, in particular, i thought i'd post this, which a friend of mine sent me on Facebook. i'm not gonna lie, i laughed so hard i cried the 1st time i saw it. Enjoy!

See You Next Week, Kids!

i'm on...

Test Day: Tastefully Dynamic

Better late than never!

Your Taste in Music Says You're Dynamic

Your musical tastes are energetic and rhythmic. You are full of energy and can be quite talkative. You are forward thinking and open minded. You despise conservatism of any sort. You are intense, detail oriented, and motivated. You are an ambitious person, though your ambition is anything but conventional.

What Does Your Taste in Music Say About You?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

Test Day: Caution Do Not Mix With Coke!

You Are Pop Rock

You are a happy, optimistic person. You find a lot of joy in life. You like music that's easy to sing along to, dance to, or listen to. You tend to like things that are modern and trendy. You're not a snob, and to be honest, you can't stand snobbery of any kind. You like songs that are catchy. Your favorite songs stick in your head for years.

What Kind of Rock Are You?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Let It Be (Anything But the Fucking Beatles)

every morning, for the last several weeks, i've been getting my coffee and sitting on a bench outside my office, reading my Kindle (currently i'm making my way through Richard Stevenson's Donald Strachey Mysteries series). i usually sit out there from 7:15 till about 7:45 or 8am depending on how engrossed i am in my book. This morning though, i got to Jay Street-Borough Hall and it was just a bit more brisk than usual, so i figured i'd grab a latte at the Starbucks downstairs and sit at one of their tables; something i've never done. Knowing they like to keep their in-store music pretty loud, i took my headphones off rather than compete and blow out my eardrums. i usually like what they're playing anyway, so it didn't seem like it was going to be a big deal. sadly i was wrong.

apparently, it's fucking "Beatles week". In addition to the release of Rock Band Beatles edition, they've re-released a bunch of albums in digitally remastered format, to the delight of retro-rocking-anglophiles everywhere and i sat there for 45 minutes, listening to some sort of Best Of compilation while reading. Naturally, i posted a status update about it on Facebook and was totally deluged by mixed comments from both the Pro-Beatles and Anti-Beatles sects, the latter of which i find myself firmly amongst. FYI: the Pro-Beatles folks are almost as fanatical as the Pro-Lifers and the Anti-Gay Marriage nuts.

i don't get their music. personally, i the Beatles' sound incredibly dated, in a way that just isn't pleasant. i'm a product of the 80's and the 90's; i grew up with Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, New Edition, the Bangles and a veritable phalanx of one-hit wonders whose names could fill a phonebook. Though that music, too is beyond dated, it's a snapshot of my childhood.

also, i just don't get that kind of fanaticism. i love my music, but i'm not militant about it. if you don't like Bjork (and c'mon, how many people really like her), i get that; she's not for everyone; like headcheese, tripe and blood sausage. Ditto Kristine W, Rufus Wainwright, the Pet Shop Boys and Colton Ford, but hey...that's why iPods have headphones and "skip" buttons. i'm not crazy enough to think that every song that falls from Colton Fords sweet sweet lips is magical (half his 1st album is a dud), but i like what i like. i'm not sure i can explain why i like the artists i do; i just do. honestly, though, i don't think their music requires explanation...well Bjork's might require a translator, but that's another story.

Beatles fans (like Stevie Nicks and Prince fans), though, will beat you over the head with why the Beatles are the alpha and omega of music history and how they've influenced every single artist and/or musician ever...including anyone who made music before them and you better nod and smile or else.

So, tomorrow morning when i go in for my latte, hopefully my little java jockies will be playing something else...anything else...'cuz i definitely can't take two days in a row of Beatlemania and the weather isn't supposed to warm up anytime soon.

An Open Letter to The Ex I Saw on the Bus Last Night

wow! it's been years* since we saw each other last (coincidentally, I’m pretty sure you were the last guy I dated before I met CawfeeMate); you still look really good** and haven’t changed, a bit***. I had forgotten how into music**** you were and how many stories you had*****! Congratulations again on getting engaged! I think it’s really great that you found someone; he must be a really great guy and I hope everything goes well with the wedding. Anyway, I’m glad we got to chat on the bus ride home****** and I hope we’ll bump into each other again*******!


*well, not exactly years; i've seen you on the bus a few times, since I switched routes last January, but i've never felt the need to acknowledge you because i thought it would be awkward; but since the last time saw each other on the bus we've become Facebook friends, and i'm guessing that's what prompted you to say hi and ask to sit next to me.

** translation: if we were both single, i'd totally fuck you, again.

*** that stutter hasn’t improved has it? y’know, the one that makes you repeat repeat repeat repeat the same word or word or word or sentence a couple of times before you get it out? God that was annoying…still is, actually. Between the stutter and the completely uninteresting content, your stories seem to take forever. Were you always this much of a bore? God, maybe that’s why I stopped seeing you.

**** nobody should ever tell somebody else, “because I’m a musician, I tend to hear music differently than most; that’s why I can truly appreciate how amazing Madonna’s Hard Candy is” you pompous bore. BTW: i've heard your "music" and i can understand why you're producing your own albums; the 1st two make wonderful coasters when i can't find my copy of Confessions On the Dancefloor.

***** the one about kicking your mom out of your apartment? priceless! the one about your testicle which was twisted inside your scrotum? a total gas!

****** because even though it seemed to take 3 days to get home, it really and truly reminded me how great CawfeeMate is and how much I appreciate him; which I old him, the second I got in the car.

******* actually, I just hope I’m quick enough to feign sleep next time.

June Is GLBT Pride Month XVII (and This is my ONE THOUSANDTH post)

“Love is the big booming beat which covers up the noise of hate”~ Margaret Cho

June Is GLBT Pride Month XV

“There's no life without humour. It can make the wonderful moments of life truly glorious, and it can make tragic moments bearable”~ Rufus Wainwright

the Power of Music~ Kristine W.

a steal at $9.99 on iTunes! Honestly, one of her best albums since it has her last 4 singles (Walk Away, Love is the Look, Never, the Boss, and I'm Coming Out)plus 15 other fabulous tracks!

Ryan Charisma May Finally Have a Reason to Travel to an "Outer Borough" Pt. 2

Holy shit this is exciting!

Today's Hump Day is Brought to You By...

Um...Britney who?

(check out DJ Patrick's 13th Hour club mix)

Some People Have Real Problems*

iTunes hates me.
1st the backstory:
last week our 3 year old laptop decided we didn't need to use our USB ports anymore (thereby making us unable to hook up our iPods or the removable hard drive which housed our libraries and stephen's school work) and then decided to just up and die. on sunday we bought a new laptop (with twice the hard drive space, which eliminates the need for an external hard drive), which arrived yesterday.
(end backstory)

after almost a week and a half without access to iTunes**, i signed on last night and attempted to get the laptop and my iPod on the same page. i hooked up the external hard drive and got my library on the computer; everything seemed hunky dory.
THEN I hooked up my iPod and hit Sync. iTunes said it was syncing but my iPod just sat there saying “connected”. i stopped iTunes and hit Sync again, thinking something different would happen. it didn't. after about 15 minutes of this, I wound up manually moving my library onto the iPod. i waited a while and realized it was gonna take a few hours and went to bed, leaving it to run overnight.

8 hours later only 5200 of my 7100 songs were done (i stopped it in the middle of the P's because i had to get to work). i've lost all the volume adjustments i'd made, all my "smart" playlists, and all my star ratings (which fuel the playlists). a year after i bought the damn thing, i'm back to square one. the rumors of the capricious nature of iTunes was what made me balk at getting an iPod; no i know the rumors were true.

today is a Britney/Beyonce/Natasha Bedingfield kinda day.

*but not me.
**i'm one of those people who is constantly making and changing his iPod playlists, adding and removing music, adjusting sound levels, etc. conncurrently, last weekend, DJ John Michael gave me six CD's with new (for me, at least) music, including a sampler of the new PSB CD, which i've yet to be able to listen to.

Ryan Charisma May Finally Have a Reason to Travel to an "Outer Borough"

the B-52's at the St. George Theater

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

3 Words

Awesome Fucking Weekend.

highlights:

• pool with MS & Dug (Saturday).
• lunch at Pasticceria Bruno (Sunday).
• Target shopping trip (Saturday).
• found a friend from college i've not seen since 1995, on Facebook (Saturday).
• 48+ hours with the huz who was in an unusually good mood all weekend.
• according to the WiiFit, i'm the thinnest i've been in months.
• according to Stephen, i'm the fittest i've looked...ever.

When Aarron Tells Me to "Picture Your Ideal Body", This Is It...

and he can sing, too! check out his new single...

Big Tall Man~ Liz Phair

I'm a big, tall man
I cut the grass
My left eye hurts
I am waiting and reading parts
I can be a complicated communicator

Yes I'm winning
Spinning
I feel energy bein' pulled off from all sides
And it feels good
Like relieving a headache.

Zeus and Athens
Florida driveway
Asphalt and tires
Sand and the beach,
Rocker panel
Headlights in the dark...
I'm drag racing
Drag

Fog and the distance beyond it
Boats and the quiet morning noises
I'm walking the shoreline
A beer and a cigarette
A bug with twitching antennae
A button up short-sleeved shirt

Yes, I'm careening down!
Winding the canyons, now!
Yes, I am broadcasting myself!

Blogger's Block Day 2 or It's Cold and Snowy and Genarally Gross Outside...

but i've got Colton Ford to keep me warm.