May 2008 Archives

Today I went for a bit of a ride.  I figured I'd go out for a little while and ended up spending most of the day on the bike.  I rode down to Clinton and Warwick first, then over to the Portage Lakes State Park, then down around some fun roads, and finally over to another section of the Park.  Hit a Geocache along the way.  Saw tons of riders out there today - of course the weather is beautiful so..  Tonight I rode it out to dinner (and birthday ice cream).  When I had to pee bad enough I went home.  The picture is at Warwick Park.  Only bummer is that I discovered a part of the shielding on the exhaust has come loose and now there's a 1/4 inch gap that I'll have to fix. 

Overall, a very enjoyable 62 miles today.  I think I'm hooked.

The Indians won tonight, and I was there along with about 40,000 other folks.  Fun evening!  It's been awhile since I was at Jacobs Progressive Field.  The women sitting behind us sure were horny...  

Gay couples can be happy. And they can be as happy and committed as straight folks. Oh my goodness, now the world will end!  Apocalypse! 

A new study found a few things that I find interesting:
- "Gay and lesbian couples are just as committed in their relationships as heterosexuals"
- it is a "myth that same-sex relationships are not built on the same level of commitment as heterosexual ones."
- "same-sex couples ... were more satisfied with their relationships and reported more positive feelings toward their partners and less conflict than heterosexual married couples."

Something I thought about when I was 18 and newly in a relationship with a guy was that although we fell in love like any other human beings, we had to fight for our relationship.  In a world where, at the time, it was even less hospitable to gay couples than it is now we had to be even more certain that we wanted to stand up and say that yes, we were a couple.  I remember walking through the local mall where all my friends hung out, and we were hold hands as we walked through the fishbowl.  Everyone stopped and stared, everyone knew.  I wondered if that added strength to gay and lesbian relationships, just like in many cases coming out adds strength to us as individuals.

Truly, I don't think anyone's relationships are better than someone else's, gay or straight.  But I do know that for many gay and lesbian folks, we had to fight for what other people take for granted.  And I think that means something.

(source: Gay couples as committed as straight couples: study)

Clinton campaigns on...

"We are still arguing, aren't we, for counting all the votes back in 2000, and we should be just as passionately arguing for that principle today, here in Florida and in Michigan," Clinton told retirees in Boca Raton.

Does this mean that she'll still be campaigning in 2016?

As she spoke, an elderly man sitting behind her, directly in the eye of television cameras, yawned deeply, rubbed his eyes and battled to stay awake.

I think this says it all.

(source: Clinton campaigns as attention wanders elsewhere - Yahoo)

Where did the evening go?  From Netflix I got disc 1 of season one of Brothers and Sisters.  (the show on ABC)  I really like that show, and now that the (short) season is over I'm going back to watch the series from the beginning.  Overall such a good show with amazing plot lines, acting, and production.  I would recommend it if you're without your weekly stories.

So now I'm off for the next 3 days.  I took a personal day, and I think it's going to be just that.  Just a day for me.  It's supposed to be warmer so I'll get some riding in.  Oh, but there's that homework thing tomorrow.  And mowing the lawn..    Well, those are personal things right?

Or maybe I'll go get myself a present - the entire season one of Brothers and Sisters and just veg and watch the whole thing!

I was watching a movie tonight and I heard a line that I will always remember. An old friend of mine said to me once, “We’ll always be friends.” It’s a concept that sometimes people think exists because of the memories and the thought that sometime later we can just pick right back up where we left off. Those words are really a line of crap.

Truly, we’ll always have the memories. Those are with us for awhile – at least until we repress them right? Being friends though is more than memories though; it’s about being connected in some way. I have friends who I haven’t seen in a long time, who I haven’t even had a chance to catch up with in awhile. I have friends who live hundreds of miles away. But there’s still a connection. There is still effort involved. Those people are my friends.

Those people who we knew and have moved on – those were our friends. We have lovely memories of them (or not) and we hope they are happy (or not). They are a part of us in they had a role in shaping who we are now. People come and go through our lives, and if we’re lucky there are a few who make it along for the ride for many years. We should cherish that. If we’re truly blessed we have precious few lifelong friends.

But I think I’ve finally learned to accept that sometimes when people go, they go away for good. And we move on. And it’s good.

I'm so over the democratic race for the nomination.  I'm just holding my breath so I don't smell the stink until it's done with.  It's almost like it's a bad dream where your ex just won't make the dramatic exit you're waiting for.  But I happened upon a strangely written article that appeared on my Yahoo! page tonight.  It talks about Clinton as if we might not know who she is.  Lines that end with:
"...Clinton, a New York senator, said in Maysville."  A senator?  What?
"...said Clinton, a former first lady."  You're kidding?

Either it's a hint for her about her status in the race, or they really think we've held our breath too long?

(source: Clinton to Obama: Not so fast - Yahoo! News)

This past week I had some great rides on the new bike.  Being my first bike and first riding experience, I've taken it slow so as not to take a fast track to laying down my new bike.  But I've gotten out into traffic a few times now, and I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it.  Went down to the State Park a few times and had a blast riding around the twisty roads. 

I've had other riders wave at me as I'm riding - suddenly I'm popular.  The other day I actually had a guy on a lawnmower wave at me.  I thought that was strange.  As I'm riding away I see that he's still looking at me so I start thinking, maybe something's wrong with my bike.  So I went back and he's off his mower now.  He said he liked my bike, that his wife just got one, and he wants to know where I got the windshield from.  He was a Harley rider himself.  Although at that particular moment I think he was riding a Craftsman.

The thing I like the most about it (besides that it's just awful fun!) is that it clears my head.  You have to focus a bit more when riding a bike - I do at least - than when driving a car.  So there's not a whole lot else going on upstairs besides how you're going to take that next turn or what that car in the intersection is about to do.  So rarely do I get to actually clear all the concurrent subconscious activity that it's very refreshing to have a clear head for a little while.

In other news, I managed to get an A in my last class.

As of today I made it 2 months smoke free!  Thank goodness - I'm going to need the money for gas!

Have you ever had thoughts about doing something that many people would think is just a bit crazy?  Not bad, not illegal.. just one of those things that is on the bucket list that you figure you'll never do.  For some people maybe it's learning to dance or drag racing or jumping from a plane.  I'm working on crossing something off my list...  (not that I need a bucket list yet...  but never too early to start).

Quitnet emailed me today to let me know that since I quit I haven't smoked 1000 cigarettes.  That's almost hard to fathom.  I mean, imagine those all in one place - that's a lot of smokes.  When did I have time for all that?

So there are 1200 people in lines at Papa Johns all over north east Ohio. They are waiting for 23 cent pizzas. WTF? They're waiting like three hours. Don't they have anything better or more important to do? One woman was out there for hours with her one year old baby. C'mon...

I think it's a bad sign when in a classified ad it reads that a vehicle runs "as if nothing has ever been wrong."  So something WAS wrong, but now it seems as if it wasn't?  Hmm..  not good.

I think it's interesting that May is Allergy Awareness Month.  Do we really need a campaign to let us know about allergies?  I mean, usually its the watery eyes that reminds me.

Don't forget this is Arson Awareness Week so celebrate in an appropriate but legal fashion.  I celebrated early by throwing my lighters away. 

A new poll has found that "...men account for 2/3 of those who identify as lesbian or gay..."
I wasn't aware that men could identify as lesbian!  Had I known I would certainly have done so.  I mean I already have the flannels and the boots. 

(source: Poll: Only 2.9 percent of Americans are LGB)

That's 50 smoke-free days.  Quitnet tells me that's also about 906 cigarettes I haven't smoked.  It's much easier to not be smoking at this point, and the decision every morning to not smoke each day is getting easier.  Still have a ways to go though.  Still doing the patch program, and it's working pretty well.  About two more weeks on step 2 I think and then I'll be down to the last step.