• My friends Andy P. and Laura N. got married two weekends ago. It was a beautiful ceremony (especially her dress) at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The electricity went out a few hours before the wedding, but everything came back on literally one minute before Laura was to walk down the aisle. Couldn’t have been better timing!
• I’ve started playing EVE Online.
• Work still sucks, but not anywhere near as bad as it did a few weeks ago.
• I saw They Might Be Giants a few weeks ago. They were amazing! I especially loved the second finale where Dan Miller (the guitarist) rocked out and acoustic guitar for about five minutes before the rest of the band came out to perform Istanbul.
• Went out Saturday night with some friends: Cara, Daniel, and Cara’s friend Katie. We had a nice dinner at Santorini’s and then danced the night away at Talbot Street.

That’s all for now.

Photo Set: Iowa City – 2007-06

Daniel was down in Indianapolis the weekend prior and invited me up to hang out. I was in dire need of getting out of town (which I realized mostly after returning back to work on Monday). It had also been a long time since I had any kind of distraction from my life and the stresses of my job, so I just went ahead and drove up there.

Saturday was a lot of fun. It started off with Iowa City’s gay pride march.

I had no idea that I would end up walking with Daniel and his friend Dustin in the parade itself.

After the rally at the Old State Capitol, a group of us ended up at a bookstore. We had discussions with the lady there about Ireland, James Joyce, and lolcats. This cute little guy was there, too.

In the evening, we ended up eating a really good pasta dinner prepared by Daniel. Afterwards, we went out, as all gay people do during gay pride.

The gay bar there in Iowa City seemed alright, but it was very crowded (due to the fact that it was gay pride weekend) and extremely hot. Daniel and I only lasted for a few minutes before we had to leave. He and I ended up at some Mexican joint where we drank some liquids and talked for a long time.

Sunday was relaxing. Daniel and I had brunch with Dustin and some other friends of theirs. I got my eggs over and hard. Afterwards, people met back at Daniel’s place for some banana pudding he made the night prior. It was delicious, but very rich.

So, eventually, I had to leave and made it back home late in the evening on Sunday, ready to face the world the next morning.

Thanks, Daniel, for a fun weekend!

A few weeks ago I went to see Morrissey at the Murat with a bunch of people. It ended up being a spectacular show, even for a Sunday night.

Morrissey changed clothes a few times during the show. He started out in a suit, but ended up shirtless sometime about halfway through the performance. He eventually changed shirts a few more times before the end of the concert.

While walking outside to get a glimpse of the band getting back on the tour bus, I was stopped by this guy. He said that I looked familiar. He seemed familiar to me, too. He told me his name, and then I remembered that he’s this guy with whom I had a bit of a wild night back when I was 18 years old. It was the Summer after high school. Very surreal. (( le sigh ))

Anyway, I also went to the 500 Festival Parade with my nephew during Memorial Day weekend. Photos of that event will be forthcoming, as soon as I upload them to Flickr.

I’ve already documented the passing of my Grandma, which was a couple of weekends ago. The funeral was very lovely, and full of memories and stories about her. She’s going to be missed tons.

This past weekend was Indy (Gay) Pride. I took a bunch of photos of the parade down Massachusetts Avenue and the festival in University Park. I’ll post a note when they’re up on Flickr.

Also this past weekend, I had the pleasure spending a good part of my time with a very cool guy named Daniel.

He came into town with his best friend Dustin (on the right in the photo above) to visit his family. I met up with them at the homo pride festivities and had a great time. I hope to see him again soon (and Dustin, too).

That’s it for now.

Link: ACT-UP Army Rocks Times Square

(Found via Joe. My. God.)

The best quote from the evening came when David Rakoff said in an aside, “You can suck a mile of cock, but that doesn’t make you Oscar Wilde.” He was referring to how being gay doesn’t necessarily make someone creative. Perhaps a bit crafty, though?

Well, anyway, I had a very good time and I look forward to reading more of their work.

Link: Etiquette Tips for the Gay Male Wedding

I don’t know where she found it, or if she made it herself, but I love it. I’m especially fond of number 7 on the list: “For good luck at the union of a drag queen, the bouquet is always thrown in the face of a hated rival.”

Ha!

Saturday, I went down to Brown County with my family. My cousin and her husband own a bit of properly not too far from Morgrantown, and we went down there to see their new cabin and have a little birthday celebration for my mother who is turning 63 on Halloween.

After the trip to Brown County, I came back to the city and met up with my co-worker Danny, his wife Carly, and some of their friends at the Chatterbox. I had a good time hanging out with those guys, especially since I enjoy the Chatterbox. It has a nice atmosphere and good music.

Later that night I walked over to the 501 to meet Tony and Jason. The Bag Ladies showed up to collect money for AIDS charity, which was a bit of a surprise. In fact, I recall last year them saying they wouldn’t do it again, but, of course, they did. Many good photos were taken, but none of me.

Photo Set: Bag Ladies – 2006-10-28

On Sunday, I woke up tired, but went over to my parents’ house to fix their wireless network and help pick up the leaves in their yard. It was nothing special, but I did get two meals provided to me. Not much compares to eating your own mother’s cooking, if you ask me.

Anyway, my father is still doing well. I think he’s getting a bit bored now that he’s been off for over a week and has about three more until he can return to work.

Not sure what I’m doing this coming weekend. I may take a trip down to Kentucky with my father and great aunt, but that hasn’t been figured out yet.

I think I should make a category called Guilty Pleasures on this blog just for this kind of thing. (Nah, maybe later?)

Anyway, in other homo news, I’m obsessed with that song Homosapien by Pete Shelley, who was/is the lead singer of the Buzzcocks.

Future Potential Boyfriend: So, how come you’re still single?
Me: It’s because I stalk every man who says hello to me.
Me: Where did you say you live?

Update: (The above quoted conversation is entirely fictional.)

How the hell am I supposed to answer that question? More often than not, I usually just tell them that I haven’t met the right guy and that I’d rather be single until that happens.

Anyway, I doubt the guy who asked me that question the other day intended to offend me, but it is a bit of a rude question. It sort of implies that there’s something wrong with me because I’m single.

Maybe it is just me? Maybe it is just that you can’t understand someone’s context and tone in an instant message?

Whatever.

Title: Pants-Off Dance-Off

Uploaded By: mattbarton77

The concept is pretty simple; you strip down to your undies while dancing to your favorite music. They seem to have a bit of everything: black, white, dwarf, gay, straight, old, young, trashy, classy, fat, skinny, etc. which makes for an interesting show.

All performances are archived online, for your viewing pleasure. They also give you the power to rate each dancer.

Some of the guys are really sexy, at least at-a-glance, while other dancers are just outright tragic. It’s both sexy and a proverbial train wreck; you just can’t keep your eyes off of it. And neither can I, for it is around 2:30 AM and I should be going to bed.