Multiple angle entendre there but really the journal"ist" I'm speaking of is me. I've been ignoring my journal for the past say, oh, month or so. It might be longer if I actually thought about it. I just haven't had a lot to say to anybody and have been bored with the idea of putting my thoughts down for posterity. However, (e:heidi) has snapped me out of it -

(e:heidi) recently said "My favorite birth control method remains lesbianism, which also makes subconscious slip ups less dangerous."

But does that really stop some lesbians on occasion? You know I'd never ask if it wasn't an honest question... this statement made me begin to analyze the psyche of lesbians and how it relates to the thought of intercourse with men.

Sexuality is a natural thing - urges are natural. I think humans, particularly females, are genetically disposed to crave intercourse, since it is what we rely on for the continuance of our species. I wonder how it works when you are a lesbian - is it really possible that lesbians don't get a primal urge to have sex with a man, regardless of how much they may not want to, when they are between the ages of say, 25 - 40? With guys I believe this is different since we have no biological clock to occasionally remind us that it is now or never.

Now is time for a very salacious detail that the likes of the Ho sisters would love to hear, which may shed some additional light on my question. Last year we visited a friend in Albany for a weekend and had a fabulous time, going out to the local bars and yukking it up with old college friends. Of course we were drinking our fair share and at our last stop we ran into some friendly people, one of which was a lesbian that I was chatting up. I caught her at a bad time - she broke up with her girlfriend earlier that day. It didn't stop her from grabbing me and making out with me in the middle of the bar!

So if the question is "have you ever kissed a lesbian," the answer is not only a yes but a fairly emphatic yes. I didn't want to hit on her too much, since I was very aware of the possibility of crazy emotions running through her head. Maybe she just wanted to feel better after a breakup; maybe she was feeling that primal urge I was speculating about. Maybe she hadn't kissed a guy in a while and wanted to feel the supple, passionate and strong masculine kisses of one Joshua Larson for a few minutes!

Maybe I thought about it too much. Later on in the evening, after I had gone back to yukking it with my friends, she left with another lesbian friend and some guy, looking about as lusty as I've ever seen two lesbians with a straight guy. O RLY? Yes rly. I wonder if they were lesbians, or really bisexuals with a heavy, heavy bias for the ladies. Depending on our outlook anyway, I clearly missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity.

So when do internationally recognized labor standards get superseded? When union agreements are involved! Next time you find a place where employees work in excess of 60 hours per week, or even 72, or even 80... take a careful look at the collective bargaining agreement. Often times the collective bargaining agreements will even supersede written law, depending on the topic.

He's like a leopard, prowling up the side of a mountain. That mountain is called French cuisine and Jason the leopard is conquering this mountain a recipe at a time. Not to brag, but my brother is getting his shit together in the kitchen and it's about time someone gave him some damn recognition for it.

I feel so bad about that journal entry where I compared his picture to a picture of Shaggy!

(If you missed it - - really only I can get away with this)

Has anybody been here recently - say, the past couple of months and can tell me about the atmosphere, vibe, etc.? I haven't been to La Luna in many, many years and I've been recruited into going at the end of the month. Just want to make sure my latin lady friends will have a good time and will not be exposed to some sort of bad night. Any info would be helpful!

Just had to make a minor alteration to the picture -



I don't recall the last time I drank so much but we hung close with the Brits - we were in fact the last Americans standing and there was no way in hell that I could allow anyone else to have that honor. I am proud to say that we got props on a few occasions during the night from our out of town guests for the Larson sticktoitiveness.

We had a great time and it was a pleasure to get to meet and hang out with (e:rory)'s close friends. Each were great guys who I'd buy a beer (or three) for any day and their respective ladies were really nice gals. The fellas from the UK have friends in the Larson bros. I was pleased with how everything came off with the wedding and it was an honor to have the opportunity to serve as an usher for two wonderful friends.

I have a lot of friends who have wonderful spouses - genuinely fantastic people. However, there was something different about this event that I can't really put into words or express in the way that I'm really feeling about it. I think the best approximation I can come up with is that it is cliche and not always correct to suggest that fate intervenes in people's lives in this way. I've never been convinced of this anyway, at least until this weekend. If you think about the spectacular odds of having a lad from Essex meet a lass from Buffalo in Qatar and having it result in a perfect union of two people who couldn't be more right for each other, it's a bit amazing to consider. It really did bring me joy to actually see this happen in front of my eyes. Today I think about the day that Timika told us that she was moving to Qatar and I can't think of a more consequential decision that any of my friends have ever made.

I haven't mentioned the iPhones to Dad yet. He's had a rough time after losing his job and there is something immodest about showing off a new toy to someone who is suffering. It just makes it worse when the suffering person is your father. I know that deep down Dad would never be bothered about it and insists that we occasionally reward ourselves for our hard work. I know that he loves toys and would think it's incredibly cool. However, I still can't bring myself to tell him.

I think that generally this is emblematic of the times we're living in.

Ok,

I'm throwing this out there because I distinctly remember (e:matt) being a little defensive when I really laid into smartphones and smartphone users on this journal.

Don't get me wrong - I still feel justified in lampooning people who are WAY too attached to the technology on their person and will continue to do so in this space, but recently some circumstances have lead me to... ok forced me to reconsider this hardline position I've been taking a bit.

My phone recently broke. I've been plotting purchasing a new iPod for a while. The two needs/desires converged and so both (e:jason) and I decided to get iPhones. This summer I negotiated a significant salary increase, which is sort of a magic trick these days, and I've worked my ass off. I haven't taken time off in three years. I needed a reward really badly, and after looking into the new iPhone I totally fell in love with the unit.

I wish I had one of these when I was traveling full time and I CAN'T WAIT until I can get a chance to travel for the company again, at least for part of the time (I have to accept that my role will keep me anchored to the office). You're going to get pictures/video of me, wherever the hell they send me. You're going to get Joshy singing an autotuned break on a T-Pain track posted on Facebook.

I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I'm way behind on what's possible with phones these days. You have to realize - I've never owned a phone that could take a picture. A lot of this is new to me and finding ways to use my new phone is going to be a learning experience. I am probably going to have a lot of dumb questions but I look forward to it - I can't wait to master this thing. More than anything I just want to get the most I can out of it.

I report and comment on so much Buffalo-related negativity that I thought I should provide some balance and show you this -

Awesome. We need more of this. Little by little, brick by brick, this is how you rebuild a dying microeconomy. This is how you employ people. This is how you lure businesses. Operating in Buffalo isn't a privilege - without incentives people would be crazy to (re)locate here. That is, unless you have the wherewithal and resources to locate anywhere you like, flying the altruistic flag high and all. Renovating existing space makes this deal even sweeter.

Interesting, given the times -

I have a few books I've thought about buying lately and decided to put together an order on Amazon. I hate it when their free super saver shipping conspires against me. I want to buy two books and the order comes to about $23. Granted, both books are discounted around 40%. I feel like asking them to just charge me $2 more for the books so I don't have to spend $10 on shipping.