Great title to bring in readers. Ah well. I need to write this one out.

I just read another article about an LGBT suicide. This one, a freshman at Rutgers whose roommates decided it would be a great idea to out him by putting a video of him and his male lover online. He jumped off the George Washington Bridge. Also mentioned in this article was a 13 year old boy who hung himself after being taunted by classmates for being gay.

LINK

Along with these two, there were a bunch floating around facebook about various abuses to young kids. One was a male cheerleader who, for all we know, isn't gay, but his arm was broken for doing a "gay" thing. Then there was the transman who rightfully won the Homecoming KING crown, but the school refused to give it to him because he was registered as a female.

Ug. I dunno. I guess I just get tired of it all. They have got this whole "It gets better" project on Youtube with Dan Savage now, and I think it will probably do some good. There was no youtube when I was in high school. But. But. But, what about the perpetrators? I think we should reach out to the victims of the abuse, of course. They need advice, guidance, support. But what of the perpetrators? The children who taunted that 13 year old boy were "questioned" and authorities concluded that no crime was committed.

So what we are we teaching our children? What, for that matter, are we not only teaching, but encouraging? I am a big proponent of seeking out and targeting the middle of the road offenders. Just like we know that the KKK are racists, we know who the real homophobes are, because they make themselves known. So I'm talking about the teasers, the bullys, the "I don't want to see it" folks and even the ones who pretend to be ok with it, but something always gives them away.

I always find that I cut myself off from finishing posts like these. Part of me wants to get into it all, the social aspects of gender identity and the ways in which homophobia and hatred is infused into everything except the air we breathe. Part of me just gets tired. I suppose it's the conundrum of being driven to write by sadness. Today is ok to be sad, but sadness does not make change.

goes the weasel.

So my parents are coming to visit this weekend and see our new place for the first time. AND, Felly's parents are also coming to visit and staying with family up north. We figured they might as well meet, since it has been FIVE fricken years. Yeah. So, I am a little bit nervous about all that jazz, but also looking forward to it at the same time.

Dunno whatever makes me decide to actually log in and comment, let alone post, but everyone now and then it feels like the right thing to do. Guess I will write a quick restaurant review while I am here.

For Felly's birthday we decided to go somewhere we hadn't been before and settled on Kostas on Hertel.
I must say it was really nice. The food was pretty good and we sat out on their pretty large porch which, although it looks out at Walgreen's, was still enjoyable because there is lots of activity. Also, Felly got some Greek beer which was pretty tasty. The portions were huge, but not too pricey and we both had leftover to eat for lunch the following day, which I always appreciate. So yeah, if you dig Greek food, I would recommend it. Oh and, I didn't get the rice pudding, so I can't comment on that, but I always get rice pudding at Mythos, which is honestly the number one reason I go, and it is amazing.

Oh my gosh it's been since December since I updated! I was poking around the new site and figured I'd try it out, so here goes.

I have a new job...I won't post the name for privacy purposed, but you all know the place where the protesters hang out on main street? i work there. I am a counselor, which is much more complicated than it sounds. I do medical histories and go over all steps of the procedure from beginning to end. It's definitely a lot and I'm still training but I have done a few solo runs and it's pretty awesome. I like that I get to work in a place with anti-bush stickers in the staff kitchen and I can be pretty comfortable being out to everyone there. So it's a big step in the right direction in terms of me finding a career and being an adult professional type person :)

Also, Felly and I have decided to have a "wedding" ceremony of sorts. We aren't doing the whole go to another state thing to get married, because 1) it's not in or budget, 2) it's not really the point. We mostly want to have a big ol' party and have our families and friends meet, because they never have. We have a little over a year to plan, and I am already stressed about it!

Finally, it was lovely to see (e:metalpeter) and (e:chico) out last weekend, as well as a brief wave to (e:libertad) and (e:mike). And of course, (e:heidi) and her pretty girl Nisha. Looking forward to running into everyone more throughout our lovely buffalo summer!

Funny, all this talk about marriage. Today, they vote. Watch it live here.

the cats are sitting at the window watching all the shit blow around from the crazy wind. ug. I don't smoke in my house and have been putting off my morning cigarette for like an hour cause I don't want to go out there!! at least is isn't currently raining. we have a leak in our kitchen cabinets of all places and my landlord hasn't come to fix the damn thing yet. grumble grumble. i reminded that he is a public figure (sorta) and I could crush him if necessary. haha. ok that's really just some fantasy of mine that will never see the light of day, except here, which I am not convinced is the light of the day. as you can see, my self induced isolation is making my a little nutty.

in other news, I am going to send in resumes and cover letters today to at the least three potential employers! I have been being a total lazy douche about getting a job and its time for me to get off my ass and get moving. I can't sit at home like this forever or I might lose my mind! I have not found anything even close to my dream job (which I don't' know what that is yet) and I will most likely get back into the working with folks with developmental disabilities field because honestly, that's mostly what there is out there in the non-profit/ human services field that doesn't require an MSW, which I don't have. I just need another year or two of experience with direct care and I think I will have some leverage with that and a master's degree. I hope. so yeah, wish me luck folks.

First of all, felly and I put up our Frost King plastic kits on the windows yesterday, and boy was it satisfying! I had read (e:libertad)'s comment about the satisfying-ness of it all, but I wasn't exactly sure why. Now I get it! I thought we were going to be blowdrying the tape, not the plastic. fancy business.

anyway, felly let me turn on the heat now that we have the plastic up. i guess this house is kinda old, cause we have these vents in the walls that blow out heat and vents in the floor that take that cold air out (?) I think. anyway, the air coming from the vents in the walls kicks in every now and then and my cat. hates. it. he lets out this... oh i dunno, sad pathetic yet extremely grating meow letting me know how much he doesn't like this vent system heat. i hope he will get used to it. poor kitty.

Hey folks...question for the masses. We are planning on putting plastic on our windows in preparation for winter. Already feeling the effects of having large windows in our-what was once an open porch but is now part of the living room-section of the apartment. Just looking for suggestions on the best product to get, the best way to put it up, things to avoid, etc.

Thanks!

Something got ahold of (e:fellyconnelly) last night and she brought me home flowers, wine, and took me out for dinner. We decided to go to Mode. Why, I don't know, but that's what we did.


We got a bottle of Relax, Riesling from Germany and it was mighty tasty. What was even tastier was the cheese board appetizer that had brie, pecan encrusted goat cheese and gouda on it, accompanied by some strawberries, apples and bread. Oh my god, I love cheese. I ordered the pan-seared scallops on corn puree with chipotle sauce. I was honestly a little nervous about the whole corn puree thing. Didn't sound very appetizing to me, but I love scallops so I went for it. turns out that corn puree is mighty tasty and goes well with scallops. Who knew. And the chipotle sauce was faint, but that was fine with me. The scallops were perfecto. I love scallops in general, but these were fantasically cooked and coupled with the sauce and puree, they were just divine. Mmmmmm. Felly got some kind of fancy meat and potatoes which they called frittes. It looked pretty, but the meat was a little tough and the frittes, aka french fries, were awesome for about five minutes, then got kinda cold and not so amazing.

We had never been to Mode before. I have to say that, while I understand the whole ambiance thing, because of the tinted windows we initially thought they were closed. You can't see in and have no idea what kind of place you are entering until you are already there. However, it was really nice inside. the dining room is pretty small and we got stuck sitting next to the rich ladies wine and dine night, which was annoying and entertaining all at the same time. But, it's still pretty nice inside. Our waitress was really awesome. Very friendly and personable and everything a waitress should be.

Overall I think Mode was pretty great. We spent a little over one hundred for the whole thing, which isn't too bad. It's definitely not something we can afford to do all the time, but I wasn't disappointed in what we got for the money. I would recommend Mode, with the precaution that it's a little pricey, but if you are looking to get fancy and have some good eats, go for it.

Where is everybody lately? I posted on 8/17 and my post is still on the sidebar? Is it that it's too fricken hot to update or is everyone getting up off their behinds and enjoying summer Buffalo style?

Speaking of the weather...what the eff? Where did this come from? Now don't get me wrong, I prefer heat to cold any day, but I am sitting up in this second story apartment with few windows to speak of and papers all over that prevent the use of fans and I am down right miserable. I feel like taking a shower every five minutes. My forearms are constantly stuck to the computer desk and I am certain that I am sweating more than my water glass that has a small ocean forming around the bottom.

I have plans to go to Fantasy Island on Tuesday. Watch, thunderstorms all day long.

My thesis is due in EIGHT days. AAAAHHHHHHHHH. I am calm.

Felly and I have been packing a little every night, but I know that there are all those things that we can't pack until the very end because we use them on a daily basis...those things will kill us.

We did, however get rid of two garbage bags full of clothes and gave them to Amvets. Felt good to get rid of things...even though I am a hoarder who attaches sentimental value to inanimate objects, every now and then I get the urge to purge...eww...that sounded gross. but yeah, its good.

Alright. Just thought I would post a bunch of random nonsense and I think I successfully did that. Hope to see some of you out tomorrow night!

so...(e:fellyconnelly) and I went to see a place yesterday on Delaware, just south of Hertel. There was also another very nice couple who came to see the apartment at the same time. We walked into the place and it was HUGE and very nice. We quickly decided that we wanted it and afterwards, it was clear that the other couple wanted it as well. We stood outside with the landlord and chatted as he tried to figure out who he would rent it to. turned out they had a boxer mix that, according to the landlord, looked like a pit bull, so they were instantly like, "oh we will get rid of him"...so the landlord was like, ok.. well, what if I tell you that I am a member of ______. I won't put the exact name down because I know how searchable this is, but let's just say it's a caffeinated beverage that isn't coffee which is thrown into the water in protest of government interventions and taxes. Yeah. I just googled this guy and he's pretty anti-Obama, anti-healthcare reform, anti-"socialism" etc etc. So there's that.

what happened was, he decided that he was gonna flip a coin to decide who got to rent this place. They male of the other couple kept saying "ladies first" and I guess because we had two ladies and they only had one, I said "heads". Coin flips up into the air and lands heads up on the landlords hand. YES! We got the place!! Very exciting considering we were getting pretty scared that we had two weeks to find a place....

I can overlook the whole right-wing activist thing...I certainly won't ever get in a conversation about politics with him, thats for damn sure. But, for a HUGE bedroom with a bay window, a brand new kitchen, a dining room, giant living room with (non working) fireplace and a second bedroom...I don't care who the landlord is, as long as he treats me with respect, which I think this guy certainly will.

So, at the end of this month Felly and I will no longer be living on the elmwood strip, or even in Elmwood village for that matter. I am a little sad about that for sure. I love it here and am going to miss it. I am not especially looking forward to living on a four lane road across from Big Lots, but I do have a back yard and a quick walk to Hertel for a little culture and nightlife, so all will be well. Plus, winters coming and I generally stay in for most of that nonsense anyway :)