So Beer-Ology ended up being a lot of beer and not a lot of ology. There were plenty of different breweries represented and they were serving beer past the 9:00pm deadline, but that was about it. There were a couple of presentations...we went to one and the guy seemed like he knew a lot about WNY and Buffalo old school breweries, but he wasn't the best public speaker, so we left. We did, however, find it quite enjoyable to look at science exhibits and the Egyptian exhibit while slightly intoxicated. Good times. All in all I got to try some new beers (for those of you who like light beers like Blue Moon, might I suggest Saranac's Pomegranate Wheat) and got to see some really interesting people all drinking in a museum. Not too bad.

The sun on Sunday made me so happy that I spent most of the day outside on my porch doing random things like cleaning the fan that has been sitting in out basement all winter, just so i could be outside. I also made friends with my neighbors...one old, one new. It's been so nice to take Ralphie for walks around the neighborhood and just have my porch door open. Sigh. I'm a happy camper. I haven't already marked 4 or 5 different Buffalo events on my newly printed out summer calendar. I'm ready to thoroughly enjoy my last summer in this crazy city. Word.

Felly and I have been looking for a dog for her parents for a while now, mostly via craigslist. The other day we saw an ad for a free mini dachshund and now I have two in my house. Amazingly enough, right now, they are both sleeping and it is pure bliss. However, all of last night and most of this morning (since 8:30am when they woke me up) has been HumpFest 2009 in my living room. Sigh. I am not exactly sure what this is all about...if it is a power struggle or a confusion or simply male bonding. Who knows, but I have never seen red rockets quite like these. It's traumatizing really. Maybe later I will take some photos or video so you too can join in the fun. Tonight Felly is taking the new dog, "Lil Smokey," to her parents house in Lake George, so even though I will be alone tonight, at least I will have a chance to recuperate from HumpFest.


Kids doing crazy things



Animals doing crazy things

Warning: Contains offensive language!



If you can ignore that misogynist bs that is spewing out of Lil John's mouth, this is actually quite catchy.

Also, I read all the comments from the previous post. I have been formulating a post about political morality vs. gut feelings/reactions, but it's not ready yet.

I attended this weekend what I hope to be my last wedding of the year. Not that I'm not all for people gettin hitched and all, but man that shit makes me tired. I drove 4+ hours to some place in Ohio on Saturday, sat through a wedding and many hours at a reception with a bad DJ and then went to a hotel and then got up in the morning to drive back home. Weeeeeee!

In other news.... (e:felly) got me sick so on top of drinking too much which for me always means smoking too much, I was sick and making myself sicker. But I feel better now.

Today I have to read the last 250 pages of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Wo! Man, what a book. It's terribly fascinating and curious to me how books become canonized...what a racist piece of garbage. But at the time it was crazy talk that these "simple, childlike critturs" maybe had feelings too. Good grief.

I guess I will go on a minor rant right now for lack of something better to talk about it. 4 hours in the car with my high school best friend led to us talking about racism...and she was like this: well when I sometimes try to show black people that I am not racist, like holding open the door for a black woman and her three kids, sometimes they aren't even grateful, like they don't smile or thank you or anything.

So first of all, I was like...why a black woman and her three kids? Where does this image come from?? Second of all...I think a lot of white people have this notion that because they do something they deem to be "nice" or anti racist or however they frame it for a black person, they deserve special treatment. Like black people should get down on their knees and thank the white person for being a human being. If you were to hold the door open for a white person (sorry, her example) you wouldn't think about what a wonderful white person you were being and if the person didn't thank you for your kindness, you would call them an asshole, not deem them ungrateful for your attempt at being a good whitey. Ug. Ya know? Am I crazy?? I would love feedback on this. And jeez, if the best example you can think of on how to be anti-racist is to hold open a door for a black person then you got a long ways to go. Meh.

Oh yeah and one last thing. I always hear this bs about how "surprised" people are when they overhear overtly racist arguments, as if racism has magically vanished into fairy land and only the grossest humans who think they are safe among friends would dare to speak that way. But seriously, overt racism obviously still exists but in my opinion, that is the least of our worries. The same can go for sexism. Not that I don't think this kind of thing is terribly, I do, but I think that it is that shit that we can't even see in ourselves as being racist or sexist or whateverist that is the scariest thing. The ideologies that make up the fabric of this country and this "global" world that are so entrenched that they are invisible are what scares me. Because how can you fight something that you can't see???

I don't know if I will be able to fully articulate what it is that i want to say here, but I will do my best.

so there is this guy who lives in the apt. building across the street and really likes ralphie. fine. so he comes over and we chat while ralphie bites him. fine. so of course i talk about "we" all the time and he asks who "we" is and i tell him i have a girlfriend and he sees Felly with Ralphie and blah blah blah. No problems...but yesterday he asked me, in the most polite and not intentionally harmful way possible: so uh, do you have a gf cause you don't like guys or...? and I reply, no, I just fell in love with a woman. he then proceeds to go..ok well, ya know i was just wondering because you are a beautiful woman ya know...

AHHHHHHH!!!

seriously. and of course, i can't ever open my mouth at the proper time so we just move on past that and start talking about the Italian festival or whatever, but shit man...shit. no, not all lesbians are ugly. no, not all lesbians hate men. no, not all lesbians were deeply hurt or rejected by a guy which 'turned' them gay. Fuck. sometimes i want to lie and just say that i have never been with a guy and never want to ever and have no interest in the matter. but that wouldn't be very honest would it...course then again neither is keeping my mouth shut when my insides are churning...

What is perhaps the most frustrating part of this is that I know there is no harm intended. This guy is sincerely a nice guy, but he just doesn't know any better. My problem is I tend to get a little excited and start stuttering and shit when I try to explain my views on these types of things...you should have seen the conversation i had with my little brother about feminism and racism and why i do what i do. ug. and maybe i wouldn't get so damn frustrated if it wasn't for the fact that I HEAR THE SAME SHIT over and over again from people. And yet it never ceases to amaze me. poo.

Ok, i feel a little better now.

My brother is getting married next Saturday. I am so happy and proud of him that he is not doing the traditional "a marriage between a man a woman" bullshit... and my mom is very sad that they aren't getting married by a minister and I am not going to read Corinithians... at the wedding i went to a couple weeks ago it was very much like that and my friend, who i love dearly, kept smiling and looking at me when they would say things like "man and woman". Yes yes, i know. thanks very much. I'm not bitter, I swear, I just get very very tired sometimes....

BUT, I digress...... :)

Yesterday Ralphie got to spend some quality time with some of our neighbors' dogs. Two pitts and a rotweiler, all full grown. Amazingly enough, not only did Ralphie not bark, but he completely submitted and played well and didn't die. I had to back off and not freak out cause my instant instinct is to pick him up and save him from being eaten alive, which obviously didn't happen. Although at one point one of the pitts did get a little too aggresive and i did end up picking up Ralphie, simply because that dog could fit an entire weiner in his mouth and not choke. When i picked him up he was covered in drool and his heart was racing, but I think overall he had a pretty good time. Also, Ralphie can now sit, lay down and roll over, all through the use of hand signals. He is a smarty pants.

I have five full weeks left until school starts up again. Damn. And four out of the next six weekends are booked with two weddings, a BBQ and the Elmwood Arts festival. I kinda like that though.

In other news, our landlord is resealing and putting new lines in our parking lot, which really in the end is a good thing because obviously people have issues with comprehending the importance of proper spacing when parking in a lot without lines, but right now its a pain in the ass. I think (e:fellyconnelly) wrote about this, but our landlords, "esquarecapital" are redoing the old YWCA on north...the giant creepy building with the huge columns going up to the 2nd or 3 rd floor and turning it into senior housing...which i think is great because what the hell else would you do with a building like that? However, the parking lot is still total sketchville...behind Latina's Food Land with no lights. Although I can commend our landlords for giving us another parking option, I politely decline.

OH! I forgot...NEW SEASON OF PROJECT RUNWAY...makes me a happy girl, although the "new time" is kind of a bummer cause we don't get out of dance class till after 9 which means we have to wait to watch it till 11 after Sheer Genius is over. Ah well, so is the life of someone who religiously watches a TV show. Anyway, I think people who tan are silly and I think people who think being orange looks good are confused and need some guidance. And, if you look like an alien and are orange, you might need professional help. That is all.

I have 3 weddings to go to this summer. THREE. Two of them are in the hometown vacinity which is a 4 hour drive and the other is on LONG effin ISLAND which is...I don't know...`100 hours away. Now don't get me wrong...my brother getting married and my best from highschool and two of Felly and I's friends from NEw Paltz getting married and all well and good, but damn. What a pain in the ass.

Also, the trip to Florida has reconfirmed my aversion to flying. It just feels totally and utterly wrong to me. Human beings were not meant to fly. Period. The plane we took from the Buff to JFK was SO small...2 seats on either side and a walkway down the middle. The last plane I was on was an international flight to Brussels and it was HUGE compared to that little dinky toy plane. I could feel every turn, every lift and every descent and needless to say I felt like I was on a rollercoaster for an hour straight. Not that I don't like rollercoasters either, but you know how sometimes when there is no line and they ask you if you want to go again and you do and then you want to vomit. Yeah. Like that. The plane to Tampa was slightly better, as we were in the air much longer and gave me time to adjust to the constant movement, but I can't say that I enjoyed it. I guess some people do, but not me. Who am I kidding? I don't even like merry-go-rounds!

I have one more paper to rewrite before the semester is officially over. This Prof. always gives way longer for final papers than the others, which generally is a nice idea but, it is very difficult for me to want to go back to a paper when I have taken a week off of fun and sun in Florida. My mind and my body are still in vacation mode and I don't wanna write no stinkin paper. Meh.

Oh yes...and there are a few pics in (e:Fellyconnelly) 's most recent post that show my shortened hair for those who are interested.

My first duty is to promote this Saturday's BATTLE AT BUFFALO!

Felly and I and some friends will be attending, as usual. Come and be amazed. And, I don't quite know the specifics, but we might go out afterwards, depending the the requests of the friends from out of town.

Lets see. I know this might be a little late in the game, but I would like to put it out there that thank god somebody filled in that damn hole in the middle lane going from Delaware to 33. That thing drove me crazy for months and months. I was sure there was a good reason for it, but obviously not because they filled it in. Ah well.

Also. Where does the time go? Just 6 more weeks and I will have completed my first year at grad school, which means I have to start getting serious about thesis and whatnot. Meh. Like I have any idea what the hell I'm doing. And I still haven't quite adjusted to the whole spring forward thing. I think I have all the time in the world because the sun is still up, and then before I know it 9pm. Poof, just like that. I love it though and I just wish that the weather would catch up and warm up. I want to eat dinner outside on my porch and wear tanktops and shorts and flipflops and all that jazz. Is it April that is in like a lion, out like a lamb?

I am maybe the luckiest girl in the world.

I had class yesterday...handed in my rough draft of that 15 page paper i've been writing since last week. Got out of class as I walking to the bookstore to buy one of those voice recorder thingamabobs for my interviews this weekend and I called her and she presents a wonderful night to me....

Dinner: balsalmic chicken salad (which ended up being more of a pita cause we didn't have any spinach, or rather, our spinach was looking a little limp) and 2 extra meaty super duper yummy artichokes, which we ate sitting side by side on the couch, dripping butter all over ourselves.

Drinks: she had gotten what I guess was like a daquiri mix that she put in our magic bullet to make it all icy, which I love, although i was sad because i couldn't drink it through a straw until it had thinned out a bit.

Play time: I had told her weeks ago that i wanted to dye eggs for easter, but had completely forgotten about till she told me that she had got one of those little kits for us to use! I haven't dyed eggs since early highschool, maybe earlier than that and it was fun to see that although we got these female condom esque bowls to use that i had never seen before, they still came with those little color pellets which disolve and turn everything they touch a different color. Ahh, memories...

Presents: she got me flowers...it was super cute because she got me tulips and told me that she was thinking my favorite flower was tulips and then after she bought them she remembered that it was daisys, but i don't care. I have flowers and she gave them to me.

Today I am doing two interviews...one with a girl that I have never met, but she is the only female breakdancer to consistently dance at the battles...I hope she gives me what i want in terms of good quality answers, but I am not counting on it.
The other is with my dance teacher/the guy who "hosts" the battles. I am worried that he is going to talk more about this history of hip hop and bboying than about the here and now community.
Today will be a good test of my listening skills and ability to steer a conversation in the direction i want it to go.

Margarita Assignment. Check.




Ahahahahahah. P.S. THESE are sooo funny. Why the hell do lesbians make ridiculous "music videos" of lesbian movies to cheesy lesbian music?!?!

this one is from that catholic school girl lesbian movie. in case you couldn't tell. ha.