Billie Jean is NOT my lover.

The thing about flying non-rev (for free, but always standby) is that sometimes you have to make some extremely weird routing to get where you want to go. This past weekend, for example, we wanted to get to LA. But all the flights out of Tucson to LA (and to pretty much everywhere else) were full.

As such, we had to fly to Albuquerque so that we could make it to LA. Which was kind of a pain in the ass...but had we not routed that way, we never would have seen this...



It was plastered right outside the bathrooms in the terminal. You'll have to click on it to better see all the detail...but it was an ad for a gay retirement community in Santa Fe.

Notice the cuddling hot tub guys in the upper right hand corner...and the harsh portrait of Billie Jean King toward the middle.

John and I giggled about that poster for a good half hour.

Just back...

We just got back last night from a trip to LA to see the auto show. It was a good time, and lots of car-related pictures were taken. We also went to the Getty, where lots of statue-related pictures were taken. I still need to go through said pictures and shrink them down for normal consumption, so anticipate a post about all this in the near future complete with photos.

But if I wait until all that is done, I'll let posting slip by for another few days...and I need to get out of that habit.

Now it's time to head to the gym and make up for a week's worth of playing hookie. Being sick can take the motivation out of ya, you know.

Just a coincidence?

I hadn't really thought about it, until I read a post on Moby's blog the other day...about how he gets all emotional when he's ill...I think I'm the same way to a certain degree. I've always been one of those people who tends to get a little grumpy and short when I'm sick, but I always just chalked that up to being angry about not operating at maximum capacity. There's nothing more frustrating than wanting to go on about your daily life (working out, working, the simple act of talking and not sounding like an emphysema patient) while you feel weak as a kitten and are coughing up parts of your respiratory system.

But I got to thinking about it yesterday. I think it's more than just being being angry that I'm ill and feel like an invalid. I think there's something about being ill that knockes me down to a lower spot on Maslow's pyramid. (Thank you Glenn....your post contributed to this too) Feeling like I'm gonna die if I cough one more time tends to put me somewhere between the "Basic Needs (Survival) " level and the "Safety Needs (Comfort)" level. I don't know about you, but I tend to feel like I need some base-level reassurances when I'm in that kind of state.

Which is kinda unfortunate when your husbear is outta town on business. I say all this as a set up for yesterday. I was missing him, as he's been gone since Wednesday. And, because of maybe being in a more-needy-than-usual mental state, I was feeling a little blue about it.

So, cut to me shopping at the Sunflower grocery store. I was shopping for some hummus and chips to take to our friend Scott's, as he was having a get-caught-up-on-Heroes gathering with a few friends. I thought it might distract me and give me something else to think about.

So, I walk into the store, and the first thing I hear is a song I know only from knowing John..."Fooled Around and Fell in Love". (Though, admittedly, it was the lame Rod Stewart remake, and not the original Elvin Bishop version John had introduced me to.)

Thinking that a little odd, I tried to tune it out of my mind. Only to have another song I know of only from John come across the PA. (I can't for the life of me remember right now which one, though).

Thinking again how strange it all was, I rounded the corner and saw a guy walking towards me wearing one of John's all time favorite shirts. It's a gray ringer-T that has a picture of an 80's conversion van on it and the text "Waiting Room of the Love Doctor!" in a decidedly retro style encircling the van. Except it was practically hanging off of this guy, not skin-tight like it is when John wears it. I think it might even have been the same size as John's...but the guy was just really skinny and didn't fill it out nearly as well.

This just took the absurdity to a new level, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and laugh out loud. Unfortunately, the guy in John's shirt saw this, and looked VERY puzzled as did his girlfirend. He grabbed her hand and sort of did one of those "get behind me, honey...this guy's freakin' me out" maneuvers, and they hurriedly strutted past. I almost thought about speaking up to explain, but I knew it would have made me sounds ten times as crazy as they probably already thought I was.

I laughed again (this time on the inside) and headed off to find the right chips.

Like I need an excuse, right?

Well, I'm starting to feel a little better in terms of the cold thing. Maybe the fact that I've taken enough vitamin C, zinc, elderberry, and echinacea to take down an elephant-sized virus is helping. Regardless, I've so far taken today as my bump-on-a-log day. I'm totally using it as an excuse to sit about in my underwear and play on the web. :)

One of the few nice things about waking up hella early....

ahh-ahh-ahh-CHOOOO!

What is it with this time of year? Why is it that with the change in the seasons and the weather everyone always gets sick? It sometimes amazes me that we've been able to not only survive, but actually prosper, on this planet given how fragile of creatures we can sometimes be. Even the biggest and strongest among us can be taken down by some microscopic little thing.

So yeah...here I sit with my zinc lozenges, box of tissues, and vitamin C. I sound like the love child of Greta Garbo and Jack Nicholson, and look (as John would so eloquently put it) like hammered shit. It's times like these that I wish I had a means of fast forwarding to the stage when I'm over all this. Cause absolutely NOTHING is fun when you're sick...least of all, work!

Houston, we have a sunburn.

While we were in Florida, I was lucky enough to get to see the shuttle launch as well. From what I understand, there are only a limited number of launches left that are scheduled to take place. Beyond that, their program has a bit of a murky future.

I guess I can understand that people nowadays have different priorities when it comes to how our tax dollars are spent. It seems to me, however, that blasting a few lucky folks into space to learn more about the universe we live in is alot more productive use of my money than shipping thousands of un-lucky young Americans off to get injured or killed in a foreign land that just so happens to have oil resources. But I suppose that's a topic for another type of blog entry.

In the meanwhile, look at the pretty pictures of the launch!

The crowd forming in anticipation of the launch...later they'd form a line at Walgreens looking for Aloe Vera gel.

A picture of someone taking a picture of the initial blastoff.

Someone in the crowd said they could see the boosters separating. I could barely see that there was something in front of all that smoke.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a...um...smoke plume.

Looks kinda pretty, don't it?

Johnny bear and the giant biker sausage!

I can't be the only person who finds that just a little bit suggestive.


Awww...don't he look cute?

One of the main things that John and I were planning on during our trip to Florida was the "Biketoberfest" that happens every year in Daytona. In fact, it was sort of what we'd planned our trip around. Not that we're huge bikers, mind you, but we do enjoy a good ride from time to time (on motorcycles...keep your mind out of the gutter). And we enjoy, almost as much, the people-watching opportunities that these type of events can provide (read: sometimes there can be hot biker dudes to ogle...and sometimes they ogle back!)


A good view of how busy the street was (and of the fairly hot guy in the forefront of the pic).

One of the cool things about visiting Florida is that John's dad lives only an hour or so away from Daytona, and has several Harleys for us to ride up to the festivities. Which is good, cause I don't think any airline would be accommodating enough to let us check our motorcycles for the flight there.


This is what happens when you let rednecks with too much time on their hands get ahold of a 12-pack and an arc-welder.

We'd been to Bike Week in Daytona in the early part of this year, and came to realize that the Biketoberfest was just pretty much a scaled-down version of it...sort of marking the end of good riding weather for many northern visitors. But there were still choppers aplenty, rednecks in enough tacky leather to make an IML competitor blush, lots of places to buy beer, and more this-makes-me-look-tough-dammnit facial hair growth than you could shake that proverbial stick at. In fact, the only thing that reminded me that we were at a bike-fest and not some big gay street fair was the occasional nearly naked biker-tart slinging drinks to the already stumbling masses.


I'm still trying to figure out what theme he was going for...but at least he carried it through to his helmet!

Poor, neglected blog...

Well, I think it's official, I've now set a new record for longest time between posts! Where do I pick up my trophy and sash?

Suffice it to say that life's been more than a little hectic lately, which has made blogging not nearly the priority that it used to be. Several potentially life-changing events have occurred recently that have been at the fore-front of my focus. Not the least of which is the possibility of John and I needing to move. (No, we're not bad tenants, or getting evicted for the loud moans coming from our make-shift dungeon...just the management where we live have come up with a few new rules that would make staying where we are very inconvenient).

So, sadly, posting to my poor little neglected blog has been lower on the priority totem-pole. But, that's not to say that I'm giving up on it at all. I fully intend to get caught up on posting about several things that've happened over the past few weeks, and staying a tiny bit more up to date in the future.

Regardless, thanks to those of you who have the patience to keep coming back to check in on the goings-on in my world. You guys make it worthwhile to keep posting!