Fall has...uh...fallen?

The weather here in Tucson is finally starting to turn just a bit. We're getting days where our high is in the low 90s, instead of being over 100 every day. And some of the humidity of the monsoon season had left us too (so I don't come home from work nearly as sweat-drenched now). So I guess fall is here.

But what's signaling the arrival of a new season for me is not so much what the outside conditions are like, but more how people's attitudes seem to be shifting a bit. At work, I've been noticing a feeling that I'm just going through the motions. Travel is a little slower, and that means less work for us, generally speaking. I was a little worried that maybe it was just me getting bored at work, but I noticed most of the other guys seem to be feeling the same way.

So what is it about seasonal changes that seems to shift people's attitudes? Is it some sort of post-summer/pre-holiday season funk that we all fall into, knowing this will be the last time we really get to relax until January? Is it just the nicer weather making us all want to be outside, enjoying it? Is it some sort of ion-charge difference brought on by all the wind that usually comes this time of year? Or is it just that we're all driven by some ancient mammalian instinct to start settling down for hibernation?

Or maybe I'm making too much of all this, and you guys have no idea what I'm blathering on about.

I now pronounce you taking extremely small steps toward acceptance

The other night, after my workout (no there weren't any examples of hot beefcake there then, either) John and I decided last minute to go see a movie. I'd looked up the movies prior just in case we made said decision, and knew that the only thing on at that hour was a 9:50 showing of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry". I'd heard relatively unkind things about the movie, and the previews weren't anything that compelled me to rush out and see it, but for $3 I figured we couldn't go too wrong.

It's usually when I go into a movie with that attitude that I end up being pleasantly surprised in one way or another...Children Of Men, as an example. Though I can't say I walked away from last night's Adam Sandler vehicle wanting to necessarily recommend it to anyone, I will say that there were several things I was kind of pleasantly surprised about.

The movie, in case you missed either the previews or someone else's bitchy review of it, is about two straight firemen who pretend to be gay and partnered to utilize benefits for the sake of getting Adam Sandler a desperately needed face lift...or something. Which serves as the perfect platform from which to make a good number of gay jokes while still not necessarily making fun of gay people (since the jokes are about two straight guys that are pretending to be gay, you see). And make the gay jokes they did...everything from Liza-record-buying, to the old dropping-the-soap-in-the-shower gag (which, by the way, makes me wonder...if you're so loose down there that you think someone could slip it in you while you're bent over just long enough to pick up a bar of soap, don't you have bigger things to worry about...like where your colostomy bag is?).

But, refreshingly, the movie also used the whole straight-man-in-a-gay-world scenario as a means to show the protagonists (and the audience) just how despicably cruel and vicious homophobic straight folks can sometimes be towards gays. There's a confrontation scene between a church group and a crowd of AIDS charity goers that actually was slightly moving. There's even a moment at the end of the film where one of the guys tells his friends (and, presumably, the audience) "don't say faggot...it's just hurtful".

Unfortunately, these moments are also balanced out by a good number of frustrating examples of ignorance in the name of humor. All too often, it ends up being the straight-guy-in-gay-clothes that has to end up standing up for the silly queers who cower instead of standing up for themselves. And when a big, burly, scary fireman played by Ving Rhames is inspired to come out himself...he goes from badass motherfucker to silly, prancing queen in about 10 seconds. Who knew that uttering the words "I'm gay" had such power?

So, the moral of the story is this: the straights are finally, maybe, starting to see the light just a teeny-tiny bit...and realizing that they can sometimes be real dicks towards gay people. But, as for the perception of who the average gay guy is...they're still having a hard time letting go of the stereotypes. But I guess any little stumbles of progress can actually seem like giant leaps to those that are making them.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go re-organize my library of musicals while I listen to Judy Garland...and wear a dress.

Who do I have to blow to see some beefcake at the gym?

Ok...not literally.

I go to the gym for a good number of entirely pure and innocent reasons:

-I like to feel like I'm healthy, and like the idea of having a hobby that helps to promote said health.
-I like to feel as though I'm strong, and I actually need said strength for the more physical aspects of my job.
-I like to not be entirely sickened when I look at myself in the mirror naked.

And there's one I'll admit isn't quite as pure or innocent:

-I like to look at the really big beefy guys...for motivation to work harder...ok, and for the occasional masturbatory fantasy later. (I know I'm not the only one...right?)

But lately I'm finding a real lack of "motivation" at the gym. Ever since they opened the new LA Fitness on 1st, the number of big, hot beef monsters has dwindled significantly. Now, keep in mind that I don't need to have nice things to look at to be able to work out...but it does help from time to time!

So, tonight, I headed over to the Gold's Gym on Oracle, thinking there would be at least a little more to look at than Bally's. Since my gym seems to be populated by octogenarians and housewives, I figured how could there NOT be better eye candy?

Boy was I wrong. Not only was it not better...it was actually a little worse. So I guess it's down to relying on BMB for my motivation...and that other stuff.

*Sigh*

So my question is this...am I just being a perv with nothing better to do, or do those of you who work out sometimes find yourself doing something extra (going at a specific time of day, going to a different location, going to a different gym) to see nice things around when you're working out?

Or should I just quit bitching and concentrate on my workouts?

The name is actually French for "Big Titties"!

Doing my best to show off my own "grand teton".

No, not my name...the name of the national park from which John and I just returned. The "Grand Tetons"! And to make the sexual reference all that much more over the top...it was named that by fur trappers who were there looking for (what else?) beaver.

Us'ns acting like we're all outdoorsy and stuff.

Pocahontas raccoon! Who knew tacky taxidermy could make two grown men laugh so hard?

Despite those two unfortunate associations, John and I had a good time there. We visited with my parents...who go there every summer RV-ing and work in the park visitors center. We went white-water rafting...and both got wetter than a teenaged girl at a Justin Timberlake concert. We went hiking among the almost vanished glacier tipped peaks. And we saw the cute (but uber-expensive) town of Jackson Hole...just to throw in another dirty name for good measure.

When bears attack...their own!

My parents and a female ranger named...Larry...not kidding.

On the road again...

So here I am packing for another trip...when it seems I just got back from one (ok, so I did...but it was a really short one). I got back just in time for work from an extended layover in San Diego yesterday morning...and tomorrow morning I head out to Las Vegas to meet John. Where I'll spend a few days with him...then we'll try making our way up to Jackson Hole, WY to see my folks.
Is there such a thing as too much travel? Even when I fly for free?

My weekend! (Finally)

Since I work in a union job, my days off are constantly changing. Everything is, as one would expect, based on one's seniority. We bid for shifts, and what we get dictates what days off we have.
So, for this month, my days off are now Wednesday and Thursday. But since the bid just switched, I wound up working for a little more than a week without any days off (I know...poor me). But I also wound up working alot of doubles and odd shifts. As a result I've been really bad about posting (surprise).

But since I'm sitting around in my underwear in front of the computer, I figured it was time to write SOMEthing.